“What the devil are you talking about, Eric? You’re going to graduate in two weeks! You certainly are not getting married,” his father said angrily.
“Dad, Nadine is pregnant,” Eric replied, looking down at his hands.
“Are you sure it’s yours?” his father asked. “You never know with girls these days.”
Eric was instantly filled with anger. Why in the world would his father say something like that about a girl he had never even met?
“Dad, it’s my baby. We are in love, and I might as well tell you now before she gets back that she’s black,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. Well he’d said it. Let the chips fall where they may.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” his father spat. “What is it with this family? I suppose you’re just trying to follow in your cousin’s footsteps! You always did look up to Jeremy! No son of mine is marrying some black girl that tells you she’s pregnant. You are probably just one of many, son. You think it’s all right because your cousin is doing it? Well it’s not all right, and I’ll never accept it—not today, not ever!”
“Dad, I’ve been seeing Nadine for two years. This has nothing to do with Jeremy. I heard what you said about him getting married to a black girl, so how could I come to you and tell you about Nadine? I knew you’d respond like this. We love each other. I don’t care about her being black.”
“It was probably just your curiosity. You wanted to know what it was like having a black girl. So your curiosity has now been satisfied. That doesn’t mean you have to marry her!” his father insisted.
“Dad, I love her. Why can’t you understand that?” Eric replied.
Just then, the door opened, and Nadine returned with her mother, father, and sister. Her father was frowning, and her mother was wiping her eyes from crying. The two fathers looked at each other with anger and hostility.
Daniel quickly took control of the situation before it escalated. “Look, everyone, remain calm. We are going to talk about this like mature adults.”
He looked around the room. “First of all, let me remind each of you that we are in church. This is God’s house, and I want you to keep that in mind before you speak.”
He looked directly at both fathers. “Now this is a difficult situation, and I understand that. However, I expect both of you to be civil and let’s discuss this like reasonable adults.”
“I don’t need you to tell me how to behave,” his brother snapped, glaring at Daniel.
“Me either,” Nadine’s father chimed in as the two fathers eyed each other with hostility.
Daniel looked from one father to the other. “Now, Eric and Nadine came to me because they want to be married—”
“Over my dead body!” Nadine’s father said. “She’s not marrying him!
“My son’s not good enough for your daughter?” Eric’s father snapped, facing Nadine’s father.
“No he’s not! I’ve already told Nadine she needs to give the baby up for adoption. She doesn’t need to be saddled down with a mixed baby by a boy who has shown no respect to her family. He wasn’t man enough even to come to the house!” He looked at Nadine. “Out of all those boys that have been trying to date you, why did you have to go and mess with this white trash?”
“Watch your mouth!” Eric’s father snapped back, clearly offended.
“There will be no name-calling here, Mr. James,” Reverend Ferguson said. “I will remind you that you are talking about my family, buster!”
“Daddy, you wouldn’t have accepted Eric if he had come to you,” Nadine said.
“Your father’s right,” Eric said. “We should have told your parents and mine. But right now we have a baby on the way—”
“Do you even know if it’s yours for sure?” his father asked.
“What are you trying to say about my daughter?” Nadine’s father asked, glaring at Matthew.
“That’s enough, both of you,” Reverend Ferguson said. “You two be quiet. Let Eric and Nadine talk.”
“I’m not giving our baby away,” Nadine said, looking at her father. “It’s my decision. I love Eric.”
“You need more than love to raise a baby,” her father replied. He looked at Eric. “What are you going to do after graduation? How are you going to support this child?”
“I already have an apprenticeship position with Caldwell Construction. I want to be an electrician. I have some money saved already,” he replied. “Once I am certified, I will be making a decent living.”
His father leaned across the table. “You need money to get certified, Eric. Where’s it coming from? You’re not making that much now just as an assistant. I was going to pay for you to go to school, but I won’t if you keep talking this foolishness. Then what will you do?”
“Why is it foolishness?” Eric asked angrily.
“Marrying a black girl is foolish. You’ll get over her. More than likely it’s just infatuation anyway. Use your brain, son, and it’s not located in your pants. Her parents don’t want this baby, and we don’t either. You’re walking down a road full of heartache.” He looked at Nadine’s parents. “He will not pay a penny of child support without a DNA test.”
“Dad, I told you the baby is mine! Why don’t you listen? I don’t need a DNA test! We are getting married. We want to be together,” Eric insisted. “We’re both eighteen, and we don’t need your permission!”
“You white people always think you can have what you want. When you don’t get it, you take it,” Nadine’s father spat. He looked at his daughter. “If you persist in this foolishness, then you can pack your things and get out. Go on with you lily-white boyfriend! I won’t pay a penny for that beauty school you have your heart set on!”
“Jesse, no. That’s our daughter,” her mother pleaded, unable to hold back the tears.
“I don’t have a daughter,” he replied. “Not if she thinks she’s going to marry him!”
“Pop, that’s not right,” Maxine said. “Don’t do this!”
“All right, everyone, be quiet,” Reverend Ferguson said. “I have sat here and politely listened to you all. Now you will listen.”
They all got quiet and looked at Reverend Ferguson, who was opening his Bible.
“First of all, Mr. James and you too, Matthew, I have a question for both of you. Do you love your children?”
“What’s that got to do with this?” Matthew snapped. “Of course I love Eric. However, I am not going to condone this race mixing and this baby and this marriage talk.”
“Fine,” Reverend Ferguson said. He looked at Nadine’s father. “Well, Mr. James?”
“Of course I love my daughter. I just don’t like her right now,” he said, glaring from Nadine to Eric.
Daniel then flipped the pages of the Bible and began to read 1 Corinthians 13: 4–8.
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
He closed the Bible and looked around the room. “Is what you all displayed here to your children tonight love? Does it match these words I just read to you? These are your children, flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone. Are you going to toss them away because they do not live up to your expectations or do what you like? Did you always do what your parents wanted you to do? How would you feel if your parents had disowned you and turned their backs on you? How will you feel when you look in that baby’s face and tell him that you don’t love him because of the color of its skin? What if you look in that baby’s face and see your mother, your wife, your sister or brother, because that baby is a part of you too whether you want to accept that or not.”
He paused and looked around the room. “Now
I know that this interracial relationship may not be what you wanted for your children, but it’s a reality. I just recently had to come to grips with the same thing myself. I was in your shoes. The cost of alienating your children is far too great. You had better think about it long and hard before you leave here because I promised them if they got you here that I would marry them, and I am a man of my word.”
The room was silent as both sets of parents contemplated Reverend Ferguson’s words.
CHAPTER 15
AURA TAKES ACTION
Jeremy returned to his empty apartment totally frustrated after another day of filming a commercial for Chaz.
It was getting more and more difficult working with Joan. She was constantly making passes at him and was not taking no for an answer, no matter how much he rebuffed her advances. It seemed innocent enough at first. Joan and he were at the photo shoot together. He had his shirt off, and she had her arms around him. First she started kissing his back, and then her hands began to wander. She told him that she couldn’t help herself because he smelled so good.
He had grabbed her hands and warned her to stop. She claimed she was improvising for the commercial they were about to be in. Jeremy had no intention of taking her up on her offers, but being a woman of obvious experience, she knew how to elicit a response from his body, and it made him uncomfortable. She’d touch him on the butt or run her lips across his back or some other subtle gesture, and he would get instantly hard. It was embarrassing. It seemed as if she knew that it had been a long time since he’d had sex and delighted in torturing him. He silently cursed his body that was constantly betraying him.
Jeremy talked to Michael about her advances, but he was no help, and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear that he was in on it somehow, encouraging her.
He left the set as soon as he could and called Aura. Her phone went to voicemail. He cursed silently and left her a message asking her to call him. He threw the phone on the dresser and ran his hand through his hair. A shower, that’s what he’d do. He’d take a nice shower and relax. His nerves were on edge, and he felt wound up. He was horny as hell, and Joan’s advances had taken a toll on him.
The doorbell rang, and he was surprised, wondering who it could be, hoping that it was Aura.
He opened the door and was surprised to see Joan standing there, grinning at him with a bottle of wine.
“Joan, what do you want?” he asked, clearly irritated. She was the last person he wanted to see right now.
“I came by to apologize,” she said, smiling, her eyes devouring him. “I know you are engaged. I guess I just got carried away earlier today. May I come in?” she purred, trying to put on her most innocent face.
His eyes raked over her. She was wearing a white tank top with no bra. Her nipples were hard, and he tried not to stare at them. The black-and-white capri pants she wore fit her snuggly. Jeremy had to admit that she was a beautiful woman, but he did not want her. Why wouldn’t she just leave him be?
“No, I don’t think so,” he replied calmly. “Look, Joan. We have to work together. Let’s just keep it professional. I’m not interested in having any other type of relationship with you.”
Joan quickly lunged at him, throwing her arms around his neck, catching him off guard. He stumbled backward and grabbed her to try to balance himself, taking her into the apartment. She then used her foot to shut the door. The bottle of wine slipped from her hand and hit the carpet.
“I want you, Jeremy,” she said, reaching between his legs. “And your friend here tells me you want me too. My, my, you are a big boy. Thick and long… just the way I like it. Today is my lucky day.”
Jeremy batted her hand away and reached up and jerked her other arm from around his neck. “Joan, stop this nonsense! I mean it. There are hundreds of men out there you can have. I told you that I’m not interested!”
“But I want you,” she said, kissing him. “I want to ride this baby into the sunset,” she said, palming his erection again.
“You only want me because you can’t have me. If I gave in, you’d just move on to the next man,” Jeremy replied, shoving her hand away.
“Ah, Jeremy. Don’t be such a prude. Your girl doesn’t even have to know. I won’t tell. I promise!” she said, looking at him and batting her eyes.
He shoved her back away from him. “Get out, Joan. Get out now!” he said. “Get out. I don’t want this.” Even as he said it, her eyes were on his erection, which was throbbing painfully. “Leave me alone.”
“Look at you all hard, and I haven’t even done anything yet,” she teased. “Your girl must not be taking care of business! Oh, you want it, Jeremy. Your body betrays you. I have just what you need. Your girl doesn’t know how to handle a man like you.”
“Get out, Joan. Aura and I are none of your business.” He opened the door. “Go find yourself a willing partner because I’m not that man.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she insisted. “You know you want me. I’ve never seen a man get so hard so quick in all my life. Let me give you what you know you want.”
“It’s not going to happen, Joan, so get out!” he said, trying to will his body to behave as he opened the door wider for her to leave.
“What is going on here?”
Jeremy turned around and saw Aura standing in the doorway and immediately tried to cover himself with his hand, but it was too late.
“Aura!” he gasped, his face red.
Aura looked from Jeremy to Joan and then to his obvious erection he was trying to hide.
“Am I interrupting something?” she asked, barely able to contain her anger.
“Babe, I didn’t ask her over here. She just showed up,” Jeremy explained. “I was asking her to leave!”
“It is exactly what it looks like,” Joan said. “Jeremy and I… well, things sort of got out of hand. Obviously you’re not taking care of him.”
“Get out, Joan,” Jeremy hissed. “Get out now and don’t come back!”
“All right, I’m going,” she said picking up her purse and the bottle of wine off the floor. She looked at Aura. “You just remember what I said.” She turned and threw Jeremy a kiss before walking out the door.
Jeremy slammed the door behind her and then turned to Aura.
“Aura—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Jeremy!” she hissed. “Why did you let that woman into your apartment?”
“I didn’t. She just showed up insisting that she wanted me. I told her no, and then she just threw herself at me!”
It sounded ridiculous even as he said it, but it was the truth. Aura raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms across her chest.
“And you want her too, right?” she snapped.
“Aura, you know better than that! I want only you,” he said, clearly frustrated.
“How do you explain your erection? Obviously you must find her attractive,” Aura said, pointing at his tented pants.
He turned and walked away without replying. He plopped down on the sofa with Aura following close behind him.
“If I hadn’t come over here, there’s no telling what you would have done,” she said.
“I would hope that you would give me more credit than that! I had just called you before she showed up. I wanted to talk to you. I was tired, and yes I was horny. I just wanted to hear your voice, get you to talk to me. I needed some relief.”
“What were you going to do, Jeremy, jack off to my voice?” she asked sarcastically.
“What else could I do, Aura?” he asked bluntly. “I had to have something.”
“Well, Joan did show up at a convenient time,” she replied cattily.
He jumped up and faced her. “I have urges, Aura! I am a man! That’s natural. Don’t try to make me feel guilty about that. I told you that I don’t want Joan! I am willing to wait like you asked. What more do you
want from me?”
“I want you not to get hard because of her advances, Jeremy!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose. She touched me. I’m sorry, but there are some things I don’t have control over. I am doing the best I can.” He ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. What did she want him to do? Couldn’t she see how hard he was struggling?
He turned from her and walked in the kitchen. He didn’t know what else to do. Even now he was aroused after seeing Aura in those fitted jeans she wore, with her cleavage-revealing top. He was tired of cold showers, and he was tired of using his hand to get relief. He needed more, and he felt as if he were dealing with this all on his own.
“Don’t you walk away from me, Jeremy Ferguson,” Aura snapped, following him. He did not respond but opened the refrigerator. She slammed it back shut before he could remove anything.
“Talk to me,” she demanded.
“What do you want me to say, Aura?” he asked, sounding tired. “I’m doing the best I know how. I can’t help how I feel. I’m horny, okay? I’m horny, and Joan most likely can smell it a mile away. I’m doing the best I can.”
Aura watched him a moment and didn’t reply. She knew that he was telling the truth. She had heard him yelling at Joan even before she reached his door. She was mad, however, that another woman would put her hands on him and angry that he would respond. Even now, he was still somewhat hard, she could tell. They would be married in just a few months. She wasn’t about to let another woman come between them.
“Come here, Jeremy,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper and filled with determination.
He looked at her. “I’m tired, Aura. I don’t feel like arguing with you, okay? I’ve had to fight Joan off all day. I don’t know what else to do except talk to the execs at Chaz tomorrow. If they don’t do anything about it, then I have no choice but to take a leave until after the wedding and hope and pray that I still have a job.”
He walked past her and went back in the living room. She followed close behind him. He sat on the sofa with his head back and closed his eyes. She sat down beside him, feeling contrite. She had never had sex, but Jeremy had, so he knew what he was missing. He was a good man, she knew that, but how much can one man take? Wasn’t it her duty to help him through this?
The Preacher’s Son Page 14
