“Yes?” they said in unison.
“Your daughter came through surgery beautifully.”
Nikki slumped into William with relief. She hadn’t realized how tense she had been, but hearing that Psalm was doing all right made her burst into emotion.
“Oh, thank you, doctor!” Nikki exclaimed.
“Thank you, Jesus!” Sister James shouted and William’s mother and the ushers called out praises of their own.
“So she’ll be all right? Can we see her now?” William asked.
“Yes, and yes,” Dr. Woods said with a broad grin. “She is a tough little girl.”
The next few weeks passed quickly. Things returned to normal for Nikki’s family as Psalm recovered from her surgery and seemed to suffer no ill effects. Nikki wanted to take a late summer vacation to relax, but William shot down the idea. He couldn’t afford the time away, and gas prices were too high to be touring the country, he told her. When Danielle asked Nikki if she wanted to ride over to Dallas with her for a shopping trip, Nikki said yes, knowing William would never even miss her.
They piled into Danielle’s Lexus and made the three-hour westward drive. They went to Northpark Center in the central part of the city, then Danielle insisted on heading up to Plano to check out a new shopping center. Nikki tried to decline when Danielle offered to buy a pair of pink sandals for Psalm, but Danielle ignored her, buying the girl shoes that were more expensive than anything else Psalm owned. She also knew Psalm would outgrow them before the seasons changed, but Danielle didn’t care. Danielle was shopping, and doing it with her best friend, so she was in a generous mood.
When they returned home late that night, William was still gone. Nikki sighed. She had known William was too busy to miss her, but it would have been nice if he had.
August was zipping by with William working still longer hours than Nikki would have liked, but she knew he was giving the Chance campaign his all. Especially now that it seemed the pastor was taking a beating in the polls. Just the other day, a newspaper story had come out broadcasting all of Lo Dark’s so-called accomplishments, though Nikki knew Dark hadn’t done much—certainly not for folks who were not his political friends. He had browbeaten the city council into approving a plan for a new entertainment complex with a convention center, movie theater and shopping center that was now coming to fruition. But even that project hadn’t been all that great as it had been delayed more than six years because of various problems with the site. But the entertainment complex had now become a reality and it seemed no one cared its arrival meant an increase in taxes to pay for it. That the mayor had given the go-ahead for the construction of a parking lot at a soccer field in the rich part of town without the council’s consent, seemed not to have raised any eyebrows either, even though that meant less money for a city-funded feeding program for needy, elderly residents.
Reverend Chance had a small piece of the story as he touted his plans for a project that would give more contracting opportunities for businesses owned by women and minorities. He also supported a project to direct more faith-based funding to social programs, but his opponent received twice as much ink—as if Dark needed any more free publicity.
Reverend Chance kept a positive attitude, pointing to the fact that he was included in the story at all as a good thing. The other challengers weren’t even mentioned. Reverend Chance may have been optimistic, but Nikki could tell William was worried. She tried to encourage him, but she was lonely and missed her husband.
She telephoned Danielle a couple of times to get together, but Danielle always seemed busy. Danielle made time, however, to stop by Nikki’s one afternoon with a bit of news.
“I’m getting married,” Danielle grinned and flashed a nice-sized princess cut diamond in a platinum setting.
“To whom?” Surprise was etched on Nikki’s face. Her eyes moved from the ring to her friend’s visage.
“What do you mean? Troy, of course!” Danielle said with irritation, snatching back her hand.
“You can’t be serious!” Nikki said, staring at her friend in disbelief.
“Yes, I am. Now, don’t go and rain on my parade.”
“Girl, you need to think about that,” Nikki insisted, shaking her head. “Just a few weeks ago, you were convinced he was cheating on you.”
“Well, we’ve gotten past all that,” Danielle said, moving around her friend to the hall mirror where she fluffed her hair over her shoulders and then admired her ring. “Just be happy for me. He’s a good man. And he’s changed. He loves me. And I love him. He appreciates me and all I’ve done for him. And he is going to join church.”
Nikki doubted the miraculous change Danielle described, but she knew this was not the time to be skeptical. She swallowed her words and pasted on a smile. “Well . . . congrats!”
Chapter 25
MAYORAL CANDIDATE CHANCE FOUND DEAD IN RED RIVER.
The headline ripped through William’s consciousness like a bullet. His eyes widened as he snatched the paper out of the bin, hungrily devouring each word. The story wasn’t very long, but it was the lead piece on the front page. It didn’t say much, just that Reverend Chance had been found floating in the river near the casinos.
“Oh, my God,” William said. His head hurt as he took in the story. He drove to the office as if in a trance. If he ran a red light, he didn’t remember. If he rolled through a stop sign, it didn’t register.
He stepped into the somber office just after 7:30 in the morning and was greeted by a red-eyed Olivia.
“What happened?” he asked.
She hunched her shoulders. “I don’t know. All I know is what I read in the paper. Someone from the police department stopped by my house last night, but they didn’t have many details. I wanted to go to the scene but I had to be with my mother. It was really late when they discovered him. I guess that’s why there isn’t much in the paper.”
William gave her an awkward hug. “I’m so sorry.”
“William, my dad is dead.” She said the words as if she couldn’t believe them.
The door flew open and a gaggle of reporters stormed into the office. The bright light of a camera momentarily blinded William, who threw up a hand to block the glare.
“So, was the reverend losing all his campaign funds at the casinos? Is that why he committed suicide?” a reporter asked.
“You guys, get out of here!” Olivia demanded.
“Was your father afraid of losing the election or was he afraid of facing the public with the truth about his gambling habit? Is that why he jumped?” Jimmy Vaughn demanded, standing in front of Olivia. A TV reporter thrust a microphone into her face.
William stepped in front of Olivia and spoke. “Reverend Chance did not commit suicide. We are investigating all of this. Of course, we are quite distressed at the news we’ve just found out. You’ll have to excuse us as we absorb this very sad and shocking turn of events. That’s all we have to say.”
“So, are you denying the reverend killed himself over gambling debts?” a reporter insisted. “I thought the reverend said he hadn’t set foot in a casino in years. Can you explain why his body was found near them?”
“No comment,” William said sternly. “We will have a statement later. Until then, good day.”
He pushed them toward the door. When they were safely on the other side of it, he turned to face Olivia.
The sadness in his eyes mirrored her own. “I can’t believe he’s dead.”
William didn’t have time to stop and grieve, as he immediately began to look for answers to the questions. How did Reverend Chance end up face down in the muddy river—outside the casinos he said he hadn’t visited in years?
The idea of suicide just didn’t sit well with William, but the stories flew around like confetti on a gusty day. It just didn’t seem that the man he had worked so closely with these past few months could have done this. What if there was more to this story? What if Lo Dark’s people had something to do with it?
&
nbsp; “Surely, you don’t think Spencer, I mean, Mr. Dark, would do such a thing?” Nikki asked after listening to William speculate. “That is so unreal.”
“I don’t know what to think,” William said. “But I’ll figure it out. Something just doesn’t sit right about this whole thing. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the other side is behind it.”
William demanded an investigation, but the police department said they had no resources to devote to something that was so obviously a suicide.
“Those guys are on Lo Dark’s payroll, so of course they would say that,” William fumed. The police chief liked the mayor because the mayor made sure the department got all the money the chief wanted. “Of course the chief wouldn’t care about what happened to the mayor’s challenger.”
William was surprised when Thurston Hicks, pastor of the city’s largest black church, approached Olivia about having the funeral at his big church. “Why does he want to have the funeral at his church?” William asked when Olivia told him about the conversation.
“He says my dad had a lot of supporters and my dad’s own church would be too small,” Olivia said.
“So. Your dad’s church is fine. He’s just thinking about the publicity. He probably wants to step into your father’s shoes or something. Maybe he wants to run for mayor himself.”
Olivia didn’t say anything for a moment, then she spoke. “I don’t know. Maybe he is right. Maybe we do need a bigger place.”
William knew Olivia was taking most of the responsibility for arranging her father’s funeral. Her mother had taken to her bed after hearing the news and Olivia’s brother, who had been deployed to Iraq, hadn’t come home yet, though he was due any day. William knew Olivia was strong—at 29, she had already buried a husband—but he couldn’t imagine being in her position now.
“Well, I’m here if you need me,” William said, giving her a one-armed hug.
Olivia leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled. “Thanks.”
“You know you don’t have to move the funeral to that other church if you don’t want to. Your dad’s church will be good enough.”
“What if Pastor Hicks is right though?”
“Well, if there are that many people, then they can stand.”
In the end, Olivia’s mother settled it when she finally pulled herself from the bed and said the funeral would be at the church her husband had built.
William wondered what lay ahead.
Chapter 26
Nikki typed the last word of her graduate school assignment and logged off the computer. She was glad she had only one more semester after this long summer term. Nikki walked down the stairs to her husband, who was reclining on the couch, a sleeping Psalm on his chest. It was just after midnight.
“You didn’t have to wait up on me,” she said, gently picking up the girl. “It’s coming down to the wire. I don’t want anything standing between me and graduation.”
William stood and stretched. “You know I don’t like going to bed without you.”
“Well, I’m sorry I had to finish my assignment.”
“It’s cool. I didn’t mind. I’m so tired, I could have fallen asleep right there on the couch.”
“You know, I was thinking that maybe after graduation, I should go back to work full time,” Nikki said casually.
“We’ve already discussed this,” William said. “It’s my job to take care of my family. Besides, Psalm needs you.”
“Psalm will always have my attention,” Nikki said. “But we got another notice about the house the other day. And we both know how tight our money has been.”
“Baby, how many times do we have to talk about this?”
“What good is a degree if I’m not going to use it?” Nikki prodded.
“You’ll use it plenty,” William said. “There will be plenty of volunteer committees to sit on. Think about the intellectual conversations you can have. And when is the quest of knowledge simply for the sake of it a bad thing?”
“I want to do more than just show off my degree in a conversation,” Nikki said. “And what about my photojournalism degree? It’s a shame not to use it.”
“Don’t you take pictures sometimes?”
“Will, you know what I mean,” she said. Nikki went to the kitchen and put the last of the food in the refrigerator. In her mind, she saw her mother rushing to do her stepfather’s every bidding, constantly telling Nikki that a wife’s place was to obey her husband and keep the peace. Nikki, in all her teenage glory, had sworn she would never be like that. She would be fierce and independent, and if her husband didn’t like what she did, well, he could just get lost. She’d never be more concerned about her husband’s bidding than about her own happiness. But now, she swallowed her desires, pulled out the broom and swept the already clean floor, then wiped down the counter. William walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a soda.
“So are we going straight to the funeral tomorrow or do you have to go by the office first after we drop off Psalm at your mother’s?”
“I thought I’d get there a little early, but no, I don’t have to stop by the office,” William said, opening his soda and taking a swig. “I still can’t believe Reverend Chance is dead.”
“I know. It all seems so unreal,” Nikki said, pulling out the ironing board they kept in the hall closet. “I spoke to him just last week when I dropped you off at the office. He was so upbeat, so positive.”
“Yeah,” William said. He stayed his wife’s hand with his own. “Don’t worry about ironing. I’ll get that done in the morning.”
“Are you sure? We might be pressed for time.”
“It’s all right. I know how you hate ironing anyway.”
Nikki smiled. That had been the longstanding arrangement since early on. William did the laundry. He insisted, after his new white T-shirts disintegrated in his hands following Nikki’s first load of laundry as a new wife. He had to tell her that too much bleach wasn’t a good thing. And she didn’t like ironing, so he usually ended up doing that chore as well, though she did more of that now that he worked so many hours.
“Okay, thanks,” she said. “I guess we can go to bed.”
He smiled. “Just what I was thinking.”
Good thing we got here when we did, Nikki thought as she looked to the end of the crowded pew to see a couple trying to enter. She scooted over to make room, squeezing closer to William. Not an empty seat could be found. Nikki didn’t know a lot of the faces, but recognized two city councilmen, several pastors, president of the NAACP, and a senator. Her eyes widened when she spotted Spencer Cason. She quickly looked away.
Her husband saw her tense and followed her gaze. “I can’t believe he showed up at the funeral!” William hissed under the funeral music. “I should go kick him out.”
“Baby, just ignore him,” Nikki whispered back. “He’s just paying his respects.”
“He and his boss are the reason Reverend Chance is dead,” William said. “I guarantee they had something to do with what happened.”
Nikki nodded and didn’t say another word as the funeral began. There were people even in the fellowship hall, watching via closed circuit television.
Reverend Chance’s wife cried throughout the service and Olivia kept her head down. A young man in military dress—whom Nikki discovered was Reverend Chance’s son—kept clearing his throat and breathing deeply.
Nikki put her arm around her husband’s waist as they waited to file out of the church. William reached down and squeezed her hand.
“Let me speak to Mrs. Chance once more and make sure Olivia is okay,” William said once outside.
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No, it’s crowded. Here are the keys.” He handed them to her. “I’ll be right back.”
As she turned to head to the car, she bumped into a young woman carrying a sleeping boy who looked about three or four years old. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Nikki apologized, her hand instinctively flying out to steady the woma
n.
The woman smiled. “It’s okay. It’s so crowded, you’re bound to bump into someone.”
“Yes, it’s very crowded,” Nikki said. “Are you a family member of the Chances?”
The woman shook her head. “Oh, no. I just met him one time. Years ago, when I was pregnant with him,” she gestured with her head toward the sleeping boy in her arms, “Reverend Chance helped me out when I had nowhere to turn. He gave me a place to stay and helped me find a job. I just wanted to come to his funeral. It’s the least I could do.”
“Wow,” Nikki said. “He touched a lot of lives.”
“Yeah, he really did,” the woman said. “But you’d never know it because he didn’t brag about what he did. It makes me so mad when I read the newspaper and they are talking about all the stuff Dark did for all those rich people and never say anything about what Reverend Chance did. All they talk about is that gambling he did all those years ago.”
Nikki could see the woman was riled. “Hey, I’m sorry for getting you so upset.” She extended her hand. “I’m Nikki.”
“Oh, I’m so rude,” the woman said, adjusting the boy in her arms. “I’m Keedra. I would shake your hand but, well . . .”
Nikki smiled. “I understand. I have a little one myself, so I know what it’s like to have your hands full. Fortunately, my mother-in-law agreed to keep her so we wouldn’t have to bring her to this.”
“You’re married?”
“Yes,” Nikki said. “My husband works—worked—for Reverend Chance.”
“Oh, it must be nice . . . being married, I mean.”
“It is,” Nikki said. “I feel really fortunate. We got married pretty young, but we’ve stuck it out. We’re pretty solid.”
“I don’t have anybody here,” Keedra said. “I just graduated from college and had to stay in town because I can’t afford to move. My family members all live in Texas. And my son’s dad is nowhere around.”
Nikki felt a tug inside. She could not imagine what it would be like to be alone with a baby. On impulse, she pulled out a strip of paper and wrote down her number and handed it to Keedra. “Hey, give me a call sometime. Maybe we can do something. Maybe take our kids on a play date, even.”
Scandalous Truth Page 10
