Tony was lying on the couch resting from his busy day of being a TV critic. He had refused to leave her apartment, claiming that he needed a few days to find a place. She laid the eviction notice on the dining room table and went into her bedroom.
Tony followed her into the bedroom and took Marissa out of her arms. “Hey little one, how was your day?”
Marissa smiled brightly. “Daddy!”
“That’s right baby, Daddy’s home.”
Where else would he be, Margie thought as she rolled her eyes heavenward. It wasn’t like he was out working, or heaven forbid, looking for work. And if she heard him say one more time how there just weren’t any jobs out there when she saw help wanted signs every day as she drove passed McDonalds and Burger King, she would lose her mind.
“Hey, did you see that eviction notice?” Tony asked her while bouncing Marissa on his hip.
“Sure did,” Margie said as she opened the closet door and took out her suitcase.
“Do you think we could ask your mom for some help? She might be a stubborn old lady, but I doubt that she would want to see her grandchild on the street.”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Margie answered as she opened her top drawer, took her undergarments out and then threw them in her suitcase. She then started pulling clothes out of her closet and stuffed as much as would fit.
“Why are you packing? We just got the eviction notice. They have to take us to court before we have to leave this place.”
He would know. When she met him, he had just been evicted. He’d confided that he’d been evicted from three previous places. Her heart had gone out to him then, thinking that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get a break. Now she knew that a person had to go out and make their own breaks. Breaks don’t just knock on the front door while you’re sitting in the living room watching TV.
She went into Marissa’s room and took her suitcase out. She repeated the same process of throwing undergarments and whatever clothes would fit in her suitcase.
“What are you doing?” he asked again.
She looked at him as she pulled Marissa’s suitcase off the bed, but didn’t respond. She then grabbed her suitcase and took them both to her car. She came back in, picked up her purse and held out her hand for Tony to give Marissa to her.
“Answer me,” he said as he refused to give Marissa to her.
“Give me my baby, Tony.”
“Give me an answer. I have a right to know where you’re taking my daughter.”
She put her hands on her hips. She thought about refusing to answer. But she didn’t want to prolong this thing with Tony any longer than she needed to. “I’m going to do as you suggested; ask my mother for help.”
“Then why’d you pack suitcases?”
She snatched Marissa out of his arms as she said, “Because I need her to help me and Marissa, not you.”
“Oh, so it’s like that, huh? You gon’ leave me when the chips are down after all I’ve done for you?”
“More like all you’ve done to me,” she said as she turned and walked out the door.
He followed her to the car, screaming and yelling at her for all the neighbors to hear. She didn’t care. Margie was determined, that if she got away from Tony today, she would never come back to him. This was it for her. She was chocking this up as a life lesson and moving on.
Marissa was crying as Margie strapped her into her car seat. She closed the back door and turned back to Tony. “Can you please stop yelling at the top of your lungs? You’re scaring Marissa.”
To his credit, Tony looked in the back seat, saw the tears running down Marissa’s face and then lowered his voice. However, what he said was just as mean as when he had been yelling. “Go on, then. I don’t need you. I got plenty of women and they all look better than you ever could.”
She walked around the car, trying to get away from his insults. Tony grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked. “Stop Tony, that hurts,” she said as she tried to get his hand out of her hair, but he kept yanking it. “Stop, I just want to leave.”
“You’ll leave when I tell you to leave,” he said with his mouth pressed against her ear. “I only hooked up with you because you looked lonely and pathetic. I knew you would take care of me and you did.”
“Is he bothering you?” Her next door neighbor came out on the porch with cell phone in hand. “Do I need to call the police?”
Tony let her go then. “You need to mind your own business,” he told the woman.
Margie took that opportunity to jump in her car and lock the doors. She waved and mouthed thank you to the woman as she started her car and drove off. Marissa was still crying. She reached back and touched her daughter’s leg as she drove. “There, there, sweet baby, we’re okay.”
But then as she thought about how life had turned so wrong on her, she changed her statement to, “I hope we’re going to be okay.”
Life had been so much simpler when she was in church; before she started sleeping with JT. If she had to pinpoint when things started going wrong for her it would have been that first night JT talked her into having sex with him. Things looked fine at first. Margie thought she had gotten rid of that lonely feeling that she seemed to be carrying around. But when JT had to get up and go home to his wife, she was lonely all over again. Sleeping with JT hadn’t fixed anything for her, it just made it worse. She came to a red light, stopped the car and hit the steering wheel with her fist as she thought about the fact that JT never even apologized to her for making her believe that they could ever have a life together when all the time he knew that he would never leave his wife.
But how had she fallen for all his tricks in the first place? If she had been as sold out to the Lord as she thought she had been, would JT have been able to seduce her? She pulled up in the driveway of her mother’s home. She pushed all thoughts of her own culpability out of her mind as she thought about the fact that the affair with JT had been the beginning of her strained relationship with her mother.
Betty Milner was the sweetest woman on earth. She’d taught Margie how to cook and how to love the Lord her God. Her mother had taken her on trips around the world because she wanted Margie to experience life outside of Cleveland. And when the time came, Betty Milner gave up vacationing in order to pay Margie’s college tuition.
Tears sprang to Margie’s eyes as she thought of the day her mother told her that she wouldn’t step foot in her house again until she got right with the Lord.
“Why can’t you accept me the way I am?” Margie had asked.
“I will never accept the fact that a child of mine is dead set on spending eternity in hell.” Betty picked up her purse and said, “Call me when you get right with God and throw that bum out of your house.”
Well, she hadn’t gotten right with God. But she had gotten rid of Tony. Maybe one out of two would be good enough for her mother. She hoped so, anyway. She took Marissa out of her car seat, grabbed their suitcases and then knocked on her mother’s front door.
“I’m coming,” Betty yelled from somewhere within the house.
Hearing her mother’s voice brought more tears to her eyes. And as the door opened, the tears were flowing down her face. Her mother only opened the door a crack. Margie feared that she might close it in her face and she couldn’t deal with that right now. She opened her mouth and blubbered. “I-I don’t have anywhere else to go. We need your help.”
The door opened wider and Betty held out her arms to embrace her daughter and granddaughter.
Nineteen
JT sat in his office at the community center going over his agenda for the following week when someone knocked on his door. He put the papers aside and said, “Come in.”
The door opened and Ellen Peoples walked in wearing a leopard print dress that clung to her curves and wouldn’t let go. JT sat up in his chair and braced himself. He hoped he had misjudged her the other Sunday, but he couldn’t help but be suspicious about this visit. “Mrs. Peoples,
right?”
“Why don’t you call me, Ellen,” she said as she walked closer to his desk and stood in front of him.
“I probably should stick with Mrs. Peoples for now.”
“Suit yourself,” she said as she sat down and crossed her long legs. The slit in the dress widened so that JT had a full view of her legs and much more if he chose to look.
“What can I do for you?” he asked, being mindful to look her in the eyes and nowhere else.
“I stopped by because I think I left my Bible after service the other day.”
“The janitor normally leaves a log of items that were left in the auditorium on my desk.” He shuffled some papers around until he found what he was looking for and then scanned it. “No, Bibles this week. We normally get a lot of those on the list, but not this week,” he said as he looked back up at her.
“Oh, well maybe I left it in my husband’s car or something.” She scooted forward in her seat, leaned closer to JT and said, “I really stopped in to see you anyway. I enjoyed your sermon and I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Same game, just a different day as far as JT was concerned. He’d been through this before and he wasn’t about to let this go any further. He straightened in his seat as he told her, “I’m not sure what you heard, but if you thought I was interested in you, you’re wrong.”
She licked her lips and lifted her chest. “Well, now that you mention it, I did feel something electric when we shook hands. I know you felt it also. I saw the look on your face.”
JT stood up. “If you saw a strained expression on my face, it was because I thought you held my hand too long, and I think I know you from somewhere. I just can’t place where we’ve met before.”
Ellen shook her head. “No way, baby. If we’d met before, as fine as you are, I would have remembered it.”
JT walked over to his office door and opened it. “”I’m Pastor Thomas to you. Only my wife calls me baby.” He wished his wife would call him baby. She was too busy throwing things at his head, but even so, he wanted nothing to do with the woman in front of him. He didn’t care how fine she was, he was satisfied with what he had at home. Even while they were suffering through bad times. “I need you to leave my office,” JT told her.
Ellen swiveled around in her seat. “What? Why on earth would I leave? I just got here.”
“I have work to do and I’m not interested in what you’re offering. I’m a married man and I will not disrespect my wife by entertaining you one second longer.”
“I’m a married woman. What’s the big deal?”
“You wouldn’t even understand if I told you,” JT said as he swept his hand in the direction of the door. “Now get out.”
Ellen huffily got out of her seat and strutted toward the door. She stopped when she was standing next to him and said, “I’ll give you time. You’re worth the wait.”
“You’ll be waiting in vain, Mrs. Peoples. So I suggest that you and your husband find another church to attend if I’m your motive for attending mine.” He closed the door as she slithered out of it.
As he sat back down behind his desk, JT felt like a piece of meat hanging in a slaughter house; waiting for meat eaters to come bid on him. But then he remembered Cassandra’s question. Who is the victim? He also remembered how she told him he’d given the wrong answer when he speculated over whether he or Diane had been the victim in their affair. Now he understood what she had meant. He’d just told Ellen that he wouldn’t disrespect his wife by entertaining her. And that’s when he had gotten a glimpse of the real victims of affairs. It wasn’t the two grown folks who willingly walked into it with both eyes open. Diane wasn’t a victim and neither was he. Joe and his children had become the victims of Diane’s affairs just as Cassandra and his children had. The knowledge of that broke JT’s heart. It was him; he had singlehandedly torn his family apart. When his son got older and had to explain to school friends how they had a sister, but their mother wasn’t her mother; they would be wounded. They might not let others see their wounds, but they would show up sooner or later. And it would be his fault.
From this day forward, JT determined that he would do everything within his power to right the wrongs of his past. He would build a strong bond with his wife and children and pray that his misdeeds didn’t stop them from becoming everything they were meant to be. In short, he was determined to make his family proud. And he would start by telling the truth.
He turned off the lights in his office and headed over to Faith Outreach Church. He had to give a deposition for the lawsuit today. Tom Albright, the attorney for Faith Outreach, wouldn’t like what JT had to say. But JT wasn’t thinking about him. Making his family proud might hurt in the short term, but if they got through this, they would all be better for his willingness to stand on the truth.
Tom Albright looked at JT with astonishment in his eyes for a moment. He turned off the recorder and then said, “Now look, Pastor Thomas, this is a delicate issue. You can’t just say that you took advantage of Margie Milner and not expect her to walk away with even more money than she’s already asked for.”
“It’s the truth. What else can I say?”
The session was being taped, but Tom looked through his notes before telling JT, “We can handle this situation with you and Diane Benson. I like the information you’ve given us on her. She is going to be seen as a liar the moment she opens her mouth, but we simply cannot have you admit to luring Margie Milner into an affair. Think about Faith Outreach, pastor. This money will be coming out of the church’s pockets, not yours.”
“Why does the money have to come from Faith Outreach? I was suspended from my duties when Bishop found out what I was doing.” JT waved a hand in the air as if dismissing the whole thing. “Look, why don’t I just get my own attorney? That way, you as Faith Outreach’s attorney can admit to knowing that what I did was wrong, but tell the judge that the church had nothing to do with the things I did.”
“That’s the way I wanted to handle this situation,” Tom admitted.
“Then that’s what I’ll do,” JT said as he rose out of his seat.
“Wait a minute. Please sit back down, Pastor Thomas.”
JT’s left brow arched, but he sat back down.
“Bishop Turner has requested that we do everything within our power to help you through this. Now, although I may think that the best thing for Faith Outreach would be to wash their hands of you, they have chosen to stand by you.”
“I don’t need them to do this for me. Especially if you want me to lie about the way things happened. I’m through with all that lying and scheming.” He was God’s man and JT was determined to act like it. He didn’t know where he would get a million dollars to pay Diane and Margie, but he wouldn’t take a dime from the money he owed Lamont. And if the church ended up paying his debt; JT would work three or four jobs to pay them back every cent. But he would not lie to get himself out of this jam.
“I guess we’re done for the day then. I need to speak with Bishop Turner to see how he wants to proceed, and then I’ll let you know what we’re going to do.”
“Fair enough, man.” JT stood up and shook hands with Tom. “Thanks for taking care of this for the church.”
“You know I love this place. I’m going to get us out of this,” Tom said with a smile.
JT walked out of the office and found Unders in the sanctuary. He was seated in the front row, staring up at the pulpit. JT sat down next to him and tried to figure out what he was looking at. When he saw nothing out of the ordinary he asked, “What’s up there?”
Pastor Unders looked at JT for a moment and then turned his head back to the pulpit. “I was just thinking about the things expected of a preacher. And how weighty the burden is sometimes.”
Unders words caused JT to turn back to the pulpit area. He had preached in this room for five years, but he had never been more aware of the cost of the position as he was right now, sitting in the pews staring at the wooden pulpit with U
nders beside him. “Weighty indeed,” JT agreed.
They sat there in silence for a moment and then JT said, “I told the truth during my deposition. I let Tom know that I wouldn’t lie, no matter what Bishop wanted me to do. And I’m sorry, Unders, but what I did just may cost the church a lot of money. But I promise you, I’ll pay it back.”
Unders smiled for the first time since JT sat down with him. “I don’t care about the money, JT. I’m just glad that you told the truth. I told Bishop I wasn’t going to lie about this situation either. He’s not happy, but that’s that.”
“I don’t want you to lie for me, Unders. I’m a grown man. I can handle myself.”
“I’ve been worried about you ever since this thing began. I’ve been praying for you and Cassandra.”
Before JT could respond, Max Moore walked into the sanctuary and loudly interrupted them. JT stood and clasped hands with him. “Man, what are you doing here?”
“Unders asked me to meet with the attorney today to tell them what a wonderful man you are,” Max said with a smirk. “I should tell him how you used to steal my church members.”
“You better not.”
“I’m just joking, man. I got nothing but love for you.”
“Thanks, I need my brothers in Christ with me right now. At least that means I’ve got somebody on my side.”
Max looked at him quizzically. “Problems with Cassandra?”
JT nodded.
“I thought things had gotten better for you and Cassandra.”
“Yeah, me too. But the other night she told me I needed to pray that she didn’t go buy a gun,” JT said.
“See, I knew there was a reason I was praying,” Unders said.
Max wasn’t thinking about praying. He leaned his head back and roared. He laughed so hard tears rolled down his cheeks.
JT rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the support.”
“I’m sorry, man.” Max straightened himself up as best he could. “But I got an image in my head of sweet Cassandra chasing you down the street like it was hunting season or something. Too funny.”
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