“Well, I’m not really a minister.”
“Oh, yes, you are,” LaTrice said. “Everybody except you seems to know that already. You’ve been called, you just haven’t answered your calling yet. And if you want to get technical, a minister is merely a servant of God. I know for sure you’re that. At least, that’s what you were when we were in college.”
Marcus laughed. “Okay, LaTrice. Well, I’m going to go start dinner. My wife will be home shortly, and I want to have it close to being ready when she gets here.”
“And he cooks, too,” LaTrice said, speaking of Marcus as though she were talking to someone else. “Is there anything you can’t do?” LaTrice said with a laugh. “I sure hope your wife knows and appreciates what she has in you. Thanks again, Marcus. And I’ll try not to bother you again with my problems. I realize how some women can be when it comes to their men. I know I’d be concerned if another woman was talking to my husband like this.”
“Oh, Sasha’s pretty cool,” Marcus said, although he had noticed his wife had become a lot more possessive than he’d realized she was in all the time he’d known her.
Marcus did tell Sasha he’d spoken with an old classmate from college when she got home. He even told her LaTrice’s name. And Sasha seemed fine with it at the time.
After that, Marcus noticed that whenever he’d log on to the Internet, Sasha would stand over or near him. He didn’t realize it at the time, but she was trying to obtain his password.
He found out that Sasha had e-mailed a friend she’d become angry with a virus disguised as a love postcard just so she could capture the keystrokes her friend used from her computer and be able to access her account. He later learned that she’d sent out damaging e-mails from her ex-friend’s account. Sasha used the very same spyware on his computer to capture his keystrokes.
It hadn’t mattered, since he wasn’t doing anything wrong, but it was the principle that had bothered him.
It was only after she searched through his things and found the letter LaTrice had written to him that Sasha blew up. She accused Marcus of not telling her everything. He’d had no idea Sasha was like that.
“I told you I talked to her a few weeks ago,” Marcus had said when she waved the letter in his face. “Remember?”
“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me she’d written you a letter,” Sasha said.
“There’s nothing in the letter. She said she was having problems, she explained some of her problems, and she said she needed someone to talk to,” Marcus said.
“So, why come to you? What was so special about the two of you that when she needed someone the most, you were the one she sought out?”
“LaTrice and I were never like that. We were just friends. That’s all, friends.”
“Just friends, huh? Then why did she send this letter to your mother’s house?” She waved the letter in his face again.
“Because that’s the only address she knew where to reach me. She didn’t know I was married.”
Sasha began tapping her foot. “Did you and she ever date?”
“No, we didn’t. I keep telling you, we were just friends. I don’t see why you’re so upset. She wrote me a letter. We spoke over the phone. She was having a really hard time. I told you about it as soon as you came home that day. And now you’re acting like she and I are having an affair or something, which is not the case.”
Sasha stopped tapping and shook her head. “Do you really expect me to believe that? Well, what if I was still talking to one of my old boyfriends? How would you feel about that? What if me and one of my guy friends were chatting up on the phone? Would you be all right about that?”
“But you do talk to one of your old guy friends. One or two if I’m not mistaken,” Marcus said. “I don’t jump all over you about that.”
“I see. So this was about you getting back at me for talking to Franklin?” Sasha said.
“No, it had nothing to do with you and Franklin. I told you, LaTrice needed to talk about something she felt I could help her sort out,” Marcus said.
“And you were the first person she thought of?” Sasha practically wrestled the rest of his sentence away from him. “Good old Marcus. Everybody’s best friend.”
“Sasha, you’ve been spying on my computer, so you know I’m not doing anything wrong—”
“What?” Sasha tried to fake surprise. “What are you talking about, spying?”
“You put a spy virus on my computer.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sasha went over to the refrigerator and opened it. She took out the cut-up chicken. “How do you want this chicken? Baked or fried?”
Marcus started chuckling, but not because it was funny. “Oh, so now you want to change the subject. You put a virus on my computer. I know it’s there, and I know it was you who did it. Just like you sent that virus to your friend Raven.”
Sasha took the chicken and opened the package at the sink. She turned on the faucet and began to wash it. “You’re crazy,” Sasha said. “You know that? Both you and Raven are crazy.”
“You admitted to sending Raven that virus. And she had hard proof when the Internet carrier identified the breach and traced it back to you. Stop tripping.”
“Well, if you knew there was a virus on your computer, why didn’t you just clean it?” Sasha continued to wash the chicken without looking his way.
“For what? So you could put it back on again later?”
Sasha turned and stared at Marcus. “So is that what happened? You knew it was on there so you tamped things down between the two of you? Is that why I couldn’t catch you?”
Marcus shook his head. “Sasha, I’m not doing anything wrong; that’s why you can’t catch me. If I’m not doing anything to get caught in, then there’s nothing to catch.”
Three-month-old Aaliyah was starting to wake up from her nap. Marcus could see her stirring and began to walk toward the den to get her out of the portable crib.
“You and Franklin, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about,” he said on his way to the den. “Maybe that’s why you’re protesting so hard. Guilty people tend to project onto other people to try and take the heat off themselves. If I were you, I’d be careful of all these accusations you’re hurling around at me.”
Marcus picked Aaliyah up and hugged her. “You’re soaking wet,” he said to Aaliyah. He laid her down on the couch. “Let Daddy change you.”
Sasha turned on the stove. “Fine!” she mumbled to herself. “Fried it will be.” She knew when it came to chicken, Marcus preferred it baked.
Chapter 23
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
—Philippians 2:4
I picked up the phone a few times after church on Sunday to call Marcus. The first time, I put the phone down because I wasn’t sure what time he got in from church, and I didn’t want to call him just as he walked in the door. The next time, I noticed how nervous I was about it. Melissa, you can do this. You can do this. I was hoping he would call me, but he had said the ball was in my court. I’ve just always thought it was better when the man pursued the woman, although in truth, Marcus had been the one to pursue me. I had been the holdout. I was the one who had kept him at bay. Now it was on me.
I’d had a wonderful time talking and listening to him that Saturday afternoon. I would never have guessed he was so knowledgeable about the Bible and God’s Word. He had definitely opened my eyes about a lot of things: my misconception of what a Jezebel was, my thoughts regarding the scriptures on divorce and remarriage. A lot of what he said made sense, especially when you knew the history and the context of what was going on at the time.
The part that resonated the most with me was about the laws in the Old and, even during certain times, the New Testament regarding adultery. The most significant fact was that if a man or a woman were married, and they were with another person in a sexual way—that was adultery. And under Jewish law, if a person committed
adultery, the punishment was death, not divorce. So the scripture that said “saving for the cause of fornication,” which would include a woman saying she was a virgin before marriage when she wasn’t, or having sex with another while being married, could not have meant it was the only reason God would allow a person to divorce. Because according to the law, the punishment for sexual immorality was death and not grounds for a divorce. And with death, there’s no reason to get a divorce. But if a person is married and separated, they were still legally married and were not legally available to marry another. An illegal marriage constituted committing adultery.
Marcus kept saying “ex-wife.” When I thought about it, that meant she really was no longer legally his wife. By law, he was no longer married. God’s perfect will is that we marry the one he has joined us with and we work together and make it last. But there are times when God wasn’t in the joining of the two in the first place, although He recognizes that the two who marry now have become one. When that one files legal papers to dissolve the marriage and it’s granted, they are no longer one but now two again.
I got it, and it was because of Marcus’s teaching that it made sense to me. If I were to date Marcus, I would be dating a legally unmarried man, therefore neither he nor I could be charged with committing adultery because neither of us was legally married to another. I hadn’t wanted to make this work to my advantage just because I wanted it to work. I mean, I didn’t want to be saying this was okay and later find out that I was in sin. So I prayed about what Marcus had said. I went back and read the various scriptures, even the places where God said He hated divorce, but I studied them in the context of what was happening at the time that caused God to say that. Context and history.
I saw that there were times when men were just getting rid of their wives because they burned the toast (okay, so that was a slight exaggeration but on point). Some just decided they wanted some other woman and were dumping their wives for no good reason. Men were cautioned against lying about their new brides not being virgins because that put a bad light on them, and God was not going along with that.
Some men wanted another woman, so they would divorce the first wife, marry another woman, then decide they wanted the first wife back. God wasn’t having that, either. The law said if you had a problem with the first wife and divorce her, you couldn’t go back later to get her after you’d married another and decided you didn’t want her now. There was even a time when men were marrying women who were worshipping idols, and God was absolutely not happy about that. Who we marry can have an influence on us.
I studied all of this with a different eye and a different heart, praying for the Holy Spirit to lead me and enlighten me after Marcus had taught me a thing or two.
When I had finally gotten up my nerve to call Marcus, my friend Nae-nae called. She needed me to keep her kids because she had to go out of town to a funeral and she couldn’t afford to take them with her. I decided it was best to wait until after she came back in a few days and then I would call him.
Then Tiffany Connors called on Wednesday as soon as I came home from work. She was in labor, and Darius, her no-good husband, was nowhere to be found. I went over to her house and took her to the hospital. Good thing I went when I did. She delivered the baby two hours after she arrived. Tiffany has no family here, so I volunteered to keep the children until Darius got home. He didn’t look too happy when he saw me sitting in his den.
“Hey girl, what’s up?” Darius said. “Where’s Tiff?”
“She’s at the hospital,” I said, trying hard not to smack him upside his head.
“The hospital,” he said, with a look of concern.
“Yeah, the hospital. Congratulations, you just had a little boy.”
“A boy?” Darius said. “Oh, man! It’s a boy. Oh, wow, wait till my boys hear this. I have a son? Wow, that’s what the sonogram said, but I didn’t trust it. A little boy. I finally have a son!”
“Yeah, and your wife is fine,” I said, answering a question he hadn’t yet asked in all of his excitement.
“I was just about to ask, Melissa. Dang, girl. Give me a break here. I just found out I have a son!” He did a victory dance.
“Yeah, and where were you tonight? And why wasn’t your cell phone on?”
He shrugged. “I was out trying to hustle up some extra cash. You know how it is when you have two children and one on the way. You have to get it whenever and wherever you can,” he said.
“Get it? Get what?” I asked.
“You know what? You know…I’m about tired of you and your attitude toward me. I haven’t done anything to you but try and be nice. When folks try to talk about your plus-size self, I’m the first one to say I think you look good, especially for your height. Me? I personally like thick chicks just as well as the petite ones.”
I rolled my eyes. “And where exactly does my size and what others have to say fit into this conversation?”
“I’m just saying, you need to cut me some slack. Lose the attitude. It might make you look a little slimmer. That’s all I’m saying. I come home—”
I looked at my watch. “Fifteen minutes past twelve midnight.”
“There you go, all up in my business again. Tiffany knows what I’m doing. She knows I’m taking care of business for our family. She doesn’t give me lip. Maybe that’s why you can’t keep a man. You need to learn how to stay in your place,” Darius said.
I chuckled. “My place, huh? Yeah, well, looks like I’m in your place right now.” I looked around the room. “And why is that? Oh, yeah, that’s right. Because your wife was in labor and she was looking for you. Calling you on your cell phone, calling your friends, but unable to find you. So, she had to call me. And I take her to the hospital. Mind you, I’m still trying to reach you on your cell during this whole time while I’m sitting there with your children while your wife is in labor alone. So what was up with your cell phone again? Why did it keep going straight to voice mail?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I was out of range during the time Tiffany and you tried to call. But I’m here now, so you can run along on home now.”
I stood up and gathered my things.
“How much did the baby weigh?” he asked. “My son, how much did he weigh?”
I smiled. “Ask your wife when you see her,” I said as I walked toward the door. “I might as well leave something for you as a surprise.”
Darius called out to me. “Melissa, thank you. I’m glad Tiffany has someone like you in her life. And I really mean that, from my heart.” He looked sincere.
“Yeah,” I said. “And before you ask, I’ve already told Tiffany I would get the kids from day care tomorrow and keep them until you get home. But I’m going to tell you, Darius. I’m not Tiffany. If you think you’re going to ‘take care of business’ while I sit here taking care of your kids, you have another think coming. You come straight home from work, you come get your children, then you and them go and see Tiffany and the baby.”
“Oh, yeah,” Darius said. “Without a doubt.”
The next day, Darius came straight home and got the children. He knew I was serious. Too bad that after Tiffany came home from the hospital, he was back to his old ways again. I know this because I went over there to visit the day after she came home.
“Where’s Darius?” I asked.
“Oh, he said he had some business to take care of. He should be back shortly.” I hung around until ten o’clock, giving the children their baths and putting them to bed before cleaning up the kitchen.
“Melissa, thank you,” Tiffany said. “I don’t know what I would do if it weren’t for you.”
“I know one thing, you need to put your husband in check,” I said.
“Please don’t start on that again,” Tiffany said. “I don’t feel like it tonight.”
“I know. But we both know you deserve better.”
Tiffany rubbed the baby’s hair. “He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” she asked.
I smile
d and touched his tiny little fingers. “Yes, he really is.”
Chapter 24
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
—Philippians 2:3
It had now been three weeks since Marcus had come to my house that Saturday. The longer I had put off calling him, the harder it became. What to say now?
Oh, I was going to call you that first day after you came over but I got cold feet. Then I was about to call you when my phone rang. It was my friend Nae-nae, and she needed me to keep her children while she went out of town to a funeral. She came back on Tuesday night, but by the time she’d gotten her children and gone home, it was around ten at night. I don’t like calling people I don’t know that well after ten. So I thought I would call you Wednesday after I got home from work and before we both left to attend Bible study.
Then Tiffany—that’s the friend I spoke to when we went to Bible study that night, the woman with the two little girls who was pregnant—anyway, she called me as soon as I walked in the house. In fact, she’d called several times before that but I hadn’t gotten home yet. She was in labor, and of course her husband was nowhere to be found. She has those two adorable little girls with no family in town to help her. She’s sort of like me—hates to bother others, so she rarely asks for help even when she needs it.
So I went over and took her to the hospital. She had the baby, a little boy. I had to take the girls home because there was still no husband to be found and visiting hours were over. Her husband didn’t drag himself home until sometime after midnight.
Tiffany came home from the hospital on Saturday. I called her Sunday evening and learned she was there by herself with those children. Darius supposedly went to get something from the store. Apparently he got lost along the way because he had been gone for an hour by the time I got there. He came back three hours later. It took him four hours to pick up a bottle of medicine and a few other items Tiffany needed.
Practicing What You Preach Page 15
