Chapter 12
CASSIA
I was startled awake when my phone rang, but I smiled when I realized it was my friend Oksana.
She worked as an administrator for the nonprofit medical relief system my parents had created.
She was currently in Burundi–a country I’d spent quite a bit of time in when I traveled with my parents.
I knew she’d probably just read the email I sent last night explaining my situation and new residence.
In rapid-fire French, she asked, “What do you mean you moved in with a strange man who claims to be Ivy’s father?”
Luckily, I was still fluent, even though I didn’t speak it nearly as often now, so I answered her in French. “Good morning to you, too, Oksana!”
“Good morning nothing, Cassia. What is going on?”
I explained what Iliana had done and the test results Memphis had provided, along with how he had “convinced” me to move to Rojo and live with him.
Oksana was so livid on Ivan’s behalf, and mine, that she started cursing in at least three languages, so irritated that she jumped from one to the other.
Luckily, I understood everything she said, but I still had to stifle my laughter at the thought of my small-statured friend’s threats against a man of Memphis’s size.
When she finally wound down, I finished my explanation. “I didn’t really have much choice, Oksie. If he takes me to court, I think he’ll win custody.”
“He would, which is why you need to protect your right to Ivy by legally adopting her.”
“I didn’t think I had to adopt her in the first place since the court gave custody of her to me, but how am I going to do that now that he’s in the picture? Even if I did, would that hold up against DNA?”
“It absolutely would not, especially considering the circumstances. It would help if he were addicted to drugs.”
“Well, as far as I can tell, he’s not.”
“You could offer him some and see . . . No, that could backfire.”
“I’m not going to get the man addicted, Oksie. Good grief.”
“You need a turnover somehow, or you’re going to be in the middle of a ruck with no chance of winning, my friend.”
“Well, drugs aren’t the answer.”
“I thought that might be your . . .” I waited patiently as Oksana’s voice became a digital scramble.
I’d lived where she was for quite a long time and knew that cell service was spotty at best, so I gave it some time.
I relaxed when her next diatribe of curse words came through loud and clear.
When she was finished cursing, she repeated herself.
“I thought you would probably negate the drug idea because of scruples or whatever that’s called, so I did some research and found that right now, you don’t have a leg to stand on if he shuts you out of Ivy’s life. ”
“I’m trying not to think about that,” I admitted.
Since Oksana was a lawyer, I knew she was at least half-joking when she suggested I start Memphis on the path to addiction, and she had probably already come up with a few legal solutions, all of which I was eager to hear.
That’s why, even though there were lawyers locally or even back home whom I could have contacted, I’d brought in my ringer: Oksana, the badass friend who loved Ivy despite having only seen her once when she came to the States to help us bury our family and grieve while we were all so ill.
“How can I make sure that doesn’t happen? ”
“Seduce him and get him to marry you as soon as possible.”
“Come on, Oksie. I’m serious.”
“So am I. If you’re married, that will make you her stepmother, adding to the years you’ve already invested in her care.
It will also open the door for you to adopt her as her biological father’s spouse, which happens quite often and ensures that the child is taken care of in the event of the biological parent’s death–which we can arrange for at a later date. ”
“You do realize that you made an international call from a war-torn country to the United States and there is probably a bot out there losing its shit because it’s listening to our conversation and dying to report us both to the authorities?”
“Americans are so paranoid,” Oksana muttered. “As if they’re going to go to the trouble of shipping little old me back to the States for prosecution.”
“I’m already here! What do you think they’re going to do to me?”
“Nothing if you make it look like an accident.”
“I’m not killing anyone, Oksana! Give me a better and more peaceful solution!”
“If I must,” Oksana muttered with a sigh. “Marry him. Adopt the baby. Stay with him as long as you can stomach, and then divorce his ass and sue for custody that way.”
“You’re diabolical! I can’t do that!”
“You can do anything you set your mind to, my friend. A few years of marriage to some slob is a small price to pay to secure your place in Ivy’s future.”
“A slob? In his defense, Memphis isn’t a slob. I’m currently sleeping in my bedroom at his home, and I must say that this place is a palace compared to the places I’ve lived over the years.”
“So he has some money? That’s good. Don’t let him have any of yours. We’ll create a prenup before the marriage to keep yours secure.”
“Did you read the entire email, or find out what was going on and lose your shit?”
“I read the first half and then went on a tirade before I started searching for the easiest way to handle this.”
“And getting him addicted to drugs was the easiest?”
“Actually, kidnapping her and bringing her to a non-extradition country to live the rest of your lives together was the easiest, but you mentioned he’d stolen your passport, so . . .”
“He offered to give it back,” I interrupted.
“Good! Now that you have it, when can I expect you to arrive?” Oksana asked.
“The only overseas trips I take Ivy on will be for pleasure and education, Oksie. I am not going to raise her the way my parents raised us. Absolutely not!”
“You’re going to have to suck it up and marry him. I’m sure he’s a horrible, smelly, unattractive monster, but . . .”
“Do you honestly think Regina would have cheated on Ivan with anyone fitting any of those descriptors?”
“I was never her biggest fan, so I would have to emphatically say yes.”
I laughed at her reply. “I would say that you should read the rest of the email, but I know that will send you on another tangent, so I’ll just tell you what the end explained.”
“Please do. Surely, there’s a light at the end of this tunnel that isn’t a train.”
“Do you still like to listen to the Rojo Kings?” I asked.
“When would I not? I’ve been working very hard to increase their fan base and have the majority of the residents here singing their songs in their sleep.”
“So you know who the bass player is?”
“Obviously, but he’s not nearly as delicious as the brother with his hair in twists. I want to bear his children and fetch his slippers before I serve him dinner and get the kids to bed.”
“That was oddly specific.”
“A girl has to have dreams when she lives in a place as dreary as this. You know that.”
“Well, earlier, I sat down and had dinner with your gorgeous rock icon because Ivy’s biological father is the bass player in his band.”
“This is not the time to joke, my friend. Now back to . . . wait! You’re in Rojo, Texas!”
“I am.”
“And the man you mentioned is Memphis.” Before I could confirm that, Oksana squealed so loudly that I dropped the phone when I jerked it away from my cheek.
I didn’t miss much, though, because she was still screeching when I picked it up and put it on speaker to protect my eardrums. Again, her words were a blur of languages I understood, but she was speaking so fast that my brain couldn’t translate and compute.
Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “If you don’t marry that man and bear his children, you’re dead to me, Cassia. Dead.”
“When did you get so dramatic?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Okay! Let me focus, which will take a second because in my excitement my talons extended and I crawled up the wall to hang from the ceiling like a bat.”
I guffawed at the image because I knew exactly which home she was living in–the one I’d lived in with my family each time we visited Burundi.
It meant that the bat habitats I’d built with my siblings were still functioning well.
Since the leading cause of death in Burundi was malaria, my brother and I made it our mission to attract as many bats as possible to the village where we lived in the hope of lessening the mosquito population to help fight the disease.
Looking back, I saw now that it was a much bigger fight than a few children could win, but I still hoped that our efforts helped at least a little.
Oksana was still breathless when she asked, “You’re not . . . what is the saying? Are you pulling my leg right now, Cassia?”
“I will send you a picture of Ivy sitting at the table between Memphis and his sister . . .”
“You met Scarlet too?” Oksana yelled.
“You’re going to wake up the entire village with your screaming,” I chided. “Do you still want me to find a drug source and get him addicted?”
“I will kill you myself,” Oksana growled.
“I get the feeling that any new ideas you come up with to help my situation will be skewed by your raging hormones and rockstar lust.”
Oksana was immediately serious again. “Marry him. Legally adopt Ivy as your child. Ride it out as long as you can, and then divorce him. After a few years, I’ll help you sue him for the royalties he makes for whatever hit song he writes wailing about his heartache at the loss of a woman like you.”
“You’re a pretty diabolical gal, Oksie. How did I not realize that before?”
“Because my talents are wasted here, my friend. I could make a mint working in Hollywood or New York.”
“Or you could move to Rojo, Texas, to keep me company,” I suggested.
“I go where I’m needed, and if you play your cards right, Memphis is the only company you’ll need.”
“The idea of killing him is still . . .”