Bridgette’s eyeballs scanned Charles from his head to his feet before she walked away.
Amaryllis turned toward him. “Thank you so much, Charles. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do for you what you did for me tonight.”
Frustrated, Charles sighed and leaned against the wall. Amaryllis saw the disappointed look on his face. “What? Did I say something wrong?” she asked.
“You just don’t get it, do you? I don’t want you to do for me what I did for you. That’s not what I’m about, Amaryllis. I showered you with gifts tonight because I wanted to. I enjoy being with you. I like it when you smile because that makes me smile. I promise you that I don’t want anything from you.”
Amaryllis was on the verge of tears. Charles didn’t say anything else. He gently kissed her cheek and walked away.
After Amaryllis had showered and dressed for bed, she got on her knees to pray. “Father, thank You. Thank You so much.” She didn’t ask God for anything, nor did she complain about anything. She simply thanked Him over and over again for His grace and especially for showing her mercy.
Chapter 12
During morning service, Amaryllis was standing, clapping, and singing praises to God when an usher came to her pew and extended his hand. Suddenly, Charles appeared looking as fine as he wanted to look. Amaryllis noticed the Hugo Boss tailor-made suit the moment she saw him. Charles excused himself past six people, including Bridgette. He made his way to the middle of the pew and stood next to Amaryllis. He left a whiff of Pleasures by Estee Lauder behind him.
Bridgette looked at her best friend and couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Amaryllis smile at a man the way she was smiling at Charles. Silently, she said a little prayer for her friend. Please, Lord, work this out for her. At the smile on Amaryllis’s face, Bridgette couldn’t help but smile herself.
Throughout the service, Amaryllis was so proud to have her man at her side. There was a time when no one could’ve paid Amaryllis to step one foot inside church doors. The few times that she had allowed her exboyfriend, Randall, to talk to her into going to church with him, she had embarrassed him by picking at her fingernails when the pastor was preaching or simply yelling obscenities when she thought the sermon was written specifically for Randall to break up with her.
But Amaryllis’s life had changed for the better. Now she was up on Sunday mornings before daybreak, excited about going to church. She looked forward to it. It was a thrill for her to sit in the presence of other saints and listen to what would be fed into her soul.
As the choir rendered in song, she noticed that Tyrone was absent. A guest musician, instead, was seated behind the organ. She shook her head thinking that it was just another Sunday morning that Tyrone was probably lying somewhere in a gutter, highly intoxicated. She looked at Charles who was standing, clapping, and singing along with the choir. Amaryllis was pleased with the decision she had made to get Tyrone out of her life and allow Charles back into it. She hadn’t heard a peep from Tyrone since that day of torture at her place, and she hadn’t seen Icee since she called to tell her that she was done with Tyrone. She’d killed two birds with one stone.
Standing next to Charles, Amaryllis heard him singing. “Please make me better. Better, Lord, better, Lord.”
Amaryllis began singing along with him. “Even if it means that I have a lot to sacrifice, make me better, Lord.” If someone had told her years ago that she’d come to love God the way she did, Amaryllis would’ve told that person that they were insane. But as she stood in church and praised God with her man at her side, Amaryllis sang until her heart was content.
During offering time, as Bridgette, Amaryllis, and Charles dropped their envelopes in the basket at the altar, Mother Caridine grabbed a hold of Amaryllis’s hand. Bridgette proceeded to her seat, but when Amaryllis stopped walking, so did Charles.
Mother Caridine looked at the man standing so closely to Amaryllis before she spoke. “Hi, sugar.”
Amaryllis kissed Mother Caridine’s cheek. “Hi, Mother. How are you?”
Again, Mother Caridine looked at Charles. “Hello.”
Amaryllis felt she had no other choice but to introduce them. “Uh, Mother Caridine, this is Charles.”
Charles extended his hand to her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Mother Caridine didn’t shake his hand. She ignored his remark as she spoke to Amaryllis. “I was wondering if you’re going to stop by and see Tyrone today. You do know that he’s in the hospital, don’t you?”
Amaryllis’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh, no, I didn’t know that. Is he all right?”
“No, he’s not all right. Haven’t you spoken with him?”
“No, ma’am. Ty and I are no longer seeing each other. I thought he would’ve told you.”
A shocked expression came across Mother Caridine’s face. “Oh. Uh, no, Tyrone didn’t inform me.” She looked at Charles again. “This is news to me.”
Charles sensed that it was an uncomfortable moment for Mother Caridine. He leaned close to Amaryllis. “Hey, uh, service is just about over. I’ll just wait for you outside.”
Amaryllis grabbed his hand to keep him right where he was. “You don’t have to leave.” She looked at Mother Caridine. “What happened to Ty?”
Even though Amaryllis hadn’t introduced Charles as her boyfriend, Mother Caridine knew he was more than a mere friend when Amaryllis wouldn’t let him walk away.
“He was in a car accident yesterday,” she stated.
Amaryllis placed her free hand on her chest. “Oh, my goodness. Was he badly hurt?”
“He was banged up pretty badly. A few broken ribs and a fractured collar bone, but he’ll pull through just fine.”
“What caused the accident?” Amaryllis asked.
Mother Caridine pinched her lips together. Amaryllis knew right then that alcohol was what caused Tyrone’s accident.
“Was he driving under the influence, Mother?”
Mother Caridine looked at Charles, then at Amaryllis. “Tyrone’s blood alcohol level was a bit high over the legal limit, but not much. I really believe the police officer exaggerated the results. Tyrone said he only had one beer.”
It never failed. Mother Caridine still defended her son, even when she knew it was against the law to drink and drive. Tyrone’s accident was more confirmation that Amaryllis had done the right thing by ending her brief relationship with him.
“Mother, please give Ty my best and let him know that I’ll keep him in my prayers.”
They then went back to their seats and waited for the benediction. When the minister dismissed the congregation, Charles spoke to Amaryllis. “You know I don’t mind if you want to go and check on your ex. Broken ribs and collar bone are serious business. It sounds like he’s in bad shape.”
It wasn’t that Amaryllis was insensitive to Tyrone and what had happened to him. She was relieved to know that he had survived the car accident. But she hadn’t vested any real time with him. Three weeks wasn’t long enough to have fallen in love. Amaryllis hadn’t slept with him, therefore, a stronghold, or soul tie, hadn’t yet formed. “I really don’t have the desire to see him. He has my prayers. That’s enough.”
Chapter 13
On Thursday morning, Amaryllis opened a letter addressed to her sent from Mrs. Michelle Denise Price-Bradley and showed it to Bridgette. “Look, Bridge, my sister’s still attached to Daddy. She refuses to drop his name.”
“Well, you said he raised her by himself. For her entire life it’s been him and her. And for her to have remained a virgin until marriage lets me know that he’s done a darn good job, if you ask me.”
Amaryllis looked at Bridgette as she opened Michelle’s letter. “Well, I didn’t ask you. Michelle is snooty, and so is Daddy.”
“If raising her to be snooty is what kept her legs closed, then I say ‘hats off’ to Mr. Nicholas Price. There ought to be more fathers like him. We got way too many baby daddies out there and too few fathers; there is a difference, you know.”
“Yeah, I know all too well. He’s my daddy and Michelle’s father.”
From the envelope, Amaryllis pulled out a flyer and read it silently.
Praise Temple Church Of God’s
Women of Warfare
Present a one-night crusade
“God’s Wailing Lady”
Prophetess Dr. Michellene Anderson
of Chicago, Illinois
Guest Speaker
6:00 P.M.
Saturday, September 15th, 2011
Praise Temple Church Of God
1751 Grace Parkway
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ulysses R. Graham, Senior Pastor
First Lady Cookie B. Graham,
Sponsor & Coordinator
Bridgette saw a weird expression on Amaryllis’s face as she read the flyer.
“Everything okay with your sister?”
“Yeah, it’s just an invitation to Michelle’s church’s crusade in three weeks.”
“So, why are you frowning?”
“Because, I have absolutely no clue what a crusade is.”
In Las Vegas, Nevada, James Bradley, Amaryllis’s brother-in-law, was walking out the front door on his way to work when the telephone rang. “Bradley residence.”
“Hello, Mr. Bradley. What are you up to?”
“Hey, Mickey. I’m up to missing you.”
Things hadn’t changed. James still couldn’t tell the difference between Michelle and Amaryllis when they were on the telephone.
“I’m up to calling from Chi-town,” Amaryllis said.
James looked puzzled as he glanced at the caller identification box. Then he saw his sister-in-law’s name. “Amaryllis?”
“The one and only. What’s up, brother-in-law?”
“Thank the Lord for technology, because you almost had me. You and Mickey are so much alike that even your voices are identical.”
“Everyone says that. So, how does it feel to be an old married man?”
“Well, I can’t tell you how it feels to be old because I wouldn’t know. But I can say that being married feels great. Michelle is a wonderful wife.”
“Spoken like a man in love.”
“True that.”
“Can I speak to my sister?”
“You can if you call the firm.”
Amaryllis glanced at her wristwatch. “James, it’s eight A.M. my time and six A.M. your time. Michelle is at work already?”
He chuckled. “You know your sister, Amaryllis. Mickey’s a workaholic, plus we’re going on vacation soon so she’s cramming right now.”
“Well, good for her, because I ain’t the one. How’s work going for you?”
He let out a loud sigh. “Same old, same old. My partner, Alex, just called and said that a body was found in a trunk. I was on my way to the crime scene when you called.”
Amaryllis remembered the time when she lived with Michelle how much James talked about despising his job as a homicide detective. “Well, don’t let me keep you from death,” she joked.
“That’s not funny.”
“Where’s your sense of humor?”
“In this business we’re not allowed to have one.”
“Michelle mentioned that your mother was in town. How is she?”
“Mom is good. Thanks for asking.”
“I’ll let you get to work, James. It was nice talking with you.”
James didn’t seem the least bit bothered by Amaryllis’s phone call. He’d spoken to her as though she had never set him up to make it seem like he was cheating on Michelle.
At Price & Associates Law Office, Michelle stood at Chantal’s desk discussing an upcoming trial when the telephone rang. “Price and Associates, Chantal speaking.”
“Good morning, Chantal. It’s Amaryllis.”
“Hi, Amaryllis, how are you?”
Michelle’s face lit up at the sound of her sister’s name.
“I’m fine, but the question is, ‘How’s that beautiful baby boy of yours?’”
“He’s adorable and getting bigger by the minute, Amaryllis, thanks for asking.”
“I saw the lovely pictures that Michelle sent me. She and James look so happy to be holding their godson. Is Michelle around?”
“Yes, hang on a second.”
Michelle was already sitting at her desk waiting for Chantal to finish her conversation. As soon as she pressed the hold button, Michelle picked up the telephone. “Hey, sis.”
“Hey, sis. Why are you and Chantal at the firm at six A.M.?”
“Because James and I are going on a lengthy vacation soon, and I need to get a few cases in order.”
“What about your mother-in-law?”
“Mother Bradley is coming with us.”
Amaryllis didn’t understand that. “Say what? You’re taking your mother-in-law on vacation with you and your husband?”
Michelle chuckled. “Yes.”
Having a mother-in-law tag along on vacation with a couple was ridiculous. Amaryllis didn’t see the logic in it. “Why?”
“Why not?”
“Uh, maybe because you and James are newlyweds and need to be alone.”
Michelle exhaled into the telephone. “James and I are always alone, Amaryllis. It’s no big deal.”
Amaryllis decided to change the conversation. She accepted the fact that she’ll never understand Michelle and some of the things she did. “I talked to your husband this morning, and he’s missing you.”
Michelle smiled. “James misses me whenever I’m not right beside him, but I love it because the feeling is mutual.”
“Maybe I’ll know what that feels like someday,” Amaryllis said. She was hopeful that her relationship with Charles would grow into what her sister shared with her husband.
“I thought you had a sweetheart. What’s up with that guy named Tyrone you told me about?”
Amaryllis exhaled loudly. “Girl, that nymphomaniac got on my last nerve. He’s an alcoholic, and I thought that I could deal with that as long as Tyrone wasn’t pressuring me for sex. But after he showed up at my home drunk one time too many, I snatched the hairs off his chest and gave that fool his walking papers.”
Michelle was sure she had heard wrong. “Snatched the hairs off his chest? Are you serious, girl? I mean, no offense, but when it comes to you, I just have to ask.”
“Michelle, he left me no choice. But I have a real sweetie now. His name is Charles Walker. I used to date him back in the day. He says all the right things, and he does all the right things. And I’m still saved, Michelle. Charles is behaving himself.”
Michelle loved the new Amaryllis. “Girl, it’s so good to hear you talking like that. I’m impressed and so very proud. I wish Daddy could hear you.”
“I gotta be honest though. At times it wasn’t easy turning Ty away because the brotha was foine with a capital ‘F’.”
“I don’t care how foine with a capital ‘F’ he was. If he drank like a fish, then he wasn’t the one for you.”
“I hear you, girl. So far, Charles hasn’t pressured me. I just can’t understand why every man that approaches me thinks that I’m dropping my thong.”
Michelle laughed. “Amaryllis, you certainly have a way with words. Why couldn’t you say ‘panties’?”
“I don’t wear panties.”
“Never?” Michelle shrieked.
“Nope, I’m a thong diva. And I suggest you come out of those big bloomers you got on and step into the twenty-first century.”
Michelle’s mouth dropped wide opened. “Excuse you? I do not wear bloomers. As a matter of fact, I don’t wear any undergarments at all.”
Amaryllis could easily believe something like that coming out of Bridgette’s mouth, but not Michelle’s. “Girl, who are trying to fool? I know James ain’t turned you out like that.”
“You don’t know me like you think you do. I’m a married woman now.”
“True that, but you’re still Nicholas Price’s daughter.”
�
��And that means what, Amaryllis?”
“That I’ll bet you fifty bucks that you got bloomers on, and I’ll raise you fifty that they don’t even match your bra.”
“Amaryllis, are you crazy? If you’re in Chicago, how are you gonna know what I’m wearing, and why are we discussing my underwear anyway? I know this isn’t why you called.”
“I’ll get to the reason why I called in a minute, but first things first. If I can prove that you’ve got bloomers on and your bra is a different color, you pay me one hundred dollars and take me on a shopping spree the next time I come to Vegas. Is that a deal?”
Michelle chuckled. “Girl, you’re crazy.”
“Be that as it may, do we have a deal?”
Michelle knew that there was no way possible Amaryllis could find out what she was wearing under her clothes all the way from Chicago. “Okay, Miss Confident, you’ve got yourself a deal. But what if you’re wrong? What will you do for me?”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to come to my church’s women’s conference in three weeks. By the way, did you get the flyer I sent you?”
“Yeah, that’s the real reason I called. What’s a crusade?”
“It’s like a seminar where a bunch of women gather together at a church or assembly hall, and a minister comes in and talks to us.”
“About what?”
“Anything he or she wants. They mainly teach us how to remain women of God.”
“How are you going to be there if you’re on vacation?”
“The first two weeks of my vacation will be spent at home and the last two weeks, James and I will be in Aruba.”
“Ahh, sooky, sooky, now. Are you gonna come back with a baby?”
“If the Lord permits.”
“I would love to come to the conference, Michelle, but my money is funny. Administrative assistants in Chicago don’t make twenty-five dollars an hour like they do in Vegas.”
“Amaryllis, I’ll pay for you to come because you really need to hear Prophetess Anderson. She’s the bomb, and she’s from your hometown, Chicago.”
Amaryllis couldn’t believe her ears. “Seriously, Michelle? You’ll pay my way?”
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