good about the test she had taken in English. She couldn’t wait to get to practice to tell Asia about Keith, a junior who had walked her to her science class. He was one of the brothers she had met at the frat party on Saturday night.
Just before entering the gym, her cell phone rang. A smile crossed her face as she hurried to answer the call.
“Hey, Keith.”
“Hey, Nikki. What are you doing?”
“I’m at cheerleading practice, but I’ll call you as soon as I’m done.”
“Okay, sounds good. Maybe we can meet each other later on.”
“All right. Bye.” Afrika was all nerves and jittery. Keith was a good-looking, tall Alpha brother. Before closing the phone, Afrika saw that her mother had sent her a text.
She opened the text and read her mother’s message. Afrika frowned, somewhat alarmed at the tone of it, but she remembered she had sent one of her own and had yet to talk to her mother. Afrika closed the phone and decided she’d contact her mother as soon as practice was over. As soon as she entered the gym, she saw Asia and all else was forgotten.
THE SUN DROPPED BELOW THE HORIZON AND DARKNESS REPLACED the light. Mimi rushed around the house shutting blinds, checking them twice to make sure no one could see in. She secured the locks back and front, shaking and rechecking them to ensure no one could get in.
Exhausted, Mimi slouched in the nearest chair and heaved her leg over the arm and let it hang. It became a painstaking event, listening for the beep that announced a text or the ringtone reserved for Asia.
Anxious, Mimi picked up the remote and turned the television on in hopes of a distraction as she flipped from one channel to another. However, nothing seemed to capture her attention. Her mind wandered as the day’s events wouldn’t leave her alone. Victor’s face appeared in front of her—she could almost hear him breathing. She fought to be rid of him, but his image wouldn’t go away.
She couldn’t believe she had struck him dead in the face. A smirk streaked across Mimi’s face, gloating in the memory—her one-second victory.
Her face became somber. Something drastic had to be done about the precarious situation she found herself in, although she wasn’t sure what it was. The more she thought about Victor, the more defiant Mimi was becoming. Her mind was made up about one thing for sure, and that was Victor wasn’t going to run her or Afrika out of Durham. More immediate was her lunch date with Brenda. The timing was all wrong; Mimi wasn’t ready to see her yet.
Mimi searched for the time on the DVR. It was seven o’clock, which meant it was one in the morning in Germany and too late at night or early in the morning, depending upon whose perspective it was. She needed to talk to her husband, but she’d give up calling him for the moment.
In the midst of the quiet, the phone rang. Who’d be calling this late? Maybe it was her Mom and Dad calling from St. Louis. Without looking, Mimi sprinted to the kitchen and picked up the phone before it stopped ringing. “Hello.”
“You should’ve checked your caller ID,” the voice said.
“Who is this?” Mimi asked, confused.
“So this afternoon has already faded from your memory. I’m calling to remind you that I wasn’t paying lip service to you today. It’s not in your best interest to disobey me. Having lunch with Brenda would be bad for your health.”
“Are you through?”
“As long as you understand the message.”
“Victor, you don’t scare me. Threats are just that—threats. You can use all the scare tactics you want, but you won’t win. I will not play this game with you. My advice to you is get your own life in order, and DON’T CALL HERE AGAIN.”
Mimi slammed the phone down and shook uncontrollably. She ignored the phone when it rang a minute later, and when she didn’t answer it and it rang several more times, she snatched the phone cord out of the jack. “I’m too blessed to be stressed,” she muttered under her breath, but she was visibly shaken.
Mimi went to her junk drawer, retrieved her journal and a pen, and then sat down at the kitchen table. She opened the book and reread her first journal entry, closed the book and her eyes, and began to pray. She hadn’t been close to God in a long time, and if she needed Him, now