When his cell phone rung, he was surprised to see Khalil McCoy's name and number. Something must have happened to Hezekiah. He hoped the fool hadn't killed over without paying him what he owed him.
"Hello, Khalil."
"Meet me in my office at Holy Rock first thing tomorrow morning, seven a.m." Khalil said with apparent anger in his tone. He didn't give George time to respond. He said what he had to say and ended the call
"Hello? Hello?" George repeated then realized the call had ended. He called Khalil back thinking that the call had dropped, but Khalil didn't answer. He called a second time. Same thing. No answer.
George's text notifier chimed. It was from Khalil.
"7 a.m." the text said. "And don't be late."
Who the heck does that little punk think he is talking to me like that? George thought and poured himself another shot of whisky and lit another cigarette. His pappy better be having his boy pay me my money.
‡
Fancy left Hezekiah in the room alone with Xavier. She couldn't stand the sight of him. Stroke or no stroke, her sympathy for him was null after what she’d seen. She went to her room and cried buckets of tears until she couldn't cry anymore. Her eyes were swollen almost shut. To find out the way she did that Hezekiah betrayed her hurt worse than hearing the judge sentence her to prison all those years ago. She and Hezekiah had been through so much together, but one thing she never worried about was him cheating. He may have done some awful undercover stuff, but cheating, no one could ever have made her believe that he would turn to another woman to satisfy his needs. Not when they had such a good marriage and sex life. She lay in the bed, thinking about if she had missed any signs that would have warned her about his infidelity but she could think of none. How long had he been messing around with Detria, of all women? What else could he be hiding? What else was on that card? Fancy wanted answers to the string of questions going through her mind. With Hezekiah being unable to talk, it was going to be hard to find out anything.
The pictures and video replayed in her mind. A light knock on the door momentarily sucked her away from the disgusting thoughts.
"Come in," she said softly.
"Ma." Xavier entered the room. "I was just checking on ya. How are you?"
"Not good." A fresh batch of tears starting streaming from her red eyes.
Xavier walked over to the side of her bed and sat down next to his mother. "Don't cry, Ma. Please don't cry."
"I can't help it. I can't believe he would do me like this. I've been nothing but good to your father. I thought what we had no one could ever come between."
Xavier felt horrible. He didn't know what to say to his mother, especially not knowing the details of what happened earlier while he was gone. "Ma, what did Dad do? What happened?"
Fancy spared no details. She was hurt and at this point, she wanted Hezekiah to hurt too. The best way to do that was to let his sons know what he'd done to their mother. Granted, she didn't want them to hurt Hezekiah, at least not while the man was already on his sick bed. Had he been healthy, she would have welcomed them beating his lying, cowardly, cheating tail.
Like Khalil, hearing what his father had done, angered Xavier. Blood may be thicker than water, but when it came to choosing between his father and mother, his mother would win every time, hands down. No wonder his brother exploded the way he did. He, too, had a mind to go back downstairs and yank his father out of his hospital bed and give him a whooping like he'd never forget. But no matter what, Hezekiah was his father. No way could he muster up enough strength or courage to hit him. There were other ways to hurt him that weren't physical. Xavier had a strange feeling that his brother would find a way to do just that, and when Khalil did, Xavier knew that he would join forces with him to make Hezekiah McCoy pay for what he'd done.
30
The soul always knows what to do to heal itself; the challenge is to silence the mind. C. Myss
Lying in her bed day after day, night after night, Rena thought about what Robert had said. Her family needed her, and she needed them. She thought she heard her parents’ voices telling her to get up and move forward with her life. She began to pray and cry out to God, something she hadn’t been able to do for some time.
Slowly she began to show signs of returning to her former self and she soon decided that it was time that she returned to work. With Robert’s full support, prayers from friends and their church, she was finding the resolve to cope with her new normal. It took a while but she was almost back to the lovely, happy, vivacious woman, wife, and mother that Robert had fallen in love with. It was still a struggle, but for the most part, she had determined within herself that she would make it through and come out much stronger for it. Her parents would have wanted that for her. They would have wanted her to be happy again.
Rena, Robert and the kids burst inside their house laughing and talking about the movie they’d just returned from seeing.
“We had fun,” one of the kids said.
“Yeah, I want to see it again,” another one said.
The other two kids joined in the conversation talking about how great the movie was. For Robert, it was good to see that his family was getting back on track.
“I love you,” Robert said and snuggled up against his wife, kissing her on the earlobe. “I hope you had a good time tonight.”
Rena turned and looked at him. She placed her hands around his neck. “Yes, I had a wonderful time. And I love you Robert Becton. I love you with all of my heart,” she said and kissed him lightly on the lips.
“Ewww,” said Isabelle. “Why do you guys always have to kiss?” she said before turning and running out of the kitchen.
Robert and Rena laughed and Robert kissed her again, picked her up, and twirled her around.
“Ahhh,” Rena screamed and laughed.
It felt good to laugh again, to smile again, to enjoy her family again. Granted, she longed for her parents to be there, to share in all of the love and laughter they used to enjoy with their grandkids. That was the sad thing about it. Rena felt that they all had been stripped from the life of what would have been if they were still alive. But all of that had been taken away by a lunatic and this further confirmed for her that it was all connected to the Grahams. She would never ever in life want to see them again or be near Stiles or Pastor. They were the epitome of evil to her and she hoped that they were feeling ten times the pain and anguish she felt.
“Let’s get the kids in bed so we can have a little playtime,” Robert teased as he held Rena by the waist and walked with her to the family room where the kids had gathered.
‡
"I've been praying for Hezekiah night and day. I know God to be a healer. He healed me again and again. He'll do the same for my son."
"Pastor, I'm praying too. We have been in a storm for quite some time. Not just us, but our friends and family. Have you talked to Fancy anymore or anybody from Holy Rock?"
"Fancy won’t answer my calls anymore, but almost every day one or more of me and Josie’s friends from the church call. It's a blessing to have people who care about you."
"Yes, sir, it is. I’ve texted her a few times myself and like you, she doesn’t respond." Stiles looked over his shoulder and smiled at Kareena.
Stiles was saddened when he heard about Hezekiah. They were just two years apart in age, and Stiles felt it could as easily have been him who had the stroke and not his brother. He was thankful that his health was not in question. He prayed for a speedy healing for him. It didn't matter that the two of them didn't see eye to eye. They were still brothers through blood and in Christ, believing in the same God, and living in their pastoral calling. There was no room for grudges or wishing ill against another person.
"Pastor, have you still been visiting other churches?"
"Yes, Josie and I worship somewhere every Sunday. No one can stop that. I've been talking to her and praying about going back to Holy Rock. And it's not because Hezekiah isn't in the pulpit. It's bec
ause God reminded me that no one can put me out of the church, and surely not the church that I founded. I can be voted out of the pulpit, but no way will I be booted out of the building. He can hate me all he wants, but he'll have to take me to court."
"I agree and I support you." Stiles was one hundred percent in his father's corner. Hezekiah may be the senior pastor but what right did he have to ban him from attending Holy Rock. Pastor said Hezekiah would have to take him to court, but Stiles laughed at that. He had no legal legs to stand on against Pastor. He was prepared to help the only man he'd known as father, the man who adopted him, cared for him, and loved him. He would not turn his back on him. "Listen, I'm glad you called. It's always a blessing to hear from you."
"Same here, son, and Josie says hello."
"Hi, Josie," Stiles said loudly into the phone, and laughed.
"Well, I guess I'll talk to you later. Josie and I are about to watch our show."
Stiles laughed. He admired the relationship Pastor and Josie had in each other. They were each other's support systems, and most of all each other's best friend. He used to want that same thing, but not anymore. Falling in love was the last thing on his agenda. It wasn't even on his bucket list.
"Gnite and God bless you. Bye."
"Okay, Pastor. Gnite."
Stiles pushed the end button, laid his phone down on the table next to him, and then turned and looked at Kareena.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to be rude."
"Rude? Be for real. That was your father. What's rude about talking to him?"
"Another reason I'm crazy about you," Stiles said.
Kareena smiled and eased back a little so she could look into his eyes. "Crazy about me? Uhhh, where did that come from?"
"What do you mean where did that come from?"
"I'm not going to play games with you, so just forget it."
"I like you. You know that, Kareena. You also know that I'm not looking for a First Lady. Been there done that."
"Duh, from the man who just said out of nowhere that you're crazy about me. Have I displayed anything more than friendship toward you? Let me answer that for ya; no I have not. I think I can clearly remember that, uh, it was you who pushed the envelope. And I'm not stupid; I understand that it was all physical. A man is a man is a man. I get it."
"It's not like that and it wasn't like that. You're beautiful, Kareena. Any man would be a fool not to be attracted to you. And I hope you don't regret what happened between us. Okay, we got caught up in our flesh, but by the same token we're two adults, two consenting adults. If you feel that what we did was wrong, was sinful, then that's between you and God. But me, I don't feel guilty or sorry."
"You're so far out in left field. How many times have we had this same conversation? Once? Twice? A hundred? Maybe not the exact words but definitely the same meaning. So can we not do this again tonight?"
"I'm with you, so are you ready for me to order that pizza?"
"Yeah, the movie will be on in less than an hour, and I'm hungry.”
"Okay, I'm on it," Stiles said. Why had his heart betrayed him to the point that he couldn't take the chance again to love or be in a relationship. He could easily justify his feelings for Kareena because she was so easy to love, but it had been proven to him twice that love wasn't enough. And for him, he didn't believe that the third time would be the charm.
31
Things come apart so easily when they've been held together with lies. Dorothy Allison
Khalil sat in front of George in his father’s office. It was time he found out everything about the business dealings George and his father had going on. Xavier sat in the chair across from him. Khalil had called him the night before to meet him at his apartment. He shared everything about his findings with him. Just because Xavier was only seventeen, Khalil felt it was still important for him to know the family business. He didn’t want him blindsided like his father had blindsided his mother and them. Plus, Xavier was a genius when it came to stuff like the spreadsheets and reports on the micro card.
George looked like he was ready to lock both of them up and throw away the key. But his days of playing cop were over so he resigned himself to listening so he could see just how much these youngsters knew about the dealings of their scoundrel father.
“I know my father was paying you an astronomical amount of money on the side, plus you’re on Holy Rock’s payroll. I don’t want to hear anything but the truth. No run around bull crap either. I’ve been through every line of those transactions. I know when they started but now I want to know why. So what do you and our father have going on?”
“You boys need to stay in your place. The business me and your father have going on is between us. I don’t care what you have or what you think you found. Yes, he was paying me, and to be frank about it, I want my money. I haven’t received a dime since he had the stroke. By the way, how is the old boy doing, seeing that you won’t allow me to see him anymore. That’s messed up.”
“We’re not here to talk about my father’s health. And you’re right, he isn’t allowed to have visitors. We want to assure that people like you aren’t coming to see him. So let’s cut the chase. You are not going to get another red cent until we know what’s going on. My mother is my father’s power of attorney, and she is in agreement with us.”
George was furious. He bolted up from his chair, placed both palms on the desk, and stared with bloodshot eyes at Khalil then Xavier.
“Listen to me you little punks. Unlike your father, you don’t know who you’re dealing with. Because he knew that I could ruin his life and everything he thinks he has in this farce of a church, he paid me and he paid me well. And if you have any sense in that drug filled brain of yours, boy you’ll keep paying me.”
“You won’t be getting a darn thing, George,” Fancy said, boldly stepping into the office and slamming the door behind her.
“Ahhh, so looks like I have the whole McCoy clan here. That makes things even better. “Fancy, you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m more than sure. And that’s not all I’m going to do. Effective immediately, you’re no longer head of Security. You’re fired. I want you out of here.”
George laughed. “You don’t know what you’re doing. Do you know the garbage I have on your husband and this family? You couldn’t possibly know because if you did, the only meeting we would be having now is the one where you’re telling me that you’re giving me a bonus! I can send you and that embezzling, cheating hubby of yours back to jail at the drop of a dime, crazy lady. And here’s something else you might want to feast your eyes on,” he said, pushing a micro card across the desk toward Khalil. “Before you make any decisions, I suggest you take a look at this.”
Khalil eyed George suspiciously. Xavier looked and so did Fancy as Khalil slowly placed the card inside the USB port. Some of the same pictures that were on the file Hezekiah had were on George’s files. But what they hadn’t seen was footage of Hezekiah and Detria talking about Fancy and how Hezekiah wanted out of his marriage. There was also a video where George told Hezekiah that he was from Chicago and that he had found out everything about him and Fancy’s criminal background, his son’s time in a juvenile detention center and his addiction to heroin.”
“So my father was paying you to keep your mouth shut about this? Well, that’s even more reason for you to get out of here and never show your face again. My mother, unfortunately, already knows about Detria Graham. And she’s not embezzling anything from this church. We’ve gone through those files and nothing incriminates her. Whatever happens to my father, well that’s on him. He’s dug his own ditch to fall into,” Khalil barked. “So, go right ahead,” Khalil warned. “Tell Holy Rock, tell the whole world about it if you choose. It won’t make us look bad. It will make him look bad, and at this point, none of us cares how much he suffers.”
“He can have that tramp,” Fancy added. “And you, you can take your blackmail files and stuff it where the sun don
’t shine.”
Xavier remained quiet, taking in everything around him.
Khalil suddenly stopped. The color drained from his face when he opened the last remaining file and several images opened.
“Oh, my God!
Noooo, what are you doing?” Fancy screamed as she, Khalil and Xavier looked at sexually explicit pictures of Xavier and Raymone.
Xavier jumped up to run out but Khalil yanked him by his shirt, pulling him back down in his chair. "I got this, bro," Khalil said, maintaining his composure and looking at his embarrassed younger brother.
Fancy sat down in a chair, held her head in her hands, and wept.
“Mother, don’t cry. We still have business to tend to,” Khalil said, sounding eerily like his father.
“Yeah, you heard him. It’s time to talk about a raise,” George said, laughing. "That is, unless you want Holy Rock and the rest of the world to know about your little gay son and your cheating, embezzling husband. He's skimmed tens of thousands of dollars from Holy Rock. How do you think he afforded to take you on all of those luxury trips, huh First Lady McCoy?”
“The church pays for that and you know it.”
“If you believe that, then you’re more naïve than I thought. The church pays him well, but it’s never enough for Hezekiah. He always has to have more. You should know that, First Lady. You're not that stupid are you?"
"Leave my mother alone!" Xavier yelled. "Or I swear to..."
"Ohh, so the li'l gay boy has a backbone. Now that's hilarious.” George chuckled loudly. “But enough of this. You’re wasting my time. Now let's get back to talking about that raise," said George.
The McCoys of Holy Rock Page 18