“What on earth is going on here?” he’d exclaimed, looking from her to Pat and back.
Katherine had flung back her disheveled hair, straightened her shirt, put on her shoe, and wiped blood from her mouth. Then she calmly turned and answered him. “Something noble.”
Deacon had merely raised his eyebrows and opened the office door. Enough said.
66
Elijah Speaks
Nate and Destiny held hands as they walked through the garden entrance of the assisted care facility where the family patriarch, Elijah Thicke, resided. Nate felt a twinge of guilt. It had been almost a year since he’d visited his ninety-five-year-old great-grandfather, and months since they’d talked on the phone.
They got off the elevator and Nate knocked on the door. After a long moment, a slightly stooped over but spry old man opened it. Whatever greeting he’d intended died on his tongue as he beheld Destiny. He blinked his eyes rapidly and walked closer. His once six-foot frame was now around five-ten, so he had to look up at her. And then he knelt down and ran his hand over Benjamin’s face, who was sleeping in his stroller. He stared at the child so long that both she and Nate became slightly uncomfortable.
“Well, old man, are you going to stand there and ogle my wife and child all day, or are you going to show some southern hospitality and invite us in?”
Nate’s joking comment snapped Elijah from his revelry. “You’ll forgive an old man his imaginings, won’t you?” he said as he led the couple back inside his humble yet cheerfully decorated abode. The sun, filtered by sheer white curtains, shone brightly from the east window. Potted plants lined the shelf just below it. The simple, leather furniture was covered with brightly knitted throws, and the smell of a pipe—Elijah’s one admitted vice—clung to everything.
“Still growing weed, I see,” Nate joked, walking over and inspecting the plants. His great-grandfather had grown his own herbs for years, something he’d learned from his grandfather. Some were medicinal, others for cooking. All looked healthy and vibrant, a tribute to Elijah’s green thumb.
“Long as I don’t smoke none of ’em, I should do just fine.” Elijah continued to look at Destiny. “You must be the reason this boy is still smiling,” he stated simply. “A man can handle anything with the right woman by his side.”
“I’ve heard so much about you,” Destiny said, bending down to hug him. “I love the way you’ve decorated,” she added, looking around. “Those throws are nice. Do you mind if I lay Benjamin on one of them?”
“Lay him right here,” Elijah said, pointing to the couch. “As for the covers, those are presents from the women around here chasing me. You know a good-looking man is hard to find, especially when the one looking is eighty years old.” Laughing at his own joke produced a coughing spell. Nate helped Elijah over to the couch and sat him down next to where Benjamin lay. Destiny poured water from a pitcher on the counter and handed it to Elijah.
They sat and waited while Elijah drained the glass. He stared into it for a moment, his countenance becoming at once serious and reflective. When he looked up, it was at Destiny, and there was a twinkle in his eye.
“You look just like her,” he began, in a once strong voice that was now raspy. When Destiny looked questioningly at Nate, Elijah continued. “Your great-great-grandmother, Sadie. You’re almost her spitting image.”
“Sadie. My mother’s mentioned that name. I don’t know much about her though.”
“Trust me, child. There’s a lot to tell. A lot of wonderful things that I’ll share one day. But she’s why I called you, Nate, and asked you over. Because now, after all these years, I can do what I promised, and honor her request.”
Now it was Nate’s turn to look puzzled. “I don’t understand, Gramps,” Nate said, using the second most popular name he called Elijah. Simply “Elder” was the first, and how most everyone addressed him.
Elijah cleared his throat and continued. Anyone watching could see his body was there, but his mind was far away, in another place, another time. Destiny and Nate again looked at each other, then back at Elijah. And waited.
“She was fourteen when I first saw her,” he began again. “And I lost my heart right then, just like that.” He snapped a bony but still-strong finger. “Her family had just arrived here in Texas, from Louisiana, part of the Negro elite. Her father was a doctor, you see, and their family way above my station.” Elijah smiled wistfully. “But that didn’t matter to her.
“I took a job with her father, being a handyman of sorts…delivery boy. I didn’t care what he asked me to do, as long as I could sneak a peek at his daughter. I was nineteen with a bullet, randy as all get out, and I admit, that lady had me tied up in knots! First time I got her alone, I asked her to marry me. It was also the first time I’d talked to her, but that didn’t matter! I knew I loved her, wanted her to be my wife. She wanted it too. That was the happiest day of my life.
“The next day was the saddest, or almost. She told her mother about my proposal, and when I stepped on their property the next day, it was to the sight of a shotgun pointed at me. Her old man told me to get off their property and not come back. I tried to explain that my intentions were pure, that I desired to be a preacher, and had no plans of doing anything unseemly until she and I were married. But I was randy, you understand, and I wanted to marry her right then. We married young back in them days, so what I was asking wasn’t out of bounds. At least to me.
“But it was to him. I was off limits for many reason: poor, uneducated, and too dark. See, back then the light-skinned people would marry their own kind, to keep their color pure. I can’t say I blamed them exactly. They often got treated better than folks who looked like me.” Elijah stopped and looked at Nate, and then over at Destiny, and smiled. “Anyway,” he continued, “I snuck back over there first chance I got and one of the new workers told me they’d shipped her off, back to Louisiana to stay with an aunt.
“I was beside myself, and as soon as I’d saved up train fare, I went after her. It took me two weeks but I finally found out where she lived. I got a note to her through one of her classmates. See, just ’cause I didn’t have a fancy, formal education didn’t mean I was illiterate, and didn’t mean I wasn’t smart.” Elijah winked. “I could get anything I wanted when I set my mind to it.” Elijah’s joy faded. “Except her.”
“She met me at the place I wrote in the note and, boy, were we happy to see each other. We talked for hours, pledged our love to each other”—Elijah looked over sheepishly—“and kissed like fools. That’s all we did though. Like I told her daddy, I intended to marry her before…anything else happened.
“Well, you can ’bout imagine what happened. The aunt found out. Within a week, Sadie was gone again, this time to upstate New York, where they married her off to a prominent Black doctor up there, somebody’s family that her daddy knew. Her friend, the same one who’d passed the note, told me all this. See, Sadie had told her about me, and our plans to get married. She knew Sadie loved me, and tried to help as best she could.
“New Orleans is the last time I saw her. But I heard from her one more time, in a letter she wrote to me and gave to her friend. She’d been married two years by then, had a baby. But she professed her undying love for me, and said she wanted to put an end to the nonsensical thinking that had kept us apart. She told me that one day, she’d return to Palestine, with her daughter. And that I needed to marry and have a son, so at least if not us, our children could be together. She asked me to continue this tradition until our love had come full circle, and there had been a baby born out of that love—with both Noble and Thicke blood running in its veins.”
At that exact moment, Benjamin stirred and opened his eyes. He stared intently at the watery brown ones staring back at him, and then reached up to touch the stubbly gray whiskers of a foreign yet intuitively familiar wrinkled chin. And then he went back to sleep.
“It’s done, now,” Elijah said, his voice cracking, his hand stroking Benjamin’
s arms and face. “I did it, Sadie. I kept the promise. I’ll come and join you now.”
Epilogue
One year later…
“Baby, it’s for you!” Destiny kissed her husband as she handed him the phone.
Nate smiled, and his heart swelled as he watched her go. He was so thankful to God for her, and for His love. After his butt had made its unceremonious appearance at the Total Truth Conference, Nate hadn’t known whether he would ever smile again, and he certainly doubted he could be happy. But as his gramps used to say, it was a long road that didn’t have a turn in it. Once again, his road had turned, and he was experiencing happiness like he’d never known.
“Hello?”
“Nate Thicke!” King’s voice boomed over the phone. “How’s life in paradise?”
“Why don’t you come over here and find out!” Nate and Destiny had extended open invitations to the Brooks, Montgomerys, and others to visit them at their new home whenever they wanted. Turks and Caicos was indeed a paradise, and they loved hosting their friends and showing them around. “Mark and Simone just left two days ago,” Nate continued. “With little Mark Junior. That boy’s not out of diapers and they’re already talking about having another.”
“You sound good, man,” King said. “Island life is obviously agreeing with you.”
King was right. Turks and Caicos had been the perfect place to heal from all that had happened. At first, Nate had felt out of sorts—too much time on his hands after going nonstop for years. Nettie had encouraged him to stop focusing on the bad and find the good. And once he began looking, there was plenty to see. One of his biggest blessings was that money was no problem. His bestselling novel and sell-out DVD series had made him financially secure. So after long conversations with his Mama, Derrick, King, Grandfather Thomas, and God, Nate had embraced his new life and opened himself up to another way of serving the Lord. He was almost finished with his third book, and had plans for yet another. His publisher had wisely delayed releasing the second one, until now. So far, bookstore orders were strong, and Carla had already booked him to be on her show. “Make your comeback with Carla,” she’d teased him.
Carla had been a sage and understanding ear following his downfall, and since Nate and Destiny moved, a regular visitor and good friend. She and Lavon flew down once a month, and Lavon’s production company taped Nate’s ongoing public service announcements for Total Truth, regarding abstinence, the dangers of promiscuous sex, and the sanctity of marriage.
“The association needs you,” King was saying when Nate began listening again. “We’ve put out a few feelers, mentioned your name here and there to gauge the reaction. People are impressed with how you’ve handled this thing, brothah. How you left everything, quit ministering publicly, got the counseling, expressed your remorse and your recommitment to faultless leadership. The brothahs are ready to welcome you back into the fold. And we’ll support any move you make toward reclaiming Gospel Truth as your ministry.”
Gospel Truth. That had been his hardest task, resigning his position as senior pastor. For the first time in over seventy-five years, someone other than a Thicke was leading the congregation. He felt he’d let down not only God, but his family also.
Fortunately Gramps had set him straight. “It’s done, move on,” he’d said simply. Two weeks later, Elijah Rutherford Thicke had gone on to be with the Lord…and with the only woman he’d ever loved.
“It looks like Gospel Truth is doing all right,” Nate said finally. “I think God might have other plans for me.”
“Well, it seems as if you’re preoccupied, Nate, so I’ll let you go. Just know that Total Truth and your brothahs in the ministry are here when you need help with whatever you decide to do; and that you have a place at our association table.”
“Thanks, man. That means a lot.”
Nate hung up the phone and went in search of his wife. He found her lounging by the pool, which was less than fifty yards from their pristine private beach. Even after all this time, her beauty still dazzled him, and after hearing Elijah’s story, it humbled him as well.
“Do you have room on that chaise for a Thicke man?” he asked, lying down and placing her on top of him.
“Always,” Destiny said, kissing him thoroughly and feeling his ardor grow. “Oh, by the way, Kiki called. She said she had to cancel her plans to come down next week. She’s met someone.”
“Is that so?” Nate asked, a wide smile on his face. “In New Orleans?”
“Yes, at one of Simone’s soirees.”
“I’m glad she accepted Simone and Mark’s offer and moved to Louisiana. It always puzzled me that she stayed in Palestine.”
Both Nate and Destiny knew the reason why Katherine had stayed; neither felt the need to voice it.
“I’ve been wondering about something,” Destiny said instead. “Having to do with Elder Elijah’s story.”
“Uh-huh.” Nate nuzzled Destiny’s ear.
“His and Sadie’s love story explains why the Nobles and Thickes got together, but what about the covering of all those other women?”
Nate frowned, and took his hands from around Destiny’s waist.
“Now, don’t be like that, baby. You know I’m past all that. But I’m curious. How did that tradition start?”
Nate pondered how to share with Destiny what Elijah had told him in a visit when the two men were alone. “It’s a long story,” he began. “But the short version is that while the Thickes managed to always be the first lovers for Noble women, we never could marry y’all, until now. Apparently there was a Noble tradition of marrying within a certain class and color. That’s why my grandfather, Thomas, didn’t marry Naomi, because she ended up marrying a light-skinned lawyer. And that’s why Katherine married that Hopkins dude. The Noble-Thicke love is why none of those marriages lasted, and why Katherine never took Hopkins’s last name. If my father hadn’t died”—Nate hesitated—“I think he and Katherine would have married.”
“He would have divorced Miss Nettie?” Destiny was incredulous.
“My father was in love with your grandmother,” Nate said simply. “And Mama knew it. But I don’t think Daddy could help that he fell in love with Katherine. Just like how I can’t help loving you.” Nate wrapped his arms tightly around Destiny and continued. “Later, that same friend who’d tried to help Sadie and Gramps encouraged him to get married, told him she knew that’s what Sadie wanted. He went through his entire congregation trying to douse the flame that Sadie had lit. He gave many women physical comfort, but he never got relief, though those women never let him forget how much his loving was appreciated. Wasn’t ever an abundance of men in Palestine, and we Thickes, well, it’s been said that we’re pretty good at making love.”
Destiny raised up and playfully slapped Nate’s chest, even as she ground herself into his manhood.
“Gramps finally did marry my great-grandmother. He loved, but was never again in love. I guess nobody can douse a Thicke flame but a Noble. Anyway…that’s how covering the flock started.”
Destiny kissed Nate again, and before long, his hands were underneath her skimpy bikini bottom, kneading her lush backside. Their kiss deepened. Destiny sat up and took off her top. Her full breasts were aligned with Nate’s mouth. He immediately took advantage.
“Come here, you,” he drawled huskily. “Let’s take this, uh, conversation inside where I can really talk to you, understand?”
“Are we getting ready to try and make a little Sadie?” Destiny teased. After visiting with Elijah, Destiny told Nate that that’s what she wanted to name their next baby, if it was a girl. So that a Sadie could finally bear the Thicke name.
“We’re going to try and make a bunch of little Sadies,” Nate murmured, picking Destiny up and placing her on the dining room table. “And I’m getting ready to have my favorite dish.” He took off Destiny’s bikini bottoms, spread her legs, and sat down in the chair between them. Soon, Destiny was hearing harps and seeing stars and bein
g reminded that one could have heaven right here.
Later that night, after another round of lovemaking, Destiny cuddled up next to Nate. “Guess what I remembered today,” she whispered in that slightly whiny voice that drove Nate wild.
He pulled her tighter to him. “Hmm.”
“The first time we were together, in the Florida Keys. I asked when you fell in love with me. Do you remember what you said?”
“Of course. I said November twenty-third….”
“Yes!” Destiny said excitedly, knowing Nate understood. “Benjamin’s birthday!” Which they’d discovered from the personal effects Elijah had bequeathed them—including the tattered, yellowed promise letter—had been Sadie’s birthday too.
“They say the spirit is eternal,” Nate remarked. “Maybe your great-great-grandma had a little sumpin’, sumpin’ to do with us being us. You think?”
“I don’t know.” Destiny sighed. “But if she did, I owe her a big thank you.” Destiny was silent a long moment.
“You feel all right?” Nate finally asked.
“I feel amazing,” Destiny said sleepily, feeling the effects of their lengthy session of physical intercourse. “How do you feel?”
Nate turned on his side and pulled Destiny into him, spoon style. “Baby, there are no words for how I feel, how you make me feel.”
“C’mon,” Destiny teased. “There are millions of words and you’re the world’s greatest orator. Think of one to describe how you’re feeling.”
“That word hasn’t been invented yet, baby, the word that expresses what your love does to me. Now stop talking and go to sleep, or else I’ll tap that spot again.”
Soon, her even breathing told Nate that his wife had followed orders. But Nate stayed awake a long time, thinking about Elijah and Sadie, and the love affair that had come full circle. Then he thought about Destiny’s question, and realized the answer was simple. He leaned over and whispered into his sleeping wife’s ear, “I love you, baby. You make me feel good.”
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