The Object of His Obsession (The Alexanders Book 4) (10 page)

“Heshan, I told you to let
me handle this,” Padma said. “Now look at what’s
happening?”

“Mother, Tyson overheard me
on the phone talking to you about it last night and confronted me.
I couldn’t lie to him.”

“Oh my gosh,” Lalita said,
placing a hand over her opened mouth.

“What are y’all talking
about?” Prasad asked aloof. He was completely in the dark about
what was happening.

“Don’t have time to explain
it right now, Prasad,” Padma told him. “We just have to get to
Dilvan’s house. Gabrielle said Tyson had a gun.”

“A gun?” Heshan asked,
frowning.

Padma pressed the gas
pedal harder.

“He really has a gun?”
Heshan asked.

“Yes,” Padma said. “That’s
what Gabrielle told me.”

“Maybe we can get to
Dilvan’s before he does,” Heshan said.

“Should we call Dilvan?”
Prasad asked.

“Yes,” Padma said. “Call
him.”

Prasad dialed his
brother’s number and when he didn’t get an answer, he called the
home number.

“Alexander residence. How
may I help you?” Beatrice answered, sounding more like a secretary
than a housekeeper.

“Beatrice, where’s Dilvan?”
Prasad asked in a panic.

“He’s in his office,
Heshan.”

“This is
Prasad—”

“Oh, sorry ‘bout that,” she
chuckled. “I’m always getting you boys mixed up.”

“Listen, Beatrice. I need
you to give Dilvan the phone. Tell him it’s an
emergency.”

“Okay, shug,” she said,
climbing the stairs, calling out to Dilvan on the way up.
“Dilvan.”

Prasad
listened.

“Dilvan,” she said tapping
her knuckles against his office door. “Hmm, I
thought
he was here,” she
mumbled.

“Just go on in?” Prasad
instructed.

Beatrice turned the knob
and saw Dilvan laid over on his desk.

“Is he in there?” Prasad
asked.

“Yeah. I think he’s taking
himself a lil’ afternoon nap. Dilvan,” Beatrice said, nudging him
and that’s when she saw the empty pill bottle lying next to his
head. “Oh my God!” she screamed, trembling. “Dilvan, wake
up!”

Prasad frowned. “What is
it, Beatrice?”

“He...he...looks like he
took some pills. He’s not responding to me at all.
Dilvan!”

“Oh, no,” Prasad said. “No,
no, no...this can’t be happening.”

“What’s going on, Prasad?”
Padma asked, fearing that Tyson was already there.

Instead of answering her
right away, Prasad said, “Beatrice, hang up and dial 9-1-1. We’ll
be there in a few minutes.”

“Okay, Prasad.”

“What’s going on, Prasad?
Tyson’s already there?” Padma asked, thinking the worst had
happened, that Tyson had shot Dilvan and now Beatrice was calling
9-1-1.

“No...ah...”

“Spit it out, Prasad,”
Heshan told him.

“Beatrice thinks Dilvan may
have overdosed on some pills.”

“No, not my baby,” Padma
cried, swerving onto the shoulder of the road and jerking the wheel
back onto the pavement.

“Whoa! Mom, calm down and
keep your eyes on the road, okay, unless you want to pull over and
let me drive,” Heshan said.

“We’re almost there now,
Heshan,” Prasad said. “Mom, stay calm, okay. I’m sure everything is
going to be alright.”

After a few minutes, she
finally pulled up in Dilvan’s driveway, threw the car in park and
took off running into the house as fast as she could, yelling for
Beatrice.

“Up here,
Padma.”

Padma ran up the stairs,
out of breath, nearly about to faint. Heshan was behind her. Then
came Lalita and Prasad.

“Dilvan, baby,” Padma cried
when she rounded the door and ran into his office. She looked him
over, placed her index and middle finger on his wrists and said,
“He has a pulse. Tell the operator he has a pulse,
Beatrice.”

Beatrice relayed the
information to the 9-1-1 operator.

Padma noticed a letter
next to him on the desk that he had written and she knew right away
what it was – a suicide note. Dilvan had tried to kill
himself.

“Why, Dilvan?” Padma cried.
“Why, baby?”

Heshan threw his arms
around her to console her.

A minute later, paramedics
were in the house. They checked Dilvan out, secured him on a
stretcher and headed down the stairs.

Through all the chaos,
Padma, Heshan, Lalita and Prasad had forgotten that Tyson was
supposed to be heading there – to Dilvan’s house.

He never
showed.

Chapter 15

Tyson remained parked
beside the road, about five miles from his home. He was on the way
to Dilvan’s when he nearly had a breakdown at the realization that
there was a possibility the baby Gabrielle was carrying wasn’t his
son. He was so consumed with rage, he could hardly focus to drive.
He could barely breathe. Blinded by wrath and anger, he couldn’t
see. All he knew was, Gabrielle had hurt him to the core. He
couldn’t fully blame Dilvan for the affair when she was just as
guilty.

When his phone rang, he
glanced at the display and saw it was Heshan calling. He blew an
agitated breath. Heshan, along with Padma and Lalita had let him
down. It seemed as if the whole family turned on him, keeping a
secret that was so detrimental.

“What?” he decided to
answer.

“Man, Tyson, you need to
calm down and think rationally, man.”

“Think rationally? Were you
thinking rationally when you decided to make a fool out of me,
letting me believe that I had a son on the way when—”

“You
do
have a son on the way.”

Tyson let out an
uncomfortable chuckle.

“Listen...I need you to
meet me at the hospital,” Heshan said.

“And why do I need to meet
you at the hospital?”

“Dilvan tried to commit
suicide and had to be rushed there.”

“Well good for him,” Tyson
said, callously. “He’s finally managed to do something productive
with his life.”

“Come on, Tyson, man.
That’s my brother you’re talking about.”

“I don’t care who he is. He
slept with my wife and you think I’m going to have sympathy for
him?”

“Tyson—”

“I was on my way to his
house with my gun, Heshan. Your brother has been nothing but a
nuisance to me, to everyone and he...he slept with my wife and you
actually think I feel sorry for him? How can I?”

“Tyson—”

“I’m glad something told me
to stop...wasn’t worth losing my freedom over his nonsense. They
say what goes around, comes around. Guess it’s finally his turn.
Finally.” Tyson ended the call and tossed the phone in the
passenger seat. How could his life feel like a dream come true one
day and the next, it felt like the world was caving in around
him?

Chapter 16

“What are you doing here,
Tamera?” Gabrielle asked. Gabrielle was standing at the door with
tears in her eyes. She looked a mess. Her hair was out of control
and her nose was red, probably from being wiped so much.

“Gabrielle, what’s going
on? Everybody was at the baby shower waiting for you and Tyson to
show up then all of a sudden, Padma, Heshan, Lalita and Prasad
jumped in Padma’s car and drove away in a panic.”

“Where’s my dad?” Gabrielle
asked instead of answering Tamera’s question. “Where’s Carmen and
Destiny?”

“Everybody is still over
there at Padma’s house for the baby shower. I told your father I
would call him to let him know that you were okay. Jeez. What’s
going on?”

Gabrielle rubbed her eyes
again and sat on the couch.

Tamera sat down with
her.

“Tyson thinks I had an
affair with Dilvan,” she cried. “And he thinks the baby isn’t his.”
Gabrielle broke down in tears, crying loudly and clearly in pain –
physical and mental.

“Why would he think
that?”

“I don’t know, Tamera. I
would never cheat on him. I don’t know why he’s doing this to
me.”

“Maybe Dilvan made up a lie
so he could break you guys up. I can see him doing something like
that.”

“But still, why didn’t
Tyson give me a chance to explain? He wouldn’t even listen to me.
And then he took a gun out of the drawer and said he was going to
take care of Dilvan—”

Tamera snapped her head
back. “A gun?”

“Yes. He left here in a
rage to go to Dilvan’s house. I called Padma and told her what was
going on.”

“Oh, so that must be where
Padma and the gang rushed off to. Let me call somebody so I can
find out something. I hope my brother didn’t...” Tamera stopped
talking. She couldn’t bring herself to say the rest. She dialed
Tyson’s number first and when she didn’t get an answer, she called
Padma. Still, she didn’t get an answer. “Jeez, nobody’s picking
up.”

“Ah...” Gabrielle moaned,
feeling a sharp pain rip through her. “Oh my gosh, Tamera. I think
the baby might be coming early.”

“You have another four
weeks to go,” Tamera said. “Those are Braxton-Hicks contractions
you’re having, right?”

“Ah!” Gabrielle shrieked in
pain again. “No. These are real, not Braxton-Hicks contractions.
These contractions hurt. Get me to the hospital. Please!
Ahh!”

“This cannot be happening,”
Tamera said. “Are you sure?”

“Yes! I’ve been having
contractions for a couple of hours now and they’re getting worse,
Tamera. Please take me to the hospital. Please. Ahh!”

“Okay, okay,” Tamera said,
in a panic. “Um...do you already have a bag packed?”

“Yes. It’s in the
closet.”

“Okay.”

Gabrielle cried out in
pain again.

“Alright,” Tamera said. She
leaned over so Gabrielle could use her for support to get off of
the couch. “Can you walk?”

“Yes, I can
walk.”

“Okay. Let’s slowly get you
to the car. Once I get you in, I’ll come back and grab the
bag.”

Tamera carefully guided
Gabrielle out of the door, down the stairs and to the passenger
seat of her car. Then she ran back in the house to get the bag and
drove to the hospital. On the way there, she tried to call Tyson
again, but there was no answer.

* * *

At the hospital, Gabrielle
was in more pain. The baby was coming quickly and she was too far
along to be given an epidural.

Tamera tried to call Tyson
and when he didn’t answer, she left a voicemail:

Tyson, Gabrielle is in
labor at Regional. Where are you? Please get here now!
Hurry!

Tamera then stepped back
into the room, hoping to be of some solace to Gabrielle, but she
was screaming at the top of her lungs. Child birth was no
joke.

“Okay, I see the head,” the
doctor said. “Push.”

“I am pushing,” Gabrielle
said, tears and sweat on her face.

“Come on, Gabrielle. Push,”
Tamera said, clasping her hand.

“I can’t. I can’t push
anymore. Please give me some pain medication.”

“Come on, Gabrielle,” the
doctor said. “One big push and this will be all over with, okay,
now I need you to push as hard as you can. You can do
this.”

Tamera squeezed her hand
and said, “Yes, you can do this Gabrielle. My nephew is trying to
get out of there. Give him some help, girl.”

Gabrielle laughed and
cried at the same time, and then she pushed, giving it her all,
screaming and hollering and Tamera screamed and hollered right
along with her.

“He’s out,” the doctor
said. “Here he is. Look at this beautiful little boy.”

Gabrielle panicked when
she hadn’t heard any crying. “Let me see him. Is he okay? Why isn’t
he crying?”

The doctor cut the cord,
tapped the baby’s backside and then Gabrielle heard what she longed
for – her baby crying.

Tears of happiness
streamed down her face, and it was just as Rena said it would be.
Once she laid eyes on baby T.J. for the first time, all the pain
she felt had instantly vanished, replaced by complete joy and
elation.

The nurse whisked the baby
away, cleaned him up and laid him on Gabrielle’s chest,
skin-to-skin. Her doctor’s estimate had been off. Baby T.J. was
seven pounds, six ounces and twenty-two inches long. He was
healthy. The doctor said he had a good, solid cry and when
Gabrielle stared into her baby’s adoring little face, she noticed
he had his father’s everything, right down to those cute little
dimples. She swore he smiled at her.

“Oh my gosh. He looks just
like Tyson,” Tamera said.

Gabrielle hadn’t
responded. She was too enamored, too occupied with her baby boy
that she couldn’t hear anything around her. She was only concerned
with her baby.