“I was clueless until she started ranting about how she can’t believe I would move on.”
Karen took Frankie’s hand and looked him directly in the eyes.
“Frankie, are you ready to move on, can you?” He gave her a look of love and admiration.
“Karen, I can move on if you are ready to take this step with me.” He said as he caressed her hands that were now in his and leaned in watching her to see if she would draw back. He did not have to wait long as Karen closed the gap, and they enjoyed their first kiss of passion without alcohol or drugs. It was one full of emotions and hope for a new beginning. Frankie was the first to pull away. “Karen, I like the way you just responded, but I prefer you answer my question verbally.”
Karen swallowed and looked up at Frankie with her light brown eyes focused on his lips, then his eyes. “Yes, Frankie, I would like to move on with you, and see what we can become. You, me, and Nikki.”
Frankie then pounced onto Karen with an aggressive kiss. It led to so much passion that again they were caught up in one another and moved to Karen’s bedroom to begin their relationship with the act of making love.
ITS Transit Systems
Camille sipped her hot green tea as she listened to Karen recap her romantic night with Frankie. Karen spoke about Frankie as if he was truly her knight in shining armor. While Camille was happy that Nikki had her father and Karen seemed to have found love, she was not happy about the way Karen consented to sex without validating where the relationship was leading to. In fact, Camille, wondered if Karen had given any thought to their vows to stay celibate until marriage. All of this went through her mind as Camille tried not to show any judgmental expressions. She certainly understood how abstaining could be difficult because she had several thoughts about Ben in that manner. However, she resisted temptation by setting limitations with Ben’s agreement on how far they could go physically. For starters, Benjamin does not enter her bedroom when he is visiting, nor do they sit in one another’s arms while watching television or movies. They had tried that once, and the kissing and foreplay got out of hand, but they stopped themselves and made the pact not to go that route again. They pray every night together in person or over the phone. They have weekly bible study together at the kitchen table of one of their homes. The hardest thing for them to do was to leave one another’s home by ten p.m. It was challenging to do that because they enjoyed each other’s company, and time sped up when she was in his presence. Another great thing about their relationship was that they both were busy with their careers. Both Camille and Benjamin were normally exhausted by nine p.m., after dinner and their evening walk. Obviously, Karen and Frankie did not intend to set any boundaries. So much for Karen keeping her temple holy.
“Camille, did you hear me?” Karen exclaimed with a look that said her patience with Camille was wearing thin.
Camille, replaying Karen’s last words quickly, tried to remember the question Karen asked. “I heard you, and no Benjamin and I have not been intimate yet. We don’t plan to have sex unless we are married.” Camille raised an eyebrow at Karen. “I also recall you being on the altar with me at Liberty Fellowship, vowing abstinence until marriage as well. Did you discuss that with Frankie before you two fell in bed together?”
Camille regretted sounding so motherly because Karen was, in fact, a grown woman. It just seemed she did not attempt to resist fornication and jumped in bed because Frankie told his ex-wife off and said he wanted to try with her. It was hard for Camille to believe he wasn’t trying only to make a move on Karen.
“Camille, you are not seriously trying to tell me I am wrong for making love with the father of my child.” Karen said this with attitude that was palpable. “If you are, I can promise I will not be sharing anything else with you. I am a grown woman, and I love Frankie, you cannot tell me this is wrong.”
“Karen, I am not trying to tell you what you should or should not do or with whom you can do it with. However, I am asking you about the spiritual commitment you made to serve Christ and to avoid fornication. We learned in bible study together that we were cleansed from our sin by Jesus’s blood, and we accepted him as our savior, and the Holy Spirit as our comforter. I want to know; did you give thought to that commitment that you made?”
“Camille, Frankie being the father of my child is a sign from Jesus Christ himself that he is who I need to be with. He is no longer the random dude I had a one-night stand with after getting drunk and high to deal with my pain and grief. Frankie made a commitment to me and Nikki that he will be there, like he has been since he found out about her. If giving him sexual gratification is what he needs, then I will be giving it to him. I also learned in Bible study that we should not judge and that God sees our hearts. Clearly, you don’t practice everything taught in Bible study, now do you, Camille!”
Karen was now beyond angry, and her voice was elevated loud enough that Camille knew the other employees could hear them. “I can’t believe I came in here thinking you would be happy for me, but no, Ms. Always Perfect and Right has something negative to say about poor Karen. Camille, you were there for me when I found out I was pregnant. You did not judge me when I told you the circumstances of Nikki’s conception. You just loved me and helped me. Now, because I had passion with a man that could very well be my future husband, you stand there holier-than-thou, judging me. Well, guess what Camille, let’s see how long Ben stays around while you play Ms. Chasity Belt.”
Karen did not give Camille a chance to utter a word. She got up, said she had a meeting to get to, and slammed Camille’s office door behind her.
Camille sat there amazed, but before she could gather her thoughts and process what had occurred with Karen, the receptionist buzzed in that Mr. J. D. James was in the lobby waiting to see her. Elated, Camille told her to send him up.
“Hey, Daddy, what a pleasant surprise,” Camille said while rising to her feet to hug her dad.
“Hey, Camille, how is daddy’s girl feeling?”
“Daddy, I am well, thanks for asking,” Camille said as she rolled her eyes. She would forever be a twelve-year-old to her dad. She went back behind her desk to sit as J. D. took a seat flanking her desk. “So, what brings you by Daddy?”
J. D. cleared his throat and played with the cufflinks on his dress shirt. Camille watched him. That is so unlike him. He normally looks eye to eye when in conversation. Never had she seen him behave in this manner. “Daddy,” she called out to get him to look at her. “Tell me what’s been bothering you, besides my accident.”
J. D. looked up at his girl and said, “It is Karen. I believe I am her father.”
Camille pushed back from her desk and walked around to sit next to her father in the matching chair beside him. “Daddy, what are you talking about?” Camille’s voice cracked. Surely, she had misheard him.
“I need you to tell me if her mother’s name is Cynthia Locke.” Camille gasped and put her hand over her mouth. Could this day get any worse?
“Yes, Daddy, it is. How did you know her?”
J. D., filled with guilt, looked at his baby girl and said, “It’s best I keep that to myself.”
Bam, that was her answer. Yes, this day could get worse. She had just pissed off one of her best friends, and that best friend could be her half sister. “Wow!” Was all Camille could say or think at the moment.
Chapter 4: Confessions, Obsessions, and Progressions
“Let me make sure I have this correct, Daddy.” Camille gave J. D. a puzzled look. “You are coming to me, asking Karen’s mother’s name and telling me she may be your daughter?”
“Yes,” J. D. said firmly.
Camille waited for more, but that wait was in vain. She saw that she was going to have to drag each detail out of him for herself. “Daddy, you have to give me more than this. Karen is one of my best friends and not to mention my Executive Business Assistant. I am her daughter’s godmother. Nikki calls me Tee-Tee, Now, by the little you have shared, I may be that . . .
literally! Daddy, you are going to have to come clean, give me something to go on that’s better than this!” Camille was losing her temper and knew she could not disrespect her father, but if he did not start sharing, she was going to lose it.
“Camille, calm down. You don’t need to get worked up, okay.” J. D. knew he was being sketchy with his delivery, but he simply did not know how to explain. But by the look on his baby’s girl face, he was going to have to give details. He took Camille’s hands and said, “Camille, remember when your mom was sick when you were young?” Camille nodded her head yes. “Well, I did the best I could, taking care of her and loving her until she succumbed to the breast cancer. When I lost Rachel . . . baby girl, I was so lost. When Grammy stayed with us that year after your mom’s death, I had a fling with someone.”
It was making sense to Camille now. She was seven years old when her mom died. At thirty-three, she had very few memories of her mom, but she knew that her parents were in love. She believed she knew where this conversation was headed but decided to remain silent and let her dad tell his story.
“Camille, I was so hurt and lonely. I started hanging out at a friend’s bar, and this beautiful woman was singing a Diana Ross and the Supremes’ song “Love is Here and Now You’re Gone” . . .” J. D. looked down at the floor and shook his head as if trying to fight back all the demons of despair and grief. “Cynthia sang that song with such passion. Although Rachel had died and not simply walked away, it was true—I was that song. I had all this love with no one to give it to, and no one to return it.”
Camille reached out and took her daddy’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. J. D. smiled and squeezed her hand back and began again. “After Cynthia’s set, we talked and shared drinks. To make a long story short, many nights after Grammy and I would put you down I met with Cynthia. She was only a temporary replacement for a void I have had since Rachel left this earth. After one look at Karen, I knew. She is the spitting image of Cynthia. Cynthia had some features that were similar to Rachel, and that was another draw I had to her. However, I was not interested in bringing a junkie around my little girl, so I just let her go. Camille, have you seen Cynthia?”
Camille looked at her father with sadness. “No, Daddy. Cynthia died when Karen was five or six from a stray bullet of a drive-by while leaving a club she was working at.” This statement brought the tears, that J. D. was trying to fight off, streaming down. Never in a million years would he have thought Cynthia would be gone.
“Who took care of Karen?”
Camille sighed and said, “She was placed in her Aunt Esther’s care, but the streets took care of her.”
J. D. gasped and covered his face with both hands. Camille leaned in and took her daddy in her arms and rocked him with love and understanding. She would give him time to absorb what he may have turned his back on. Then they would be finding out if Karen was her sister.
Benjamin’s Home Office
Benjamin set at his desk in his home office, listening to his team of engineers go over their caseloads for the day. Benjamin, as a senior vice president of a software storage firm, headed the Southeast region of the country. Benjamin’s team consisted of over two-hundred field agents who worked in a joint effort to manage over three-thousand corporate accounts. The team ensured their client’s servers and data were secure and up to date, according to federal regulations and ISO compliances. This was the region’s afternoon call to recap the day’s events and any unresolved issues. Ben only chimed in when asked direct questions that his managers, supervisors, or leads could not answer.
His thoughts drifted to Camille. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever encountered. She was everything he could have hoped and prayed for. Although she was educated and ran a successful business, there was an innocence and a naiveté about her. This made her have that submissive quality he wanted in a wife. As he thought about her beauty, he smiled because she had a simple and natural beauty, but she was always demure and elegant. She did not have to have designer labels, which made him want to shower her with every name brand he could buy. Her willpower to overcome the physical challenges she had, due to the accident, made her a case study. Camille had a positive outlook on life, and that had her back in the office six weeks earlier than the doctors had predicted. Ben had expected that, by now, he would have, at least, one complaint about Camille. Something that would give him pause, but there was no wrong he could find in her. Camille James is perfect. What made it better was that she got along with his mom. What a dream come true. His girl and mother took to one another immediately. His mother had given him her seal of approval on Camille. Ben was shocked when Camille first said she and his mom frequently talked, about any- and everything including scriptures. Ben smiled knowing he had found the one. He was planning on proposing to her at the family get together that was coming up.
“Mr. Adams, are you there, sir?” Mark, one of his leads, snapped Ben’s attention back to the call. Ben had to think for a moment about the issue the team was discussing, and then he responded adamantly. “Yes, it is imperative and mandatory that all cases are closed in the unit database within two hours of leaving the client’s site. This can be done in your company-provided cars before leaving the premises, as each engineer and field agent has a mobile hot spot, mobile device, laptop, and tablet. There is no reason for any employee to be in the red with compliance in closing cases. Understood?”
After the call had wrapped up with yes sirs and no problems, Ben took his personal mobile device out and scrolled down his contacts to Cam’s picture. He needed to hear her voice. However, before he could make the call, his doorbell rang. Benjamin opened the door to a distressed looking Kevin. “Kevin, what’s up man? Come on in. You look like something is on your mind.”
Kevin walked in and proceeded to Ben’s living room, flopping down on the brown leather sofa. Kevin sighed and rubbed his hand across his head, and then his face. Ben, sitting across from Kevin in a brown leather La-Z-Boy chair, bent forward to get a closer look at Kevin.
“Man, what is going on, something else happened with Paige, or work?”
Kevin looked at Benjamin with defeat written all over his face. “Ben, man, it’s all of the above. This entire day, week, and month has been a struggle. I told you about the fight Paige and I had. That is on my mind and my heart, man. Today—when I got back in the office after being gone for three days because I have a momma and girl that behave like they are starring in a reality TV show—my voice mail had twenty-five messages, my email was full, and I had to present to the grand jury today. To make matters worse, not one of my witnesses showed up, and the defense attorney had a field day serving my behind to me. Meanwhile, my mom is calling me nonstop, ranting about Paige, and that she may need plastic surgery. What can I do? I apologized, man. She is my mom, and my girl literally beat her behind!” Ben took that “my girl” reference and jumped in.
“So, you and Paige back together?”
Kevin gave Ben an incredulous look. “No, I haven’t talked to Paige since she stormed out a couple of days ago. But I am not going to lie. I miss her like mad.”
Ben was thrown by the statement. If anyone ever physically assaulted his mom, no matter what reason they had, there would be no more thoughts of them, not to mention missing her. However, Ben knew Kevin had it bad for Paige, so he just listened.
“Ben, I know I should just be done with her. I have so much on my plate, not to mention I am still trying to find the fool who hit Camille. I am just not ready to walk away from Paige. I’m just giving her time to cool down.”
Ben was not shocked by that declaration, but he had to ask a question. “Kevin, I cannot tell you what to do or how to feel, but I need you to explain why you can’t live without Paige?”
Kevin looked up at Ben with a smirk. “Aww, man . . . that girl is unpredictable and buck wild. But she is loyal and has pride in everything she does. I don’t know why my mom pushes her buttons, and Paige lets her, but if that were not the case,
we would be a match made in heaven.”
“Are you sure that’s it?”
Kevin flashed all thirty-two of his pearly whites. “Paige being buck wild is an understatement for Paige in the bedroom. That girl does things to me that brings me to my knees. There is no way I can live without her.”
“Is it worth your mom getting hurt, and Paige serving time?”
Kevin said with his hands up. “Of course not, I just don’t know what to do. Maybe I need to go to church with you and Camille.”
Ben put his hands on Kevin’s shoulder while speaking to him. “We would love to have you at church, and you my friend, have a problem only Jesus can handle. Come on let’s grab some sodas and catch the game.”
Kevin looked confused. “Soda? Jesus, man, what is Camille doing to have you drinking soda? You don’t have any kind alcohol or something? Dawg, I need a real drink!”
Ben shrugged and said, “No, Camille and I are on bent knees in prayer together, my friend, trying to do it the good book’s way.”
Karen’s apartment
Karen did not make it past her couch after she left work early. In need of time to sort through her thoughts, Karen did not even pick up Nikki from daycare. She laid on her couch crying. She could not believe the blow up she just had with Camille. Camille was like family to her and Nikki. Karen could not understand why sleeping with someone she already had a child with and planned to be with forever was wrong. Didn’t a commitment count? Why should she miss out on love? Frankie only wanted the best for her and their family. He stood up for her to his ex-wife, an ex-wife that he admitted was his best friend. Would he have done that if their love was not real? Karen was a wreck going back and forth in her mind about the commitment she made to Christ, and the future she wanted with Frankie. Would Frankie end things if she did not continue a sexual relationship with him?
It Won't Prosper: Parable On Infidelity In Marriage Page 12