by Dynah Zale
Olivia turned her eyes away and stepped farther away from her sister. Again, she started to hang up clothes, but Danyelle stopped her.
“What is going on with you?”
Olivia was an awful liar. The one thing she hated doing was keeping things from those she loved, but this was one secret she couldn’t share with her sister.
“Livie, you owe me some kind of explanation. You can’t ignore me.”
“What do you want me to say?” Olivia shouted.
“I want you to explain why I had to find out through a third party that my sister was married,” Danyelle screamed. “Tell me why you moved out of your apartment and didn’t bother to tell me”—She pointed to herself—“Val”—She counted off on her fingers—“or Aunt Stephie. Why is this such a big secret?”
“It’s not a secret. I told you I’ve been busy.”
The two sounded like they were at a screaming match.
The sound of Olivia’s back door opening caught both of their attention. Bryce stuck his small head out the screen door. “Hey, Mommy! I’m home.”
“Hey, honey.”
Bryce ran out to give her a hug. “Reverend Colin is looking for you. Hey, Auntie Danyelle.” He ran back toward the house and yelled out to his mother just before he went inside. “Oh! Mommy, I forgot to tell you that Dean is calling for you.”
“Okay, baby, tell him I’ll be right there.”
Olivia stepped forward, but Danyelle blocked her path.
“Is Dean here? If you won’t tell me what’s going on, then maybe he will.”
Olivia dug her fingernails into Danyelle’s arm. “Danyelle, I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.” Olivia stared her sister in the eye. “Please leave. I won’t have you bothering my husband.”
Danyelle had never heard her sister sound so cold. Olivia tried her best to disguise the fear on her face as overprotectiveness, but Danyelle could see through her façade.
“Fine, but don’t think we’re finished.” Danyelle marched off.
Colin peeked into the storage closet. Danyelle stood in the midst of church supplies. “You summoned me?” Colin stepped inside the closet with her. “I knew you’d come looking for me one day. I just didn’t think it would be this soon.” He took and kissed her hand.
She snatched it away. “Would you stop it? I called you down here for answers.” She pulled a hanger from out of the closet and slid on one of the children’s choir robes.
“Oh! Is that all? I thought you called me down here to smoke a blunt with you. I mean, this is where you go to sneak in a few puffs on those days when we have morning and afternoon services.”
“Colin, we are not talking about me, we are talking about them.” She picked up another robe from out of the pile left on the floor and tried to put it on its hanger, but she was so mad that the hanger slipped out of her hand and she ended up throwing the robe back on the ground.
“Why don’t you calm down?” Then he pulled Danyelle out of the closet and pointed for her to sit in a nearby chair. “Why don’t you tell me what the problem is?”
“It’s my sister’s marriage.” Colin studied her facial expressions. He tried to figure out what was bothering her. “My sister is hiding something from me, and I need to know what it is.”
“Have you tried talking with her?”
“She won’t talk with me. I want to let it go, but something is nagging at my soul. I can’t let it rest.” He grabbed a hold of her hands. “I wish she would talk to me.”
“She will when she’s ready. Don’t push. Give her some space.”
“She’s telling everyone that Dean passed out from exhaustion. Is that true?”
Colin stared into the eyes of the woman he loved. He was sworn to secrecy by Dean. “The doctor says that Dean was overexerting himself and that he needed plenty of rest.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. I was beginning to think he had some kind of life-threatening disease,” Danyelle replied.
Colin loved looking at her. He wished he could be this close to her all the time. He pulled her face closer to his. He wanted to kiss her. He stroked the side of her face.
“Ms. Danyelle,” a child’s voice screamed. Then the patter of little feet ran through the church hallways. A young boy came to a halt when he saw the adults so close. “Ooooh, Ms. Danyelle and Reverend Colin are in love,” he shouted. He sprinted up to where they were sitting and dropped his robe in Danyelle’s lap before disappearing out of the room.
Colin and Danyelle laughed at the little boy’s reaction.
Danyelle stood on the front steps at Judge West’s home. It was the Friday before Mother’s Day, and she was ready to make amends with her sister. The last time she left, Danyelle was so angry she vowed to never return until Olivia called and apologized. That was two weeks ago, and she was still waiting on that call.
Danyelle had no idea how she ended up back at the judge’s house. She had a strict itinerary set for the day. Her plans were to study for her finals, get some laundry done and meet Colin for dinner later that evening. Then as she drove to the cleaners she heard a commercial on the radio advertising the release of Horton Hears a Who. It was in the movie theaters, and Bryce had been bugging her to take him when it came out. She couldn’t break a promise to her nephew. Before she knew what she was doing, she turned the car around and was pulling into Judge West’s driveway.
She rang the doorbell. No answer. Danyelle placed her ear up against the door. She could hear music blaring in the background and Olivia hollering for Bryce. Danyelle tried the front door and it opened. She stepped into a maze of boxes. Again, she heard her sister screaming for Bryce to bring her a rag.
Danyelle stepped around and over huge boxes. They were piled so high on top of one another that Danyelle thought she would never find her way out. Fortunately, Olivia had a habit of talking to herself when no one was around and it led Danyelle straight to her. She found her sister on her knees scrubbing the inside of the oven. Through the sliding glass doors Danyelle could see Bryce in the backyard playing with Clinton and Kennedy.
Here was the perfect opportunity for them to make up while there was no one around to disrupt them. “I’ve come to make a truce.”
Frightened by the sound of her sister’s voice, Olivia lifted her head and banged it hard against the inside of the oven. She crawled out of the oven, rubbing the back of her head.
“I’m sorry. I overreacted the last time I was here.”
Olivia heard the sincerity in her sister’s voice. She was glad Danyelle had come by because she couldn’t take another day of them not speaking. Olivia opened up her arms, and the two hugged.
“I’m sorry, too,” Olivia said.
“I knew you missed me,” Danyelle boasted. “Now where is my new brother-in-law? I would like to properly welcome him into the family.”
“He and Colin are moving boxes from my place.”
Danyelle smiled to herself when she heard Colin’s name. Their relationship was still a secret, but she wondered how much longer they were going to be able to keep it up.
“They should be back any second.”
“Well, can I take Bryce off your hands?” Danyelle didn’t want to be there when Colin returned. “I promised him we would go to the movies to see Horton Hears a Who and it was released yesterday.”
“I know. That’s all he keeps talking about. I’ll go get him for you.” While Olivia was gone, Danyelle snooped in a few boxes. The boxes were full of things from Olivia’s apartment.
She was still looking for a clue that would explain why Olivia and Dean married so quickly, but to keep the peace she decided to let the issue rest for the moment.
Hours after Danyelle left, Dean held the front door for Colin as he stumbled in with an armful of boxes. “Colin, do you need any help?” Olivia cleared boxes out of Colin’s path so he wouldn’t trip over anything. “I told him I could carry something, but he wouldn’t let me.” Dean sounded agitated.
“Thank you for
telling my husband no,” Olivia said. “He doesn’t seem to understand that just because he’s not laid up in the hospital or in bed that he’s still sick.”
“No problem, Livie. Where would you like these boxes?” Colin asked.
“You can set them down right here.” Olivia pointed to the only open spot in front of her. “I might as well try to empty as many boxes as possible.” She dug through and revealed a vast collection of paintings and prints. “I love Cidne Wallace’s work. She immortalizes the attributes of every black woman so tastefully.”
She placed the print to the side and searched the box again. “This painting used to belong to my daddy. It’s called ‘The Resurrection of Lazarus.’ ” Olivia held it up so the guys could get a good look at it. “It’s a reprint done by Henry Tanner. He—”
Colin cut her off. “He was a prominent African American painter in the country who was raised in Philadelphia and his father was an A.M.E. minister. His mother escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad.”
“You’ve heard of him.” Olivia was glad someone loved art as much as she did.
“I studied his work while in college.” Colin had never seen an actual reprint this close before. He studied how Tanner captured the realness of Lazarus wakening from death. “This is priceless.”
“I’ve never seen any of these pictures hanging in your apartment,” Dean added.
“No. There was never enough room for them with Bryce’s pictures filling my walls. I kept them stored away. I promised myself that when I bought a house I would have enough room to display them all.” Olivia admired the lovely images of black people being artistic. “These pictures have such a warm feeling; it will make this place really feel like home.”
Dean walked over and kissed her on the forehead. “If that will make you happy, then I’m happy.” Then he noticed how quiet it was. “Where’s Bryce?”
“Oh, Danyelle was here.”
Dean looked surprised.
“She came and took him to the movies.” Olivia checked the time on her watch. “As a matter of fact I have to go pick him up from her apartment.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll stay with Dean until you get back.” Colin put her mind at ease.
“Thanks.” She grabbed her purse and car keys.
“I’m not an invalid. I can be alone in the house.”
“We know.” She gave him a quick peck. “But I feel better knowing someone is here with you.” She rushed out the door.
As Dean’s eyes followed her vision he became dizzy. He reached out for Colin.
“Are you all right?” Colin led him to the couch and went to the kitchen to get him a glass of water.
“I’m okay. I think maybe my legs were getting a little tired.”
“Man, I told you to take it easy.” Colin sat on a nearby box. “Do you want me to call your doctor?”
Dean shook his head no. “Don’t do that. It’ll just upset Olivia. Plus, there’s something I want to talk to you about now that Olivia is gone.”
Colin listened closely. He was sure Dean was going to confide in him his last wishes in case anything were to happen to him.
“Remember the day I was rushed to the hospital and we were talking about my grandpa?”
Colin said yes.
“Well, I found out something that may change your mind at how you look at him as a man.”
Colin waited for him to tell him more.
“I have to show you something.” Dean got up. “I’ll be right back.” He left the room and went into one of the back rooms.
A few minutes later he walked back into the living room wearing the white-hooded Ku Klux Klan uniform. The only thing that could be seen was the whites of his eyes.
When Colin saw him he was startled and started to run for the door, but stopped when he noticed it was Dean underneath that getup. “Man, what are you doing?”
Dean pulled off the hood. “I thought if I tried it on, maybe I could figure out what would make my grandpa join such a hateful organization.”
Colin looked at Dean and then at the white sheets and slowly shook his head.
Chapter 22
Val unbuckled her seatbelt and turned toward her passenger. “Are you ready?” It was Wednesday night, and her Bible study group was scheduled to meet that evening. The girls had gotten used to holding Bible study at one another’s apartment, but Val specifically asked them to meet her at the church. She felt like she and Jonah both needed to dwell in the house of the Lord, with everything they had been going through.
“The last time I was in a church was the night before Katrina hit New Orleans. Our pastor brought a small portable radio into the sanctuary to keep us abreast of the storm’s progress. The pews were packed. People were laid out on the floor and on the altar. It was barely enough room to stand. I guess everyone felt church was the safest place to be that night.”
“There is no better person to turn to than Jesus in the midst of a storm,” Val said.
They got out and walked into the church together, but there was no one there.
“Olivia.” Val expected everyone to be waiting for her. Instead, the church was empty, but she knew they couldn’t be far because she saw two cars parked outside. “Danyelle!” she hollered.
“Val, we’re downstairs. We’ll be there in a minute,” Olivia yelled from the basement.
Val and Jonah sat on the pews nearest to them.
Seconds later Olivia climbed the back steps and stepped into the sanctuary dusting herself off. “Girl, I was downstairs looking for Sunday School workbooks for Bryce’s class. You know Ms. Young can’t ever find anything and she”—Olivia looked up from dusting off her clothes and stopped mid-sentence when she saw Jonah sitting next to Val.
Danyelle was so close behind her that she didn’t notice her sister had stopped walking and ran straight into her.
“Girl, what is your problem?” Her eyes followed Olivia’s gaze, and she too noticed Jonah.
Val giggled at their reaction. She knew they would be shocked to see her with a man. Val had never been with any other man except for Julian, so for her to bring someone to church with her meant he was something special.
“Where’s Tressie?” Val asked.
“She’s out of town on business again,” Danyelle replied. “I think she had to go to Nebraska.”
Val said okay and introduced everyone to Jonah. She wasn’t the least bit surprised when Danyelle started to playfully tease her.
“So, Val, is this your new man?” Danyelle asked.
Olivia’s face turned red from embarrassment. Sometimes her sister took things to the extreme. “Danyelle, would you stop it?”
“I betcha my sister didn’t bother to call and tell you the latest newsflash,” Danyelle instigated.
“What is she talking about?” Val hadn’t really kept up with Olivia and what was going on with her and Dean.
“Does this have anything to do with the wedding? You and Dean are still getting married, right?”
Olivia smiled and tried to shrug off her questions. “We’ll talk later.” She cut her eyes in Jonah’s direction. “When we’re alone.”
Now it was time for Danyelle to interrogate their guest. “Jonah? That’s a biblical name. I like it. Do you know about Jonah in the Bible?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jonah replied.
“Listen to his country accent.” She laughed loudly in his face. “You have to be from down South because nobody says, ‘Yes, ma’am’, from these parts,” Danyelle mocked him.
“I’m from New Orleans,” he boldly declared.
“What can you tell me about Jonah in the Bible?” Danyelle grilled him.
“Would you leave him alone?” Olivia scolded her sister. “He didn’t come here to explain anything to you.”
“Hush! I’m just trying to make conversation,” Danyelle replied.
“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind answering her question.” He turned in Danyelle’s direction. “Jonah ran from God. He was running fro
m being obedient to God, and whenever a person runs from God, they end up being eaten by a big fish.”
Val could see that Danyelle was impressed.
“Well, this country boy does know his Bible,” Danyelle replied. “So, Jonah, are you running from something?” Danyelle’s face turned serious. “Perhaps from God?”
“Danyelle?” Olivia gave Danyelle a stern look, warning her to cut it out. “That’s a personal question.” She looked at Jonah. “You don’t have to answer that.”
“What? I just asked him a question.”
“You don’t know this man,” Olivia pointed out. “What makes you think he’s running from God?”
“Let’s just say it’s intuition,” Danyelle said.
“I’m sorry,” Olivia said to Jonah. “What may seem like odd behavior to you is normal for her.”
“No. That’s all right, I have nothing to hide.” He looked Danyelle straight in the eye. “As a matter of fact, I’m not running from God, I’m running toward Him. I endured the disasters of Katrina, and that is only because I knew Jesus was right there with me as I hung on to my rooftop with one hand and my daughter in the other. When I left my home in New Orleans I wasn’t running from God, I was following him. He brought me here to make a new friend.” He glanced at Val.
Olivia knew Jonah’s answer impressed Danyelle, because afterwards she stopped with the questions and opened the meeting in prayer.
Chapter 23
On Friday afternoon, Val, Jonah and Mr. Lawson, their lawyer, entered the courthouse together and took the elevator to the fifth floor. The moment they stepped off the elevators, a security guard greeted them. “Good afternoon. Could each of you please sign in?” He pointed to a lined piece of paper on the table.
Afterward, he searched the computer for their names. “Please follow me,” he said to Mr. Lawson. “The judge has closed the hearing to the public to protect the child.”
They made a left down another hallway.