The Devil Is a Lie

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  When Nina rounded the corner to her street, she stopped midjog. A white Honda Accord was parked on the corner. That was Yvonne’s car, evident by the Playboy bunny hanging from the rearview mirror and the dent in the back from when she hit a BMW in the mall parking lot and took off.

  Why is it parked on the corner? Nina thought. She strained to see her house down the street. Maybe Yvonne’s car had died. But Nina didn’t see her sister standing on the doorstep.

  Nina jogged to her house, then eased up the walkway toward the front door. She had an eerie feeling in her gut, and something told her to go around to the back. That’s where she kept her spare key—a key her sister knew about.

  Sure enough, the back door was open. Nina was just about to call out to her sister, but a warning voice inside her head told her to keep quiet. She didn’t understand the funny feeling, but she’d learned to trust her instincts. Yvonne was probably sitting on the sofa, watching TV and waiting on her. Still, Nina eased inside. She didn’t see her sister downstairs, so she carefully crept up the stairs toward her bedroom.

  Nina stopped right outside the door. She heard voices coming from her bedroom, so she flattened herself against the wall. She heard someone say, “Girl, are you watching for her car?”

  “Yeah, why you think I’m standing at the window? Dang! You need to hurry up. What’s taking you so long? You ain’t found the checkbook yet?” another voice responded.

  Nina’s eyes widened in disbelief. Both voices belonged to her cousins, Janay and Janai.

  “Yvonne said she usually keeps them in her drawer, but they’re not here. Shoot,” Janai muttered.

  “Well, this is crazy anyway,” Janay said. “When Nina can’t find the checkbook, she’s just gonna close the account or put a stop payment on it.”

  “That’s why you don’t take the whole checkbook, dumbo. I’m just gonna take out random checks. Yvonne said Nina is so triflin’, she ain’t even gon’ notice her checks are out of order.”

  Janay laughed. “You stupid.”

  Nina could no longer contain her anger. She stormed into her bedroom. “She’s right about that!”

  Both women jumped and exchanged horrified looks.

  “What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?” Nina demanded.

  Janay, who was always the most vocal of the two, quickly tried to compose herself. “G-girl, what’s going on? I, um, I was looking for your strapless bra. I’m going to this party tonight and I’m wearing this strapless dress and when I tell you it’s off the chain—”

  “Janay, quit lying!” Nina snapped.

  Janay raised her eyebrow, feigning innocence. “Ain’t nobody lying.”

  “Number one, you wear a forty-two triple E. I wear a thirty-six C. Number two, I heard everything you two said.”

  Janay knew she was busted. She held up her hands and quickly began trying to explain. “Nina, listen, just hear me out. I’m ’bout to get kicked out of my apartment, and I was just so desperate, and Janai said Yvonne told her—”

  “Uh-uh, don’t put me in this!” Janai said, easing over to Nina’s side. “This was all her idea.” She pointed at her twin sister. “I tried to tell her it was wrong. You’re my favorite cousin and I didn’t think it was right the way she wanted to break in here and steal from you.”

  “Shut up, Janai,” Nina said. She was disgusted with them both. To think Yvonne had participated in this scam made her stomach churn.

  Janay tried again. “For real, cuz. This ain’t what it look like.”

  “It is exactly what it looks like. You broke into my house.” Nina’s anger was replaced by disappointment. She and her cousins had never been close, but she never would have thought they would try to steal from her.

  Janay’s apologetic expression turned defiant. “Look, what else am I supposed to do? I got bills coming out the wazoo, and you act like you can’t give me a dime. All that money and you too stingy to help out family.”

  Nina’s head didn’t feel clear any longer. “How many times do I have to tell you people that the money is tied up in a litigation? I don’t have anything!”

  “Whatever,” Janay said, rolling her eyes. “You just trying to be stingy.”

  “I don’t go to court until next week,” Nina explained. “But that’s beside the point,” she said, suddenly wondering why she was even standing here debating the issue. “The bottom line is you’re up in my house trying to steal from me.”

  Janai stepped toward Nina with fake tears building in her eyes. “I just feel awful about this, Nina. Please don’t hold it against my sister. She was just really desperate and not thinking straight.”

  Janay looked offended that her sister was selling her out, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Janai, stop trying to play me,” Nina said. “Both of you, get the hell out of my house.”

  “But, Nina,” Janai began, “we—”

  “I said get out!” Nina screamed. “Now! Before I call the cops and have you both arrested.”

  Both women scrambled out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Nina followed to make sure they didn’t grab anything on their way out.

  Janai stopped just as she reached the front door.

  “Nina, we’re really sorry.”

  “Get out.”

  Janay shifted nervously. “So, ummm, does this mean you’re not gonna give us any lotto money?”

  Nina slammed the door in their faces. Rick seemed to be on the verge of leaving her. Pam and Todd were about to take half her money. Now her family was stealing from her. Right about now, Nina wished she’d never won the lottery.

  27

  Enough was enough, Nina fumed as she sat and watched Rick flip aimlessly through the channels. “Am I worth more to you than some money?” she finally asked. She’d lost track of how long he’d been walking around in a funk. All she knew was she was tired of it. Between his secret phone calls and his attitude, she was getting fed up. She’d just finished going off on her sister, who swore she didn’t know anything about the twins’ plan to steal from her. Nina knew her sister well enough to know she was telling the truth, so that had made her feel better, but this logjam with Rick was working her last nerve.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” he replied. He acted like just her talking to him was irritating.

  “I mean, you’re walking around here, barely speaking to me, pissed off. Mad because we might have to split eight million dollars. If our relationship is supposed to be bigger than money, I don’t understand why you’re so upset with me.”

  “That’s just it, Nina. This doesn’t have anything to do with the money,” he huffed. “Yeah, I’m upset that this man walks in here and infiltrates our relationship. But he’s claiming that he’s your husband. And I can’t become your husband until he decides that he doesn’t want to be your husband anymore.”

  “That’s absurd.”

  “Is it really, Nina?”

  “I told you, the divorce will go through. I filed the paperwork myself. So you and I can still get married.”

  Rick still wasn’t satisfied. “Nina, this man took away my control. The woman I love is married to someone else. That’s a lot to process.”

  “But we’re married only on paper.” She was glad that he was finally opening up to her. Maybe that was part of their problem—he was holding everything in. “You know my heart belongs to you.”

  He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. “Forget it, Nina. I just have a lot on my mind.” His voice softened, and for the first time in days, he didn’t seem annoyed. “It’ll all work out, okay? I’m sorry I’ve been a jerk.”

  “Okay. But please tell me what you’re thinking.” She hadn’t forgotten about his secretive phone calls, but he was opening up to her, and that’s what she wanted to focus on right now.

  “I’m stressing out about the gym. I don’t want to lose it. This is my dream and I’ve gotten in way over my head trying to make it a reality. Then this stuff with Todd.” He patted her hand.
“But don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine,” he said, sounding like he wanted to end the conversation.

  Nina needed to hear those words, even though he didn’t sound convincing.

  Unexpectedly, her cell phone rang. The number was blocked and she almost didn’t answer it, but then she realized it might be her attorney, whose cell phone number always came up as “blocked.”

  “Hello?” Nina said, grateful that Rick didn’t use the phone call as an opportunity to get up and leave.

  “I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing, but we ain’t the one.”

  It was a woman’s voice. “Excuse me? Who is this?”

  “This is your worst nightmare.”

  Nina recognized her now. “Pam? Why are you calling me?”

  Rick’s eyebrows immediately rose.

  “I know you thought you could get my man alone and try to convince him to drop this suit, but you might as well get ready to pay, ’cause he ain’t droppin’ nothing. The only thing he dropped was you.”

  Nina took a deep breath. She didn’t want to go off in front of Rick, but she couldn’t help herself. “Do you think because you flash your big old behind in front of Todd and seduce him into bed that makes you a better woman than me? I don’t think so. I’m not the one who had to go around messing with other people’s husbands.”

  Months of pent-up fury was bubbling over. She was going to blast Pam more when she noticed Rick out of the corner of her eye shooting her an angry look.

  “If you were doing what you were supposed to, I wouldn’t have been able to take your husband,” Pam continued. “So understand this: Todd doesn’t want you. The only thing he wants from you is your money. You ought to have seen how he came home talking about you. He wants to make sure we get every brown penny we can so that he can take me to Paris for our honeymoon.”

  Nina was on fire. This tramp had truly lost her mind. “Why, you little…” Rick’s scowling caused her to stop midsentence. “You know what?” Nina said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “The only thing I have to say to you and your man is, I’ll see you in court.”

  “Bring it on.” Pam laughed. “All I know is you better have my mon—”

  Before Pam could continue her tirade, Rick snatched the phone from Nina and hung it up.

  “What does she want?” he snapped.

  Nina was so mad her eyes were stinging. She was about to vent when it dawned on her that Rick didn’t know about her visit with Todd. She contemplated lying, but she was so angry that she couldn’t even think of a lie.

  “I met with Todd,” Nina told him.

  “For what?” Rick asked, getting heated himself.

  “Because I was trying to settle.” Nina stood up and began pacing.

  “Settle what?”

  “This whole lotto mess,” Nina said, exasperated. “I offered him a flat one million dollars.”

  Rick stared at her, dumbfounded. “So you did this without even talking to me?”

  “I just…”

  He tossed the phone onto the coffee table. “No, you just do what you always do—make decisions without me. But hell, Todd is your husband, so I guess he’s the one you would talk to about it.”

  “Come on, Rick,” Nina said, stopping to face him. After her conversation with Pam, she wasn’t in the mood for another argument.

  “Don’t ‘come on, Rick’ me.” He pounded his fist into his palm. “This is some bull. Now you got this trick calling and acting a fool.” He stood up stiffly and headed toward the door. “I can’t deal with this anymore. I’m outta here.”

  “Where are you going?” she said, following him.

  Rick slipped on his shoes, grabbed his keys, and swung open the front door, ignoring her.

  Nina watched him get in his car and screech out of the driveway. Closing the door, she sank to the floor in tears.

  Fifteen minutes later the tears had dried, but the simmering rage had once again taken over. It was bad enough Pam had to wreck her life. Now she and Todd wanted to torture her even more by taking her money. No, she’d tried to take the nice approach. Shoot, she’d been nice her whole life and had gotten screwed over in return.

  Nina pulled herself up off the floor and stomped back over to the coffee table, where Rick had thrown her cell phone. She picked it up and punched in Todd’s number. He answered on the first ring.

  “Look, I know you can’t run your own relationship, but you need to get your psycho girlfriend under control!” Nina yelled into the phone.

  “Nina?”

  “Yeah, it’s me, and I’m about sick and tired—”

  “Whoa, hold on,” Todd said, lowering his voice. “I’m at work. Why are you calling me with this?”

  “Because your girl just called my house threatening me—”

  “Pam called you?” He cut her off.

  “Yes. And she told me how you think you’re slick and are tryin’ to play me.”

  “Okay, hold up. Back up and slow down.” His voice echoed, like he’d stepped out into a hallway.

  “No, I am sick and tired of you and your trampy girlfriend,” Nina continued ranting. “You don’t want the deal? Screw it. Matter of fact, don’t worry about the offer at all. It’s off the table. I’ll see you in court.”

  “Nina, calm down. As usual, you’re going off the deep end without hearing the whole story.”

  “As usual, you don’t know nothing about me.”

  “Nina, calm down,” he repeated.

  “Oh, I’m calm. I’m calm, all right,” she said, pacing back and forth across her living room. “You listen to me and you listen good. You and that skank you call a girlfriend can go to hell. You won’t see one dime of my money.”

  He sighed. “Nina, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Of course you don’t. I forgot Pam’s got the balls in that relationship.”

  “Okay, now you’re truly trippin’. I actually was going to call you—”

  “Let me make this clear to you,” Nina said, scowling. “I’m not the same passive woman you used to be married to.”

  “Still married to,” Todd said, momentarily shutting her up.

  “Not for long,” she finally said.

  “Look, I don’t want to do this. I told you I was going to—”

  She cut him off again. “Going to what? Think of more ways to hurt me, you low-down, sorry bastard.”

  A growl had entered his voice. “I’m not gonna take much more name-calling.”

  “Oh, you’re trying to grow some balls now? Maybe I should call your mother and let her know just how low-down you are. Or better yet, have a little talk with Grams about what a dog you are.”

  Todd was finally getting mad himself. “Don’t bring my family into this.”

  Nina could tell she had touched a nerve, and that’s exactly what she wanted. Todd was always sensitive about staying perfect in the eyes of his mother and grandmother.

  “Oh, that’s right. We wouldn’t want your perfect image to be tarnished. I’m about to tell them and everybody else everything about your cheating, lyin’, sorry—”

  “Nina…”

  “Save it. I’ll see you in court.” Nina slammed the phone shut.

  28

  Nina fidgeted nervously in her seat. Today was the day of reckoning. Her attorney had managed to quickly get the case before a judge. It was amazing what money could do.

  The judge had spent the morning hearing, then reviewing Todd’s case. Nina’s attorney had made a compelling argument about how, for all intents and purposes, their marriage was nonexistent. He’d brought out Todd’s betrayal, which, of course, once again opened wounds for Nina.

  But that had been six hours ago, and she’d taken the lunch break to pull herself together, especially since Rick hadn’t shown up for the hearing until fifteen minutes ago. Even now he sat in the row behind her, despite the fact that she’d asked him to sit next to her. Shoot, she needed him to sit next to her. But he was still
stewing. They’d barely uttered two words to each other in the past week. Whenever he was home, he acted all restless. Nina was too stressed to deal with his attitude, so she’d decided to wait for him to take the first step.

  Nina stole a glance across the courtroom. Todd had the nerve to be looking at her like he was actually sad. Pam, on the other hand, was her usual cocky self in a fire red two-piece suit with a lace bodice underneath. The suit itself wasn’t half bad, but the color screamed hoochie.

  Pam caught Nina looking at her and waved ta-ta before lovingly running her hand over the back of Todd’s neck.

  Shavonne, who was sitting next to Nina, caught the exchange and shot Pam her middle finger. Nina quickly grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled it down.

  “You cannot be doing that up in the courtroom,” Nina hissed.

  Pam mouthed something Nina couldn’t make out, but judging from the scowl on her face, it wasn’t King’s English.

  Shavonne started removing her earrings. “Meet me outside, tramp,” she mouthed.

  “Would you stop before the judge sees you?” Nina hissed.

  Shavonne hunched, then leaned back in her seat. “Somebody betta tell ol’ girl who she’s dealing with.”

  “Shhhh,” the bailiff said, shooting Shavonne a warning look.

  If she hadn’t been so nervous, Nina might’ve smiled at how it never failed—her girls always had her back.

  “Are both parties present?” the judge asked.

  Both Nina’s and Todd’s attorneys stood and simultaneously said, “We are.”

  Michelle, who was sitting on the other side of Nina, patted her leg reassuringly.

  “Well, let me say I am most disheartened that the parties could not reach an amicable settlement prior to coming into my court,” the judge began. “But it is my duty to do what they cannot.” He rustled some papers before pushing his glasses up his wide nose. “In the matter of Todd Lawson versus Nina Morgan Lawson, after careful review, it is hereby the order of this court that Mr. Lawson be awarded half the winnings from Mrs. Lawson’s winning lottery ticket.”