“Wow, I never looked at your life like that before. I knew that your mother didn’t live in the nicest of neighborhoods, but I never even wondered what it was like for you growing up in a single parent home.”
“That’s because you’ve always been rich, Shawn. It’s hard for you to understand what it’s like for a parent to look into empty cabinets and wonder how they are going to feed a house full of hungry mouths.”
Shawn knew that what Lily was saying was the truth. All this time, he had been so busy focusing on his insecurities within his family that he never stopped to think just how blessed he was to have been born into a family such as the Morrisons. Well he might be slow to the game, but he would soon be scoring some Super Bowl-worthy touchdowns. “A couple years back, me and some other teammates helped out at a food pantry. I think I’ll make that one of my top priorities when I get my foundation up and running.”
“Yeah, since you’ve been accused of being the father of so many babies, you might as well help single mothers feed their kids,” Lily said with a giggle behind each word.
Shawn knew he was being laughed at again, but he deserved that one. “Lily?’
“Huh?”
“If I could turn back time, I wouldn’t have dated Paris. I would have waited for you to discover the truth about that woman who falsely accused me of being her child’s father… I would have just waited until you came back to me.”
“I know that you wish things had worked out that way, but they didn’t,” Lily said simply.
“I wish you could forgive me.”
“And I wish you could stop thinking that I’m after your money.”
“I think I’m beginning to figure that out. So, the ball’s back in your court,” Shawn said.
“Whatever man,” she said and then hung up the phone.
Shawn laid his cell phone down next to him on the bed and closed his eyes. He was only going to close his eyes for a few minutes and then get up and call Melvin, but he found himself drifting into a make-believe world where he loved Lily and she loved him back… and he couldn’t let the moment go. So he stayed with his dream girl all night long, whispering sweet sounds of love into her ear.
She, in turn, peppered his ears with words of love and adoration. Because in his dream world it didn’t matter that Lily was a poor girl from a bad neighborhood and he was a rich boy who’d been given so much, but appreciated so little in life. All that mattered was the love they had for one another. And in the morning when he woke up, Shawn was determined to do everything possible to turn his dreams into reality.
***
Shawn and the boys had breakfast with his family while Imani slept. After breakfast, his father’s driver took them to the airport. It was at the airport that Shawn remembered the missed call he’d received from Melvin Cotrell. He took out his cell and called his attorney. The phone rang about three times. When Melvin answered they exchanged greetings and then Shawn said, “Hey, I’m sorry I missed your call yesterday, but Isaiah told me that the police have got some new evidence or something.”
“They don’t just have new evidence, they have a suspect. Her prints were found on Paris’s brand new Gucci bag that Jason Brooks had just given to her that morning.”
Little Isaiah was playing with his Spider-man toy. He got up and tried to walk off, slinging web as he went. Shawn grabbed him by the back of his shirt and sat him back down. “So Lily was right about that producer’s name being Jason?”
“She was so right that Detective Jones would like to give her a kiss.”
“Tell him to keep his lips to himself,” Shawn said, seeing red at the thought of another man coming near Lily.
“Anyway, Jason Brooks told Detective Jones that he’d just broken up with a woman who threatened Paris, but he hadn’t thought anything of it, until Paris got stabbed.”
“That’s crazy. So, Paris steals this guy from some woman who goes ballistic and kills her?”
“Exactly. Evidently this Jules woman is bipolar and occasionally goes off her meds or something.”
Shawn took the cell phone away from his ear and cleared the wax out with his finger. He must have heard wrong. He’d only met one woman name Jules the entire time he’d lived in New Orleans. Melvin couldn’t have just said that name. “What’s his ex-girlfriend’s name?”
“Uh, Jules Moore or something like that.”
“What do you mean, something like that? Either her name is Jules Moore or it’s not,” Shawn yelled. Passengers, who had previously been minding their own business, turned and stared at Shawn. He ignored them.
“There’s no reason to get hot under the collar,” Melvin said, then quickly consulting his notes he added, “Yes, I believe, yes, her name was Jules Moore.”
The stewardess began boarding first class passengers. Shawn picked up the baby carriage and began escorting his boys toward the plane. “Look, Melvin, my plane is about to take off. I need you to do me a favor.”
“What’s up?”
“Can you please call Detective Jones and ask him to go check on Lily. I think Jules might try to stir up some trouble with her.”
“You know this woman?” Melvin asked in surprise.
“She was just at my house the other night. Look, I’ve got to let you go. Please call Detective Jones.” Shawn hung up the phone, handed the stewardess his ticket and then ushered his children onto the plane faster than he ever moved a piece of sheepskin down a field as he headed for a touchdown.
He sat his children in their seats and then called Lily. The phone rang four times before switching over to voicemail. Shawn hung up and dialed again. The phone went straight to voicemail this time. He looked at his watch. It was ten in the morning, so Lily was probably at church and had turned her phone off to avoid letting it ring during service again. When the beep sounded, he said, “Lily this is Shawn. Call me as soon as you get this message. No, scratch that. I’m on the plane getting ready to fly home. Call Detective Jones or my attorney ASAP; they’ll tell you what’s going on.”
“Daddy what’s going on, why are you acting so nervous?” Shawnee asked.
“I’m not nervous, Son. Just sit back and chill.” He took his IPod out of his pocket and handed it to Shawnee. “Here, put those plugs in your ears, turn up the volume and have fun with that.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Shawnee said as though he’d just received a prized possession.
They had finished boarding first class. Now other passengers were getting on the plane. Soon Shawn would be forced to turn off his phone and would have no further connection to the outside world until he landed. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t positive that Jules would try something with Lily, but something in his gut told him she would. Especially as he reminded himself of how uneasy he’d felt when Jules had called Lily his problem.
Shawn didn’t want to upset his father, so he turned to his big brother, Isaiah, the same guy who’d been getting him out of scrapes since Shawn learned to walk—the same guy that Shawn had wronged, but whom God had redeemed him back to. When Isaiah answered his phone, Shawn said, “Thank God you aren’t already on the plane headed back home. I need your help.”
Without hesitation, Isaiah asked, “What’s up, bro? How can I help?”
Shawn relayed the story about breaking up with Jules to be with Lily years ago and how he attempted to hook back up with Jules again recently, but then told the woman that he still preferred Lily over her. Shawn also told Isaiah that he just found out that Jules may be the person who killed Paris. “I need you to pray for Lily. It’s going to take me at least two hours to get to her.”
“Of course I’ll pray for Lily and I’ll also pray for you and all these bonehead predicaments you keep getting yourself into.”
Shawn was beside himself with grief for the harm his actions might bring to the woman he loved. “Please pray for me, bro. Lily and I need all the prayer we can get. Please ask God to help us… I swear man, if he does, I’ll never turn my back on Him again.”
> “From your mouth to God’s ears, my brother.” Isaiah started praying while they were still on the phone.
The stewardess walked over to Shawn and instructed him to hang up the phone. Then she handed him a handkerchief. “I got to go, Isaiah, but keep praying.”
“All right, man. Call me when you get home.”
Shawn wiped the tears that had fallen down his face as he talked to his brother. He hadn’t even realized that he’d been crying until the stewardess handed him the handkerchief. “Thank you,” he said to the woman as he handed her back her handkerchief.
“Not a problem,” she said with a smile. But just before walking away, she put her hand on Shawn’s shoulder and said, “Keep the faith, God has got this one under control.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Pastor know he stomped on the Devil’s head with that message this morning,” Lily said to Gloria, one of the friends she’d recently made at her church.
“He didn’t just stomp on old Lucifer, he buried that bug-a-boo.”
Lily laughed and playfully slapped her friend on the back, “Girl, you silly.”
They passed the nursery and Gloria asked, “Don’t you have to get your boys?”
Lily glanced at the nursery door and then said, “Oh no, the boys are with their father this weekend.”
“So what are you going to do with your kid-free day?”
“Well, since my mom is out of town also, I was thinking about some mall therapy. I’ll probably grab myself a quick bite to eat and then head out.”
“Sounds good girl, if I had some extra cash I’d go with you. But I’m saving every extra penny I have because I need to get my roof fixed.”
“How old is your roof?”
“I bought the house ten years ago, and the roof was about ten years old then. I know that most people would just let the roof cave in and then call their insurance company. But my elderly grandmother stays with me, and I would just die if she got hurt because I didn’t fix that roof.”
Since Lily lived in a modest home and didn’t over spend in order to keep up appearances, she was not only able to save for her children’s college funds, but she had money set aside in a savings for herself, also. And right now shopping didn’t seem like a priority to her. She put her hand on Gloria’s arm, slowing her stride. “Gloria, can you sit down in the fellowship hall with me for a moment?”
“Sure girl, what’s up?” Gloria asked as they found a table and chairs off to the side.
“I wanted to see if I could help you. How much have you saved for your roof and how much more do you need?”
Gloria waved her suggestion off. “I am not going to take your money.”
“Can you just answer the question,” Lily demanded.
Gloria leaned back in her seat, she smiled at Lily and she said, “My house is small so the roof isn’t that big. But all in all, the best estimate I received was for five thousand. And so far I have saved about thirty five hundred. So, in another year, I will be able to save the rest.”
“In another year, the estimate will go up.” Lily opened her purse and took out her checkbook. “Look, I don’t need to go shopping. I was only doing it to get my mind off of Shawn.”
“What’s he done now?” Gloria asked, and then said, “Do not write that check. The quickest way for friends to become enemies is to loan each other money.”
“Shawn has been trying to get back with me and I’m just not sure if I can trust him with my heart like that.” Lily answered her friend’s question and then said, “I’m not loaning you anything. And you can’t tell me who to give my money to. Anyway, don’t you believe what your Bible says?”
“Of course I believe the Bible. I wouldn’t call myself a Christian if I didn’t.”
“Well, my Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive. So, my giving this money to you will cause God to bless me in other ways… just like your opening up your home to your grandmother has caused God to send me to help you with your roof… see how it all works?” Lily asked as she lowered her head and wrote out the check.
Before Gloria had time to ponder all that her friend had just said, Lily had handed her the check and said, “Go make your house safe for your granny.”
Gloria stood up and hugged Lily as if she’d just been given a million dollars. “Girl, I don’t know how to thank you for this. I mean… what can I do for you?”
“You still don’t get it,” Lily told her as she stood with her. “I believe that God will bless me for my kindness to you. I don’t know what form His blessing will come in, but I do know that if you bless me back, He doesn’t have to. So, don’t do anything for me. You got it?”
Smiling, Gloria was finally catching on. “Okay, I got it. Thank you.” Gloria hugged her friend again and then danced on out the church door.
All Lily could think as she watched her friend go, was that if giving away a measly fifteen hundred dollars made her feel this good, Shawn was getting ready to be the happiest man on earth.
She had arrived at church late this morning so she had to park on the street instead of in the church parking lot. She crossed the street and got into her car. There would be no mall excursion for her today, but Lily wasn’t the least bit saddened by that. Shawn may think of her as a gold digger, but she knew the truth. God had set her free from that mindset and she was happy with what she had.
She pulled into her driveway and got out of the car. As she was about to go up the steps to her front door someone tapped her on the shoulder. Lily turned around and stared into the face of a beautiful woman with cold, black eyes. She didn’t know this woman’s name, but she remembered her face… the woman used to date Shawn. She was one of the women he’d cheated on her with. “What do you want?” Lily asked, all the joy she’d previously been feeling seeped out of her.
“I need to talk to you.”
“I have no idea what this is about and I really don’t have time for no drama.” Lily turned from the woman, but the woman with the cold eyes, pulled a knife out of her purse and grabbed her by the shoulder.
“If you don’t want to get stabbed in your driveway, I suggest you open the front door so we can go inside your house.”
***
Isaiah had already scheduled for one of the elders at his church to preach the message this Sunday, so he wasn’t scheduled to fly out of Atlanta until late afternoon. After getting the call from Shawn, he asked Ramona and Joel to pray with him. The three went into Joel’s well used prayer room and began bombarding heaven on Shawn and Lily’s behalf.
***
“What are you talking about Cotrell? Why would Jules Moore be going after Lily Washington? From all the information we’ve pulled on this case, it appears that Jules and Paris had beef over Jason Moore, not Shawn Morrison,” Detective Jones said.
“That is correct. But according to Shawn, he also used to date this woman named Jules. He broke up with her a few years back for Lily, and just basically did the same thing again a few days ago. Shawn just wants you to go and check things out,” Melvin Cotrell was pleading his client’s case. “Will you go to Lily’s house, please?”
***
“Why are you doing this?” Lily asked as she unlocked her front door.
“Just shut up and get inside.” Jules shoved her into the house.
“I don’t even know you, so I’m not understanding why you seem to be upset with me.”
“Women like you are all the same. You steal a girl’s man without any concern for her or her feelings.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t know who your man is, but I can assure you that I didn’t steal him. I’m not even dating anyone.”
“Oh you stole him, all right. You and that kid of yours got Shawn’s head all turned around to the point where he didn’t want to have anything to do with me. He just dumped me, like all he had to do was tell me that he was in love and wanted to be faithful and that I would just go away.”
Shocked at what she was hearing, Lily
asked, “Shawn said that to you?”
“Shut up. I’m tired of you and every woman in the world like you. Just sit down and shut up,” Jules commanded.
Lily sat down on her couch. She waited a few moments and then tried to reason with Jules. “Okay, you are right. I did make a move on Shawn, even though I knew he was seeing other women. But when I met him, he wasn’t in a serious relationship or I never would have gotten with him. And besides, I don’t understand why you would come at me about something that happened over six years ago.”
“You ask Shawn why I’m coming at you about this now.” Jules touched the tip of her knife. “Oh wait, you won’t be seeing Shawn anymore, will you? So maybe I should tell you all about it right now, huh?”
***
Shawn got off the plane and ran like the wind to the parking lot. He had Imani in the baby carrier, little Isaiah on his hip and Shawnee, his future pro-baller was running with him. They made it to the car, Shawn made sure all the kids had on their seat belts because he knew he was about to break some speed limits. As he flew out of the airport, he called Lily again. She still wasn’t answering the phone, so he hung up and called Melvin. “Did you call Detective Jones?” Shawn asked as soon as the attorney picked up the phone.
“Yes, I did. He said he would go check things out at Lily’s house, but I’m not sure whether he’s going straight over there or not. He didn’t seem to think that Lily had anything to worry about from Jules.”
“Well have they already picked Jules up to question her about Paris?”
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