Everybody Say Amen

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  Chapter 39

  Simon was smiling ear to ear. Rachel wanted to believe it was because they were all there—with the exception of David, who was at home with D.J.—celebrating Simon’s birthday at Johnny Carrino’s Italian restaurant. But somehow, she couldn’t help but feel the woman sitting across from him, shooting him googly eyes, was the real reason he was smiling.

  “Mrs. Brenda, we’re so happy you could join us,” Jonathan said.

  “There’s no place else I’d rather be,” she replied, not taking her eyes off Simon. She finally turned to Jonathan, “than here helping Sim…I mean, Pastor Jackson celebrate his sixty-fifth birthday.”

  “Mrs. Brenda, why don’t you just go ahead and call my dad Simon? By now, we all know you’re more than just any old member to him,” Rachel remarked sarcastically.

  Everyone glared at Rachel. Even Jordan and Nia, sensing the tension, stopped playing and stared also. Rachel had been in a foul mood for the last two days. Lester had indeed moved back home and although he tried his best to stay out of her way, just having him in the same house put her in a horrible mood.

  “Now, Rachel,” Simon began, “I’ve had just about enough—”

  Brenda held up a hand and cut him off. “No, Simon. I can handle this.” She leaned into the table. “Rachel, you know I have nothing but respect for you—as first lady of my church and as the daughter of the man I love.”

  Both Rachel’s and Jonathan’s eyes grew wide as Brenda continued. “But let me be clear, in order for me to continue to give respect, I must get respect.” Her tone got gentler as she placed her hand on top of Rachel’s. “Now, I understand how hard this may be for you, but Loretta died, Simon didn’t. And no one can ever take her place. I wouldn’t even try, couldn’t if I wanted to.” She looked at Simon. “But his heart is big enough that he found a little room in it for me. I just ask that you let him have that. Let us have that.”

  Rachel felt her eyes pooling. She had to admit she admired Brenda’s spunk. And there was no denying how happy her father seemed lately. Suddenly she felt like crap.

  Jonathan spoke up. “Mrs. Brenda, I don’t think my sister means to give you a hard time. It’s just—it’s a little harder for her than the rest of us, to accept my father loving anyone other than my mother.”

  Brenda replied, “That’s understandable. That’s why I’ve been patient. Why I’ll continue to be patient.”

  Rachel looked back and forth between her father and Brenda. “I’m sorry. It’s not just you, Mrs. Brenda. I…I have a lot on my mind.”

  Brenda nodded understandingly as Simon squeezed Rachel’s arm. “No need for apologies, baby girl.” He sipped the last of his coffee. “This has been a wonderful birthday celebration, but you know I’m an old man, and it’s getting late.”

  Jonathan signed the receipt, leaving the waitress a hefty tip before they headed out to the parking lot.

  Outside, Brenda released Simon’s hand and turned to Rachel. “Are we okay?”

  Rachel smiled and nodded. She knew she was acting like a child and it was time to let that go. “We’re okay.”

  They hugged each other.

  “And whatever it is that has your heart so heavy, know that you’re in my prayers,” Brenda said.

  “That’s what I like to see, one big happy…” Simon’s words trailed off as he watched the black car slow down in front of them. Rachel, Jonathan, and Brenda turned and watched the car as well. The passenger window eased down and it didn’t quite register what was happening until a black barrel came out the window and the sounds of gunfire pierced the air.

  Jonathan grabbed Rachel and dove for the ground. Simon did the same with Brenda as people scattered everywhere. The tires screeched as the car took off.

  “Oh, my God!” Rachel screamed. “Jordan! Nia!” She scrambled to get up off the ground. “My babies.” Rachel looked around frantically. She saw Jordan crouched down behind a car, his arms tightly around Nia. She raced toward them. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” She took both of them in her arms, crying uncontrollably.

  Suddenly, Brenda screamed. “He’s been hit! Help, somebody!”

  “Do not move!” she told Jordan and Nia as she raced back over to Brenda, Simon, and Jonathan.

  Chaos reigned as people started piling out of the restaurant.

  “Who was hit?” Rachel looked down at Jonathan, who was staring at her father in a daze. “Oh, no!” Rachel dropped to the ground next to her father. “Daddy!”

  Brenda held his head. “Simon, please, wake up. Hang on. Help is on the way.”

  Rachel saw blood forming underneath her father and she almost passed out. “No, no, no.”

  Although it couldn’t have been more than five minutes, it seemed like forever before the paramedics arrived.

  “What happened?” a police officer asked as the paramedics went to work on her father.

  “My father…” Jonathan said, shaking his head. “Somebody tried to kill us…my father…he was hit.”

  The officer pulled out a pad and started writing.

  “Is he going to make it?” Brenda sobbed.

  Suddenly, Simon’s eyes opened. He grimaced in pain. “Wh…what happened?”

  “Shhhh, don’t try to talk,” Brenda said.

  “Did s…somebody shoot me?” Simon struggled to ask.

  “Sir, I need you to save your energy,” a paramedic said as they eased him on the stretcher. “Luckily, the bullet just barely grazed your shoulder. You cut your head pretty bad when you hit the ground.”

  Rachel looked at the paramedics in disbelief. “So he’s going to be all right?”

  The paramedic examined Simon’s head. “Yeah, this cut is pretty bad, but nothing a few stitches won’t heal. It’s a miracle that bullet whizzed right by his shoulder. Because two inches over and…”

  Simon shook his head. “It wouldn’t have been pretty.” He tried to sit up but the pain quickly caused him to fall back against the stretcher. “But that wasn’t no miracle. That was the armor of God watching out for me.” He forced himself to smile at Brenda.

  “Amen,” she replied.

  The paramedics wheeled Simon to the ambulance. “We’re taking him to Sugar Land Methodist. One of you can ride with him.”

  Rachel and Brenda both stepped up at the same time. Brenda looked at Rachel with a plea in her eyes. Rachel sighed, stepped back, and said, “We’ll see you at the hospital.”

  Brenda hugged her before jumping into the ambulance with Simon.

  Chapter 40

  David walked back and forth in the living room, shaking his head. “A drive-by shooting? In Sugar Land?”

  “Like nice areas don’t have drive-bys,” Rachel sarcastically replied. “People just aren’t safe anywhere. This just doesn’t make sense.”

  They were in Simon’s living room, going over the shooting for the hundredth time. Simon only had to spend one night in the hospital. He’d been released this morning and was now resting upstairs. Brenda hadn’t left his side since the shooting.

  “You think Tawny would do something like this, or have one of her friends do it?” Rachel asked. She’d been playing out all the possible scenarios.

  David shook his head. “Naw, she’s still in jail. Besides, she doesn’t have the money or the power to pull off something like this from behind bars.”

  “Well, I want to know if this was random, or do we have to walk around in fear,” Rachel said.

  “So what are the police saying?” David asked.

  “They aren’t any help,” Rachel replied. She leaned forward in her seat and rubbed her tired eyes.

  “It had to be random,” Jonathan said, snapping out of his deep thought. “Unless…”

  “Unless what?” Rachel asked.

  Jonathan got up and walked over to the fireplace. He had debated saying anything but it was the only reasonable explanation he could think of. “Unless the bullet was meant for me.”

  “You?” Rachel asked. “Why would someone try to sh
oot you?”

  “This whole custody suit. It’s gotten pretty ugly,” he said sadly.

  “So? You think Angela would stoop to murder? I mean, I know she’s changed, but come on,” Rachel scoffed.

  “Maybe not Angela,” Jonathan replied. “But her cousin Buster has been in and out of jail and I know he can’t stand me. A drive-by wouldn’t be beneath him.”

  Rachel jumped up and raced over to the telephone.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m calling the cops.” She started punching in the numbers.

  Jonathan rushed to the phone and quickly pushed the button to terminate the call. “And tell them what, exactly?”

  “That your ex-wife is trying to off you.”

  “You don’t have any proof of that.”

  “Well, are we supposed to just let her get away with this?” Rachel almost stamped her foot, she was so frustrated.

  Jonathan sighed. “I could be way off base.”

  David scratched his head. “Rachel, what about you, you piss anybody off lately?”

  She flashed him an incredulous look. “Me? Please. I have a lot of people who don’t like me, but nobody who would try to kill me.”

  “You know what, this is just our imagination working overtime,” Jonathan finally said. “Nobody tried to kill us. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We just need to be thankful that no one was seriously hurt.”

  Rachel looked at her brother skeptically. “You can try to convince yourself of that all you want, but I’m not buying it,” she said. “And if Angela or her people tried to kill you, I want them thrown in jail.”

  “I second that,” David said.

  Jonathan stared at his siblings, regretting he’d said anything. Somehow he just knew that things were about to get really ugly.

  Chapter 41

  “Rachel, I’m going to ask you one more time not to do this.” Lester stood in the doorway of his home, trying to stop his wife from leaving.

  “And I’m going to ask you one more time to move out of my way,” she replied, her tone hostile. She was still mad that he was here. She’d tried unsuccessfully to get him to leave, but he refused to go until they had tried every possible thing to work out their problems.

  “Don’t we have enough issues of our own? Why are you getting all up in your brother’s business?”

  She tossed her hair back out of her face. She was not going to let him get her worked up. She’d already consulted a divorce attorney and planned to file the paperwork tomorrow to start the process of removing him from her life. “First of all, when Angela’s people took a shot at my brother, they also took a shot at me and my children.” The police hadn’t confirmed anything but ever since Jonathan raised the possibility, Rachel had been more and more certain that Angela was behind the shooting.

  “Why don’t you let the police handle it?”

  “Trust me, I’ve already been to the cops. Now, please move out of my way.”

  “Can we please talk about our problems?” Lester begged.

  “As far as I’m concerned, we don’t have a problem. Not anymore.”

  “So, you’re still on this divorce thing?” Lester softly said.

  “I never got off it.”

  “We haven’t had a chance to talk about this.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. Just because you forced your way back into our home doesn’t mean everything is fine. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been kind of busy trying to make sure the person who shot at my family is punished.”

  “I’m not undermining the seriousness of that, but even the police said they don’t think the gunman was aiming for you all.”

  “That was before they knew about the threats Angela’s relatives made to my brother.” She pushed him aside. “Move, Lester. The detectives are supposed to be at her house in twenty minutes.”

  “Well, why are you going? Let them handle it. I just don’t think you need to be caught up in any of this.”

  Rachel spun on Lester. “What part of ‘I don’t care what you think’ do you not get?” She glared at him like she wanted to say more, but then decided against it and stomped out the door.

  Fifteen minutes later, Rachel was sitting in her car in front of Angela’s house. The detectives hadn’t yet arrived. She’d specifically been told to stay away. Yeah, right. She wouldn’t rest until someone paid for trying to kill her family.

  Rachel scrunched up her nose when she noticed Angela and her mother standing in the front yard pointing at her. They finally walked over to her car.

  “May I help you?” Angela asked.

  Rachel knew she probably should just drive away but her blood was starting to boil. She stepped out of the car.

  “I just wanted to be here when they come to arrest you,” she said.

  Angela looked at her mother, then back at Rachel. “Arrest me? For what?”

  “Attempted murder. Accessory to attempted murder. One of them. We know it was you—or one of your hood rat relatives—who opened fire on me and my kids, my daddy, and Jon last week.” Rachel crossed her arms and tried to study Angela’s reaction.

  “What in Christ’s name are you talking about?” Mrs. Brooks asked.

  “Attempted murder?” Angela asked. “Someone tried to kill you all?”

  “Don’t act all innocent,” Rachel said.

  “Rachel, seriously, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Angela said.

  Rachel threw her a “whatever” look.

  “Is Jonathan still alive?” Mrs. Brooks asked.

  “Of course he is,” Rachel replied. “He wasn’t even hit.”

  “Well, that proves we didn’t do it,” Mrs. Brooks said snidely. “Because if it had been us, we wouldn’t have missed.”

  “Mother!” Angela snapped.

  Mrs. Brooks rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to pretend I’m concerned about somebody trying to kill Jonathan Jackson. Shoot, I just wish I had the courage to do it myself.”

  It was Angela’s turn to roll her eyes. “Mother, please go in the house.”

  Before Mrs. Brooks could respond, a black Oldsmobile pulled up. Two men in navy suits stepped out. Rachel recognized the driver as the detective she had filed the report with.

  “Mrs. Adams, what are you doing here?” he said.

  “Harassing us,” Mrs. Brooks replied. “Can’t you arrest her?”

  “Your daughter is the one who needs to be arrested,” Rachel snapped.

  The second officer stepped up. Everyone immediately got quiet. “Ladies,” he said, turning to Angela and her mother, “why don’t you two come inside with me and Detective Reid and answer a couple of questions. We’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

  “Mrs. Adams, go home,” Detective Reid admonished. “We’ll let you know if anything develops.”

  They all started walking toward Angela’s house. She stopped and turned back to Rachel. “Is…is Simon okay?”

  Rachel glared at Angela. Those definitely weren’t the eyes of a killer. “Yeah, he’s going to be fine.”

  “That’s good,” she softly replied, before saying, “I didn’t try and kill Jonathan, or anyone else for that matter.”

  Rachel was surprised, but all of a sudden, she believed her. But if Angela wasn’t behind the drive-by shooting, then who was?

  Chapter 42

  Angela knew she shouldn’t be doing this, but no matter what some judge said, she would never feel comfortable with her son around Jonathan.

  After that mess with the police showing up at her house last week, she probably should’ve stayed as far away as possible from Zion Hill and the Jackson clan. But she couldn’t help herself; this was her child, for Christ’s sake.

  Last night was Chase’s first overnight visit, and she’d been a nervous wreck all night. She knew they’d be here at church this morning, so she had to come see how Chase was doing.

  Angela shifted in the pew, then pushed her sunglasses up on her nose before p
ulling her big floppy hat down to hide her face. The sight of Jonathan laughing and smiling as he introduced Chase to everyone at church made her sick to her stomach. Maybe she should’ve just taken her son and run. But what kind of life would that have been for Chase?

  “Excuse me. Is someone sitting there?”

  Angela looked up at the elderly woman trying to take the seat next to her. The robust woman looked like she wanted Angela to move down and let her sit on the end. But Angela wasn’t moving. She needed to be on the end so she could keep a close eye on Jonathan and her child. She wasn’t trying to be rude, but she was on a mission.

  “You gon’ move down or you want me to step my arthritic legs over you?” the woman said.

  Angela didn’t respond, but did move her legs to the side to let the woman pass.

  Fifteen minutes later when Rachel asked visitors to stand and be greeted, the elderly woman stood up. Angela knew she was supposed to greet the woman, but she wasn’t in church for that. She folded her arms and looked away.

  “I guess you just ain’t gon’ say nothing to me, huh?” the old lady asked. “If this is how black folks act in Houston, I know I need to go back to Sweet Poke. Can’t even speak to nobody in the Lord’s house.”

  “Mama Tee, what are you doing here?” A short, plus-size woman with wild, reddish mini dreadlocks stopped at the end of their aisle, reached over Angela, and hugged the old woman.

  “Hey, Shereen, baby,” the woman said. “I’m just here with Nikki, you know she goes here now. We’re in town visiting my brother, and you know I had to come to church.”

  “That’s right. Rae did say you’d be here this weekend. I’ll have to call her.”

  Angela wondered if they were going to hold a whole conversation over her.

  “Who’s this?” Shereen motioned to Angela.

  “Somebody that needs Jesus,” Mama Tee loudly responded. “She ain’t with me.”

  “Oh.” Shereen flashed a smile. Angela looked away. She was glad when they said their good-byes and Shereen returned to her seat.