The Devil Is a Lie

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

Yvonne was the first person she saw. But she quickly popped out her cell phone and walked out of the room so Nina couldn’t talk to her.

  “Grandma Odessa, what’s going on?” Nina said as she entered the house. Several of her relatives were sitting around on the plastic-covered furniture.

  “I’d like to know that, too,” Uncle Buster said.

  “Yeah, I got a plane leaving for Miami in fifteen minutes,” Lee Roy said. “I’m going to the BET Hip Hop Awards.”

  Nina shook her head. Lee Roy needed to be buying a house so he could move out of Uncle Buster’s garage. Instead he was jet-setting around the country going to award shows.

  Nina thought back to all the money she’d given her relatives. Now she wished she hadn’t. But then again, if she hadn’t, Rick would’ve just taken that, too.

  “Hey, baby,” her grandmother said, wiping her hands on her apron as she walked into the living room.

  “Now that she’s here, can you tell us what this is all about?” Aunt Frances said.

  Nina’s eyes were questioning as well, and she noticed Yvonne had reappeared in the doorway.

  “Everybody sit down,” her grandmother ordered. “I have asked all of you to gather here for a very important reason. Now, you know that out of the goodness of her heart, Nina gave you more money than you’ll see in five years, more money some of you will see in your lifetime,” she added, eyeing Lee Roy. He grinned like she had just paid him a compliment.

  “Well,” Grandma Odessa continued, “Nina was there for her family. Now it’s time for us to be there for her.”

  Nina’s eyes widened as she realized what her grandmother was doing.

  “Nina’s man done run off with all her money.”

  “Grandma!” Nina admonished. She did not want her family all up in her business.

  Everyone started rumbling and talking at the same time.

  “Hush and let me finish,” her grandmother said. “He done robbed her blind and ain’t nothing she can do about it.”

  “I told you, I told you he was shifty,” Aunt Frances exclaimed as she jumped up. “Y’all gon’ learn to listen to me.”

  “Sit down, Frances,” Odessa said. “Now’s not the time for I told you so’s. Now’s the time for us to come together in the true Morgan spirit. My daddy didn’t have much, but he taught us that what one of us in this family got, we all got.”

  Lee Roy stood and peered outside. “Ummm, I’d love to stay here and help out, but I think that’s my ride outside honking.”

  “Sit down, boy. Ain’t nobody outside,” Odessa snapped.

  Lee Roy stuck his bottom lip out but sat back down.

  “We need to be here for Nina just like she was here for us. She gave everybody in this room some money, and I’d like you all to return the favor.”

  “Grandma…” Nina couldn’t believe what her grandmother was doing.

  “How she gon’ give us some money, then take it back?” Janay said. Nina had broken down and given the twins ten thousand dollars after they whined about being left out.

  “You’re lucky you got anything in the first place, you little thief. Speaking of which,” Odessa said, looking around the room, “where’s my purse? Yvonne, go check and make sure my purse is in my room.”

  “I didn’t take your purse,” Janay said, crossing her arms, trying to look offended.

  Odessa ignored her and continued talking. “Nina didn’t know anything about this. She would never ask for any of the money back, so I’m asking for her. Now, I’ll start.” She pulled a check out of her bosom. “I did take sixteen thousand dollars and pay off my house, but here’s a check for the remaining money. I want you to have this.” She thrust the check at her granddaughter.

  Nina looked down at the check for $384,000 and wanted to cry. “Grandma, no.”

  “No, my foot,” Odessa said, taking Nina’s hand and pushing the check in it. “I was doing just fine before you gave me all that money, and I’ll be doing just fine afterward. Shoot, I paid off my house. That’s more of a blessing than I could ever have hoped for.” She turned back to her relatives. “Now, I want some more of y’all to follow suit.”

  “We gotta give her all the money back?” Aunt Frances asked in disbelief. “Because Clevon really needs to get his foot fixed. That gangrene ’bout to set in.”

  “Aunt Frances, TMI,” Yvonne said. “TMI.”

  “What does that mean?” Frances asked.

  Janay leaned in and whispered to her mother. “Too much information, Mama.”

  “Anyway, you don’t have to give her all the money back. Just give her some,” Odessa continued.

  “Ain’t what you gave her enough?” Lee Roy asked.

  Odessa cut her eyes at her grandson. He, too, crossed his arms in defiance.

  “Yvonne?” Odessa said, deciding to ignore Lee Roy altogether. Yvonne was shifting nervously from side to side, looking like she wanted to cry.

  “We already talked about this,” Odessa said calmly.

  Yvonne took a deep breath as if she was trying to muster up the strength to give Nina the money. Finally, she walked over and handed Nina a check for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. “Here,” Yvonne said. “I already spent the other part.”

  “Yvonne, you didn’t have to do this,” Nina said.

  “Okay, then,” Yvonne hurriedly said, reaching to take the check back.

  Odessa slapped her hand.

  “I was just playing,” Yvonne said, even though it was obvious that she wasn’t.

  “Anybody else?” Odessa asked.

  Lee Roy stood up, frustrated. “I don’t understand. That’s a whole lot of money the girl got right there. What does she need the rest of our money for?” he said. “Plus, we didn’t get nearly as much as y’all.”

  Nina stood up before her grandmother could berate her cousin. “No. No more. I can’t do this. I gave this money as a gift and to be a blessing to my family.”

  “And now we’re trying to be a blessing to you,” Odessa replied. “If you ever catch Rick and get your money back, then fine, you can give it back to us. But in the meantime, take this money and start over.”

  Nina fingered the check. If she kept the money, she would be able to make good on the check she sent to pay off her house and get herself together until the real estate market rebounded.

  Tears started trickling down Nina’s cheeks. She couldn’t believe her family had come through like this.

  “Grandma, let’s compromise,” she finally sniffed. “Let’s split the money.”

  “No. I don’t need all that money,” Odessa said adamantly. “I don’t have but a few good years left anyway.”

  Nina knew it was useless to argue with her grandmother, so she turned to Yvonne. “I know you really want to get your business started, so here, I’m not going to take any of your money.” Nina handed Yvonne the check. Yvonne hesitated, then snatched the check back.

  Odessa shot her a disapproving look.

  “What?” Yvonne said. “We can’t make the girl take the money.”

  “Grandma, seriously, it’s okay. You have blessed me more than you’ll ever know. This money will help me get back on my feet. It may even be enough to try and get my realty business off the ground.”

  “You supposed to be laid up on an island somewhere, relaxing, not worrying about starting over,” Frances said sorrowfully.

  “Well, it is what it is,” Nina replied.

  “Well, if you hadn’t trusted—”

  “Uh-uh,” Odessa said, holding up her hand to cut her daughter off. “If ‘if’ was a fifth, we’d all be drunk.”

  Janay turned to her mother. “What does that mean?”

  “It’s one of your grandma’s cockamamie sayings,” Frances said. “It means we can’t be talking about what-ifs.”

  “Exactly,” Odessa said. “We need to look to the future. I hope this has taught us a valuable lesson.”

  “Yeah, don’t play the lottery,” Frances said.

  “An
d if you do win, don’t tell nobody but your family,” Uncle Buster shouted.

  Nina laughed for the first time in days.

  44

  Todd took a deep breath. He’d been trying to summon up his courage all day. He knew he shouldn’t be standing on Nina’s doorstep, but she wouldn’t answer his phone calls and he didn’t have any other choice.

  Nina had already been weighing heavily on his mind prior to Shari’s bombshell. Even his appearance at church the day Roscoe attacked her had been carefully planned. Shari had mentioned that Nina attended the eleven A.M. service, so he went hoping to see her. And when he saw her go talk to the pastor, he hung around, though he couldn’t have known that he would end up coming to her aid.

  After the ruling in which he was awarded half the money, he’d tried to push her out of his mind. But he couldn’t escape thinking about her. It didn’t help that he was lonely. He could’ve easily just picked up another woman, but now he had to worry that a woman might try to be with him because of his money. Besides, he didn’t want just any woman. He wanted the one he knew he couldn’t have—Nina. So he had to try.

  Todd gave himself a once-over, making sure the chocolate linen outfit he wore was immaculate. He decided it was, rubbed his fade, then rang the doorbell.

  When Nina answered the door, the smile immediately faded from his face. Her eyes were puffy and red. Todd felt his heart sink. He wasn’t trying to use her misfortune to his advantage. He just wanted to be there for her, comfort her, and if she gave him a second chance in the process, that would be all the better.

  “Todd, what are you doing here?” Nina said.

  “I came to see how you were doing,” he replied nervously.

  “I’m fine,” she said, even though she wasn’t. “I’ll ask you again, why are you here? What if Rick were here?”

  Nina never was good at lying. She could never look him in the eye when she wasn’t being truthful, and right now she was looking over his shoulder, out into the yard.

  “Well, I didn’t see his car,” Todd said, motioning toward the driveway.

  “How do you even know what his car looks like? Are you spying on me? Maybe it was parked in the garage.”

  “I peeked in your garage window,” he lied.

  “So you are spying?”

  “No, I just wanted to take my chances.” He wondered why she was giving him such a hard time, but then, he knew Nina. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing Rick was gone.

  “I was just wondering if you felt like going to get something to eat.”

  “Why would I want to do that?” she snapped.

  Todd quickly decided to try another approach. “Look, I’ll be honest,” he said. “I told you I felt bad about the money, and it looks like Grams’s surgery was a success, so I wanted to talk to you about splitting the money you gave me.”

  He stared at her, half expecting her to start going off, but she looked exhausted.

  “Come on in,” she said finally.

  Todd tried not to smile as he followed her inside.

  “How is Grams?” she said conversationally. “Let me know when she’s up for visitors, because I really want to go see her.”

  “She’s recovering well. She’d love a visit from you. You know she’s asking about you.”

  “I’ll go see her tomorrow,” Nina said, motioning for him to take a seat across from her.

  Todd felt a smile tugging at his mouth. There was such a big difference between her and Pam. What in the world had he been thinking?

  “And how’s your mother?” Nina asked politely.

  “She’s doing good. She’s happy the surgery was a success, and she’s praying for you.” He’d told his mother about Rick taking the money and she’d instantly wanted to call Nina. Todd had made her promise that she wouldn’t. And she’d made him promise that he would come here today. Todd was all too happy to oblige.

  Nina raised an eyebrow. “Why would she be praying for me?”

  Todd caught himself and smoothly recovered. “You know she’s always praying for everybody. But she seems to think this money is just going to bring us both trouble.”

  “You ain’t never lied about that,” Nina mumbled.

  Todd sat fidgeting for a moment. He was trying not to notice how sexy she looked in a tight baby-doll tank top and brown lounging pants. She had her hair pinned up, and if not for the pain etched on her face, she’d look like she was spending a relaxing day at home. Todd’s eyes roamed around the room. “Ooooh, Cooley High, that’s my favorite movie,” he said when he noticed what she was watching on TV.

  “That was our favorite movie,” Nina said, then looked like she wished she could take the words back.

  Todd ignored her embarrassment. “Do you mind if I watch a little bit of it?”

  She hesitated, then said, “Whatever.”

  He longed to reach out and touch her, hold her, beg that she give him another chance.

  He sat down and they watched the movie in silence for a few minutes. Then he cracked a joke and was thrilled when Nina laughed. All during the rest of the movie, Todd was surprised at the comfortable groove they fell into once the tension was broken. At the end, he was sorry to see the credits start rolling.

  “You heard any more from your mother?” he asked as she reached for the remote.

  She muted the TV. “No, surprisingly, I haven’t. But something tells me that I will. That is, until she learns that I don’t—”

  She abruptly stopped talking, and Todd knew she didn’t want him to know about Rick, so he didn’t press the issue.

  “Well, like I said, I can’t sleep since I took your money.” He cleared his throat. “And I was just hoping, well, that you would allow me to return some of it.”

  Nina eyed him skeptically. “You know, don’t you?”

  Todd bit down on his lip. He didn’t want to lie to her, so he slowly nodded.

  Nina got up and walked over to the window. “I don’t need charity,” she said, gazing outside.

  “I know you don’t.”

  “Then don’t insult me by offering to give me money.”

  Todd wanted to argue that she was just being prideful, but he knew Nina, and he’d have more luck trying another approach. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not with you,” she said, turning around.

  He was not to be deterred. “Okay. But you still have to eat. Can I at least buy you dinner?”

  She hesitated, and as if on cue, her stomach growled. They both broke out in chuckles.

  “I guess you have your answer,” Nina said. “Gimme a minute. Let me change.”

  Todd fought back the urge to turn a backflip as he watched his wife walk upstairs to change her clothes.

  45

  What a difference a month makes. That’s how long Todd had been popping up over at Nina’s house. He always had some excuse. Some gift his mother wanted to give, some question that he just had to ask in person, even some leads on Rick’s whereabouts.

  Nina was funky with Todd the first few times, and she all but went off on him a couple of times. But despite her attitude at the door, she always let him come in. She’d come to the point where she welcomed talking with him. She welcomed anything that would help her get her mind off Rick. She had yet to hear a single word from him. Every lead turned up empty. She’d even disguised herself and hung out at the gym, but that had led nowhere. She finally came to terms with the fact that Rick and her money were long gone.

  “What are you thinking about?” Todd said, interrupting her thoughts. They were at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, having dinner with his mother, who had excused herself to go to the bathroom, leaving Todd and Nina alone. Nina couldn’t believe she was sitting with them like they were some big happy family, but his mother had called her personally and asked her to join them for dinner.

  “Everything. Nothing,” Nina said. “Just trying to figure out what I’m doing.” She really had no idea. How in the world had she fallen back i
nto a natural groove with Todd? Was she vulnerable because of what happened with Rick? She had the money her grandmother had returned to her, so she wasn’t broke and didn’t need Todd for the money. So why was she here?

  “Look, I know you wrestled with whether you should come. I just want you to know it means a lot to my mother,” Todd said.

  Nina looked at his earnest face and wondered where the hatred that she’d felt so strongly a few months ago had gone. Her pastor’s words rang in her ears. Hate is a wasted energy.

  “What did you tell her about us?” Nina asked.

  “I told her the truth. That I was hoping we could return to our friendship. The fact that we were even speaking was enough for her to invite you.”

  “What are you two over here whispering about?” Todd’s mother said as she returned to the table. She looked lovely in a black silk blouse and flowing black pants. She proudly wore the elegant set of pearls that Nina and Todd had given her for her fiftieth birthday.

  “Nothing,” Todd said. “We were just talking.”

  “Good. That’s where you two went wrong years ago,” she said, taking her seat. “You stopped talking.”

  Nina shifted uncomfortably. “Not exactly, Mrs. Lawson.”

  “I told you to stop calling me Mrs. Lawson. I will always be Mama to you,” she said lovingly. “And if you’re talking about my son cheating on you with that floozy, your problems started long before then.”

  Both Todd’s and Nina’s eyes grew wide.

  “What? Y’all think I’m dumb?” She shook her head at Todd. “I stayed out of your business, but your problems started long before Pam.”

  The mention of Pam caused a sharp pang in Nina’s heart.

  Todd’s mother seemed not to notice as she continued. “Number one, you two were too young to be so serious. You never experienced life outside of each other.” She motioned toward her plate and the small piece of thick meat left on it. “You know why I love this filet mignon? Because I’ve had chuck steak.” She turned to Todd. “You only knew Nina, your prime rib, your filet mignon. So when some chuck steak came along, disguised as a filet, you were willing to toss out one dish for the other.”