The Imposter
I work so hard to get what I want…
“Sounds fantastic! We’ll talk soon!” I said on the phone at the table, I ended the phone call soon after. I was finally going to get my promotion!
“Fuck yeah, dude! You just made a deal with our biggest client of the year! You are definitely getting that promotion with that!” Luke yelled, congratulating me with a high five.
“Congratulations, Mr. Adebayo. I’m sure my dad will be very proud of your work.” She said, I smiled looking at her beautiful smile,
“Thank you very much, Miss Gordon.” I looked down at the seat that my father-in-law/boss was supposed to be sitting in.
“My dad had a last-minute meeting with another client. He needs more money to keep the business going.” Clarissa said, trying to make me feel better about it.
“Does he even really like me? He practically said that the board doesn’t respect me! What am I supposed to do? Just sit here and take that!?” I said, I was done trying to keep doing this but I had to. I really needed that promotion.
“He didn’t say that! He said the board doesn’t know you. But tomorrow you’re accepting that prize and getting the promotion and that will change everything. So don’t worry, My dad will finally see that you’re the best man I ever met.” She pulled me towards her and she held my hands. I smiled,
“She’s right buddy, You prepared a speech yet?” Luke asked,
“Kinda, I guess, I decided since the board would be there, I could finally show them that I’m not just an African dude looking for recognition,” I replied while looking at Luke. I really didn’t want people looking at me and thinking I cheated my way here.
“Bro, They don’t see you as an African dude, they see you as one of us.” He replied, I chuckled lightly,
“And what would be wrong if they saw him as African?” Clarissa asked defensively,
“Woah chill, That was not what I meant,” Luke said trying to counter her,
“But you just said that they don’t see him as- “
“Clare, just calm down, I just mean I don’t want them to think that I cheated my way here ok? Please don’t make a big deal out of this.” I said calming her down,
“Fine…” She said sighing, she walked out with Luke following,
~~~~
“What’s the problem?” My sister Angel asked while following me into the living room,
“This prize goes to the employee of the year. It’s a big deal because the employee of the year also gets a big raise and a promotion. If I make a good impression with my speech, I’m basically a shoo-in for the board.” I said, explaining to her.
“Yeah, and I’ll be there with Mom to cheer you on tonight, only if Mom is alright to come. That’s why it would awesome if you would just accept-” She tried handing me the necklace
“No-no stop that I already said I wouldn’t wear it. If I show up with that on I would be the laughing stock of the whole company.” I said pushing it out of my sight,
“But it’s the family heirloom, and it means a whole bunch to me and mom. It’s bad luck if you don’t-” She said, I cut her off,
“Seriously, look at that thing. It’s literally the definition of ugly. You really want me to wear that?” I asked I grabbed it and as soon as I touched it I saw some glimpses of something, It scared the crap out of me, I dropped the necklace,
“What the fuck was that? I think I just saw myself die…” I yelled out,
“What!?” She screamed as she picked up the necklace
“Deven! Look what I found! Tu ressembles à la version miniature de ton grand-père. So adorable.” My mother walked and showed us a picture of me for grad school.
Translation- “Deven! Look what I found! You look like the miniature version of your grandpa. So adorable.” My mother walked and showed us a picture of me for grad school.
“Mom, what are you doing out of bed? You’re supposed to be napping.” I asked, I grabbed her hand and took her to the couch. She sat down and continued on about the picture.
“Where the hell is that from?” My sister asked,
“It was career day in 6th grade, My friend convinced me to dress up as grandpa. I became the laughing stock of the school. They even gave me money saying I would need it since black people never get jobs.” I told her, My sister was just 4 years old when that happened. So she didn’t remember.
“God, I hate children! They are always so entitled, especially those ones, they never have to go through things we go through.” She said, I understood what she meant, she walked towards a picture of Dad and looked at it,
“It was a long time ago Angel,” I said,
“Was it really? I’m really worried about you, You’re always so stressed about god knows what. And you’re killing yourself for what? Just to impress a bunch of old white men?” She asked me,
“You mean my boss and future father-in-law?” I countered back, She knew why I needed to impress him but she kept going on about this,
“I’m not trying to be mean. Ok? You know I love you Deven. It’s just you’re never home and you keep worrying about making money, to the point that we never even see you anymore. You’re never home and Mom is only getting worse.” Angel whined,
“I’m here, Angel. Ok? I’m trying. I’ve been workin-” I said,
“Your ass off for people who don’t give a fuck about you! Who can replace you in a matter of seconds! You are always worried about impressing people who just don’t care! We don’t even need the money that you want to make. It’s just you always have to impress people who don’t give a damn!” She yelled at me,
“Angel! Ne discute pas avec ton frère ! Nous devrions le soutenir. Il en a besoin. Veux-tu ton frère... frère.” My mom stopped Angel from getting any angier.
Translation- (Angel! Don’t argue with your brother! We should support him. He needs it. Do you want your brother... brother.)
“Mom… Are you okay?” My sister asked her..
She seemed to have spaced out again, She looked up at my sister and then me and slapped me in my face,
“Who are you!?” She asked after she slapped me.
“Mom!” Angel yelled again,
“Angel, how did he get in here?” She had forgotten me again.
I decided that I should do something to make her remember me. I grabbed the family heirloom from the table and put it on my neck.
“Mom. Do you remember this? I was just about to tell Angel that I would wear this tonight during my speech. Mom, it’s me… Deven, your son? I’m sorry that I’m not here that often anymore… Please don’t forget me...” I couldn’t lose my mom, she meant everything to me. Especially after dad…
“She didn’t mean it, Deven. You know how she is…” My sister tried to remind me about her Alziehmers.
“I thought she was better now…” She had gone to the doctors a couple of weeks ago and they gave her medication for it.
“Deven, she will never truly be better. It doesn’t work like that.” She replied, She decided to walk mom back to her room.
‘What doesn’t make sense is that she never recognizes me when we argue…’
~~~~
I was in my room staring at the picture that my mom had shown us earlier. I could still hear the laughter from the kids in the classroom. I got up and looked in the mirror to fix myself up for tonight. I still had the necklace on. I realised that there was something stained on my shirt from the pendant.
“Are you fucking kidding me!?” I took off the necklace and threw it on the table next to me, breaking it. I was about to pick it up but decided that there was no use. I was angry.
Third POV
The necklace glowed a bright red as whispers echoed through the room. The picture of Deven dressed as his grandpa started shaking, and he soon faded from the picture.
~~~~
There stood Deven’s doppelganger he was watching Deven get into his car. He didn’t know he was being watched. He soon drove away, as Deven’s doppelganger pulled out an ancient African dagger called the Ida.
~~~~
I paced around the office reciting my speech. I was getting even more nervous as time passed by.
“I can’t even begin to tell you what it means to accept-” I was cut off by Clarissa,
“I am such a fan of this side of you, You are so adorable when you’re nervous…” I chuckled
“Who said that I was nervous?” I asked, she gave me a look and I chuckled again, she got up and walked closer to me.
“If I want your dad on my side I need to blow the board away tonight,” I told her,
“My dad is on your side. If he wasn’t, would he have approved of our marriage?” She asked me,
“I guess not,” I replied,
“You’re a good man Deven Adebeyo. He knows that. Everyone knows that!” She said but I was still hesitant.
“Yeah, but right now he’s only okay with me because he loves you. I want him to like me for me.” I said replying to her,
“I know he’s a book full of huge words that are hard to understand, but look, Luke and some of the other guys are out there with drinks. I have to get on a call but Dad will be here too.” I nodded but then stopped and understood the rest of her sentence.
“Wait, really? He’ll be here?” She nodded her head,
“Yeah, maybe in about 5 minutes?” She replied,
“And you just tell me this now?” I ask a little upset about not getting a heads up.
“Sorry, but just talk to him, okay? You’ll see that I’m right about him.” She walks off,
~~~~
“Ay, great minds think alike,” Clarissa’s dad said talking about our suits looking alike, I was about to reply when someone called for him,
I soon see a girl walk in she looked lost so I decided to go see what was up,
“Hey, is something wrong?” I ask,
“Um, I think I have wrong office…?” She said in a very heavy French accent, she looked up and seemed to realise that I might be able to speak french.
“Ah tu es français?” She asks me, I look back before nodding my head,
“Uh, yes I am,” She smiled and started asking me a question before someone interrupted her,
“Hey, babe! We’re doing shots!” He says to the woman as he comes closer and puts a hand on my shoulder,
“Je ne comprends pas. Que dit-il?” She asked me but I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to ruin my image by speaking my home language. She looked at me in disgust and walked off. Translation- (I don’t understand. What is he saying?)
“What’s up with her?”
“I don’t know but never mind that. I got some good scotch in my van. Give me a sec, and we’ll do some real shots alright?” I said, Clarissa’s dad nodded and I walked out.
~~~~
I took the scotch out of my trunk and closed it. As I started walking towards the elevator I heard a car alarm. I stopped and looked back towards my car. I thought it was coming from my car but it was actually the car that was next to mine. I never touched it and no one was near. So I was really weirded out. I didn’t know what to do. Soon enough I heard more car alarms go off… And even more. ‘What the hell was going on!’ I thought. My heart started racing. I could hear it go even faster...Then all of a sudden they all turned off. I knew I had to be going crazy. I began walking and then I started hearing whispers, they got louder and louder with every step I took. I started walking faster and it only got worse, it pierced my eardrums as I continued walking.
“H-hello?” I called out, I don’t know why I did that but I did. I heard a car door slam behind me. I turned around trying to figure out where it came from.
“Guys? Is this you guys playing a joke on me?” I asked nervously, I thought maybe just maybe it could be the guys playing a joke on me. I continued walking faster but this time towards the elevator. I thought I heard something move next to me but I shook it off and continued walking. I soon heard a tapping.
“W-whos there?” I asked, knowing if I didn’t or did get a reply I would be scared for my life. I continued walking but then I saw a figure at the corner of my eye making me drop my scotch. The figure seemed to be the one that was whispering. He started walking towards me and the whispers only got louder and louder, making my head hurt. I started walking backward only to trip and fall down. I started scooting backward on the ground. As he got closer I could make out his face. He looked exactly like me. But the only difference was that he was wearing what I would never be caught wearing…. Traditional African clothing… and he had a knife in his hands ready to stab me.
“What the hell are you!?” I screamed as I struggled to get up. He continued getting closer. Not replying to me.
“Get the hell away from me!” I yelled as I finally got up and ran as fast as I could. I bumped into someone scaring the crap out of myself.
“Ahh!” I backed up then realised it was a security guard.
“Help! Someone is trying to attack-” I turned around and realised no one was behind me.
“Wait… Where the hell did he go…? He was right there! Trust me… He was right there!” I said, telling the security guard.
~~~~
I was getting jittery. I was literally getting scared by every single thing I came in contact with. I tried calming myself down with some water.
“Just 10 more minutes and they give you the award!” I told myself, I felt a tap on my shoulder and jumped,
“Hey! I was worried I would miss your speech. Are you okay? You seem much more jumpy than usual.” It was Angel.
“No, I’m okay, wait where’s mom? She can’t be out here with another episode-” She cut me off
“Mom just left the bathroom right after me, I’m sure she’s ok, just- Deven are you sure you’re ok.” She asked me again,
“I don’t know… It’s just I don’t know.” I didn’t know how to explain it to her without sounding crazy.
“Hey. Just chill big bro, okay? You got this. You’ll be great out there. This is a big honor.”
“It’s more than just a big honor. If I’m on the board, the money, I could get Mom better treatments-” I tried to tell her, but she cut me off
“Deven, here you go again. There are no better treatments. We don’t need any more money…” She told me, I checked my watch to see what time it was,
“Crap, My award is on any minute now, find mom and get her to her seat, okay? Just please do that for me.” I walked off into the room where they were announcing the award winners,
“Come on up here Deven.” My boss ordered but he wasn’t talking to me, I really didn’t want it to be who I thought it was but it was... I saw him get up onto the stage. Everyone stopped clapping as they saw him climb up the stairs. I could hear the whispers again and they were hurting my brain.
“What the hell are you wearing?” My boss asked him, but he didn’t answer and snatched the award from him. All I could do was just hope for the best at this point. He pushed the announcer to the side and walked up to the microphone and smiled. The whispers only got louder piercing my brain. I heard everyone laughing and whispering. I didn’t know what to do. What could I do?
I was going crazy with every second. The laughs got louder and louder, the whispering pierced my ears. Until everything went silent
“Merci beaucoup! Je ne peux pas te dire combien cela signifie…” He started reciting my speech but in french until the announcer cut him off.
“This has to be a joke! Cut this off! I don’t care what freaky things you and your family wear or do at home. But don’t bring that crap-!” He said while holding him by his collar. But that thing pushed him down to the ground before he could finish. He picked up the award and aimed it at my boss when everyone ran towards him. He walked out of the room. I decided that the only way to get rid of him was to fight him.
I looked for something that could hurt him and grabbed it before running after him. I ran up the stairs full of adrenaline. I saw him get into the elevator and it closed so I pushed the button for the elevator and waited only for him to pop up behind me. I turned around and lashed at him. He pushed me against the wall and I took my small knife and aimed to stab him but he dodged it.
“Why are you doing this? What did I do to deserve this!?” I asked him, I didn’t know what he was and why he was here, I wanted answers.
“Deven? Que faites-vous ici? Ne devriez-vous pas recevoir votre récompense?” It was my mom. She walked up to the creature instead of me. How could she still forget me?
Translation- “Deven? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be getting your award?”
“Mom! Get back!” I yelled for her to move away from him to only get replied with this.
“Deven… Qui est-il? Est-il Votre ami?” She asked him again. She got even closer to him.
“Who is he? Is he your friend?”
“Mom, get away from him please!” She didn’t listen,
“Ah ah qu’est-ce qui s’est passé?” She asked him, picking up the necklace from around his neck, it was the one I broke, the one she wanted me to wear. I felt that if I had just worn it none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t have been in this position.
Translation- “Ah ah. What happened!?”
“Please don’t do anything to her! I’ll do anything you want! Just don’t hurt her.”I said, pleading. I really loved my mom, I didn’t want anything happening to her. He was staring menacingly into her eyes. I didn’t know what he was going to do. But all I knew was that it was nothing good.
“Comment cela s’est-il cassé? C’est précieux tu sais. De mauvaises choses arrivent si vous ne le chérissez pas. Cela a été fait pour rappeler à notre famille qui nous sommes Adebayo. Fort. Fier. Peu importe les luttes que nous traversons, nous pouvons y survivre.”
She said, She hugged him. I listened through the whole thing and knew how wrong I was to just trash the necklace. Now I know why they wanted me to wear the necklace. And why it meant so much. How could I just call it ugly? I started sobbing knowing the reason why my own mom wouldn’t recognize me anymore.
He dropped his blade and hugged my mom back.
Translation- “How did this get broken? This is precious you know. Bad things happen if you don’t cherish it. This was made to remind our family of who we Adebeyo’s are. Strong. Proud. No matter the struggles we go through we can survive them.”
“Je suis si fier de toi. Tout ce que vous avez accompli... C’est tout ce dont je rêvais en arrivant dans ce pays. Je vous aime.” I sobbed even more after hearing that.
Translation- “I’m so proud of you. Everything you accomplished ... It’s everything I dreamed of when I came to this country. I love you.”
“S’en éloigner. Please” I thought maybe she’d understand if I spoke french.
Translation- “Get away from it. Please.”
“Oh ton ami parle français aussi? Je devrais te laisser parler alors.” She replied, I wanted to say something but nothing could come out of my mouth. She walked off leaving me and him together.
Translation- “Oh your friend speaks French too? I should let you speak then.”
He turned to me and took the necklace off of his neck and handed it to me. I got angrier.
“Why the hell are you doing this to me? Why!?” I asked again. He only stared at me like I was the one that was supposed to know. I looked at the necklace in my hand. Whispers were heard again as I clenched it. I threw it on the floor making it break into multiple pieces.
I grabbed his dagger and stabbed him in the guts repeatedly. I had enough of this and wanted to end this.
He fell to the ground with my last stab. As he fell I had a glimpse of the same thing I had before. What the hell did I do? I stared at his corpse realising what I had just done as people ran into the room staring at me.
“What the hell did you do, Deven?” I heard from my sister…
“Deven…” I heard Clarissa yell,
“Qu’as-tu fait à mon fils ?? Mon fils!!” I heard my mother scream.
Translation- “What did you do to my son?? My son!”
“You people disgust me.” My boss yelled,
My mother’s cries screamed into my ear. The whispers pierced into my ears. I sobbed not knowing what to do but stare at the corpse in front of me.
“Please! It’s not, I didn’t… I didn’t, I didn’t. Please, it was just. It’s… This is me. It’s me! It’s just me...” I look down, staring at the reflection of myself in the dagger in my hand, sobbing…
I work so hard to get what I want…
By the time I notice that I’m killing myself, it’s too late...
The End.
