NOTHING STAYS THE SAME

by Suzetta Perkins

  “What you said didn’t convince me of anything. Pastor Goodwin doesn’t have the power to restore everything back to the way it was a week ago. He’s got to call on God, too. I have, and God didn’t answer. So please don’t tell me what God can do because he passed over 5555 Riverdale Court like it didn’t even exist.”

  “Maybe because God knows that you have a hardened heart and wasn’t ready to receive.”

  “You can leave now and go back to your home that God didn’t curse.” Rachel pushed Sylvia aside, got up, and walked out of the room.

  Stunned, Sylvia got up from her seat and stood in the middle of the floor, waiting for Rachel to return. When she didn’t, she called out to her. “Rachel!” There was no answer. “Rachel, let’s not end this way.”

  A voice floated back to her from the distance. “Lock the door on your way out.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Cecil Coleman stood on one side of the long conference table with his hands in his pockets. He was dressed in his best Armani suit—a brown silk fabric with a hint of black fibers throughout—accentuated by a long-sleeved black shirt and a multi earth-toned tie. He faced a three-man team that consisted of Attorney Robert Jordan, Vincent Kinyard, and David Eason of Regal Resorts, Inc., who came armed to do battle for what they believed to be theirs.

  Cecil watched as the men gauged his importance and assessed his wealth. They surveyed his office, taking snapshots with their eyes while storing the information in their mental chips for later evaluation. Finally sitting down, Cecil brought the meeting to order.

  “Gentlemen,” Cecil began, “I don’t think I need to go into a long, drawn-out speech about why my client has had a change of heart about selling his shares of stock in Thomas and Richmond Tecktronics, Inc. The facts are what they are. This company is the product of a lifelong dream of Mr. Thomas, who has aspired to become an entrepreneur, businessman, and image-maker ever since he could read. This company comes at the price of the blood, sweat and tears of Mr. Thomas’ parents, who labored long and hard to give him and his siblings the opportunity of a good education in order that he could realize this dream. Yes, Mr. Thomas may have abruptly agreed to sell his shares of stock—mind you, the decision was made under duress and without consultation with his partner—but he is now of reasonable mind and is unwilling to go through with the sale.”

  Attorney Jordan cocked his head and looked into Cecil’s face, while he drummed on the top of his briefcase. “Mr. Coleman, while my client may sympathize with Mr. Thomas’...shall I say...a humble rise to business ownership as you so eloquently put it, the fact remains that there was an implied contract per your verbal communication that Mr. Thomas wished to sell his fifty-two shares in Thomas and Richmond Tecktronics, Inc., which he now intends to breach. We do not intend to negotiate or renegotiate; we’ve come to finalize what we started, and if your plan is to renege as you seem to indicate, then we are prepared to fight.”

  Cecil sat with his fingers clasped together, the two index fingers joined at the tips to make a V. He brought them to his mouth and blew into it, contemplating his next move as he readied for battle.

  “Mr. Jordan, while Mr. Thomas was grateful initially for your clients’ desire to purchase the stock of Thomas and Richmond, I must ask, if it’s not unreasonable to do so, what interest do they have in a venture that is not remotely associated with their business?” Cecil pointed in the direction of Kinyard and Eason. “Maybe Mr. Kinyard or Mr. Eason can enlighten me. Normally, a company looking to merge with another does so to expand their present holdings, so I fail to find the association.”

  Uhh, uhh. Kinyard coughed and tried unsuccessfully to rid himself of the frog that found its way into his throat. He pushed back in his chair and crossed his leg, leaning back like an old-school power player, locking eyes with Cecil’s. But he found he was no match for Cecil and let his head drop before he spoke.

  “Mr. Coleman,” Kinyard began, pursing his lips, “it appears you’re a well-educated businessman and know that in order to possibly move up to an office on the thirtieth floor from the twenty-ninth floor, you’re going to have to make a bigger name for yourself by winning the big headline cases. For me, it’s diversifying my assets by building a conglomerate that will house an array of products that will not only be profitable but complement each other for more than a season. My resorts are one thing, but upon acquiring Thomas and Richmond Tecktronics, we plan to expand on what is already there and move the market into international waters and cyberspace.”

  “First, Mr. Kinyard, I’m not amused by what you believe my aspirations are or your advice on how to acquire them if I was so inclined. I’m not the subject of this inquiry, so let me remind you to stay on the topic of this discussion.”

  “Spare me, Mr. Coleman; it is quite obvious that you have a thirst for power,” Kinyard said.

  Cecil looked from Jordan to Kinyard. He wasn’t going to let this old battle-ax rattle his chain with his racial undercurrents. Whatever he was, Cecil had worked hard for it just like anyone else in his position. The man was intimidated by him, and he was going to keep him on guard. The more Cecil talked with this asshole, the more resolved he became to fight for Marvin and win. He smiled.

  “Maybe we got off on the wrong foot,” Cecil said. “My client rescinds his offer. Mr. Thomas’ partner, Mr. Kenny Richmond, who was unaware of what was taking place, is supporting Thomas’ decision not to sell his shares. Thomas and Richmond Tecktronics will have an emergency meeting of their board of directors this week to discuss the proposed buyout and Thomas’ decision not to sell, and until after that time I have nothing else to share. This meeting is adjourned.”

  Cecil stood and didn’t allow the discussion to continue. Jordan, Kinyard, and Eason sat still in their seats, not sure what had just happened. They were dismissed. When they didn’t move, Cecil stood by Jordan.

  “You can call me next week if you want to continue talks. Have a good day.”

  The three gentlemen got up from their seats and left without a word. Slam went the door after the last of the three men had exited the room. Served them right for coming up in his office with a haughty attitude like he didn’t know what he was talking about. Pissed, Cecil crossed the length of the room, went to the bar, and poured a glass of scotch. He walked to the window and looked out. He raised his glass high and shouted, “To the HNIC at Lancaster, Bosche, and Coleman at Law.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Kenny huffed as he shuffled into the house and made his way into the kitchen. He dropped his keys on the countertop and drew in a deep breath. Sweat covered his face—a product of the weather and the tension that had taken residence in his body.

  Opening the refrigerator, Kenny took out a bottle of water and closed the door. He uncapped it, and threw his head back and let the cool water quench his thirst. As he turned around, Sylvia, who had entered the kitchen, startled him. He jumped, spilling water over both of them.

  With a worried look on her face, Sylvia brushed Kenny’s face with her hand and pecked him on the lips.

  “Hey, babe,” Kenny said.

  “Hey, sweetie.” Sylvia wrapped her arms around Kenny. “Day wasn’t so good?”

  “Sylvia, I’m worried about Marvin and the company. I wish he had come to me earlier. If he had, we wouldn’t need an attorney to bargain with the devil to get our company back. You won’t believe who the attorney is.”

  “Who?”

  “My cousin Trina’s husband, Cecil Coleman. You may not remember Trina; I haven’t seen her in over ten years and she and Cecil weren’t invited to our wedding. I think I glimpsed her at one of our family reunions. Trina is the granddaughter of my mother’s oldest sister. There’s no love lost between my mother and Aunt Lovey.”

  “Oh, I remember Aunt Lovey. When we were together all those years ago, you took me to some family get-together, and she and your mother got into it about something your cousin Mabel said to your mother.”

  “Yep, that’s Aunt Love
y and my momma. Mabel is Trina’s mother. They haven’t spoken in years either. Anyway, Trina is a prosecuting attorney here in Atlanta the last I heard and Cecil is a high-profile attorney who handles mergers and takeovers. I guess that’s why Marvin hired him. They always thought they were better than the rest of us.”

  “Well, I love you, baby.”

  “I know you do,” Kenny said as he placed a kiss on Sylvia’s lips. “What worries me, Sylvia, is this extortion attempt by this woman who claims to have had sex with Marvin. I’m so glad I told you. I definitely need to talk to someone about it. Anyway, I don’t really believe she had sex with my buddy.”

  “Huh?”

  “Baby, I believe this woman set Marvin up, although there is no doubt about him being in that room with her. He was too drunk to do anything and remembers nothing. I’m going to the bar where he met this woman and try to get some answers.”

  “Baby, do you have to be the one to do the investigating? Please don’t go meddling in something you can’t handle.”

  “Sweetie, this affects us, too. Marvin’s cousin, Harold, will be with me.”

  “That’s reassuring.”

  “I know, Sylvia, but we’ve got to get something on this woman and shake her down. We are going to be in financial ruin if we don’t...let me back up, in even worse financial ruin if Cecil can’t fix the situation with Marvin’s shares. But we’ve got to get this woman. I hate parasites like her, and I’m going to squish the life out of that bug if I get my hands on her.”

  Kenny stopped talking when he realized that Sylvia was staring at him with her arms folded across her chest. He arched an eyebrow as if to say, and what?

  “Do you know how you sound, Kenny? You sound like a man who’s out to kill someone...like you’re out to prove something. This all sounds dangerous, and I’m not sure that my husband should be the one on the case.” There was no smile on Sylvia’s concerned face.

  “Babe, no one is talking about killing anyone, but I’ve got to do this. I’ll be careful. I’m going to change my clothes and take a run through the neighborhood so I can let off a little steam.” Kenny kissed Sylvia on the cheek and walked out of the room.

  Kenny traded his sports jacket and slacks for a pair of white-and-blue Nike running shorts, a T-shirt with a picture of Barack Obama on the front and the words OBAMA ’08 printed at the bottom, and a pair of running shoes. Sitting on the red plush chair in his huge walk-in closet, he quickly laced his shoes and pulled a sweatband from one of the drawers in the closet.

  With the last lace tied, Kenny closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. The Marvin debacle was taking a toll on him, and he wanted it to all go away. He gave a deep sigh and hoisted himself up from the chair and headed downstairs. He took the stairs two at a time until he hit the bottom.

  “Sylvia, I’m out. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

  “Okay, baby,” Sylvia shouted.

  The ground felt good to Kenny’s feet. He tore around the side of the house and headed for the street. He turned around and saw Sylvia staring at him as she stood on the porch. He waved and then disappeared down the street.

  Kenny broke into a slow jog. As he passed the houses that lined his street, he looked at each one with interest as if noticing it for the first time. Each structure had its own unique architecture and the landscaped yards were replicas from Better Homes and Gardens magazine. It was obvious money flowed throughout this gated community and on the surface it appeared recession proof.

  There were a good number of affluent African-American families in the neighborhood. Several football players on the Atlanta Falcons football team lived there, and the Thomases, Marvin and Rachel, lived several blocks from the Richmonds. All in all, it was a nice, quiet place to live and had been cited as such in the local newspaper.

  Sweat formed on Kenny’s head, his headband catching the water that dared to drip down his face. In the zone, Kenny picked up his pace. He felt on top of the world. It had been several weeks since he had put on his running shoes, but he was back in the groove and made a promise to himself that he would get up early and run each morning.

  Kenny made a right turn and dashed across the street to take the trail that bordered the neighborhood and the golf course that sat on the premises. There were others out on the trail, enjoying the coolness of the early evening. Kenny looked at his watch. He had only been running for fifteen minutes.

  After thirty minutes into his run, he spotted a black female wearing a pair of short shorts and a midriff top running in his direction. She was still a short distance away, but he could tell that she was in fine physical shape. The legs were as shapely as the body they held up. She was probably one of the NFL wives. He hadn’t seen any of them out on the trail before.

  As he neared the woman, Kenny averted his eyes and lowered his head to avoid eye contact. Just as he thought he passed the woman, he stopped at the sound of his name.

  “Kenny, is that you?”

  Kenny jerked his body around and stared at the woman who’d called his name with familiarity. “Trina?”

  “Oh, my God, it is you!” Trina exclaimed. “What are you doing out here?”

  “I live here,” Kenny said. Trina looked surprised, and Kenny enjoyed every minute of her discovery.

  “Shut up. Cecil told me you work for this big electronics firm that he’s representing, but he never mentioned that you lived in our neighborhood.”

  “That’s probably because he never asked. He probably thought it could never be possible, but it is the reality. I live on Riverdale Court.”

  “Tell me it’s not that big two-story brick giant with the double columns out front and the lions guarding the stairs that I’ve admired ever since they built it.”

  “That was a wild guess, but that’s our house.”

  “Shut up. What does your wife do?”

  “Her name is Sylvia, and she looks after our son, Kenny Jr.”

  “Excuse me, cousin. Give me a hug.”

  “I’m not sure you want a hug from me,” Kenny said. “I’m wet.”

  “Well, so am I,” Trina said. “We’re family.” She patted Kenny on the back in a fake hug, and he returned the favor. “Wait until I tell Mama that you live in the same neighborhood.”

  “How is cousin Mabel?” Kenny asked.

  Trina waved her hand. “You know how Mama is. She’s stubborn as a goat. I bet she and cousin Trudy haven’t spoken in years.”

  “They haven’t, last I heard,” Kenny replied.

  “Well, how’s your mama doing? I can’t remember the last time I saw Trudy.”

  “Getting old and mean. But I love her to death.”

  “I’m going to tell Cecil that we must get together sometimes—we should have you over for drinks and refreshments. We live on Lake Front Drive just in front of the lake.”

  “I’ll tell my wife to expect the invitation.”

  “Good. So how’s business? Cecil didn’t go into the case with me, but he said it was going to be an uphill battle.”

  “I have faith,” Kenny said, not sure where he pulled it from. Time and time again, Pastor Goodwin said to worry was a sin, and if you pray and have faith, God would see you through. He wasn’t so sure he believed that at this moment, but faith was the only thing he had to hold on to. Regardless of how he felt, he wasn’t going to tell Trina a thing. It was none of her business, and it pissed him off that Cecil had discussed their case with her.

  “Well, I’m going to run on home. Give my regards to your wife.” Trina blew him a kiss.

  “It was good to see you again, Trina. I look forward to receiving the invitation.”

  They ran off in opposite directions. The last thing Kenny expected was to run into his cousin and have a moment of lust over her sexy body. He laughed at the thought, but took a last look at her departing hourglass figure. Trina had to be hugging thirty-nine or coming up on forty, but she did look good even if she was his cousin. In a much better mood, Kenny decided to do another mile, then r
un home to Sylvia.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Kenny couldn’t wait to tell Sylvia that he had run into his cousin, Trina, and that she’d invited them over. Sylvia listened to Kenny with amusement as he excitedly talked about Trina as if she were some kind of new superhero.

  “You should have seen her, Sylvia. Trina acted as if we were kissing cousins and it had been only days instead of years since we last spoke to each other. She’s a piece of work.”

  “Sounds like you enjoyed it, especially telling her that we lived in the same neighborhood.”

  “Baby, I almost peed on myself trying to hold in the laughter when she found out which house we lived in. All of a sudden, I was the golden child—her cousin who was big time.”

  “Just don’t let it go to your big head because our ordeal is not over. I hope and pray that we won’t have to be the first or the last house to put up a FOR SALE sign because we can’t pay the mortgage.”

  “I know, baby, but for once it felt good to not have Trina sneering or looking down at me because she thought she was so much better. I know who I am and from where I come, but I feel blessed that God gave me a dynamite job, a fantastic and beautiful wife and child, and the means to afford some niceties that I can give my family.”

  “You’re a good man, Kenny. I just don’t want you to let what God blessed us with go to your head.”

  “Okay. Where’s all this coming from?”

  “I’m sorry, baby. It’s just that my visit with Rachel earlier today didn’t go well. I think she’s depressed, and I suggested she see Pastor Goodwin. From there, it got out of hand, and she basically told me to leave. She’s worried about how they’re going to manage if things don’t turn around for Marvin.”

  “Rightfully so.”