My Word_Interior.indd

by Gizelle Bryant

  him. Those days were long gone and the gleaming black sedan

  next to me was proof of that.

  I grabbed my bag, then locked the car with the fob before

  I trotted up the steps, entering the main building through

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  the side doors that led to the offices. The heels of my pumps

  clicked along the parquet floors of the hall as I made my way

  toward my office at the far end. I had to pass Jeremy’s office to get to mine, so I figured, I’d just pop in for a quick kiss and then get to work.

  But just as I lifted my hand to knock on his half-opened

  door, I heard a woman giggle. I dropped my hand to the

  doorknob and pushed the door open.

  Jeremy sat at his L-shaped Cherrywood desk, facing his

  computer and then, there was Dana Washington, our Director

  of Marketing. The woman who I’d mentioned to my sister.

  Dana was perched against the edge of his desk. Her

  back was to me while her breasts were all in Jeremy’s face. I

  wondered how he could even see the screen.

  “Pastor, you’re so brilliant.” Dana purred and then released

  that trying-to-sound-sexy giggle again.

  It looked like Jeremy was sharing something with Dana

  on his computer and I folded my arms, just watching, wanting

  to see how far Dana would go before the beat down began.

  She didn’t make me wait long. When she leaned over and

  began massaging Jeremy’s shoulder, I pushed the door open

  so hard it slammed against the wall.

  Both of them jumped, though I was sure Jeremy did only

  because he was startled. But Dana leapt off the desk, landing

  at least ten feet from my husband, which was where she

  should have been all along. Her eyes were wide at first, but as Jeremy turned his back to her and crossed the room to greet

  me, a smirk filled her face.

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  “Babe, is it five already?” Jeremy kissed me.

  I returned his affection, though I kept my gaze on Dana,

  who now stood with her arms crossed. As if she wanted me

  to let me know she wasn’t the least bit intimidated by my

  presence.

  He said, “I was just in here going over some of the caterer’s

  proposals.”

  “Really?” I said. “With Dana?”

  “Oh,” her voice sounded so innocent. “I just offered to

  help Pastor narrow down the list since you weren’t here to

  do it.”

  I crossed my arms, matching her stance. “You seem to be

  offering him lots of you these days.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked in a saccharine-sweet

  tone. I just stared at her. “Are you okay?”

  “You tell me.”

  Her left eyebrow rose a little and then with a deep sigh,

  she moved toward us. “Wel uh, on that note, Pastor.” She

  paused as she came within inches of where Jeremy and I

  stood. “I’ll be in my office for another hour or so if you need me.”“He won’t,” I said. “I’m here now so you can go home.”

  She sighed, shook her head and I really didn’t care. Then,

  when I faced my husband and his eyebrows were furrowed,

  I cared even less.

  Jeremy closed the door behind Dana. “Real y Ginger?

  What was that about?”

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  “Are you really asking me that? When you were in here

  with her hanging all over you? We agreed years ago there

  would be no solo meetings.”

  “Are you serious right now? That’s for members of the

  church.”

  “Dana’s a member.”

  “She works here.”

  “So. That could lead to some kind of sexual harassment

  suit.”“Really? Sexual harassment?” He didn’t give me a moment

  to answer. “It seems more like you’re jealous and you don’t

  have any reason to be. Plus, it’s so not becoming.” He marched toward his desk as if he were upset with me.

  “Don’t turn this around on me. You know I’m not the

  jealous type, not after all I’ve had to put up with over these years. What I don’t like about Dana is her constant and

  blatant disrespect. She was fawning all over you.”

  “She wasn’t fawning.” Jeremy said.

  “She’s always flirting with you.”

  “She’s not.”

  I folded my arms, glared at him, and pressed my lips

  together so that I wouldn’t speak aloud the words that were

  in my head. Because what I was thinking was completely

  inappropriate for the church.

  Jeremy sighed. “Babe.” He maneuvered from around the

  desk. He tried to embrace me, but my arms across my chest

  stopped him. “Come on. Maybe Dana was fawning over me,

  but if she was, I didn’t even notice. And do you know why?”

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  Because answering his question with—because you’re a

  fool—wouldn’t have done much to diffuse the situation, I kept

  my mouth shut.

  He said, “Because my eyes are only for you.” He uncrossed

  my arms, then embraced me and kissed my forehead.

  As always, his touch took away my resistance.

  He said, “So am I forgiven?”

  “There’s no reason for me to forgive you. You didn’t do

  anything. It’s just that you’re oblivious to the women who

  disrespect me on a regular basis. It’s bad enough when we’re

  out and can’t even enjoy dinner without some woman passing

  you her number, but now I have to deal with it with the staff?”

  He frowned. “You’ve been talking about this a lot recently.”

  “It’s not recent.” I twisted to release myself from his

  arms. “This has been going on since the beginning. It’s just

  that in the beginning, I tried to ignore it like you, but I can’t anymore.” I sighed. “I’m tired, Jeremy. Just very tired of it, so I had to start speaking up about it.”

  “I get it, but I want you to hear me. It doesn’t matter what

  a woman tries to do, the bottom line is this. I’m your husband and that means everything to me.”

  “Seems like you’re the only one who respects that.”

  “Well the truth is,” he said, looking into my eyes, “I’m the

  only one who needs to respect this. Don’t you understand? You

  are the most beautiful, intelligent, engaging, funny woman I

  know. It wouldn’t matter how many times a woman came after

  me, it wouldn’t matter how many times a woman would try

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  to be all up in my face, I am committed to you. You are the

  woman that God has chosen for me.”

  It was difficult for me to have a comeback to those words.

  Difficult for me to continue the argument about women going

  after him when he’d made it clear (by his words and actions)

  that none of that matter. So why was I focused on this?

  What I’d said was true—I wasn’t the jealous type. But my

  other words were true as well—I was tired; this had become

  a daily thing. But what could we do? As long as Jeremy and

  I remained committed to each other, none of it mattered, I

  guessed.

  I sighed. “Then, there’s nothing else to say.”

  “You’re right. There isn’t anything else. Not once God has

  spoken.”

  I said, “I know
you love me and I don’t want to play the

  jealous, insecure wife. That is not me. I just don’t want to find myself in a situation where I will have to beat a hoe.”

  He leaned back at first, and then released a howl of

  laughter that shook the walls. “Did you really just say that?”

  “I did.” My words made me giggle, too. “And I meant it,”

  I added with attitude. “Don’t make the Barry Farm outta me.”

  “Barry Farm?” He laughed again. “Please, you grew up in

  upper Northwest, went to private school and probably never

  even drove past Barry Farm.”

  “I’m just saying. Don’t let the proper home training fool

  you.”“Oh that proper home training has never fooled me. Not

  the way you are in our bedroom.” Pulling me back into his

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  arms, he said, “Now can you do me a favor?” He pressed his

  lips against my neck and I leaned back giving him access.

  “Can you....” His tongue tickled my neck and I moaned.

  “Make your. . ” Now, his tongue trailed up to my earlobe.

  “Meeting short? So that we can get home and I can get a little of that proper home lovin’?”

  I sighed. I loved this man so much. Moving my lips to

  his, I answered him with a kiss. One of those kisses that, like from the beginning, reached down into my soul.

  Jeremy was right. We were a great example of what God

  had joined together, no man or woman would be able to put

  asunder.

  And so it was.

  Chapter Eleven

  Tyesha Gray squirmed as I buttoned the three buttons on

  her camel-colored jacket.

  “Mrs. Williams, why I gotta wear this?” she whined.

  “Because you’re going on a job interview and that,” I said,

  pointing to the mini multi-colored sweater dress she had on

  when she arrived at my house, “won’t do. And the proper

  way to say that is ‘why do I have to wear this’. Not why I gotta. Grammar is important, sweetie. Remember what you’ve

  learned in the classes.” I paused as I stepped back. “Now turn around.”

  With my hands on her shoulders, I shifted Tyesha to face

  the mirror. Dru adjusted it against the wall so that Tyesha

  could see her full figure and the smile that beamed from her

  was like sunshine at noon.

  “What you say this was again?”

  “It’s Chanel,” I replied. “A Chanel jacket. Chanel is a

  designer.”

  “The skirt, too?”

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  “No,” Dru jumped in. “Someone donated that from

  Macy’s, but it’s really cute. You look amazing.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  Dru and I laughed, but Tyesha didn’t. She faced me with

  wide eyes. “I ain’t never had no designer jacket before,” she

  said, her tone sincere as she fingered the tweed.

  “It’s ‘I’ve never had’,” I corrected her again. “And this is just the first of many designer jackets I’m sure you’ll own.”

  Taking another step back, I said, “Tyesha, Dru is right; you

  look amazing. You’re going to be one of the stars at the job

  fair.” Five girls from the Dress for Success program were in my home, choosing outfits from donations that had been made

  by and to the First Ladies Council. While we worked with

  high school students, we had a special program for children

  who were about to age out of the foster care system. States

  were supposed to assist these children during their transition from foster care to independence, but because oftentimes that

  assistance was lacking, our goal was to provide these children with hands-on help and connections that would continue for

  as long as they needed us.

  “Tell Jean to give me five then come in,” I told Tyesha as

  I headed back to the rack of skirts, dresses and suits. The girls were hanging out in the family room, watching television and

  talking as I helped each pick out the outfit she’d wear to the job fair at the convention center tomorrow.

  “Okay, I’ll tell her. But umm, I have a question.”

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  “What’s that, sweetheart?”

  She glanced at Dru before she asked me, “How long can

  I keep this?”

  “It’s yours, I told you that,” I said. “You can keep it until

  you get tired of wearing it.”

  “Wow,” she exclaimed. She hesitated for a moment, then

  rushed to me, throwing her arms around my neck. “Thank you

  so much. I’ve never had anything this nice. I feel. . ” When she paused, I wasn’t sure if she’d done that because she couldn’t

  think of a word or because she didn’t feel worthy to say the

  word that came to her mind.

  I had a feeling it was the latter and that made me sad.

  Tyesha was a gorgeous girl with large doe eyes, deep dimples

  and natural curly brown hair that swooped a bit past her

  shoulders. With her slender, but curvy shape, she could have

  been modeling for Chanel if she were a couple of inches taller and born into a different zip code.

  But a lifetime in the foster care system where she’d been

  in more than a dozen homes, left Tyesha, like most of the girls I’d met, unattached, unloved, and washed in low self-esteem.

  I cupped her cheeks inside the palms of my hands. “This

  makes you feel beautiful, right?”

  Tears sprang to her eyes when she nodded.

  From the other side of the room, Dru added, “And

  gorgeous.”

  This time, Tyesha nodded with a grin.

  “And cuuute,” I finished.

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  Now, she laughed, broke from my embrace and rushed

  through the living room. “I’ll get Jean,” she shouted over her shoulder.

  When we were alone, Dru sauntered over to the rack and

  stood beside me. She didn’t say a word, only stared.

  “What?” I asked her.

  “I love watching you with these girls. I know you often

  say you didn’t get to do what you wanted with your career,

  but Ginger, this right here...this is your calling. The love and care you show these girls.” She paused and shook her head.

  “They’ve never had anything like this before. Did you hear

  Tyesha? She didn’t even want to say that she looked cute.”

  “I know.” I sighed. “I am glad that I’m here for this. Gosh,

  so many of them have been through so much and now, if we

  can work to set them up better in their lives, it will be all

  worth it. This means so much to me. I love what we do with

  this program. It’s the most important thing I’m doing right

  now.”

  Dru and I turned toward the entrance of the living room

  when squeals rang out from the family room. I couldn’t see

  the girls, but I could imagine Tyesha modeling her new

  outfit, strutting back and forth in front of the sixty-five inch television screen, like she really was a Chanel model.

  “That right there,” Dru said, pointing toward the sound,

  “shows that what you’re doing is going to have more of an

  impact than you’ll ever know.”

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  “I hope so,” I said. “I have to admit, though, I’m a little

  nervous about the job fair. I want them to all get a couple of interviews.”

  “Don’t worry; you have them prepared.
”

  “They’re prepared and I’ll be there right beside them to

  give them that confidence.”

  “Hey....”

  Dru and I turned toward Jeremy’s voice as my husband

  stood in the entryway to the living room. For a moment, I

  paused and took in all the fineness of my man. Like wine, age

  was an asset for my man. Yes, the money helped; the way the

  suits hung just right on his frame, the way his shoes shined

  and the diamonds glittered from his watch. All of that was

  alluring—to other people. I still saw the dude who drove the

  hoopty. The one who was so idealistic. The one who told me

  to hang on for the ride of a lifetime.

  “Hey honey,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well,” he began, then tossed his computer bag onto the

  chair, before he came over and kissed me, “I live here, that’s the first thing.”

  I smirked.

  “But uh....I had to come home because there’s been a

  change of plans. What’s up, Dru?”

  “Nothing. I’m cool.”

  “So,” Jeremy glanced at the two racks loaded down with

  clothes, “what’s going on here?”

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  “We’re dressing the young ladies with Dress for Success

  who are going to the job fair.”

  “Oh yeah, you told me about that.”

  “The girls are really excited and I can’t wait to escort them

  through the fair tomorrow.”

  “Uh...tomorrow?”

  “Yeah,” I said, turning back to the racks so that I could

  find the outfit I’d set aside for Jean. “No worries. I cleared my schedule weeks ago. I’ll be fine because this is too important to me. I’ll be back to the church on Friday.”

  “Well uh, I’m sorry about this babe, but Dru’s gonna have

  to cover for you at the job fair because I need you to handle

  the ministers meeting. I have to go out of town.”

  I narrowed my eyes as I turned to him and over his

  shoulder, I saw Dru tiptoeing toward the exit. Good, she’d

  keep the girls occupied while I set my husband straight.

  When we were alone, I said, “The ministers meeting? I

  never attend those. And you’re going out of town? Where?”

  Before he could respond, I fired another question at him, “And why am I just finding out about this trip?”

  “Because I forgot.” Jeremy held up his hands. “I have a

  speaking engagement in Atlanta and Dana just reminded me.”