Sinners & Saints

by Victoria Christopher Murray

  That’s why she was hoping Jasmine didn’t stab her in her back, because then she’d have to play this last card, and it wouldn’t be pretty.

  Rachel studied Jasmine from across the room. She was in some serious thought. Suddenly it dawned on Rachel. Of course Jasmine was worried. Cecelia might no longer be a problem, but Jasmine knew Hosea was about to lose to Lester. Naturally, she had cause for concern.

  Rachel shrugged. Oh, well, guess we won’t be friends, after all, she thought as she sat back down next to Lester, who had his head buried in a Bible. Jasmine was probably going to return to her old funky self after Hosea lost.

  “I wish I had your confidence,” Lester said, looking up to see Rachel sitting nonchalantly at the table.

  “I told you, sweetheart, you got this.”

  “But Hosea …” Lester whispered.

  “Is a good man. I’ll give him that, but you’re working with tradition. Sixty years, that’s how long it’s been since a Northerner was elected president. That’s not about to change now. Not to mention the fact that you’re the young breath of fresh air this organization needs. Those people in that room know that.”

  Before Lester could reply, the conference parliamentarian stuck his head in the holding room. “They’re ready. The votes are tallied.”

  Nervous anticipation finally set in. Rachel placed her hand on her stomach to quell her nerves. This was it. She glanced over at the Bushes again. Dang, she really had Jasmine scared. If she hadn’t started to kinda like Jasmine, she would’ve delighted in her fear.

  Back in the auditorium, Rachel followed her husband to their seats. A couple of people gave her suspicious glares. Those were probably just Cecelia’s people thinking she had something to do with the TV ambush.

  Rachel kept her head high as she took her seat. Cecelia and Reverend King were the last to enter the room. Cecelia looked like she’d been crying. Her eyes were puffy and slightly red. No doubt she’d spent the last thirty minutes trying to pull herself together.

  When Cecelia passed Rachel, she stopped and glared. If looks could kill, Rachel would definitely be six feet under. Rachel shrugged innocently, shook her head like she was so disappointed.

  “Please, everyone, take your seats,” the conference chairwoman said. “We need to get this meeting started.” She sounded flustered, like the drama from the merger news had taken its toll.

  The merger. That’s all everyone had been talking about since Melinda packed up and left. Most people were livid. Rachel had wanted to stay and hear what everyone had to say, but they’d been ushered to the holding room. She did hear a few people demand answers from Reverend King, but he’d ducked out a side door without talking.

  Now he was back, walking hand in hand with his wife to the front. The Kings took their seats as the chairwoman called the meeting to order.

  Rachel took a deep breath and patted her husband’s hand. He could act like the outcome of the election didn’t matter all he wanted, but she could tell he wanted this.

  “Is Lester all right?” Simon leaned in and asked.

  Rachel smiled at her father. “He’s fine. Just nervous.”

  “I’m okay,” Lester repeated. “Just ready for this to be over with.”

  “We’re almost home, baby.”

  Rachel took a deep breath as the chairwoman began.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the votes have been tallied and it is my honor to announce the new president of the American Baptist Coalition.”

  Rachel squeezed her husband’s arm. Wait for it, wait for it…

  “With a final tally of 275, 240, and 117, I present to you, your new president … Rev. Lester Adams!”

  Rachel couldn’t help it—she let out a squeal as she jumped to her feet. Lester sat stunned, like he couldn’t believe it. Several people immediately came over and congratulated him, including Hosea and the man who had introduced himself as Hosea’s father earlier in the week. Rachel didn’t expect to see Jasmine, but she was right by her husband’s side as well. Only Jasmine no longer looked worried. Or nervous. In fact, Rachel couldn’t be sure … but Jasmine almost looked … relieved.

  Chapter

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  The private charter hovered above the clouds at thirty thousand feet, and for the first time in a week, Jasmine felt at peace.

  Hosea rested his hand on hers right before he said, “Darlin’, you sure you’re not disappointed?”

  She faced her husband and looked into his eyes. It wasn’t until Lester Adams’s name was announced that she realized how much she’d given up—for herself, for her family, but especially for Hosea. She’d felt his disappointment, but her husband was full of grace in his defeat, convinced that the results were the will of the Lord.

  “I’m a little disappointed,” she said. “But I’m like you. For once, I left all of this up to God.”

  He leaned across the oversize leather seat and rubbed his lips against her cheek. “I’m going to check on the kids,” he said as he stood and sauntered toward the back of the plane.

  She sighed as she twisted back to the window, and the beauty of the highest parts of the sky.

  This picturesque view reminded her of her first plane trip, when she was just ten years old. She’d never looked down upon clouds before and she was convinced that she was in heaven, God’s home. And if she pressed her face hard against the window, she’d probably get a glimpse of Him.

  She hadn’t seen God that day, but she couldn’t count the number of times she’d seen Him in the years that had followed. And He’d been with her today, for sure—Lester Adams had been elected, exactly the way she planned it.

  It had been bittersweet to hear Lester’s name announced as the new president of the Coalition, but Jasmine took special pride in the fact that there was no one on earth who could bring her down—they’d only lost the election because she’d given it away. But no one, except for Mae Frances, would ever know that. No one, could … especially not Pastor Griffith.

  Jasmine felt the seat next to her recline, and she turned to face her husband. But her smile vanished right away.

  “It’s hard to believe we lost,” Pastor Griffith said.

  Jasmine could feel the pressure of her heart push against her chest—not pounding yet, but almost there. “Yeah,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice steady.

  After Lester’s name had been announced, Jasmine had done everything she could to stay far away from the pastor. She’d caught him staring at her, time after time—as they left the hotel and packed into the limousine, then at the airport as they all checked in—but she’d always turned away as if she didn’t notice him. But she had been able to feel his gaze. And he never stopped.

  She’d done a great job ducking and dodging till now. But Jasmine knew that she couldn’t run forever, and on this plane, there was no place to hide.

  Pastor Griffith shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense to me. When we counted the votes last night, right before we went to bed, Hosea was a shoo-in.”

  Jasmine shrugged. “I guess people changed their minds. You know how it is with a secret ballot; people say one thing, and then they do something totally different,” she said, thinking that she had to give him some sort of explanation.

  “It could be that, or it could’ve been this.” Before he pulled the paper completely from his pocket, Jasmine knew what it was. And now her heart did hammer against her chest.

  How did he get that? Since they’d put out these flyers last night, Jasmine couldn’t stop wondering if they had been careful enough. They had stayed far away from anyone who was too close to the Northern team. Though she always knew there was a good chance that the flyers could come back, she had prayed that they didn’t end up with Hosea … or Pastor Griffith.

  But here it was, and here he was.

  It must’ve been the shock that was stuck on her face that made him say, “So … you didn’t know anything about this?”

  “No!” She snatched it from his hand for the ad
ded effect. “Why would I? And where did you get this from anyway?”

  “Seems like there were a whole lot of people in the Coalition who got one of these.”

  As he talked, Jasmine turned the paper over and looked at the other side that listed all of the arrests that she had made up.

  He said, “The funny thing is, not everyone got one.”

  It took her a moment to think of something to say. “Well, thank God for that,” she breathed as if she were relieved. “Because every word on this paper is a complete lie!” She stared at the flyer as if she still couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  In a way, she couldn’t. She was sure that once they’d left the hotel, she was totally free. Though after the election, some had looked at her with a sideward glance, no one had said anything to Hosea because the attention was mostly on Lester.

  For that, Jasmine had been grateful. She didn’t want the evidence of what she’d done to end up in her husband’s face.

  But then she relaxed—whether Hosea saw it or Pastor Griffith had it, who would believe that she had made up these flyers and had done this to herself? Rachel would get the blame for this, for sure. And that made Jasmine almost smile.

  Almost—but she didn’t. Because Pastor Griffith was still right there.

  “You know”—he snatched the paper from her hand, then held it away so that Jasmine wouldn’t be able to get it back—“I have a theory.”

  He paused, as if he wanted her to ask what it was, but Jasmine said nothing. She didn’t want to prolong this conversation.

  When she stayed silent, he continued, “I think someone who didn’t want Hosea to win slipped these under the doors last night.”

  You think? “Well, that’s obvious,” she said. “It had to be someone from the Adams team.”

  He nodded, as if he was thinking about her words. “Or … it could have been someone from ours.”

  Jasmine wondered if she was going to die right there. What would he do if he knew for sure how those flyers had ended up in the hotel?

  All Jasmine could think about were the Killer B’s. But she couldn’t lose it now. She’d gone through all of this to save her family; she had to make sure it played out all the way to the exact end that she wanted. And what she wanted was for her family to be back in New York, safe and away from this madness.

  She twisted in her seat so that her whole body faced him. “Now, why would someone from our team do that?” she asked. Not only was she wearing her game face, but she had on her game attitude. She spoke as if she thought his words were foolish.

  He shrugged. “Maybe she didn’t want Hosea to win.”

  Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “She? I know you’re not thinking it was me?” She folded her arms as if she was indignant. But really, that was just to make sure that he didn’t see her shaking.

  With a slight smile, he nodded. “Yeah, I was wondering if it was you.”

  She chuckled. “Please! Why would I do that?”

  He shook his head slightly. “That’s the part that I can’t figure out.”

  “Well, let me help you out, because obviously you don’t know me very well. But Jasmine Bush does whatever she has to do to win. ‘Losing’ is not a word that’s in my vocabulary.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  “And think about it, Pastor Griffith—you were the one who told me to stop interfering with trying to get my husband elected. Remember that? Remember the shoplifting setup and everything else?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, you played hard. You were one of the reasons why we wanted your husband as the Northern nominee. We really did think that you’d be the perfect first lady.”

  Oh, God! Had they planned to have her all up in their mess, too?

  “Well, whatever, I certainly wouldn’t make up a flyer like that”—she pointed—“with all those lies.”

  He tilted his head slightly, and nodded as if he was thinking about her words. “Well, who could it be?”

  She thought for a moment. “Did you know that the Penns were working with Cecelia?”

  He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Rachel Adams told me that Coco Penn was working with the Kings to bring me down.” And then Jasmine repeated the parts of the conversation that Rachel had overheard with Cecelia and Coco—leaving out, of course, the sections about the merger and his name.

  “When did Rachel tell you this?” he asked.

  Jasmine paused for a moment. “This morning, in the holding room,” she lied, wanting him to think that it had been too late for them to do anything about this information. “Rachel wanted me to know that there was a snake amongst us.”

  He stared at her when she said “snake.” And she stared right back as if she knew that he was a snake, too.

  “Why would Rachel Adams want to tell you anything?”

  Jasmine shrugged. “I guess that was just another way for her to gloat about Lester winning.”

  “Doesn’t sound like gloating to me.”

  “Well, you know, she’s not very bright.”

  He nodded. “That’s an interesting theory, Jasmine.”

  “You have yours and I have mine.”

  “We had big plans for your husband.”

  “I’m sure you did.”

  He sighed. “There are a lot of people who are going to spend a lot of time wondering what happened,” he said. “People who really believed in Hosea Bush.”

  “We’re all sorry about the results.”

  “And we put in quite a bit of money … remember that million dollars?”

  She was so pissed at herself for that now. The Child Find Centers—Jacqueline’s Hope—would be started, probably with drug money. “Hosea and I will find a way to pay you back. Or we can cancel the centers altogether and give you back that million now.”

  He waved his hand. “No need for that. We’re just gonna have to figure out what to do next.”

  In the week that had passed since they’d landed in Los Angeles, Jasmine had experienced every emotion: joy, pain, shock, despair … and finally, fear. Now she swallowed it all and said to Pastor Griffith, “Whatever you were going to do with a president from the North, you can just do it with a president from the South.”

  He tilted his head as if he was trying to get a better look at her. As if he was trying to see if they were talking the same talk, on the same page. But after a few seconds, without another word, he tucked the flyer back into his jacket, stood up, and disappeared down the aisle.

  She wanted to call him back, she wanted to ask for that flyer, but now that he was gone, she could breathe. Let him keep it—what was he going to do with it anyway?

  Whatever you were going to do with a president from the North, you can just do it with a president from the South.

  She hadn’t planned to throw Rachel and Lester under the bus like that, but the truth was, Lester Adams had won. Anything that had to do with the Coalition was his problem now, and that included Pastor Earl Griffith.

  And like she’d told Mae Frances last night, Rachel Adams could handle it. Jasmine didn’t know what Lester could handle; he seemed pretty weak to her. But his wife? Rachel could surely handle anything.

  Hosea slipped into his seat.

  “I saw Pastor Griffith talking to you,” he said. “He’s really disappointed … even more than I am.”

  For a moment, Jasmine thought about telling Hosea everything. But she knew that she couldn’t. Because even though he’d lost the election, he would still try to do something about it. He would still be that stand-up guy who thought he could fix everything.

  No, Hosea Bush could never know anything about what she’d found out this week at the American Baptist Coalition convention.

  Jasmine curled her fingers around Hosea’s and brought his hand up to her lips. “I am so glad to be going home.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded. “I just want to get back to our normal life.”

  Hosea laughed. “‘Normal’ and
‘Jasmine Bush’ in the same sentence? I didn’t think that was possible.”

  “I guess you don’t really know me. So let me introduce myself. My name is Jasmine Cox Larson Bush, the first lady of City of Lights at Riverside Church.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not the first lady of the ABC, is it?”

  “Nope,” she said. “But I’m the first lady to the best man on earth. And that means I’m exactly who I’m supposed to be.”

  When Hosea leaned over and kissed her with a passion that they’d only shared a few times this week, Jasmine knew that her words were the truth.

  TOUCHSTONE READING GROUP GUIDE

  Sinners and Saints

  Both Rachel Jackson Adams and Jasmine Larson Bush stand by their men—both of whom are pastors. But when their husbands are each nominated for the role of president of the American Baptist Coalition, the largest organization of African American churches, the kid gloves come off. Rachel and Jasmine each want her own husband to win—solely for the betterment of the ABC, of course. To become the most important first lady in America, the ladies will have to figure out what they’re willing to sacrifice. Neither is quite a saint, but will they have to become sinners to make it to the top?

  For Discussion

  1. Sinners and Saints opens with Jasmine’s promise to God. Do you think that Jasmine keeps her promise throughout the course of the story? Why or why not?

  2. Jasmine feels bored with the routine of her life with Hosea (p. 4). How do you think this boredom influences her strong pursuit of the ABC’s first lady title?

  3. Rachel Jackson Adams imagines her love for her husband as agape love (p. 7). Look up the meaning of the word agape in a dictionary or the meaning of agape love on the Internet. Do you think this sentiment is true for Rachel and Lester, based on their interactions with each other throughout Sinners and Saints? Is agape love a good description of any of the relationships in the book?