Sneak peek
“The Prodigal Son”
Prologue (5 years later . . .)
Aisha freezes; anxiety fills her mind overflowing into her being. Could it be? Have her ears deceived her, is she having some sort of auditory hallucination? She wants to believe that it’s true, yet dreads knowing the truth. So, her body remains fixed to its spot on the floor.
“
“Did he say,
Forcing herself to turn around, Aisha comes face to face with her Achilles heel. He hasn’t noticed her, not yet, but she knows. His face, eyes, lips, the shape of his body, the beautiful locs that now hang midway his back all let her know, it’s him. And then her eyes follow the direction of his gaze. The little boy is his image; skin the color of butterscotch ice cream, eyes the greenest of green. She feels as though she knows him. As if this child, could be her own. “
She finds herself thinking back, calculating time, days, months, years. “
Adaliah’s protective instinct kicks in and he looks to see who has startled his son. It takes a moment, but the familiarity of the young lady finally registers.
“Aisha? Hey . . . hey! How’ve you been?” He approaches her, his out stretched hand touching her arm.
“I’ve been fine. And you?”
“Great. When did you get back in town?”
“I’ve been back for a while. I guess about nine months now.”
He smiles, remembering how sweet she had been those five years ago. His smile is also in response to how beautiful Aisha has become. “You look fantastic Isha; I always knew you’d be something special one day.”
“How old is your son?” There, she asked him. She had to know, needed to know that this child was younger than theirs would have been. That
Adaliah sighes; her question catches him off guard. He figured that sooner or later this moment would come; he just didn’t expect it to be today.
“
Aisha notices the baby girl in his arms for the first time. She is gorgeous. Her sandy brown hair hangs in ringlets gently caressing her face. She has the most beautiful blue-gray eyes with lashes that any woman would kill for. Her complexion is the color of toasted almonds and her little mouth is drawn into the perfect pout.
It suddenly dawns on Aisha that Adaliah is wearing a wedding band.
“Brandi is right,” she said to herself, “he has gone on with his life.”
“You were having another baby? At the same time as us . . .? You had another baby?” The shock and disbelief that Aisha feels is written all over her face.
“Isha, what I did then was wrong. And I know we need to talk. But please, don’t do this in front of my children. Here, take my card, call me, we’ll talk later.” Placing the toddler onto the floor, he reaches into his wallet and hands her, his business card.
“The Prodigal Son, huh?” She said glancing at the card.
“Yeah, it’s the name of my ministry. And I guess it’s also the story of my life.”
Aisha looks down feeling Amani’s gentle tug on her pants. The baby smiles and says, “Hi,” waving her hand in the air.
As she looks at her, a flood of emotions fill Aisha’s heart. She doesn’t know whether to cry, or return the baby’s friendly gesture. Reaching down, she gathers the little girl into her arms. “She could have been ours. Both of them could have been ours.”
“Come on Aisha, please, not now. I promise we’ll talk. Just. Not. Right. Now.”
Just then an impatient
Adaliah smiles at his son. “Ok, let’s go.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your little family time.” Aisha said sarcastically, handing Amani to her dad.
The look on Adaliah’s face betrays the remorse he feels for all that he’s put Aisha through. Deep inside he realizes he has to make amend for his mistake, only he doesn’t know how.
Turning on her heels Aisha walks away, not looking back. “Call me Isha, we’ll talk.” She hears him say. Still she keeps her course. “Isha, call me!” Adaliah yells after her once more. Only did she turn when she hears Amani’s goodbyes. At this point all she can do is wave. Tears have choked her voice.
