Her body turned to mush when the six-foot White woman, with dyed blond hair cut into a layered bob and a platinum streak in the front, stepped in. Impeccably dressed in a sky blue turtleneck and black shawl slung over one shoulder, she tucked her Michael Kors bag under her arm and searched the place. Her boot-cut navy-blue pants and navy heels made her look even taller. Powerful. In control.
At last, she spotted her and their gazes locked.
Kim swallowed and slowly stood. She couldn’t miss Angelique’s teary eyes, with the way they glistered. The woman’s thin, pink-painted lips were doing that little twitchy thing they always did on the rare occasions she became emotional. The woman practically stormed to her and without a word, enveloped her in a tight embrace. Her hand moved up and down her back as she trembled, as if afraid to let go.
“My baby… Oh God, I missed you, Kimberly.”
Kim pulled away and took a sharp breath before pointing to the white chair across from her. Angelique set her purse down on the table, patted her eyes with the back of her hand, and gave her the saddest smile she had ever seen. Bob Marley’s, ‘Waiting In Vain,’ played through the eatery—one of her father’s favorite musical artists—and the sound bogged her down in a depressive cloud.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Mom said, her eyes welling up once again. “I love you. That’s a good place to start, right? I have been miserable since you left, honey.”
“I understand.”
“Kimberly, I don’t think that you do. I just want to know why?”
A waitress approached, interrupting the beginning stages of a witness interrogation. The young lady was bubbly and full of smiles, relaying a host of specials for the day. Mom tossed on a more upbeat appearance as she pretended to listen intently to the woman who took her time describing a new iced peach tea in great detail, and some fresh baked cookies with raspberry filling that were to die for.
“That sounds lovely, but I’d actually like to have some of your hot jasmine tea with a squirt of lemon, no sugar. Also, I’d like one of your fruit salads. The small size. No cantaloupe, please.”
As soon as the server left, Mom was back at it.
“Why did you leave the way you did? You could have told me you needed space, Kimberly. You could have told me you needed to get away. Anything. Instead, you vanished without a trace.”
“You know why I left.”
“I promise you that I don’t. Nothing that was going on warranted you boarding a plane without telling anyone. I want to hear it from you. The truth. Straight from the horse’s mouth.”
They locked eyes again, and this time it felt like they were locking horns, too.
Kim picked up her tea and took a sip.
“I don’t want anything to do with your legal troubles. I will get roped in, and you and I both know it. It’s bad enough that it happened and you didn’t have the decency to tell me that my adoption was illegal.”
“That’s not fair… You are not taking everything into account.”
“I don’t care about what context it happened in. The bottom line is that I don’t trust you anymore.” Mom hung her head. But of course, it wasn’t because of guilt. She only felt bad about the consequences.
“Didn’t you have a good childhood, Kimberly?”
“Are you serious right now, Mom? Are you for real?!” A couple of people shot her a look as her voice rose. She leaned across the table, lowering her voice, staring at the lady who didn’t bat an eye. “You think that compensates for what you and Dad did? Sure, I had a pretty good childhood, and my birth mother was obviously not in a position to take care of me; she couldn’t even take care of herself. But to throw money at a drug addict and yank her child away from her without going through the proper channels is insane, and you and Dad were lawyers?! You knew better. What if someone found out and took me away? Don’t you think that would’ve been devastating for me? What in the hell were you thinking?”
“We were—”
“And what about my career and all of this negative publicity? I couldn’t even get on the subway without being bombarded with questions! My face was plastered all over the news. You destroyed my life! The little bit that was left I tried to salvage, so you’re damn right I left without a trace. Who would want to be around a woman who did what you did, and then when I confronted you, all but laughed in my face?”
It was then that the glow in Mom’s eyes disappeared. Her complexion drew ashen, and the tears flowed freely. And yet, she simply sat there, speechless.