The Choir Director

by Carl Weber

  The text message read: MS. TIA 911 BRANDI. HELP!

  Brandi was one of my rape-hotline victims. Just a few months ago, I’d moved her out of the line of fire from her boyfriend’s drunken tirades. She, like most date-rape victims, wouldn’t press charges because she didn’t have anywhere to go. I got her some help and into a domestic violence shelter. Recently she’d found a job and her own place. Things had been going pretty well for her—until now, I suppose.

  I texted back: BRANDI, WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT’S WRONG?

  She replied: I’M AT THE GAS STATION NEAR MY HOUSE. I CAN’T GO HOME. HE’S DRUNK AND WAITING FOR ME.

  I didn’t text back this time. I dialed her number. “What happened? And how did Reggie find you?”

  “I called him to see what he was doing.”

  I wanted to smash my hand through Aaron’s windshield. “Why did you do that? Didn’t I tell you not to give him your number or tell him where you lived?” I scolded. And why on earth did she care about what he was doing?

  “Yeah …” Brandi sniffed. “But I got so lonely. And he was talking so nice on the phone—”

  “Shoot, Brandi! I can’t believe you did that!”

  She broke down blubbering, and I started rubbing my temple. I knew it was time to pull back my emotions. This wasn’t personal. I had to be there for her. She was already in a bad way. She’d called me for help, so who was I to be judgmental and make her feel even worse?

  “Look, that’s water under the bridge. What happened after that?”

  “He came over, just to talk, and we had a few drinks. But when things got romantic, I told him I wouldn’t give him any. He said he was going to take it whether I liked it or not. Then he jumped on me and beat me up … before he raped me again.” By then, Brandi was crying so loudly into the phone it darn near pierced my eardrum. “Ms. Tia, I’m sorry. I know I fucked up, but I was lonely.”

  “Okay, okay, calm down, sweetie. You stay where you are until I get there. Which gas station are you at? Give me the exact address.” After she told me where she was, I turned to Aaron, who was just finishing up a call of his own. “I’m sorry, but I need you to take me back to my car. I’ve got somewhere I have to go.”

  “Everything all right? I thought we were going to look at choir robes.”

  “We were, but something’s come up. They’re going to have to wait. This is an emergency. So, can you please take me to my car?” I was agitated. I didn’t have time to explain all the details to Aaron right now. I had to get to Brandi.

  “Tia, relax! What happened?” Aaron took hold of my hand.

  “I can’t relax. One of my rape victims is in trouble. Her life may even be in danger,” I said frantically, pulling my hand free. “Now, can you take me to my car, please? I’ve got to go.”

  “Why don’t I just drive you? It’ll be quicker. Where is she at?”

  I was a little hesitant at first. I didn’t know how Brandi would react to me bringing a man, but time was of the essence. Anything could happen from the time Aaron took me all the way back to my car and I drove to Brandi. Going on instinct and discerning that Brandi was in grave danger, I opted to accept Aaron’s offer.

  “She’s in Rego Park. Get on the Grand Central Parkway.”

  Aaron headed toward the highway, and within minutes we arrived at the gas station, where we found Brandi hiding behind a parked car. She didn’t recognize the car I was in, so she remained crouched down until I approached her. I felt my knees go weak when I saw how badly she’d been hurt. Her eye was swollen shut, and her face was bruised. This beating looked even worse than the one she suffered when I first met her. It looked as if Reggie had tried to kill her.

  “Oh, Brandi,” was all I could say. I put my arms around her and tried to will my strength into her body.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Tia. I know I told you I was going to stay away from him, but—”

  “We have to take you to the police,” Aaron interrupted.

  Brandi tensed when she heard the male voice.

  “It’s okay, Brandi. This is Aaron. He’s with the church. He brought me here to help you,” I told her, relaxing her somewhat. “He’s right, though. We need to get you some help.”

  “I don’t want to go to the police,” Brandi protested. “You’ve got to get me out of here before Reggie finds me.”

  “We will get you out of here, but you need some help, Brandi.” I looked over my shoulder at Aaron. “Let’s take her to the hospital,” I said. “This woman’s been raped. The police can meet us there.”

  After getting Brandi into the back of the SUV, I climbed in with her, and Aaron drove to the hospital. When we arrived at Jamaica Hospital, we informed the check-in nurse what had taken place.

  She plugged some information into the computer and then took Brandi aside. “Come with me.”

  Brandi looked like a frightened little girl.

  “It’s okay, Brandi,” I assured her. “She’s going to do a rape kit on you.” I held her hand for support. “This way you can prosecute and Reggie won’t be able to do this to you again.”

  Brandi nodded and went with the nurse.

  A woman with dreadlocks walked up to me. “Hey, Tia,” she said. “I see you’ve got another one.”

  “Hey, Paige.” I waved my hand listlessly. This work took its toll on me. Even so, I took the time to introduce Aaron. “Paige, this is Aaron Mackie, choir director at Jamaica Ministries. Aaron, meet Paige Hunt, NYPD. Paige is the head detective over at the Rape Unit.” I turned back to Paige. “This is the third time he’s raped her,” I offered. “She knows her perp.”

  “I take it we’re talking about a boyfriend who can’t take no for an answer.” Paige shook her head.

  “She had moved away but made the mistake of giving him her phone number.”

  “Okay, I’ll go interview her. Hopefully she’ll press charges this time.” Paige spun on her heels and strode purposefully down the corridor to find Brandi.

  “We’ll be here waiting for Brandi,” I called out to her.

  After Paige left, I caught Aaron staring at me.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked.

  “You know what?”

  “What?”

  “You’re a very special woman.”

  “There’s nothing special about me. I’m not doing this to make me feel special. I’m doing this because it’s the call I have on my life.” I didn’t want to tell him I’d been raped before and had stood in Brandi’s shoes.

  “Hey, Tia, do you think …” Aaron hesitated as we sat down in the waiting room.

  “Do I think what?”

  “Do you think I could help with your rape hotline?”

  “You serious?”

  “Yeah. You do important work. Of course I’m serious.”

  “Really? Well, I guess that makes you pretty special yourself.”

  Monique

  18

  I was walking down the corridor toward the administrative wing of the church when Simone literally bumped into me, spilling coffee all over my blouse. She was coming out of the choir rehearsal room looking distraught. Whatever was bothering her must have been pretty serious, because she had her panties all tied up in a bunch.

  “Oh, excuse me,” I said.

  “Watch where the hell you’re going!” she hissed, looking down at her fine apparel. “This is a three-hundred-dollar suit I’m wearing. And I know you didn’t get coffee on it!” She examined her suit for any sign of a stain. “What have you got, two left feet?”

  “I said excuse me, Simone. Daggone it! And I don’t care how much your suit cost, ’cause you’re not the one with coffee spilled all over you. I am!” I barked back. I could give as good as I got when I had to.

  Looking up from her suit at me, she finally took the time to notice who it was she had bumped into. “Oh, Monique, I’m sorry. It was an accident. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m all right.” I looked down to examine my own clothing. “But I don’t think my blouse
is. Good thing I keep a change of clothes in my office.”

  “I am so sorry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

  “I can see that. Is everything all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m all right.” She sighed, trying to help me wipe off my clothes.

  “You don’t look all right.” I stopped her from helping because she was making things worse. “You look like you missed a seventy-five-percent-off sale at Bloomingdale’s.” I was trying to put a lighthearted spin on things. Simone usually laughed at my jokes, but the way she cut her eyes at me and pursed her lips, I knew she wasn’t in the mood for my jokes. “Girl, what’s wrong with you?”

  “Have you seen Aaron?” She pulled her bag tightly over her shoulder. Given the tone of her voice, I’m not sure I would have wanted to be Mackie when she found him.

  I shook my head. “He and Tia were supposed to go out to New Jersey today.”

  “What’s he going to Jersey with Tia for? He went to Long Island City with her a couple of days ago,” she snapped.

  I could see a flash of jealousy in her eyes before she quickly regained her composure. She waved her hand, trying to act like we were just sharing church gossip, but I could clearly read between the lines. She was worried that Tia and Aaron had gotten together. I guess she hadn’t heard the rumor that Porsche Moore was spreading around about herself.

  “I mean, what’s going on with him and Tia anyway? They have been spending a lot of time together.” She must have realized how jealous she was sounding, because she toned down her attitude this time.

  “Girl, you know there’s nothing between him and Tia. She’s been appointed the choir’s administrator. They just work together. They’re friends. Why? You got some interest in our choir director? What’s really going on, Simone?”

  “Nothin’.” Simone blushed, something I was not used to seeing in her. For a fleeting second, this dreamy look passed over her face and her beautiful features softened.

  Then, just as quickly, she gathered her senses. She waved her hand in dismissal. “We went out the other night when he got his car. I had a really good time. It just didn’t end well.”

  Oh Lord, I did not like the sound of that.

  Curiosity piqued, I looked Simone directly in the face. “Girl, what do you mean it didn’t end well?”

  “I messed up, Monique. I messed up bad and I don’t know what to do. He won’t even talk to me.” She was back to looking distraught again. “He won’t take my calls or anything. I’m not used to that. I’m usually the one sitting there watching my phone ring and hitting the ignore button.”

  “Messed up how? You act like you’re pregnant or …” I paused, worried by just the thought. “You’re not pregnant, are you? No, you couldn’t be—”

  She finally cut me off. “No, I’m not pregnant. The man’s only been in town a week. I haven’t even had a chance to feel his sweetness inside me.”

  I had to hold back a grin. “You haven’t had a chance to feel his sweetness inside you?” I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. Who says stuff like that? What was wrong with her?

  “It’s not funny. You know what I mean.” She folded her arms defiantly.

  “I know, I know. I’m sorry, but I just can’t believe you said that.” I was still laughing. “So, you really like him, don’t you?”

  She nodded eagerly. “I’ll tell you something, Monique. He’s different from any of the guys I usually date. We went out only that one time, but we actually talked.”

  “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you go on a date with someone?”

  “Yes, but I’m usually matching wits with players who are trying to get over on me while I’m trying to get over on them.” That starry light in her eyes now shone even brighter. “But Aaron’s different. He could be the one, Mo—that is, if I can ever get him to speak to me again.”

  I almost dropped what was left of my coffee. I couldn’t believe my ears. Was Simone talking about settling down? I was truly surprised. I’d never known her to like a man for himself. She generally only went for his bank account. I’d always known her to be as cold-blooded as any man could be when it came to her feelings.

  “The one? You like him that much?” She nodded her head to my query. “So, how is he that different than any of these other men you go out with? I mean, you just met the man.”

  “I thought he was a country bumpkin at first, someone I could use as an arm ornament, but he’s actually very intelligent. Do you know he went to the University of Virginia? My father went to the University of Virginia.”

  “That’s not exactly a reason to buy a wedding dress, Si-mone.” We began to walk down the corridor as we talked.

  “It’s a reason to think about it.”

  Okay, I was convinced this woman had lost her mind. And for what, some conversation? She said it herself that she hadn’t even slept with him yet, so it wasn’t like the girl was sexually whipped. I was still slightly confused as to why Aaron had my friend tripping like this. I mean, he was definitely a cut above the rest in the looks department, but a woman as beautiful as Si-mone had plenty of handsome men at her disposal.

  “Monique, I really like this guy,” Simone whined.

  “I can see that. How much do you like him?”

  “A lot.”

  “James Black a lot?” I studied her face to gauge her reaction to my question. She shocked me by nodding her head.

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  I took a step back. I couldn’t believe it. I’d never seen Simone put a man in James’s league.

  “Wow, you really do like this guy.”

  She nodded again. “I do, and I can’t believe I screwed it up.”

  I glanced around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers nearby. I didn’t need any rumors starting now that the choir was finally starting to regain its footing. “So, what happened? How did you mess up?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” She sighed. “I still haven’t told you, have I? Well, we went on this perfect date. We talked, had dinner, went on a romantic walk on the beach. When we got back to my place, there was someone parked in my driveway.”

  “Who was it?” I was hanging on to her words as we entered my office.

  “That’s not really important. Let’s just say it wasn’t someone I wanted Aaron to meet.”

  “Oh my goodness. I told you about having all these different men come to your house. They didn’t fight, did they?”

  “No. I made Aaron drop me off a couple blocks away.”

  “You did what? No wonder he’s mad. I’d be mad too.”

  “I know, but it wasn’t like that.”

  I opened my office door and was surprised to see a gift bag tied with a ribbon on my desk. I didn’t want to be rude to Si-mone and cut her off; otherwise I would have rushed over to examine it. The unexplained lingerie gift still had me on edge.

  “Speaking of men, it looks like your husband has bought you something. Since you’re all in my business, what’s up with this?” Simone demanded.

  Now that she’d given me the green light to exit her topic of conversation, I rushed over to the bag. Simone was right behind me, looking over my shoulder as I removed a jewelry box from the bag.

  “Hmm, Bloomingdale’s. I see the bishop has good taste,” Si-mone commented. “I would have never thought him to be a Bloomingdale’s shopper.”

  He isn’t. I felt my heart beating a little faster as I lifted the lid off the box. There was no card with the gift, and I felt it was safe to assume this one came from the same mystery person who’d left the Victoria’s Secret package.

  I was surprised to see a set of shiny gold bangles studded with diamonds. As I fingered the jewelry, I didn’t know what to think. I was relieved that it wasn’t as personal and intimate as the lingerie, but it was disturbing in its own way. It had to have cost a few thousand dollars. Who would spend that kind of money and not even reveal their identity?

  “Bishop is a more interesting man than I thought he was,” Si-mone
remarked. “Oh, look at you.” Lifting her eyebrow, she gave me a teasing look.

  My stomach was in knots. “Wait right here, Simone. I’ll be right back.” I stepped out of my office and into the reception area. I was thankful that Tia, who hadn’t been at her desk just a moment before, had returned.

  “Tia, who’s been in my office?” I asked.

  “The only one who came by was Aaron, looking for the bishop or you.”

  “Did he go into my office?”

  “I don’t think so. I don’t know. No one’s been in this area since Aaron and I got back from the mall.”

  “What were you and Aaron doing at the mall?” I asked. “I thought you two were going over to Jersey.”

  “Yeah, we did, but somehow when we got back to the city, I ended up at the mall. Even though I was the one who talked him into running in real quick with me, Aaron is the one who ended up with a lot of bags.” She chuckled.

  “Hmmm.” I turned and went back into my office, where Si-mone was waiting.

  She stood up, smoothing her skirt. “Well, I’ve got to go to work.” She gave me a conspiratorial grin. “And, uh, just for the record, everything I told you about Mr. Choir Director … uh, it’s just between me and you.”

  Half paying attention to Simone, I replied, “Oh, yeah, you don’t have to worry about that.” And she didn’t. The last thing on my mind was why she was so sprung on Aaron. What I had to figure out, as I stared down at the gift on my desk, was if he was sprung on me.

  Tia

  19

  The pews were only half full and the balcony was completely empty, but it had still been the best Sunday turnout we’d had in weeks. It was obvious that word had gotten around about our handsome new choir director, because in the pews I saw plenty of women who hadn’t visited our church in quite a while. Women always brought men back to the church.

  I had to give a lot of credit to the first lady, because she’d been in her office all week, burning up the phone lines bragging about Mr. Aaron Mackie’s debut performance today. I can’t lie; I’d made a few calls myself to let my girlfriends know about our new choir director, too, although I was a lot more subtle. And I was glad I did, because even though there were still only a small number of us performing in the choir that Sunday morning, we turned First Jamaica Ministries out.