She turned off the kitchen light on her way to the garage. “Thank you, Father,” she said, opening the door leading to the garage. She climbed in her silver Accord. Hezekiah had recently bought her the used car. She smiled as she backed out of the garage. Life was good.
***
Detria stood on her side of the double vanity sink in their master bath. She ran a face towel underneath the faucet, allowing the water to get as cold as it could, then she sandwiched the wet towel between her hands, gently pressing excess water out before placing it on her neck for several seconds, and on her forehead for several more.
When that didn’t do any good, she walked to the other side of the bathroom, opened the private area that housed the toilet, and proceeded to lift the toilet seat and slightly lean over it. She held her tummy, but suddenly the wave of nausea left as quickly as it had come. As a nutritionist, Detria recognized when something was off about her diet or food intake. She was careful to eat healthy and choose her foods wisely, so she didn’t quite know what had triggered the wave of nausea. “Thank God, that didn’t last long. Must have been that salmon I ate last night. I won’t get that again,” she talked to herself while she finished getting dressed.
“Let’s see, what shoes do I wear?” Looking at the rows of shoes that were perfectly organized in her walk-in closet, she chose a pair of signature heels and a purse that matched her jaded green maxi dress.
On her way to Holy Rock, she thought of what she could bring to the table about the marriage ministry. One of the things she wanted to implement was a program to help troubled marriages, or some type of class where women and men could come and talk about private matters. Perhaps, it was because she felt guilty about her own infidelity. She was eager to hear some of Fancy’s ideas too.
In Detria’s office, the two women discussed several of the items from both of their lists until they decided to implement a combination of their ideas.
“Would you like to go somewhere and have lunch?” Fancy suggested after they finished their meeting.
“Sure, that sounds good. I’m hungry. I didn’t have anything but a banana this morning and a cup of coffee. Anywhere in particular you want to go?”
“I was thinking we could go to Jim and Samella’s,” answered Fancy.
“Jim and Samella’s?”
“Yes, it’s a new restaurant over on Bullington in South Memphis. I’ve been there twice since they opened. They have great food, and a good variety too. The staff is courteous and the atmosphere is inviting.”
“Okay, sounds good. I’m game,” Detria replied.
The ladies gathered their purses, and Detria put the files inside her file cabinet and got ready to leave. Just as she opened the door, Skip’s hand was in a fist, like he was about to knock on the door.
“Hello, Brother Madison.”
“Hello, First Lady Graham.” Skip nodded. “Hello, Sister McCoy.”
“Hello, Brother Madison,” Fancy responded. She walked on the other side of the door and stood next to him while he talked to Detria. She paid close attention to Detria’s body language.
“How can I help you?”
She looks like she’s just been caught with her hands in the cookie jar, thought Fancy.
“Uh, I needed to talk to you about,” he stuttered, “the two rooms over in the children’s wing. You said you wanted to take a look at them to see if we can reconfigure them for the new Puppet Ministry.”
“Yes, that’s right, but I can’t right now. Sister McCoy and I were about to go get something to eat. Maybe we can set something up for later.”
Detria briefly made eye contact with Fancy like she was searching for approval. “We should be back in a couple of hours, wouldn’t you say, Sister McCoy?”
“Yes, I don’t see why we shouldn’t.”
“Okay, I’ll see you when you get back. You ladies enjoy your lunch.”
“Thanks, Brother Madison,” Fancy replied while Detria nodded.
Fancy was no fool. She could tell by the way they looked at each other, along with the noticeable nervous twist from Detria, that there was most definitely some chemistry being generated between the two. Maybe Detria Graham needed to take heed to some of the things they discussed about the marriage ministry.
Chapter 13
“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” Luke 8:17 ESV
Detria hurriedly excused herself, leaving Fancy practically standing alone on the church parking lot.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay? I’ll walk to your office with you.”
“No, no, I’ll be fine. We’ll talk later. Thanks for everything, Sister McCoy.” Detria jetted off and ran inside the church. She practically ran to her office, hurriedly unlocked it, leaving the door partially open as she raced to the bathroom. She made it to the toilet just in time to throw up her insides.
“Detria. You in here?” Stiles walked all the way into her office. “Hello, anybody in here?”
Detria slowly evolved from the bathroom, looking pale and shaken.
“Honey, what is it? Are you all right?”
“I don’t feel well. Me and Fancy had lunch, and before I even got to the restaurant, I started feeling a little nauseated. I ate anyway, thinking that I needed to put something on my stomach since I didn’t have much breakfast. I guess that wasn’t the problem. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Maybe my resistance is low.”
Stiles walked up to her and felt her forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever. You’re just a little clammy. Come over on the couch and sit down for a minute.”
“Okay.” She slowly followed Stiles to the couch and sat down.
Skip walked up and saw Detria’s door open. He was on his way to see if she was back from her lunch with Fancy. He really did want to show her the rooms that they had talked about for the puppet ministry, but that was not all he had on his agenda. He was tired of Detria avoiding him at all costs. He had to talk to her again, see where her head was. He wanted to keep having his cake and eating it too. He had made up in his mind that he wasn’t going to pressure her or make her feel like he was stalking her, nothing like that. But he did miss her, missed everything about her. He wasn’t ready to give up on their relationship, even if what they were doing was wrong.
He was about to go into her office when he heard Stiles talking. He stood outside the door and listened as Stiles talked about taking Detria to the doctor if she didn’t feel better. What’s wrong with her? When he saw her earlier, Detria looked fine; so fine that he wanted to gather her into his arms and kiss her, but with Fancy McCoy practically breathing down his throat, that made it impossible.
“No, I’m good. I think I’ll go pick up Audrey from Mother Brown’s and then go home, lie down, and get some rest,” he heard her tell Stiles.
“You can’t get any rest with Audrey there. I tell you what, you go home. Can you drive, or do you need me to take you?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I can manage.”
Skip knocked on the open door. “Hello, anyone in here?” he asked as he took a step inside.
“Skip, hello,” Stiles said as he stood and greeted him. “What can I do for you?” Stiles asked, sounding like he was perturbed at Skip’s untimely appearance.
“I was on my way to the children’s wing, and noticed First Lady’s office door was open. I was just checking to see if everything was okay.”
“Everything’s good.” Stiles said. He was getting fed up with Skip always popping up.
Skip looked, leaned to the right, past Stiles. “You sure she’s okay? She looks like she’s a little under the weather. Anything I can do?”
“I got this,” Stiles said, flinching his jaw line and revealing his aggravation with Skip.
Detria stood up and walked beside Stiles. Leaning against the side of his chest, she replied, “I’m fine.”
“Skip, make sure everything is locked up in here. I�
�m going to walk my wife to her car. You and Security meet me in my office in ten minutes. I have a few things I want to talk to you guys about.”
“Sure,” Skip answered.
Stiles held Detria in the center of her back as the two of them walked along the corridor, with Skip watching what looked like the ideal couple.
While locking up her office, Skip thought about how it must have looked and sounded to Stiles when he asked if Detria was okay. I have got to be more careful. Stiles looked at me like he wanted to slit my throat. Skip shook his head from side to side, like he was trying to clear his mind.
Moments later, after Stiles returned to his office, he met briefly with Skip and some of his security staff about ways to increase security at the church and reorganize the time Stiles spent socializing with his members at the end of the church service. With the congregation in the high thousands, it was draining on Stiles to stand and talk with the droves of people who wanted him to pray for them, or tell them all about their problems, and their children’s problems, and on and on. Something had to be done. After they discussed several possible solutions and scheduled to have a meeting with some of the other staff later in the week, Stiles convened the meeting, and every one proceeded to leave, except for Skip.
“Hey, I’m going to go get something to eat, unless you need me to do something else.”
“Naw, everything’s good. Go on,” Stiles said.
“All right. I’m out then. I’ll be back in about an hour.”
Stiles studied the bracelet on Skip’s wrist again. “Hey, man, those real diamonds?” Stiles faked a laugh as he pointed to the bracelet.
“You know I don’t deal in nothing fake, bro.”
“What you doing wearing it around here then? You lose that, and church or not, somebody is going to keep it for themselves.”
“Believe me, it’s not going anywhere. The clasp on this thing is locked tighter than Fort Knox.” Skip laughed.
“Man, you’re too cheap to buy something like that for yourself.”
“Who said I bought it?”
“Exactly. What female you got buying you stuff now?”
If only you knew. “This ain’t nothing. Just a little something-something one of my lady friends hit me with.”
Stiles’ mind started racing. “Who is she?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t sounding too presumptuous.
“Who is who?”
“The female that bought it. Does she go to Holy Rock?”
“Man, what’s with the twenty questions?”
“Hey, just asking, bro,” Stiles answered.
“You know how I roll.”
“Yeah, I do. You haven’t changed at all.”
“I can’t help it. You know I’m not one to settle down with one female like you and Leo. That’s just not me. I enjoy the single life too much.”
“Man, you need to find you a good woman, marry her, and have some little Skips running around.”
Skip laughed on the outside, but inside he was thinking about Detria. He looked at the bracelet and for a minute, just a minute, he felt guilty about sleeping with his friend’s wife.
***
Instead of going straight home, a block from her house Detria stopped at a CVS Pharmacy. Her chime sounded on her phone just as she was at the counter paying for her items.
“U ok?” Skip texted as he walked outside to his car.
Detria read his message. I am not going to do this, Skip. I will not talk to you. I won’t. I won’t. I won’t. She left the store, got in her car and drove home, ignoring Skip’s text message.
“I need 2 talk to u.”
Detria huffed. “Why can’t he leave well enough alone?”
As soon as she stepped foot inside the house, her cell phone started ringing. Slightly irritated, she answered it. “What, Skip?”
“I’m worried about you.”
“I don’t need you worrying about me. All I need you to do is leave me alone.”
“You looked like a ghost when I saw you. You can’t blame me for being concerned.”
Detria stood in the kitchen. “Like I said, I’m good. Now stop calling me!” she screamed into the phone, then abruptly ended the call.
She threw her cell phone on the foyer table as she walked out of the kitchen, up the long hallway, and into the downstairs bathroom. She sat her purse on top of the sink, opened it, and removed the small white plastic bag with the items she’d purchased from the pharmacy.
Detria lifted the lid on the toilet. Lifting her skirt and sliding down her panties, she sat down on the toilet, praying that her worst fears would not come to pass.
She finished what she dreaded having to do, then got up from the toilet, and left out of the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, she returned to the bathroom. As if in slow motion, the plastic tube fell from her trembling hand after she saw the plus symbol. With a light clinking sound, it hit the floor.
Detria’s knees buckled as she slid down the back of the bathroom wall until she too was on the cold tile floor. With her head cradled in both hands, she screamed. “Oh, God, noooo, not this. Not now.”
Chapter 14
“The only things you give yourself when you cheat are fear and guilt.” Unknown
Detria curled up in a fetal position in the middle of the bed. Uncertain what to do, she turned over, removed the house phone from its base and called Brooke.
“I’m pregnant,” she said as soon as Brooke answered the phone.
“Pregnant? How do you know? Have you been to the doctor?”
“No, but I’ve been nauseated for the past several days. First, I thought it was a stomach virus, then I remembered that my period hadn’t started, so I stopped at CVS this afternoon and bought a pregnancy test.”
“Wow, congratulations. I’m happy for you and Stiles. Girl, God is good!”
“I don’t know if I would say all that.” Detria sat up in the bed and held her stomach. Rocking back and forth, she started crying again. “I don’t want to be pregnant, not now, Brooke.”
“But why? You said Stiles wanted more children. I mean, it’s not like this should be a shock to you. You aren’t on the pill and obviously you and Stiles don’t use—oh my gosh, please don’t tell me that it could be that Skip dude’s baby?” Brooke’s voice shot up an octave.
Dead silence filtered through the phone.
“Detria, hello, are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. What am I going to do, Brooke? Suppose it is his baby?”
“Look, you don’t even know if you’re pregnant. Those tests aren’t a hundred percent accurate. Make an appointment with your OB/GYN first, then worry about the rest after you find out if you really are pregnant.”
“I’m no dummy. I know my body, and I’m telling you, I really think I’m pregnant. Brooke, I don’t know if I can go through with this. I mean, the chance is too great. If it turns out that I am, I might have to, you know…”
“No, I don’t know. What are you talking about?”
“I might have to have an abortion.”
“Girl, stop talking crazy. Two wrongs do not make a right. And there is no way I am going to stand by and let you kill an innocent baby. No way. Now stop talking nonsense and call the doctor, make an appointment. I’ll go with you. Until then, get yourself together. I’ve got to go now. The boys have baseball practice this evening. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Okay, but Brooke, don’t say a word to John, or to Mom and Dad.”
“I won’t. I’ll call you later. Bye.”
“Bye.” Detria put the phone back on its base, scooted up in the middle of the bed and fell asleep.
***
Stiles picked up Audrey from Mother Brown’s but instead of going home, he went to visit Pastor. He missed the days of talking to his father about almost any and everything. Since Pastor married Josie, Stiles had backed off with his regular visits. He wanted to give Pastor and Miss Josie their space. He was glad his father had found happiness again.
His mother had been Pastor’s heart. It was good to see that someone, especially someone as sweet as Miss Josie, could make Pastor smile again.
“We’re going to go see Paw Paw,” Stiles told Baby Audrey.
“Paw, Paw,” Audrey said from her car seat.
“That’s right. We’re going to see Paw Paw.”
When they arrived at Emerald Estates, Josie greeted him at the door. Stiles was glad Pastor made the decision to move back to Emerald Estates after he got married to Miss Josie. Emerald Estates held precious memories. It was where he and Francesca had grown up.
When his mother died, Pastor moved in with him and Detria, after having had two strokes. That had been a bad idea, but after Pastor moved out from them and into the private assisted living facility, things started to turn around for him. He met Miss Josie, his health improved, and now Pastor and Miss Josie were able to enjoy a happy, healthy life together as husband and wife. On top of that, Pastor was overjoyed when Miss Josie told him she had no issue with moving back into the family house Pastor had shared with his deceased wife.
“Pastor, I don’t know what to believe. I don’t want to think that she’s been unfaithful.” Stiles shook his head in shame at the very idea that Detria really might be having an affair.
“Son, I know the two of you have seen some tough times in your marriage, but I hope that my daughter-in-law isn’t so unhappy that she would go outside of her marriage.”
“But, Pastor, when I look back and start putting things together, it makes me that much more suspicious. Remember that time I came home and I told you I heard her on the phone talking to somebody, and I know it wasn’t Brooke or one of her other friends?”
“Yes, I vaguely remember.”
“Well, I think it had to be a dude. I think that dude was Skip.”
“You don’t know that for sure, Son.”
“There are other things. Like this bracelet that Skip is wearing. It’s a bracelet I saw Detria buy with my own eyes. I’m telling you, Pastor, I think she’s messing around. And I swear, if…”
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