Monicha sat there stunned at her mother’s revelation. Her brother wasn’t as quiet. “What do you mean you’re Matti? How?”
“The night that I was supposed to go meet your father, Patti went instead. While I was in the shower getting ready, she left a note that she was going to talk to him.” Patti looked off for a moment as if she was reliving that night all over again. “You see we had a fight. She believed Orlando was leading me on and begged me not to go.”
Monicha still didn’t say anything. She was taking in every word her mom was saying. In her heart she knew it was a reason her mom did what she did.
“So, she went to the hotel to find out for herself if Orlando really loved me or was just leading me on. I’m not sure how she planned to do that.”
“I get all of that,” Montae spat. “What I don’t get is why you said you were dead?”
“That’s my fault.” She turned around to see her grandmother standing in the door. “I told her to do it.”
“But, why?” Monicha finally found the words to say.
“Honestly, I don’t know now.” Her grandmother said as she sat down on the couch.
“When Matti called us all hysterical, saying that they believed that Patti was her and she was dead. Your grandfather and I rushed to DC to see what happened.”
“I told them that I was supposed to go meet him, but Patti took my place.”
“Orlando’s wife stated that Patti screamed I’m not Matti before she pulled the trigger. And, she said if Matti was still alive that she would get her vengeance.”
“So, to keep Mom safe, you had her become Patti,” Montae asked.
“Yes,” their grandfather replied. “We felt it was the only way to keep Matti and you kids safe. Two days earlier, Orlando had changed his policy to leave all his money to you kids.”
“And, I left my money to you kids as well,” her mom said.
Monicha sat there listening to their explanation why they had betrayed her. Why for the last 35 years, they felt it necessary to keep this a secret from them. “Were you ever going to tell us,” Monicha asked.
“I guess. Eventually,” her mom said.
“I get it,” Montae told them.
Monicha gave her brother a sour look on her face. “I don’t.”
“Sis they did it so this woman wouldn’t come after Mama.” Montae was trying to calm her down.
“Really? How do we know they’re not lying now? How is it in 35 years no one has ever let it slip that Mama was a twin and she was dead?”
Things weren’t making sense to her. She couldn’t imagine why this secret was so precious that they couldn’t tell her and her brother. If it was so secret, why keep the photos and all the memories? “What are you not telling us,” she snapped.
“We’re telling you everything,” her mom stated.
“I don’t believe you.”
“We have aunts and uncles that come to visit every year for the holidays, and we go to visit them during the summer. And no one has ever mentioned Matti?” Monicha turned to look at her grandparents, “And, why in the hell did you all move here?”
“Monicha Victoria Pride. Watch your mouth,” her mom spat.
“Let her express herself,” her grandfather said.
“Mo come on now. They said they did it because they were protecting us. I would have done the same thing.”
Her mother explained that their family was small, so keeping Patti a secret after her death was easy. “Whoever knew about Patti is dead or too old to remember,” her grandfather stated. “We were trying to protect you kids from all the drama that came along with Patti’s death.”
“I told you Mo, they did it to protect us.”
“Montae no they didn’t. Well maybe, but it’s more. How did you guys afford that house?”
Her mom and grandparents looked at each other.
“I know what it was. Money. You probably got more money saying Matti was dead than Patti because Matti came along with two children.”
Still her mom and grandparents didn’t say a word. They just stared at Monicha with blank expressions. She wanted them to say something. Tell here everything and don’t leave a part out. “Tell me,” she snapped at her mom.
Tears rolled down her mom’s face. “Yes.”
Monicha jumped up out of her seat, “Told you,” she said as she looked at Montae. “Money. You lied to us for money.”
“It’s not like that,” her mom replied. “I wanted to tell them it wasn’t me. I wanted to tell them.”
“You’re right. We did it for the money to make sure you kids had everything in life,” her grandmother replied. “I’m not proud of what we did, but I’m glad that we did it. That money afforded us the new life that we have here. We didn’t tell you for running the risk of the insurance company finding out.”
Monicha shook her head. She didn’t know why she was so mad because the life she had was a good one. Never wanted or needed anything. Her mom and grandparents always taught her to work hard and go for her dreams. And, that’s exactly what she had done.
“Monicha come sit down,” her grandfather patted the cushion beside him. Monicha didn’t want too, but she had never disrespected her grandfather a day in her life. And, as angry as she was, she wasn’t about to start.
“Yes sir.” It no longer seemed like Christmas at that moment. She was given a gift that she had never asked for or wanted. The celebration that would take place in less than an hour, seemed to be the last thing on her mind. The Christmas lights outside, the three Christmas trees, the aroma dancing in her nose from the kitchen, and all the stockings hanging on the fireplace didn’t mean anything. A family tradition that was built on lies.
“The woman who killed your father and your aunt, didn’t do a day in prison.”
Monicha looked at her grandfather in shock.
“Why,” Montae asked.
“They said she had a psychological break. The stress of being in the service and away from you family can be too much to bear for some people.”
“So, she’s free now,” Monicha asked.
“Yes,” her mom replied. “That’s why we moved here. To get out of the spotlight from it all. Reporters were constantly calling us for comments. I had to quit my job because it had become such a distraction.” Then she looked at her parents, “It was Christmas when we moved here. We wanted to start over, so we started having the family come here for the holidays.”
“It was our way of saying thank you to them for not revealing Patti,” her grandmother said.
“Did they know it was really Patti instead of you,” Monicha asked as she looked in her mother’s direction.
“No. They didn’t,” her mom replied. “They just think I took my sister kids and raised you as my own.”
“So, why here,” Monicha inquired.
“An old friend from college told us we needed to get out of town, especially with the fact that we were letting Matti pretend to be dead,” her grandfather said.
“What’s her name?”
“Who,” her grandmother asked.
“The woman who killed Aunt Patti.” Saying her aunt’s name felt weird.
“Sunya, but everyone called her Sunny.”
Monicha grabbed her phone and started to Google. At first she couldn’t find out any information, so she put her dad’s name in. There was a picture of him from a newspaper article. Local Pastor and Mistress Killed by Wife. “He was a pastor,” Monicha exclaimed.
“What,” Montae asked as he looked at her phone. “For real?”
“Oh my god.” Her mom put her hand over her mouth and tears began to fall. “I had almost forgotten what he looked like.”
Seeing her mother in such pain, she couldn’t help but to soften up with her. She had no idea what her mom and grandparents went through at the time. Judging them when she didn’t know everything, and she believed they really did it to protect them.
“Mommy, don’t cry.” She walked over and put her arms around her mom. There were still so many questions that she had and wanted to ask. Like where is Sunny now? What about her dad’s family? All her life she had been told that their father was killed in a car accident and he didn’t have any family. Now, she was learning that they may have family out there.
Monicha was filled with so many emotions. And, she didn’t have time to feel any of them because the doorbell rang. The Prides were officially arriving for the annual Christmas celebration. They all agreed to bury everything until after the holidays. Monicha was fine with that because it had been buried for 35 years, and a few more days wouldn’t hurt. And, on that note Monicha opened the door and greeted her relatives with eggnog and a smile.
