“I know you don’t believe a word that liar has said. JT is the only man I have been with besides my husband and he knows that.”
“Okay, I just need to be sure. We don’t want any surprises when we have so much riding on this case,” Luke said.
“That’s why I told you we need to go to the media. I guarantee you we will have the sympathy vote on our side,” Diane said.
Margie raised her hand, trying to halt the conversation. “I told you before that I am not interested in putting my business on the six o’clock news.”
Diane turned on Margie. “Of course you’re not interested. JT basically gave you your money on a silver platter. You’re probably still sleeping with him and this is his little way of paying for your services.”
Betty stood up. “You will not speak to my daughter like that,” she told Diane.
“Look, lady, this doesn’t even concern you. You shouldn’t even be in here while we’re discussing our case.”
“I have the right to be anywhere my daughter wants me to be,” Betty fired back.
Margie had been praying all day long that God would show her what to do. She’d told the Lord that the money didn’t matter to her. All she really wanted was for JT to admit what he’d done to her. Evidently, the Lord had been listening, so what was she still doing here? Margie stood up with her mother and said, “No, Mother, Diane is right. You don’t belong in here and neither do I. Let’s go.”
“What?” Diane wailed as she too stood to her feet. “You can’t just leave like that. Luke has invested a great deal of time on us.”
Margie turned to Luke and said, “I am sorry I wasted your time, Mr. Watson. I will find a way to pay for the hours you wasted on me. But I can’t be a part of this anymore. My mother told me about a scripture in the Bible that says, vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay. It made me realize that I entered into this lawsuit for all the wrong reasons. And I just can’t live my life full of bitterness. I’ve got to move on.”
Luke stood up and shook Margie’s hand. “I appreciate your openness. We may need to call you as a witness, but you don’t owe me any money. So don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you, Mr. Watson,” Betty said as she grabbed hold of Margie’s arm and walked out of the office.
Twenty-Three
Mattie stayed in the hospital for three weeks. Since Mattie couldn’t speak well enough to let the nurses know if she needed anything, Cassandra thought she needed to spend the night at the hospital to help take care of her mother. She stayed home with the kids while JT went to work. When he arrived home, Cassandra would leave him with the kids and go to the hospital for the night. But she had to admit, JT got the better end of the deal. The kids were all sleeping through the night, so he at least got a good night’s sleep. On the other hand, when Cassandra wasn’t being woke up by her mother’s moans and groans, the nurses were coming into the room to check Mattie’s vital signs, temperature and whatever else they could think to do between midnight and seven in the morning.
Her mother was improving. Her face had straightened itself out, she had full use of both arms and she was walking with a cane. By the second week of hospitalization although Mattie was improving, Cassandra was worn out. Then one evening JT approached her as she was packing her overnight bag. He told her, “You’re not going to the hospital tonight.”
She grabbed her toothbrush and face cleanser out of the medicine cabinet as she said, “I have to, JT. Last night I hit the nurse button and it took them twenty minutes to get to her room. What if it had been an emergency? She needs someone there with her.”
“Yeah, she needs someone to be there. But not you; not tonight.”
She turned around getting ready to face off with JT for being selfish. Cassandra was an only child, so who did he think was going to stay with Mattie if she didn’t? Just as she was getting ready to let him have it, she noticed that he had his pillow in his hand and then he reached around her and grabbed his toothbrush out of the medicine cabinet. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to the hospital tonight.”
Her brow raised as she asked, “You’re going to do what?”
“I can see that you’re worn out. So, I’m taking my turn.”
Dumbfounded by this act of kindness, Cassandra opened her mouth and put her foot in it before she could stop herself. “But you don’t even like my mother.”
JT took the overnight bag from Cassandra. He took her stuff out of it and laid it on the bed, then put his toiletries in it as he said, “I’ve been praying about this, and the way I see it, this whole situation is really quite simple. You love your mother and I love you. So, I’ve decided to make her love me like the son she never had.”
Cassandra didn’t want to hurt JT’s feelings, but she didn’t think that would ever happen. However, she didn’t want him to give up on treating her mother respectfully either, so she asked, “What if that never happens?”
JT smiled and hunched his shoulders. “Then I’m going to love her anyway.”
Cassandra went to him then. She wrapped her arms around him and said, “Thank you.”
He held her tightly and said, “I got this, Sanni. Don’t worry about a thing. You’re mom won’t be able to resist me for much longer.”
By the time JT got home from work the next day, his eyes were bloodshot. So, Cassandra knew that the nurses had given him the same treatment she’d been receiving. But he’d gone back three days later anyway. At that moment, even with lawsuits and custody battles looming over their heads, Cassandra didn’t think she would trade JT Thomas for anyone.
The judge had given them a continuance on both cases. Now that Mattie was out of the hospital and living with Cassandra and JT, all of it was about to start up again. But Cassandra was too busy working with speech, physical and occupational therapists to stress out over things she couldn’t control. She told herself that their lives were in God’s hands even as she set about adjusting their lives to accommodate her mother’s new reality.
Cassandra didn’t want her mother trying to go up the stairs, so she removed the couch from the family room and had Mattie’s bedroom furniture put in there. She knew the new décor wouldn’t win her any prizes on Rate My Space, one of the shows she enjoyed watching on HGTV. But this was what her mother needed, and Cassandra was determined to do everything she could to nurse her mother back to health.
She was still feeling guilty about praying that God would confound the tongues of the liars that were in the courtroom that day. And now her mother couldn’t speak. The speech therapist had been working with her, but so far all Mattie was able to do was say her own name and Cassandra’s. She couldn’t get the whole name out though, so now instead of calling her Cassandra, her mother called her Sanni like JT. That was okay with Cassandra, but it was the times when Mattie would try to tell her something, and the whole sentence would come out like gibberish that broke her heart. She wanted so desperately to have a two way conversation with her mother. She would even listen to any joke Mattie wanted to tell.
It was times like this when Cassandra wished she had some girlfriends. She’d never been much for hanging out with a bunch of women. That whole scene was too catty for her taste. But while JT was at work and her mother lay in bed sleeping, it would be so nice to be able to pick up the phone and tell a friend about the things she was going through. When she was at the grocery store yesterday, she bumped into Ellen Peoples. Cassandra hadn’t seen her at church the last few Sundays, but she thought she was a nice lady, so she invited her and her husband to dinner Saturday evening.
She’d forgotten to tell JT, but he didn’t have to cook the meal anyway. She looked at her watch and realized that she had two hours before her guests arrived. JT would be back home in about an hour. He had taken the kids to the airport with him. Even though they had a lot on their hands, JT was excited to finally be able to bring Lamont home.
The couch that had been in the family room had a bed inside it. Since Cass
andra had already put the couch and chair in the basement, they’d agreed that Lamont would stay down there. JT picked up an extra TV from Mattie’s house and put it in the basement. Now all Cassandra had to do was fix dinner.
It was going to be a pasta night. Penne noodles with shrimp, chicken and alfredo sauce. She couldn’t put the shrimp or chicken in her mom’s portion though. Mattie’s food had to be pureed because she was having trouble swallowing food that wasn’t crushed up. Cassandra put the noodles on to boil and went back in the family room to check on Mattie. She was still sleeping, so Cassandra went back into the kitchen and put chicken and shrimp on the stove. She had cooked this meal numerous times because JT loved it. He also liked salad, garlic bread and broccoli with it. So, she fixed all of it. He had done so much for her mother these last few weeks that Cassandra looked for things to do for him. They’d even made love again. That is, when she didn’t fall into bed dead tired from taking care of the kids and her mother.
The doorbell rang, Cassandra looked at her watch. It was ten before six and JT still hadn’t gotten back home yet. She ran to the door and opened it. Ellen Peoples was standing there with a bottle of red wine in her hands. She handed it to Cassandra. “I hope red is okay. I didn’t know what you were fixing for dinner.”
“Thank you, but we don’t drink,” Cassandra said as she handed the bottle back to Ellen. “We have iced tea and lemonade. I hope either of those will be okay with you.”
“That’s fine,” Ellen said as she strutted in the house in her three inch heels, tight fitting jeans and low cut blouse
Cassandra looked toward their driveway and then asked, “Are you and your husband driving separate cars?”
“He had to work.”
“Oh, I wish you had told me. We could have planned our dinner for another time. I think JT would really enjoy connecting with Eric.”
“I started to call when I found out. But I really needed to get out of the house. So I decided to come by myself. I hope that’s not a problem.”
Cassandra watched Ellen sit down on the couch in the living room. To her horror, she noticed that Ellen’s breasts were even more exposed when she sat down. Cassandra wanted to hand her a jacket to cover up with, like the old mothers at church handed out embroidered handkerchiefs to women sitting on the front pew with short dresses on. “No it’s not a problem. I’m sure JT will have plenty of time to get to know Eric.” She pointed toward the back of the house. “I’m going to call JT and find out what’s keeping him and then I’ll get my mom up so we can all have a little chat before dinner.”
Ellen crossed her legs and leaned back on the sofa. “Don’t worry about me. I know how to make myself comfortable.”
Cassandra was getting a bad feeling about having a stylish and overly exposed woman like Ellen in her home. But then she reprimanded herself. Either she trusted JT or she didn’t. She picked up the phone in the kitchen and called him. When JT picked up, she said, “Where are you?”
“Around the corner. I should be home in less than two minutes. What’s up?”
“Did Lamont’s plane get in late or something?”
“No, I took the kids to the park and for some ice cream after I picked Lamont up.”
Cassandra laughed. “You’re not slick, JT. I know that you’re just trying to tire them out so they won’t have me running back and forth all night long.”
“Hey, whatever works.”
“Okay, just hurry up. We have company,” she told him as she hung up the phone. Cassandra opened the fridge and took the pitcher of iced tea out. She poured the tea in a glass and took it into the living room and handed it to Ellen. “JT should be here any minute. I’m going to get my mother up so she can sit in the living room with us for a little while. I’ll be right back.”
***
JT pulled up in the driveway. He and Lamont got out of the car. Then Lamont helped him get the kids out. Jerome and Aaron ran toward the front door while JT carried Lily. “Slow down, boys. The house isn’t going anywhere.”
“Open the door, Dad. Come on. I want to show Mommy the cut I got when I fell off the swing,” Jerome told him.
JT didn’t know if he wanted Jerome to rush in the house and show Cassandra his boo boo. He would probably end up in the dog house because his son thought his name was Geronimo rather than Jerome. He opened the door while trying to think of the best way to tell Cassandra that boys will be boys, and accidents happened. But then he saw Ellen Peoples with her legs crossed, leaning back on his couch sipping juice from his cup and he lost his cool. “What are you doing in my house?”
“Well hello to you too, Pastor,” Ellen said as she put the glass down on the coffee table.”
Lamont had his bags in his hand. He nudged JT and asked, “Where do you want me to put these?”
JT pointed toward the kitchen. “The door to the basement is in the kitchen. And don’t worry, I know it’s tight quarters here right now. But we should be able to find you your own place in no time.”
“Cool,” Lamont said as he gazed quizzically in the woman’s direction, but didn’t say anything. He just headed in the direction of the basement.
JT turned back toward Ellen and said, “I want you to get up and get out of my house this instant.”
“JT, what has gotten into you?” Cassandra asked as she rounded the corner with Mattie holding onto her shoulder while she carried her mother’s cane.
JT turned to Cassandra. He didn’t know what to say. He felt as if he was caught, but he hadn’t done anything wrong.
Cassandra helped her mother sit down on the couch, then she told JT. “I invited Ellen over for dinner. Are you really that mad because she and her husband have found another church to attend?”
“No. I’m the one that asked her to find some place else to attend.”
“Why on earth would you do that?” Cassandra was still holding Mattie’s cane. She pointed it at JT and said, “Didn’t I tell you that we need all the members we can get.”
“We don’t need this member, Cassandra,” JT said flatly.
Ellen stood up and approached the door. “Well, look, I can tell when I’m not wanted. So, I’ll just be on my way.” She brushed against JT and said, “One day you’ll realize what you’re missing out on and come get it.”
“I’ve got everything I need already,” he said as he stepped away from her.
With an angry brow raised, Cassandra asked, “What did you say to my husband?”
Ellen turned around with her hand on her hip. “Oh, Cassandra. I forgot you were standing there. Thanks for the iced tea, but I would rather have JT.”
Cassandra raised the cane like a weapon and aimed for Ellen’s head. Ellen ran through the door that JT had left open and Cassandra tried to follow her, but JT grabbed her. “Just let her go.”
Cassandra snatched her arm out of JT’s grasp as she told him, “You can go with her.”
His eyes bugged out. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You didn’t do anything,” Cassandra repeated as she lifted the cane again. She hit at JT but he grabbed the cane and wrestled it out of her hand.
He held Cassandra close as he tried to explain. “Listen to me. I didn’t do anything with that woman.”
“Let me go, JT.”
He released her but kept talking. “She came to my office a few weeks back claiming that she left her Bible in the auditorium. When I told her that we didn’t find any Bibles, she told me that she really wanted to talk to me. She basically let me know that she wanted to have an affair.”
“This is just unbelievable, JT. Why would Ellen come onto you like that?”
“Baby, I have no idea why people do the things they do, but it happened. And I told her I wasn’t interested and asked that she find another church to attend.”
A sound behind them caused Cassandra and JT to turn around. Mattie was laughing. Cassandra pointed toward her mother as she said, “I haven’t heard her laugh since she had the stroke.”
JT sa
id, “She’s laughing at me.” He then tried to plead his case to his mother-in-law. “I didn’t do anything, Mattie.”
Mattie held out her hands and rubbed her fingers together like she did when she wanted to write something down.
“You want some paper?” Cassandra asked.
Mattie nodded.
Cassandra went back into the family room/bedroom and grabbed the pad and pen Mattie used to communicate with them. She handed them to her mother and stood back.
Mattie wrote on the pad and then turned it around so Cassandra and JT could see what she wanted them to know. “Diane’s friend.”
“Who’s Diane’s friend, Mama?”
Mattie pointed to the door Ellen had just escaped through.
“Ellen? Are you saying that Ellen is Diane’s friend?” Cassandra asked.
Mattie nodded again.
“I knew it!” JT declared. “I knew I recognized that woman from somewhere. I must have seen her with Diane or something.”
“So,” Cassandra said, turning back toward her husband, anger still etched across her face.
“Don’t you get it, Sanni. Diane tried to set me up. I should have recognized it right off. The woman acted just like Diane did when she…” he let his statement trail off. He and Cassandra weren’t cool enough to have that kind of discussion.
“I am so tired of this,” Cassandra said, her hands balling into fists.
“But I didn’t do anything.” He pointed to Mattie and said, “Even Mattie can see that. Right?” he asked as he turned to his mother-in-law.
She nodded, backing JT up, and even though it shocked him, he trod on as if Mattie taking his side in anything was a normal occurrence. “Baby, I didn’t ask that woman to come to my office and I didn’t ask Diane to try to set me up.”
“I don’t care, JT. I’m sick of all these tricks and lawsuits and everything else. I want this to be over. And you better make it happen fast or I’m out of here,” she said as she punched him in the shoulder and then went upstairs and slammed their bedroom door.
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