My Time in the Sun

by Naleighna Kai

  Tony was silent, as though he had journeyed back to that time. The mustard seed of faith shown by that one man had sparked a passion for knowledge within Tony, enough to make a bad boy from the West side of Chicago seek God in a way that had a life-altering impact. With all she’d learned from Tony’s teachings over the years, it was a wonder she had any doubts at all.

  “When I was released … that was the true test of my faith,” he said. “Malik still wanted that service, though it was the very thing that landed me behind bars.” Tony chanced a look at Kari. “I held my ground on not getting back into that life. I had to believe God would allow me to stay alive to keep my word to Him. When you stare down the business end of a nine millimeter and come out on the living side, you have to believe there’s a God somewhere.”

  Kari was silent for a few moments then locked a gaze on him. “You should’ve married a first lady who you’d be more equally yoked with.”

  “I married a woman who would balance me and keep me grounded,” he countered, as though none of her concerns mattered. “And questioning God isn’t a reason for you to leave me. Everyone questions God at one time or another.” Then he grinned. “Now if you tell me you voted for Trump, then yeah, that might be grounds for an immediate divorce.”

  Kari couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled over.

  “Nothing about my life has ever been normal,” he admitted. “Yours either. That’s why we fit. We don’t have any unrealistic expectations.” He stroked a gentle hand across her face. She kissed the open palm, eliciting a smile.

  “I never wanted you to be vulnerable because of me,” she said, searching the depths of those green eyes that sparkled with so much love she could barely take a breath. “They came at you because of me.”

  “They came at me because they’re greedy. Don’t put this on yourself. We’re about to come under some serious heat because of money, not you. Terrence and his family are coming with all weapons drawn. We need to be able to take a punch and give one back.”

  “We can’t go blow for blow with them,” she warned, saddened by what that could entail.

  “Says who? God said the meek will inherit the earth, but He didn’t say we had to just stand by and get our butts kicked in the process.”

  Kari watched the people who were filing out of the planetarium and down the stone steps. She thought about all that Tony had said. “With everything that I’ve been through, I want to embrace that part of God that is unlike what I experienced.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Tony replied, stroking her open palm with his thumb. “People are quick to lay everything horrible that happens in this world at God’s feet. They take Job’s statement ‘the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away’ as proof that God was the one who caused the horrible things that happened to Job. But that’s a common misconception. If they would read the beginning, they’d see that the story said Satan caused Job to lose his children, his wealth, and his health. He hated Job with a passion because God said Job was a perfect and upright man. Satan was certain that losing everything would make Job curse God. But Job didn’t curse God, and God replaced everything he lost and then some. Did he mourn the lives of his first wife and their children? Most definitely, but that was not God’s doing. The point is that it’s easy to believe in God when things are going right. Job believed when his everything was taken.”

  She laid her head on his chest, taking that in as a few people shot curious looks their way. Why did Tony make it all seem so simple, yet for her it was so hard?

  “We can’t even get earth right and yet we expect to fall all up into the VIP section of heaven,” he said, chuckling. “But I want you to remember one thing … ”

  She raised her head to look into his eyes.

  “The visual of how the planets in our solar system all revolve around one thing.”

  Kari thought about that for a few seconds and said, “The sun. They all have their time in the sun.”

  Tony smiled, and for moment she was able to push away the dark issue that eclipsed their world.

  “I don’t think Terrence is going to give up so easy.”

  “That’s all right, sweetheart,” he said, placing a kiss on her temple. “We’ll be ready for whatever he brings. The sun always overtakes the darkness. The two cannot exist in the same place.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Tony opened the front door of his home to find two suit-clad men on the other side of the threshold. The pale one narrowed his gaze as though sizing Tony up. The other, whose sienna complexion was several shades darker than Tony’s, lifted an eyebrow. Probably expected the short, pot-bellied kind of pastor, rather than one whose physique was in better condition than his own. Still, they reeked of law enforcement. The local kind. And that wasn’t a good thing.

  “What can I do for you, officers?” Tony asked, looking from one to the other.

  “Detective Archer,” the Black one said. “And Detective Donovan.”

  “What can I do for you, detectives?”

  Donovan tried to peer over Tony’s shoulder. “May we come in?”

  “For?”

  They both seemed taken aback by his response, but it was Archer who said, “We need to have a little chat.”

  “Chats only take a couple of minutes,” Tony said with a mild shrug. “Wouldn’t want you to get too comfortable.”

  The detectives shared a glance, then resigned themselves to being on the opposite side of the door. “There’s been some allegations of theft of church property.”

  Well that came out of left field. “I haven’t been allowed into the building since I left on Sunday.”

  “They’re talking records for the past three years,” Donovan explained. “They’ve all been wiped from the church’s computer.”

  “Well, that could be a problem.” Tony leaned his shoulder on the doorjamb, folding his arms over his massive chest, waiting.

  “Leesa Terrence said you had some teenager steal the files.”

  “He didn’t steal anything. And if I did have him do it, then that would be a civil matter, not a police matter,” Tony countered. “So, I’m still not sure why you’re here.”

  The two men moved forward in an effort to intimidate Tony. After being housed with men who had killed people for something as simple as looking at them the wrong way, and the guards who had done things more criminal than the inmates, Tony’s ability to be intimidated by anyone with a badge was slim to none.

  “We were hoping this could all be done peacefully,” Archer said, positioning his body so he had a clear view of one side of the street. “Seeing that your church has been in the news these days, you don’t need any more bad publicity.”

  “It’s not my church anymore,” Tony countered, keeping a keen eye on Archer who seemed mildly uncomfortable with being at Tony’s place. “And the media being there wasn’t my doing.”

  “Then releasing those records shouldn’t be a problem,” Donovan shot back. “This could all go away if you’d just give Terrence what he wants.”

  Tony thought that over for a minute and then narrowed his gaze on Archer once again; picking up on familiar features like that peanut-shaped head which was a common trait of the males of one particular family. Then it dawned on him. Archer was somehow related to the Henderson family. Possibly, Terrence believed that a little police pressure would put some fear in Tony. Especially given his background.

  Evidently, he didn’t know Anthony J. Baltimore so well.

  Now, the reason for the detective’s lack of a search warrant became clear. More than likely, they didn’t have clearance to be there or they’d have a swarm of men all over the place by now. This was a little off-duty, off-the-books work. Tony could call them on it, but what purpose would it serve? “Tell Mr. Henderson and his board that I’ll turn over all records at church this Sunday.”

  “And we’ll have a few conditions,” Kari said, coming forward to peer over Tony’s shoulder.

  When she shifted so the officers we
re able to get a better view, both men seemed a lot less interested in church records Tony had supposedly stolen, and a lot more interested in his wife. Tony shifted his stance and blocked Kari from their view.

  “If they have a problem with that,” she continued. “Then everything will be settled in a court of law.”

  “It doesn’t have to go that far,” Archer said, scowling.

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t,” she said, putting a hand on Tony’s arm, guiding him into the house and closing the door behind them.

  “We’ll tell them you said this Sunday,” the detective yelled loud enough for them to hear through the door.

  Tony trailed Kari to the kitchen where breakfast was waiting.

  “Are you sure about this?” she asked.

  “They can have the church records,” he said, claiming one of the high seats at the gathering table. “I can make all of that available to the public so they’ll know that no shady business was going on. It’s the others that I’m concerned about. If the members want their own record of giving and from their counseling sessions with me, I won’t hold them.” He grabbed his cell and sent a quick text. “I’ll have our resident techie come over and put each one on a separate flash drive encrypted by the person’s social security number. If they want Terrence to have it, then they can give it directly to him.”

  “Or not,” Kari said, taking a sip of fresh squeezed orange juice.

  “Or not,” he agreed, placing a kiss on her lips.

  Tony waited outside a Virginia shotgun house in Jeffrey Manor, a small community on the South Side of Chicago. He was about to do something that would either permanently damage a relationship that was already in disrepair or do the one thing that would mend his wife’s heart.

  “You don’t know me,” he said to the attractive slender woman who answered the door. “But I know your daughter.”

  The woman, whose grim expression was chilling in its likeness to Kari, stood in the threshold so long that Tony thought she was going to close the door on him as well as any hope that he could bring Kari and her parents together. His wife didn’t have a clue he was here at the house where she’d grown up. Every time he brought up going to see them, her eyes glazed over and she’d shake it off as though it didn’t matter. Tony knew otherwise.

  “Come in,” Ms. Mason said, taking a few steps into the foyer to allow him to enter. She pressed her back to the wooden door, her gaze imploring him to not be the bearer of bad news. “Is she … ”

  “She’s alive and well,” he said, giving her a smile.

  The relief that flooded the woman’s creamy features was tangible. She wore a black dress that covered her from neckline to the tips of her flat shoes. The only thing visible was a beautiful face that bore the tale of a life that hadn’t been easy. Dark-brown eyes were piercing but had only a hint of fire. Her skin was bare of any cosmetics. Her hair, laced with a few streaks of gray intermingled within the brown, had been pulled back into a severe bun. The state of the house was summed up in a word—immaculate.

  “How do you know her?” she asked, her tone cautious, wary even.

  “I’m her husband,” he replied, handing her his driver’s license and then a wallet-sized photo he’d taken with Kari last year for the pastor’s anniversary.

  Ms. Mason stared at the image for a moment and a bright smile split her face as she whispered, “She’s married?” A deep inhale was the only sound before she frowned, then asked, “Are there any … ”

  “Not yet, we—”

  “Who’s that,” a gruff voice growled from behind them.

  Ms. Mason froze, and if Tony gauged her expression, panic had set in, sapping every ounce of the momentary happiness that took years off her face. A spike of concern rippled through him at the speed of the transformation of the woman before him. She had gone from a woman who was elated to hear news of her long-lost daughter, to one who now feared the very man who had held their daughter so tight a serpent had slithered in, took her from their garden and flung her into the den of sin.

  Tony forced himself to remember he’d promised to keep an open mind when it came to Kari’s father. The man’s skin was three shades darker than Tony’s milk chocolate hue, hair trimmed to perfection, height cleared Tony’s chin but only by an inch; his expression was dark and forbidding. He wore a three-piece suit that was clearly a better grade of fabric than his wife’s garment. With the spotless condition of the house and the obvious disparity between something as simple as the clothing of the couple, Tony understood exactly the type of man he was dealing with.

  When it seemed that Ms. Mason wasn’t going to answer the question, Tony thought it best to supply only the basics. “Tony. Tony Baltimore,” he said to the man scowling at him as though he had done him wrong. “I’m Kari’s husband.”

  “He’s also a preacher,” Ms. Mason supplied as though that one word would somehow make Tony acceptable in her husband’s eyes.

  “So what does he want from us?”

  “Don’t be rude,” she admonished, wringing her long, tapered fingers in a sure sign of nervousness.

  “He’s in my house,” Mr. Mason said, crossing the distance between the modern living room to the foyer. “I can be whatever I want to be in my house.”

  She lowered her gaze, fighting back a retort of some kind. Tony’s dislike for the man amped up a little higher.

  “Kari’s doing a great deal of work with the church,” Tony said to Ms. Mason who was now unable to make eye contact. “I came to invite you to hear her speak and—”

  “And what?” Mr. Mason snapped, his shoulders rigid with anger. “Maybe we’ll take her back? She left this house,” he roared, causing his wife to flinch from the intensity of his voice. “She didn’t want to live God’s way. She’s dead to us.”

  Tony’s gaze shifted to Kari’s mother whose expression hardened to stone. Through her teeth, she managed to say, “She’s dead to you. I’ve never felt that way.”

  Mr. Mason’s jaw dropped at her impertinence but he quickly recovered.

  “You wouldn’t allow me to contact the police, or try to find her.” She locked a gaze with Tony and added, “But I always prayed for her every single day. I prayed for her safety.”

  Tony nodded in wordless understanding of the power of a mother’s prayer.

  “It was easy for you to wash your hands of her,” she continued. “You didn’t carry her for nine months.”

  A vein throbbed at Mr. Mason’s temple. The man had plenty to say, none of it he preferred to speak in mixed company.

  “I’d like to hear what this young man has to say,” she whispered and this time she managed to look at her husband. “If you can’t stomach hearing how your daughter’s doing, then take yourself to another room. I. Will. Hear. Him.”

  The silence that followed filled an entire continent. Tony got the feeling this was the first time she’d stood up to him. Mr. Mason’s shocked expression spoke volumes.

  “Do you have any other pictures of her?” She turned her attention back to Tony, and there was a little spark hope, dare he say love, in her eyes. Maybe she was proud of herself for finally standing up to her husband. Tony certainly was, but would that translate into a willingness to reconnect with Kari?

  “Right here.” Tony slid a package from under his arm and passed it to the woman whose hands were trembling so badly, she couldn’t open the clasp. He extracted the envelope from her hands, then slid the photos out before placing them gently in her hands. She steadied herself for a moment, then inched backward before taking a seat on the sofa, all the while staring at the headshot of Kari for several moments under the not-quite-happy glare of her husband.

  Then as though remembering that Tony was nearby, she said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Please have a seat. Can I get you anything?” She stood, brushing past her husband who had moved closer to his wife and craned his neck to peer over her shoulder at the photo she held. His eyes widened with admiration before quickly flashing with anger as he glared at Tony
.

  “Did she send you here?” he sneered, his face contorted with disdain. “What does she want from us?”

  “She doesn’t want anything from you,” Tony said, angered that the man couldn’t allow his wife to have a moment to at least satisfy her curiosity. “She doesn’t know I’m here.”

  “Then what do you want?” Mr. Mason demanded to know. “She was a heathen child. She doesn’t deserve any consideration.”

  “Even God has compassion,” his wife said, a fire alight in her dark-brown eyes. “God has mercy. You have none.”

  “How dare you talk to me like that,” he snarled. “You’re only acting this way because he’s here.” Then he grinned, and the sight of it was alarming and chilling. “He’s not going to be here for long.”

  “And what exactly are you expecting to do?” she asked, perching on the arm on the sofa, a patient smile lifting the corners of her lips. “What more can you do to me that hasn’t already been done?”

  This time it was Mr. Mason who flinched.

  Then she snapped her fingers. “Oooooh,” she crooned. “You mean lay hands on me? And not in a biblical way.” She was out of her seat and covered the few feet between them so fast that Tony lost sight of her for a second. “I. Wish. You. Would.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Tony couldn’t take a breath for fear it would interrupt the outward show of strength that filled Ms. Mason with every word she allowed to come forth.

  Her threat lingered for a few seconds. Tony braced himself for the wrath of her husband that was sure to follow.

  “You’re the one who puts stock in having a good night’s sleep,” she taunted and her voice was devoid of emotion. “Trust me, you start in on that, then you’d better keep your pants on and one eye open.”

  Mr. Mason stood in a slow, sinuous motion, keeping an intense gaze on his wife as he said to Tony, “Young man, I’m going to need you to make an exit right now.”