“I’d like to think I have a brain.” Aridell gave her salt-and-pepper locs a congratulatory lift. “But tell me, what do you want to do in life.”
Tee took a moment, slid her gaze off the television mounted on the wall. “I want to go back to school and get a degree in nursing, just like Jennifer. I want a job that gives me enough money to get out of my mama’s house. As long as I’m there, I’m never going anywhere.”
Aridell sighed, taking that in for several moments and realizing the truth of that statement. “I own a piece of property in Bronzeville. It’s a small three bedroom, but as long as you’re in school and working, it’s yours rent-free. Use any money you make for childcare and utilities.”
Tee smiled and her eyes lit with hope that was quickly extinguished as she shook her head. “I can’t get gas or electricity.”
“Why?”
“My mama racked up some bills in my name. Cable too. And credit cards.”
Aridell left the sofa and went to the cathedral windows. Cathy was even greedier than she’d given her credit for. “I’ll get a lawyer to help straighten all that out.”
“Mama said I owed her.” Tee shrugged, and her expression was so hopeless Aridell’s heart went out to her.
“We’ll see about that,” she replied over her shoulder. “Getting your life together might get her in a little hot water, though.”
“I … I don’t want to do that,” she said, and her expression went sour.
“You and the babies need your credit, need your finances to get your life back on track a lot more than she needs it. What’s going to happen for you when something happens to her? Especially if you don’t get it straight while you can.”
Tee clasped her hands, and Aridell knew this was a tough spot for the young woman to be in. In the days ahead, this was going to be the least of the hard decisions she would have to make.
“Sweetheart, either you’re going to learn to do what it takes to untangle yourself from the mess she’s made and strike out on your own, or you’ll always be under her thumb.” Aridell left the window and took a seat on the chaise. “The choice is yours. And I’m not here to make the decision for you, or support a half-hearted attempt either.”
Tee was silent, and for a moment Aridell thought the young woman would take the easy way out, despite her saying she wanted a change; that she felt empty.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make my life better.”
Music to Aridell’s ears. “And ’ll do what I can to get you set up in the new house. You might have to leave a lot of things behind, but you’ll be all right. “
“I get it,” Tee said, sighing. “Mama’s going to be upset. Probably won’t let me take some of my stuff.”
Aridell had thought of that too. She had more than enough money to give Tee a better start, but she’d do it little by little to be sure she wouldn’t tuck tail at the first sign of adversity and run back to her mother because that’s all she’d known. The more strides Tee made, the more Aridell would invest in her success. She’d meet her halfway, but only if Tee was willing to put in that work.
“I’m going to be straight with you and I need you to listen to me good.”
Tee straightened, her focus plainly on Aridell’s face.
“First, don’t be telling anybody what I’m doing for you,” she warned. “I’m not helping anybody and everybody right now, it’s about focusing on you. If they ask, tell people you’re minding your own business and leaving theirs alone.”
Tee nodded, her dark-brown eyes wide with concern.
“Your mama included, honey. She’s not going to be here always. You have to learn how to survive away from all that drama. You’re going to lose some folks; folks that don’t mean you no earthly good. Right now, your focus should be on you and being able to help yourself. Then you’ll have something to give your babies.”
Tee simmered over that for a minute, then said, “I’ll be ready for them.”
“Your family’s going to hold on to you the hardest because you making a change will make them uncomfortable. They don’t care about you making it, you have to care about you making it. You hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Anybody come for you, you send them packing,” she said. “Keep it simple—love yourself, educate yourself, treat yourself right. Focus on a few things—having an education, an address to lay your head, a car, being able to travel anywhere you want … ” She waggled a finger at Tee. “And good credit has a lot to do with that.”
“What about love?”
Aridell sighed. It always came down to that one word for women, didn’t it? “You’re giving it to everybody else. Now is the time to give it to yourself. That kind of love will come because the right man will see this new you that’s strong, confident, determined, and he’ll want to add to what you already have.” She cupped her niece’s face in her hands. “He’ll love you, but first you’ll need to know how to love yourself. That’s what this time will be about.” Her gaze landed on the church program from this morning which brought another thought to mind. “What d’you think of Pastor Baltimore?”
“I like him,” Tee answered, taking her aunt’s hand in her own. “I like the way he is with Mrs. Baltimore.”
“He met her when she was getting her life together,” she said, allowing that to sink for a few moments. “And he didn’t become her husband until he had his thing together. He had enough respect for her to do that. You understand what I’m getting at?”
“Yes, Auntie,” Tee whispered, letting out a long slow breath before locking a tear-filled gaze with her aunt. “Thank you.”
There was a world of everything in just those two words. But her eyes, those eyes told a story that should have never been on Tee’s page.
“Show me a picture of your babies.”
Tee quickly rifled through her purse, whipped out her cell, clicked a few keys and pulled up the first image and showed it to Aridell. “This is A.J. at his birthday party this year.” She slid to the next frame. “And this is Tiana in her princess costume.”
“Awwwww, she’s a cutie,” Aridell crooned, and was inwardly grateful that the child had more of Tee’s beautiful features than a constant reminder of the man who sired them.
Tee beamed and flipped through another set of pictures.
Then Aridell honed in on another child in one of the images, pointing as she asked, “And who is this little tyke?”
“Oh, that’s Uncle Terrence’s little boy.”
Aridell frowned, trying to take that in as she calculated the age of the child and Terrence’s current status. “But he doesn’t have any children with his wife.”
Tee used her thumb and index finger to expand the image a bit. “Oh yeah, that’s the one he has with Tamika.”
Terrence Henderson’s wife was not named Tamika.
“Who?”
“I guess she’s the side chick,” Tee said with such a nonchalant air that she didn’t realize she’d dropped a bomb that could explode Terrence’s entire world. Then her lips turned downward into a thoughtful frown. “Well, she’s one of ‘em.”
Aridell raised an eyebrow, then shifted to a more comfortable position on the sofa as she said, “Do tell.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kari settled into the passenger seat of their Black Buick LaCrosse as Tony maneuvered down I-57. A sense of foreboding filled her for no reason she could name. Over the past three days, she’d taken off work to spend time with him as they talked extensively about their past, their marriage and their personal goals. The more she spoke of having a focus on sexual abuse and child trafficking victims, the more she realized that she might have to take a leave of absence from the firm she’d signed a contract with, in order to give the new ministry, and her husband, the full attention they deserved.
“You know,” Tony said, maneuvering the curve that flowed into I-94. “Each one of the choir members contacted me, letting me know they’re with me all the way.”
“Well, isn’t t
here a saying that you’ve been preaching to the choir? Maybe they, Aridell, the advisors, and little Ricky are the only ones who’ve been listening.”
Tony chuckled, saying, “With them added in, that makes thirty percent of the church membership that wants to roll with us.”
“Thirty percent? That’s a lot more than the ten percent you started with. Sounds like God’s trying to tell you something.”
Tony gave her the side-eye at her reference to a song from the movie The Color Purple, but didn’t bother to hide a smile.
For a moment, she closed her eyes, tried to clear her mind and prepare for a meeting that was sure to be interesting at best. She had not realized how much weight holding her secret had carried and was grateful that was no longer the case.
Minutes later, Kari felt Tony’s tension and opened her eyes to see what had caused the change.
The street leading up to the church lot was filled with an extraordinary number of cars, news vans, and crowds of people milling about. They had to park a block away, then looped their way through the onlookers and church members who were watching a heated exchange between the old board members and deacons and Tony’s new advisors.
Cameras were rolling, picking up every word. Even the profane ones—none of which were in the Bible—spewing from the old guard.
Kari noted that Aridell and the advisors presented a calm, united front. The others—Terrence’s people, had spread out in front of the church doors, blocking the path of anyone who wanted to enter. Their anger was evident in their contorted faces, rants, and fists shaking in the air. None of this put the church in the best light. How in the world had it come to this? And who had invited the press? Certainly no one in their camp would want outsiders to have a front seat to church dissension. This reeked of Terrence’s showboating.
Kari peered between that sliver of space available Brothers Philip and Derrick to find a huge padlock and massive silver chain hooked between the handles of the solid oak entry doors. More than likely they were on the back and side doors as well, otherwise Aridell and the advisors would already be inside.
Terrence’s pompous self was off to the side holding court with a band of reporters. Microphones thrust outward, they gave him their rapt attention, soaking up whatever drivel he had to impart. None of it would be favorable to her husband, Sister Aridell, or the advisors.
“Looks like there’s a welcoming party,” she said to Tony.
“And we’re not welcome.”
Tony held out his hand and she slipped hers inside. He edged through the crowd, creating a path to the front entrance where his people stood firm. The choir members and musicians had sorrowful expressions at seeing this play out in such a public manner; the others were cheering Terrence on.
“The majority of the congregation has signed this petition for dismissal,” Terrence said to the reporters. “We now have control of the church.”
More like only fifty percent. Kari glanced up at Tony. She recognized the flickering movements beneath his lowered lids. He was praying for peace.
When he opened his eyes and scanned the cameras, a couple of the reporters honed in on him.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you go on home,” he said in a calm tone that was a far cry from his thunderous expression.
Even now, instead of letting loose with what he really wanted to say, he was concerned this would come back on her somehow. But she couldn’t let him face this alone. They were a team, and part of the reason this was happening right now was because she hadn’t been strong enough to tell him, or to tell her truth to the congregation, just like he had on day one.
“If you’re going in, so am I,” she replied, putting a tighter grip on his hand. “I’m not much of a fighter, but if you hold them down, I’ll poke ‘em in the eye real hard.”
That statement gained a smile, then outright laughter from him.
“And there he is,” Cortese, another member of Terrence’s family standing near the door said, her lips twisted in a sneer as she pointed at Tony.
Nearly all eyes shifted in the couple’s direction.
The crowd parted, allowing enough space for Kari and Tony to move forward to Terrence, who stood grinning at them as though he’d hit the lottery.
Maybe he had. Through subterfuge, deception, and total disregard for the written bylaws, he’d stolen a church without even so much as the church membership having any real say. Terrence had a sense of entitlement from having come from a long line of pastors—some good, some bad. And not one of them had what it took to expand the church’s reach and membership the way Tony had. None of them had his vision.
Tony’s sermons weren’t those fiery, guilt-laden types that Kari remembered growing up. Instead, they were filled with humor, stories from the Bible with a current day slant and thought-provoking questions that some were encouraged to stand and answer during service. His lessons were interactive and engaging. He wanted to teach the members how to lead, not just follow.
Truthfully, she’d been more of a follower. The minute she and Tony had walked through the doors of this church, they found countless women vying to take over positions that the former first lady held. For that, Kari was grateful. Until she realized that the position nearly half of them wanted was in her husband’s bed.
Kari trusted Tony, and that was saying a lot for a woman who didn’t give it easily. But she knew better than to trust any woman chasing after her husband. Aridell had handled the more aggressive ones who didn’t catch any of Tony’s outright hints that he wouldn’t cheat on his wife. Thankfully, Kari never had to have what Aridell called a “Come to Jesus” meeting to set them straight. If she had, it would have been more like a “Calling on Jesus” meeting. And she wouldn’t have been the one on the “main line”.
Terrence cast a mocking glance in Kari’s direction. “Now this is the real story right here. Pastor Baltimore’s wife.” The once-over that slid down Kari’s body sent a shiver of disgust through her.
“You leave my wife out of it,” Tony said through his teeth.
“I assume every one of y’all want to tell your viewers the God-honest truth,” Aridell said, eyeing the flock of reporters like they were a bunch of unruly kids getting a mother’s verbal reprimand. She came over to stand with Kari and Tony. “This pastor right here wants to make a difference in this community. Same difference as he’s made in the church.”
She angled so that all the cameras had a clear view. “This church is finally debt free. Some of the members of the congregation are debt free. This church owns the property, not the bank,” she said, gesturing to the park directly next to the church building. “All the services we offer, he made that happen.”
Tony held up his hands in a gesture for her to tone it down a bit.
Instead, she ignored him and cranked it up. “We’ve sent children to college on full scholarships. Put mentoring programs in place for children who don’t have fathers in their lives. Now he wants to take on some of the issues that are making Chicago so unsafe.”
“You’re taking on the gangs?” one red-haired reporter asked, pushing the microphone further in Aridell’s direction.
“We’re taking on the drugs, gangs and the police,” she shot back, putting up an index finger. “Both of them are shooting folks with no clear direction these days. And innocent folks are paying the price. Children on their porches, on the way to school.” She put a glare in Terrence’s direction. “He and those people standing with him don’t want this church to get involved. God didn’t tell us to hide our light under a bushel. But if they have their way, the church’s light will go out completely.”
“She’s dancing around the real issue,” Terrence said with another side-glance in Kari’s direction. “Our real problem is that we need fine, upstanding people at the head of this church. People who don’t have criminal records or … questionable backgrounds.”
The media’s movements seemed more suited to a synchronized swimming team. All heads, cameras, and microphones
shifted in Tony’s direction.
“I have a past, and I let the church know it coming through the door. But that didn’t have anything to do with how I’ve run this church.” Tony released Kari’s hand and moved to a space where all the cameras could get a better focus on him. “And I’m willing to open the books to the church members and the public to prove it.”
“We have a board in place, and they want him gone,” Terrence said, holding up pages of the petition. “This church has been under the direction of a Henderson for many years and it needs to return to the family fold.”
“So, he’s misappropriated church funds?” one buxom reporter asked, shoving a microphone further toward Terrence’s wide mouth.
“We’re looking into all that,” Terrence mumbled and looked away.
“What for?” Aridell’s voice rang out over the thrum of conversation taking place among the rest of the congregation and the neighbors who had spilled out from their homes to watch the fireworks. “The man just said he’d open up the financial records to the public,” she challenged. “You need to be honest about the reason you want to take over this church, Minister Henderson. It’s not because Pastor Baltimore isn’t doing a good job, it’s because you need the income and the board wants to keep dipping their grubby hands in the pot.”
Applause rang out from Tony’s people.
“Pastor Baltimore demanded some changes in the administration,” Aridell explained to the woman who had broken away from the reporter pack and came closer. “And some of those board members are ticked off because they’re no longer over the finances. Now they can’t take all those trips and make us pay for it.”
“Just curious,” Tony said to the reporters. “How is it that every news station in Chicago has someone here today, but not a single one showed up to do a story when our secretary sent a press release about our mentoring program and the scholarships we offer?”
“News desk hotline,” one replied sourly and had the nerve to look embarrassed.
Another said, “We received a notice of a press conference because the members were locking the doors to keep the pastor out.”
My Time in the Sun Page 10