by Shana Burton
“. . . there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs,” quoted Angel from Matthew 10:26–27. “Honesty is always the best policy—”
“Until it’s not!” asserted Sullivan. “The Bible also says, ‘He who holds his tongue is wise.’” Sullivan shook her head. “I’ve seen it backfire too many times when people go blabbing their mouths when they shouldn’t. Some men simply can’t handle the truth. Then the new best policy becomes, ‘We’re all entitled to have our secrets. ’”
Chapter 10
“I didn’t realize how much we don’t have in common anymore.”
—Angel King
“You’ll never believe what I just got us!” proclaimed Duke, coming home from work.
“I can’t imagine what it is.” Angel smiled up at her fiancé from behind the stems of roses she was arranging into a vase. “You’ve already given me the world, not to mention these gorgeous roses you had delivered to me at work today.” She planted a kiss on his lips. “You know how to make your woman feel like a queen, don’t you? Your efforts are greatly appreciated and shall be richly rewarded.”
“The rewards don’t stop there, babe.” He handed her two tickets.
“What’s this?”
“Two tickets to see comedian Kevin Hart!” announced Duke. “He’s in town for a show the day after Thanksgiving, and we’ll be in the front row laughing our butts off all night long!”
Angel’s face fell. “Oh . . .”
“What’s the matter? I thought you’d be thrilled. You used to love stand-up.”
“Yeah, ten years ago, but I gave all that raunchy stuff up when I started to get serious about my walk with the Lord. I’d love to go see a Christian comedian, though,” she proposed.
“I admit, he cusses a li’l bit, but it’s not exactly what I’d call ‘raunchy.’”
“All it takes is allowing a little spark of that stuff to get into your system. Before you know it, there’s a whole fire burning.”
Duke apologized. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d get a kick out of going. I’ll see if I can sell the tickets or give them away.”
“No, just because I don’t want to go doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. You can call up some friends and make it a night out with the boys.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, baby, I want you to go and have a good time,” she assured him. “The girls and I will stay home and find G-rated ways to entertain ourselves.”
Duke draped his arms around her. “How did I get blessed with such a good woman, huh?”
Angel smirked. “God must really love you.”
“He must—He sent you. I love you, Angel. I do.”
“You’re going to love me even more when I tell you what I’m cooking for dinner,” she hedged, rising from the sofa.
“What’s that?”
“Shrimp Newburg. I haven’t made it in years, but I do remember that it’s one of your favorites.”
This time, his face changed. “Um, about that . . .”
“What?”
“I don’t really eat that anymore. Reese was allergic to shrimp, so I pretty much stopped eating it too.”
“Wow . . .” She sighed. “I didn’t realize how much we don’t have in common anymore. It’s scary how fast things can change.”
He pulled her into his arms. “We may have changed our tastes in food and entertainment, but we still have a lot in common, including this.” He kissed her. “It doesn’t feel so scary now, does it?”
She shook her head and smiled. “No, it doesn’t. I guess we don’t have to be afraid of change when we serve a God who is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
At that moment, Duke’s phone rang. “I’m going to go in the kitchen to take this.”
“Okay.”
Duke disappeared into the kitchen while Angel set her new flower arrangement in the foyer.
When he returned a few minutes later, the color was gone from his face. “That was my aunt Jackie,” he began slowly, still in shock. “My cousin Channing was shot in Afghanistan last night. Apparently, the Humvee he was driving was shot up by some Afghan locals. He was trying to get his comrades out of Dodge when a bullet went through the door.”
“Oh my God!” Angel held her chest. “Is he dead?”
“No—thank God—but his knee was damaged pretty badly. It’s shattered. There’s no way he can complete his physical training now. My aunt believes he’ll probably be medically discharged from the military.”
She was relieved. “That seems pretty minor compared to what could’ve happened.”
Duke shook his head. “You don’t know Channing, babe. He’s a soldier from the heart. If he can’t serve, that bullet might as well have killed him.”
“Maybe God has a different calling on his life. Did anyone consider that?”
“Angel, the army is the only thing he’s known since he was eighteen. He’s been in the service for fifteen years. God’s call or not, this is going to crush him.”
Angel slid her arms around his him. “Well, let’s send him a care packet or something. Where’s he going to be staying?”
“He’ll be in a hospital overseas for a couple of weeks. I don’t know his plans after that. You know, Chan’s single, no kids, and no real family outside of my aunt and a few cousins. Aunt Jackie isn’t in the best health herself. I was thinking about inviting him to stay with us for a little while, just until he can get back on his feet.”
Angel backed away. “I’m sure a house full of kids is the last thing he needs right now. He’s going to want a quiet place to rest and recover. He can’t do that here.”
“Babe, my cousin sacrificed his body and risked his life for this country and for us. There’s no way I’m going to turn my back on him or ship him a box of cookies and send him on his way.”
“I didn’t say you shouldn’t support him. I just said that our home may not be an ideal place to recuperate.”
“Why not? I think it’s perfect. We have all this room, and you’re a nurse.”
“I’m a nurse, not his nurse. Duke, I work. I can’t provide round-the-clock care for him.”
“Nobody’s asking you to, but, Angel, he’s family. I wish you wouldn’t fight me on this.”
Angel sighed, knowing that she would give in to Duke yet again. “All right, fine. I guess taking him in is the Christian thing to do. What’s one more mouth to feed?”
“Thank you, sweetheart. This means so much to me.” He pulled his cell phone back out. “I’m gonna call my aunt and let her know that Chan can stay with us.”
Duke returned to the kitchen, and Angel sunk into the sofa, defeated. She knew in her heart that taking in Duke’s cousin was the right thing to do, but the last thing she needed was another King to serve.
Chapter 11
“Can you imagine having Vaughn’s bastard seed trapped inside of me?”
—Sullivan Webb
Sullivan spent the morning in her pajamas and sipping on coffee. Nostalgia and an old Christmas CD had inspired her to look through old photos. Her eyes began to water as she flipped through her wedding album. Charles looked so dapper in his tuxedo and, of course, she was effortlessly beautiful. That day was filled with so much joy and promise. Now, she feared that her marriage was one wrong decision away from divorce.
Sullivan was startled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. She opened it to find Kina on the other side.
Sullivan stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. “Shouldn’t you be tending to the business of the Lord?”
Kina let herself in. “The pastor left his laptop at home. I offered to swing by and get it.”
Sullivan closed the door behind her. “That was nice of you.”
“Truth be told, I needed a little break. Plus, I wanted to see you. How’ve you been? You look sad.”
Sullivan invited Kina
into the living room. “I was traipsing down memory lane.” She showed Kina one of the pictures. “Remember this?”
Kina reached for the album. “Yeah, you were such a beautiful bride. And, Pastor . . . when we saw the way he looked at you and when he started crying saying his vows . . .” Kina sighed. “I don’t think there was a dry eye in the church at that moment. Well, you know, except for yours.”
“Kina, I was not about to ruin a two-hundred-dollar air-brushed makeover for the sake of sentiment. But you’re right, it was a beautiful ceremony,” recalled Sullivan. “It’s funny how quickly things change.”
Kina and Sullivan both sat down on the sofa. “Things aren’t any better, huh?”
“Charles isn’t mean or anything like that, but there’s definitely been a shift in the tide. He doesn’t look at me the way he did on our wedding day anymore.”
“Sullivan, a lot has happened, and a lot of it isn’t pretty. Even before the Vaughn thing, you and the pastor had problems.”
“Charles was always the one fighting for our marriage and trying to keep it together while I self-destructed. Now . . .”
“It’s not so much fun when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?” gibed Kina.
Sullivan shook her head. “No, it’s not.”
“I can relate to what you’re going through. When E’Bell was alive, I was always the one trying to hold the marriage together. He acted like he couldn’t care less. I felt so alone. You don’t marry someone expecting to be lonely in that relationship.” Kina hung her head slightly. “Loneliness probably isn’t a feeling you can really relate to. You always seem to love your own company so much.”
“Well, you know I do love me some Sullivan Webb,” she joked, then turned serious again. “But, as humans, we still need to connect. I never had a lot of that growing up. You remember how my mom and I were always moving. You and Lawson were my only sources of stability until I met Charles. Even with him, it’s often felt like I was in competition with the church and God. I think that was the impetus for my affair with Vaughn. I thought I was just bored and needed some fun interjected in my life, but when it came down to it, Vaughn was someone I connected with.”
“Do you miss him?”
Sullivan flinched. “God, no! What I miss is having that connection to someone.”
“Well, I still think you got off kind of easy,” grunted Kina.
“How, Kina? Thanks to the Internet, the whole world knows about my little indiscretion with Vaughn. I was humiliated, Charles lost his bid for county commissioner, and my marriage is still trying to recover. What part of that is easy?”
“It could’ve been worse, Sully. Pastor could’ve walked out on you or you could’ve gotten an STD. Heck, you could’ve gotten pregnant! Then what would you have done?”
“Good point.” Sullivan shuddered at the thought. “Can you imagine having Vaughn’s bastard seed trapped inside of me?”
Kina laughed. “No, especially not when you put it that way! You were lucky, the young ones are always fertile! I’m glad you made him don a raincoat before jumping in the pool, if you know what I mean.”
“Thank you for that very poetic way of putting things, Kina,” Sullivan replied dryly.
“We can dress up the pig as much as we want, Sully, but a pig is still a pig.” Kina stood to leave. “I guess I better grab that laptop and get out of here.”
“It’s in the study, down the hall. You can’t miss it.”
As Kina made her way to the study, Sullivan’s mind wandered back to Vaughn, more specifically to his virile, strapping, young twenty-five-year-old sperm. If only the situation had been in reverse and Charles had been the one who had the libido of a frat boy and the reproduction capability of a jackrabbit.
“Too bad I didn’t freeze some of that good sperm when I had the chance,” she muttered. She halted, struck by a new thought.
She laughed to herself. It was an idea crazy even by Sullivan’s standards. She had every confidence that, with prayer and plenty of practice, Charles’s half-a-century-old sperm would produce a little Webb of their own in no time.
Then again, she thought, there was nothing wrong with having a little insurance on the side.
Chapter 12
“I’m sure my husband would rather spend time working on a baby than me working on another degree.”
—Lawson Kerry Banks
“You went on them today, didn’t you?” teased Mark as he and Lawson filed out of the media center following the faculty meeting at North Central High School, where they both worked. “You’ve got a lot balls for a second-year teacher.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment regardless of how you meant it,” Lawson responded with a wry smile. “I take my job very seriously. You, of all people, should know that. I can’t sit around and watch these students fail and not say something about it. Half the teachers in that meeting were more concerned about planning the holiday party than they were making sure our students can pass the standardized tests.”
“After that speech you gave, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that anymore. And after the way you called out most of the staff, I don’t think you have to worry about getting an invitation to the faculty Christmas party either.”
Lawson laughed. “I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight with that hanging over my head.”
Mark looked at her intently. “Seriously, Lawson, I admire your passion. We need more people like you on the frontlines making a difference.”
“Thanks, Mark, but I’ve come to realize that if I really want to make a difference, I’ve got to get out of the classroom. There’s only so much I can do from there.”
“You’re not thinking of leaving the profession, are you?”
She unlocked the door to her classroom. Mark followed her inside.
“No, nothing like that. I’ve started working on my master’s in administration. I think if I was a principal, I could implement the changes I’d like to see happen.”
“Got your eye on the big chair, I see. I’m impressed.”
Lawson sat behind her desk. “So do you think I’ve got it in me?”
“Lawson, I believe you can do whatever you set your mind to. Isn’t it tough, though, balancing work, school, Namon, and a new husband?”
“No tougher than it was being a single parent trying to go to school and look after Namon and Reggie between my shifts at Pic-’n-Pay.”
Mark became solemn. “I still feel guilty that I wasn’t around to help you with our son.”
“You shouldn’t, Mark. You didn’t even know Namon existed. Besides, now I have the kind of support system most people dream about.” She looked away. “Although I’m sure my husband would rather spend time working on a baby than me working on another degree.”
“Garrett isn’t giving you a hard time about grad school, is he?” asked Mark, concerned.
“Oh no, Garrett’s not like that. He’s very proud of me. I think it’s more about him getting older and not having any biological children of his own. We’ve talked about having kids, but the timing’s never been quite right.”
“You can’t always wait for the perfect time. If we did, do you think Namon would be here? Ambition is cool and wanting to make a difference is even better, but nothing compares to family and being able to watch your kids grow up.”
“I hate you didn’t have that time with Namon. I know now how wrong I was to try to keep you from him.”
“Namon and I are making up for lost time. I’m just saying, at the end of the day, work isn’t what matters. Family is.”
She nodded slowly. “You’re right. When did you go and get so wise?”
“After two kids and thirty-three years, I ought to know a little something, right?”
She laughed. “Mark, I’m really glad we’ve gotten back to a place in our relationship where when we can talk like this. Things had gotten pretty bad between us for a while.”
“I know, and I apologize for my part in it. I should
n’t have threatened to take our son away from you and Garrett. I actually have a lot of respect for your husband. He’s been a good father to Namon. I hope he’s been as good a husband to you.”
“He has. He’s everything I prayed for in a mate.”
“You did the right thing choosing him over me,” acknowledged Mark. “It makes me feel good to see you so happy.”
“I think it’s important that we support and can be happy for each other for Namon’s sake. So will we be getting you down the aisle any time soon?”
Mark laughed. “I don’t know if marriage is in the cards for me. I’ve popped the question twice and have gotten two rejections. Twice might be my limit.”
“Third time’s the charm, remember? You just haven’t met the right one, but you will. I’m sure of it.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
“Don’t give up. She’s out there, maybe even closer than you think.”
“Your lips to God’s ears.” Mark kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll catch you later.”
He disappeared, and Lawson busied herself with paperwork. “Oh my! Look what the cat dragged in!” exclaimed Lawson, seeing Sullivan in her classroom doorway. “Is this where you’re stashing the bodies these days?”
“Ha-ha.” Sullivan set her purse down on one of the empty desks. “Can’t I come by and see one of my oldest and dearest friends without having some kind of ulterior motive?”
“You can, but you usually don’t, so what gives?”
“Nothing,” she replied in a sing-song voice. “I just wanted to see you.”
“Uh-huh. What’s up, Sullivan?”
Sullivan slid into one of the student’s desks. “Same crap, different day. Is Mark around?”
Lawson erased her board. “He’s here somewhere, probably down in the gym.”
“Isn’t it awkward having him work here? I’m sure by now everyone knows he’s dipped his hands, not to mention his other parts, in your cookie jar.”
“It’s not like we’ve broadcasted it over the morning announcements, Sully. A few people around here know, but we keep things very professional. Nobody’s bold or crazy enough to ask us about it.”