“That’s a good idea.”
“Hey, I believe in exposing the devil. No sense trying to keep this on the DL.”
Vivian and Tai discussed other topics before getting around to the holidays.
“I guess you guys will do the usual over at Mama Max’s, right?” Vivian asked, referring to Tai’s beloved mother-in-law. “And with both Michael and Princess home from college—”
“That will be an interesting homecoming,” Tai interrupted. “There are a few things I have to talk to Princess about, not the least of which is whoever she’s screwing in California. I don’t know why kids think we’re stuck on stupid. Something is going on with her and I need to know what.”
“Her moving out of the dorm without telling you can’t be easy to deal with,” Vivian said, knowing at least part of what was on Tai’s mind. “That has got to be one of the biggest challenges of parenting…letting go. And when kids turn eighteen, like it or not, you’ve got to do that. Trust that you’ve taught her right from wrong, a love for God, and the ability to make good decisions. And then more than trusting her, you’ve got to trust God.”
“Easy for you to say. Elisia is what, eleven?”
“Not so easy. Remember we’re dealing with an eighteen-year-old too, one who flew the coop shortly before Princess. And believe me, it’s affecting Derrick more than he is letting on that his son decided to move out of the house.” Suddenly, it pricked Vivian’s consciousness that Kelvin and Princess had moved at about the same time. She made a mental note to do some investigating, even as she chose not to say anything to Tai about her thoughts. There was no love lost between Tai and Kelvin’s mother; best to not give Tai any ammunition for suspicions or reason to trip out.
Instead she changed the subject. “We’ve invited Lavon and the Lees over for dinner next week. Derrick is really impressed with him and his broadcast production knowledge. Sounds like the series he’s producing for Stan and Carla is going to be excellent.”
The minute Vivian mentioned Lavon, followed by Stan and Carla, Tai’s intuition perked up. Lavon…Carla…could Lavon be the man…? Tai couldn’t fathom the two of them together. Lavon couldn’t hold a candle to suave Stanley in the looks department. Besides, she knew Lavon was seeing a Mount Zion member. No, it couldn’t be Lavon.
The conversation soon ended, but their thoughts did not. Vivian hoped there was nothing to the subtle anxiety she’d felt at both Kelvin and Princess being on their own, while Tai hoped she was right about Lavon and Carla being a total mismatch. In time, both ladies would find out that one’s first instinct was usually the right one.
23
An Expert at Everything
Stanley, Carla, Lavon, and a few others sat around the church’s conference room table. They’d spent the afternoon viewing Lavon’s work on the Kingdom Keys series in preparation for the last segment taping, scheduled for the upcoming Sunday’s service. The excitement in the room was palpable. Everyone loved how the work had been produced and believed the series would be successful, both spiritually and financially.
In the almost two months since Lavon had worked with Logos Word Ministries, seven of the eight series topics had been taped: joy, peace, patience, kindness/gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and discipline, referred to in the Galatians scriptural passage as self-control. Stanley would speak on the last and what he felt most important topic on Sunday…love.
“If everyone could truly understand and practice this unconditional love God talks about, we’d have heaven right here, right now. There’s a reason why Jesus stated it as the greatest commandment—loving God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.”
Carla looked down, not trusting her face to keep a neutral expression. She wondered how Stanley would feel about the unconditional love she’d been sharing with the man sitting on the other side of the table.
“You’re right about that, Pastor,” Lavon agreed. “But sometimes it seems there’s not enough love to go around.”
Knowing those words were meant for her, Carla kept her eyes on Stanley.
“Oh there’s enough,” Stanley replied. “There’s more than enough. We just have to open our hearts to it, get past our egos, insecurities, selfish motives, fears. The Spirit has shown me that if everyone could love unconditionally, there would be no need for other commandments or laws.” Stanley shared a few of the scriptures his last presentation would contain, his excitement about the topic building with each recitation. “That’s the answer,” he said, gently squeezing Carla’s hand as he concluded. “Love is all we need.”
Carla squeezed back, her eyes welling with tears. That she loved Stanley was not in question; she knew she would always love him. But she was no longer in love with him, and the acknowledgment saddened her. She was in love with another man, and what she thought would be a simple, two-month tryst was now complicated with feelings, heartstrings, and a desire to keep the ecstasy she’d found. But he’ll be gone next week, she thought as she disengaged her hand from Stanley’s and glanced across the table at Lavon. And then, just maybe, I can put my heart back into this marriage.
Lavon watched Carla covertly. Sitting across the table from her, with her husband at the head of it, was agony. Three, maybe four more times together is all they had. His flight left for Kansas City on Monday morning and according to Carla, that would be the end of their relationship. But Lavon wasn’t ready to let her go.
He consciously shifted his focus away from his lover’s lips and back to what Dr. Lee was saying. And just in time, as Stanley was speaking to him.
“I really like what you’re doing with the intro,” Stanley was saying. “You’ve got the first lady looking good. Her personality provides a perfect beginning to each DVD. Let’s take a look at her footage, Lavon.”
Each DVD began with a shot of Carla, comfortably seated in the Lees’ sitting room. In the background was a vase of flowers and wholesome photos of the Lee family. Dressed to perfection, Carla greeted the viewer with humor and warmth: Hello, you incredibly blessed child of God. I’m Pastor Carla Lee and I’d like to welcome you to the Logos Word family, by way of this DVD series. You are getting ready to unlock the wealth that is inside you, the hope of glory that is the Christ within. You will be transformed, renewed, and released into the greatness you possess. My husband, Dr. Stanley Lee, is here to give you the keys, darling, the keys to victorious living. His is an eight-key combination to your liberation, based on the nine fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians Five, verses twenty-two and twenty-three. So far we’ve discussed the keys of joy, peace, patience…. Oh yes, saints, that one was a doozy, wasn’t it? Lord, give us patience right now! This DVD presents key number five in the series. And now, let’s head over to Logos Word Interdenominational Church and hear the Word of God from the man of God—Dr. Stanley Lee.
Lavon had directed the shot to then dissolve into the church’s interior, where either the choir or a soloist performed a song relevant to the evening’s topic. Another creative segue led into Stanley’s teaching. At the end of the DVD, Pastors Stanley and Carla sat together, back in the Lees’ sitting room, where they thanked the viewer for watching. The DVD ended with information about the series, the ministry, and an announcement about the Sanctity of Sisterhood Summits, of which Carla was a primary speaker.
Ironically, it was the taping of these intros that had given Lavon and Carla the most access to each other. That they were filmed in the Lees’ home justified Lavon’s being there. Usually they occurred when Stanley was handling a myriad of pastoral duties. Since trying and failing miserably to end things a month ago, Lavon and Carla had been together almost every day. Instead of waning, their desire had increased. Adding to that was their genuine like of each other, and the discovery that they had more than sex in common. Their camaraderie was that of best friends.
Various accolades rang out around the table as the last of the six previously taped intros concluded. Everyone agreed that the intro, which had been Lavon’s idea, added a
hominess to the series that nicely complemented Stanley’s more conservative and serious demeanor.
“Too bad we can’t keep you,” Stanley said to Lavon as the meeting concluded. “You’re definitely an expert at what you do.”
God forgive her but Carla was thinking that very thing in that very moment: Lavon was definitely an expert…at everything.
24
A Different Set of Keys
Passion sat in the Sheraton parking lot staring at the entrance. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure her decision to visit Lavon unannounced had been the right one. But she reasoned it wasn’t unannounced exactly: she’d left messages on both his cell and hotel phones that she had a gift to drop off. That she hadn’t heard from him was attributed to his understandably busy schedule. But a man had to come home sometime.
Passion felt an indescribable urge to see Lavon, to perhaps be with him intimately before he left. Dr. Lee had been talking about keys to victorious living, but Lavon had a whole different set of keys, the kind that had unlocked her pussy’s passion. That’s the area she most wanted victory in right now, being with him before he left LA. She knew her heart might get broken in the process, but being with Lavon was worth the risk.
Since admitting his heart was elsewhere, Passion and Lavon had only gone out once, for lunch, and rarely talked on the phone. Passion had nothing against his girlfriend in Kansas City. But Lavon was here; and if there was any chance at all that his heart could be relocated, and connected to hers, Passion was ready to try and help that happen.
Passion nervously fumbled with the package in her lap, a going-away gift she hoped Lavon would find appealing. She felt the sterling silver chain with cross pendant was an appropriate friendship present—something nice enough to remember her by yet casual enough to not make him uncomfortable. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that visiting Lavon was the right thing. He was the type of man she’d waited for, for five, long, celibate years. If she had to be a bit assertive to not let a gift like him slip through her fingers, then so be it.
Taking a last look in the rearview mirror and a deep breath, Passion opened the car door. While doing so, a black Mercedes pulled up to the valet stand. Passion turned toward her car to push her automatic lock. When she turned back, she stopped suddenly, and watched her pastor, Carla Lee, casually dressed in a warm-up suit, walk into the Sheraton lobby.
What is Pastor doing here? Once the second of shock had passed, Passion chided herself for feeling uncomfortable at seeing Carla at Lavon’s hotel. They were working on a project together and this was Lavon’s last week in LA. It made perfect sense that there would be last minute details to go over and issues to discuss. But where was Dr. Lee? Why wasn’t he with them? Ah, probably out of town, Passion mused as she unlocked her car door and got back inside.
“Hmm, what are you going to do now, Ms. Perkins?” Passion asked herself as she placed the keys in the ignition. Her fingers beat a steady rhythm against the steering wheel as she pondered her options: whether to wait in the lobby, until Carla left, or maybe have a cup of coffee in the coffee shop. They’re probably meeting in the coffee shop, she reasoned. But why wouldn’t they meet at the church? She didn’t know, but she decided to find out. She’d tell the truth when she saw them—that she’d stopped by to give Lavon a gift. She’d interrupt them briefly if they were meeting, then wait in the lobby until their meeting was over. It was already eight-thirty; surely the meeting wouldn’t take too long.
Passion walked into the hotel lobby and looked around. It was a quiet Tuesday evening, with not much activity happening inside. A few people stood at the registration booth, a couple more at the concierge’s station. The light sounds of a piano coming from the atrium could be heard amid the mingling of soft voices. Passion looked around the strategically placed sitting areas for Carla and Lavon. She did a quick walk around before heading toward the coffee shop on the other side of the lobby. There were no familiar faces inside.
Of course, the restaurant. Passion mounted the escalator for the restaurant located on the hotel’s second floor. She clutched Lavon’s gift against her chest, willing herself to remain calm. She couldn’t figure out why she was nervous anyway. It was just her friend and her pastor, after all.
Passion entered the restaurant and looked around. For as quiet as the lobby was, the restaurant was fairly crowded. She craned her neck this way and that, looking over the crowd of people.
The hostess came back to her station. “Table for one?” she asked with a smile.
“No thank you, I’m just looking for someone.”
“Please, come inside. Your party could be in one of the booths around the corner.”
“I’ll do that, thank you.” Passion passed the hostess station and walked into the restaurant. The room was L-shaped, a small portion of the seating hidden by a wall. If Lavon and Carla were back there, Passion knew she’d have to change the explanation she’d prepared of simply happening upon their meeting. The only way one could find someone this far back in the room was to deliberately look for them. “That’s what I’ll tell them,” she said to herself as she rounded the corner. “That I’m looking for Lavon.”
As it turned out, she didn’t have to say anything. Carla and Lavon were not in the restaurant. The last option, Passion decided, was that they were in a meeting room and in that case, she thought it better not to disturb them. She figured others might be at the meeting as well. To run into Carla with Lavon was one thing; to try and explain her actions to a group of Logos Word saints was another. She decided to return to her car, maybe deliver the gift another time.
That’s what she thought as she walked to the parking lot but once she reached her car, that isn’t what happened. Similar to when she’d waited for Robin to come out of the Chinese restaurant, something would not let Passion leave. Call it a hunch, an intuition, a sneaky suspicion, or just plain being nosy. But Passion wasn’t ready to go home yet.
She hadn’t been ready to leave then, but she was more than ready two hours later. Passion enjoyed a wide-open yawn as she stared at the hotel entrance. Had she missed Pastor Carla leaving? She was almost certain that wasn’t the case, but since it was almost eleven at night, she was beginning to wonder.
“Girl, what are you doing?” Passion asked herself aloud. Disgusted with the fact that she’d wasted two hours in a hotel parking lot, scoping out the lobby like some love-crazed fool, Passion turned the key abruptly and put the car in gear. As she put the car in drive and straightened the wheels, she looked over at the lobby doors one last time. There, at the valet booth, casually waiting for her car was Passion’s first lady talking to Passion’s desire. Passion watched as Carla took a compact out of her purse, patted her braids and reapplied lipstick. Lavon said something in Carla’s ear. Carla’s head reared back with laughter. While not touching, there seemed to be an intimacy to their conversation, a familiarity with which they engaged each other. Passion tried to once again employ the fact that the two worked together as reason for everything, but something about that explanation didn’t fit the situation. What would Lavon and Carla have to meet about, alone, this time of night?
Passion sat idling as a black Mercedes pulled up to the entrance, the door opened, and the valet motioned Carla over. Lavon tipped the driver as Carla got inside the vehicle. Lavon leaned his head into the car window briefly, and then watched Carla’s Mercedes until it exited onto the boulevard, before going back inside the hotel.
Passion slowly pulled her car back into the parking space, trying to figure out what she’d just witnessed. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Lavon’s cell phone number. The call went straight to voice mail and the sexy sound of Lavon’s voice: “Hello, Lavon Chapman here, owner of LC Production Company. I’m either on the other line or…” Disconnecting the call without leaving a message, she then dialed the hotel number. Once again, she reached an answering service. Passion tried a couple more times to reach Lavon, both on his cell phone and his hotel room,
without success. After a few minutes it became clear that for whatever reason, he was not available—at least not to her. She wasn’t going to hold her breath for Lavon to return her call. Her women’s intuition had kicked in full throttle. She believed she’d just discovered where Lavon’s heart was, and who else had been receiving his “key.”
25
Innocent Preacher’s Kid
Princess spewed cola across the freshly mopped kitchen floor. She hadn’t been prepared for Joni’s crazy comment about Fifty Cent looking like a quarter.
“You are a fool, Joni!” Princess said, laughing again as she reached for paper towels to clean up her mess.
“Or maybe even a dime,” Joni continued, as she added a jar of salsa to the pot of melting cheese. “No, his head’s too big to fit on a dime. Better bump it down to a nickel.”
“No, fool, Kanye’s the one with the big-ass head.”
Kanye was one of Joni’s favorite rappers. “That big-ass head can lay down on my pillow anytime! Girl, get a mop. The floor’s gonna be sticky.”
“No, it ain’t.”
“Yes, it is, and I just mopped that shit.”
Princess rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She walked down the hall and came back with a damp towel.
“God, you’re lazy!” Joni teased while expertly cutting avocados for her guacamole dip. She prided herself in the fact her classmates raved about her cooking skills, skills she’d found were rare among her college classmates.
“Forget you, bitch.” Princess laughed as she put the towel on the floor and then used her feet to wipe it across the dirty spots.
A Preacher’s Passion Page 11
