Book Store Rule

by Jones, Janice

  It did not take Aujanae long to put together what he was trying to say. Before she knew it, she had attempted to sit on the bed, but missed and slid to the floor.

  William’s first instinct was to go to her to make sure she was okay. He quickly changed his mind when he realized that the floor was carpeted and her descent happened rather slowly. He knew she had not hurt herself. His palpable fear kept him rooted to his spot.

  William heard the crash before he realized what had happened. Aujanae had actually thrown the baby monitor at him, but missed by a mile. It smashed into the wall over his head. She quickly rebounded, though. She stood up and grabbed the small reading lamp on her night stand and launched it at him, this time connecting with a loud thud in his chest.

  William doubled over from the pain, while Aujanae looked for something else heavy enough to throw at him. The only thing she saw in her immediate vicinity was a calf-length boot she was trying on earlier in the day, but instead of tossing it, she picked it up and started swinging it at his head.

  After she connected once, William grabbed the weapon and wrestled it from her hand. He then wrapped his wife in a bear hug and pushed her to the bed, landing on top of her. In her rage, Aujanae was a lot stronger than William was prepared for her to be. It took an awful lot of strength and force to keep her pinned as she attempted to wiggle and grapple from his grasp. He managed to hold on, though.

  “Get off of me! Get off of me!” she screamed. “Get off of me so I can kill you, William! Then I’m going to kill your slut-whore girlfriend!”

  William did not dare budge. He knew in her current state she was capable of doing just as she threatened. Aujanae continued to struggle, until all the strength drained from her body. William could feel her yielding to her fatigue. She was so tired that she could no longer even scream. When he was certain she had nothing left to fight him with, he moved himself slightly off of her body, taking off some of the pressure of his body weight, but he did not say a word to her.

  Their silence gave way to them hearing B.J. crying loudly downstairs in the great room. All of the thumping and bumping above his head had probably scared the poor baby senseless, Aujanae mused.

  “Let me go. I’m going to get my son,” Aujanae said angrily but honestly.

  William was still unsure of what she might do, so he hesitated a bit, which only served to make Aujanae more infuriated.

  “Get off of me!” she barked loudly. “My son needs me. I no longer have time to deal with you.”

  William released her completely, believing and hoping that her maternal instincts were stronger than her wifely need for murderous revenge.

  Aujanae jumped up and ran toward the door, then stopped. “I suggest you take this opportunity to leave quickly.” She then resumed her journey to get to her crying baby.

  William considered asking her if he was still taking B.J. with him, but thought better of it. He did as he was told and got the heck out of Dodge.

  The following morning, Aujanae had called her doctor and asked for an emergency appointment, explaining very transparently the reason why she needed to be seen as soon as possible. The doctor’s receptionist had probably never heard such brutal honesty. The receptionist put Aujanae on hold and returned a short time later, instructing her that Dr. Avery would see her at three o’clock that afternoon.

  Aujanae then called her mother and asked if she would watch B.J. while she went to the appointment, giving her all the gory details as well. Her mother suggested that both her and the baby come stay with her for a little while, so she could help Aujanae deal with her pain and her child.

  Aujanae made one last phone call before she packed a few bags to take to her mother’s. She called Maleeka and asked if she would go to the appointment with her for moral support, also giving her a complete blow by blow of everything that had happened the night before.

  At the appointment, Aujanae’s doctor had explained, after completing a full pap smear and blood work-up, that there was more than likely nothing to worry about. Aujanae had been seen by her gynecologist twice since B.J. was born for complete well-woman check-ups, and both of those pelvic exams and pap smears had come back negative. He assured her he would pay special attention to this one and give her a call as soon as all the results were back from the lab.

  That Friday, Dr. Avery called and gave her a clean bill of health.

  She was now headed to church for the first time since she found out for sure that William was having an affair. She prayed God would work a miracle while she was there and instantly wash away all the pain she had suffered for the past several weeks.

  On Friday, April had the colposcopy and the cryosurgery. Dr. Palmer felt that she may as well go ahead and kill the two birds since she already had April open. The cryosurgery at this stage was more of a preventative, precautionary measure that would not hurt anything, even if the cells scraped during the colposcopy were not cancerous.

  When Dr. Palmer asked April about the obvious injury to her mouth, she lied and said she got caught accidently by a door that someone was trying to exit at the same time she was trying to enter while at work. Dr. Palmer gave no indication one way or the other as to whether she believed April.

  April then went home with the intention of spending the next two days relaxing, ready to return to work on Monday; however, peace would not come to her because she missed William too much. She decided to call him to tell him things went relatively well with her procedure. Considering it had cost her his love, her mind interjected as an afterthought.

  “Hello, William,” she said solemnly when he answered the phone at his desk.

  “Hello, April.” He intentionally removed all emotion from his voice as he returned the greeting. Unbeknownst to April, though, William had a horrible pain in his chest both from the hole in his heart this whole affair had caused him and everyone involved, and from the bruise left by the lamp Aujanae threw at him.

  “I have not heard from you since you left the apartment the other night. How are you?”

  “To be honest with you, April, not so great, but I guess that is to be expected with everything I have done and gone through these past few weeks. But I really don’t want to go into all of that right now. I’m at work and I am swamped. I have no time to deal with it. But how are you? How is your lip healing?” William’s tone remained flat and even.

  “As well as can be expected, I guess. I also had my procedure done today. Dr. Palmer said everything looks good so far. I will have the full and final results in about a week. I’m pretty optimistic about everything turning out okay. I am honestly no longer worried about it.” April also tried to keep the emotion out of her voice, but she was not as successful as William.

  “That is good news, April.”

  “William, I would really love to see you, today if possible. I miss you so much.” April’s voice cracked as she fought to hold back the tears.

  William heard the pain, and his heart broke just a bit more.

  “April, I can’t. I just can’t. Things have been so crazy for these past few weeks. I’m not blaming you in any way. I was angry the other day when you told me about the STD, but I realize this is actually all on me. I had the power to stop all of this from happening over fourteen months ago and I didn’t. I let it go, let it grow into this horrible mess that it has now become.

  “You have no idea how horrific it was the other night when I had to tell my wife that I could have possibly infected her with a sexually transmitted disease because of my selfishness. Aujanae has done nothing, absolutely nothing to deserve what I have done to her, what I have done to our family. She will probably never forgive me, and I don’t blame her. I honestly don’t even know if I want her to, but I know I will never get over the pain I so unnecessarily caused her. In spite of all that, however, I am going to do all I can to win her back and repair our marriage.”

  William paused, realizing he was doing exactly what he told April he did not want to do. He was discussing this drama at w
ork. He then realized he may as well go ahead and get it all out, since he had already started.

  “Then there is what I have done to you. I allowed myself to love you and allowed you to love me, all while I was still loving my wife. April, you knew I was married even before I told you I was, but this is still all my bad. I was the one who was married. I was the one who should have allowed you, your beauty, and your charm to get up from that table that day and never seek you out again. Then in the end, I not only hurt you emotionally, but I physically injured you as well. Yes, it was unintentional, but if I think about it, all of this was unintentional. I never meant for any of this to happen. I was the only one in a position to have prevented it all.

  “So I’m saying to you now, April, I am sorry for hurting you. I am even sorry for the day I allowed you to sit at my table. Sorry for not saying that yes, you are beautiful, but my wife and my son are more beautiful to me. I’m sorry for everything, April, but I can’t see you today. I can’t and won’t see you ever again.”

  William abruptly ended the conversation there and hung up the phone.

  William severed the phone call. William severed their relationship. William slaughtered her heart. William had changed her life. When she finally hit the end button on her phone, William was long gone tangibly, emotionally, forever.

  April sat in her apartment for hours after the phone call, alternating between entertaining herself as the lone guest at her pity party, crying uncontrollably, and stomping around her apartment, attempting to convince herself she was better off without him, declaring and chanting the mantra from the old school Gloria Gaynor song, “I Will Survive.” She started this all in the early afternoon, and it was past dark when she had finally exhausted herself from her confusion.

  Then, in her final resolution to herself as she folded herself into bed that evening, April decided that on the following day, that Saturday, she would begin the healing by doing some retail therapy. She would go out and shop for herself, buying herself a new wardrobe for church, because on Sunday, the real healing would begin.

  So today, Sunday, she was going to get her strength to survive, as Gloria Gaynor sang, from God. What better way to start walking in that strength than to go to the church where William and his wife attended, showing them both that she would not allow them to defeat her? She would walk into King David’s Christian Tabernacle determined that the end of her relationship with William would be the beginning of a new and better relationship with God.

  April’s resolution did not completely eliminate the butterflies that rode in the car with her on her drive to church. She was as nervous as the proverbial whore in the church house, but she was going anyhow. She would face whatever demons she encountered with her back straight and her head held high. She was going in search of Jesus’ forgiveness, not that of those lowly saints who judgmentally deemed themselves better than her.

  April pulled her car into the first available spot she saw as she entered the parking lot. She checked her hair and makeup in the lighted vanity mirror she kept in her glove compartment and found nothing askew. She stepped out of the car, tugged at the skirt that hung, uncharacteristically, below her knee to be sure that the hem was straight, and began her stride toward the sanctuary.

  Maleeka and Aujanae arrived at church at virtually at the same time. Maleeka was exiting her car just as Aujanae pulled into the lot a few spaces over from her. The two ladies joined up and began their trot to the sanctuary together.

  “You look pretty today, Aujanae. I’m so glad you decided to come.”

  “I’m not so sure yet. I mean, as long as William doesn’t show up, I think I will be able to enjoy service today, but if he is here, I don’t know how comfortable I will be,” Aujanae replied nervously and honestly.

  Maleeka intertwined her arms with Aujanae’s as they walked. “Don’t worry about it. Me and God have got your back. We will all get through this together.”

  Aujanae smiled for what was probably the first time in at least a week. She was truly glad Maleeka was her friend.

  When the pair entered the narthex, the doors to enter the sanctuary were closed. There were three or four other congregants standing there waiting to enter as well. Maleeka assumed someone must be praying before praise and worship got started, so the ushers did not want anyone walking in. Maleeka, still locked in the arm embrace with Aujanae, was looking behind her, preparing to greet someone as they entered the narthex when she felt a death grip so strong on her arm she was certain that all circulation to that part of her body had instantly stopped. When she turned to find out what was going on, she looked to see that Aujanae’s face had turned as white as a sheet. Her friend was standing motionless, staring at the back of a woman’s perfectly coifed head.

  “Aujanae, what’s wrong? You are putting a serious hurting on me,” Maleeka stated as she attempted to pry her arm loose.

  “She’s here! April! She’s right there,” Aujanae stated without discretion.

  Maleeka looked up and realized that at the mention of her name, April had turned around and spied her. Maleeka was staring at her with pure contempt in her eyes.

  Maleeka shook Aujanae loose and advanced toward April and got right in her face.

  “I can’t believe you have the dirty nerve to show your face here. You must be crazy or suicidal or both,” Maleeka spat.

  “Excuse me. Do I know you?” April replied haughtily.

  “Probably not, but I believe you know my friend here, Aujanae. And I know for certain that you know her husband, William,” Maleeka responded loudly. Aujanae was now standing right by her side.

  “I don’t have anything to say to either of you. I am here to praise and worship God. I suggest you walk away and leave me alone,” April said evenly as she lowered her voice to barely above a whisper.

  “Walk away from you?” Maleeka asked loudly. She actually took a step closer to April. “Perhaps you should have taken your own advice and walked away from my friend’s husband, tramp!”

  Deacon Jonathan Ealy, who was amongst the small crowd still waiting in the narthex, approached the antagonistic group of women and stepped between Maleeka and April. “Ladies, I would like to remind you all that you are in the House of the Lord. Please conduct yourselves accordingly,” the middle-aged gentleman said sternly.

  Aujanae did not know which emotion was more prevalent in her right then, anger or embarrassment. Seeing April standing only a few feet from her was causing her to see so much red that she was instantly developing a headache. Maleeka practically broadcasting that April was her husband’s mistress made her want the floor to open up and swallow all three of them whole. On their way down to wherever they would land, Aujanae was sure she would punch April straight in her face.

  Maleeka was still out of control. “Why don’t we just step outside to the parking lot, heffa? That way we will no longer be in God’s House.”

  “Maleeka, let it go. This trashy hag is not worth it,” Aujanae stated while staring directly at April.

  “William certainly did not find anything trashy about me in the past fifteen months. And believe me, he looked in every nook and cranny of me,” April replied nastily, sarcastically, and confidently.

  Maleeka attempted to step around Deacon Ealy and lunge for April, but was stopped by both him and Aujanae.

  “Young lady, I want you to stop this nonsense right now. I know your mother and your fiancé’s parents would not be pleased with this behavior,” Deacon Ealy reprimanded as he held on to one of Maleeka’s arms.

  “That’s right, Maleeka. Besides, I don’t know if you have ever had the HPV vaccination. Remember I told you this slut gave William a sexually transmitted disease. I don’t want you to inadvertently catch anything from her nasty behind while you’re beating her down. If one drop of her blood gets on you, you could get infected with who knows what.” Aujanae’s return jab was the knockout punch. Everyone in the narthex either gasped or laughed.

  April, obviously mortified, did her
best to act unaffected, but she turned and walked from the church, straining to keep her head up. Anyone with even one good eye could tell she was high-tailing it out of there with the quickness because she was humiliated.

  Just then the ushers opened the doors for those waiting in the narthex to enter the sanctuary. Deacon Ealy had parting words for Aujanae and April before he went in.

  “Ladies, I would love to stand here and say I don’t know what that was all about, but you all made it quite obvious. I will for certain say this: that was not Godlike behavior. You should never behave like that in the House of the Lord, or even in His parking lot.” The last remark was aimed directly at Maleeka. With his parting shot, Deacon Ealy headed into the sanctuary.

  Aujanae dragged Maleeka, who she could tell was still fuming, into the bathroom before they went in for praise and worship. They both sat down on the lounge sofa to catch their breath and calm themselves.

  “Thanks for having my back, girl. I can’t believe you were willing to fight her right here in the church.”

  “The Lord is going to have to forgive me for this one. I just got so mad when I realized who had you so unnerved, standing there like all was right in her universe. Please! That skanky troll better be darn glad you and Deacon Ealy stopped me from whipping her tail. I can’t believe you were holding me back instead of it being the other way around. But that last insult was worth a thousand punches to the gut.” Both ladies were stoic at first, and then burst into a fit of giggles.

  Just then the last person Maleeka wanted to see at that moment came marching into the ladies room. The laughter stopped instantly.

  “Maleeka Davis! Is it true? Did Deacon Ealy have to stop you from having a street brawl right here in the church?”

  Maleeka took one look at her future mother-in-law and wanted to laugh out loud again. The ugly hat she had on looked like something she borrowed from Miss Piggy from the Muppets. It was so shocking to see her looking like that. Deacon Osborne was normally impeccably dressed at church.