On The Lakefront

Chapter 3-1

3

Reveals, Concert Vibes & Him

Ding! Ding! I had gotten a notification on my HBG app when I sat in the car. It was the same guy.

Hope I can see you sometime.

I closed out of the app and smiled at my cousin.

“Cousin, oh my God,” I screeched with excitement, “today is finally concert day. Thanks for always being my concert buddy.” I had hooked up my phone to her aux. I started playing my concert playlist.

“Mm-hmm. No problem,” Dani stated, turning down the music, “Listen, Aiden Josiah. I am letting you know I am here. Jackson interrupted us earlier. I realized you didn’t talk in front of Jackson and Terrence like that. There was something you want…”

“He r***d me, Dani,” I said with a cry out loud. As she talked, I understood she meant well. She only calls me Aiden Josiah when she is serious. I figured I had to tell her one part of what has been bothering me. I had to interrupt her. Luckily, when I had that outburst, we had come to a red light. She had hit the brakes so hard.

“Pull yourself together, because I am fine. I deal with it. Only Momo Jean and my mom knew. Now you are aware. It’s just weird just being around Jim and seeing him be with Melissa.”

She started trembling once I mentioned Jim and Melissa. “Ok, can we talk about this once we park?”

“Sure, Dani.”

So she put the music back on. We stayed in traffic for an hour and fifteen minutes. We finally got to the fairgrounds so we could park and talk. There was police navigating traffic in parking. They directed us to our spot.

“Ok. Now that I’m settled,” Danielle said. “What the f**k is going on?”

I huffed, “Ok, see, that is why I kept it to myself. The only people that knew were your Tee Joanne and Momo Jean. But Jim r***d me, and I should have put him in jail when it happened, but I didn’t. It’s something I don’t really like to discuss. Period.”

“Ok, AJ. I am sorry if I made you feel you couldn’t tell me about your pain,” she said as her explanation, “But I’m here now. If it’s painful to talk through, I understand. Though, I’m also trying to find out how Jim and Melissa get involved?”

* * * *

“Well, Cousin,” I said as a couple of tears rolled down my cheeks, “It happened. Jim was a member of Saint Mark Baptist Church in Marais Vert. I was 18. I was ashamed that I let this man violate me. He was someone who I trusted and looked up to as a father figure. I felt betrayed. He told me he would make sure alligators would eat up my body at Devil’s Bayou if I told. I also figured that no one would believe me. Would believe me? Over a head deacon in the church? I told your Tee Joanne and Momo Jean. They believed me, and mom drove me to the ER. Unveiling the truth is what she wanted. But something inside me perceived protecting him would essentially protect me. So I lied to the doctor. I gave a false story about rough s*x with a random hook-up. We never attended church again until after its tragedy. A shooting and a fire collectively destroyed the church in 2013. The community rebuilt it, installed a new pastor, and renamed it Agape Faith Baptist Church. That is the church my mom and I attend today.”

* * * *

Danielle replied angrily, “I wish I would have known. I really want to kill this piece of s**t. But how in the hell did Melissa meet him?”

My breathing became heavy. I continued my interpretation. “After our incident, Jim apparently moved to New Orleans and started teaching at Weld NOLA Tech. Four years later, he saw our cousin riding the bull at The Swamp. He swept her off her feet with his financial status. So no one had knowledge of them eloping after three months, much less dating. So you remember when Momo and Mom acted out at Mel’s Beauty Bar?”

“How can I forget Aiden,” Dani said, following a snicker. “Momo tripped Jim with a cane. She played it off so well. Then her sweet voice saying, oh help me, Jesus. I’m sorry, sir.”

“Well, that was because of me. Momo recognized him. So he smirked and told her we are family now with a smug smile. She was so enraged by his statement. She used her wit, knowing people would sympathize with her. That’s when she tripped him. Mom was silent, but she had a knife in her purse. She wanted to stab him. However, she said to me that vengeance is mine, says the Lord. She hinted to Melissa everything glitters is not gold with that man. But of course, Melissa did not listen. All she saw was her cash cow and her dreams coming true.”

“Well, now she is getting abused. You noticed she barely took her sunglasses off. She tried to cover that black eye with so much makeup. But if you were close to her, you could see it.” She gave an explanation. “Well, s**t! It’s 12:30. I’m glad you opened up to me. I realize it took a lot of courage. We need to race to get into the VIP line.”

“Yeah, cuz you right,” I exhaled, “Before we go, can you pinky promise me you won’t tell a soul? Jackson would want to kill, and Terrence would actually do it.”

“I promise.”