Brenda sat stoically in her seat, almost as if she was afraid to move, for sure afraid of what Mimi was about to say. “You’re scaring me, Mimi. I truly wanted us to celebrate our reunion.”
“You’re going to have to put the reunion on hold. What I’m about to say is going to change our relationship forever. I’m not sure where to begin, but all stories have a beginning, and I’m going to go back nineteen years ago when we were freshmen in college and you had discovered that you were pregnant.”
“Maybe I do need a glass of wine, if you don’t mind. I’m not sure that I’m going to like what you’re going to say to me.”
“You won’t, but promise you won’t throw the wine in my face.”
“Maybe I should leave. Maybe today isn’t the day I’m supposed to hear what you’ve got to say.”
“Today is the day,” Mimi said. “It’s time for me to face this thing head on. I’m afraid if I don’t, someone will get hurt…maybe killed.”
Brenda stood up again and shook her hand at Mimi. “What are you talking about, Mimi?” Tears began to fall from Brenda’s eyes. “Tell me right now. Stop stalling and tell me why you ran away… why you didn’t have the guts to tell me you were leaving. You were my best friend for God’s sake. I needed you. When you left, I had no one…no one. I was left to shoulder the burden of my baby all by myself.”
“Listen to you, Brenda. I couldn’t stay because I had issues of my own. I couldn’t help you because I couldn’t help myself. I realized that you needed me, but who was going to be there for me?”
“What are you talking about?” Brenda cried.
“Victor raped me. Now you know. I’ll get that glass of wine now.”
There was a long pause. Brenda stood stiff in the middle of the room like she had turned into a pillar of salt. “What did you say? Did you say Victor raped you?”
Mimi wasn’t sure if she should give Brenda a hug or wait until she had grasped the gravity of what she had heard. “Yes, Brenda, that son-of-a-bitch raped me. I couldn’t tell you; I couldn’t tell anyone.”
“Do you have something stronger than wine?”
“I don’t want you going out on me until I’ve finished my story. I’ll be right back.”
Brenda flopped back down in the chair while bubbles burst from her nose. Tears rolled down her face like a reservoir had been broken. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and tried to hide her emotions by bringing both hands in front of her face.
“Here’s a box of Kleenex and your wine,” Mimi said with sad eyes. “We’ll both need the box when I’m through.”
“When did he rape you?” Brenda asked with accusing eyes.
Mimi looked right through her. “It was the day you asked me to speak to him about his not having to bear the responsibility of your pregnancy, but you wanted to be with him anyway. He was drunk, Brenda, and that sorry son-of-a…I’m sorry. I hate dredging this up. Victor pulled me inside and started talking crazy. I tried to leave but he went crazy. He tore off my clothes and threw me down on the floor. Then…then he pulled down his pants while holding me down on the floor…and it happened.
“When he finished, he let me up and said to me, now go and tell Brenda that I f’d you. Brenda, I wanted to run and tell you, but I was so ashamed. I had to run to my room with my clothes all torn up. I prayed that you wouldn’t be there when I got there. You weren’t, thank God, and I did my best to cover it up until I missed my period the next month. Right then, I couldn’t stay there.”
“Why didn’t you report it to the police?”
“I don’t know. In some part because I realized that it would hurt you, and I couldn’t risk losing our friendship.”
“But you ran away. What’s the difference?”
“The difference is that no one knew. I didn’t even tell Victor. I called my parents and they came to my rescue. We only had a few weeks until the end of the semester, and no one would question my disappearance until school started again.”