“When Tia told me she was having lunch with one of the ministers from her show, I had no idea it was you. You look fierce,” he said.
“Thank you, Quincy. You are looking fine as ever. I love the new hair color,” she said, commenting on Quincy’s short Afro which had been dyed a very loud shade of burgundy.
“You know how I do,” he grinned before taking a seat.
Tia joined them at the table, and before saying hello to Danita, she summoned the waitress. “I’ll have a glass of white wine.” She turned to Quincy. “What are you having?” she asked.
“I don’t think you should be drinking wine in your condition,” Quincy answered, then turned to the waitress. “Bring us two of Vonnie’s famous peach lemon teas.
Tia rolled her eyes at him, then nodded at the waitress that she agreed. “Sorry, I forgot.”
“What condition? Are you pregnant?” Danita asked.
“Yes, I am, but I’m only a few weeks along. It’s still new to me.”
“She’s almost three months. I’m surprised that she isn’t showing by now,” Quincy gave Tia a wink, then picked up his menu.
The leader of the camera crew came over and approached the trio, just as their meal was being served. “This small talk is cute, but Anderson wants you to talk about the premier party last night, and dish some dirt on your cast mates.”
“I don’t really know them,” Danita answered.
“It doesn’t matter. Just talk about your first impressions of them. Our editors will take care of the rest.” He walked away, leaving them to their meals.
“It’s not my show, but I just want to say that Apostle Zack Morton is probably the finest white man walking around in Atlanta. That man gave me the vapors,” Quincy said, fanning himself.
Tia and Danita both laughed loudly. “He is fine,” Danita agreed. “His wife is gorgeous also, but she seemed a little . . .” she hesitated.
“Dish the dirt,” Quincy encouraged her.
“Well . . . weak. She seemed very weak. As if she never makes a move without his permission. It was “Yes, Zack . . . No, Zack . . . Of course, Zack.” Danita paused to take a bite of her chicken fried steak.
“He gave me the creeps,” Tia said.
“Why?” Quincy and Danita asked in unison.
“He wouldn’t shake anyone’s hand, and he kept sneering up his nose as if he smelled something bad. Then when they did his segment, I saw all the locks on his basement door. I bet he’s hiding bodies down there.” Quincy and Danita laughed loudly. “I’m serious,” Tia continued. “I mean, who really needs to lock up their gym like that?”
They dissed Zack Morton and his wife before the subject turned to Jimmy and Yolanda Snow. Danita’s ears perked up at the mention of one his parishioners, Sharmaine Cleveland. “She attends his church?” she asked.
“Yes, she does. From what I’ve heard, he was one of the few who stuck by her when her publicist framed her for attempted murder,” Quincy answered.
“At least she never had to actually go to trial, like I did,” Danita replied. “But we do have the same attorney. Victor is one of the best in the business.”
Just then, a tall, thin, dark-skinned woman approached their table. “Mrs. Hyatt, I’m Sandy Thorne. You may have read my blog, Sandy Thorne.com. It’s an online gossip blog. I was at the premiere of your show last evening, and I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
Danita looked up at the woman with her pad and pen waiting to take notes. She felt flattered. “Of course, ask me anything.”
“Although the show has not yet aired, there is already quite a bit of buzz about it following last night’s party and premiere. I especially enjoyed the segment of the show that showed you making a donation to Piedmont Hospital in your late husband’s memory.”
“Thank you. Ben meant the world to me. I just wanted to do something to show the world how much I still love and miss him.”
“If that’s true, Mrs. Hyatt, why did you cancel payment on the check?”
“Oh, snap!” Quincy yelled. He and Tia began laughing hysterically, while Danita tried desperately to regain her composure and think of a plausible answer.
“I . . . I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the camera crew had moved in closer.
“This morning I called the hospital to find out exactly what they intended to do with your donation, and a hospital spokesperson informed me that payment was cancelled on the check the same day it was written.”
Danita stood up from the table. “Turn the cameras off. Don’t film this,” she ordered.
Respecting her wishes, her cameraman turned off his camera. Tia turned to look at the leader of the crew who’d come along with her. “Don’t you dare stop filming this,” she ordered.
Danita grabbed her purse and covered her face with it as she rushed out of the restaurant. Tia and Quincy doubled over in laughter as they watched her running frantically to her limousine.
Once safely inside, Danita ordered Philippe to take her straight home. It had never occurred to her that reporters would call the hospital to verify the check. She felt like a complete fool. As soon as the limousine pulled up to her home, she hopped out and rushed to the door. A large manila envelope taped to the front stopped her in her tracks.
“Now what?” Danita snatched it off the door and hurried inside. Immediately she went into her downstairs parlor. It was the one room where she knew no cameras would be filming her every move. Quietly she lay back on her chaise lounge and fought back tears. Then she suddenly remembered the envelope. Sitting up, she opened it and read the contents.
The envelope contained a summons, advising her that she was due in court on the twelfth of the month to face her late husband’s family and their wrongful death lawsuit. When she signed on to do the show, Danita had agreed to allow the cameras in the courtroom along with her. But as she read over the summons, she began to wonder if that had been a huge mistake. Ben’s family was adamant about proving her guilty, even if a jury had not. Danita believed it had very little to do with Ben’s death. They just wanted the money he’d left her.
Reaching into her purse, Danita retrieved her phone and dialed her attorney’s number.
“Hello, Danita, I assume you received the summons today,” he said.
“Yes, and I’ve made a decision. I don’t want to fight it out in court. I want to settle. Find out how much money Ben’s family is asking for.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You don’t understand. I just had one of the most embarrassing moments of my life this afternoon, and it was all caught on camera. I thought doing this show would be a good thing for me, but the media checks up on everything. I don’t want to go through the embarrassment of another trial.” Danita took a deep breath. “Let’s just give them what they want.”
“Danita, they don’t want your money. Didn’t you read the entire summons?”
Picking it up off the floor, Danita glanced over it. “Not really, I just know the date I’m supposed to face those bullies in court.”
Victor hesitated before answering. “They want full custody of the girls. If you are found liable for wrongful death, they have waived all rights to the money. They want the judge to revoke your parental rights so that they can raise the girls.”
“They can’t do that, can they? I mean, they can sue me for money, but not for my kids,” Danita shrieked.
“It’s unprecedented, but it’s possible. If the judge rules that you are liable for Ben’s death, then they have good cause to request custody.”
Danita Hyatt didn’t care about many things or many people, but her three daughters meant everything to her. Since Ben’s death, she’d allowed her husband’s family to continue to be a large part of their lives. The girls had done sleepovers at his parents’ house, attended the birthday parties of their cousins on Ben’s side, and gone sailing with them on July 4th. Her former i
n-laws had wanted the girls for the entire summer, and Danita had consented to allow them two full weeks. She was livid that with all of that they still wanted to take her children away from her.
“There is no way I’m giving up my daughters. Is there any way I can stop the cameras from being in the courtroom? I know I agreed to it, but now I’ve changed my mind.”
Victor thought for a moment. “If the judge bans all cameras, that will certainly include reality TV show cameras as well. I’ll start working on a motion to make sure that happens. I don’t know what happened earlier to embarrass you, but I suggest you find a way to fix whatever it was. You need to look your best when you go into court.”
Danita thought back to the bogus check she’d written to the hospital and the embarrassment of the blogger finding out. “Okay, I’ll find a way to fix it.”
“Good, I’ll be in touch,” Victor said before hanging up.
Danita put her head in her hands and tried to think up a plan. In her mind she replayed the entire day’s events, searching for a way to fix things. For a brief moment she considered praying, but quickly dismissed the idea. Danita had stopped speaking to God the day her husband died. Before he left for his fishing trip, she’d prayed that he have a safe trip and that when he returned they could fix the problems in their marriage. The reason she was home alone was because she was fasting and praying for her marriage. They’d been having issues, but she desperately wanted for things to work out. She begged God for help in saving her marriage. When she received the call that he was dead, she was furious that God did not answer that prayer. Later, when she was arrested for his murder, Danita’s anger at God intensified. She couldn’t fathom how a merciful God would not only take her husband, but also allow her to be charged with his murder. Danita began to believe that God wasn’t helping her, so she had to find a way to help herself. A sudden knock at the parlor door interrupted her thoughts.
“Come in,” Danita called out.
“Mrs. Hyatt, I was just about to pick the girls up from day camp. Do you want me to stop and get dinner for them?”
“No, Vivian, I want the family to eat together tonight. Please ask the cook to prepare the girls’ favorite dishes.”
Vivian smiled. She’d begun to worry about how often the girls were eating fast food, and was glad that Danita seemed to be coming out of her grief cloud and spending more time with them. Seeing an opening, she decided to make a suggestion. “Mrs. Hyatt, earlier this week Summer asked if they could have a barbecue out by the pool. It’s a beautiful day out.”
Danita looked at her as if she’d just given her the cure for cancer. “That’s a wonderful idea, Vivian. But let’s not do it today. Let’s plan it for next Friday. And on second thought, go ahead and feed the girls. I need to make plans.” She dismissed Vivian with a wave of her hand and grabbed her cell phone to call Anderson. “Hey, it’s Danita Hyatt. I’ve got a great idea,” she said.
After telling him her plan, she hung up the phone and grinned with delight. Anderson had agreed to set up a cast party at her home the following Friday. Danita reasoned that would ensure her lots of air time as she prepared and played hostess to everyone and their families. She’d also requested that he invite the hospital administrator to attend. Danita planned to present her with a new check at the barbecue while claiming it was a clerical error that cancelled the first one.
Danita pressed her intercom and summoned Philippe. He was just leaving with Vivian to pick up the girls. “Tell Vivian to take her own car. I need you to take me shopping for my barbecue next weekend.”
Grabbing her purse, she rushed outside to meet him.
Chapter Nine
At the restaurant, Quincy nibbled on a sparerib while Tia picked at her salad. “You have to eat more,” he said.
After Danita’s sudden exit, Tia had instructed her camera crew to leave and they were now able to speak freely. “I’m not a big eater,” she answered.
“All pregnant women are big eaters. Do I have to tell you everything?”
Tia pushed her plate away and sighed. “I’m not hungry right now. I’ll pretend to eat more when I’m around Brandon. Is everything going okay with the surrogate?”
Quincy put down his rib and wiped the barbecue sauce from his fingers on a napkin. “Yes, I went with her to the doctor yesterday.” Quincy paused. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, go ahead,” Tia said nonchalantly.
“Why don’t you just tell Brandon the truth? I mean, tell him that you can’t have kids and the two of you could do this surrogate thing together. You know he’d be willing. I just don’t understand why you keep lying to him.”
Tia rolled her eyes. “I don’t want Brandon having any doctors poking around on me asking fertility questions. I know why I can’t get pregnant. If he knew my tubes were tied since before we met, then he might divorce me for lying to him. I can’t risk that. Now tell me what’s going on with the surrogate.”
Shaking his head at her, Quincy continued. “The surrogate is almost three months along and starting to show. So we need to pick up some padding for you today. Have you figured out how you are going to hide your body from Brandon for the next six months?”
“Yes, about four months ago I started insisting that we only have sex in complete darkness, and I always change clothes in my private bathroom. Brandon hasn’t seen my body in a long time. He thinks I’ve become a modest Christian woman.” Tia laughed at the thought.
“Speaking of sex, you know you can’t do that after you start wearing the padding.”
“Don’t you mean I can’t have sex with Brandon?” Tia laughed again. “I’ve already started refusing him, by telling him it’s pregnancy hormones. Don’t worry. I got this.”
“Tia, I know you need to get your swerve on from time to time, but if you expect this plan to work, you have to be careful. Taking your padding off to fall into bed with some random dude is not a good idea.”
“Quincy, you are like a mother hen. You worry too much.” Tia raised her hand and summoned the waitress to retrieve their check. After placing her credit card in the black folder, she pulled out her compact and checked her makeup in the mirror.
“You can call me what you like, but I’m knee-deep in this with you. If Nicky finds out what I’m up to, he’ll leave me.”
Putting her compact down, Tia looked over at him and noticed the look of concern in his eyes. “I promise you, I will be careful. Besides, our plan is foolproof. The surrogate was impregnated with Brandon’s sperm, so if he requests a DNA test, we’re covered. I’m glad he bought my story about needing to freeze our eggs and sperm, in case we have fertility issues later on. Now, I just wish there was some way that we could make sure it’s a boy. That’s all he talks about.”
“He’ll get over it. My dad wanted a son too, but he got me.” Quincy gestured as if to fling pretend hair over his shoulder, and then dramatically put on his pinkand-rhinestone-encrusted sunglasses, causing Tia to burst out with laughter.
The two of them left the restaurant and got into the front seat of Quincy’s Lexus convertible. “I have a friend who works in movies, and he’s going to give us the padding we’ll need to make you look pregnant over the next few months. Do you have a place to hide it? If not, I’ll keep the bigger ones and you can just take home the one you’ll be wearing.”
“With the cameras in the house, I think it’s best if you hide everything. Brandon signed a release that says if it’s caught on camera they have a right to show it.”
“Why in the world did you agree to do this show? I mean, it’s hard enough pulling this off without having cameras watching your every move.”
Tia leaned back in the plush leather seats and laughed. “You know why. It’s for the money. Besides, the show is about the ministers. The wives are just window dressing.”
After meeting with Quincy’s friend and receiving the padding, the two of them drove back to his design firm so that Tia could try it all on.
“I hat
e this thing. It’s too bulky,” she whined.
Quincy adjusted the straps on her back. “Tia, this is only the padding to make you look about three months pregnant. It will get heavier as your pregnancy progresses. Stop complaining already.”
Waddling as if she were nine months pregnant, Tia found her way to a chair. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Why don’t I just divorce Brandon and take whatever small settlement he gives me?”
“Are you kidding me?” Quincy asked, with his hand over his chest faking a heart attack like Fred Sanford.
Tia leaned back in the chair and began examining her fingernails. “What’s the big deal? If we stop now, Nicky will never find out, and you’re in the clear.”
“What about the surrogate? There is a woman out there carrying your husband’s baby. If we quit now, she might get your settlement.”
“What do you mean?” Tia suddenly sat up and stared at Quincy. “Does she know about our plan?”
Quincy was afraid to answer. He’d tried his best to find an anonymous surrogate, but Tia was putting entirely too much pressure on him. Many of his friends had used surrogates to become parents, but none of those women were willing to help him. And although they were surrogates, they also insisted on being involved in the lives of the children they carried. There was no way that could happen in this case. Just when he’d decided to give up and tell Tia that her plan could not be done, the perfect person showed up on his doorstep.
Myrna was a former girlfriend of his from high school. At the time, Quincy was still struggling with his sexuality and dating both men and women. After the breakup, they’d remained good friends. Originally, Quincy didn’t plan on asking her to become involved, he just needed a shoulder to cry on. After he told her the entire story, he was shocked when she volunteered to carry the baby. She told him she was between jobs and really needed the money.
Quincy knew that he could trust Myrna explicitly, but he also knew better than to tell Tia the truth. If she found out that the surrogate knew all of the intimate details of the plan, she would freak out.
Faking Reality Page 6
