* *
When Burgundy was a little girl growing up in Houston, she was completely enchanted by women like Diana Ross. Even though she wasn’t born when Ms. Ross found success with the Supremes, Burgundy learned about Motown, Diana, and her hit songs because their mother, Greta Reeves, always played the most popular 60’s soul songs around their house. And early on, Burgundy would read books and magazine articles about how Miss Ross went from growing up in the Detroit Brewster projects to blazing the trail as an international superstar. Diana was a singer, an actress, and ultimately, a business woman. She’d have troubles and drama but seemed to always bounce back.
And learning from her caused Burgundy to make a decision: she wanted to be a successful, powerful black woman who ran her own businesses. She wanted a husband, a family, to create generational wealth, and make good decisions and learn from the bad ones, just like Diana. And just like Ms. Ross, Burgundy’s responsibilities meant she had to get focused and be about her business.
The very next morning, she woke up, got showered and dressed, and then greeted Liz who had just arrived at her house.
The two women usually worked together to prepare the girls for school. Cooking breakfast, packing lunches, and organizing backpacks. Liz did most of the work, but Burgundy would also pitch in if time allowed.
And on that particular Tuesday morning, she ran the girls’ bathwater while Liz got started scrambling eggs, slicing oranges, and getting the cereal bowls ready.
When Burgundy got an unexpected call from one of her employees, everything changed. She let Liz take over from there.
“Hi, Jordan. What’s up?” Jordan Andrews had been Nate’s right hand man. And these days he was practically running their Morning Glory restaurant.
“Mrs. Taylor, I just wanted you to know there was a security incident at the midtown restaurant. I’m here right now. No one has been hurt. But there is helluva lot of damage.”
“What happened?”
“I got a security text and phone call about the alarm going off. This was about an hour ago. I didn’t think it would be anything major since sometimes the alarm goes off for no good reason. But this time, there was a burglary. I hate to say it, but the robbers made off with all the cash that was left in the register.”
“I’m not worried about that. It’s just money. What was damaged?”
“The front door and a few windows. The police are here and I’ve given a statement. I was thinking you’re up and probably on your way. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Did you view the camera footage?”
“Yes. Two males. Slender. Medium height. Wearing black hoodies and masks.”
“Great. That’s all I need. We open in what, less than an hour. We may have to temporarily close the restaurant, Jordan.”
“I will wait for you to get here to decide what to do.”
“Thanks. I’m on my way.”
Burgundy tried to remain calm so as not to upset her children. She placed a quick call to Edmund who told her he’d stop by the restaurant as soon as he could.
“Edmund, I appreciate that, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea.”
“What? Why would you say that? You need my help and I want to be there for you, Burgundy, please don’t be silly about this.”
“I’m not being silly.”
“Oh, but you are. You’re worried about how it will look if I show up at your restaurant this early in the morning,” he told her. “People will put two and two together and you’re scared of what they think. They can go to hell. You’re my woman and I am going to come see about you.”
“Edmund, I don’t know about that.”
“You need to think about how you want me in your life. Because this compartmentalizing my love isn’t going to work for me. I’m either all the way in or I’m all the way out. I love you and I’ll be driving over to the restaurant to check on things.”
“Okay, come on through,” Burgundy said, and took a deep breath. Not knowing what else to do, she quickly threw on some casual clothes, ran a comb through her hair, and grabbed her purse, keys and cell phone. By then it was six-fifteen. She dialed Alita and hoped that her sister was up.
“Hey B, what you doing calling me at this time of the day? You know I don’t get up till seven.”
“I know. I’m sorry. But there’s been an emergency.”
“What happened?” Alita sounded more alert. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m on my way to Morning Glory. We got robbed last night, or rather early this morning. Jordan Andrews told me they made off with all the cash. Usually we don’t deposit our Sunday earnings until Monday and the cash is left there overnight.”
“Oh wow, B.” Alita’s heart rate increased. She felt very uneasy. She knew that she had received a few threatening text messages on Sunday morning. But she ignored them. They were from Jerrod Dawson, Dru’s ex-boyfriend. And he was the son of a man that Alita had sex with twenty years ago.
She recalled the last phone conversation she’d had with Jerrod.
“Time’s up,” he told her. Alita knew exactly what he meant. “You need to pay up, Alita.”
“I lost my second job, Jerrod.”
“Stop lying and making up excuses. I want my money.”
“I don’t have any money and I am sick of you trying to shake me down for a dollar. I don’t care about you threatening me anymore. Elyse knows she’s my daughter. Ain’t no reason for you to be blackmailing me ‘cause my family knows too and don’t care. Get a fucking life and leave me the hell alone.”
Jerrod was stunned. What used to work, him threatening her to pay him hundreds of dollars for keeping her secret, wasn’t working anymore.
And it made him angry.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well, I don’t care what you believe, Jerrod. It’s all the truth.”
“I will go to that restaurant and tell Elyse everything.”
“Leave my daughter alone. I mean that. Stay away from my family.”
“I’ll bet your son doesn’t even know he has a sister.”
“He does too know. I already told him. Go and blackmail someone else, or better yet, get a better job so you can stop using me for money. I hate your stupid ass. And you’re about to get blocked.” Alita trembled as she hung up and blocked Jerrod from calling her.
Her eyes welled with tears. She didn’t want to think about Jerrod and his threats. She just wanted peace and tranquility. And she wanted to hurry up and do what she should have done a long time ago. Tell her son Leno that Elyse was his sister and not his aunt, and stop the nightmare that began so long ago.
But considering the threatening texts that Alita received last night from an unrecognizable number, it seemed the nightmare was flaring up again.
Chapter 4
Every Woman for Herself
Alita decided to go to Morning Glory. She offered to take Elyse since she had to be at work by eight o’clock. Elyse currently worked as a hostess but Burgundy was fast-tracking her to become an assistant manager.
“Thanks for the ride,” Elyse told Alita as they traveled along the freeway. “But Gamba could have taken me like he always does.”
“Elyse, I wanted to take you to work and let you know how proud I am of you. You have done well at your psychotherapy sessions, and now it looks like you could get a promotion and