There goes my happy night, he thought. She hadn’t even noticed Jerome’s boo-boo, but he was still in the dog house.
Twenty-Four
On Sundays a home healthcare nurse came to the house to sit with Mattie so the family could go to church. Lamont had decided to attend church with them. Since there wasn’t enough room in JT’s car for all three kids, Cassandra and Lamont, Cassandra said she would drive her own car this morning. But as far as JT could tell, she wasn’t all that unhappy about not having to ride with her husband to church.
Evidently Lamont noticed it too, because when he got in the car, he asked, “So, what’s going on with you and Cassandra?”
“She’s upset with me right now, but we’ll get through it,” JT told Lamont as he drove down the street.
“It’s not about that woman who was at the house last night is it? You’re not cheating again are you?”
The tone of Lamont’s voice was angry. But JT knew the young man wasn’t angry with him; more like scared. Lamont had left the only life he knew solely based on JT’s word that things would get better for him. If he thought that JT really hadn’t changed, that nothing had gotten better in JT’s life, then where was his hope.?
“No, Lamont, I’m not cheating with that woman.” JT answered. “A lot of things have happened since I turned my life back over to God, but I trust the Lord and believe Cassandra and I will come through all of this better than we went into it.”
“Okay, man. I just wanted to make sure. Because I could hang with jackleg preachers in my own hometown. You know what I mean?”
Yeah, JT knew exactly what he meant. Lamont was finally looking to make a change in his life and wasn’t trying to be hindered by anyone else’s foolishness. That brought a smile to JT’s face. “I’m glad you came, Lamont,” was all JT said as he pulled the car up to the youth center. He waited on Cassandra to pull into the lot and then they got out of the car and helped her with the children.
“Thanks, Lamont,” Cassandra said as Lamont helped Jerome out of his seat. She walked pass JT without saying a word.
Lamont looked back at JT and said, “I guess you done lost your amen corner today, huh?”
“Shut up, boy,” JT said as he walked into the auditorium, trying to catch up with Cassandra so he could give Aaron to her.
Despite Cassandra’s frosty attitude, service went well. There were several new faces in the crowd. If this keeps up, JT thought to himself, they would soon be able to get their own building. After he’d finished preaching, JT noticed that Cassandra stayed seated and didn’t bother about greeting the new people. He knew she was gun shy after that stunt Ellen pulled, but JT couldn’t have that. He enjoyed watching Cassandra talk visitors into coming back to their church. He pulled her up from her seat and walked over to a couple as they were leaving the auditorium.
“Thank you so much for coming,” JT said as he shook hands with the man and then his wife. He nodded in Cassandra’s direction. “This is my wife, Cassandra.”
The man said, “I’m Jarrod, and this is my wife Serena. We’re new in town and just checking out the local churches.”
This was normally where Cassandra started gushing about JT’s preaching and how she wished the visitor would come back, but she didn’t say anything, so JT told them, “Well, I hope this won’t be your last visit to our little church.”
Serena brightened as she said, “Oh, no, Pastor Thomas. We intend to come back. Your message today hit us right where we live. I can tell you are anointed of God.”
Cassandra rolled her eyes as she said, “Pastor Thomas has a wife to tell him how wonderfully he preaches, but thank you for visiting with us.” She turned and walked away from them without saying another word.
“Did I say something wrong?” Serena asked as she watched Cassandra walk away.
Jarrod pulled his wife a little closer to him, and protectively planted a kiss on her forehead.
“No, Sister Serena, you didn’t do anything wrong at all. If the two of you keep visiting with us, I just might tell you our story. Then you’ll understand why my wife seems a little standoffish at times.”
Jarrod shook JT’s hand again as he told him, “If you don’t mind me saying so, Pastor, we’ve heard your story. It was the reason Serena and I decided to attend church here.”
Serena smiled, but JT now recognized the lingering pain in her eyes.
“I understand what your wife is going through, and I will keep her lifted in prayer. You can count on that, Pastor Thomas.” And then with a small giggle Serena added, “But just so you know, I won’t be praising your sermons anymore.”
JT laughed with her. “Fair enough. But thank you for praying for my wife. I appreciate that.”
“Keep your head up, Pastor, a brighter day is coming,” Jarrod assured him as the three parted company.
JT kept shaking hands and passing along friendly greetings until Lamont strolled up to him and said, “Cassandra’s leaving.”
He turned to see his wife struggling with the three children. He excused himself from the man he was holding a conversation with and ran over to Cassandra. “Let me help you put the kids in the car.”
“Did I ask you to help me with the kids?” Cassandra snapped
Cassandra had Lily on one hip and Aaron on the other, while trying to hold Jerome’s hand. JT took Lily and grabbed Jerome’s hand. “It looked like you needed me,” he said as he walked toward her car.
“The thing I need you to do, you’ve refused. So why should I keep asking you to do stuff for me?”
JT opened the car door and let Jerome climb into his seat while he put Lily in her car seat. When Cassandra leaned into the back seat to put Aaron in his car seat, JT said, “Why do you keep arguing with me over something that I have no control over?”
“You have control over this. The money is sitting right in our account.”
“Here we go with this again,” JT said as he shut the rear passenger door and walked over to Cassandra’s side of the car. “That money belongs to Lamont, and even if I borrowed it to give to Diane; she’d just keep coming back for more. We need to let this play out in the court system and put our faith in God.”
The look of anger on Cassandra’s face and the way she got in the car and slammed the door without saying a mumbling word to him, made JT wish for that brighter day Jarrod had just told him about.
***
Cassandra had had enough. She hated that she was upset with JT, because she really did believe he was a changed man. But this lawsuit hanging over their heads and the thought of losing Lily was too much for her. She wasn’t just thinking about herself right now. Her children would be hurt if knowledge of this lawsuit got out. And if they lost the custody case, she and JT would lose Lily. She just couldn’t sit back and let that happen.
She was supposed to turn right at the stop light to go home, but at the last minute Cassandra changed her mind and turned left. She knew where Diane and Joe lived and she intended to drive over there and confront that horrible woman once and for all. JT could wait on God if he wanted, but she was going to resolve this whole mess today.
She pulled into Diane’s driveway, got out of the car and rang the doorbell. She then went back to her car and reached her hand into the car and honked the horn three times. She looked in the back and saw that the kids were sleep, so she took her hand off the horn, leaned against the car and waited for someone to open the front door.
“Have you lost your mind?” Diane said as she stormed down the stairs.
Joe came out behind her and tried to pull Diane back in the house. “Go back in the house, Diane. I’ll talk to Cassandra.”
Diane laughed in his face. “Do you think she came over here to see you?”
“No, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you two to talk. Just let me handle this,” Joe said.
“Go back in the house, Joe. I thought you were going to fix the kids something to eat,” Diane said as she brushed his hand off her arm and strutted
over to Cassandra. “Why would you come to my house making all this racket?”
“At least I waited until the afternoon. I remember a morning when you came to my house leaning on the doorbell and then left us with a package.”
Diane bent down and looked into the car. She then stood straight again and asked, “What? Are you bringing her back?”
“Not on your life. You don’t deserve my daughter.”
“How dare you stand in my face and claim to be the mother of a child I birthed.”
“It takes more to be a mother than simply giving birth. I’m the one who holds Lily when she cries. I make sure that she’s fed when she’s hungry, and above all that, I love her like a mother.”
Diane looked at Cassandra scornfully. “You’re pathetic. What kind of woman wants to take care of another woman’s brat?”
Cassandra didn’t care what Diane thought of her. She had one objective in driving over there and she was going to handle her business. She put her finger in Diane’s face and said, “Leave my family alone.”
Diane folded her arms around her chest. “Your husband started with me. And you’re probably the one who encouraged him to take me to court for custody of my child.”
“You don’t want Lily. You left her with us and never even called to check on her.”
“That doesn’t mean I want you to have custody of my child.”
The look on Cassandra’s face was that of disgust. “Look at you,” she said to Diane. “You’re standing within inches of Lily and you haven’t tried to hold her. You’ve done little more than glance at her.”
Diane looked in the back seat of the car again. She rolled her eyes. “She’s sleep. What do you want me to do, wake her up so she can see her real mommy?”
“No, I want you to leave us alone. And I’m willing to offer you a hundred thousand dollars to do it.”
Diane laughed. “Why would I take a hundred thousand dollars from you? We’re seeking five times that much in my lawsuit.”
“Who do you think you’re kidding, Diane. I know that Margie has dropped her name from the lawsuit. You’re the only one left. And we both know that JT didn’t manipulate you.”
“You weren’t there… you don’t know what happened. But why doesn’t it surprise me that you believe what JT said?”
Cassandra raised her hands, halting Diane’s protests. “You know what, Diane? Save the theatrics for the courtroom. I’m only offering this money once. If you lose, don’t think I’m going to give you the money anyway. So, think carefully before refusing.”
Diane tapped her front tooth with her fingernail as she pondered Cassandra’s offer. When she stopped tapping she asked, “What do I have to do to get this money?”
“Drop your lawsuit against JT and give us sole custody of Lily,” Cassandra answered matter-of-factly.
“You don’t ask for much, do you?”
“Take it or leave it,” Cassandra said as she opened the car door and got back in the driver’s seat. “We both know that you don’t have a case against JT without Margie. So give it up; take the money and run.”
Diane didn’t respond. She stood there tapping her finger against her tooth again.
Cassandra started the ignition and then said, “What’s it going to be? Once I leave here today, I won’t offer you this money again.”
Diane bent down and looked into the backseat at Lily again. “I might want to see her sometime. Will you allow that?”
“I don’t know. I need to talk to JT about that.”
Diane stood back up, shaking her head. “I can’t just let my baby go like that. I mean, I might not want to be a full time mother right now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t ever want to see her.”
Cassandra put the car in reverse. “I’m leaving. Get your money the best way you can.”
Diane grabbed hold of the driver door. “Wait. Wait a minute. She looked at Lily again and then asked, “When can I get the money?”
“I’ll have the money tomorrow afternoon. You call me and let me know where you want to meet to pick it up.” After saying that, Cassandra didn’t wait for a response, she pulled out of the driveway and headed home. JT would forgive her. She was sure of it. She would leave Lamont with twenty-five thousand. That was enough for him to begin a new life. And the hundred thousand would help her and JT move on with their lives.
Twenty-Five
On Monday morning, JT woke Lamont up and took him to the bank. The money he owed Lamont was causing a wedge between him and his wife, and he wanted it gone. Lamont opened a bank account and then JT transferred the hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars into his account without batting an eye.
When they walked out of the bank, Lamont said, “I thought you weren’t going to give me my money until I got my GED.”
“Why didn’t you remind me about that GED before we transferred the money?” JT said with a playful grin on his face. They got in the car, but before they took off, JT turned to Lamont and said, “Look, you’re a grown man. You don’t need me watching over your money anymore. I will say this though, a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars may seem like a lot of money, but if you spend it unwisely, it’ll be gone before you know it.”
“Man, you don’t have to worry about me. That near death experience helped me to see how I’ve just been wasting my life.” He leaned back in the passenger seat and said, “I’ve got goals, and now I’ve got enough money to make it happen.”
Smiling, JT said, “You can’t just drop news like a brother having goals and not spill the beans. What’s up?”
He stretched his legs out. “I don’t know if I want to put my business in the street.”
“Spill it.”
Lamont looked hesitant, but then he leaned over and pulled his backpack from the back seat of JT’s car. He unzipped it and said, “I listened to what you said about changing my environment and changing my life.” He pulled a camera out of his backpack and continued, “All my friends thought this was stupid, so I kind of gave it up. But as I lay in the hospital bed thinking about what I wanted out of life, a picture of this camera kept flashing in my head.”
“That’s a pretty professional looking camera,” JT said.
Lamont lifted and twisted the lens cap off. “It’s the best. I spent twelve hundred dollars on this beauty. And she’s worth every penny.”
JT noticed how Lamont’s eyes lit up as he held that camera in his hand. He hadn’t seen the boy this passionate about anything since they met.
“It’s got high resolution, scene recognition, one-button live view-”
JT lifted a hand as he laughed, “Okay, you sold me. You know a little something about cameras. Are you telling me that you want to be a photographer or the person who makes those things?”
Lamont gave JT a duh-are-you-stupid look. “Now we both know I don’t have the skills to make this camera. I don’t even have my GED.” He lifted the camera and took a few shots of JT while driving. “But I can take pictures like nobody’s business. I paint too.”
“How come I’m just finding this out?”
Lamont put the camera down. He stared out the window as they drove. “People don’t understand. They think you’re soft if you want to do stuff like this.”
“So you’re willing to let go of your dreams, worrying about what people think?”
“I had been willing. But a near death experience helps to put things in perspective. I’m going to get my GED and then I’m going to college; majoring in art.”
JT smiled. He might not have helped Lamont find his place in life as much as his motorcycle accident did, but he’d provided the money to fund his dreams, and that was good enough for him. “I think you should write to your father and let him know how you plan to use the money.”
Lamont waved that suggestion off. “Naw, he won’t think it’s hard enough.”
“Look, I’m not trying to put your dad down, but robbing people and going to prison on the regular; that ain’t hard. Matter-of-fact, Jimmy pic
ked the easy way out. Trying to live right and fighting for your dreams, now that’s hard.”
“That’s not the kind of hard I’m talking about.”
“I know that, but do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?”
“Yeah,” Lamont said. He then leaned back in his seat and smiled contentedly. “I think I just might write the old man a letter after all. He needs to know that his ill-gotten gain is being put to good use.”
“Where else would you like to go? I’ll take you anywhere you want today. Tomorrow you’ll be using the bus to get where you need to be.”
“Oh, well if that’s the case, take me to a car dealership. I got enough money to get my own wheels now.”
“Okay, but you don’t need to spend your money on a brand new car when you’ve got to stretch that money to get you through four years of college. So, I’m taking you to a used car dealership.”
Lamont frowned. “Why you gotta always act like somebody’s daddy?”
“I am three bodies’ daddy. And you need a father figure to help you understand life. I’ve seen people lose way more money than you have and end up living on the streets.”
“Forget all that nonsense you talking. I know what I’m doing.”
JT didn’t respond, he just kept driving. He pulled into Jay Pontiac Buick GMC. GM was closing some of its dealerships, so JT wanted to do his part in making sure that people bought American. They got out the car and walked around the lot. JT pointed out a Black 2008 Chevy Impala, that and a 2007 Buick LaCrosse. Both were selling for thirteen thousand. But Lamont wasn’t interested.
He walked straight over to a 2008 white Cadillac Escalade that was selling for twenty-seven thousand. JT shook his head as he walked over to Lamont.
“I know what you’re going to say, but I can really see myself in this car. I’m sure I can talk the dealer down to twenty-five thou.” Lamont said while running his hand across the hood of the Escalade.
“Boy, with the taxes and fees that are going to be assessed, you’ll still be spending thirty thou.”
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