Chapter 12
Eminence Forever
Five weeks after Kiara gave birth to Jahzara, everyone in the Communications Department received pink, green, and white card stock invitations in their office mailboxes. Even Alexis got one. She stood with her mouth wide open as she read the wording:
You Are Cordially Invited to the Baby Shower
Honoring Nicole Kelly Greene
To Welcome
Her Baby Girl
Eminence Forever
Hosted by Shyla Perry-Fallender
On
Saturday, May 23 at 2 p.m.
at 8423 Dashwood Lane, Houston, TX
Nicole is registered at
Eddie Bauer, Babies “R” Us, and Target
Later that day after work, Alexis decided to pay Kiara a visit. She wanted to see Jazzy and check on how the new mom was doing. After they gossiped a bit and retreated to the large family room, Alexis made sure that the baby was sleep and that Kiara was sitting down before she handed her the envelope.
“What’s this?” Kiara asked.
“You’ll see.”
Kiara read the invite. She stood up. She sat back down.
“What?”
“Yes. Yes.”
“She’s naming her baby Eminence?”
“Can you believe that?”
“And they are having the shower at her place? Where Rashad stays?”
“I was afraid to tell you, but I thought you should know—”
“How utterly disrespectful. The judge is scheduled to grant the divorce in a few weeks, but for right now we’re still legally attached. What would it look like if people come to her baby shower and see that Eason and Son van up in her driveway? Why can’t she have her shower somewhere else? That burns me up. I don’t know where my phone is. Can you please get Rashad on your cell phone for me?”
Alexis paused and chose her words carefully.
“Kiara, I know you’re freaking out about Nicole’s insensitivity and you’re right to feel that way, but isn’t it time that you truly let him go?”
“What are you talking about? I’m not thinking about that man.”
“Then why are some of his things still in this house? Little things I’ve noticed; but with all due respect, stuff that should not be here.”
Kiara was tongue-tied as she examined her surroundings. Her eyes rested on the pine bookcase with six wide shelves. It held at least fifteen dusty construction industry reference books. Funny! She hadn’t noticed them until now. Upon further scrutiny, she even detected a few mementos that prominently displayed the Eason & Son logo. When she thought about it, she actually still had some of Rashad’s personal effects in the closet of her bedroom: Valentine’s Day celebration photos, touching little notes and greeting cards, and a couple of giant teddy bears that meant everything to her years ago but disgusted her now. Making a mental note, she realized it was way past time to completely be free of anything that reminded her of Rashad’s time as her spouse.
“Alexis, thanks for opening up my blinded eyes. I’ve been so busy and probably never would have noticed,” Kiara said in all sincerity. “All of his shit has got to go. Now I need you to get him on the phone, because I still won’t have Nicole Greene continue to act slick and do this highly inappropriate baby shower.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Alexis was more than willing to do whatever Kiara asked. Ever since little Jazz was born, she and Kiara had made a truce.
It happened unexpectedly.
Kiara’s body was healing and she was still on maternity leave, but she had cabin fever. When her daughter was four weeks old, she bundled up the baby. They went for a long ride. She ended up outside the building where she worked on the college campus. Shyla Perry-Fallender happened to be walking past just as Kiara arrived and parked. Shyla texted Nicole that the baby just arrived and she should come see. It wasn’t long before a tiny crowd of Kiara’s staff had gathered next to her vehicle, smiling and waving at Jazz.
When Nicole blurted, “I’m not sure who this baby looks like,” Alexis jumped in.
“Little Jazz is legitimate. She’s born inside of a marriage. That’s the only thing that sensible people need to know.”
Nicole shut her mouth. And Kiara knew Alexis had her back from then on. And she promised to do the same for Alexis, no hard feelings.
So after Alexis spoke with Rashad on the phone, the two women chatted and took care of Jazz. Less than twenty minutes later, Rashad pulled up in the driveway of the Fresno house. He got out of the car and felt a jolt of nostalgia. There were the potted plants that he’d bought for Kiara a couple years ago. And he recognized the wooden bench that a carpenter friend had made especially for him.
“Pieces of me are still here,” he said with pride as he traveled up the walkway and rang the doorbell.
Alexis let him in.
“Well, damn, it’s like that?”
“It’s like that,” she said.
“And knowing Kiara, she’s probably the one that gave you the bright idea to file for child support. I was already taking care of Hayley. So did Kiara put you up to getting the courts involved?”
“You’re so off base, Rashad, it’s laughable.”
“Why’d you have to go and do something like that when we had our own financial arrangement?”
“Because of that insane chick that you live with . . . I had to protect my daughter. Couldn’t take any chances. Plus the extra hundreds of dollars a month truly helps out.”
“I love my daughter and will do whatever to help her, but don’t remind me.”
“Bye, Rashad.”
At that, Alexis made herself disappear so he and Kiara could have some privacy.
Rashad looked around the house, scoping out anything that seemed foreign and different.
Kiara was waiting on him. He said hello to her before he started rambling. “Man, I miss this house. I can remember the day we closed on this place and moved in. All those damned boxes scattered everywhere. Remember that, Ki?”
“Ki? You haven’t called me that in I don’t know when.”
“Tell me about it.”
Kiara discreetly looked at his left hand. He wasn’t wearing his wedding band. Good!
“Anyway, it feels weird to be back in this house. It kind of smells the same . . . except more like a baby . . .”
He kept babbling on and on until Kiara said, “Please be quiet, Rashad.”
She invited him to go sit in the dining room.
“Have a seat.”
He sat.
“There’d be very few reasons that I’d want to see you back on these premises, Rashad, but something has happened that I think you need to handle.”
“What? What happened? Are the kids all right?”
“Here, look at this.”
She handed him the shower invitation.
“This,” she said, “is an insult.”
“What? Oh. Yeah.”
“What’s up with that name?”
Rashad’s face contorted with anger as he realized what was bothering Kiara.
“Hold on, don’t tell me you’re trying to tell us . . . I mean her what she can name her baby. That’s her baby.”
“I know, but isn’t it shady for Nicole to do something like that? My baby’s first name means ‘princess who is blessed,’ yet she’s naming her kid Eminent or some shit like that.”
“Eminence. It means ‘greatness’ or ‘prominence.’ ”
“I see. Prominence Forever. When did she come up with that?”
“It’s Eminence. And I don’t know when she thought of it.”
“You know. You know damned well Nicole thought of that name right after I had Jazzy and asked Alexis to send an email to the staff announcing our daughter’s birth. I got great feedback from my employees and people texted me excited about Jazzy’s name and her baby photos. And I remember back then, someone mentioned that Nicole was supposed to name her child Tristan. To me that sounds much better. So I don’t understand how you can let her change her mind and end up printing these invites.”
“Kiara, are you blaming me for what Nicole does? Because, guess what? I can’t completely control her. And you can’t either. You’re just going to have to ignore her and stop letting her get under your skin.”
“Really, Rashad?”
“Yes, really. Because you can’t be calling me in crisis mode every time that woman does something that you aren’t feeling.”
“You know what. This is rare, but I actually agree with you. She and I are two different women. Why would I expect her to think and behave just like me? I don’t know what you ever saw in her.”
“Calm down, Kiara, and tell me something. Why can’t you simply get Nicole on the phone yourself instead of always putting me in the middle of your beefs?”
“Because it’s damn near impossible to hold a rational conversation with her. It’s almost like if you’re a woman, she wants to fight with you. There’s just something off about her. All I know is that she’s extremely competitive. And two highly competitive women can rarely see eye to eye.” She paused and wished he could understand. “The reason that I get you involved is because you may not control her but you stand a much better chance of reasoning with Nicole. You’ve got her whipped. And you can try to get through to her for me. Just ask her to reconsider. Make up something. I’ll even help suggest alternate names. Just do not let her name that baby Eminence and hold the shower at your house.”
“If I do that for you, what are you going to do for me?”
“That sounds like a loaded question. So what exactly are you talking about?”
“Hold on a sec. I gotta use the men’s room.” Rashad rushed from Kiara’s presence and ended up in his former master bedroom. Alexis was perched on a chair toying with her cell phone. She glanced up when he walked in.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked.
“I had to use the men’s room.”
“Oh.”
“May I see the baby? Is she here?”
“I think you’d better clear it first through Kiara.”
“Why do I always have to make sure it’s okay with Kiara first? Do you know how powerless that makes me feel?”
Alexis said nothing.
“Skillet, you know me. You are probably one of the few reasonable women in my life, even though I hate that you filed on me.”
“It had to be done.”
He frowned and sighed. “Anyway, why is Kiara acting like this?”
“Are you serious? She’s hurt. You hurt her. I hurt her. Hurt people do hurt things.”
“What can I do to make it better? Make things change so she can stop punishing me?”
“To be honest, Rashad, I have no idea.”
“But you were able to get on her good side. I don’t see you two going at it like enemies. Why is that?”
“Maybe it’s because I decided I needed to forget about myself and think about Kiara. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes helps you to understand them. Rashad, you can be a selfish asshole and until you change your ways, you’ll keep getting the same results. Now I would suggest that you don’t bother her about anything. She is still trying to heal from everything that happened, and whether you like it or not, she deserves to be happy.”
Rashad studied the ceiling for a moment. It would probably be the last time he ever set foot in the bedroom again and maybe even the house. He remembered how Myles would come and jump in the bed and settle in between him and Kiara so he could go to sleep. Back then he hated the interruption, but now he longed for that experience again. Rashad felt tons of regret, but it seemed too late to change the time. “Thanks, Alexis. I may not agree with you all the time, but you’ve always kept it real with me.”
“Sometimes we need that.”
“All right, let me go use the restroom and I’ll get outta here real soon. I probably do need to have a conversation with Nicole.”
“You do that. And good luck.” And she meant it.
He returned to the dining room. “Look, you don’t have to do anything for me, Kiara. Forget I ever asked. I will talk to Nicky. The decision, though, will be hers, all right?”
“Thanks for trying.”
When Rashad got home and confronted Nicole about the invitations, she feigned innocence.
“Babe, it’s all my fault. I tried to change the content on the invites but it was too late. But don’t worry. That name isn’t written in stone.”
“Good,” he said, relieved. “Don’t decide right now. But once she is born, look at her and the expression on her face will tell you what she wants to be called.”
Nicole just stared at Rashad and said, “Will do.”
* * *
One day before Nicole’s due date, she was getting dressed to go to work. She was running late. It was seven a.m. When she was in the laundry room looking for some fresh underwear, her water broke.
“I guess this is it,” she said to herself.
Nicole found her cell phone and placed a call to Shyla.
“Hey, girl, what you doing calling me so early?”
“It’s time. Can you meet me at the Southwest Memorial?”
“Oh, wow. Do you want me to come get you?”
“No, I think I can drive myself.”
“Where is Rashad?”
“Before he left for work he told me he was going to have a very busy day. I tried getting him on the phone, but it went into voice mail. I can’t worry about it. This baby is not going to wait on him, and I’m not either. So you gonna have to be my baby daddy for a minute.”
“I’m on my way.”
* * *
It was June fifth.
Nicole felt some kind of way about having to drive to the hospital while she was in labor.
When she tried calling Rashad again, she couldn’t get him. She called Shyla once more.
“Where are you?”
“Nicole, I’m on the way. How far along are the contractions?”
“They’re not too bad, I guess. Hell, I don’t know.” She paused. “I need you to call into the job and let the boss lady know I probably won’t make it in today. I wish I knew where Rashad was.” Nicole hung up and drove to the visitor parking lot. Shyla pulled in a few cars behind her.
They hurried to check in and she was admitted.
“Um, Nicole,” Shyla said as she was being wheeled down the hospital corridor.
“Yeah?”
“Our boss is out of the office today. Alexis told me that today is their final court date for the divorce proceedings. They are on the docket for nine-thirty. Actually, I saw this info on the Internet, but I thought you’d have your baby after their case was completed.”
Nicole wasn’t surprised. In her mind, it seemed that somehow Kiara Eason was always trying to upstage her.
“I’m so sorry. I know you wanted Rashad to be there with you. I know how superstitious you are.”
“I hate that this is going on right while I’m in labor, but what else can I do? Ask my doctor to delay my baby’s birth another twenty-four hours? It sucks, but even if Rashad can’t make it in time, he’s going to be an involved father. That much I know.”
Hours later, at 1:06 p.m., Eminence Forever came into the world screaming her lungs out. Nicole took one look at her and decided yes, she was royalty, so the name sticks. The bundle of joy had a head full of hair and was a mixture of pink and brown. Nicole was instantly in love and was very happy and grateful for her child, even though Rashad wasn’t there to witness his daughter’s birth. It didn’t matter to her because Nicole was thinking that by the time she returned home from the hospital, her married boyfriend would finally be divorced and completely hers.
The first thing Nicole did after her daughter was born was set up her Instagram account. She posted photo after photo whenever Eminence had any new developments. Her constant hashtag was #EminenceForever or #NicolesFinest.
When her daughter was two weeks old, Nicole wanted to go to the mall. She asked Rashad to go with her. She wanted to be sensitive to him since he had just survived the divorce and she wanted to again clarify the settlement terms.
“So are you sure we are going to be financially all right, babe?”
“What? Oh, yeah. We kept our respective vehicles and will pay off our own credit card bills. We got joint custody, which is what I really wanted to have. And the best thing about it, Eason and Son Contractors was considered separate property since my daddy founded that company. So that’s all mine. Our bank accounts were split, even the secret account she tried to hide. But our profit sharing and my retirement were divided. And, of course, they got me good on child support.”
“Ouch, that sounds like a whole lot.”
“If it weren’t for my business, I’d be screwed. I took a little bit of a hit, but it just means I have to work harder, accept bigger projects, and keep grinding.”
“Whatever you need to do, I’m here for you, babe.”
“Thank you, my ride or die.”
When they arrived at the shopping center, she asked Rashad if it would be all right to purchase a few items for Emmy—her baby’s nickname. He said absolutely. Excited and grateful, Nicole bought Disney rompers, a dozen onesies, Mickey Mouse bath robes, and a nanny cam.
“Why’d you get this nanny cam?”
“When I go back to work, there’s no way in hell I’m going to place my child in a daycare center. So many questionable things go on in those places. I won’t take any chances. So I’ve already started interviewing nannies, Rashad.”
“Nannies? Are you kidding me?”
“I’m very serious. Emmy is going to get the best care by a highly recommended nanny. I’ll make sure that she really loves children and I will contact as many references as I can. I will hire her a week before I return to work. And you best believe my eyes will be monitoring her whenever she’s in our house.”
“I don’t think we need a hidden camera. That’s like an invasion of privacy. We will just have to trust her.” Rashad argued with Nicole about the pros and cons of paying for peace of mind. And they both decided to get a nanny but scratched the idea of a nanny cam. Nicole promised to return the camera and get a refund.
The first time Kiara saw Emmy was a day she’d never forget. Five weeks and three days after the start of Nicole’s maternity leave, Nicole made a comeback appearance at work.
Kiara had actually just returned from lunch. Alexis went with her that day. They ate at a Louisiana grub hole-in-the-wall near downtown. So when Kiara pulled up to her parking space in the employee parking lot next to their building, she was more than curious when she noticed an unusual scene.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked Alexis.
“Maybe that’s the president’s car?”
The president of Texas South West University usually was chauffeured around the campus either in his deluxe golf cart or a state-issued luxury vehicle.
“This is not President Hoffman’s Escalade.”
A sleek black late-model town car was parked at an angle in the lot right in front of Kiara’s reserved parking space. A uniformed chauffeur leaned against the passenger side of the car.
“You’d think Beyoncé had just popped by the campus for a visit.”
Alexis said, “I think she has. And she must be carrying Blue Ivy.” She pointed at Nicole, who was dressed like she was going to the club. She had on six-inch heels and a short black dress that exposed her thighs. She wore dark sunglasses and was pushing a baby carriage that had all the works. Bottle holders on each side. A stroller base and a rocker base. It had a sunshade to protect the child from the sun.
“Is that one of those thousand-dollar strollers that famous people buy? The Orbit Baby travel system. They call them the Lamborghinis of strollers. Look, it even has a paparazzi shade. If I didn’t see this sick shit,”—Alexis laughed—“I sure wouldn’t believe it.”
“This is just ridiculous. She’s not rich. She ain’t famous. Who does she think she is? Ciara?”
“Ciara has an adorable baby boy, so no—”
“Nicole is such a show-off. Where’d she get the money to afford that type of carriage?”
Then it clicked. Ever since Nicole became known for helping out the children during that tragic fire, the public went out of its way to help her. They deposited over twenty thousand dollars in a GoFundMe account that a total stranger started up for her.
That, combined with the fact that Nicole had hooked up with Rashad’s cash, made Kiara feel the entire scenario was so unfair; that this woman had financially benefitted from other people’s pain.
“You know what, she can do whatever she wants as long as she doesn’t touch me and mine,” Kiara decided. “I’m leaving her fate up to God. That’s what Mama Flora told me and that’s what I plan to do.”
“You’re so right, because as soon as you start plotting and scheming on Nicole’s level, you may find yourself backed into a corner so tight that you won’t be able to get out of it.”
“One day she’ll get what’s coming to her,” Kiara said. “Like she says, she’s going to do her and I think we should let her.”
“Agreed.”
And the two women walked away together and quickly changed the subject.