Page 44 of Rewind

Amina had been so wrapped up in her plan to take revenge on the Caldwell’s that she didn’t think about how Jasmine would feel.

Jasmine wasn’t some jezebel who intentionally went around seducing married men. She was a lost little girl who had been manipulated by a much older predator.

Guilt assailed her and she could see the plan she and Ethan had formulated drifting away. “You might be surprised by their reaction. But I understand how you feel. What you’re going through is scary. Look, even though it would help me out if you showed up to the engagement party you don’t have to. You’ll still get paid for your time for meeting me today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah really. I’m sorry I bothered you. But just know, that even though Pastor Caldwell has threatened you about not helping you with the baby, he has no choice. Whether he chooses to be in his baby’s life, he still owes you child support. So I’d suggest you file for that immediately. He could deny paternity all he wants, but he can’t deny DNA results.”

Jasmine sniffed. “You’re right. Why should he get away with what he did without consequences? I’m going to do that.”

The waitress returned with a cart. She promptly arranged all of their food on the table. There was so much, and most of it was for Jasmine.

The younger woman hung her head when they were alone. “I’m really sorry for ordering all this. I was a real bitch when I showed up but I didn’t know what to expect.”

“It’s okay Jasmine. At least you don’t have to worry about cooking tonight, like you said. You’ll have plenty of leftovers.”

“I know, but I was raised better than this.” She picked up one of her fried pickles and popped it into her mouth. “I shouldn’t be eating these because they give me heartburn but they’re so good. Please have some.”

“It’s okay, this salad is enough for me. I need to get back to work shortly so I don’t want to eat anything too heavy.”

“Oh, okay.”

The two women ate in silence making the atmosphere slightly awkward. Amina didn’t know what to talk about beyond what she’d already planned and she was sure Jasmine was probably still embarrassed from her previous outburst.

“Uh, Amina?” Jasmine was the first to break the tense silence between them.

“Yes?”

“I know it’s none of my business but you said you don’t plan on going through with your marriage to the pastor’s son. Is he really that bad?”

Amina rolled her eyes with a groan. “He’s the worse.” She proceeded to share some of the things Mark had done to her before their engagement, like how critical of her he was and how he constantly put her down under the guise of concern. He’d brainwashed her into believing that no one would love her like he did.

“Wow,” Jasmine replied when Amina finished.

“Wow is right. I just wish I would have seen it sooner. He didn’t even propose to me properly. He just assumed that I’d want to marry him because he believes he’s God’s gift to women.”

“Sounds like he took a page out of his father’s playbook. Otis made me feel like no one would understand me the way he did. He even said it wasn’t a good idea to tell my parents what was going on in my life. He discouraged me from making friends with the other young adults in the church. He wanted to be the only one I could go to. And you know what? Fuck him for that.”

Jasmine slammed her fist on the table. You know what Amina? I will be there on Saturday.”

Amina perked up but then remembered this woman was probably hormonal. “Jasmine are you certain? Because you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to. Not only will I show up. I have another surprise in store for that motherfucker.”

Chapter

Sixteen

Amina stood outside in the parking lot of the restaurant shaking with nerves. Her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen and saw that she got a text message from Mark.

Where the hell are you? And did you invite this white girl to the party?

Good, Paisley was there already. She felt kind of bad that her friend was stuck with Mark and his awful parents but Amina was happy to have at least one ally in attendance. She’d just gotten a text from Jasmine that said her Uber estimated she’d be here in twenty minutes.

Everything was going according to plan. Mark had wanted to pick her up so they could arrive together but Amina had refused citing she wanted to surprise him with her outfit. He’d protested at first but she told him she wanted to look her absolute best for him and she promised to be worth the wait.

She texted him back.

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