by Carl Weber
Earlier, when I peeked out into the sanctuary, I saw photographers, video cameras, and news reporters everywhere. There was even a man from Jet magazine who was going to take our picture for their “Society World” section. Of course, most of this attention was not for me, but for Bishop Wilson, whose campaign for borough president was running stronger than ever as Election Day approached, but I didn’t mind accepting some of the reflection off his spotlight.
I saw Aubrey standing in a small white tux next to Donna’s husband. My brother waved at me and smiled. I think he was almost as happy as I was on this day. Dante had been so good to him, and I know Aubrey was looking forward to having a strong man in his life. I smiled back and blew Aubrey a kiss. White roses and corsages flashed by my eyes in a blur as I closed the door.
I turned to Natasha, my bridesmaid. She looked gorgeous in her peach-colored satin dress. “I can’t believe how wonderful my new mother-in-law has been. She’s footed the entire bill and has attended to all the details,” I told her.
“And to think we thought she was a—”
I cut her off. “Natasha, we in church.”
“Oops. My bad.” She covered her mouth. “Here, let me help you with that veil.”
She pinned the veil with its long train to my head, then stepped back to admire her work. She nodded. “There you go. You look good. You look like a beautiful baby doll. If only those girls from the club could see you now.”
I turned toward the full-length mirror to see for myself. She was right. My hair fell below my shoulders in banana curls, and with the simple white gown and veil, it made me look more innocent than I had ever seen myself. I guess love does that for you.
The door swung open and Donna came waddling in, round belly and all, holding her hand on the small of her back. In spite of her wide girth, she looked beautiful in her gown. She’d just been taken off bed rest, and I was so happy she was able to be at the wedding as my matron of honor. She had been my biggest supporter in the Wilson household from the day I met her.
“Donna, you look glowing,” I said as I hugged her.
“Girl, I’m miserable.” She wiped beads of sweat from her forehead with the handkerchief she was carrying. “I feel like this baby’s gonna drop any minute. I hope it doesn’t come during the wedding.”
“Hush your mouth. Don’t be jinxing my wedding. Your baby isn’t due for six more weeks.” I pulled out a chair so she could sit.
“I ain’t jinxing your wedding, but I will give you a word of advice. Don’t ever get pregnant during the summertime.”
I laughed. “I don’t care when I get pregnant. I wanna have lots and lots of Dante’s babies.”
As we laughed, there was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” I called out.
“It’s Aubrey,” my brother answered from the hallway. “I got a surprise for you.”
“Come on in, Aubrey.”
When the door opened, my mouth flew open. Standing in the doorway, holding Aubrey’s hand, was my mother. Aubrey was smiling so hard he looked like his face would crack. I was in shock. Even with nearly six hundred guests, she was the last person I expected to see. I had spent so many months refusing to visit her in jail, but in my heart I knew I couldn’t stay angry with her forever. As my wedding day approached, I had even considered going to see her. No matter how angry or hurt I had been, it just didn’t feel right getting married without letting her know. I had never built up the courage to go see her, so I was overjoyed now that she was actually there.
“Momma!” I jumped up and ran to her.
“Tanisha!” She held me tightly as we both cried.
When I finally recovered from the shock of seeing my mother on my wedding day, I asked, “Momma, how’d you get here? How’d you know about this? How’d—”
My mother laughed. “Slow down, Tanisha. I’m here, and that’s all that matters right now.” She reached out and placed her hand gently on my cheek. “I can’t believe this is you. Baby, you’re beautiful.”
“I can’t believe you’re looking so good, Momma. Look at you. You done gained all your weight back.” I stepped back and admired her transformation. She was looking so healthy I wanted to cry. For one, it wasn’t unusual for her to get down to a size 3 when she was using that stuff. Even her hair had grown out and was pulled into a nice upswept style to complement her elegant chiffon dress.
“Um, Tanisha?” Donna’s voice surprised me. I was so taken aback by my mother’s arrival that I had forgotten there were other people in the room.
“Oh, Donna, I’m sorry. Let me introduce you to my mother, Marlene. Ma, this is Dante’s sister, Donna. As you can see, she’s going to have a baby”—I patted Donna’s stomach—“and I can’t wait to be an auntie.”
“Pleased to meet you, Donna.” My mother reached out to shake Donna’s hand, but Donna pulled her in for an embrace.
“Welcome to the family, Marlene.”
“You know Natasha,” I said to my mother when Donna released her.
“How you doing, Marlene?”
“Fine, Natasha. I’m just glad to be home.”
“I know that’s right.”
Donna and Natasha both managed to quickly find excuses to leave my mother and me alone. “Come on, Aubrey,” Donna said. “Let’s go find my brother and see how nervous he is.”
When we were alone, I led my mother to sit next to me on the small love seat in the corner. I stared at her in amazement for a moment before I finally said, “I missed you, Momma. And I really can’t believe you’re here.”
“I know,” she answered. “I wasn’t so sure I would make it here myself.”
“I thought you weren’t getting out for another few weeks.”
“I got an early release for good behavior.”
“But how did you know about the wedding?” I asked in total confusion.
“Dante. He’s been visiting me for quite a while now.”
I was amazed. “He’s been visiting you?”
“Yeah. He was coming every week to tell me about you and Aubrey. He’s a good man, Tanisha. You’re lucky to have him.”
“I know,” I told her.
“Look, I know you might not believe me, but I love you and Aubrey more than anything in this world. Dante’s updates were the only thing that kept me going while I was locked up.”
I felt terrible. I hadn’t been able to set aside my pain and visit my mother, who was also obviously suffering. Her addiction had stolen so much from all of us, but I had reached a point where I started blaming her, rather than her addiction. She needed help, and I had turned my back on her. My guilt, though, was soon overshadowed by an overwhelming love for my mother, and also for Dante, who had stood by her side when I didn’t have the strength.
I held her hand and cried as I apologized. “Momma, I said some terrible things to you at the jail, and then I wasn’t there to visit you even once.”
“It’s all right, baby. That’s what helped me get my head together. I’m finally seeing life as it really is for the first time in…” She stopped. I think she and I were both overwhelmed as we realized just how long our lives had been in chaos because of her addiction. “Anyhow, this is the first time since you were twelve that I’ve been without drugs for more than a few days.”
I hugged her tightly. “I didn’t know you were getting out or I would have invited you.”
“That doesn’t matter. I’m here, and I love you, baby girl.”
We obviously had so much to talk about, but she was right. All that mattered now was that she was here with me.
“I love you, too, Ma. You’ve made my day. Now everything will be perfect.”
“Well, I’m going to have my son march me into the church. I’m going to sit in the front row as the mother of the bride.”
She gave me one more hug then left the room to find my brother. I watched her leave, still amazed that she was at my wedding and that it was Dante who had gotten her here. Things were definitely looking up,
and I couldn’t wait to walk down that aisle and become the wife of the most wonderful man in the world.
40
The Wedding
Bishop T.K. Wilson walked proudly down the aisle of his church, nodding and waving to his friends, family, and colleagues as he made his way to the altar. For T.K., today was a good day. Not only was his son Dante getting married to a woman he absolutely adored, but his daughter Donna, who was having his first grandchild, was just taken off bed rest and would be attending the wedding as the matron of honor. And if that news wasn’t good enough, his numbers in the polls had jumped up an amazing ten points in the last week, making him a virtual shoo-in for the borough presidency. As a testament to his expected win, members of the news media were present in force at the wedding. T.K. and his family had become big news, and all the attention was a great thing for his church. Yes, today was a good day for Bishop T.K. Wilson.
When he reached the altar, he looked out among the hundreds of guests and beamed. It was fulfilling to see his church so crowded for his son’s wedding. There was no doubt this was going to be a wedding to remember. There was clergy from as far away as Africa, and even his friend David Dinkins, the former mayor of New York, was in attendance. He sat in a pew near former presidential candidate Reverend Al Sharpton.
When Dante and his best man, Shorty, joined the bishop at the altar, the organ music filtered into the church, signaling to the guests that the wedding was about to begin. The procession began with his lovely wife, escorted to her seat in the front by two handsome young ushers. Charlene looked positively regal, and T.K. was glad. She had worked hard and deserved to feel proud of the grand event she had put together. Charlene had done a magnificent job of pulling things together during the past few months and her hard work had paid off. He smiled at his wife then looked to the aisle, where he saw the bride’s young brother escorting another woman to the front. Aubrey left the woman and hurried back to escort his sister down the aisle.
As the bishop watched the woman settle into the first pew on the bride’s side, he wondered who she was. He had not met any of Tanisha’s family yet, but assumed this must be one of them. Whoever she was, T.K. was puzzled, because for some reason she looked very familiar. The woman looked up, and when her eyes met the bishop’s, she paused momentarily. Clearly, she was also wondering if they had met before, but neither one could remember when or where. Their eye contact was only fleeting, because soon the bridesmaids and groomsmen were coming down the aisle and taking their places beside the altar. The bishop’s very pregnant daughter was the last to take her place before the organist began “The Wedding March.” The church was filled with the rustling sound of six hundred guests rising at once to greet the bride.
All eyes were on Tanisha. Her stunning beauty enchanted many guests as she seemed to float down the aisle toward her groom. Before she reached the altar, she kissed her brother, then joined the rest of the wedding party to stand at the altar beside Dante. When everyone was in place, the bishop asked the bride and groom to join hands. He stood in front of them with a heartfelt smile spread across his face.
“We are gathered here today to join Tanisha Jones and Dante Wilson together in holy matrimony. Now, we all know that weddings are special occasions, but for me, this is an extra special occasion. It’s not every day a father gets to preside over the marriage of his own son, and it makes it even more special that my son is marrying a woman as extraordinary as Tanisha. Tanisha, I am so pleased you will soon be a member of my family.” The bishop smiled at Dante and kissed Tanisha before continuing. The guests in attendance were touched. They could feel that they were indeed at a very special wedding.
When it came time for the bride and groom to say their “I do’s,” unlike Donna and Shorty’s wedding, both Dante and Tanisha responded loudly and without hesitation. Tanisha even added a little emphasis when she said, “I do, I do, I do!” This brought a laugh from the guests.
The bishop smiled and turned them toward their guests. “If there is anyone among you who has reason that these two should not be lawfully wed as man and wife, please speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Of course, there was no one who could possibly object to this very special union, so the bishop turned the happy couple back toward the altar and announced the exchanging of the rings. The bishop turned to the best man, but before Shorty could get the ring box out of his pocket, there was a commotion in the front pew. The woman next to Aubrey jumped up and shouted, “Stop the wedding!” Immediately, every eye in the church was on her.
Tanisha turned quickly when she recognized the voice. “Momma? Oh no,” she muttered weakly. Her voice was a mixture of confusion and pain.
“Tanisha, you can’t marry him!” the woman shouted in a panic.
“Momma, stop this, what are you doing?” Her embarrassment was evident.
The church erupted with the noise of conversations among six hundred guests wanting to know who this woman was who dared to interrupt such a beautiful ceremony. Of course, the reporters in the church were furiously scribbling in their notebooks by now.
The woman stepped away from the pew and rushed toward the altar. Tanisha gathered up her train and approached the woman, followed by Dante and Bishop Wilson. The group met in the aisle between the front pews. First Lady Wilson struggled to maintain her composure as she watched all her hard work crumbling before her eyes.
“Momma,” Tanisha said through her tears, “how could you do this? Why are you embarrassing me like this?”
“I’m not embarrassing you, baby. I’m saving your life. You can’t marry that boy.”
Tanisha was too distraught to speak, and Dante didn’t know what to say either. He had spent so much time with Marlene and thought they had developed some sort of a bond during his visits to the jail. Protesting the wedding was the last thing he would have expected her to do.
“Why can’t they marry?” the bishop asked, stepping closer to the woman Tanisha had identified as her mother. Everyone in attendance seemed to lean in closer, as if they didn’t want to miss a word of the woman’s explanation.
Marlene’s tone softened ever so slightly as she looked into the bishop’s eyes and said, “Because you’re her father, Thomas Kelly.”
There was an immediate gasp from all in attendance as photographers’ bulbs flashed and video cameras whirred. This would be headline news, better than any reporter in the building could possibly have ever dreamed.
T.K.’s eyes widened as recognition settled in. He hadn’t been called Thomas Kelly in over twenty years, and now he knew who this woman was. Yes, she had gained some weight since he’d last seen her and the years hadn’t been kind to her but he definitely knew her. He also believed her when she said that Tanisha was his daughter. His skeletons had just fallen out of the closet.
“Marlene?” He spoke barely above a whisper.
“Yes, Thomas, it’s me, Marlene.”
“Oh my God. This can’t be happening,” First Lady Wilson muttered when the reality of the situation hit her. Shortly after that she fainted.
41
Dante
I felt like I was on an episode of The Twilight Zone or, even worse, Jerry Springer. Here I was thinking the bishop was a perfect man, then I find out he not only had a child outside his marriage to my mother, he didn’t even acknowledge the child existed for more than twenty years. So much for family values. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the child he seemed to have forgotten also happened to be the woman I loved. I had almost married my own sister earlier in the day. Things couldn’t possibly be any worse.
Once Marlene made her announcement, chaos took over the church. My poor mother fainted on the spot. I had to fight my way over to her through the crowd that seemed to instantly materialize in front of the altar. Most of them were reporters and cameramen ready to record my family’s most horrifying moment for the evening news. I almost slugged one guy.
As soon as I was able to get my mother back on her feet, I led her
across the altar toward the back exit, where Shorty had already escorted my sister to safety. My mother went out the back door and headed to Shorty’s car while I stopped and took one last look at the scene inside the church. Like a pack of wolves, the news crews had surrounded Marlene and Tanisha. I could only hope that they had enough common sense to keep their mouths shut. Aubrey still sat in the front pew, looking scared and bewildered. My father was somehow managing to pretend he didn’t hear the questions from the reporters as he held his head high and tried to regain some semblance of order in his church. I doubted he would be able to do that, and I wondered if that would ever be possible within his own family. It hurt me to think it, but the word hate was at the forefront of my mind as I looked at him.
Shorty drove my mother, Donna, and me back to the house in complete silence. I was too numb to even think about stringing together enough words to make a complete thought. Donna sat in the front seat next to Shorty, making no sound, but I watched her shoulders heave and knew she was crying. Every few minutes I looked over at my mother to be sure she was okay. She sat eerily still, staring out the window with absolutely no expression on her face. I was worried she might need medical attention if she didn’t snap out of it soon. Again when I thought about the bishop, I thought about hate.
Inside the house, we settled in the den and stared at each other in continued silence. I don’t think anyone knew where to even begin discussing what the hell had happened. Donna’s eyes were red and puffy, and my mother’s eyes still looked like she was a million miles away. I started to think of Tanisha and the fact that she was my sister. It didn’t take long before my stomach erupted and I had to run to the bathroom to throw up, something I’d already done several times since I’d been home. As I stood at the sink to rinse my mouth, I stared at my reflection in the mirror and wondered what I was supposed to do now. I was in love with a woman who I could never be with, and as far as I was concerned, it was all the bishop’s fault. I slammed my hand on the sink, releasing some of my anger. There was no doubt in my mind. I hated him.
