“So what?”
“Those apron strings were hard to cut. You were angry when he married Mindy against your recommendations. Yet when he and his wife went through problems, he cried on your shoulder an awful lot, didn’t he.”
“Yes. There’s nothing wrong with relying on your family.”
“How many times did you say, ‘I told you so’ and make him feel badly for not following your advice?” He paused, “you would give him advice, correct?”
“Did you encourage him to take Mindy to Pittsburgh and source out a blonde, white woman to scam similar in size and posture to Mindy and steal their child from her?”
“Objection!” the lawyer for Imani was on his feet and the judge agreed.
The lawyer waved it off, “When did Prince tell you Mindy lied about being pregnant?” When she hesitated, the lawyer pushed, “you’re under oath, Mrs. Robinson and I’ll remind you, as the good Christian woman your lawyer swears you are, you put your hand on a bible.”
“He told me the same afternoon. I noted right away he’d been surprised by her announcement. I got him alone and he told me the truth. He found a surrogate back in Pittsburgh who was having his baby. He said he intended to introduce Famke as a friend they’d made in Pittsburgh, and she’d be part of their life but only as a friend. Mindy would be the baby’s mother and because of this, Mindy wanted to keep the secret.”
“Yes.”
“What was your advice to him?”
“I told him to let Mindy have her lie. If it was what she needed to feel good, then to go with it. Nobody needed to know the truth, but I expressed my concerns with Famke being part of the narrative. I told him to tread carefully.”
“When did your son first tell you he was falling in love with Ms. Noor.”
“As the pregnancy progressed at any time did Mr. Robinson tell you outright that he and Ms. Noor were in a relationship?”
“He said he was in love with her.”
“This wasn’t my question. Did he tell you at any time Ms. Noor reciprocated his feelings?”
“You mean he was keeping secrets from you?”
“He stopped taking my calls. Eventually, he told me he was thinking of moving to Pittsburgh permanently and it was then I knew he was in over his head.”
“He wasn’t going to!”
“Becauseyou forbid it.”
“Yes, because he wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“He was acting like a fool. He was talking about not drafting up adoption papers and coming clean to Famke about all the lies he’d told and confessing he loved her. He wanted to file a divorce from Mindy and raise his baby with this gold digger who used him to pay her brother’s medical bills. I told him it was too much of a risk! He was going to lose everything. Their prenuptial agreement gave Mindy most of his fortune if he left her, especially for someone else. I told him to get his kid and get the hell out of there before he made the biggest mistake of his life.”
“I told him to take his child, like he was meant to all along, and bring her home.”
“I’ll allow it.”The judge waved Imani to answer.
“I’ll remind you Mrs. Robinson, your entire family is here. You’ve alienated them all with your shenanigans. Wouldn’t you like to clear the air for them all?”
“Yes!” Imani raised her voice, losing her cool. “Fine! I did it. He told me how Famke was all about honesty and telling it like it was and how she was so different from Mindy because she was honest to a fault. I realized if she found out he’d lied about everything from his name to where they were from, he’d likely have to fight her and lose Mindy and his life would be ruined.”
“I did what I needed to do to save my son.”
“Are you suggesting your son, who was a grown man, was incapable of making his own decisions?”
“That’s right! He was. He wasforever making emotional andstupid choices with his life.”
“Yes. He called me when baby was hooked up to monitors and told me he was terrified Famke was going to die but he played it cool with Mindy because she suspected his feelings for her. I told him to take the baby and leave. He could airlift her to the New York hospital and get treatment there. It’s what he did.” She whispered her admission as her side of the courtroom gasped, clearly having believed Imani was wrongly accused since she’d been asserting her innocence all along.
“That was fast,” Cliff whispered as he wrapped an arm around Famke’s shoulder and patted Royal’s back.
The lawyer and Imani stood up to face the judge and the judge gave a sigh.
Famke was stunned and she knew none of them thought she would actually get any jail time andfully expected she would only be heavily fined.
Imani was handcuffed and at the sight of her being taken away, her chin held high, Famke heard Cliff’s intake of breath.She gave them all a single nod before exiting the court room.
Famke reached out to Cliff as they all rose from their seats. “Are you okay?”
“No.” He whispered as he hugged her to his side.“But I will be. We will be.” He reached for Royal and Jubi. “It’s time for us to start healing.”
“You should be ashamed,” Amari spoke from across the aisle as they began to filter out. “She only ever wanted what was best for her children and now she’s going to jail!”
“All I know is my sister is hurting. She lost her son ten months ago. She’s lost you, Royal, Jubi and Precious and for what?”
“For her own pride,” Royal spoke softly. “She lost it all on account of her pride. Secrets like these destroy families, not build them up. She didn’t have to lose us all. She simply needed to make it right and she refused all because of her pride.” Royal stared hard at his mother’s sister, “you need to sit down and think for yourself about how you would feel if the woman in Famke’s situation was your daughter. Think long and hard aboutwhether or not you wouldn’t have demanded at the very least an apology and how far you would go to protect your daughter, Amari. I know for Precious, I’d fight to the death. My girls come first for me. They always will.”
He tugged Famke to his side and the quartet exited the courthouse with a sense of closure and the hope for a fresh start for them all. It was time to move on.