The Choir Director

by Carl Weber

  “Well, let’s see if we can work it out,” Deacon Frye conceded. “But I make no promises. That school costs a lot of money to run, and the courts will probably make us sell it or the church. One or the other.”

  “Deacon Frye, how did this happen? And how can we prevent it from happening again?”

  This time, Maxwell turned to Simone. “I’m not sure how it happened, Bishop, but from the internal audit my people did, I can see there are a lot of discrepancies. It looks like someone has been robbing the church blind. The only way to truly find out where the money went is to hire an independent auditing agency that specializes in nonprofit accounting and have them examine the books. We may also have to bring in the police.”

  “I don’t think we need to spend that kind of money at this time,” Simone objected. “Not when I can have my accountants do it for free.”

  I ignored her completely. From the way things were looking, Simone couldn’t possibly expect us to give her any say in the matter. “All in favor of an outside audit say aye.”

  Everyone except Simone held up their hands.

  “So, there it is. We’ll hire an outside agency.” This was one of the darkest moments of my tenure at First Jamaica Ministries. I needed to get out of there. Maxwell had laid out the facts about our shattered finances, and I needed some time to digest the bad news. “Deacon Fyre, thanks for making us aware of our dire situation. If there is no further business, I move to adjourn this meeting.”

  I felt totally drained. Maxwell had delivered terrible news, but we were still in the eye of the storm. Once word got out, we would have to brace ourselves for one hell of a hurricane.

  Simone

  39

  I was pacing back and forth so relentlessly that I was probably wearing grooves in my living room floor as I waited for Aaron to pick me up. Everything seemed to put me on edge lately, ever since Maxwell Frye had laid the blame for all of the church’s financial troubles at my feet. I hadn’t talked to anyone about the meeting, so I was living in constant dread of word spreading to the general congregation. When Aaron found out, it would be embarrassing, but that was nothing compared to my father finding out. The prospect of his reaction had me petrified.

  That’s why I was such a wreck tonight. My father was in town, and he’d shown up at the dealership unannounced once again, this time with two white men nobody had seen before. I was at therapy at the time—well, okay, I was shopping, but that counted as retail therapy as far as I was concerned. Of course, you know those bastards who work for me didn’t even pick up the phone to tell me he’d been there until after he left. Thank God I’d sent him his check so he wasn’t in a bad mood when I talked to him. He said he wanted to meet me and Aaron for dinner.

  The doorbell ringing was the only thing that halted my pacing.

  “Hello, handsome,” I greeted Aaron.

  He walked in looking just as good as ever. I took in his manly scent. Some people had their own money, some people had their own zip code, but this man had his own scent, and I loved it. If we didn’t have to go meet Daddy, I would have jumped him right then and there in my living room. Instead, I had to settle for a very passionate kiss that made my insides weak.

  “Hello to you too,” he replied happily when we ended our kiss.

  Things were better between me and Aaron ever since our fight in the parking lot. When I went to his place later that night, I fully expected he would make me do as I’d promised and tell him all about Jonathan Smith being my father. As it turned out, though, he was not too interested in talking. I suspected that had to do with two things: one, he was happy to let me use my mouth for something other than talking, and, two, he seemed none too interested in spilling the details about the two thuggish-looking white guys who’d pulled up on us in the parking lot. So, I guess he understood that if he didn’t want to answer questions, then he didn’t get to ask any either. That seemed to be working for both of us pretty well ever since.

  “You ready to get out of here and go meet Daddy?” I grabbed my purse.

  “Of course. What exactly does he want to see me about?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he wants to give you your own dealership,” I joked.

  “Like you would ever let that happen,” he joked back.

  “No, that would be cool—as long as you remember that I’m the boss.”

  “You’re just mad because your father likes me more than you.”

  “Will you cut it out?” I slapped at him playfully. “He’s my father, not some girl you’ve got sprung.”

  “You mean like you?” He winked and squeezed my behind.

  “Don’t start nothing you can’t finish,” I dared him.

  “Oh, if I start, I’m gonna finish. What time does that restaurant close? Because your father just might have to sit around and wait for a while.” He planted a hot kiss on my lips, and I wanted to melt. Why was this man teasing me? He knew I couldn’t act upon the heated passion that rested between us.

  “Come on, Mr. Mackie, you little devil. You know we can’t stand my father up.”

  “Hey, why I gotta be a devil?” He acted offended.

  “Because your horn is showing.” I reached down and massaged his stiff package. “Now, let’s go. Daddy’s waiting.” I let go of his stuff and headed for the door before it was too late.

  When we arrived, my father stood up from his table in excitement before the host could even lead us all the way over to him.

  “It’s so good to see you,” he greeted. Call me crazy, but I just assumed he was talking to me until he said, “You, too, Simone.” He pulled Aaron in for a manly hug and a thump on the back.

  “It’s so good to see you, too, Mr. Wilcox.”

  When they finished their male-bonding session, I gave Daddy a kiss and Aaron helped me to my seat before sitting beside me. The waiter came over shortly after, and we ordered our meals, then chatted like we hadn’t just seen my father a few weeks ago. Aaron had that kind of effect on people—not just women, but people as a whole.

  That was my man, and I was proud of him, as could be seen by the grin that stayed plastered on my face as I watched him converse with my father throughout our meal. I was feeling so much better than I had earlier that evening—until Daddy said, “So, uh, Aaron, I know you’re all into that music thing, and my people at the church tell me that you do a fine job at it, but have you ever thought about going into the car business?”

  I could tell Aaron was a little caught off guard by my father’s question. In fact, so was I.

  “No, can’t say that I have, Mr. Wilcox.” Aaron sat back in his chair.

  Was he seriously interested in the idea? I sure hoped not. He was my man and all, but it wouldn’t do our relationship any kind of good if we were both working in the car business.

  “Well, a man with your gift of gab should give it some thought. I could see you becoming the top salesman and moving on to practically running the company.”

  What the hell was he talking about, running the company? I ran the company!

  Daddy continued on like I wasn’t even at the table. “With someone like you on the team, I could open up that chain I’ve always dreamed of.”

  And why hadn’t he shared that dream with me before? I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.

  “Uh, Daddy, Aaron doesn’t want to get into the car business.”

  “Hush, Simone. Let the man speak for himself.”

  Aaron glanced over at me. I’m sure he could see I wasn’t happy. He let out a chuckle. “I’m flattered, Mr. Wilcox, but singing is my thing.”

  “For now, maybe, but I could see you helping me get this chain thing off the ground. I could train you. Teach you everything I know. I could come to New York for a while and work with you side by side. It would be like building my dream with the son I never had.”

  Finally my father turned to me like he’d decided to finally invite me into this conversation. “Then again, who’s to say you won’t end up being my son-in-law anyway
?”

  Aaron looked over at me, as if I had any control over the stuff that was coming out of my father’s mouth. I wanted to sink down in my chair and crawl under the table. For the first time in a long time, I was completely innocent, but that didn’t change the look Aaron gave me before he spoke to my father.

  “Look, Mr. Wilcox, I like your daughter a lot. We have a lot of fun together, but I’m just getting used to the idea that she’s my girlfr—”

  “I know, I know. You’ve already told me. You and Simone aren’t getting down like that.” I was now officially more embarrassed than I’d ever been in my life, sitting there listening to my father attempt to use slang. “But it’s just a seed I wanted to plant in your head, and hopefully the good Lord will water it in my favor. Amen?”

  Aaron replied with a lackluster, “Amen.”

  I mean, what else could the poor guy say?

  “Daddy, dinner was lovely, but it’s time for Aaron and me to get out of here.” I wiped my mouth with my napkin and raised my hand to signal for the waiter to hurry over with our check.

  “Just one minute. I’m getting a call.” Daddy reached for his cell phone.

  About fifteen seconds into his conversation, his face became flushed and I could see the vein in his forehead throbbing.

  “Daddy, what’s the matter?” I asked when he hung up, although from the way he’d been staring at me during the call, I was terrified to hear his answer.

  He expression only hardened further as he said, “I was just informed that First Jamaica Ministries is filing for bankruptcy.”

  Uh-oh. I glanced at Aaron out of my peripheral vision. From the look he was giving me, I was about to get it from both ends.

  “Did you know that?” my father asked, but didn’t wait for a response. “Of course you knew it! You’re the chairwoman of the board of trustees. I just don’t understand how you could sit here and eat dinner with me for the past hour and not say a word about it.”

  No words came to my mind. I knew my usual baby-girl routine wouldn’t work, so I just stared at him with no expression.

  He turned to Aaron. “Did you know about this, young man?”

  “No, sir, I can’t say I did.” He looked at me disapprovingly. I wanted to smack him. How dare he gang up on me like this with my own father!

  My indignation allowed me to gather myself enough to finally speak up. “Look, Daddy, it’s no big deal. We’re just filing Chapter Eleven reorganization. I wasn’t gonna ruin dinner over it. God, don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.”

  “You don’t think this is a big deal?” Aaron asked.

  “No, I don’t. Businesses go through Chapter Eleven all the time and come out fine. Look at General Motors.”

  “But the church doesn’t have the government backing them,” Daddy protested as I turned around to search for the waiter so he could hurry up and bring the check.

  I heard Daddy let out a strange grunt behind me. I twisted around to look at him, and my heart skipped a beat. My father was slumped over, grabbing his chest.

  “Oh my God! Aaron, help him, please! Help!” I yelled out. “Somebody call an ambulance. I think my father is having a heart attack.”

  Aaron

  40

  We’d been in the emergency room for almost an hour, waiting to find out about the condition of Simone’s father. At the restaurant, I’d jumped out of my chair to catch him. If I hadn’t been there, the poor man probably would have split his head wide open on that stone floor. Luckily that didn’t happen, though it did look like he’d had a heart attack.

  “Simone, try to relax,” I coaxed as she paced the emergency room waiting area, her body trembling.

  She cut her eyes in my direction. “I can’t relax. That’s my father in there. I need to know what’s going on.”

  I got out of my seat and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. “I know, sweetheart, but the nurse said the doctor would be out to talk to you just as soon as he finished tending to your father. We gotta be patient, love.” I was laying it on thick with sweetheart and love, terms of endearment I usually shied away from. In this situation, I felt it was called for to comfort Simone.

  “I know, but it’s been forever.” Simone scooted out of my arms. “Where is that doctor?”

  As if right on cue, the doctor, a short Indian man, came into the waiting room. “Simone Wilcox? The family of Brian Wilcox?”

  “That’s me! Over here.” Simone ran over to the doctor, practically knocking him down. “How’s my father? What happened to him? Is he going to be okay?” she questioned in quick succession.

  “Your father is stable,” the doctor replied. “From what we can tell, he’s had an attack of angina.”

  “So, he didn’t have a heart attack? But how could that be? He was grabbing his chest and left arm.”

  “Yes, but those are also symptoms of angina. Do you know when he’s had his last checkup?” the doctor asked.

  “Uh, not too long ago, actually. He got a clean bill of health. But didn’t he tell you that?”

  The doctor gave us an uncomfortable chuckle. “Um, your father doesn’t seem to want to talk. He’s a stubborn man, isn’t he?”

  She sighed. “Yes, he can be. I bet he’s insisting he’s fine and ready to go home, right?”

  “Precisely. To be safe, though, we’d like to keep him overnight for observation and to run a few more tests. Angina is not terribly serious at this stage, but it can be a sign of heart disease.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll go talk to him to see if I can convince him to stay,” Simone said. Then she turned to me. “On second thought, maybe you should go talk to him, Aaron. I’m probably not his favorite person right about now.”

  I squeezed her hand. “How about we go together?”

  She leaned in to give me an appreciative kiss.

  The doctor cleared his throat when the kiss lasted longer than was probably appropriate for a hospital waiting room. “Well, that’s wonderful. Now, in the meantime, we need to know a bit about his medical history, and again, he only wants to talk about leaving at this point. Do you know of any significant medical history we should be aware of?”

  “Well, he’s never really been sick before, but he does have sickle cell trait. That’s the only thing I got from him, other than my looks.”

  Simone glanced over at me and winked, probably trying to assure me that her flirtatious comment to the doctor was harmless. That wasn’t the part that had me ready to flip, though.

  The doctor said, “That’s good to know. Now, if you’ll wait out here for just a little bit longer, we’ll finish his exam and then you can come back and see him.”

  Simone visibly relaxed when she heard those words. I wanted to be grateful for the doctor’s words, too, but it wasn’t his words that kept repeating in my mind.

  “Did you hear that?” Simone said ecstatically after the doctor walked away. “Daddy’s going to be okay!” She threw her arms around my neck and embraced me.

  “Yeah, I heard all right.” I slipped from her embrace and went to sit down in the chair I’d been in for the past hour. What I actually wanted to do was walk my ass right on out of there and go home. As Simone came and sat next to me, looking all innocent, it took everything in me not to get up and do just that.

  “I’m so glad you were there for Daddy. When I turned around and saw him clutching his chest after he made that god-awful noise, I panicked. But not you. You ran right over to Daddy to catch his fall. Thank you, Aaron. Thank you for being there for my father, and thank you for being there for me.”

  It all sounded good, but no longer did I believe a thing that came out of that woman’s mouth. And no longer could I hold it back.

  “Look, uh, I gotta go, Simone.” I dug into my pocket, pulled out my wallet, and handed her fifty dollars. “Here’s cab fare. I hope your father gets better soon.”

  I stood up, and Simone quickly followed suit, blocking my path.

  “A cab? What are you talking about? Why
are you leaving?”

  I wasn’t beating around the bush with her. “Because I’m sick of the lies. Why is there always so much drama with you?”

  “What drama? Aaron, baby, what’s really going on? Is this about the bankruptcy? If so, I can explain—”

  “Oh, it’s about that and a whole lot more. You know, Si-mone, I’ve never met anyone like you before. You’re a habitual liar.” I started walking out the door and she followed.

  “Aaron, I have a sick father in there. He may not have had a heart attack, but he still needs me, so I don’t have the time to be kissing your ass right now.”

  Obviously she needed me to spell it out for her. I guess she’d been telling so many lies she didn’t even notice that she’d slipped up in front of me.

  “And that right there is the problem, Simone. That sick man back there is your father. Not your stepfather or your adopted father, but your real, biological father! I mean, after all, you have the sickle cell trait that you inherited from him. Isn’t that what you just said?”

  She couldn’t have looked more surprised if I’d thrown a pie in her face. I swear, if it wasn’t so ghetto, I would have taken out my camera phone, snapped a couple pictures of Simone’s face, and posted it on the church’s Facebook page. She was so busted. It looked like all the blood had drained out of her face. I thought for a minute they were going to have to check her into the hospital right next to her father, but instead, I was checking myself out—out of her life.

  “Good-bye, Simone. Oh, and tell your father I hope he gets better and he was right.” I went to walk away, but she grabbed my arm.

  “Right about what?”

  “I am the one who ended up getting hurt in this relationship.” I tried to step past her, but she held my arm tightly.

  “So, is that it? You’re going to walk right out of here without allowing me to explain?”

  “Woman, do you know how many chances you’ve had to explain?” I hadn’t meant to raise my voice, but Simone had a way of sparking my anger like few other people could. “I doubt you can even keep your lies straight, can you?”