We Didn’t See it Coming (10 page)

T
essa made her way, in a private cab, to the Houston Estate. She looked out of the window as she crossed the bridge into Lake Murray. The rising sun beamed on the smooth waves of the lake.

Reaching the Houston Estate, the cab stopped at the security station. A security guard, or as Tessa remembered Rupert called his security “security help,” came up to the cab.

“Yes, may I help you?” the security guard asked, dressed in black with gold patches on his shirt.

Tessa rolled down the window. She pulled out an old work badge and held it up to the man. “I worked for the Houstons many years ago. I've come to see an old friend, if she's still here working. Elsa is her name.”

The security guard smiled, speaking in his deep-toned voice, “Elsa is an old shoe around here.”

The guard called her on the radio dispatcher. “Elsa, you have a guest. Her name is Tessa Sanchez.”

Elsa's voice came through loud and clear. “Oh my God, let Tessa in the gates. Tell her I'm in her old room.”

The man turned back to Tessa. “Do you remember how to get there?”

“Yes, I could never forget.”

The guard pushed a button inside his small security booth office. The gates opened.

The driver was amazed as he proceeded into the estate. “Wow! I've always wanted to see what this place look likes. It reminds me of the Biltmore Estate.”

As far as the driver could see there was nothing but manicured green lawn. Nowhere in sight was any visibility of unwanted weeds.

“Follow the road to the left,” Tessa said, as the right would lead them to the house.

The driver drove up to a row of small, attached houses. To him it was like the apartment complex he lived in.

“I won't be long. Please wait for me,” she begged.

“I'm enjoying every bit of this.” The driver cut the engine off. He got out, taking his own private tour around on the grounds of the servants' quarters, hoping he could strike a job. “The Houstons have their own tenants, I see.”

“Not at all, this is where the live-in workers stay.”

“This is the kind of job I need. Hook a brotha up.”

Tessa looked at him to see unshaved gray whiskers under his chin. Rupert would have hired him on the spot. The driver wouldn't have been any threat to stealing his wife.

She knocked on the door. Elsa opened the door dressed in a burgundy uniform.

She recognized her plum cheeks.

Elsa reached out her hands to her. “Give me a hug. Lord, I prayed for you every day.”

Tessa embraced her. Elsa stepped back from her, extending her arms to rest her hands on Tessa's shoulders.

“Let me take a good look at you. You're still pretty as the day I first met you. Got a little meat on your bones.” Elsa chuckled.

“I hope it's in the right places.”

“Come on in your old room. I'm here getting things ready for a new girl.”

Tessa walked into the room. No brown spread covered the bed. A burgundy spread covered it. Pictures of floral arrangements accented the wall. The room gave her a sense of home, instead of a servant's quarters.

“Everything has changed.”

“Oh yeah, Tessa, that's because of Mrs. Houston. She came to me one day and said she's going to ask her husband to let her have fun decorating our rooms. You know, to keep her happy, he gave her the okay.”

Tessa thought of how he could treat his wife with such dignity but degrade any other woman, or maybe it was just the ones who he felt were beneath him.

“Child, she asked me to help her. I felt like we were sisters, not by race, but by blood.”

“I'm happy for you and the others.”

“Sit down on the bed and rest yourself.”

“I don't want to mess it up. It's so neat.”

Elsa sat down on the bed. “It's not neat anymore.” Tessa sat next to her.

Elsa put a hand under her chin. “You got to tell me what made you leave here. There's been rumors, like one of them was you were buried somewhere on this property. And you know I didn't believe that one.”

“No, I'm here and alive.”

“Then what was it?” Elsa wondered.

Tessa became tearful as she looked at the windowsill. The window seat looked inviting, a few magazines sat in the corner next to a throw pillow. She eased her hand across the bed covers.

“I kept my mouth shut, Elsa. I had no contact with Mr. Houston. I did my work very good. But that didn't help me. Mr. Houston still came to my bed.”

“That's strange. He usually doesn't take girls to his bed unless they start making talk with him.”

“Mr. Houston was jealous because I talked to Mr. Chavis. He got mad and told Mr. Chavis to stay away from me. That's when he started to come after me.” Tessa cried.

Elsa took a tissue out of the pocket of her uniform. She patted Tessa's eyes to absorb the tears.

“So to keep him from touching you, you left,” Elsa concluded.

Tessa placed her hand on her stomach and patted it. “Like you, I became pregnant with Mr. Houston's baby.”

“You had a child by him?”

“Yes.”

Tessa couldn't tell her all the truth. After all, Rupert had sent her money every month for a baby that did not exist.

“I'll bet that man went to his grave and didn't know he had a baby.”

“He knew, Elsa. Remember I was sick that day? Mrs. Houston sent a doctor to check on me. The doctor told her I was with baby. She told Mr. Houston. He came to my room and had sex with me one last time. He made me throw my things in my bag and put me on a plane back to Mexico. I wish I could have kept my pregnancy a secret like you did.”

“Yeah, I did what I had to do to keep my job. It was heartbreaking. I even let Mr. Houston take me after one of my abortions. Blood was everywhere. He thought I was on my period. Nasty bastard!” Elsa yelled.

“Why'd you stay here with so much hurt?”

Elsa nodded. “A plain fool, I guess…a fool for a good dollar.”

Tessa smiled. “Maybe you really stayed here to warn and protect other girls. You did that for me.”

“It didn't help.”

Tessa patted Elsa on the hand. “Your warning prepared me for the worst, and I'm also sure you've saved some other girls around here from him.”

“Can you believe he's gone?”

“It feels weird. That's why I had to come and see for myself.”

Elsa tapped her knees. “I'm somewhat nervous. Don't know what's going to happen now. All our jobs may be gone.”

“I'm certain his daughters will keep you on. You've been good to them.”

“I don't know. You remember their little girl, Milandra? She's all grown up.”

Tessa nodded. “I saw her at the funeral.”

“She sure enough got ways like her daddy—not gracious like her mother. Noelle has her mother's ways. And that Kenley, the baby girl, she's in a world of her own.”

They smiled.

“Tessa, did you know that Mrs. Houston was pregnant the same time as you were?”

“We both had girls.”

“You have a girl?”

“Yes,” Tessa said with a nervous voice.

“She didn't come with you?”

Before Tessa could answer, a knock turned their attention to the door.

“Come in,” Elsa called.

A young girl, barely out of high school, entered. “Hello, I'm here for job,” she said, speaking her best English.

“Hola,” Tessa said.

Elsa flagged the girl to come over to a closet. The girl carried her small suitcase.

“Bags in here.” Elsa pointed into the closet. “Fresh uniform on the hanger. The bathroom is right over there,” Elsa said as she pointed in the direction of the bathroom. The girl hurried to change.

“I'll leave now,” Tessa said. “My ride is waiting.”

Elsa wondered about Tessa. “Got yourself a husband?”

“No, never married.”

“Mr. Chavis never married either.” Elsa saw how her eyes lit up. “You really liked him, didn't you?”

“Yes, but that's the past.”

“Have you seen him since you been in town?”

“Not at all.”

“I say you're prettier now than before. You're free now. You'll never know what could have been if you don't go and see him while you're here. The man may still have you in his heart. Run along and find your king.”

“I don't know about that.”

“I thought you listened to my words,” Elsa replied.

“Goodbye, Elsa.” Tessa giggled as she stood up to leave.

“I think you'll see more of me than you bet on. Call me. My number is still the same.”

“I still have that number, but I was too embarrassed to call you.”

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. Pick up the phone.”

Tessa left knowing that Elsa was right. The only way to bring peace to her heart was to visit Baron.

The Houstons stepped out into the lobby. Kenley was almost in tears. “I can't wait to get home.”

“Maybe it's still
your
home, but it's not ours unless one of us strangles her,” Milandra said.

“I'm not living with any stranger,” Kenley wept. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

“Forget that, first things first. We must get to Father's office and pack all his personal belongings,” Milandra said.

“We can leave that to Mr. Chavis,” Noelle said, confident that her so-called man would handle things.

Arriving at the elevator, Milandra tapped repeatedly on the down button until the elevator doors opened. “After what just happened, we'll look into Father's personal things.”

They stepped into the elevator, taking it to the top floor, or as their father called it, the Penthouse.

As they got off the elevator, they were greeted, one after another, by the employees of Houston Commercial Construction Company, who offered them their condolences.

Milandra nodded her head while her sisters thanked them for their kindness. They reached their father's office, noticing his bronze nameplate had been removed.

Milandra turned around. “Who took my father's nameplate off his door?”

The employees became silent, not uttering a word. They kept their eyes glued to their computer screens; others acted as if they were on business calls.

“Don't say a word and every one of you will be fired,” Milandra sternly said.

A woman in her mid-forties got up from her desk and spoke up: “I believe it was taken down by one of the cleaning crew. No one here would dare stoop that low.”

“Then what's up with the silence?” Milandra asked.

The woman turned around and looked out amongst her co-workers. She mumbled, “Scared, I guess.”

“Have it put back ASAP,” Milandra ordered.

“I will, Miss Houston,” the woman said as she tried to walk away fast in the straight ankle-length skirt she wore.

Milandra joined her sisters. They went inside their father's office. “One of you close the blinds,” Milandra said as she shut the door.

Noelle closed the blinds on a glass window that gave a good view of the employees at their desks.

Kenley sat in the leather chair where her father handled his business. She giggled as she looked on the desk to see a photo of her as a kid posing at a piano recital.

“Get up,” Milandra said as she nudged Kenley.

“You're so bossy,” Kenley argued.

“Watch your mouth,” Milandra said as she took a set of keys out of her pocketbook. She searched each key until it opened the desk drawers.

“Run and ask for some boxes, Kenley,” Milandra instructed her.

“Why me?”

“Just go,” Milandra insisted.

With her arms folded and her lips poked out, Kenley stormed out the office.

Noelle stood over Milandra to see if she found any other information about their father that they were not aware of.

Milandra felt her breathing over her. “Don't stand over me. Go check one of the files to see what you can find.”

Noelle went over to a cherry file cabinet. She tried to pull a drawer open but it was locked. “I can't open it. I need a key.”

“Try one of these keys.”

The keys dangled as Milandra handed them to her sister.

“Father had too many keys.”

Noelle fumbled through several keys before she finally opened the file cabinet.

“I bet Father's employees are gossiping.”

“Let me hear them. I'll fire them.”

Noelle giggled. “You sound like Father.”

Kenley came back in the office. Her sisters noticed she had one small box.

“All these personal items that Father has, and you bring back a tiny box,” Milandra said.

“The woman who spoke to you, Milandra, is getting the custodians to bring us big boxes,” Kenley said. “I think she's kissing up to us.”

“The woman could happen to be nice,” Noelle defended her.

“She wants to be nosey,” Milandra said. “No one comes in here. Kenley, you guard the door.”

“You're treating me like help. I'm a Houston; have you forgotten?” Kenley asked, making her way to the door.

The woman came to the door. Kenley stepped out of the office.

“Please leave the boxes here. We'll come out and get what we need.”

The woman helped one of the custodians place the boxes outside the door. She tried every angle to peek into the office, but Kenley kept a close watch on the door opening.

Once the woman left, Kenley carried in the few mid-sized boxes.

“Let's dump everything we think is personally important in the boxes. We can sort things later,” Milandra supervised.

Kenley stacked the photos from the desk and around the room in one of the boxes. Noelle went through the file cabinet and gathered up personal financial files. Kenley cleared out her father's desk.

They left one portrait of their father on the wall.