The Best of Everything

by Kimberla Lawson Roby

  Phillip was feeling the same way, but he knew it would be a mistake to admit it to her.

  “If you’ll just give me a chance. Because if you do, I promise you won’t be sorry.”

  “This is wrong, Shandra.”

  “Okay, so it’s wrong. We both agree on that particular fact, but I can’t give up on the idea that we were meant to be together. I mean, think about it. We were head over heels in love in high school, and I really don’t think it was a coincidence that I decided to attend service at your church at the same time you and your wife are having problems. Everything is for a reason, and you and I both know that.”

  Phillip closed his eyes and tried to imagine what the inside of her house looked like. If she was already making him feel this at ease by phone, he could only imagine how wonderful she’d probably make him feel in person. He fantasized about the layout of the rest of her house, but when he pictured her bedroom and also with him and her lying together inside of it, he snapped back to reality. Thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.

  “I’m sorry, Shandra, but I think it’s time we hung up.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want to do something I’ll end up regretting. Something that I’ll have to pay for years down the road, if not sooner, and pay serious consequences for.”

  “So, you’d rather be miserable with your wife even though I’m offering you complete happiness?”

  “No, but I’m not going to let desire and temptation cause me to do something I won’t be able to take back.”

  “You’re making a big mistake.”

  “Maybe. But right now, at this very moment, I know I can’t do this anymore.”

  “You do know that she’ll never change, right?”

  “Well, if she doesn’t, then that’ll be on her, but I do love her and that’s the one thing I’ve never denied even to you. And because I love her, I’m going to give our marriage my all before simply giving up.”

  “Well, when she starts treating you worse than she already is—and she will—then I’ll be right here waiting.”

  “You take care of yourself, Shandra.”

  “You, too.”

  Phillip searched through his contact list but just as he prepared to click on Alicia’s number, his phone rang. At first, he thought it might be Shandra; however, he was relieved when he saw that it was Mrs. King instead.

  Phillip pushed the Answer button. “Hello?”

  “Pastor Sullivan, I’m really sorry to bother you this late, but you’ve always said I could call you any time, day or night, if I needed to.”

  “Yes, and I meant that. Is everything okay?”

  “No, it isn’t. I’ve tried to find peace with this thing my husband has gone and done behind my back, but no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get over it.” Mrs. King paused and then burst into tears. “I…feel…like…I’m having…a nervous breakdown,” she said, sniffling. “I feel like I’m going to lose my mind, and I really need to talk to someone.”

  She sounded very troubled and the whole thought of what she and Mr. King were going through truly saddened Phillip. “You don’t have to say another word. I’m on my way.”

  “Thank you, Pastor.”

  “I’ll be there soon.”

  Chapter 25

  Phillip had only been sitting in front of the Kings’ residence for five minutes at the most, and Curtis was now pulling up behind him. Phillip knew Mrs. King hadn’t wanted Curtis to be involved but with her sounding so distraught on the phone, Phillip had decided it was time Curtis intervened. Plus, even though Mrs. King totally disagreed with him, he really thought they needed someone more experienced to help them with their problem.

  Phillip and Curtis walked up the sidewalk and up three stairs to the front door and Phillip rang the doorbell. He looked over at Curtis who was dressed in all black. Black pullover shirt, black pants, and a black leather jacket. The reason Phillip noticed it was that he was basically dressed the same way. As a matter of fact, they had on so much black that he hoped their attire wouldn’t make Mrs. King feel uncomfortable or like they were detectives coming to interrogate her.

  Phillip rang the doorbell again but just as he did, Mrs. King finally opened the door. At first, she only stood there, gazing back and forth at them, and it was obvious that she wasn’t too pleased to see Curtis. But she didn’t say anything, and a few seconds later, she opened the screen door and invited them in.

  “Please have a seat.”

  Phillip sat down first. “Thank you.”

  Curtis sat at the opposite end of the sofa. “Yes, thank you, Mrs. King.”

  “Can I get either of you something to drink?”

  “No, ma’am,” Curtis answered.

  “No, thank you. We’re fine.”

  Phillip watched her take a seat in a chair that she must have brought in from her dining room. She sat right in front of them, and there was another chair just like it sitting not far from her. Phillip watched how calmly she acted and was glad she’d settled down a great deal since she’d called him. One thing sort of concerned him, though, and that was the crooked way her wig was pulled onto her head. Mrs. King wore wigs all the time, but this was the first time Phillip had seen one of them looking as though she’d slapped it on, fast and in a hurry.

  Phillip looked down the hallway. “Where’s Mr. King?”

  “He’s in the bedroom. He’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Are you having second thoughts about filing for a divorce?”

  “No. But I’ve been on edge for hours now, and that’s why I finally decided it was best that I call you.”

  “I’m glad you did, and we’re willing to stay for as long as you need us to. We’ll do whatever we can to try to help you.”

  Just then Mr. King moseyed out, shook both Phillip’s and Curtis’s hands, and then sat in the chair near Mrs. King. As soon as he did, Mrs. King no longer seemed calm and appeared a lot more agitated.

  “Pastor, I just don’t know what to do,” she said to Phillip. “I’ve been having all sorts of crazy thoughts, and it all started when I left the grocery store this afternoon.”

  “What kind of thoughts?”

  Mrs. King tossed her husband a nasty look and then reached down inside what looked like her purse. Phillip watched as she pulled something out, and he gasped when he saw what it was. He swallowed hard when he saw Mrs. King pointing a .38 at the man she’d been married to for forty years.

  Phillip could tell Curtis was just as shocked as he was, and poor Mr. King was terrified.

  “You see, it’s like this, Pastor. No matter how many ways I tried to weigh this whole crazy mess, I finally realized that this is the only way to pay Harold back for what he’s done to me.”

  Curtis spoke in an immediate tone but also with compassion. “Mrs. King, with all due respect, I know you’re upset, but this isn’t the way to go about handling things.”

  Mrs. King looked at Curtis without any emotion. “Why? Because this isn’t the way your wife handled things when you went out and got that illegitimate baby of yours?’

  Phillip interrupted. “Mrs. King, I think what Pastor is trying to say is that violence isn’t going to solve anything. It won’t change what happened, and we don’t want you doing something you’ll regret. There’s no doubt that you have every reason to be upset with your husband, but just the fact that you still love him is enough for you to think twice about what you’re doing.”

  “You’re right. I do love him, and that’s why I’ll never be able to get past this. I’ve tried but now I know that it’s just not possible.”

  Curtis and Phillip looked at each other, and Phillip wished Alicia had answered her phone when he’d tried reaching her from the car thirty minutes ago. If this went on for hours, maybe Alicia would try calling him back, get worried when he didn’t answer, and then dial the police. Although, at least he had left her a message, so maybe if too much time passed by, she would think to contact one of the church secretaries to find
out where the Kings lived. He wondered if maybe Charlotte would do the same if it ended up that Curtis was gone a lot longer than he should be—because this entire situation was looking worse by the second.

  “Pastor Black?” Mrs. King said.

  “Yes?”

  “Was it really that good to you? Because if it was that good to you, then maybe it was just that good to ol’ Harold here, too.”

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

  “Of course you do. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  Curtis readjusted his position on the sofa. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t.”

  Phillip could see that Mrs. King was becoming impatient. “You do know what I’m talking about. I’m talking about that thing between that whore’s legs. That thing you obviously couldn’t get enough of and that’s how you ended up with that bastard child of yours.”

  Phillip was mortified and while he didn’t dare look away from Mrs. King, he wondered just how Curtis was planning to respond to her.

  “Mrs. King, what I did was wrong. Way wrong. And I’ll never stop trying to make up to my wife for what I did. But by the grace of God, Charlotte has finally found it in her heart to forgive me. It took a lot of time, but we’re closer now than we’ve ever been, and I believe the same thing can happen for you and Mr. King.”

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong, Pastor. Harold and I can never be a happy couple again. The pain he’s caused me runs far too deep, and the only consolation I can see myself ever getting is by taking him out of here.”

  Phillip eased toward the edge of the couch. “Mrs. King, please. You’re a good person. A good Christian woman, so I know you really don’t want to do this. You’re just hurt is all. You’re hurt, and this has been a very difficult time for you.”

  “I just don’t see why men do this. I know I did the same thing to him back in the day, but I would never do something like this after all these years of being married. I would have given my life for this man if I had to, but now…today…I’m going to have to take his,” she yelled and then held the gun with both hands.

  “Puddin’, please don’t do this. I’m so, so sorry. I’m so sorry that I don’t know what to do. Please don’t take my life over this. What about our children?”

  “What about them?”

  “They’ll be so hurt over this. They’ll be hurt about everything.”

  “You should’ve thought about that before you went out and laid up with that tramp. If you cared about them, you never would have done that,” Mrs. King said and then closed her eyes and shook her head frantically, almost as if she was trying to shake something out of it. She then pressed both sides of her temples, one with her hand and one with the gun. Then, she opened her eyes, stood up, and looked over at Curtis. “Harold, what are you doing over there? How did you slip away without me seeing you? Get back over here,” she demanded and pointed the gun at Curtis. “I said get over here!”

  At first Curtis hesitated but when she yelled again, he stood and walked over to where Mr. King was sitting.

  This was crazy. Phillip had not seen this coming before this evening, but Mrs. King had clearly lost her mind and now all their lives were in danger because of it.

  “Mrs. King. I’m not your husband. I’m Pastor Black.”

  “Shut up!” she demanded and then looked over at Mr. King. “Who are you, and what are you doing in our house?”

  It was clear that Mr. King didn’t know what to say or do, so he did and said nothing.

  “Well, whoever you are, I want you to get over there, sit down, and keep quiet. And you’d better not trade places with my husband again, you hear me?”

  Mr. King took a seat at the end of the sofa where Curtis had been sitting.

  Mrs. King sat back down and smiled at Curtis. “Remember, Harold, when we first met? Remember how beautiful you thought I was and how you said you’d never seen a woman more beautiful in your whole life? Remember that? Remember how we used to ride in your sixty-eight Mercury? You’d pick me up and take me to the park, push me in the swing, and then we’d have a picnic on the grass and laugh and talk until sundown. Remember how special those times were? Remember how in love we were with each other? And then remember how happy we were when Harold Jr. was born and then we had him a little sister. That boy loved little Elena so much, he acted more like her father than he did her brother.”

  Mrs. King reminisced for another twenty minutes but neither Phillip, Curtis, nor Mr. King moved an inch, nor did they breathe one word. Phillip listened and hoped all the happy times she was speaking about would be enough to draw her back to reality.

  But they weren’t; instead, things turned ugly again.

  “Life was good, Harold. Real good until you went out and slept with that whore-niece of mine. Then, today, I went to the grocery store, minding my own business, but no sooner than when I went into the produce section, I saw her and that baby. I saw your child, your own flesh and blood, Harold, and it slit my heart in two. Just tore me to pieces.”

  Now Phillip understood. Seeing the baby for the first time was what had set Mrs. King off and the reason she’d slipped into this disturbed mental state.

  “And that’s why I decided, right then and there, that only one thing would make me feel better about all of this: blowing you to hope field.”

  Phillip took a deep breath and prayed that Mrs. King would come to her senses. But she didn’t. Instead, she pointed the pistol straight at Curtis and cocked it like a professional gunman. “I’m sorry, Harold, but it’s time.”

  Mrs. King slowly stood up but as soon as she did, Phillip charged toward her and wrestled her to the floor. Mrs. King fired the gun at the wall and Phillip tried his best to take the gun from her. He tried but Mrs. King scuffled against his strength and fired the .38 again.

  Phillip yelled and grabbed his thigh with both hands, but in a split second, he managed to overpower Mrs. King and shake the gun away from her. Curtis immediately grabbed it.

  Mrs. King burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, Daddy,” she said to Phillip. “I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody, so please don’t put me on punishment. I’ll be good from now on, Daddy. I promise.”

  Crying like a baby, Mrs. King lay her head against Phillip’s chest.

  Curtis pulled out his cell phone and bent down to Phillip. “Are you okay? Let me see your leg.”

  With all the commotion over the last few minutes and even though he was in excruciating pain, Phillip hadn’t thought much about the gunshot wound. “I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s bleeding and it hurts like crazy, but I don’t think it’s serious.”

  Curtis took a look for himself. “Still, we need to get you to a hospital right away.”

  Phillip watched Curtis dialing 911 and then glanced over at Mr. King, who acted as though he was afraid to move or speak a word to anyone. He sat quietly and to be honest, Phillip didn’t know what to say to him, either. So, instead, Phillip rubbed Mrs. King’s back, trying to comfort her, and waited for the ambulance and police officers to arrive on the scene. He waited and hoped he would never have to experience anything close to this ever again.

  Chapter 26

  Alicia had decided for sure that she wasn’t going to drive over to see Levi tonight, but when she’d listened to Phillip’s message, saying he was heading over to the Kings’ house, she’d changed her mind, called Levi, and the next thing she knew, she was in her car and on her way over to see him. She knew that she should have followed her first thought and stayed home the way she’d planned, but the more she’d conversed with Levi, the more she’d longed to be with him. She also knew that if Phillip arrived back home before she did, she’d have a lot of explaining to do—which was why she already had her lie prepared and ready. She would tell him that one of the ladies from the church that she’d gone to dinner with on Saturday was having some problems with her husband and had asked if they could meet at an all-night restaurant to discuss it. Alicia knew no such woman
existed and that she’d never gone to dinner with anyone, but she would tell him that this mysterious woman had really needed to talk to her, the same as Mrs. King had needed to talk to him. She’d also tell him that because the woman had made her promise not to reveal her name, she couldn’t tell him who she was.

  Alicia wasn’t sure if Phillip would buy her story or not but, he would have no choice but to accept what she told him. He would accept it or she’d bring up the fact that he’d just spent the night away from home himself on Saturday night and that she actually had no proof at all that he truly had stayed at Brad’s. She did believe that he had, but she would pretend that she didn’t and use it as ammunition if he challenged her about this evening.

  Now, once again, she was lying next to Levi, face-to-face, feeling as satisfied as any woman could hope for when it came to lovemaking. It was true that she did feel an underlying sense of guilt, but when she thought about the terrible way Phillip had been treating her, her guilt waned considerably.

  Levi stroked Alicia’s hair. “You know, you really are the woman of my dreams.”

  Alicia smiled.

  “You’re the woman of my dreams, and I can no longer deny that I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  Alicia’s smile slowly faded.

  “I’ve pretty much known it the entire time we’ve been seeing each other, but I hadn’t wanted to admit it to you or to myself because legally you belong to someone else.”

  Alicia was shocked and had no words to say, because even though she did enjoy Levi’s company, she was far from being in love with him. She loved the way he made her feel sexually, but that was basically where her love for him ended.

  “So, sweetheart, how do you feel about that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, my feelings for you are very real, and what I want now is to be with you on a full-time basis. When we first started this, I was sure that being with you every now and then would be fine, but it just isn’t. It’s not enough for me anymore.”