Dawn’s anxiety lessened at her sister’s eagerness and the flicker of light that flashed in her eyes. “Your carriage awaits,” she said with a mock bow.
Francine lifted a small green duffel bag that Dawn knew held Francine’s Bible and personal journal, and her brown leather purse, the few belongings representing the sparseness of life she’d experienced during the ninety days she’d been a guest at this mental health hotel. “Let’s go.”
Dawn took the duffel from her sister’s hand and held the door open for her. As she followed Francine past the nurses, the other patients, and their murmured well wishes, hope began to build in her chest. As she passed Margaret for the last time and wished her the last “Have a good day,” she knew that this part of their life was over. When the sisters walked through the set of glass double doors that separated the mentally ill from the mentally well, Dawn turned to Francine and took one of her hands in hers. “Are you ready to go home, sis?”
Francine looked up at the sky and inhaled a deep breath, reminding Dawn of a criminal recently released from prison. “More than ready,” Francine said, “but I need to make one stop first.”
Chapter 3
Dawn pulled the Cadillac to a stop in front of the rambling two-story Tudor on Marshall Street that had been like a second home to Francine. She’d lived here, loved here, and grown here in ways she hadn’t imagined were possible. When she looked at the place with its peeling paint, full gutters, and sagging shutters, she still felt the excitement she’d often felt when she attended one of the frequent Bible study classes held here. How the Word of God had come alive for her in this place! And not just in words, but in deeds.
Although only eight members of the Temple congregation officially lived in the four-bedroom home, the place was always brimming with the activity of many more. On any given day, they’d have ten to fifteen people staying over. Sometimes more. Bishop Payne was there a lot too, since the house also served as a meeting place for the church on many occasions, but he lived with his family in a separate house a few miles away.
Living together the way they did was a challenge, but Francine was up to it because she considered herself to be living the life Luke described in the second chapter of Acts, where the saints met together in houses and shared everything they had. There had been times when she felt she was living the life the early Christians had lived. Oh, how good those times had been!
She’d been reluctant to move out of the house to an apartment with Toni, but Bishop Payne had encouraged the move. At the time, she’d thought it was because Toni wasn’t thriving in the house; Toni didn’t cope well with crowded conditions. Now she wondered if his motive had been more personal and more sinister. Had he encouraged the move so he’d have better access to Toni, knowing that Francine would still spend the bulk of her time at the Marshall Street house? All the evidence indicated he had.
“I’m going in with you,” Dawn said, moving to open her door.
Francine shook her head, both to clear her thoughts and in response to Dawn’s statement. “No, this is something I have to do on my own.”
“But—”
“No buts.” She pressed her palm across her sister’s forearm. “I love you for wanting to be with me, but I need to do this alone. It should only take a few minutes.”
Dawn squeezed Francine’s fingers. “How many is a few? I need to know when to come looking for you.”
Francine smiled. “If I’m not out in half an hour, call in the National Guard.”
Dawn snorted. “I’m not waiting that long. If you’re not back here in fifteen minutes, I’m coming in after you. I don’t trust these people and you shouldn’t either.”
“Okay,” Francine said. “Give me fifteen minutes and then you can come in.
After Dawn nodded agreement, Francine opened her door and headed for the house. The yard was unkempt as usual, with weeds overtaking grass and hedges nearly hiding the windows, but there were no people around, which was odd. She guessed it was a good thing that the group—she refused to use the term ministry—no longer held its draw.
She walked up the four oak steps and across the wooden porch to ring the bell, not sure who would answer or what their reaction to her would be. None of them had come to visit her in the hospital, and she could think of only two reasons why they hadn’t. First, everything Toni had said was true and everybody but Francine knew it. Second, she had been discredited among the congregation, and the people whom she had once considered her family now shunned her. She suspected both reasons were true.
After peeking through the sidelights, Cassandra opened the door. “Francine,” she said. Just that one word, with no emotion at all.
“Yes, it’s me.” Francine stepped across the threshold and into the house without waiting for an invitation. “Long time no see, Cassandra. How’s it going?”
Cassandra stepped back. “You shouldn’t be here, Francine.”
“Why not?” said Francine. “Unless my memory’s failing me, it took my name on a mortgage to get this place out of foreclosure a few years back. By the way, I suggest you find somewhere else to live, or get somebody else to sign on the dotted line of another mortgage, because they’ll be foreclosing on this property again any day now.” Cassandra’s eyes widened. “You didn’t really expect me to continue paying the mortgage, did you?” Francine continued. “Where would I get the money, Cassandra? We were behind even before I went into the hospital. You knew that, since you were one of the four people who committed to splitting the payment with me, and I can’t even remember the last time you contributed.”
“I thought things would work themselves out.”
Francine gave a dry laugh. “Guess you didn’t pray hard enough.”
Cassandra straightened her spine. “Okay, Francine, say what you came to say and leave. Some of the saints are coming by later and you shouldn’t be here when they get here.”
“Are you talking about my brothers and sisters, my family?” Francine took a deep breath. The snide remarks were getting her nowhere. “I only have one question, Cassandra. Did you know about Bishop and Toni? Did you know he was sleeping with her?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Cassandra began. “Toni was lying. She seduced him. He confessed everything to all of us and we’ve forgiven him.”
Francine wasn’t buying that nonsense. “That’s not what I asked you, Cassandra. You can save the party line for somebody who is as stupid as I used to be. I want to know if you knew he was sleeping with Toni.” When Cassandra didn’t say anything, Francine added, “It’s just you and me. You can tell me the truth. I’m sure my name has been dragged through the mud so much in my absence that nobody here would believe me if I told them what you said anyway. Besides, I just got out of the crazy house. Nobody anywhere would believe me. So be honest with me. You owe me that much.”
Cassandra took a deep breath. “You don’t understand,” she said. “Bishop has a lot on him. His needs are greater than other men’s needs. He thought Toni understood.”
Even though Francine had known the answer to her question before she’d asked it, Cassandra’s rationalization made her throat ache with unspeakable anger. “Why didn’t you tell me, Cassandra? Didn’t you think I deserved to know?”
Cassandra looked away. “At first, I thought you knew. Then when I realized you didn’t, I didn’t see any reason to tell you. Everybody knew, Francine. The only reason you didn’t know was because you didn’t want to know.”
“That’s not true,” Francine said. “I didn’t know. I didn’t have a clue.”
“Only because you closed your eyes to them,” Cassandra accused. “Your head was stuck in the Bible so much that you never looked up to see what was going on around you. Everybody knew about Toni and Bishop, and everybody knew she was taking it too seriously. Everybody knew but you.”
“Was Toni the only one?”
Cassandra shook her head.
“How many?”
“Does it matter?”
“How many?”
“I didn’t keep count.”
“You?”
“That’s none of your business.”
That response gave Francine her answer. “I pity you, Cassandra. I pity you for the way you’re letting Bishop use you, and for the way you’re enabling and allowing him to use others. I know God’s watching and all of you are going to get yours. There’s no way you’re going to get away with what you’re doing.”
Cassandra laughed, a demonic sound that Francine had not heard before. Tight tension lines pulled Cassandra’s beautiful smooth skin into a ghoulish frown. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know what plans Bishop has. Do you think something like this hasn’t happened before?” She laughed again. “You really are stupid. We’ll lay low for a while, give Bishop time to repent fully since you people really like a good repentance scene, but we’ll be back in business in no time.”
“Is that what this is about to you, Cassandra? Money?”
Cassandra bared her teeth in a sneer. “It’s easy for you to look down on me. You had a good job before you met us. You had money. When Bishop found me, I was living on the street doing what I had to do to survive. The life I have with him is much better than the life I had on the street.”
Francine’s anger began to dissipate as she listened to Cassandra. “What kind of life is it, Cassandra? Don’t you feel any guilt for what happened to Toni?”
Cassandra tossed her mane of jet black hair over her shoulder. “Why should I feel sorry for somebody as stupid as Toni?”
Francine knew trying to get Cassandra to accept any responsibility for Toni’s death was hopeless. “Good-bye, Cassandra,” she said. “Thanks for calling my sister and telling her I was in the hospital.” Then she turned and walked out of the house. She didn’t look back, not even when Dawn pulled the car away from the curb. This was her past and she was leaving it behind. For good.
~ ~ ~
The sisters made the normally nine-hour drive back to Georgia in eight hours. Dawn had started to question Francine about what had happened in the house, but the one-word answers clearly told her that her sister didn’t want to talk. By mutual agreement, they made the trip to Atlanta in relative silence. Other than a couple of bathroom and sandwich breaks, they drove straight through. Dawn had called Sylvester from the road, so she wasn’t surprised to find the house well lit when she pulled into the drive.
Sylvester met them as they entered the house. As if it were an everyday thing, he pressed a soft kiss on Dawn’s lips and then one on Francine’s cheek. With one arm draped around Dawn’s shoulders, he gave Francine a welcoming smile. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “You’re looking good.”
Francine brushed back the strands that had escaped from her French braid as she smiled back at him. “Thanks, Sylvester, but I’m sure I look a wreck. It’s been a long drive.”
He dropped his arms from Dawn’s shoulders. “Why don’t you two go sit down and relax while I get your things out of the car? There are some appetizers on the counter in the kitchen along with a pitcher of iced tea.”
“I can help you—” Francine began.
“And insult my masculinity?” Sylvester teased. “I don’t think so”
“Come on, sis,” Dawn said, pulling her through the kitchen. “Let Mr. Macho be macho. I could do with putting my feet up and sipping on a cold glass of iced tea.”
Francine rubbed her hand on the back of her neck. “That does sound nice. I’m more tired than I thought.”
Dawn looked back at her “Do you want to go to bed?”
“Not right now. I need to relax and rest up first.”
“I know the feeling,” Dawn said, kicking off her shoes and leaving them in front of the kitchen’s center island. She went to the counter, filled a salad plate with celery sticks, cheese, and some dip, and handed it to Francine. “Here. You can start with this.” She pointed toward the den. “Take a load off. I’ll bring in the iced tea.”
Dawn watched her sister with a heavy heart, thinking of everything she’d been through recently. She so wanted Francine to have some peace in her life. As she looked at her sister now she realized how much she’d missed her and how glad she was to have her back home. The noise of Sylvester entering the house got her attention. She turned to him. “Thanks, Sly,” she said.
He inclined his head toward the family room. “How is she, really?”
“Better, but a little battered. She wanted to stop by her old church meeting place before we left.”
“Why would she want to do that?”
Dawn shrugged. “That’s what I asked her, but she said she had to do it.”
Sly studied her beautiful face. Even after a day’s drive her makeup was still perfect and not a strand of her shoulder-length auburn curls was out of place. But the tiredness was there in the eyes. “How about you? How are you doing?”
Dawn straightened, fighting the part of herself that wanted to curl into his chest and have him hold her. “I’m fine. Just a little tired. We’re going to sit and drink some tea. You’re welcome to join us.”
“Let me take these bags up to her room and I’ll be back down.”
“Okay.”
He touched her cheek with his palm. “It’s going to work out, Dawn.” He dropped his hand, picked up the bags, and headed up the back stairs.
Dawn looked after him, hoping that he was right. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she poured two glasses of iced tea, grabbed herself a salad plate of veggies and dip, and went to join Francine in the family room.
“Here you go,” she said, handing Francine a glass. She sat down in the easy chair opposite where her sister sat in the matching recliner and propped her feet up on the ottoman. “Now, this is exactly what the doctor ordered.”
“Thanks for coming to get me, Dawn,” Francine said, her eyes soaking up the changes in the room. Dawn had swapped the mint green drapes for deep rose ones that better matched the paisley upholstery on the sofa and chairs. “Thanks for everything. You’ve really been there for me and I appreciate it.”
“I’m your sister, Francine, you don’t have to thank me.”
“Yes, I do. I haven’t been much of a sister to you the past few years, and you would have been well within your rights to ignore my call for help, but you didn’t. I thank you for that, because I didn’t have anyone else to turn to.”
Dawn got up and walked over to her sister, squatting down beside her chair. “No matter what happens, we’re family. I haven’t always been the best sister myself, so I figure we’re even.”
Francine leaned over and hugged her sister. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Dawn said, standing up. She went back to her chair and dropped down into it just as Sylvester joined them.
“I put your bags in your old room, Fancy,” he said, sitting down on the ottoman in front of Dawn. His use of the nickname he’d used for Francine when they were dating pierced Dawn’s heart.
“Thanks, Sly,” she said. “I was telling Dawn how much I appreciate what she’s done for me. I should have included you as well.”
“No problem,” he said. “We’re family.”
“So I’ve been told,” Francine said, fighting a yawn that seemed to come up out of nowhere. “I guess I’d better get to bed. I want to get an early start tomorrow.”
“Why get up early?” Dawn asked. “Sleep in. I plan to.”
“I need a job,” Francine said, “and the quicker I find one, the better.”
Sylvester sent Dawn a quick glance before asking, “What’s this about a job? We assumed you’d be working in the funeral home. We’ve already put you on the payroll. All you have to do is let us know when you want to start and what you want to do. In fact, I had a business idea that I wanted to discuss with you.”
Francine shook her head. “Thank you, Sly, but I can’t work in the funeral home.”
“Of course you can,” Dawn said, hiding her surprise at Sly’s mention of a bu
siness idea he wanted to discuss with Francine. “We’ve worked there off and on all of our lives. Big Daddy trained you to run the business.”
Francine shook her head again. “I know, but I can’t do it now. Not after Toni. I saw her lying there. No, I can’t do it. Not now. Maybe one day, but not now.”
Dawn exchanged another look with Sly. “You don’t have to, but you really don’t have to start looking for a job now either. Why not take some time to settle in?”
“I had enough empty time when I was in the hospital. I need to be productive again, the sooner the better. You know what the Bible says, you don’t work, you don’t eat. Besides, my creditors are going to be tracking me down about that house in Dayton and I’m going to need some money to pay them.”
Dawn was about to object, but Sylvester took her hand and squeezed it, effectively cutting her off. “We understand, Fancy. Let us know if we can help.”
Francine yawned again. “I guess I’d better head for bed.” She picked up her empty glass and saucer and stood. “I’ll see you two in the morning.”
“Night, Francie,” Dawn said. “Welcome home.”
Dawn snatched her hand out of Sylvester’s as soon as her sister left the room. He turned to her. “What?” he asked.
“Fancy?” she practically sneered, unable to stop herself. “You’re flirting with her right under my nose.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Admit it, Sylvester,” Dawn said. “I was always your second choice, maybe even your third choice. If Francine hadn’t left town, we never would have gotten together.”
“All that means is that I would have married the wrong sister. It’s you I love, Dawn, and I don’t know how I can tell you that and make you believe it, but it’s true.”
Dawn studied Sly in silence as she waited for her emotions to settle down. “I’m tired and sleepy. I think it’s time I go to bed.”
“I’ll go up with you.”
She turned back to him. “Look, Sylvester, I’m sleeping in our room, but all I’m doing is sleeping. I don’t want you to get any ideas about what to expect.”
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