Former Rain-Forsaken Box Set

by Vanessa Miller

  Now she saw the scratches on his face. “Is that who gave you those scratches. This Vivian woman?”

  He touched the scars on his face but didn’t answer her.

  Then it hit her, and anger flooded her soul. “Vivian Sampson, the choir director?”

  He lowered his head, refusing to look at her.

  She threw his socks and boxers at his head, wishing she had something heavier, like a hammer. She would hit him with it over and over again; until she beat all the fool out of him. “You’re no good, JT. And I want you out of here tonight.” She stormed past JT. He tried to stop her by grabbing her arm, but she pulled away. Then she turned back to him and said. “Her name is Diane.”

  “What?”

  She still had a pair of his boxers in her hand. She handed it to JT. “The woman who just had your baby called me tonight. It wasn’t Vivian, it was Diane Benson, and just so you know, I gave her Bishop Turner’s number and suggested that she tell him what you did.” She walked away from him and went into her son’s room.

  JT was too stunned to move. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sorrowful groan. He turned and followed his wife.

  Aaron was stirring. She picked him up. “You looking for your mommy? Huh? Yeah, I know what you want.” She sat down in the rocking chair and nursed her son.

  JT leaned against the doorpost wishing he could take a thousand wrongs back. He felt as though God had forsaken him and now his life was falling apart. Then he remembered the story of King Hezekiah in the second book of Kings. The Lord sent Prophet Isaiah to tell him that he would die from the sickness he was afflicted with. But Hezekiah didn’t just accept his death sentence; he turned his face to the wall and prayed, reminding God of his faithfulness. And God heard his prayers and healed him.

  JT didn’t have much faithfulness to remind God of, but maybe if he reminded Cassandra of the love they had once shared, she would forgive him. Falling on his knees, JT began to weep. He wasn’t crying out to God though; his tears were for his family. He didn’t want to lose his wife so he begged like a man caught in the act.

  Cassandra shushed him. “Get out of here, JT. I’m trying to feed my son.”

  JT wouldn’t let it go. He couldn’t let her go. How could he stand behind his pulpit and tell others to hold onto their marriage while he was separated from his wife? He crawled to her and put his head on her lap. “Forgive me,” he begged.

  “How could you do this to us? I’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done to me.” Cassandra removed his head from her lap, stood with her son and carried him back to his crib. She buttoned her shirt before turning to face her husband.

  “I’ll never cheat on you again, Sanni. You’ve got to believe me. I don’t want to lose my family.” Why was God doing this to him?

  Rolling her eyes she turned and walked out of Aaron’s room.

  JT stood and ran after her. In the hall he caught up with her and grabbed her arm. “Okay, Sanni. You do have reason to be angry, I’ll give you that.”

  She put her index finger in his face. “I’ve got two things to be angry about, JT. Vivian and Diane. Oh, but wait a minute. I have another thing to be angry about; Diane’s baby.”

  He shook his head. “I swear to you, Sanni, I didn’t get that woman pregnant.”

  Rolling her eyes in disgust she asked, “Then why did she call me?”

  “It probably wasn’t Diane at all, it was probably Vivian. The woman is nuts, baby.”

  “Why would Vivian call me if you’re not fooling around with her?”

  He stepped away from his wife and ran his hands through his hair. “Okay, I’m going to tell you the truth. I went over to Vivian’s house tonight to go over the songs for Bishop Turner’s special event.”

  Cassandra laughed, “Oh that’s it, JT. I am sick to death of your lying and cheating. You’re supposed to be a man of God, but I see now that you are not. You are getting out of my house tonight!”

  He grabbed her arm and told her, “I pay the note on this house, my dear wife. Let’s not forget that I’m the one who made it possible for you to have this grand house.”

  She pulled her arm out of JT’s grasp as she told him, “I never asked for this house or anything else you gave me. All I ever wanted was a faithful husband.”

  “Okay, okay,” JT said in an agitated manner. “You’re right. I slept with Vivian. Is that what you wanted to hear? Do you feel better now that you know the truth?”

  Shaking her head, she turned away from him and stormed down the stairs. He followed her, willingly walking into the fire. He had to get it all out. Let her know everything that happened to him tonight. Had to let her know why he would never cheat on her again.

  But Cassandra was finished, signing off, turning in her notice. She picked up the telephone and dialed 911. When the operator answered she said, “I need the police. My husband came home with scratches on his face. When I asked him about it, he got agitated and grabbed my arm.”

  “Hand me that phone,” JT angrily yelled.

  “Do you hear how angry he sounds, I really need help – he might just resort to hitting me next.” Cassandra covered the receiver then turned to JT and said, “They want the address. I suggest you get your things and leave before they get here, unless you want to be on the news for domestic violence.”

  “You win this round, Sanni. I’ll get my stuff and go to a hotel for the night. But this isn’t over. We aren’t over,” he said just before he backed away from her, went and grabbed his suitcase, and then left the house.

  Chapter 9

  Although he didn’t want to do it, JT was forced to flee from his home and check into the Marriott Hotel. He tossed and turned all night long just thinking about how bad it would look to his congregation once they found out that he was estranged from his wife. He couldn’t understand why Cassandra was being so pigheaded about the whole thing. She’d never reacted this way before; but then he remembered that God had forsaken him. He then had a thought that chilled him to the bone; had God been the One keeping his marriage together all these years? So would his marriage now disintegrate just as his relationship with God had? JT tried to get back to sleep but he was plagued by all these thoughts and consequently didn’t get any sleep.

  By the time JT arrived at his office the next day, he was worn out. He sat behind his desk and opened his Bible. His life might be falling apart, but he still had to do Wednesday night Bible study and preach Sunday’s message. He pulled out a notepad and pen, and started jotting down notes. For the last three weeks he’d talked to his congregation about faith and works. Maybe he’d talk to them about regrets and second chances this week.

  A knock on his office door pulled his attention from his sermon. “Yes?”

  Mrs. Marks, his elderly secretary opened the door and told him, “Vivian Sampson wants to see you. I told her you couldn’t-”

  “He’ll see me,” Vivian told Mrs. Marks as she pushed by her.

  JT put his pen down with a look of annoyance on his face. “Ms. Sampson, this is not a good time for me.”

  “Oh, so it’s Ms. Sampson now is it?”

  JT had the decency to look embarrassed as Mrs. Marks turned up her nose and closed his office door. “What do you want, Vivian? I’ve got work to do.”

  She sat on his desk. “What do I want? Let’s see, I could want to talk with you about the choir.” Looking at him with a taunting smile she continued. “Some of my choir members aren’t living right. What should I do about that, pastor?”

  “Look, Vivian, I don’t have time to play with you.”

  Ignoring him, she continued, “Or I could talk with you about Bishop Turner’s celebration. What songs do you want the choir to sing for the good bishop?”

  JT stood, walked over to his door and opened it. “I don’t have time for games, Ms. Sampson. When you have a legitimate reason to see me, please schedule an appointment with my assistant.”

  “You gon’ get enough of dism
issing me,” she told him as she walked through the door in a huff.

  Looking pointedly at his secretary, JT said, “Mrs. Marks, please make sure I’m not disturbed again. I have to finish this sermon.”

  “I’m sorry, Pastor, but you do have another visitor. He said he would wait all day to see you if he had to.”

  Rolling his eyes JT asked, “Who is it?”

  Jimmy Litteton stepped from behind the door and greeted JT. “Would you be able to spare a few moments for an old friend?”

  At that moment, JT would have rather had Vivian back in his office, taunting him. Jimmy looked haggard and worn out – like life had put a Mike Tyson kind of whuppin’ on him. JT knew he was somewhat to blame for the meagerness of the man in front of him, but he smiled graciously and invited Jimmy to have a seat in his office.

  “I see that wound didn’t heal well,” Jimmy said, pointing at JT’s leg as he limped toward his seat.

  JT stopped. He’d tried with everything in him to forget the night he lost his mother and his woman, and then became a thief. But Jimmy was back in his world reminding him of how low he had once sunk. He wouldn’t go back there. He continued to his seat and asked, “So what have you been doing with yourself? It’s been a long time.”

  “Yeah, it’s been fifteen years, three months and two days since I last saw you.”

  JT stopped smiling. “Look, man, I know I should have written or put some money on your books or something…” He had no excuse, so his words kind of trailed off.

  Jimmy exposed his crooked teeth as he asked, “Why do you think you should have put some money on my books – just because I went to prison for a crime we both committed and you were left with all the money?”

  JT held up a hand. “Now wait a minute, Jimmy. I didn’t tell you to rob that bank. Matter-of-fact, I asked you not to do it. But you weren’t listening to me. You got greedy – that’s why you ended up in prison.”

  Jimmy exploded as he stood and got in JT’s face. “Everything I did that night was for you. It was your sorry behind that was moping around because your junkie mother had just OD’d and your cheating wife was giving her loving away to the dope man. You remember how it went down and don’t try to pretend like you don’t.”

  Honestly, JT told him, “For the last fifteen years I’ve made myself forget everything about those times.”

  “Well, good ‘ol Jimmy is here to remind you.” He looked toward heaven and said, “Lookie here, Lord. I finally found a purpose in life.” Laughing he headed for the door.

  “Wait a minute. You didn’t tell me why you stopped by. What do you want?” JT asked.

  “Don’t you have a sermon to live, I mean write?” He opened the door and as he walked out he told JT, “I’ll be in touch, man. You better believe ol’ Jimmy gon’ stay in touch with you.”

  Yeah, he had a sermon to write. The trouble was, nothing was sticking. He couldn’t put anything of substance on paper. He’d never had trouble writing a sermon before. But, of course that was before God decided to leave him with his sins.

  JT had always thought of himself as self-reliant, but now he was beginning to see that without God, he was nothing. He put his head on his desk and let out a guttural moan.

  “Are you all right, Pastor?” Mrs. Marks asked while standing in the doorway.

  He tilted his head sideways but didn’t lift it from the desk. Let’s see; his wife had thrown him out, his mistress was stalking him, his ex-partner in crime showed up after fifteen years just to torment him; and oh yeah, God had forsaken him. “No, I’m not all right.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  He looked at his secretary. She was a really sweet lady and he didn’t want to burden her so he said, “No. Don’t worry about it, I’ll be all right.”

  “Okay then. I just came in to tell you that Bishop Turner is on the phone.”

  JT shook his head, stood up and grabbed his keys. He couldn’t deal with the bishop right now. “Tell him I had to leave and I will call him back later.”

  When he got to his car, he let out another guttural moan. All four of his tires had been slashed. He couldn’t even call the police. JT didn’t know if the psycho he’d slept with or the madman he’d committed arm robbery with had slashed his tires – either way, it wouldn’t be good press.

  Chapter 10

  Cassandra was in the front yard playing catch with Jerome when the cab JT was in pulled into the driveway. JT had promised his son that he would play catch with him, but he’d been so busy with church business and the other stuff he had no business doing that he’d neglected to make time for promises he’d made to his son.

  Cassandra’s brow raised as he walked toward them.

  No sense lying, he’d done enough of that. “Someone slashed my tires,” JT said as he looked around the yard and then asked, “Where’s Aaron?”

  “My mom has him for the afternoon.”

  “Oh,” was all JT said in response.

  Jerome ran to his father. “Daddy, play with me. Throw the ball.”

  He put down his briefcase, rolled up his sleeves and took the ball out of Cassandra’s hand. She left them in the front yard and went back in the house. He threw the ball with Jerome for twenty minutes, then went into the house. He asked if he could shower and change his clothes. Cassandra rolled her eyes, but nodded her approval.

  JT had only taken a few of his clothes to the hotel the night before, so most of his things were still in the closet and in his dresser drawers. He took a shower, put on a pair of sweats and went back downstairs to find his wife in the kitchen. “You still haven’t asked me how my tires got slashed,” he said.

  Putting a pot of rice on the stove, Cassandra said, “Why should I ask when I know I’m not going to hear the truth.”

  “That’s just it, Sanni, I want to tell you the truth. I don’t want us to have anymore secrets.”

  She harrumphed.

  “I’m serious, baby. I want our marriage to work. I know I’ve messed up, but don’t give up on me. We can work this out.”

  “Okay then.” She wiped her hands on the dish towel and sat down at the table across from her husband. “How did your tires get slashed?”

  He noticed that she didn’t seem all that enthused about hearing his story, but he trudged on anyway. He told her about Vivian acting a fool in his office, then about Jimmy Littleton. He even told her about the robberies they’d committed years ago. He told her everything, only leaving out the minor detail of his marriage to Mona. He’d carry that one to his grave. But he would come clean about everything else.

  When he was finished, Cassandra asked him, “So that’s how you got that limp?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted, shame faced. “I was too embarrassed to tell you I got shot during a robbery, so I just never talked to you about what happened to my leg.”

  “Why are you telling me all this now?”

  “I want you to pray for me, Sanni. I know you can get a prayer through to God, so talk to Him for me.”

  She stood up. With sadness in her eyes, she told him, “I’m all prayed out for you, JT. Your whoring around has destroyed me. I don’t have time to go to God for your issues because I’m too busy asking him to restore my soul.”

  She tried to walk away, but he grabbed hold of her arm. “I’m sorry, Sanni. You deserved a much better husband – I should have treated you right. But, I need you to do this for me.”

  Cold, daggered eyes shot through him as she pulled her arm from his grasp and walked away. “Do you need me to call a cab so you can go back to whoever you stayed with last night?”

  He stood up. “I’m staying at the Marriott, Sanni. I promise you that I didn’t go to another woman last night. Nor do I intend to do such a thing ever again.”

  “And we all know that you are a promise keeper, right JT?”

  He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. When he looked at her again he could see the resolve etched on her face. He was ready
to make a change, but how does that saying go, “too little, too late.” “What do I have to do to prove to you that I’m for real?” JT asked.

  She didn’t answer him, just said, “Let me get the telephone book so you can look up the number for the cab company.”

  “I don’t need a cab. I’ll just use your car.”

  Shaking her head, Cassandra told him, “Aaron has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.”

  “What time?”

  “Why?”

  Impatiently, he demanded, “What time is his appointment, Sanni?”

  “Three o’clock.”

  “Okay, well then I’ll leave church at about one or two and have the car back to you in time for baby boy’s appointment.”

  Still shaking her head she told him, “Uh-uh, you’re not using my car, JT. It’s as simple as that. Call up the woman who slashed your tires and have her come pick you up.”

  He ignored the last bit of her sentence and narrowed in on the part he knew he could object to. “Your car? Well who pays the note on that car?”

  “I do,” she spat back. “I pay that note every time you lie, cheat and humiliate me. I’ve paid that note with my broken heart.”

  “I never thought I’d see the day when you would be as bitter as your mother.”

  Before she could stop herself, she lifted her hand and smacked him in the face. Then she said, “I also have an appointment with a divorce attorney in the morning.”

  He rubbed his face. “Are you crazy? I’m not giving you a divorce.”

  With the sista sista neck roll she said, “Be that as it may, I’m still going to see this attorney in the morning. You can sign the papers or don’t; but now you know where I stand.”

  JT stepped back. Shaking his head, he picked his keys up off the kitchen counter and told her, “You’re not going to any divorce attorney; I’m taking the car, Sanni. I’ll be back before Aaron’s appointment.” He walked to the car in total bewilderment. Divorce! He was living through a nightmare that he prayed he would soon wake up from. He knew he had done Sanni wrong, but she was taking it to another level. What had gotten into her?