“Oh, please. We haven’t seen each other in forever, so I’m excited to have you.”
JT shot a glance at Carmen, who seemed very full of herself, but then he quickly looked away when his mother-in-law called his name.
“JT, if you don’t mind, can you go out to the garage to get the card table we have stored toward the back of it? I was thinking we wouldn’t need it, but I can see now that we do.”
“Of course,” he said, and started toward the glass patio doors. But once he’d walked inside the kitchen, he heard Carmen say, “Alicia, could I use the restroom?”
“Girl, you know you don’t even have to ask something like that. Go ahead.”
JT walked as fast as he could toward the door leading to the garage, opened it, and then closed it behind him once he was on the other side of it. He hoped Carmen wasn’t planning to follow him, but to his regret, she didn’t waste any time.
“So, are you glad to see me?” she asked.
“Carmen, why are you here? Why did you come when I specifically asked you not to?”
“I came because I wanted to see you and it’s like I told you on Friday: I’m tired of spending all my holidays without you. And anyway, doesn’t a girl have a right to change her mind?”
JT moved closer to where the table was stored and picked it up. “You’ve got to stop showing up like this.”
“I’ll stop coming around just as soon as you stop ignoring me the way you did yesterday. I tried calling you at least twenty times, and I never heard back from you.”
“Didn’t I already explain that to you earlier? I was with a very sick man, and there was no way I could get back to you.”
“But you could have called me when you were on your way home.”
JT lifted the table, making sure it didn’t touch his starched khaki shorts. It wasn’t excessively dirty, but it would definitely have to be wiped down before they used it. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back.”
“Can I see you tomorrow evening?”
“Fine,” he said, but only so Carmen would leave him alone and let him get back to the patio. He told her what she wanted to hear; however, he knew he couldn’t make good on his words because he’d already promised Diana he would be with her. There was no doubt Carmen would probably go ballistic once she realized he wasn’t coming to her apartment, which was the reason he’d have to have some sort of an excuse ready before then.
When JT finished setting up the card table and cleaning it with soap and water, he scanned the main table and couldn’t wait to dig in. Tanya had prepared everything from potato salad, baked beans, and spaghetti to coleslaw, tossed salad, and some sort of fruit concoction that was drenched in whipped cream. Then there was all the meat James had finished up as well, and JT couldn’t have been more content than he was right now. He hadn’t been blessed to have parents like Tanya and James, and he was thankful just to have them as in-laws.
After listening to another twenty minutes of small talk, mostly between Alicia and Carmen and then Rita and Tanya, they all held hands and JT said grace. Seconds later, they began reaching for various dishes and started filling up their plates.
“Everything looks great, baby,” James said to Tanya.
“I wish I could have done more. Especially with the decorations.”
“The whole setting is wonderful,” Rita added.
“And these baked beans are to die for,” JT said.
“Why, thank you, son-in-law,” Tanya said, smiling.
Alicia and Carmen offered their compliments as well to both Tanya and James, and then Tanya said, “Carmen, I really am glad you decided to contact Alicia after all these years. She told us how you looked her up on the church’s website and e-mailed her.”
“I’m glad, too, because now I realize just how much I missed her.”
“I missed you, too. That’s for sure.”
JT forked up a helping of potato salad and wanted to kill Carmen. She was acting as if she were Alicia’s best friend, and he hated the way she was deceiving her. He hated that he’d allowed this whole mess to spin way out of control.
“I’m thrilled about it, too,” Rita said. “Because you girls were so close when you were children.”
Tanya drank a couple of sips of tea. “You really were, and you used to spend the night with each other all the time.”
“You were just like sisters,” Rita said, and then grabbed both sides of her head and leaned back in her chair.
Carmen slid her chair back and turned toward her. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“My head is killing me.”
“Is it worse than it was yesterday?”
“Yes,” she said, now moaning with her eyes shut tightly. Then, in a matter of seconds, she passed out and slumped down into the chair.
“Oh no!” Carmen screamed. “Mom? Mom? Wake up!” she said, shaking her arm. “Mom, can you hear me? Oh my God, somebody call nine-one-one!”
Chapter 24
The five of them had been waiting for at least an hour but still hadn’t heard anything from the doctors. James had called for an ambulance, which had arrived in a matter of minutes, and the paramedics had rushed Rita straight to Covington Park Memorial. Thankfully, Carmen had been allowed to ride with her mother, because the last thing JT had wanted was to be in the same vehicle with both his wife and the desperate woman he was messing around with.
“This is just horrible,” Carmen said, sobbing. “And what in the world am I supposed to do without my mother? How am I supposed to go on if she doesn’t make it?”
Tanya pulled Carmen closer, and Carmen laid her head on Tanya’s shoulder. Alicia looked on with tears filling her eyes, and JT wished he could go home. He did feel bad for Carmen’s mother, but it wasn’t like there was a whole lot he could do. There wasn’t a lot any of them could do except be there for Carmen, but at the moment, he wanted to be as far away from her as possible.
They sat, waited a while longer, and watched a number of gurneys wheel by them, some at normal speed and some in a hurry. They watched frustrated patients who obviously didn’t have life-threatening ailments because they still hadn’t been called into an examination room yet. They looked on in total silence, and then finally they were all directed into a conference room and two East Indian doctors in their midfifties dressed in scrubs walked in afterward.
“Miss Wilson?” the first one said, trying to identify who Rita’s daughter was.
“Yes,” Carmen said.
“Miss Wilson, I’m Dr. Mehta and this is Dr. Nigam.”
“It’s nice to meet you both.”
“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Dr. Mehta said, and both doctors shook everyone’s hand and took a seat. “Although I’m sorry it’s not under better circumstances.”
“So, is my mother going to be okay?” Carmen asked right away.
“Well, the thing is, she’s had a massive brain aneurysm, and we’re prepping her now for emergency surgery. We need to get in there as soon as possible to prevent any further damage.”
Carmen burst into tears again. “So…what…are…her…chances?”
Dr. Mehta took a deep breath. “Unfortunately, it’s pretty serious, but we’re going to do all we can for her, and we’ll keep you posted all the way.”
Carmen was too upset to respond, so Tanya said, “Thank you very much, and we appreciate your coming out to update us.”
“You’re quite welcome,” he said, and then he and Dr. Nigam stood up.
“How long do you think the surgery will take?” James asked.
“It’s hard to say but probably a few hours. It just depends on what we find once we get in there.”
“Well,” James said. “We’ll be here.”
Both doctors exited the room, and tears drenched Carmen’s face. She was distraught, and JT could tell Alicia was glad her mother was there helping to console Carmen because Alicia hadn’t said more than a few words since they’d arrived.
“Now, come on, sweetie,” Tanya said. �
��You have to try and settle down because your mom is really going to need you when this is over. She’s going to need you to be the very strong daughter she raised you to be, and instead of crying, you have to focus on prayer. As a matter of fact,” she said, looking at her son-in-law, “JT, can you please say a few words for Rita right now?”
JT wanted to say no but knew that wasn’t an option. “Sure.”
Carmen looked at him for the first time since they’d come into the conference room, and JT hurried to bow his head. “Dear Heavenly Father, we come right now, recognizing that You are in control of everything. We come asking for Your awesome grace and wonderful mercy. Lord, we ask that You please guide the doctors through this entire process and that You give them all the skill and knowledge they need. We ask that You heal Rita’s body completely. Then, Lord, we ask that You watch over all of us who are here and that You give strength and understanding wherever it is needed. Father, we thank You for all that You’ve done and for all that we know You’ll do in the future. We ask for all these and many other blessings, in Your son Jesus’s name. Amen.”
JT glanced at his Rolex, the one his church had given him for his birthday about a year ago, and breathed deeply. They were now back out in the family waiting area, but after sitting for yet another couple of hours, he was starting to feel exhausted and wished this would be over very soon. About twenty minutes ago, one of the surgical nurses had come out with an update, but all she’d said was basically that there had been a lot of bleeding and that the doctors were still working. JT hadn’t known what that meant, but for Rita’s sake, he did hope she was going to be fine.
He leaned his head against the wall and thought about Veda. He wondered what she was doing for the holiday, and he wished he could see her. Maybe he would ask her to fly back down in another week or so, even if only for a day trip.
“I wonder what’s taking them so long,” Carmen said suddenly, and then got up. She stood for a couple of seconds and then paced back and forth.
“We just have to be patient,” Alicia said. “I know it’s hard, but I felt the exact same way when my dad was shot, and you see how things turned out for him. Everything worked out fine.”
Carmen walked over near the television that was hanging from the wall, looking distraught, and for a second JT felt sorry for her. But it was only for a second, because while he was sad for Rita and for what she was going through, he could also see the positive side of things: If Carmen’s mother survived the surgery, Carmen would be so consumed with taking care of her, she wouldn’t have time to harass him. JT would be the least of her worries, and what an astounding reprieve that would be.
Four more hours passed and then finally both neurosurgeons came out and spoke to them again.
“Well,” Dr. Mehta began, “as it turns out, it was a little worse than what Dr. Nigam and I had originally thought, and I want to be honest with you. Your mother only has a fifty-fifty chance of surviving this.”
Carmen sniffled and tears fell instantly.
Dr. Nigam looked at her sympathetically. “Had your mom been complaining of any headaches?”
“Yes. She’s been having them on and off for a week or so, but she wouldn’t go get them checked out. But then, this morning, she felt a lot better. Better than she had over the last couple of days.”
“Had she spoken about any chest pains or anything? Because there was a period where we had a little difficulty keeping her heart stabilized.”
“No. She’s never mentioned anything like that.”
Dr. Mehta placed his hand over Carmen’s and said, “Well, we’ll be keeping a very watchful eye over her, and we’ll be hoping for some major progress as your mom recovers.”
“Can I see her?”
“She’s still in recovery and probably won’t be conscious for a while, but I’ll have one of the nurses come out to get you as soon as she’s situated.”
“Thank you, Doctor. Both of you,” she said, looking at Dr. Nigam, too.
“You’re very welcome, and please take care.”
When both men were out of sight, Carmen’s face turned serious. “She’s going to die.”
Alicia frowned. “Carmen, don’t say that. The doctor said she had a fifty-fifty chance and we have to believe that she’s going to be fine. We can’t just give up on her.”
“That’s right,” Tanya said. “What we’re going to do is keep praying for a miracle. We’re going to keep our faith in God, no matter what.”
JT felt a little awkward because, as a pastor, he knew those were the kinds of words he should have been saying. He knew he should be the first person to comfort anyone who had a seriously ill mother, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t force himself to comfort the woman he’d been cheating with, not in front of his wife and her parents.
“Maybe you should get something to eat,” Alicia suggested to her.
“No.”
Alicia turned to JT. “Honey, I’m going to stay here with Carmen for the night, but if you want, you can go on home.”
JT had thought he would never hear those words and wanted to jump for joy. “Are you sure? Because I can hang around for as long as you need me to.”
“No, go on. We’ll be fine.”
“Well, I guess we’ll get ready to leave, too,” Tanya said. “But we’ll be back tomorrow.”
Carmen forced a smile and then stood up and hugged her. “Thank you so much for being here with me all this time. And I’m so sorry your cookout was ruined.”
Tanya wrinkled her forehead. “Don’t you even think twice about that. Your mom is the priority right now.”
James hugged Carmen next. “We’re here for you, and you just let us know whatever you need, okay?”
“I will, and thank you for everything.”
“JT, if you want to leave your car here for Alicia, we can drop you off at home.”
“That would be great, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course we don’t.”
JT pulled his wife into his arms. “Now, baby, you call me if you need me.”
“I will,” she said, kissing him.
Then JT looked at Carmen, figuring he’d better say at least something to her prior to leaving, before the rest of them got suspicious. “I’ll be praying for your mom.”
“Thanks,” she said, grabbing hold of him, and he was sorry he’d said anything to her. “That really means a lot, JT. More than you could possibly ever know.”
JT pushed her away in a subtle manner, and he and Tanya and James proceeded down the corridor leading to the parking lot. He looked back at Alicia and Carmen and prayed that Carmen wouldn’t do or say anything stupid. In times of heartache or loss, most people tended to become extremely sentimental and were much more apt to come clean about their wrong-doings. If they had betrayed a close friend or family member, they were more prone to confessing everything. He had to believe, however, that Carmen was different…and that she had sense enough to keep her mouth shut.
Chapter 25
JT read off the number of the account he wanted Diana to transfer his marketing funds into, and she repeated it back, making sure she had it right.
“That’s correct,” he said.
“Then I’ll get this taken care of this afternoon.”
“I really appreciate what you’re doing, because I know six figures is a lot of money.”
“As a matter of fact it is, and I just hope you’re worth it.”
“Hey, come on, now. Why do you say that?”
“Because once again, I only saw you one time last week and that’s just not enough for me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. But I promise you, things will be very different this week,” he said, knowing he really would be able to make good on his word since he was pretty sure Alicia would be spending most of her time at the hospital with Carmen. Now that he thought about it, it was kind of strange how some things tended to work out, because who would have guessed that the reason he now had more free time
to be with one mistress was because his wife was busy trying to comfort another one?
“I hope you mean that.”
“I really do.”
“Okay, I’m holding you to it, and of course I can’t wait to see you in a couple of hours.”
“I can’t wait to see you either, which is why I’ve been thinking about you all morning.”
“Well, I guess I’ll see you when you get here then.”
“See you soon.”
JT ended the call and set his cell phone down on his desk. He thought about calling Alicia to see how things were going at the hospital, but his phone rang before he could pick it back up. The word “private” was displayed on the screen, which made him a little uneasy because there was a chance Alicia had left the waiting room or the hospital for a while, leaving ample opportunity for Carmen to call him.
“Hello?”
“Well, well, well,” the woman said. “It certainly has been a very long time, hasn’t it?”
“Excuse me, do I know you?”
The woman laughed. “I can’t believe you don’t recognize my voice, especially with all the history you and I have.”
“Look, I’m very busy, and I think maybe you have the wrong number.”
“No, I don’t think so. And by the way, did your wife tell you I saw her at the mall? Did she tell you Donna stopped and had a nice little chat with her?”
JT’s heart pounded heavily. This just couldn’t be. Not now. Not when he finally had the perfect long-range plan in place and was experiencing no obstacles.
“Are you still there?”
“Why are you calling me?” he finally asked.
“JT, JT, JT,” she sang. “Now, why does anyone contact a person they haven’t spoken to in over two years? They do it because either a family member has died or because they need money, and I’m here to tell you that every one of my family members is alive and well.”
“But once I paid you that fifty thousand you asked for, you agreed to never contact me again. You said we had a deal, and I trusted you.”
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