“Can it wait, Brenda? I’m so distraught over Afrika getting shot, I can’t think straight.”
“All right, but you asked me a question earlier…whether I thought that Victor might be capable of doing this heinous crime.”
“I was grasping at straws, Brenda. I wanted someone to blame… As you said, Victor may be a lot of things, but he wouldn’t stoop this low. I can’t believe he would lift a finger to shoot my baby.”
“Mimi, Victor has a gun.”
“He what, Brenda?” Mimi said loud enough for the whole room to hear. Her eyes began to bulge from their sockets.
“I saw it today with my own eyes,” Brenda continued. “I didn’t even know Victor owned one. I was upset about what you’d told me that he’d done to you when we were in college. I’d gone earlier to the game with Trevor but I couldn’t stay because every time I looked at Afrika, I thought of you and Victor together.”
“Brenda, I’m sorry…”
“Mimi, listen. I left the game early and confronted Victor. Then I told him that I wanted a divorce. A heated argument ensued and when he picked up his coat to leave, a gun fell out of his pocket. And it went off. What if he was trying to kill me?”
“Look, Brenda. We’ve got to tell this to the police. Do you know where Victor is?”
“He took off. I don’t know where he went, but I pray that he didn’t do this thing…that he didn’t shoot Afrika.”
Mimi began to hyperventilate. “Oh my, God. This is too much. If you don’t tell the police, I’m going to tell them.”
Brenda grabbed Mimi’s hands. “Mimi, let’s wait until Afrika gets out of surgery. Victor is my husband and I want to believe he didn’t do this.”
“Brenda, you don’t have a daughter lying in the operating room teetering between life and death. If Victor is the one who did this, he needs to be picked up off the street so that he can’t hurt anyone else.”
“Ladies,” John said, as he looked from Mimi to Brenda. No one saw him approach. “What’s going on?”
Brenda’s eyes pleaded with Mimi but Mimi looked away.
“John, please find the police,” Mimi said. “I have some information that may help them apprehend the person who shot Afrika.”
“What information?” Then John looked from Mimi to Brenda. “I’ll get the police.”
“Why couldn’t you wait, Mimi? I don’t know if Victor did it. I’m only speculating that it’s a possibility because he has a gun. Asia is over there with her fellow cheerleaders. I don’t want her to become upset.”
“I’m sorry, Brenda. But my daughter is laying in there…my only child. You’ve got to understand that.”
Tears rolled down Brenda’s cheeks. She left Mimi and found a corner of her own.
Mimi went to Brenda and rubbed her back. “Thank you for parting with that piece of information. If nothing else, it will help us get to the bottom of this and rule Victor out if he hasn’t done anything.”
Brenda said nothing.
Brisk footsteps made everyone look up. John led the way followed by two plainclothes detectives. John stopped in front of Mimi.
“Ma’am, Mrs. Bailey, I’m Officer Rathmusen. I understand you’re in receipt of some information that may help us apprehend the person or persons who may have shot your daughter.”
“It’s a long shot, sir…” Mimi looked over at Brenda and turned away. “I believe it may be someone I know. I don’t have any concrete evidence that this person was even at the game, but I’ve been threatened and stalked by this person in the last week, and it may have led to this. It’s a starting point; and if he didn’t do it, this will be a sure way to find out.”
“Maybe you should start from the beginning,” Officer Rathmusen said.
Mimi shared her bizarre story with the police, even the event nineteen years ago. She took several glances in Brenda’s direction as John stood over her, trying to calm her spirit. Officer Rathmusen stopped writing and looked at Mimi.
“Why didn’t you report this?”
“What would anyone have done?” Mimi asked. “I hoped that this would all go away, and I could go on with my life.”
“What is this person’s name?” Officer Rathmusen asked. “You have yet to say.”
Mimi looked over at Brenda once again. “It’s Victor Christianson. His wife is sitting over there.” Mimi pointed. Officer Rathmusen had a puzzled look on his face.