Ruthless

by Shelia M. Goss

  Delilah said, “She’ll be on the phone in a few minutes, calling everybody in the neighborhood. She’s the neighborhood gossiper.”

  “I can tell,” Sheba responded as the two laughed.

  Chapter 16

  David was thrilled to get the call he had been waiting for. Delilah’s voice boomed through the room. He was in the middle of his morning workout, so he had her on speakerphone. “My sister has allowed me to stay with her while I recuperate. I don’t know how long I will be here, so if you’re going to make your move, I suggest you do it soon, so I can at least be around to get in her head.”

  “I’m leaving for New York in the morning. I wish you would have called me sooner. I could have been there tonight.”

  “That wouldn’t have gone over too well with her. Let me work on her for a few days. When do you think you can come through?” Delilah asked.

  David stopped working out and picked up his iPhone. He scrolled through his calendar. “I’ll be in New York, and then I’m flying to Milan. I’ll be back in the States on Wednesday.”

  “You go, boy. I see why you’re the king.”

  “And you know it,” David responded.

  Nathan walked in the room but remained quiet when he saw David hold up his hand.

  “Do what you do. You got my number. Just call me when you’re on your way, and I’ll do the rest.”

  David ended his call.

  Nathan said, “Hey, man, you’re a hard person to catch up with.”

  “Trying to keep a roof over my head,” David replied.

  “You mean, a couple of roofs. You got property in every state.”

  “No, man, not in every state. Twenty-five of them, but not every.”

  Nathan threw his hands up in the air. “See? That’s what I’m talking about. You need to hook a brotha up with a job so he can share in the wealth.”

  David knew Nathan was joking. Nathan was doing well on his own. His wealth didn’t compare to David’s, but as the pastor of one of Dallas’s mega churches and the author of over ten New York Times best-selling books, Nathan was far away from the poorhouse. He was a sought-after speaker and had traveled the world. He repeatedly showed up on the Forbes and the Black Enterprise millionaires’ list as one of the top paid authors in the United States.

  “Who was that woman with the sexy voice?” Nathan asked as he took the liberty of getting himself a bottle of water from the small refrigerator in David’s office.

  “That’s Delilah,” David said as he went back to lifting weights.

  “Is she as sexy as she sounds?” Nathan asked while sitting down with his drink.

  “Just as sexy as her sister.”

  “Do I know her sister?” Nathan asked.

  “Not yet, but you will. Remember Sheba, the woman I was telling you about?”

  “The one married to one of your directors?”

  “Yes. Delilah is her sister.”

  “Well, what is her sister doing talking to you?”

  “She’s helping me out with something.”

  Nathan finished his water and placed the empty bottle on the coaster on the table. “Man, you’re playing with fire.”

  “After I get Sheba where I want her, the first thing I’m going to do is tell her not to trust her sister. Because as much as I want Sheba, Delilah shouldn’t be scheming behind her back.”

  Nathan laughed. “Man, you’re a trip. What do you call what you’re doing? You’re scheming behind her back. In fact, you sent the woman’s husband to Afghanistan. Come on, man. Afghanistan. I hope she’s worth it.”

  David slammed the weight down on the floor. “Why do you always have to be so judgmental?”

  “As your friend, it’s my role to keep you on the straight and narrow.” Nathan looked David directly in the eyes.

  “As my friend, I need for you to mind your own business.”

  “I wish I could do that. Remember when we were in college?” Nathan asked.

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Oh, I don’t think you do. Remember when I walked up to you and told you that God wanted to do great things in your life, if only you would submit to Him?”

  “Yes, I remember. I started going to church more because of you.”

  “Well, David, you must have forgotten what else I told you.”

  David tilted his head from side to side as he tried to recall the conversation Nathan was referring to. “I honestly don’t remember what else you said.”

  “God sent me to you that day. I had no intentions of coming to the student union. I was napping when I heard God tell me to seek you out. The description I got of you in my head was eerie. That was one of my most vivid visions. So when I saw the light-skinned black man with curly red hair sipping on a cola like in my vision, I knew you were the one.”

  “Oh yeah, I remember now. I thought you were just kidding.”

  “No, man, I was serious then, and I’m serious now. God sends me visions. We’ve talked about some of them before.”

  “I know. God speaks to me, too.”

  “He would speak with you more if you would stop and listen.”

  “I listen.” David wouldn’t look Nathan in the face. “Well, most of the time.”

  “Are you listening now?”

  David didn’t say a word.

  Nathan stood up. “You don’t have to answer me. This is between you and God.”

  “Then see your way out of my business.”

  “Don’t shoot the messenger,” Nathan said as he retrieved another bottle of water from the refrigerator. “I got a date, anyway, so I’ll catch you later.”

  “For a preacher, you sure go out on a lot of dates,” David said.

  “I’m trying to find a first lady, because I’m tired of the single women coming to church with their dresses getting shorter and shorter and their blouses cut lower and lower.”

  “Man, I need to be coming to church more often if that’s the case.”

  “Yes, you do, but you need to be focused on the word, not the women.”

  “Then what’s the fun?”

  “Lord, what are we going to do with him?” Nathan said as he looked up toward the heavens.

  After Nathan left, David thought about his own life and his weakness for women. Would God forgive him for what he had set in motion?

  Chapter 17

  It had been almost a week since Sheba moved Delilah temporarily into her and Uriah’s home. Now she was beginning to think Uriah was right. Delilah wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. In fact, she could be quite demanding. Sheba ended up having to do another round of grocery shopping, because Delilah was picky about the things she ate.

  “You would think someone opening up their home and refrigerator to you would make you a little more grateful,” Sheba blurted out.

  “Well, you’re the one who invited me here. Remember?” Delilah snapped back.

  Sheba rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “I’m not going to let you get under my skin today. I promised myself that.”

  “Well, I can just call Keisha and have her take me home, since I’m such a bother.” Delilah reached for her purse to look for her cell phone.

  Sheba picked up the cell phone on the counter and waved it around in the air. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

  “Yes. Now, if you’ll pass it to me, I’ll be out of your hair shortly.”

  Sheba disobeyed. “Look. I’m sorry. I’m missing Uriah. You’re quite demanding, and my nerves are just shot, okay?”

  “Well, don’t take it out on me. I’m just an innocent victim of your wrath.”

  Sheba raised her eyebrows. “Innocent, you are not.”

  “Okay, I admit, I can be a little demanding.” Delilah held her fingers inches away from each other.

  “You can lie to me, but you can’t lie to God,” Sheba said as she handed Delilah her phone and then took a seat on the couch, next to her.

  “Lord, forgive me for lying. I kn
ow my little sister is doing all she can to make me comfortable.”

  “Thanks. Sometimes all a person needs is to feel appreciated.” Sheba thought about the scant attention she felt her husband was giving her. He had missed their last two chat sessions due to work.

  “How long is your husband supposed to be gone?” Delilah asked.

  “Five more months. I don’t know if I can take this. We’ve never been apart more than a few days.”

  “What are you going to do when you get that itch?” Delilah asked.

  “Itch? If I’m itching, I better be taking my behind to the doctor.”

  Delilah laughed. “No, silly. I’m talking about the urge. The urge to do what grown folks do.”

  “Pray. Read my Bible. Bug you. Something to get my mind off it.”

  “David seems to be interested in you. It wouldn’t hurt to see what he’s about. Maybe Uriah’s not here because you’re supposed to be with another man,” Delilah said without blinking.

  “The only reason why David is interested in me is because I’m off-limits. If I was single, he wouldn’t look at me twice. I don’t have time to be a pawn in a rich man’s games. Besides, I love my husband too much.”

  Delilah pouted. “Well, who said anything about you falling in love with him? I’m talking about getting your groove on. I’m sure with a body like his, he can work it.”

  Sheba laughed. “If you’re that interested in David, maybe you should make a move on him yourself.”

  Delilah looked away. “He’s not my type. Only one of us can be the center of attention, and he’s too arrogant for me.”

  Sheba swung around to face Delilah. She placed one of her legs under the other. “I said I wasn’t going to say anything, but since you’re all up in my business, I’m curious. Is it true you had an affair with that preacher and that’s why you were shot?”

  “Li’l sis, don’t believe everything you hear. I know none of those Holy Rollers would risk spending the rest of their lives in jail for shooting me.”

  “But that’s not the question I asked you.”

  “Would you look at me differently if I told you that yes, I did?” Delilah bit her bottom lip. “Samson Judges tried to convince the church that it was my fault that he and I had an affair. I didn’t make Samson do anything. He slept with me because he wanted to. I made a mistake. I was foolish enough to think he cared for me. I thought he loved me. He led me to believe that he did, anyway.”

  “Something tells me you’re not as innocent as you would like for me to believe, but if that’s the story you want to go with, then so be it.” Sheba tilted her head to the side.

  Delilah batted her eyes. “Surely, you’re not calling me a liar.”

  “Well, if the shoe fits.”

  “None of my shoes fit anymore. My feet are still swollen up.” Delilah glanced down at her feet and laughed.

  “How I wished our mother was here to see the two of us.”

  “She would be proud of one and not so proud of the other.” A sad expression crossed Delilah’s face.

  Sheba patted Delilah on the leg. “You’re a beautiful woman. Yes, you made some mistakes. Who hasn’t? Lord knows, I’ve made plenty. I used to envy you because you were her first.”

  “Really?” Delilah looked at Sheba in disbelief.

  “Yes, really. Mom talked about you so much that sometimes I was jealous.”

  “You have nothing to be jealous about,” Delilah said.

  “Tell a teenage girl that.”

  “I must say us Baker girls are some bad mama jamas.”

  “No, you didn’t say ‘Bad mama jamas.’ You’re only three years older than me, and you sound so—”

  “Old school,” Delilah interrupted.

  “Yes, old school.” They both burst out laughing. Sheba’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She looked at the caller ID display. There was a message from Uriah. “Look, I need to go chat with Uriah, but we’ll finish this sister session later.”

  “Tell my brother-in-law I said hello,” Delilah said.

  “Okay.” Sheba knew she had no intentions of delivering the message. Uriah still didn’t know Delilah was staying at their home, and she planned to keep it that way.

  She went into their home office and turned on the laptop. While it was booting up, she checked the mirror on the desk to make sure her hair was in place. She had put on some light makeup earlier. She logged on to Skype. It took a few minutes for their connection to be established.

  The first thing out of Uriah’s mouth was, “I’m sorry I had to cancel the last two times.”

  Sheba didn’t like how Uriah looked. He had bags under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in days. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “I can’t disclose everything going on over here, but let me just say that it’s different than what I thought it was going to be.”

  “Meaning?” Sheba asked.

  “The people are eager to learn, but going out of the compound can get a little dangerous. One of my coworkers got injured because the truck in front of him blew up. I was supposed to be in that truck, so that sort of freaked me out.”

  “And you’re just now telling me this? Uriah, I don’t care what you do, but you see about getting transferred back here. That job is not worth you losing your life.”

  “Calm down, Sheba. See, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you. Only reason I’m telling you now is because it’ll probably be on the news, and I didn’t want you to hear about it from someone else.”

  All Sheba saw was red. “Uriah, either you talk to David King or I will. I need you home with me.”

  “I’m not going to do it, and you promise me, you won’t, either.”

  Sheba wouldn’t promise. As soon as they disconnected their Skype call, she would find David’s number and call him. No amount of money was worth Uriah risking his life. She would give up getting another house if it meant having her husband back with her safe and sound.

  Chapter 18

  David went straight home. He had planned on working some before going to bed, but he drifted off to sleep. His was a light sleep, and his eyes popped open when he felt his personal cell phone vibrate. He answered it without looking at the number on the phone display. “This better be good.”

  “Is that how you answer all your calls, Mr. King?” Sheba said.

  “Who is this?” David was now fully awake.

  “I’m your worst nightmare if you don’t bring my husband home.”

  “Sheba, is that you?”

  “You know who it is. Stop playing games with me. I told Uriah that if he didn’t ask to be transferred back here, I would call you myself, and since he’s too chicken to call you, I did.”

  David laughed. He loved her spunk. Knowing she was upset made him want her more. “Sheba, Uriah’s there because he wants to be there. He could have turned down my offer.”

  “Nobody defies King David. Whatever you ask, they do,” she said mockingly.

  “Let’s put an end to this. I’ll call him on the three-way, and you can see for yourself. Hold on.” Before she could protest, David clicked over to his other line. He dialed the number he had saved for Uriah. “Uriah, how are things going?”

  “Fine, Mr. King,” Uriah responded.

  “I have your wife on the phone. It looks like we have a slight problem,” David said, then clicked a button on the phone. “Sheba, are you there? I have Uriah on the phone with us.”

  “Baby, what did you say to Mr. King?” Uriah quickly questioned his wife.

  “Don’t ‘baby’ me. I told you if you didn’t call him, I would. Now, David, tell him he can come home.”

  “Uriah, it’s your option, and it’s not going to affect your job,” David told him. “If you want to come back and run the Shreveport office, come home and I will send Richard or someone else out there with Simon.”

  Uriah didn’t hesitate to say, “Mr. King, there will be no need for that. You sent me out here to do this job, and I will. I will not leave un
til your plans have been implemented.”

  “But, baby,” Sheba said.

  “Sheba, I hate that you got Mr. King involved in our little issue, and, dear, I will have to ask you to lose his number. If you have a problem with my job, call me. Let me deal with it. Okay?”

  “Yes, dear,” Sheba said, barely above a whisper.

  “Now that you two lovebirds are straight, I’m going to end this call and get back to sleeping.”

  David disconnected the call and threw his phone on the bed beside him. He closed his eyes, and Sheba’s face invaded his thoughts. He drifted off into a deep sleep. In his dreams he and Sheba had met under different circumstances. In his dreams Sheba became his wife. In his dreams Sheba bore his first child. It all seemed so real in his dreams that when his alarm buzzed and woke him up the next morning, he wanted to go back to sleep and back to his dreams. David started his day off by praying and reading scriptures. He had gotten out of the routine and needed to feel close to God, so after praying, he picked up his Bible and turned to Psalm 3. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

  David felt that the scripture spoke volumes in his life. Wade had given him some bad news over the weekend. Someone was secretly buying up some of his stock. They had not been able to discover who the culprit was as of yet, but David was sure they would soon find out. He would always have the majority of the stock shares, but he didn’t want anyone else to have enough shares to be able to veto any of his decisions.

  David’s phone rang the next morning, waking him up. The song he had preset on his phone indicated it was Nathan calling. Whenever the ring tone of Marvin Sapp’s song “He Saw the Best in Me” played, David knew it was his friend Nathan. “Nathan, I’m surprised you’re calling me on a Sunday morning.”

  “I need you, man.”

  David could hear the desperation in his voice. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need you to sing a solo.”

  “What? No. Now, you know I don’t sing anymore.”

  “You should. Please. Just one. It’s by special request. Remember Jonathan Heard? Well, he’s dying of cancer, man, and he’s in town. He asked me if I could get you to sing. Please. He might not make it to another service.”