“Are you okay?” Montana asked. “Nothing else happened to you, did it?”
“No. They were just some jealous girls. They were staring at me the whole time we were in the prom.”
“Prom? This happened to you at someone’s prom?” Montana asked.
Deirdre nodded. “Yeah, my boyfriend Moe’s prom was tonight. All I wanted was to be his date and have a good time. They had to start fighting and mess everything up. Can we go to the hospital and see if Moe is okay?”
“Are you sure you want to go dressed like that?”
“I don’t care about that. I just want to make sure he’s okay. He was on a stretcher, Montana! I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing or not.”
“Okay, okay. Calm down. Which hospital did they take him to?”
“I don’t know.”
“The closest is Atlanta General. Let’s see if that’s where the ambulance took him.”
Deirdre felt herself calm down a little, but not completely, because she still didn’t know if Moe was okay.
“Are you going to tell my daddy about this?” Deirdre asked, although she thought she already knew the answer.
“He is very worried about you. When he noticed you were gone from your room, he tried to call you. He was just about to call the police when you called me. So your father is already involved.”
Deirdre bit her lip and shook her head. She was going to be on punishment until she was grown.
“Then why didn’t he come and get me?”
“I asked him to stay home. I think you should try to talk to him,” Montana said. “He might be more understanding than you think.”
“He understands Reese, Not me. Reese got a girl pregnant, and I haven’t even had sex, but I’m on lockdown.”
Deirdre thought it was okay to leave out her plans for after prom since it obviously wasn’t happening tonight.
“He wants to understand you too, but he’s a man,” Montana said with a soft chuckle. “They don’t always get us girls.”
They pulled into the emergency entrance of Atlanta General Hospital. There were hardly any parking spots, because they were filled with shiny, fancy prom automobiles. Katina’s SUV was nowhere in sight. Montana handed Deirdre a pair of flip-flops from her back seat.
“Are these the only shoes you have in here?” Deirdre asked.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
Inside the hospital, the lobby was standing room only. It seemed like everyone from the prom was there. Deirdre spotted the group of guys that Moe took pictures with and ran up to them.
“Did y’all hear anything about Moe?”
One of Moe’s friends looked at her and laughed. “Looks like somebody got jacked.”
“Moe. Is he okay?” Deirdre asked, ignoring the ridicule.
“Yeah, he cool,” another one of the friends said. “He just got a concussion. His mama and his baby mama are in his room now.”
“He said that girl Boosy isn’t his baby’s mother,” Deirdre said, feeling herself getting real irritated.
“Not Boosy,” the first guy said. “His other baby mama, Natasha. They got a little girl. I think she’s about two.”
Deirdre’s eyes widened. Moe had a two-year-old? She remembered seeing his grandmother with a little girl at church, but she had no idea it was Moe’s baby. And Moe had conveniently neglected to mention his child. Was he planning on making her baby mama number two? Or three?
Deirdre shook her head and turned to Montana. “Let’s go. I don’t care what happens to him.”
“She mad, y’all!” Moe’s friend said.
Deirdre didn’t allow one tear to spill until they were outside the hospital, but once the night air hit her face, the floodgates opened. How could she have been so stupid? She had been dating Moe for months, and she knew absolutely nothing about him.
Montana pulled Deirdre into an embrace. “It’s okay. Let’s just go home.”
After a few minutes of driving without conversation, Deirdre said, “Thank you for coming to get me.”
“Of course,” Montana said. “I’m your nanny, remember?”
This made Deirdre smile. She thought she didn’t need a nanny, but after the night’s events, she realized that maybe she did.
“You really like my dad, don’t you?” Deirdre asked.
Montana smiled, but didn’t answer right away. After a very long pause, she said, “I do like him a lot. I don’t know if that’s professional, but you’re almost grown. You’re not stupid.”
“He likes you too. I’ve never seen him look at Chloe the way he looks at you.”
Deirdre noticed Montana frown at the mention of Chloe’s name. Of course, Montana couldn’t stand Chloe. Chloe had done some low-down stuff to Montana—with Deirdre’s help. Suddenly, Deirdre felt remorseful.
“I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you, Montana.”
Montana patted Deirdre’s hand. “I forgive you. Actually, I forgave you a long time ago.”
“Thank you. Can you go with me when I see my dad tonight? I want to live to see another day.”
Montana laughed. “I will. And maybe I can help reason with him.”
“I sure hope so.”
Montana squeezed Deirdre’s hand again, and Deirdre smiled. It felt good to have an ally, someone without any agenda who wanted to help her. She never imagined having a mother again, had never let herself hope for one. She said a silent prayer. Lord, please don’t take Montana away from us.
For the first time since her mother had died, Deirdre felt herself in a very vulnerable place. She found herself wishing again.
CHAPTER 45
Quentin and Tippen had both worn navy blue suits for their arbitration meeting with Chloe and her lawyer, Doris Lindman. Their coordination wasn’t on purpose, but Quentin hoped that it meant they were in accord.
Quentin wanted everything to go quickly today. He had other matters to attend to—namely, Deirdre and her escape to the hood. He’d barely gotten any sleep the entire weekend. He planned to talk to her when she got home from school, with Montana as the mediator. It would be his second arbitration meeting of the day.
“I still don’t know if this is the best thing to do,” Tippen whispered, as they approached the conference room.
Quentin nodded. “I know.”
They walked into the conference room, where Doris and Chloe were already seated, along with the Honorable Judge Killian. She used to be a family court judge and was a neutral party agreed upon by both Tippen and Doris.
“Good morning,” Quentin said, as he took his seat.
Chloe said nothing, and Doris grimaced. They seemed ready for battle. Quentin wondered why they had ever agreed to the arbitration. Neither one of them looked ready to bend or budge.
“Good morning, Mr. Chambers and Attorney Carey. Since we’re all here, let’s go ahead and get started. I’ve read Ms. Brooks’s complaint and Mr. Chambers’s response, but I will listen if you’d like to state your main points again. Ms. Brooks, you can go first.”
Chloe looked directly at Quentin and narrowed her eyes. “Quentin strung me along for almost five years. He gave me a monthly stipend on a credit card, he paraded me around Atlanta on his arm, and everyone in our circle thought we would be married. Then he met another woman. His nanny. And the next thing I know, he’s dumping me, telling me he doesn’t love me. He canceled my credit cards and embarrassed me in front of everyone we know. I haven’t had a job in five years. I haven’t had to. Now I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Chloe burst into tears, and her lawyer handed her a tissue. She blew her nose and continued.
“Now I’m going to be destitute. Quentin has made me a laughingstock.”
Judge Killian waited to see if Chloe was done. “Is that all, Ms. Brooks?”
Chloe put one finger up, a signal to wait. “One more thing. I didn’t want to do this. I would’ve stayed with him another five years if I had to. He pushed me to this.”
Judge Killian raised her eyebrows.
“Now are you done?”
Chloe took a deep breath and nodded. Quentin tilted his head to one side and gave Chloe what he hoped was a look of compassion. He hadn’t meant to hurt her. If he could take the past five years and give them back to her, he would.
“Mr. Chambers, you may have your say now.”
Quentin closed his eyes and cleared his throat. Chloe’s nose flared, as if she was preparing herself to be angry at his rebuttal.
“She’s right,” Quentin said. “Give her what she asked for in her complaint.”
Chloe’s jaw dropped, and Doris clapped her hands together. Judge Killian looked confused.
“The entire twenty million?” Judge Killian asked. “We could’ve skipped this meeting today if you were so agreeable.”
“Well, I prayed about it. And I did lean on Chloe during my time of grief. I did not fall in love with her, but that’s not her fault. I don’t want her to suffer.”
Tippen shook his head. Perhaps he’d been hoping that in the eleventh hour Quentin would change his mind. Tippen had been furious when Quentin called him with his plan. He’d said Chloe didn’t deserve anything more than she’d already spent.
“So that’s it? After five years, you wire me some money and send me on my merry way?” Chloe asked.
“On one condition. That you stop trying to damage Montana’s reputation. Leave her out of this. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Tears coursed down Chloe’s cheeks. “Right. She’s above reproach. So sweet, so anointed. So perfect.”
Quentin sighed and looked at Judge Killian. This wasn’t going anywhere positive. He’d agreed to Chloe’s terms. Now it was time to wire the funds and go.
“I can buy a whole lot with twenty million, huh?” Chloe said. “I wonder if I can afford a heart transplant, since you broke mine.”
“If you don’t want the money, then what do you want?” Quentin asked.
In a small voice, Chloe said. “I want your heart.”
Doris handed Chloe another tissue and placed one hand over hers. “I will give you the wire transfer information, Mr. Chambers,” Doris said.
“I’m sorry, Chloe. I’m so sorry,” Quentin said. “I hope you can find a way to forgive me.”
Judge Killian said, “The agreement made here will be binding. Ms. Brooks, you will not have the ability to continue litigation against Mr. Chambers if you accept his offer. Do you accept his offer?”
Chloe nodded. “I accept his offer, but not his apology.”
“That’s good enough,” Judge Killian said. “I will leave the payment details to the attorneys.”
Quentin waited for the ladies to stand from the table before he stood to leave. Doris held Chloe’s arm as she led her to the door.
“I will never forgive you, Quentin. For as long as I live, I will never forgive what you did to me.”
“I admit what I did was wrong,” Quentin said. “But you’re not blameless, Chloe, while you insist on withholding your forgiveness.”
“All I’ve ever done is be there for your selfish behind.”
“Tell me, how did you know my wife again?” Quentin asked. “From Spelman? My mother’s investigators said you dropped out of high school and went to a community college in Alabama.”
Chloe turned to face Quentin. “That’s a lie,” she said.
“It’s not. You never knew my wife. Take this twenty million, Chloe, and move on. Be happy.”
Chloe shook her head and stormed angrily out of the conference room. Doris followed closely behind.
Tippen said, “Quentin, you could’ve used that information to prove that you were a mark from day one. Why didn’t you?”
“Because I can afford it, and I truly am sorry I didn’t fall in love with her.”
“Well, if you’re just throwing millions around, you can hook a brotha up,” Tippen said. “I’ve been with you for a lot longer than five years.”
Quentin chuckled. “Tip, man, you’re family. But I’m fresh out of settlement money right now. Hit me up in another five years.”
“I’ll be past my prime by then,” Tippen said.
Quentin shook his head and followed Tippen out of the conference room. He hoped that Chloe would change her mind. She was a wealthy woman now.
CHAPTER 46
Quentin could tell that Deirdre was nervous. No one had been invited into his music room since Chandra had died. Quentin sat at the piano and tapped a couple of keys. It needed tuning. He’d handle that later.
“Why did you want to talk to me in here?” Deirdre asked.
Quentin patted the piano bench and motioned for her to sit. “Because I don’t want to talk right now. I want to sing.”
“Why do you want to sing with me?”
“Because I have been neglecting your gift. You’ve managed to be incredible without my help, but you can be better.”
“Am I on punishment, though?” Deirdre asked.
Quentin cleared his throat. “No shopping for the next three months. Now, let’s talk about singing. I want us to do a duet for your brother’s wedding.”
“I can’t believe he’s marrying that hood rat.”
“Your future sister-in-law is a very nice girl. Have you talked to her?”
Deirdre rolled her eyes. “You talked to her, but you wouldn’t talk to Moe. You wouldn’t even let me see Moe.”
“Why do you keep trying to talk about that when I’m trying to sing?” Quentin tapped a few keys.
“Because, Daddy! You’re not being fair. Moe . . .”
“Took you into a dangerous situation. He should’ve been man enough to come here and ask my permission to take you out. He wasn’t. End of story. Let’s warm up.”
Deirdre groaned. “I don’t feel like singing.”
“We’re going up the scale first. Sing ‘today is a good day today.’ ”
Deirdre sang without much enthusiasm. Quentin said, “And up, today is a good day today.”
Deirdre followed Quentin’s lead and went up the scale and then back down to the lowest notes she could muster.
“So, what are we singing?” Deirdre asked when they finished the scales.
“ ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,’ the Dionne Warwick version,” Quentin said.
Deirdre scrunched her nose. “Can’t we sing some Beyoncé?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay, well, at least can we do the Lauryn Hill arrangement?”
Quentin mulled this over for a minute. “Okay, we can do it that way. Do you know it already?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“So, let’s sing. And one, and two, and one, two, three.”
Quentin beamed at his daughter as they sang the lyrics to the classic song. He actually liked Lauryn’s version. He sang the low parts and Deirdre sang the high parts. She could’ve done the whole thing by herself, but they harmonized perfectly.
When they were finished, they sat quietly for a moment, both blinking back tears. He hadn’t sung a song with her since she was a little girl.
“Do you know how much I love you, Deirdre?”
“It doesn’t always feel that way.”
“I know it and I’m trying to change. I know I’ve got some making up to do.”
“It feels like . . . sometimes it feels like we lost you and mom.”
Quentin swallowed hard to hold back more tears. He knew that God didn’t want his children to feel like orphans, and he was so glad that his heart was finally healing.
“I love you too, Daddy,” Deirdre said. “I want to tell you something, but you have to promise me you won’t be mad.”
“Does it have something to do with Moe?” Quentin didn’t think he could take any more revelations.
“No. It doesn’t have anything to do with Moe. I don’t even like him anymore. It’s about Chloe.”
Quentin pulled his eyebrows together tightly. “What about Chloe?”
“Promise you won’t get mad, Daddy!”
“Whenever you ask me
to promise not to get mad, it’s because you’re about to make me mad!”
Deirdre crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. “Never mind.”
Quentin closed his eyes. He wanted Deirdre to open up. He wanted her to talk to him, and he definitely wanted to know what information she had about Chloe. “Okay. I won’t be mad, Deirdre. I promise. Whatever you tell me, I won’t get angry.”
“Remember that picture you got of Montana in your text message?”
Quentin felt the nerve next to his eye twitching. “Yes. Why do you know about it?”
“Because Chloe asked me to help her. She asked me to send it. I didn’t really care about Montana at the time, so I did what Chloe asked, but I’m so sorry I did it.”
Quentin’s mouth formed a little line. “You should be.”
“You’re not gonna tell her, are you?”
“No. She would be hurt, Deirdre. I won’t let her know you had anything to do with that.”
Deirdre jumped up and hugged Quentin. “Thank you, Daddy!”
“You’re still grounded, though. Just so you know.”
Deirdre sighed. “The story of my life.”
CHAPTER 47
Montana, as usual, was running late for choir practice. There were some last-minute runs she needed to make for the masquerade ball, and she’d tried to cram everything into a few hours without thinking about Atlanta traffic.
Brother Odom hated when they were late, so she hoped that they were still on the praise and worship part. Sometimes, if a lot of people were running late, Brother Odom would drag that part out until the stragglers came in. He’d roll his eyes at every one of them as they tiptoed into the choir stand.
Montana ran into the sanctuary and up the middle aisle. She was fortunate. Brother Odom hadn’t even started yet. He was standing at the organ talking to the musicians. Wait. Was that Quentin at the second organ? What in the world was he doing there?
Quentin waved at her as she ascended the stairs into the choir stand. Emoni abandoned the alto section and met her in the last row of sopranos.
“What’s going on?” Montana whispered.
Emoni shrugged. “All I know is that Quentin came in and met with my dad this afternoon. They talked for hours, and he prayed with Quentin. You think he’s back?”
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