Nobody's Son (11 page)

“So what if things go as planned and your package shows up as scheduled tomorrow?” Rip asked. “What are you planning to do after you get the DNA results?”

“I'm going confront him with the undeniable truth. When we started this whole thing, you said you were trying to grant me my wish of being able to talk to him and get some answers. Well, that's exactly what I intend to do.”

Rip nodded his head. “Then you don't need to go on this stupid talk show. DNA is all that you need to confront him with.”

“I told you already that there was no way that I could refuse. Finding people who are missing is what I do best. I've found people who'd been missing for as long as ten years. The city of Atlanta has too much faith in me. I can't let them down.”

A sarcastic laugh came out of Rip's mouth. “You won't let the city of Atlanta down, but you have no problem with letting Ellen down?”

Semaj shot him an angry glare, and then began pacing back and forth across the room. “Ellen was tripping. She told me that she saw me that day with Gwen, when we were on our way to meet Wayne. Then she accused me of having an affair with her. I have never cheated on Ellen, and I never would. Then when I told her that Gwen was your friend and that I was just giving her a ride to help you out, she said that I was using you to cover up my indiscretions. Can you believe that?”

Rip nodded. “Actually, I can. Think about it. You've been lying to her since the first meeting you had with Gwen. You didn't tell her about meeting Wayne. Then you went to Andrus without so much as a phone call to let her know. She deserves better than that.”

“Her sister has a man who blacks her eye on a regular basis, so Ellen should be thankful to have a man who treats her with respect. I admit I've been moody and a little distant, but that's not enough to throw away our relationship over. I'm not a cheater, and she'd know that if she truly knew me.”

Noticing how agitated Semaj was becoming as he continued to pace back and forth, Rip slowly shook his head. He totally understood why Ellen might think she didn't know Semaj anymore, because he was beginning to feel exactly the same way. The key to Semaj's turmoil was locked inside a warehouse where Rip had hidden him. His method left a lot to be desired but Rip realized that getting Semaj together with his father was the only thing that would quench the fire of hurt and betrayal that was burning in his spirit.

“So what do you want me to do while you're on TV pretending to help find Wayne James?” Rip asked. He took a seat on the couch and crossed his legs.

Semaj finally stopped pacing and turned to face his cousin. A wide wicked grin covered his face. “That's the beauty of my entire plan. I will appear on the show, get all the clues that police have, and then I'm going to be the one to find Wayne James.”

“What do you mean
find
him? We already know where he is. Besides, how can you be the one to find him and the one who confronts him? You're not making sense.”

Rip knew how to cover his tracks impeccably, and he had no fear of being found out by the police or even the FBI. Compared to his days as a drug kingpin running a million dollar a week business from the comfort of his apartment, kidnapping was a snap. On the night he'd taken Wayne, he'd worn black jeans, a black sweater, black gloves, and a black ski mask. He wasn't sure if the condo had security cameras or not, so he used a disguise that he knew would hide his identity. He'd switched out the license plates on the utility van, just in case anyone noticed it driving away from the scene. When he returned it to the associate that he'd borrowed it from, Rip told him that he'd had a minor accident and damaged the right side. Instead of bringing him back a banged up van, he'd had it painted blue at his own expense. His associate was thankful and totally unaware of the real reason his van had been altered. Now that Semaj was involved, Rip had begun to worry about him making mistakes and being sloppy.

“After I get the DNA results with my proof, then I am going to stumble upon the warehouse, find Wayne James, and release him. I'll be a national hero. The fans and the media will love me. Most important, Wayne James will owe me a debt of gratitude. He'll say to me, ‘Mr. Matthews, is there anything that I can do for you? I owe you my life,' then I'll say, ‘You can admit to me and the world that you are my biological father.'” Semaj began pacing again and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Oh, he'll deny it again. I'm sure of it, but I will have my proof. If that isn't enough, I'll schedule us as guests on
The Maury Show.
Then the whole world will be watching when Maury tells him, ‘Wayne James, you
are
the father.'”

Rip rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. Semaj's plan was actually better than his. He'd planned to release Wayne on a secluded road with a hood over his head so that he wouldn't remember where he'd been held captive. That was going to be after Semaj had the opportunity to talk to him, man to man, face to face. In his mind, the entire situation should not have taken more than twenty-four hours, and he believed that if Wayne James had any integrity, he would not try to press charges against Semaj.

All of that changed when Semaj decided to become involved and insisted that they allow Wayne to sit alone in the dark for a few days to replicate the way he'd felt as a child without him. Then Semaj decided that he wanted to do the DNA test and what should have ended within a few hours had elapsed into well over a week's time that the two of them had held a man captive. There was no way that Wayne would not press charges at this point if he had any idea that Semaj or Rip was involved. His only issue with the plan was that Semaj seemed to have lost focus of his original goal. Rip's goal was avenge the way Wayne had treated Semaj. That was his way of doing things. He was peanut butter and in this situation, he was being crunchy. But he'd expected his partner jelly to bring him back to the right side of the bread by convincing him that all he wanted was a conversation with his father. He didn't wish him any harm. He didn't want to embarrass him. He just wanted to talk and as always, do things the right way. In the end, Rip believed that Semaj would ensure that everything would turn out sweet. That was not happening, so he looked up at his cousin and expressed his concern.

“Revenge is not your style, Semaj. How do you expect to have a real relationship with your father if you begin it by forcing him to owe you a debt of gratitude? Then your next move is public embarrassment. This isn't like you, man.”

Semaj suddenly swung his leg out and kicked over the coffee table. Rip sat in stunned silence, shocked at how he was unexpectedly acting. Semaj walked over to Rip and stood over him, bellowing at the top of his lungs.

“I stood by your black behind when you got arrested at fourteen and went to jail. I came to visit you every day when you were lying in a hospital bed fighting for your life after DEA agents pumped you full of bullets. I hired you an attorney with my own money, and I never asked for a penny of it back. I've been your friend, your confidant, and your defender your entire life, and now when I ask you to help me with one thing, you want to give me lip? Get this and get it good. I'm driving this car. Get in or get run over. I'm tired of you, Ellen, and everyone else trying to tell me what's not like me. You don't know me! You don't know who I really am!” he seethed.

Semaj stormed down the hallway and slammed his bedroom door before Rip could respond.

Ellen sat at her desk staring into space. Ever since she'd called off her engagement she just couldn't concentrate on anything work related. As the office manager for a real estate office, she had a large stack of lease agreements that she needed to fax to the home office. The days she'd already taken off to run errands for the wedding had taken its toll on her workload. Ellen was way behind and still unable to focus on her duties enough to be productive. Even though she'd told Semaj that she couldn't marry him she still could not bring herself to tell her parents, her friends, or even her pastor. In her despair, she had not taken the time to call the bakery, the printer, or the florist to cancel her orders. Other than Semaj, no one knew except her sister and Cedric. After her meltdown, they'd both told her to take some time and think about her feelings before making a final decision. Ellen had tried to do just that, and after pulling herself together, she'd called Semaj to discuss their relationship. What began as a quiet, civil talk soon escalated into a full-scale screaming match filled with accusations, denials, and regret. When all was said and done, she'd called off the wedding and hung up on Semaj.

For the life of her, Ellen could not understand the abrupt change in his behavior. She accused him of cheating, but she just threw it out in desperation. She really did not believe that at all. Then she insinuated that Rip was covering for and protecting him. Semaj vehemently denied it. That theory didn't make much sense to her either, but she was grasping at straws in an attempt to get Semaj to open up and tell her what was truly going on. The two of them had never had a problem with communication, and Ellen believed that Semaj had shared with her his deepest secrets and feelings. She'd often remarked to her friends and coworkers that Semaj wasn't just Mr. Right, he was also Mr. Do Right. Ellen sincerely believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he'd always do what was right.

However, she no longer felt that way as she'd witnessed him do a lot of wrong in a few short weeks. While he may not have been having an affair with Gwen, Ellen knew for sure that he'd lied to her about knowing her and spending time with her. The man that she once could set her watch by had missed appointments, ignored phone calls, and totally dropped out of sight for days. Worst of all, the calm demeanor that she'd grown to love, no matter the crisis, had dissipated into thin air. Semaj was edgy, irritable, and downright mean to her. During the entire time that she'd known him, Ellen had rarely heard him raise his voice, yet he'd snapped at and yelled at her several times in the past week. His anger reminded her of Reggie, and that was a comparison she hated to make. She loved him dearly, but there was no way she could go into a marriage under the current circumstances.

Unable to concentrate, Ellen decided to just go home and began making phone calls to put the final nail in the coffin of what had previously been her wedding. She entered her apartment and went into her bedroom to change out of her blue power suit that she'd worn to work. In her bedroom, she changed into a pair of leggings and a big roomy T-shirt. She returned to the living room, plopped down on her sofa, grabbed her wedding notebook, took a deep breath, then picked up her phone. Before she could dial the first phone number there was a knock at her front door.

“IPS delivery,” the man on the other side answered after Ellen asked who was there.

She opened the door and signed for the package. As soon as she closed the door, tears began to stream down her face. Although she had not opened the package yet, Ellen realized that it was her wedding gown.

At the beginning of her engagement, Ellen had made the traditional trip to a bridal salon to try on dresses. She'd taken Jenise, her mother Deloris, and her two sorority sisters, Melanie and Latisha, who were also her bridesmaids.

The ladies arrived at the salon and were greeted by an overly chipper attendant named Misty who led them to a private area that had a couch for the ladies to sit. The sofa was facing a large area with mirrors that led to a dressing room. Misty asked Ellen to give her an idea about what type of dress she was looking for, then she brought out several choices for her to try on.

“That doesn't flatter your figure at all,” Deloris said when Ellen walked out in the first dress. It was a heavy ball gown with tons of sequins. Ellen felt as if she was dragging an albatross around, and she completely agreed with her mother's opinion.

“Girl, no,” Melanie exclaimed as soon as she turned around in dress number two. “That looks like the same dress Peaches got married in last year. She is not someone that you want to imitate, trust.”

A parade of four more dresses continued, and no one liked anything that Ellen tried on, including Ellen. Each dress had something about it that she loved, while at the same time, having something about it that she hated. The entire afternoon was beginning to resemble a bad episode of
Say Yes to the Dress,
and Ellen was growing weary and discouraged.

“We have hundreds of dresses, and I'm here to help you,” Misty said. “I'm going to bring out a few more choices.”

“No, I can't take anymore,” Ellen exclaimed.

“Don't give up so soon, Sissy,” Jenise said. “When you see your dream dress, you'll know it.”

Ellen sighed and joined her sister on the couch. “I'm not giving up at all. I just don't think I'm going to find the perfect dress today.”

“A lot of brides need more than one visit before they can make a decision. Would you like for me to schedule you a new appointment?”

Ellen agreed to come back at another time, but she never did. On the advice of a coworker she decided to look for her wedding dress online. Her sister's words had been prophetic because the moment Ellen saw the dress, she intuitively knew it was the right one. The Web site had great reviews so Ellen took a gamble and ordered her dress from a factory in China.

Hoping the dressmaker had made a horrific error that would make her glad she had to send the dress back, Ellen ripped open the package and pulled it out. Now, sitting in her living room, she bawled openly with the most gorgeous wedding dress she'd ever seen in her entire life sitting in her lap. Her crying was so loud that she barely heard another knock at her front door. Quickly wiping her tears with the back of her hands, Ellen went to answer it.

“Who's there?” she called out.

“It's your mother,” Deloris answered.

Ellen tried her best to hide the evidence of her tears; then she opened the door and smiled at her mother.

“What are you doing here, Mommy?” she asked. She pulled her into a warm hug and invited her into the apartment.

Deloris walked inside and immediately noticed the wedding dress sprawled out on the sofa. “Well, I went by your office to invite you to lunch, and they said you'd gone home sick. So I came by to check on you. I see your wedding dress has arrived. Did you try it on yet?” she asked excitedly.

Ellen shook her head no and fought back more tears.

“What's wrong, Ellen? Don't say that it's nothing because I've known something was bothering you since the day I picked up Aaliyah from the mall. Tell me what's going on.”

Ellen sat down on the couch and began blubbering again. “I called off my wedding. Semaj has changed. It's like I don't know him anymore. He's become secretive, sullen, and mean. He's lied to me and often ignores my phone calls. We had a big fight, and I told him that I couldn't marry him,” she whimpered.

Deloris pulled her daughter into her arms and gently rubbed her back as she cried. Without saying a word she allowed Ellen to get it all out. When she thought she was ready to listen she finally spoke.

“What did Semaj say when you called off the wedding?”

“Nothing. I hung up on him after I said it. He didn't even call me back to try to talk me out of it. He just let me go without even putting up a fight.”

Deloris took Ellen's face into her hands and looked her straight in the eyes. “Do you love Semaj?”

Ellen sniffed loudly. “Of course I do, but . . .”

“No buts, that's all I needed to know. Where's your Bible?”

Confused, Ellen pointed in the direction of her bedroom. “It's on the nightstand by my bed.”

“I'll be right back.” Deloris went into Ellen's bedroom and came back carrying her New Living Translation Bible. She flipped through the pages one by one, then finally stopped at a scripture. “Read this,” she instructed.

Ellen obediently took the Bible from her mother and began to read aloud. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

“Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!”

She glanced up at her mother, and then remembered her Bible school training. “Thus, I have read 1 Corinthians 13:4–8. May the Lord add a blessing to the readers and doers of his Word.”

“Now tell me, have you been patient and kind with Semaj?”

Feeling shamed Ellen shook her head no.

“Have you been jealous, bragging, or arrogant?”

Ellen nodded to indicate yes and wiped away a tear.

“I don't think I need to go any further. You understand what I'm getting at. You say that you love the man, but you also admit that you haven't been acting like it.”

Closing the Bible and placing it back on the table, Ellen turned to her mother to protest. “Neither has he, Mom. He hasn't acted like he loves me in several weeks.”

“You are not responsible for the way that Semaj acts. You are only responsible for the way that you act. Now if you could honestly say to me that you'd been acting like the strong Christian woman that I raised you to be, and he was acting a complete fool, then I'd applaud your decision to call off your wedding. But we both know that's not the truth, is it?”

“No, ma'am,” she answered.

“Now dry up those tears, girl. Both you and Semaj are under a lot of pressure and stress with this upcoming wedding. I don't know everything he's said or done, but I believe that it all has a logical explanation. Be patient; give him some time. How are you going to have a long happy marriage if you give up after your first fight?”

Ellen grabbed a tissue from the box on the end table and blew her nose. “I guess you're right, Mom. I didn't even think about the pressure he must be under. He's been swamped at work covering the disappearance of Wayne James in addition to his anchoring duties. I'm going to give him a call.”

“You don't have to call him today. First, you need to meditate on this scripture and pray about the entire situation. Then when you've got a clear head, give him a call, and I bet everything will be fine. Besides, I've been living on nothing but Slim Fast and grilled chicken for two months to fit into my dress, so
somebody
is getting married.” Deloris laughed loudly, and then nudged Ellen until she laughed also.

Shortly after her mother left, Ellen gently picked up her wedding gown, placed it on a padded hanger, and carefully put it inside the custom garment bag she'd purchased. Then she hung it up in the back of her bedroom closet.

In order to relax and meditate on the scriptures her mother had given her, Ellen decided to draw herself a hot bath. She undressed, and then lowered her body into the tub to soak. As she lay there relaxing and praying, the Spirit led her back to her first date with Semaj.

Initially she was hesitant to go out with a news reporter. Watching the news each week, she'd developed a serious mistrust of all people in the media. While she was sure the majority of the stories they reported were true, Ellen also believed that much of what they reported was slanted in favor of the reporter's views. It wasn't until she found out about Semaj's work with missing and exploited children and adults that she decided to give him a whirl.

The disaster with Butterbean, as well as a string of bad dates after that had soured her on allowing men to come to her apartment. So instead, she asked Semaj to meet her at the restaurant. That way, if things went badly, she would have her own car to escape in. Also as usual, she'd had someone meet her there as her backup plan. This time, she'd asked Melanie and Latisha to take a seat at the bar and observe. Ellen knew that her sorority sisters would not hesitate to walk right up to the table and rudely end the date if needed.

However, she should not have bothered. The date was amazing. The two of them found that they had many things that made them total opposites. While Ellen loved gospel music, jazz, and R&B soul, Semaj admitted to being a big fan of Christian rap, but Jay-Z was his favorite artist.

They both loved movies, but Ellen like horror and suspense films, while Semaj preferred comedies and action flicks. Even with those differences, they each felt that the other was the yin to their yang. Regardless of their taste in movies, books, and music, they shared the core values that mattered most. They were both Christians who believed that their faith in God and love for their families was more important than any material possession. They loved kids and both dreamed of being parents one day. Ellen felt safe in his presence, and something inside her told her that Semaj would not only be good to her, he'd also be good for her.

During dinner, he'd shared with her that his mother had died tragically while he was an infant, and he'd been raised by his grandparents. They were kind and loving people, and he'd had a wonderful childhood. He also shared that during the spring of his senior year in high school, both of his grandparents had been killed together in a terrible traffic accident caused by a truck driver who'd put in too many hours and fallen asleep at the wheel. As sad as it made him, Semaj told her that he realized it was for the best, as neither of them would have wanted to go on living without the other. Their love was an eternal one, and he hoped to be able to find the same kind of love some day. Ellen was so captivated by Semaj that she found herself swooning at the sound of his voice. Just in case her judgment was clouded by the number of horrible dates she'd had, she decided to excuse herself from the table to speak with her girls at the bar and get their opinion.