Saved Folk in the House

by Sonnie Beverly

  “Zakia, Jessica is pregnant.”

  “Who?”

  “Jessica Stone. She’s the finance secretary at Fig Tree Baptist.”

  “So?”

  “It’s mine.”

  The revelation that he was having an affair sent her into a state of shock. She froze as thoughts of Ezekiel’s daddy, Malik, and his cheating ran through her mind. She was numb and couldn’t speak, so Jay continued.

  “You are obsessed with the church, neglecting me and your family, alienating your friends,” Jay said. “Is that the kind of God you want to serve, one who makes you lose everything important in your life?”

  Shock turned to rage. She mustered all the strength she had to speak.

  “Get out,” she managed to say without bursting into tears.

  It only took him minutes to pack a few things. He left her sitting on the bed still in shock.

  Chapter Eleven

  God, how? Why? Where did I go wrong? I obeyed Your Word. I believed You. I don’t understand. What is going on?” Zakia cried out.

  She felt nothing, heard nothing. She was numb. She must have missed something, but she was too depressed to find out what it was. She just lay in her bed feeling betrayed. Jay’s words rang in her ears, “Is that the kind of God you want to serve, one who makes you lose everything important in your life?” Jay’s question caused her to think hard for the first time in a long while. Her family had been treating her differently, like she was strange. Her friends seemed to always be irritated with her. She began to question her actions, her faith, and her life. Her mind wandered, she lost focus, and she felt drained.

  The next day, Jay called Alexis and confessed everything, making sure Zakia was getting the support she needed. Upon learning that Jay had moved out, Alexis immediately went to console her daughter.

  “You need time, baby. Just trust the fact that you have everything already on the inside of you that you need to make the right decisions.”

  “I do need to figure things out.”

  “Do you want me to take the boys home with me?”

  “Would you?”

  “Of course. You just get yourself together and figure out what you’re going to do.”

  A few days later, Zakia was still down. She heard the phone ring but allowed the answering machine to pick up.

  “When you hear the beep, you know what to do. And remember, God loves you and we do too,” the machine said.

  “Z! Pick up. I know you’re there. Pick up, sis. It’s me, Raquie,” she said.

  Zakia reached from under the covers and picked up the phone. “Yeah,” she said in a dry, lazy voice.

  “Hey, sis, what it be like?” Raquie said cheerfully.

  “It be like nothing with me, what it be like with you?” was Zakia’s lifeless response.

  “Mamalexis told me about Jay. You okay?”

  “No, I’m not okay.”

  “Do you need me to come home?” she asked. Shortly after graduating summa cum laude from Manna, Raquie had taken a job in New York.

  “Naw, baby, there’s nothing you can do. I just need to sort through some things.”

  “Well, you do whatever you have to do. You want to talk about it?”

  “I’m just confused. Jay said something before he left that made sense, and now I don’t know anymore.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He asked me if I wanted to serve a God that makes you lose everything important in your life.”

  “Wow. That’s deep.”

  “My whole life doesn’t make sense anymore. Maybe I should go back to work. I need to keep busy to fight these negative emotions, but I don’t want to see people. I don’t know anything anymore.”

  “You can do both, you know.”

  “Both what?”

  “Go back to work and not see people.”

  “How?”

  “The Internet. Lots of people are doing it.”

  “Been there, done that.”

  “Yeah, but you still had an office downtown and you saw those people. They knew you and you knew them. I’m talking about no physical contact at all. And in this buck-wild, very exciting entertainment industry.”

  “Go on.”

  “I contract with webmasters, graphic designers, online hosts, and distributors that I’ve never met. And there’s plenty of work available, especially for somebody with your expertise. Right now I’m working on landing this contract to create a Web site for Jazz Jafari. Ever heard of him?”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard of him. I like his sound.”

  “Well, that brother needs a fresh cyberpresence like yesterday, and I’m going after it. I could probably use your help with the proposal. If I could say I have the top advertising executive in the state of Virginia waiting to work with Jazz, that might put me over the top. What do you say?”

  “You know I’m here for you if you need me. Besides, I probably need to step away from what’s happening here and be productive elsewhere until I figure things out.”

  “That’s what I was thinking. It’s all about what’s best for you, sis.”

  “I’ve been away from the game for a while now.”

  “Hey, it’s like riding a bike. And the fact that all your market research and reports will be done online in the comfort of your own home, you can call your own shots. However you want to work it, sis. You’re the pro.”

  “Sounds intriguing. What the heck? I’m in.”

  “Are you sure? Don’t feel obligated. I can always get it done. I just want you all right.”

  “No, this will be fun. Send me whatever you have on Jazz, and I’ll start my research.”

  “See, you’re going to be fine, sis. You’re the best, and you only deserve the best.”

  “You’re just biased, but thanks anyway. Love you, baby.”

  “Love you too.”

  Raquie sent a package overnight. Zakia logged on to the Internet and went to some sites her sister had recommended. She was paying particular attention to the graphics and making notes about traffic.

  As part of her research Zakia thought about interacting directly with the market by participating on the message boards and chat rooms to find out exactly what the fans were willing to pay for and how much.

  She read some of the fan messages to Raquie’s other celebrity clients and noted how personal and confusing it got. They were very creative, though. Posters were actually arguing and cussing each other out about certain entertainers. They even had cyberparties, complete with food and decorations described in their posts right down to the smallest detail.

  Zakia was totally absorbed in the Internet until around three o’clock in the morning, when she got up from the computer to go to the bathroom and noticed the time.

  “Dang, it’s that late? Let me log off and get some rest.”

  The next morning Zakia was back in cyberspace, surfing the Net. She was on there all day. This means of escape was working to some degree because she wasn’t hurting as bad. Raquie called that evening.

  “Hello.” Zakia answered the phone only semidepressed.

  “That’s not much better than yesterday. Did you get on the Internet?” Raquie asked.

  “Yep, wild stuff, but with the information you sent me and the stuff I found online, I have some good ideas for a proposal.”

  “That’s great. So you’re really in?”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  “I’m so glad to hear that, Z, because I was going to try something that I would only try with you.”

  “Like what?” she asked, intrigued.

  “I’m going to a party tonight, and Jazz Jafari is going to be there. I was going to really build you up and suggest that he call you so you can work your magic on him. He should call you so it will be at his convenience and you won’t have to deal with trying to get through to him. If we can get him on our side, he can help us get past that brick-wall manager of his.”

  “His manager’s tough, huh?”

  “You know how th
ose gay perfectionists are. He represents a lot of the up-and-coming artists and has a rep for being difficult to work with.”

  “I know the type.”

  “I know you do. So that’s the plan. Get Jazz Jafari on our side.”

  “You work it on your end, and I’ll work it on mine.”

  Zakia turned on the computer and found a jazz message board where posters were discussing Jazz Jafari. She decided to make up a screen name and join the chat, but that would have to wait until the next day because she had choir rehearsal. When she looked at the clock, she saw that she was more than an hour late. She decided not to go. She stayed home and did some more research until late into the night. She needed a concept to ensure that she got the information she needed from the posters on the message board. While she was strategizing, the phone rang.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hello, may I speak with Zakia Carter?” a beautiful, smooth, sensuous male voice said.

  Zakia took the phone from her ear and looked at it. Then she put it back to her ear and said, “Speaking.”

  “This is Jazz Jafari.”

  “Well, hello, Mr. Jafari.”

  “Your sister said that you would be expecting my call.”

  “I was definitely looking forward to it.”

  “She tells me that you’re an advertising guru.”

  “When I’m done, they’ll be playing your music everywhere, including the grocery stores to the truck stops to the elevators.”

  He laughed. “I’m impressed. Maybe you should talk to my manager.”

  “If you can set up a meeting, my sister will be happy to meet with your manager. With an agreement between them, I can come in with all of my ideas.”

  “I’ll set it up.”

  “That would be great.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Zakia broke a nail dialing her sister’s number.

  “Hel—”

  “Raquie! Get ready, girl. I talked to Jazz Jafari, and he’s going to set up a meeting between you and his manager.”

  “Way to work it, sis.”

  “You had already set him up. I didn’t even say that much. Now you have to go in for the kill.”

  “Is that teamwork or what?”

  “We’ve always been in sync like that. I know you’re going to land that account, so I’m going to tighten up my part of the proposal,” Zakia said.

  “You know, I hadn’t considered working with you seriously before this, but we might have something here,” Raquie said.

  “Indeed we might, little sis. Indeed we might.”

  Zakia suffered from tunnel vision. She hadn’t been to church since Jay left three weeks ago. What he had said about losing everything still bothered her. She had lost a great deal, and until she could make some sense out of it all, she wouldn’t go back to Faith in the Word. She still had her tapes, her Bible, and her notes, but because being there had contributed to her loss, she didn’t want to go back. A choir member called to make sure she was all right.

  “Hello, Sister Zakia. This is Sister Cheryl. We haven’t seen you at church lately. That’s not like you. Is everything all right?”

  “Everything’s fine, Sister Cheryl. I have to take a break for a while. I’ll call the church and let them know so they won’t worry about me.”

  “Sure, honey. Is there anything we can do?”

  “Just continue to pray for me.”

  “Sure will, sister.”

  “Thanks, Sister Cheryl. Stay blessed.”

  With no family, job, or church activities in her life, Zakia turned all of her attention to helping Raquie get the Jazz Jafari account. She came up with the screen name Jazmania. She logged on to the Internet, clicked on the link to the jazz site in her favorite places, and read to see what was going on. A poster by the name of Keystroker had just posted.

  Keystroker: has anybody found anything on jazz jafari?

  Sexyphone: Nothing. All I found was his label’s site, Milli Records, and all they have is how you can order his CD, but no details on him. I just don’t get it.

  Keystroker: how can he not have a web site? how are we supposed to know all of his personal business?

  Sexyphone: Maybe he’s working on it.

  Keystroker: they need to hurry up. i want to know is he married? does he have children? where’s he from? what’s his favorite color?

  Sexyphone: Does he have any pets? Is he going on tour? We wanna know!

  Perfect timing for Jazmania to make her debut post.

  Jazmania: Hello, everyone.

  Sexyphone: Hello, Jazmania. Welcome to the board.

  Keystroker: hey, jazmania. I like your name. are you male or female?

  Jazmania: Female, and I like your name too. I’ve been reading your posts for the last couple of days. I find you all very fascinating.

  Keystroker: thanks. so what brings you here?

  Jazmania: I see you guys have a lot of questions about Jazz Jafari. I may be able to get some answers for you.

  Keystroker: yeah? how you gonna do that?

  Jazmania: His management is working on his cyberpresence. He should have his own Web site in the near future. I’m a part of his development team. I came here to see what the fans want so that we can give it to you.

  Keystroker: are you for real?

  Jazmania: I kid you not. I talked to him yesterday. I’m preparing a report for his Web site designer. If you guys let me know what you want to see, we can work to get it up on his Web site.

  Keystroker: is he married?

  Jazmania: You can click on my profile and e-mail me all of your questions. I’ll do my best to get you answers.

  Sexyphone: See, she’s lying. She doesn’t know Jazz Jafari.

  Jazmania: I have no reason to lie. If I answer one question, I’ll have to answer them all. If I get all the questions at once, we can put all the answers to your questions up on his Web site so that all of his fans who may not be logged on right now can see.

  Zakia was thrilled to have so many e-mails. They were all very positive, with lots of questions, comments, and suggestions. She added all of the new information to the proposal and sent it overnight to Raquie. This deal was all but sealed. She called Raquie to tell her to be on the lookout for the package and to get an update.

  “Hey, sis, have you heard anything from the Jazz Jafari camp?”

  “As a matter of fact, I have. His manager left a message just today. Said Jazz himself recommended me to begin promoting him on the Internet.”

  “Get outta here. Have you talked to him yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Oh, that’s good. I’ll e-mail you my part of the proposal to look at before you talk with him. You’ll have the entire package tomorrow so that you can really impress him when you meet.”

  “Wow. You’ve been busy.”

  “Yeah. I like interacting with the posters. Tell his manager I could host a chat between Jazz and his fans. He can be there to observe.”

  “Yeah, a chat on his Web site that we design. That should run up the number of hits on his site.”

  “I told you we were in sync.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Zakia was thrilled when she learned Raquie had landed the Jazz Jafari deal. She immediately e-mailed the marketing information to Jazz as Raquie had requested. She continued logging on to the message boards in an effort to gain more insight into what Jazz’s fans wanted. One day while she was online, she received an unfamiliar e-mail.

  HELLO ZAKIA DARLING. I HAVE BEEN ADMIRING YOU FOR MANY YEARS. I THINK IT’S TIME WE GOT TOGETHER. PLEASE RESPOND IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

  Zakia, not recognizing the e-mail address, read it and thought it was a joke. She responded: VERY FUNNY. YOU FORGOT TO SIGN YOUR NAME.

  YOU KNOW MY NAME, MISS THANG. SO HOW IS MALIK? was the response.

  Zakia was shocked. She sensed the tone of the e-mail, and it was not a funny one. She decided not to reply. But the e-mails kept coming.

  Zakia was gett
ing very uncomfortable with cyberspace. She thought it was one of Malik’s women from college who had discovered her e-mail address. That had to be it. Why would someone keep bringing up Malik? She hadn’t seen him in years. It was disconcerting to have a cyberstranger know her personal business. She tried to dismiss the e-mailer as some lonely, deranged woman who needed a life.

  Then the e-mail arrived that stopped her world cold:

  IF EZEKIEL IS AS FINE AS HIS DADDY, I AM GOING TO MAKE HIM THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DRAG QUEEN ANYONE HAS EVER LAID EYES ON.

  Zakia went straight to Alexis’s house and got Zeke and JJ. She didn’t mention anything about the e-mails because she knew her family would think she was just on another trip. She was through with the Internet. Raquie and her team could handle Jazz’s Web site without her.

  Over coffee at Alexis’s kitchen table, Zakia assured her mother that she was ready to take the boys home and get on with life.

  “Ma, this world is so crazy. It’s hard to know what to believe anymore. You’ve always been there for me and raised me the best way you knew how. I love and appreciate you for that. But now I’m responsible for my life and my children’s lives until they’re grown. Studying God’s Word has taught me a lot, and I have to get back to that while showing the boys how to get what they need from the Word of God,” Zakia explained.

  “I agree with you there, baby. This world is crazy and out of control, not at all like when I was growing up. I went to church on Sundays, not on weekdays, so I sent you and your brother to Sunday school. I was not taught or even encouraged to study God’s Word to get what I needed. I was taught by my mother, who worked cleaning white folks’ toilets to support her children because our whoremongering daddy wouldn’t. She taught me to work hard for what I wanted and needed.”

  “Is that why you were always on our daddy to support us, because Granddaddy didn’t support his children?”

  “He helped make you, then he was going to help take care of you. My mother was cold, hard, and bitter, having to do it all herself. I was in some ways similar and did not want that for you, but I didn’t know how to show you anything different.”