“Oh wow, okay. Yeah, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He rubbed his bald head and started to get up.
Jewel’s eyes pierced his face like daggers. “Where do you think you’re going?” Despite their attempts to talk in low voices, I could not help but overhear.
“What?” she said with folded arms, awaiting an explanation.
“Baby, my ex got a flat. I’m just going to go run and fix it and be right back.”
“Kevin, do I need to remind you that you aren’t her husband anymore? Doesn’t she have anybody else who can help her? What about her cousin Bootsy? You know she only does this because you’ll jump up and do it. I put up with this before we got married . . . never mind, we’ve had this conversation before.” She felt her nostrils flaring.
“I know, sweetie. I know. I just feel bad. She really doesn’t have anybody. She’s doing okay now, I don’t want her to have a relapse. Baby, I’ll be right back as soon as I’m finished. And you know Aja’s with her; I’ve got to take care of my baby.”
Jewel took a deep breath and let her arms drop. “Yeah, well, only because Aja is with her. But we need to talk about this, Kevin, we really need to set some boundaries here.”
“Okay, I hear you.” He gave her a peck. “I’ll call you when I’m on the way back.”
I quickly looked at Jewel, then refocused on the game.
CHAPTER NINE
The Ex Files
“Jewel, you know you were wrong! I explained what happened. But you wouldn’t even let me in; I had to sleep on the porch. How you gonna lock me out of my own house?” he said as he weaved in and out of the traffic. They were late for church because she had finally let him in the house with just enough time to get ready for service.
Jewel didn’t say anything, but kept staring out the window. She turned up the radio, but although they were playing one of her favorite Yolanda Adams songs, she didn’t sing out as she normally would have.
“I told you. She had a bad spare, baby. We had to wait for the wrecker service and it took an extra long time. What else could I do? You’re being just so, well, difficult,” Kevin said as he focused on the traffic. “Where is this traffic coming from? Shoot, there’s a highway shut down. If I had a chance to check the traffic this morning, I would’ve known to go the other way.” He slammed on his brakes to keep from slamming into the back of the car in front of him.
“Kevin, I don’t want to hear it. We’re both so busy and it’s rare that I get weekends off. You could have at least called me and let me know what was going on.” She folded her arms and looked out the window.
“Jewel, you know I called you. As soon as I started to tell you what was happening, you started yelling, then hung up. Then you called back to yell some more, and I refused to deal with all that. You kept blowing the phone up and I knew whatever you had to say was going to be extra foul.” His forehead crinkled and his hands formed a tighter grip around the steering wheel. “That’s how you are, Jewel; you don’t know how to deal with things calmly. Baby, this has come up before. You have anger and forgiveness issues.”
Uh-oh. No he didn’t. Jewel turned her face toward him. “I had a right to be angry. Oh, so now I can’t express my feelings. I have a problem with forgiveness?”
“Yes. Jewel, do you realize I had to sleep on the porch of my own house last night, where I pay the mortgage? Granted it was a screened-in porch, but that’s beside the point! That was just uncalled for.”
“Well, you should have called me back.”
His eyes focused on the traffic ahead. “Forget it, this is a no-win situation. Jewel, you may not be completely wrong, but your attitude is just messed up.”
“I’m not hearing you,” she said as she turned up the radio.
“Well, I’m glad to know that we’ve picked up a couple of demons on our way to church. You need to learn to be a little more understanding. You never know what people are dealing with,” Kevin said, his eyes fixed on the road.
Understanding? Understanding? Please. Give me a break. “Understanding” will find my husband up in her bed. Jewel continued to stare out the window as they pulled into the church parking lot. She tried to ignore the couples holding hands. She remembered the teacher in the marriage ministry class said holding hands showed a couple’s Spirit of agreement. When Kevin got out of the car Jewel hoped he wouldn’t reach for her hand. He came to her side, opened the door, tried to grab her hand.
“C’mon girl, don’t bring this mess up in God’s house today. I’m not trying to block my blessing.” He stood at the door and waited for her to get out.
“Oh, it’s about your blessing? You really don’t want to hold my hand? Why even bother?” she said. After hesitating a bit, she rolled her eyes, smacked her teeth, and placed her hand in his, but once they were inside the church she sat down and didn’t look Kevin’s way.
He smiled at a few familiar faces and nodded, and then thought, “She’s really taking this too far.” When the choir began to sing, Kevin totally focused on worship. Finally it was time for Pastor Graves to speak. “I want to tag this text, the power of forgiveness . . .” Kevin resisted all temptation to nudge his wife. He just sat quietly and attentively through the whole service. He knew a confirmation when he heard it. Jewel, on the other hand, tried to act as if none of the sermon applied to her. With her body slightly turned away from Kevin’s, she couldn’t keep from fidgeting. She knew that the Holy Spirit had climbed up in the seat with her and was all up in her business.
CHAPTER TEN
Computer Love
“Chris, why does it always take you forever to get ready?” Jeez, I thought that was a woman thing. While he was still in the bathroom I decided to put my multitasking skills to work. I eased into the home office to check and send a few e-mails.
I turned the computer on and started to log on to check my office e-mail. As soon as I typed in the first letters it immediately took me to something I’d never seen on my computer before. “This has got to be a mistake,” I mumbled to myself. When I looked at several links it was clear that my eyes were not playing tricks on me. Oh, Hell to the naw! My first intuition was to shut it off, but I was intrigued by what I saw. “Ewww, that’s disgusting!” “CHRIS!!!”
When he didn’t answer I moved toward the bedroom. “CHRIS!!!”
He bolted out of the bedroom half dressed. “What in the world are you screaming about, Lexi!”
I looked directly into his eyes. “You have something you want to tell me?” I noticed his skin was still moist from the shower and he was looking way too sexy. Had I not been so angry, I would’ve been all over him trying to squeeze in a little lovin’ before church.
“Lexi, we don’t have time for this. If you have something you need to ask me, say it. We need to get ready to get up out of here in a minute so we can get a decent seat in church,” he said as he started to finish sliding his belt through the hoops of his pants.
I held my hand up. “Uh-uh, brother. This can’t wait. Now, I’m going to ask one more time.” I placed my hand on my hip. “Do you have something you need to tell me? Am I not fulfilling my wifely duties? I tell you I’m tired one time and you resort to other kinds of relief? Porn, Chris?”
Chris’s eyes grew narrow. He started scratching his head. “How in the world would you think that? Lexi, you know I’ve never been into any of that and I’m not going to start. That kind of stuff does nothing for me. Where are you getting that idea from?” he said, looking at her.
Well, you think you know somebody. “That mess just popped up on our computer,” I said as I pointed to the screen. “Not one, but at least seven sites.” I waited for an explanation.
He grabbed my shoulders. “Baby, I swear to you, and it’s Sunday. I have never been to any porno sites.”
“Chris, you better be telling the truth. I’m not going to allow this spirit of pornography up in my house. It can turn into an addiction,” I said as I pulled away from him.
He sat down in front of t
he computer. “Dang, this is some mess,” he said, looking at the computer. “We’re probably going to have to take it to get cleaned out. That’s going to be embarrassing.”
“Tell me about it. And Chris, you don’t have to stare at it so long,” I said.
“Okay, sorry, baby, but have you thought about the fact that we had a house full of people here last night? Somebody else could have used the computer, Lexi. I swear it wasn’t me.” He came from behind the desk and walked over to me.
He grabbed my face and kissed me softly. I took a deep breath. “Well, I suppose that could have happened. But I’m gonna go to God about this, and Chris, if you’re not telling the truth you know God’s gonna let me know.” I stared at him one last time. “I’m gonna finish getting ready,” I said before I walked off. I almost made it to the doorway and then turned around. “Whoa, so if it wasn’t you, who in the world could it have been?”
“All I know was that it wasn’t me, baby, but if it’s one of my boys, I’m gonna find out. Their trifling behinds have me in trouble and I can’t have that! I’ll call my boy who works with computers to come and clean out our system. I’ll just have to explain what happened. He knows me well enough not to believe this was my doing. At least I hope so!”
“God, I’m not sure what to do now. I mean, should we ask our friends about it? I don’t want to accuse anyone. This is not something you just blurt out. It’s such an awkward situation,” I said, then looked at Chris.
“I don’t know babe, for now let’s just pray on it and then we’ll know what to do.”
I looked over at Chris and watched as he repositioned his arm. Then he let out a grunting noise. As hard as I tried to fall asleep, I hadn’t even dozed off yet. Still wound up from the weekend activities, I guess. I tried not to move, but decided I’d attempt to maneuver my way out of our nightly cuddle position. I slowly untangled myself from Chris’s arms. I was a little chilly wearing his boxers and a tank top, so I threw on my robe. On the way out of the bedroom I grabbed one of my journals from my writing desk. I eased downstairs, and once I was in the kitchen I opened the fridge, searching for something to excite my taste buds. I settled for half a piece of carrot cake. I sat at the table devouring the cake as I started to write.
Dear Lord Jesus:
First, I want to thank You for our beautiful housewarming. To have people in our lives who truly want to celebrate our blessings is special. Church service was wonderful today. It feels so natural to have Chris by my side at worship.
Lord, on another note, I can’t help but be concerned about the mess I found on my computer. Even during worship those images popped up in my mind. I don’t sense in my Spirit that Chris was responsible for that filth. As You know he didn’t even want to have a bachelor party. So, until You tell me otherwise, I’m just going to have to trust him. But Father, I ask that You expose the person and deliver them from this porn addiction immediately.
God, I know Chris and I may experience our own challenges. However, I’m going to resist the habit of trying to make everything perfect. Whatever trials may come, I have to trust that You’ll equip us to handle it.
Father, it’s a little scary. Marriages don’t seem to have a fighting chance these days. I mean just today on a 20/20 news special they were spouting divorce statistics, and I heard it’s even worse for Christians. Lord, what’s really going on?
With a weak economy, crime rampant, infidelity and staggering unemployment, it’s no wonder that people’s marriages are strained. But then I think about the past, how marriages have survived slavery, the civil rights era, and poverty of the worst kind and much deeper tragedies that we’ve seen recently. I guess that’s why I have an appreciation for my parents’ marriage, now that I’m older. They had their disagreements, but they held it together until Mom passed on.
I guess it’s just like anything else. We just have to trust You. But if Godly couples are supposed to come together to fulfill Your purpose it would seem that we would have extra protection, provision, and everything else. Lord I’m just going to look to You for guidance. Maybe it would help if Chris and I had mentors. If that is Your will for us, I pray that You would send an anointed Christian couple our way. I truly want to build a strong marital foundation, for You said in Your word, “a wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.” I’m going to need some help, Father!
One last thing God, You know how I allow fear to kick in every once in a while; fear that everything will fall apart, fear of failure, fear that something is going to happen to Chris . . . I pray You help me to rest in You whenever I sense fear creeping up in me.
When am I going to learn that everything I need is already on the inside of me and You have it all under control?
Anyway, I’m getting ready to turn in. I need to get up bright and early to “fight the good fight.”
Forever Your daughter and servant,
Lexi
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Law Firm of Reynolds & Stanton
“Thank you, Ms. Wilson. I’ll be sure to get back to you about the hearing,” I said as we walked toward the front lobby of my law office.
“Okay, Mrs. Reynolds. I’ll bring you the other half of the money. I promise. You’ve got to get my baby out of jail. He’s not a thief and he’s not evil. He’s been set up. You know that place downtown was on the news for messing up everybody’s evidence.”
My eyes locked on hers, which begged for a sign that her grandson would be fine. My only assurance at the moment was an occasional nod as she spoke. She was feeble, her posture worsened by overwork, worry, and time.
“Yes ma’am, I know. We’re going to do our best, but it is a process.” I walked her out to the hallway and shook her hand. I held it long enough to feel her protruding veins, but also to calm her spirit. Our silent exchange was my unspoken bond that I’d do what I could. However, I knew it was going to be an uphill battle. Her grandson had been caught on tape. I felt for her. Instead of resting and enjoying her retirement, she was busy bailing him out. Our only hope at this point was a plea bargain, since he had an alleged accomplice. It’s so discouraging to see some of our young men get in this situation. It’s such a vicious cycle.
As we moved toward the elevator, it opened and Capri glided through its doors. Her hair, freshly permed, bounced in rhythm with her step. “Hello, ladies,” she said, brushing by us with briefcase in tow as she strode toward our office.
When she passed by, the scent of Bond No. 9’s Chelsea Flowers danced in the hallway. I became instantly irritated. Capri looked beautiful and polished as usual with her tailored suit, lightly layered cut, and natural makeup to complement her caramel skin. What is this I’m feeling? I looked down at my fingernails that were badly in need of a manicure. Without feeling my kitchen, I knew a touch-up was due. I tried to avoid checking my watch, but I couldn’t help it. 1:13 p.m. It’s not that I wanted Capri to clock in or out, but I’d already worked a half day and she was sashaying in from her hairdresser’s appointment, just starting her day in the afternoon.
When I made it back to my office I walked in and closed the door. Ms. Wilson had been draining and I just needed a moment. I sat and rubbed my temples. Please Lord, don’t let Capri come in here wanting to make small talk. Please God, fix my attitude, because I know it’s bad. I continued to rub my temples, take deep breaths, and tell myself I was just having a moment. We’d only been in business a few months and I was feeling like this?
Brrrring. “Yes, Claudia.”
“I have your husband on the line.”
“Send him through.” A smile danced across my lips and I sat up. He must have sensed I needed him. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
“How’s the sexiest man in the city of Houston?” I said with the phone to my ear.
“What an ego boost. I’m glad I decided to call. I’m at lunch now. How’s your day going?”
“Mmm, okay. Another grandmother who swears her baby’s innocent.”<
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“Umm, I remember when I was growing up, I wouldn’t even think about doing some of the things these kids are doing. I grew up without a dad, so that single parent argument doesn’t always work. Lexi, just do your best, baby, and try not to stress.”
“I’ll try not to stress; I think I’m just a little burned out. I was hoping I could have a date with my husband tonight.” I leaned back in my chair awaiting his response.
“Uh, honey . . . That’s why I called. I know Friday is our date night, but Nate’s down here on business from Dallas.”
“Wow, you guys haven’t hung out in a while. I guess I have to take a rain check, but that’s okay. I’ll just rent a movie or something.”
“Don’t sound so pitiful, honey. You probably need the rest.”
“Yeah, I am a bit drained,” I said as I ran my finger around the rim of the frame holding his picture. “So, y’all are just hanging out?”
“Yeah. Lexi, I know what you’re thinking.”
He was right. I loved his brother, but he was very single and always had some kind of investment or scheme he was trying to get folks to buy into. Didn’t he know network marketing and pyramid schemes don’t really work? Fortunately, Chris had resisted his brother’s fast talk so far. “I’m just thinking that I trust my husband and I want him to have a wonderful time. Even though he’ll be without me and this is usually our date night. But that’s okay.” I picked up his picture then set it back down.
“I know, I know, but how about I get us tickets to the John Legend concert to make it up to you?” he said.
“As long as you promise to hold my hand and whisper in my ear while we’re there.”
“You got it. I’ll see you when I get home. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I hung up a bit deflated, but decided to make it a movie night for old times’ sake.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
The Sunday Brunch Diaries Page 4