Don't Tell A Soul

by Tiffany L. Warren

  “You think you’re funny,” I scoff, “but that’s exactly what I wanted to do. Or something like it. The pitiful child called me this morning, apologizing again, but I don’t know what to do about that.”

  “Forgive her, and move on. Obviously, she misinterpreted something from you. I wouldn’t dwell on it too long if I was you.”

  “Really? What if it was you, and what if Eva was Evan and he kissed you? What would you do?”

  “After I knocked him out cold?”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’d pray for him, and I would make it clear that our relationship wasn’t a sexual one.”

  “What a calm answer,” I say.

  “I’m a levelheaded kind of guy.”

  “So you’re okay with me continuing a friendship with her?”

  He shrugs. “Yes. I don’t see a problem with it.”

  “I’m going to be honest. I don’t know how I’d feel about you being friends with a gay man who is attracted to you.”

  “It’s different with women.”

  Now I’m the one with furrowed eyebrows. “What does that mean?”

  “You all are always looking at each other naked, comparing body parts and all that.”

  I lean back and burst into laughter. “No, we don’t!”

  “Okay, maybe not, but I think you should still be nice to that girl. She’s young, and she has latched on to you for a reason. Maybe you need to show her how to be a true sister in Christ.”

  “Maybe . . .”

  “Can we talk about this after we ride the Raptor?”

  My stomach flops at the thought of the twisty, twirly upside-down roller coaster. “Can I ease back into the rides? I was thinking the Blue Streak or the Wildcat maybe.”

  “They tore the Wildcat down, and the Blue Streak is for toddlers.”

  “Wah, wah.”

  Kingston grins. “Okay. We’ll do the Blue Streak first and then the Raptor. Ladies’ choice.”

  “Thank you!”

  A sense of dread fills me as we head toward the wooden contraption. Kingston says we’re young, but a part of me is feeling real senior like as I watch that tiny car fly over those tracks.

  I whisper a silent prayer that this will be as fun as Kingston thinks it will be.

  “I told you I hadn’t ridden a roller coaster in years.”

  Kingston holds an ice-filled plastic bag to the back of my neck to cure my nausea. I had second thoughts about that Raptor ride as soon as I clicked the lock on that overhead restraint, but Kingston was doing so much whooping and hollering that I kept quiet.

  I shouldn’t have.

  When we stepped off the ride, I couldn’t stop the sky and everything else from spinning. My vertigo was so bad that I had to sit down. But the first available seat was in the now-blazing sun, which made it infinitely worse. As much as I wanted to keep them down, those French fries found their way into the garbage can next to the bench.

  “I’m so sorry, Yvonne. I didn’t think you’d get sick.”

  “Me either! I guess I’m just too old for this.”

  Kingston sits down next to me and moves my hair out of my face. “You’re not too old, Yvonne. You’re just out of practice.”

  I can’t help but think that I’m out of practice with everything, not just amusement park rides. Kingston may have a slow learner on his hands.

  “We can ride up to Put-in-Bay now if you want,” Kingston says.

  The thought of getting in a car right now makes my stomach flip. “Maybe not yet. Can we just rest awhile?”

  “We sure can.”

  I close my eyes and take deep breaths as Kingston holds the cooling ice pack to my neck with one hand and massages my hand with the other. His touch is very calming right now, evoking nowhere near the excitement I felt earlier.

  After about ten minutes of this tender loving care, I am ready to leave the park. “Let’s go.” I say. “I’m ready now.”

  “Are you going to be okay on the ferry?” he asks, apparently not wanting a repeat of the vomit.

  “I should be. I feel better.”

  “Great. We can do some sightseeing on the island and have dinner later. Does that sound tame enough for you?”

  I can’t tell if Kingston is teasing or not. Has my weak stomach caused him to not be attracted to me anymore?

  “I don’t need tame. I just need it to not flip upside down.”

  Kingston laughs as he takes my hand and leads me toward the amusement park entrance. On our way out he casually pulls me close and brings my hand up to his mouth for a soft kiss. I guess this answers my question about the attraction.

  “Come on, lady,” he says. “May the rest of our day be as adventure packed as the morning!”

  Whether he means it to be funny or not, this is a laugh riot to me. I will take anything but adventure at this point. I will take a calm and peaceful day with my new friend. Or should I say new man?

  Kingston is my new man. Umph, umph, umph. I wonder what Mr. Luke would have to say about that. Actually, I don’t care what Luke would say. He is the past, and Kingston is definitely the future.

  CHAPTER 26

  TAYLOR

  Spencer decided that it was best if we didn’t wait too long to confront Luke about his reappearance in Joshua’s life. So I had my brother come over to chill with Josh, and we’re on our way to meet with Luke. He asked us to come to his church, which is currently in the recreation center of his apartment complex. I’m not happy about meeting on his terms or his turf, but Spencer agreed to it, so I don’t say a word.

  When we get to the apartment building, I almost don’t want to get out of the car. It isn’t in the best neighborhood, and there are some questionable-looking men standing in the parking lot. I’m glad that Spencer is here, because I would’ve turned right back around and gone home.

  “Let me do all the talking, Taylor,” Spencer says in a somewhat stern voice. I don’t know who he thinks he’s talking to. I am not Joshua. He better fall back with all that testosterone.

  “Really, Spencer?”

  “You know what I mean. He likes to focus in on you and ignore me. It’s not going down like that today. He’s going to respect me, or he’s gonna have the courts decide whether or not he’s fit to spend time with his son.”

  “Okay.”

  I follow closely behind Spencer as we walk up to the building. The glass in one of the doors is cracked and held together with duct tape. Looks like Luke’s congregation needs a building fund.

  Once we get inside, we’re greeted by two women about my age wearing Sunday morning dresses. They’re both very pretty and very shapely. They seem like exactly the type of women that Luke’s trifling tail would evangelize.

  “If you’re looking for the Church of the Redeemed, you’ve found it!” This woman’s squeaky voice doesn’t match her sexy look.

  “Are you having service?” Spencer asks.

  The other woman says, “No, not for a few hours, but the prophet is in prayer. We pray with anyone who comes in between now and our service. Do you have a prayer request?”

  “No, but you can let Luke Hastings know that I’m out here,” Spencer says. “He’s expecting me.”

  Both women look at one another, as if confused. Squeaky Voice says, “But the prophet doesn’t like to be disturbed while he’s entreating the Lord.”

  Just as I am about to rip this girl a new one, Luke emerges from behind a door. He’s wearing all white—a dress shirt and some slacks. Prison must’ve made him tacky. Who wears all that white before Memorial Day?

  Luke extends his hand to Spencer, and this time Spencer shakes it with a firm grip. They have some extended eye contact, which I’m sure is full of many manlike messages. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started beating their chests with their fists and grunting.

  “We can go to my office,” Luke says. “Thank you, sisters.”

  The two women nod their thanks, like they’re in awe of this buster or something. I wish I had some
of the police photos of Yvonne’s face after their prophet took his time whaling on it. Then I wonder how much reverence they’ll give him.

  In Luke’s office there is another woman, also wearing all white. She’s seated at a table and has a fake-looking smile plastered on her face.

  “Who is she?” I ask.

  Spencer cuts his eyes at me, and I shrug. I’d forgotten his command that quickly. I’m letting him do all the talking.

  “You didn’t mention we would have a guest,” Spencer says. “Taylor and I would rather this meeting only be between interested parties.”

  “She is an interested party. Spencer and Taylor, meet my fiancée, Naomi. We’re going to be married next weekend, so she wants to be a part of the discussion. She’s going to be Joshua’s stepmother.”

  My breathing becomes rapid as I clutch Spencer’s arm.

  “You should’ve mentioned she would be here,” Spencer says.

  Luke chuckles. And in that brief laugh I hear the leftovers of the evil man he used to be. Like I said before, he ain’t changed.

  “Spencer, I want this to be a friendly discussion. You’re a big dude, but you don’t have to go throwing your weight around.”

  Spencer looks self-consciously down at his healthy midsection and frowns. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “But you just got here!” Luke says. “Would you like some coffee? Soda?”

  “We’re not thirsty,” I say as Spencer and I sit down at the table, opposite Naomi.

  Luke sits down and folds his hands on the table in front of him. “So you two wanted to talk about Joshua. So let’s talk.”

  “You decided to show up at a really inopportune time for Joshua,” Spencer says. “He’s going through some very sensitive situations, and how we handle them will probably impact the rest of his life.”

  “I know exactly what’s going on with my son. He’s been expelled from school, but the two of you had no intentions of telling me that.”

  “How do you know about that?” I ask.

  “I have friends who give me information, because even if I haven’t been around, I still care about him. I care about my blood, no matter what you think.”

  “But you didn’t care about him when he was walking around the church with too few clothes on, huh?” I reply.

  “I was a different man then. I have changed, but you’re convinced that I’m the same.”

  Spencer says, “It does matter to us who is giving out confidential information about our son.”

  “Our son?” Luke laughs his evil laugh again. “You know what? I’m not even going to take that away from you. You’ve done your part. You’ve raised him thus far, but you need help. My son is just like me. Hitting a teacher is something I would’ve done at eleven. Stop shutting me out, when we could raise him together.”

  “I have a degree in early child development,” Naomi says. “I want to help with Joshua, too. It takes a village.”

  If she says one more thing, I’m going to explode on her, and this isn’t even her fight to wage.

  “Right now it feels like there are too many people in the village. I’m cool on the village,” I say.

  “Let me talk to him—alone,” Luke says. “And if he doesn’t open up to me, we can go back to your supervised visits. Trust that I only want to do right by him.”

  Trust and Luke don’t even belong in the same sentence.

  “We’ve got to pray on that, Luke,” Spencer says.

  “I’ll be praying, too,” Luke says. “That both of you stop being stubborn and come to your senses.”

  “On to the second matter,” Spencer says, cutting me off before I even speak. “How do you plan to resume your financial obligations to Joshua?”

  “Well, I’ll probably be in arrears until he’s an adult. Isn’t that right, Taylor?”

  I open my mouth to respond, but Spencer nudges me hard in the ribs. I’m gonna get him back for that.

  “We’re going to petition the court to forgive your arrears if you will start paying going forward,” Spencer says.

  Can this even happen? I don’t know who my husband has been talking to, but I have never heard of anybody’s child support bill being canceled. And why we letting this fool off the hook, anyway? Even if he doesn’t have it right now, he owes me. Not Spencer. He’s taking this “I’m in charge” thing a little bit too far.

  “Well, my money isn’t exactly coming in the way I want it to be, but I am willing to make a sincere effort.”

  Luke is such a liar. He was a successful CPA before he went to prison. I know this fool still has some clients. He’s doing his stuff under the table now.

  I lift Naomi’s hand and examine her ring. “This is nice,” I say. “You could’ve gotten my son some nice shoes and some outfits with what it cost to buy this.”

  “We bought this on credit,” Naomi says as she snatches her hand away.

  I lean back in my seat. “Hmmm . . . well, at least you still have good credit, Luke. Why don’t you charge your son something for his birthday? It’s in June, you know. He’s turning twelve.”

  “Taylor, Joshua will have everything he needs on his birthday,” Spencer says. “Let’s discuss the visitation arrangements.”

  “I would be fine with every other weekend in the beginning,” Luke says, “but eventually I want joint custody.”

  I burst into laughter. “You’re never getting joint custody, Luke. Get that out of your head.”

  “Every other Saturday to start,” Spencer says. “Let’s work up to weekends.”

  “You said you were going to be reasonable.”

  “This is about Joshua and what’s best for him. He’s going to take some time to get used to this new arrangement,” Spencer replies.

  Luke folds his arms and sighs. “Next weekend. I want . . .would like to have my son at the wedding.”

  “I think we can do that,” Spencer says.

  “I’d like you two to come, as well. It would send a strong message to Joshua that we’re getting along.”

  I stare at Spencer with one eyebrow up. If he can’t tell what I’m thinking with this look, then he doesn’t know me at all.

  Spencer says, “I don’t think my wife would be comfortable with that.”

  I fold my arms across my chest and give Luke an attitude-filled glare. “I would not, and my son ain’t coming, either.”

  “It’s not healthy to carry all that hate around,” Naomi says as she takes Luke’s hand. “You should read Let it Go, by Bishop T. D. Jakes, because you really need to free yourself.”

  I sigh and give Spencer a weary “Can we go?” look. I have had enough of Luke for one day. Who am I kidding? I’ve had enough of Luke to last a lifetime.

  I stand to my feet when I can’t take another minute or another second. “I’ll let it go as soon as Luke stops holding his grudge against child support.”

  I spin on one heel and stomp over to the door. I don’t care if Spencer wants to stay in here and play patty-cake with Luke. I’m not gonna be able to do it.

  In a half second, I hear Spencer following right behind me. I knew he wouldn’t leave me hanging.

  Once we get out to the car, I stand like I always do at my door and wait for Spencer to open it. He ignores me and goes around to his side, unlocks the car, and jumps in. When he starts the car, I realize that he’s not going to open my door.

  I knock on the window. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I don’t open doors for men. Get in the car.”

  Oh, he has lost his ever-lovin’ mind. “I’m not a man.”

  Spencer throws the car into reverse, so I quickly hop in before he leaves me. The last thing I want is to get stranded at Luke’s church and then have to ask him for a ride home.

  Spencer glares at me when I get in the car.

  “Stop looking at me like that,” I say.

  “I asked you to just be quiet and let me talk, but you had to just keep running your mouth.”

  “And I don’t u
nderstand why you think I shouldn’t have anything to say!”

  “Luke doesn’t take you seriously. He is a male chauvinist. He doesn’t value women at all, especially his former mistress. I’ve got a strategy when it comes to dealing with him, and I need you to just follow my lead. No questions asked.”

  I cross my arms and glare out of the car window. Spencer wants me to be quiet and do what he says. That’s what Luke demanded of me. Silence and obedience. Looks like I traded one male chauvinist for another.

  “Taylor, you know I value your opinion, and I always want to hear what you think. But this time . . . this time trust the man that you married. I love you and Joshua, and I want us to be whole no matter what Luke does.”

  “Joshua is not going to Luke’s wedding.”

  “Let’s talk about it later, after you’ve had time to think about it.”

  “No. I’m done talking about it. He’s not going.”

  Spencer floors the gas pedal and grips the steering wheel as he drives off. I guess he’s supposed to be angry or something. But he hasn’t seen fury until he’s seen a mother scorned. And neither has Luke.

  CHAPTER 27

  EVA

  After talking to Yvonne, Eva felt much better. Things were not lost with Yvonne, and Eva thought that maybe they could still be friends.

  When Eva’s cell phone buzzed in her pocket she thought it was Yvonne calling to chat, but she hadn’t read that Scripture passage yet, so she hoped that Yvonne wouldn’t ask about that. Eva just couldn’t open her grandmother’s Bible again. She’d just gone out and purchased a new one so that she wouldn’t see the punishments underlined, highlighted, and ready to jump out at her.

  “Hello.”

  “It’s about time you answered your phone.”

  Eva swallowed hard. It was Roe from the strip club.

  “How did you get my number?”

  He laughed. “You should be wondering how I got your address.”

  Eva shuddered. “You don’t know where I live.”

  “I do. And you better believe, I’m coming to collect what you owe me. That little sucka move you did at the club wasn’t right, but I’m gonna let you apologize to me real nice and easy.”