You Get What You Pray For

by E. N. Joy

  Terrance smiled. “The pleasure is all mine, sir.”

  “Sir,” Nicholas said, scrunching up his face. “You can’t be too much younger than the doctor himself.” He began to play with the hairs on his chin in a GQ manner.

  Nicholas was right about that. Terrance was Unique’s senior by a few years, but he was who someone like Unique needed to tame her. She’d eat one of those young boys alive. She’d lived a long, hard life in a short amount of time. She’d been broken, but she’d healed, and it would take a certain kind of man to handle her, to handle her heart. She didn’t think the guys she was used to entertaining, namely, young street dudes, could provide her with that.

  “Pardon me,” Terrance said. “Just trying to show some respect for the man of the house, is all.”

  “Oh, I’m messing with you,” Nicholas joked, then patted Terrance on the shoulder.

  “Well, I’m glad you guys made it back to see us and hear the good news from the horse’s mouth,” Unique said. “But now we have to head over to Mommy’s to tell her the news as well.”

  “Oh, she doesn’t know yet?” Lorain asked, feeling elated inside that Unique had come to share the news with her first.

  “No, not yet.” Unique shook her head.

  “Well, I’m sure she’ll be just as excited for you as we are,” Lorain said.

  “Hopefully.” Terrance sounded nervous. “I hear Ms. Korica is something else.”

  “Oh, she’s something else, all right,” Lorain said under her breath in an unflattering way.

  Nicholas gently elbowed her. “Be nice.” He gave her a stern look as Unique shot her a similar one.

  “Okay, okay.” Lorain held her hands up in surrender. “Thank you for stopping by.”

  Hugs and kisses were given, and good-byes were said. And then Unique and Terrance were on their way.

  “Well, I better go get dinner finished up,” Lorain said after closing the front door. She looked at her daughters. “Girls, do you want to help me?”

  “That depends,” Victoria said.

  “On what?” Lorain asked.

  “On if they’re any bowls to lick.”

  “Why you little . . .” Lorain tickled Victoria all the way into the kitchen, while Heaven followed, giggling.

  “I guess I’m going to head on over to my place until dinner is ready,” Eleanor announced. “Then I’ll be back.”

  “All right,” Nicholas said as he headed upstairs. “I’m about to go get my mind right, because I’m sure I’m going to get bombarded with ideas for the wedding by my wife soon.”

  “Oh, you are going to get bombarded about a wedding, all right,” Eleanor said as she watched her son-in-law scale the steps. “You wait and see.”

  Eleanor headed into the kitchen, where she found Lorain at the counter, about to give the girls orders. “Y’all just came in from outside the house and didn’t wash them little paws,” Eleanor said to the girls. “Y’all know better. Go get them hands washed, and then come back and help your mama.”

  Heaven and Victoria did what they were told. They exited the kitchen and headed to the nearest bathroom. Eleanor walked over to Lorain and jumped right in. She knew she had only two minutes, tops, to speak to her before the girls returned to the kitchen. And that was only if they fought over who was taking up too much space at the sink.

  “Viola Lorain!” Eleanor said. Viola was Lorain’s first name, but she hadn’t gone by that name since her college days. But Eleanor chose to use it whenever she was good and livid with her only child. “Next time why don’t you go hire two men and a truck and go help her pack,” she said to Lorain, her eyes filled with disappointment. “Why don’t you talk to the dang girl? Let it go. Then you won’t have to act like this anymore. You will both know where the other stands, what each other’s intentions are.” Eleanor shook her head. “I don’t get you, baby. You and Nick legally adopted the girls. Unique signed off on all the paperwork. There is no way on earth any judge would take them from you and give them to her.” Eleanor gave her the evil eye. “Unless you did something totally off the charts.”

  “I know I should talk to her,” Lorain admitted.

  “I’m telling you, the guilt is going to eat you alive.”

  “The guilt wasn’t here when Unique was in West Virginia, and now there’s a possibility she might go back.”

  “That’s because she wasn’t a threat to you while she was out of town.” Eleanor put her hand on Lorain’s shoulder. “Honey, your own daughter should not be a threat to you.” Lorain put her head down. Eleanor put her hands on both her daughter’s shoulders and lightly shook her. “God is giving you a second chance with the baby girl you thought was dead. He can’t be pleased right now.”

  Lorain backed up and turned away from her mother. Everything Eleanor was saying was true. God couldn’t possibly be pleased, which was why Lorain had tried to stay as far away from Him as she had from Unique. She didn’t even pray anymore, because she didn’t want to hear what God had to say. She wasn’t talking to God, and she wasn’t talking to Unique. She felt trapped and just needed to be free. But knowing that freedom was found in truth, for now Lorain would opt to remain a prisoner of her own secrets.

  Chapter 17

  “Unique, my baby girl. Come on in.” Korica kissed Unique on the cheek after opening the door for her. She then immediately took her by the hand and began to lead her into the kitchen, where she was finishing up dinner.

  After finding out that Unique was going to drop by her house, Korica had hung up the phone and had got busy. This was the perfect opportunity to put her plan in motion. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, because there wasn’t any time to waste as far as Korica was concerned. She hoped that all parties involved would be pleased with her bright idea, otherwise she feared she might end up left alone in the dark.

  “Mommy, I . . .” Unique couldn’t say any more, as she was being dragged into the kitchen of Korica’s home, which had been built from the ground up just for Korica. It wasn’t a five-level dwelling or anything like that, but it was bigger than any place Korica had ever lived in before, and it wasn’t an apartment, which was what she had lived in all her life. This dwelling had made her a first-time home owner, and the fact that it was a new build made it even better. It had three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and a finished basement that had a half bath and a bar area. The home had plenty of room for Korica to entertain her grandchildren and to house one or two of her own children if ever they were down on their luck and needed a place to stay.

  “I know, I know. You have something to tell me,” Korica said, pulling Unique by the hand. “But you’re in my house, so me first.”

  They reached the kitchen, where there was a huge spread on the counter. There was spaghetti with meat seasoned with taco seasoning. There was corn bread. Korica always added sugar to the batter, so the corn bread was sweet. It was still warm, and slivers of butter were melting on top. Korica had also made a tomato and cucumber salad and fried chicken wings with hot sauce on the side. The hot sauce was for both the wings and the spaghetti. Unique’s stomach started to grumble at the sight and the smell of all those foods on the counter. But the sight at the kitchen table made Unique suddenly lose her appetite.

  “Eugene!” Unique said, her blood instantly beginning to boil.

  “Unique.” Eugene stood up from the table. His half smile quickly turned into no smile at all when Unique’s reaction to him registered.

  “What are you doing here?” Unique’s tone was not one of surprise, but of disdain. Her entire demeanor had changed. She began to clam up like that younger, bitter, hurt Unique, who was starting to engulf her and take over.

  Eugene opened his mouth, slightly stunned. He looked at Korica, who was looking at the ceiling while whistling Dixie. He then looked back at Unique.

  “Who is that?” Eugene uttered these three words as he pointed over Unique’s shoulder. And so did Terrance, who had been trailing behind and had finally caught up with Koric
a and Unique in the kitchen.

  At the sound of the two male voices, Korica turned and, for the first time, noticed the male stranger standing in her modestly decorated modern kitchen. Korica had been so busy trying to get Unique into the kitchen to see Eugene that she hadn’t even noticed poor Terrance and certainly hadn’t given Unique the opportunity to introduce him.

  “Who is he?” Terrance demanded to know, nodding at Eugene.

  “I’m Eugene, Unique’s baby daddy,” Eugene answered, his chest all puffed out, flexing his muscles. He stood there in his baggy jeans, Timberland boots, and a double T-shirt. Both of his ears were pierced. “Who are you?” He looked Terrance up and down, sizing him up.

  After hearing his name, Terrance knew exactly who this thug standing in front of him was. Even before he knew the guy’s name, he could tell that his presence had a negative effect on Unique. Now this chump was trying to flex on Terrance as well. Oh, heck no! All bets were off as Terrance waited for Unique to share the news of their pending nuptials with her mother.

  When she remained silent for what seemed like an eternity, Terrance pulled Unique to him, hugged her tightly, and announced, “I’m her fiancé.”

  “Fiancé!” both Korica and Eugene said in unison. Their voices bounced off the pearl-colored kitchen walls and the glass see-through cabinets, which protected all the brand-new dishes Korica had purchased for the house. When she was moving into the house, her children had refused to allow her to pack up the mismatched cups the grandkids had once drunk out of and the old jelly jars that Korica had drunk her daily Pepsi out of. Those plastic plates from the dollar store had been replaced with a nice set from Bed Bath & Beyond that Unique had given her.

  Eugene instantly shot Korica a side-eye look. This time she didn’t have enough time to look around and whistle, like she was none the wiser. “What’s really going on here? When you called me, you said that Unique wanted to—”

  “Look, I’m sorry.” Korica cut Eugene off, walked over to him, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

  She didn’t necessarily want to be rude and cut Eugene off like that, but Korica hadn’t been sure exactly what was about to come out of Eugene’s mouth. She knew one thing, though: she didn’t want it to be the wrong thing. Heck, for that matter, she didn’t want it to be the right thing, either. She could not afford for him to mess up everything she’d been strategically lining up. In other words, if his dumb butt showed his hand during their game of Spades, with them being partners, they could go set and not make the bid.

  Five minutes ago Korica had felt certain her plan was foolproof, but that was before Unique had strolled in with Superman himself, who was willing, ready, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound if it meant protecting Lois Lane.

  “You trying to play me, Miss Korica?” Eugene spat. “All I wanted is for Unique to—”

  This time it was Unique who did the cutting off. “All you wanted?” They could see Unique’s chest rising up and down. “All you wanted?” She pointed a finger and started walking up on Eugene. “You think I care what you wanted? Why should I? You never cared about what I wanted!” Now Unique was right up on him. “Like when I wanted you to help take care of your son.” Unique poked him in the chest when she said the word you. “Remember that, Eugene?” Her eyes began to fill with tears.

  Terrance reached out to grab Unique’s arm. She snatched it away angrily.

  “No,” she told Terrance, all the while glaring at Eugene. “He needs to hear this. Besides, I think I’ve earned the right to say what I need to say to him.”

  “And you do have that right.” Eugene sounded sympathetic. “That’s why I wrote you and tried to call—”

  Korica walked in between Unique and Eugene. “You two, please. Not in front of company.” She nodded at Terrance. “Company that I had no idea we were going to have.” She looked at Eugene sympathetically. “Honestly.”

  Eugene rolled his eyes at Korica and twisted up his lips in doubt. At this point he didn’t know if he could believe a word she said. He had tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but now he felt stupid. He was kicking himself inside. He should have known better. A leopard never changed its spots, only its location. Korica was still a lying, manipulative, aging hood rat . . . just in a better house now. Eugene was feeling set up by Korica, who was supposed to be his playing buddy. He turned his attention back to Unique.

  “I wanted you to write me, take my call just once, so you could let me have it. Let me have everything I deserved,” he told her. “This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen—you holding on to it like this.”

  “You mean you didn’t want to have to hold on to the guilt,” Unique snapped. “Forgiveness from me would mean you could sleep a lot easier at night. Forgiveness from me would let you off the hook from feeling like the piece of—”

  “Unique, baby.” This time Terrance was successful in pulling Unique away from Eugene and back toward him.

  Unique pursed her trembling lips. Her eyes were still filled with tears of rage, but she did not let one teardrop fall. At this point, if she didn’t get out of there, things were going to get ugly. She turned and looked at Korica. She shook her head at her. She felt so betrayed. Korica knew how Unique felt about Eugene. How dare she invite him into her home to break bread with them?

  Korica had never seen her daughter look at her that way before. The look Unique was giving her went beyond disappointment. It read the B word—betrayal. Korica honestly hadn’t anticipated this type of reaction from Unique. Regardless of Korica’s antics and actions, Unique usually turned a blind eye and loved Korica for who she was, anyway. Unique’s reaction now made Korica feel sick inside. She needed to fix this with her baby girl.

  “Unique, I’m—”

  “Come on, Terrance. Let’s go.” Unique turned sharply and exited the kitchen, not waiting on a response from Terrance, but hoping he was right behind her.

  Terrance and Unique had driven together to Korica’s house. After visiting Lorain’s house, they had gone back to Unique’s apartment to drop off her car. It didn’t make sense for Terrance to keep following her around town, especially with the high price of gas. So after leaving Korica’s house, they jumped in Terrance’s car and headed back to Unique’s place.

  “He was trying to be slick,” Unique told Terrance as they drove. “Telling me what he thinks I wanted to hear.”

  Terrance simply listened and didn’t talk, as he’d done for the past ten minutes of their drive. He didn’t completely understand the situation, and it was so complicated that he didn’t need to add his own two cents. Right now Unique was going through so many emotions, and all she needed was someone to vent to, a listening ear. Terrance would be that for her.

  She went on. “That’s what he’s always done in order to get what he wants from me—tell me exactly what he thinks I want to hear. And it usually works. That’s what he did the night we conceived the girls, but not this time, sucker.”

  “The girls?” Terrance had a confused look on his face. “I thought you said he was your son’s father, and just one of your sons.”

  Unique thought she would die. In all her ranting and raving, had she really let it slip that the twins were actually her daughters and not her little sisters? She was not supposed to tell Terrance about the girls. She was not supposed to tell anybody. Of course, eventually, she would have had to; after all, she was about to marry the man. She absolutely did not want to go into a marriage without sharing something as serious as that with him. But this wasn’t how she wanted to tell him. She wanted to share this with him on purpose, not by accident, and certainly not when she was having an angry fit.

  Terrance didn’t say another word. He wasn’t about to discuss something of this magnitude while driving a three-thousand-pound vehicle. What had started off as a beautiful day, one lit up by the sun’s rays, was now a cloudy afternoon. Terrance looked in the rearview mirror, saw that he was free to pull over, and did so, easing to a stop on the side
of the road. The sound of the gravel underneath the tires was intensified by the thick silence inside the car. It sounded like the crackling sounds of thunder before a loud boom rumbled across the heavens and a streak of lightning danced in the sky.

  He put the car in park, then turned to face Unique.

  Unique figured she’d better go ahead and finish what she’d started. “Terrance, I’m—”

  He held up his hand, closed his eyes, and then shook his head. Confused, he gathered his thoughts, trying to sort out the truths and misperceptions. He loved Unique. He was in love with Unique. But was there a side of her that he didn’t know about? A side that would keep things from him? He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes. “Unique, I get that we’ve been with each other only a few months, not even a year. I get that we still have a great deal to learn about each other. We can’t share our entire life story in a few months, so I’m being as understanding as I possibly can right now. I suspect things might come up in my life that make you feel some kind of way. Over time I’ll try my best to give you all of me. I’m expecting reciprocity from your end.”

  Unique sat there, listening intently. While in jail, she used to watch the daytime court show Judge Judy. She had learned from that show that sometimes if you shut up and let the other person do all the talking, you could win the case. Unique was praying that this theory would prove true in this current scenario.

  “Whatever you ask me, I will give you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but,” Terrance continued. “I will answer you honestly and will not lie by omission.”

  Unique twisted her face in confusion. She wasn’t quite sure what Terrance was saying, what he meant by omission.

  Noticing the expression on her face, Terrance said, “Lying by omission—that’s when you don’t tell someone something in order to keep from having to say the truth. You don’t lie and say it didn’t happen. You just don’t tell the truth and say that it did happen.”