by H.H. Fowler
Shaniece rumbled through her massive collection of sermon DVDs, searching for one that would impress the socks off those two pastors from the Bahamas. It was her only chance to show them her worth and to convince them of her influence to help them garner the wealth and fame they eagerly sought. She would show them through the power of words (along with her impressive resume at Mount Moriah), that she had what it took to take the twenty-first century church to the next level.
They would be fools to ignore what she could bring to the table. Her networking ability, no doubt, would serve as a catalyst to Global expansion of what Mount Moriah would eventually be able to offer the world. And she was positioning herself to spearhead this gigantic revolution. She could confidently say that her game plan was gaining momentum.
For every dam that leaked beyond this point, as she was certain some would, she had a sandbag waiting to seal it up. To her, that meant control. She was aware that as her demands increased, Leroy's patience would gradually ebb away into hardcore rebellion. He would not answer to her tyranny forever. And that would have been a problem if she hadn't thought about the solution years ago. She was sure that Leroy had spilled his guts to Michelle by now. She smiled as she imagined what Michelle was experiencing at this moment. Betrayal? A broken heart? Embarrassment? There was so much filth attached to this story that Shaniece knew it would take Michelle forever to get over it. That sham of a marriage would not survive the cost of Leroy’s mistake. If Michelle really knew the entire thing, from start to finish, she would leave town and never come back. Shaniece was sure of it, because even Leroy hadn’t a clue to what he’d really gotten himself mixed up with.
Her Samsung lit up with a text that she’d been expecting all morning. As usual, he was late, but this time she didn’t mind the delay. Ellie and her son had just settled down for their afternoon nap, which gave her a little time to speak to him alone before she called the general meeting with everyone. She imagined how Ellie’s face would look when she discovered that their brother had been living in Tampa all this time. But of course, Shaniece would explain to Ellie that all of what they’d done was to protect Ellie and her son. She would force a few tears and Ellie would fall for it like rain falling in the wet season.
Shaniece re read the text:
I’m standing outside your front door.
They’d agreed that he would not show up unannounced without texting her first. Being caught together would certainly raise some eyebrows. She buttoned her jacket and pushed her feet into her stilettos, always sporting the professional look. She had an image to uphold, even if she was doing it to impress her brother. She tipped down the steps toward the front door, almost tripping on something in her path. She looked down and saw that her nephew had left one of his building blocks in the middle of the floor. But when she stooped to pick it up, she noticed dozens of them scattered all over the place as if his toy box had gotten blown up by Al Qaeda. She immediately became incensed at Ellie for allowing her son to do as he wished.
If they were going to be staying with her, they'd better warm up to her rules or she'd ship their tails back to Brandon so fast they wouldn’t know what hit them. She wasn't about to be anyone's maid, and as soon as Ellie got up from her little nap, she would let her know that. She paused and took in a deep breath. It was no good getting worked up over nothing. If she tried sending Ellie and her son back to Brandon now, her plan was as good as dead. Ellie would do something stupid that would expose them and spoil everything she’d worked to put in place.
She didn't expect her brother to be looking like a shell of himself when she pulled open the door.
“Boy, what the heck happened to you?” she asked him. “Must I tell you, you look a good mess!”
“And it's exactly how I feel, Shaniece,” Phillip said, as if his own voice annoyed him. He slowly lifted his head from the wall and staggered two steps toward her. “Safe to come in?”
With Phillip standing so close to her, Shaniece suddenly got a whiff of either Jack Daniels or Bacardi. Maybe he’d mixed the two, she thought, but one thing she could say for sure was that his breath was unbearable. “I see you brought some of your friends with you.”
Phillip scratched his head. “Friends?”
“You so blithering drunk until you can’t even think,” she snapped. “How are you supposed to understand anything I’m about to say to you in this state? This is not the time to be losing it, Phillip. We’re on the home stretch.”
“Home stretch?” He chuckled to himself, and then parked his glassy eyes on his sister. “I was doing quite fine before you dropped this silly proposal on me. I had a life, and I had a woman that loved me. I gave up all of that for what?”
“I didn’t put a gun to your head, Phillip.”
“In many ways you did, sis. You promised me the world. You said that all of my financial hardships would be taken care of–”
“Don’t you forget we did this for Ellie,” Shaniece hissed. “That bastard took advantage of our sister and almost got away with it!”
“No, sis. Ellie didn't want this. And, I can see why. Just look at the person you've become. Look at me. We're two miserable peas in the same pod.” He allowed his head to fall on Shaniece's bosom and he began to cry. “I don't know if I can go on pretending with Tayah…”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Phillip!” She pushed him away from her, and then brushed his tears from her jacket. “Man up and stop this silly whining! Now, you listen to me and you listen good. I don't know if this is you or the alcohol causing you to act like a fool, but you better get your head out of your butt and grow some backbone. I've worked too hard to get to this point in my life and I will not let you, Ellie, or anyone else, stop my progress.”
“I can't do this anymore, sis,” Phillip sobbed. “The secrets are killing me. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I almost choked my wife to death…”
“Well, good! She probably deserved it. I am very angry with you, Phillip. After all I've done for you and Ellie, this is the thanks I get?”
“You've made my life a living hell,” Phillip growled. “How long you expect this charade to last?”
Leroy had asked her the same question, but she had a different answer for Phillip, one sure to get his attention. “I've promoted you to Head Deacon and have placed you on an annual salary. How does eighty thousand dollars sound to you? That should shut you up and solve your problems I think.”
Phillip raised his head and stared at his sister in disbelief. Her black eyeliner and her straight brown hair that fell just below her neckline made her look like an ominous vixen. “You think money answers everything, don’t you?”
She folded her arms as if she dared her brother to challenge her response. “It does. I’m sure you could think of quite a few things to do with the money.”
Truth was; he was in desperate need of the money. Thinking about Vell Gibson and his henchmen, prowling around his business in that black Caddy sent chills crawling through his body. As he’d learned, they weren’t the type to double-cross. He owed them sixty thousand dollars. “I didn’t get the check from you this week. You said you were gonna drop it off to me.”
“I did, but I changed my mind. I thought it better to create a steady flow of income for you. That way you could handle your business, instead of always coming to me.”
“For eighty thousand dollars you expect me to stay in this sham of a marriage with Tayah?”
“You will do more than that.” Shaniece pointed a well-polished finger at Phillip. “Get yourself together and stop drinking your senses away. Furthermore, you need to start thinking about having some children…”
Phillip laughed, but he was far from being amused. “Children? Impossible.”
“What do you mean impossible?” Shaniece was genuinely confused. “Tayah is not barren, is she?”
Phillip couldn’t answer his sister, not because he was afraid, but because it hurt too much to admit that he was the cause of the problem. Tayah hadn’t anything to do with it. He di
dn’t even feel like a real man. He had to wonder if this was his punishment for going along with Shaniece’s ridiculous plan. This was not what he’d imagined for his life. Shaniece had better watch her back, because the God of the Paxtons was fighting on their behalf.
“Phillip! What’s the matter with you?” She gripped him by his arm and shook him. “Don’t tell me that Tayah can’t get pregnant. Have you been having sex with her regularly?”
“Once a week, sometimes, once a month.”
“No wonder. How do you expect her to get pregnant if you hardly sleep with the woman?” Shaniece calmed herself a bit. “Anyway, we can always adjust that. First, you need to take shower. I want you to be fresh and clean when you go back home to her tonight. I want you to romance her–”
“I can’t have children…”
“Make sure to run her water in the tub and put – what did you say?”
“I’m the problem, Shaniece. It’s me! The fertility specialist told me I can’t have chil–”
Shaniece drew back and slapped the taste out of Phillip’s mouth. He recoiled in shock.
“Now, you listen to me,” she scolded. “Go take a shower, and then go back home to that woman and do as I say. Don’t you dare disgrace this family’s name with your foolish talk. You will have children and you will leave behind a legacy. You can bet your bottom dollar that I will make certain of that.”
Chapter Thirty-One
