Her Secret Life Read online

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A summer at Martha’s Vineyard with the Richards was completely unexpected, but it was a welcome surprise. Dr. Richard even bought her a first-class plane ticket, just like she was one of the family. He could’ve put her on the Greyhound bus for all Onika cared. She was just happy to have somewhere to spend the summer other than with her grandmother.

  On the way to the house from the airport, in their chartered car, Jaime made Onika uncomfortable with his stares. She hadn’t forgotten the way he’d touched her, and the threat that he’d made if she ever told. He didn’t have to worry about her telling. Onika knew better than to ruin her chance to experience their rich and fabulous life.

  “Nikki, congratulations on making the dean’s list this year,” Dr. Richard said. “Maybe your scholastic prowess will influence Chelsea.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Richard. I work really hard on my studies.”

  “Call me Ben while we’re on vacation,” he said. “We are happy to have you at Robinson. I enjoy young people who value their education.”

  “Daddy, Nikki has to keep her grades up. She is on scholarship,” Chelsea said.

  “So are you. A parentally funded scholarship,” Ben said. “And as your benefactor, I’m requesting that you work a bit harder at your studies.”

  “Yes, Daddy. I will. I got a bit sidetracked this year.”

  Jaime laughed and shook his head. “You got more than sidetracked. You fell off the rails. If you hadn’t passed your finals, you’d be on academic probation. Not a good look, little sister.”

  Chelsea scowled at Jaime. Onika hated to be the vehicle for the shaming of her Robinson sister. Especially by Jaime. If she had told about his behavior, he’d be on more than academic probation. He’d probably be expelled.

  “Everyone has to make sure they stay on task,” Onika said. “There are more ways to mess up than by failing classes.”

  Dr. Richard nodded. “That is the truth. I can’t tell you how many scholars I know who have ruined their lives chasing a woman or hitting the booze too hard.”

  Onika glanced at Jaime and lifted an eyebrow. He scowled but was quiet. He didn’t want her to go there, and she wouldn’t unless he made her.

  “So these two are probably pledging Epsilon Phi Beta next year,” Jaime said. “I suppose I’ll have to treat them nice, because they’ll be my sorority sisters.”

  “You should be treating them kindly anyway, because they’re black women. We should uplift one another,” Dr. Richard said.

  Mrs. Richard nodded. “I’m always torn about the value of our Greek organizations when I hear things like this come out of the mouths of our sons and daughters. They are not supposed to be about separatism and elitism. The focus is on service, scholarship, and making a difference.”

  Dr. Richard burst into laughter. “But you and all of your sorority sisters are one elite bunch. You’ll be meeting for tea and cucumber sandwiches while we’re on the Vineyard. You can’t get any more elite than that.”

  “Girls, just remember, when you pledge, that the true spirit of Epsilon Phi Beta has nothing to do with tea parties. It’s about the work that we do in our communities. How we reach back and pull other women up.”

  Mrs. Richard had looked at Onika when she said “reach back.” It didn’t bother Onika that she was Mrs. Richard’s charity project case. She didn’t mind one bit. It was no worse than receiving hand-me-downs her whole life. She wasn’t offended by it in the least.

  “We vacation with a group of friends,” Chelsea said. “The mothers of these families are all my mom’s sorority sisters from Robinson. Some of the fathers are Kappa Phi Lambda, like dad. We’ve grown up with their kids. They almost feel like cousins.”

  “Kissing cousins,” Jaime said.

  He was so disgusting. Onika wanted to punch him in the throat every time he opened his mouth.

  “Well, he’s not lying,” Dr. Richard said. “The young people pair off quite a bit, and even get married to each other sometimes.”

  “There are a few outliers, though,” Mrs. Richard said.

  “True. But this is a good group of people to meet, Onika,” Dr. Richard said. “Many connections to be made if you network.”

  “Many husbands to be found if you flirt,” Chelsea said.

  Mrs. Richard laughed. “That is true as well. You will meet some of the best of the best here. Consider this your coming-out party.”

  “We need to have a cotillion just for Onika. Did you all do that in Durham?” Chelsea asked.

  Onika was sure that someone in Goldsboro had tried to have a cotillion. They’d probably spelled it wrong and called it a cuhtillion or something crazy like that. And it was probably at the church, with all the girls wearing first Sunday white dresses and church usher gloves. Even if they had done it, they hadn’t invited Onika. Here she was going to Martha’s Vineyard, where presidents went for the summer, and at home she wasn’t fit for any of their fake society customs.

  Onika wished her grandmother could see her now and try to tell her that she was nothing. Earlene would have to shut her mouth. She’d probably marvel and call it the work of God.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Onika first saw him at the villas’ community pool. He was all muscles and caramel, sun-kissed and god-kissed to perfection. He was already staring her way when she noticed him. She was so glad she’d chosen the white string bikini. It left nothing to the imagination but could probably stir a fantasy or two. The low-rise bottoms clung to every inch of her hips and behind, except the stubborn round tops of her buttocks, which wanted to play peekaboo.

  As she neared him, she calculated that he was at least ten years older than she was. Maybe more. But she felt drawn to him, nonetheless.

  Then he smiled at her and walked toward her. He took his time, didn’t rush. Onika’s feet stopped moving. She stood still. Waited for him to approach her.

  “I’m Aaron,” he said. “You’re with Ben’s family, correct? I thought maybe they had one-upped everyone this year and brought staff, but you’re clearly not the help.”

  Onika’s fantasy came crashing down in her mind. This guy was a jerk.

  “Nah. Not the help. A friend.”

  Onika walked past him to the lavish pool chairs surrounding the pristine blue water. It was an infinity pool with a view of the ocean. Onika intended to enjoy it.

  Aaron followed her. She knew he would when he got a glimpse of her hips and behind, but she wasn’t interested anymore. She was easy to turn on, but even easier to turn off.

  “Does the friend have a name?”

  “Nikki,” she said, although she had no intention of conversing with him. She just knew that if she didn’t tell him, he would probably never leave.

  “Let me guess; you’re a Robinette. You look like one. Kinda stuck up like one.”

  “Not stuck up at all. You decided you didn’t want to know me when you said you thought I was a maid or something.”

  “It wasn’t an insult. But then again, I don’t think I’m better than the people I pay to clean up after me.”

  Onika felt insulted and scolded at the same time. He turned to walk away, then came back.

  “You look very good in white. Wear a white dress to dinner, and we can share a glass of wine.”

  This time when he walked away, Onika didn’t know what she felt. Intrigue? Maybe.

  * * *

  Onika wore a white dress to dinner.

  She got the feeling that she was playing chicken with the devil, but he was too fine to resist. He said nothing to her, but stared her down the entire evening as if they were the only two people in the room. Like no one noticed him noticing her.

  After dinner, out by the pool, Chelsea pulled Onika to a quiet corner.

  “Are you flirting with Aaron?” she asked.

  “Not really. Unless you consider flirting his ogling me like a creep.”

  “Oh. ’Cause I was gonna say, he’s thirty.”

  “Ewww. . .”

&nb
sp; Onika fake giggled with Chelsea. She knew better than to let her friend know what was going on with her and Aaron. It wasn’t her business, but more importantly, it wasn’t Chelsea’s parents’ business.

  “Well, be careful,” Chelsea said. “He’s rich and he likes young girls.”

  “He wants a sugar baby, then?”

  Chelsea swallowed hard. “I guess so. Yes.”

  “But that’s not who you meant when you suggested that to me.”

  “Oh no! I meant someone really old, who wouldn’t want to have sex with you.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  Chelsea stared at Onika in disbelief. That look let Onika know that Chelsea could never be privy to her secrets. There was judgment in her gaze, and Onika had already struggled enough in life. She wasn’t going to allow someone to judge her for her choices. Onika let her feel uncomfortable for half a second, and then she burst into laughter.

  “I am messing with you, girl.”

  “Oh. You scared me. I thought you were actually considering it.”

  “I wish you could’ve seen your face. Honestly, though, there are a lot of women married to a man ten years their senior. Don’t rule him out. He might be your husband.”

  “No thank you.”

  Onika bet Mrs. Richard had a different opinion on the matter even if she didn’t tell her daughter about it. Mrs. Richard was a woman who’d improved her station in life by marrying a rich man.

  If Onika was bold enough and savvy enough, she just might’ve asked Mrs. Richard for some tips on how to catch a rich man.

  CHAPTER TEN

  As it turned out, Onika didn’t need anyone’s tips or help in landing Aaron. He was all in from the first moment, and Onika was ready to be plucked like a ripe peach. Everything about their courtship was more exciting because it was secret, yet in plain sight.

  Their first date was an early-morning bike ride through the State Forest. It rained, but they went anyway. They shared uncontrollable laughter when Aaron fell off his bike and into a tangle of muddy bushes. Soaked through from their adventure, they snuck back into their respective villas with no one even noticing they’d been gone.

  At the huge community dinners that happened twice a week, Onika and Aaron exchanged intimate glances while having conversations with other people. It was a game they played. How many times could he look at her while talking to another person, without the other person noticing?

  They were ill-equipped to play this little game, however, because their secret was discovered almost immediately.

  At lunch, on their third week of vacation, Mrs. Richard cornered Onika in her and Chelsea’s bedroom. She marched into the room and slammed the door.

  “What are you doing, Nikki?” Mrs. Richard asked.

  Onika wondered if she knew about Aaron, if they’d been that obvious. Onika was absolutely in high spirits since their courtship had started. Waking early, disappearing all day, and going to bed late.

  “I don’t know what you mean, Mrs. Richard.”

  Onika backed away as Mrs. Richard advanced with her index finger pointed in Onika’s face.

  “If you’re trying to seduce Aaron, you’re making a mistake.”

  “I am not trying to seduce anyone, Mrs. Richard.”

  She laughed. “Oh, I guess you suppose that you’re seeing a new boy and then what? You go together?”

  “I’m not sure that . . .”

  “Don’t stand here and lie to my face, Nikki. I see the two of you exchanging glances and sneaking off at the same time. You’re playing a dangerous game, girl. He’s a grown man, and you are not ready.”

  “Not ready for what?” Onika asked. Maybe Mrs. Richard had forgotten that she was grown, too. She wasn’t afraid of anything concerning Aaron.

  “You’re not ready for what comes with a man like Aaron. He is not like the boys on campus. He will have demands and needs that will be fulfilled whether you’re willing or not.”

  “You don’t know Aaron, Mrs. Richard. He’s actually very much like the boys on campus. He’s sweet, funny, and awkward.”

  “Girl, Aaron is neither sweet nor awkward. He’s got you fooled, which lets me know even more that you will never survive a relationship with him.”

  “I’m just following your example. Trying to improve my station by marrying well.”

  “Oh sweetie, he’s not interested in marrying you. You aren’t a wife yet. Right now, you are a piece of fresh tail. If you want help in marrying well, I can help you find the right one.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Richard. I welcome your help and your guidance.”

  “The first thing you’ll have to do is cease this foolishness with Aaron. Once your reputation is tarnished, there’s no getting that back.”

  Onika valued Mrs. Richard’s opinion, more than any woman she’d ever met. She was the only mother figure she had in her life. Much more so than Judy or her grandmother. They barely kept her alive, and Mrs. Richard wanted her to really live.

  So Onika made a choice in that moment. Several choices actually. She chose to keep seeing Aaron, because he was sexy and rich and she wanted him. She also chose to do a better job keeping the secret, and since she was no stranger to secrets, this would be easy. Aaron would be her secret man, and if he did what Mrs. Richard thought he’d do, no one would know.

  “You’re right, Mrs. Richard. I was flirting with Aaron, but he’s way too old for me. Thank you for being there for me and not letting me make a bad decision.”

  “Trust me, darling, I will have you married off at the proper time. To the proper man.”

  Until the proper time came, Onika would settle for Aaron.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Onika waited until midnight and found her way over to Aaron’s cottage. She dressed like a ninja, in all black, and moved like one, too. She wasn’t seen, and wouldn’t be from now on. No stolen glances in plain sight. That part of this was over. When she was ready to go public, it would be because Aaron was claiming her before the world.

  As it turned out, Aaron was more than happy to keep Onika’s secret. He agreed with Mrs. Richard’s words about Onika’s reputation.

  “She’s right, you know.” Aaron said when Onika shared the conversation. “I am not interested in marriage. Not anytime soon. It’ll be years before I go that route.”

  “It will be years for me, too. I’m just about to start my second year of college. I don’t want a husband right now.”

  “She is wrong about something, though,” Aaron said.

  “What’s that?”

  “That you’re just a piece of fresh tail to me. You are not like your counterparts, Nikki. Most girls your age are just about a booty call. But you’re different. You’ve got an edge that they don’t have. It’s sexy as hell, but it also means you’ll make a great life partner. Maybe with me, I’m not sure. But I’m open to it.”

  Onika wondered how he’d feel about that edge if he knew how she’d acquired it. If he knew that she was edgy because her mother smoked crack upon rising, instead of making her a bowl of cereal or pancakes for breakfast. If he knew she wasn’t shocked by his raunchy jokes, because her mother was the brunt of every raunchy joke ever written. What if he knew that her father was a pimp who died from an AIDS-related illness? Would she still be edgy or just a gutter rat that he’d pass over?

  Onika feared the answers to those questions. No one had ever looked past these things about her. She’d always been judged on Judy’s actions. She didn’t expect Aaron to be any different from the rest of the world.

  So he wouldn’t know. Wouldn’t get that opportunity. Her family was dead to her, and they were going to stay dead. No introductions to her grandmother would ever happen.

  She prayed Dr. Richard kept her secret. No, she wouldn’t just pray. Just praying hadn’t gotten her mother clean, and it hadn’t stopped her from being a whore. Instead of pray, Onika was going to do something that would actually work. She’d wait, watch, and then, at the proper moment, she’d tak
e action.

  “So what will we do when we leave here and go back to Atlanta? Will we keep seeing one another?” Onika asked.

  “Of course. It’ll be so much easier in Atlanta. It’s a huge city, and I know it well.”

  “You’ve creeped all over, huh?”

  Aaron laughed. “Sure I have. I am a man. I’ve creeped all over with many women.”

  “Just women?”

  Aaron laughed harder. “See, that’s what I mean about you. You’re extremely bold, and I love it. Not many women your age would ask that question of a guy they like.”

  “So answer the question, please.”

  “I am not into men. Not bisexual, gay, or on the down low. I do, however, love women. I can’t get enough of the touch, smell, and feel of a woman.”

  “Do you like how I touch, smell, and feel?”

  “I do, but I also love the way you think and communicate. You are mature beyond your years. They say that, when young women are as mature as you are, they’ve experienced something tragic, like rape.”

  “I’ve never been raped.”

  This was true. Earlene said it was by the grace of God that none of Judy’s men or customers had ever touched her. Some people said it was because her father was a gangster, and even though he was in the grave, folks were afraid of him. No matter the reason, Onika was glad that she didn’t have that particular testimony to share.

  “But your parents died, so that’s tragic enough.”

  She nodded. “I never really knew my father. He was long gone by the time I would’ve been old enough to remember him, but everyone who knew him says I’m his twin.”

  “He was Hispanic? You look Caribbean.”

  “I am half Puerto Rican.”

  “Do you speak Spanish?”

  “No. There was no one to teach me.”

  Actually, there was. Judy was fluent in Spanish. She’d learned it from Onika’s father, and they used it to speak to one another in code around the crackheads in the neighborhood. It was a random story Onika’s grandmother had shared when Onika had found Judy nodding in a corner, speaking Spanish.