A House Divided (12 page)

C
urtis wondered when this was going to stop. He’d allowed himself to believe that when this mystery person had claimed they wouldn’t be calling him again, that this also meant they wouldn’t be sending any more letters. But here he was holding another envelope with the word
urgent
written across the top of it. He didn’t want this awful person to expose his secret, but because the anticipation had turned dreadful, he was getting to the point where he almost wished they’d do what they were threatening to do and get it over with—almost. But then, he knew that wasn’t true, because in reality he wanted no one to ever learn about that unfortunate time in his life. This morning, he’d thought about maybe telling Charlotte the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but they’d enjoyed each other in such a wonderfully passionate way last night, he hadn’t been able to find the words. He also hadn’t wanted to ruin her new attitude toward Racquel and Vanessa, because this was a revelation in itself.

He slowly pulled out the letter and unfolded it.

Curtis dropped the letter onto his desk, grabbed his face with the palms of his hands, and stroked his hair from front to back. He tried not to let this thing fluster him, but he was failing miserably, mainly because he was frantically trying to figure out a way to stop this from happening. It just wasn’t possible, though, because how could he stop anything when he had no idea who was behind all this? How could he stop people from gossiping online or calling up TV and radio producers with the kind of news story that not even
Good Morning America
, CNN, or Oprah would turn down? This was even the kind of thing his favorite nighttime comedian, David Letterman, would joke about. The sad thing, though, was that to Curtis and so many others, this awful secret of his wouldn’t be funny. To him it would be life-altering and catastrophic. He had a mind to call D.C., his trusted street warrior, but while D.C. had been known to handle anyone who was causing trouble, he couldn’t see where D.C. would be able to do a thing about a person Curtis didn’t even have a name for. He couldn’t even offer him clues that might help. Last year, D.C. had saved the day when that Sharon woman had gone too far with her fatal-attraction tricks and had also started threatening him and his family, but this was different—so different that Curtis felt like crying. He was a grown man, but he wanted to weep louder than little MJ had the last time he’d seen him. The only reason he didn’t was because he knew tears weren’t going to help anything. They wouldn’t prevent what was bound to happen, and the only thing he could do was what he’d been doing all along, and that was to keep praying.

Curtis snapped out of his misery when someone knocked at the door. “Yes?”

“Pastor, do you have a few minutes?” Minister Simmons asked.

Curtis hurried to set a stack of documents on top of the letter and envelope he’d received. “Sure. Come on in.”

He opened the door, strolled in, and took a seat in front of Curtis’s desk.

“So I hear Bible study went very well last night,” Curtis said.

Minister Simmons nodded with excitement. “If I must say so myself, I had the Word on fire.”

Curtis laughed. “Good for you.”

“Actually, that’s why I wanted to chat with you.”

“Oh?” Curtis couldn’t imagine he was going to bring up his Bible study idea again, not when they’d just discussed it by phone last night.

“Well, I was sort of wondering if you might consider letting me do the early service on Sundays.”

“When you say, ‘do the early service,’ I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“Deliver the message.”

“Oh. That would likely be fine, except the congregation expects me to give all sermons, regardless of which service they attend.”

Minister Simmons seemed disappointed. “I guess I’m just trying to figure out ways I can grow as a minister.”

“You will, but it takes time. The good news, too, though, is that you’re definitely on the right track.”

“Maybe, but I do a lot more than Minister Morgan does, yet he earns more.”

Now Curtis understood better what this conversation was about. Curtis also no longer thought Minister Simmons was out to betray him the way Charlotte had sort of believed and that his ambition was all about making more money.

“I understand what you’re saying,” Curtis said, “but Minister Morgan has a lot more experience than you do as a minister. He was also hired a year before you.”

“But everyone talks about the fact that I’m a lot more knowledgeable than he is and a better speaker. I don’t mean any disrespect toward him, but I’m just sayin’.”

Curtis wanted to ask him who “everyone” was, but he didn’t want to sound combative. “We all have gifts, abilities, and talents in various areas, so it’s hard to compare apples to oranges.”

Minister Simmons clasped his hands together on his lap. “But even you say I’m a dynamic speaker.”

“Because it’s true, but that still doesn’t take away from Minister Morgan. He’s twenty-five years older than you, and he’s extremely wise. I know this may be hard for you to understand, but sometimes wisdom supersedes book knowledge.”

Minister Simmons showed a look of defeat. He seemed sad even. “I’m not sure what to do then.”

“The same thing you’ve been doing. Reading and studying the Word daily, fulfilling all the responsibilities you have here at Deliverance, and giving sermons when the opportunity presents itself. I have a lot of travel dates coming up this fall, so you’ll be giving a number of messages then. You and Minister Morgan.”

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,” he said, “but I just wanna keep climbing. I don’t wanna become stagnant, and I want you to be proud of me.”

“I’m very proud of you. And it’s like I told you, moving higher in the ministry takes time. It did for me and every other minister I know. Having your own congregation doesn’t happen overnight. But this is also why you see so many congregations with less than thirty members. Not all of them, but most of them were started because an assistant pastor wanted to be in control and wanted to lead his own church.”

“I really appreciate you talking to me and listening,” he said.

“Come see me anytime, and I hope you’ll hang in there.”

He scooted his chair back and laughed slightly. “Where else am I gonna go?”

“There are always other options, but I’m hoping you’ll stay here. I think this is a good fit for you, and down the road you’ll have your own church. At some point, we’ll likely start a satellite location, and since Minister Morgan has made it clear that he’s happy being an assistant until he retires, you’d certainly be a top candidate.”

Minister Simmons’s face brightened. “That’s encouraging, and thanks for believing in me as much as you do, Pastor.”

“You’re quite welcome. Sometimes it helps just talking about it.”

I
t was hard to believe two weeks had passed, but Charlotte had accomplished everything on her to-do list, including revamping little MJ’s nursery. She stood inside the doorway with her arms folded, admiring all the changes, and just thinking about how perfect these new colors were for her little grandson gave her a warm feeling. After sitting and consulting with her decorator, she’d decided to go with baby blue, mint green, and white. Even the blankets, the sheets, the stuffed animals, the washcloths, the new clothing, and the plush pad on the seat of the rocking chair all contained hues of this particular color scheme. Some items were solid in pattern and some not, but everything down to the wallpaper, blinds, and carpet was coordinated appropriately.

She couldn’t wait to introduce little MJ to his new surroundings. Surprisingly, he’d just visited three days ago, but the final touches of the new design hadn’t been completed until yesterday. Charlotte hadn’t seen it coming, but without warning Racquel had called her to see if she wanted to keep MJ for a few hours, and Charlotte had been thrilled. She’d known it was a result of that visit she’d paid to Racquel and Vanessa, though. Still, it had been the first time she’d gotten to spend time alone with him, and it had felt like heaven. They’d bonded in such a touching way, and after a couple of hours had passed, he hadn’t seemed to cry as much. She’d held him a lot, though, even when he’d fallen asleep, so she was sure this had given him comfort. Vanessa had claimed that little MJ was spoiled, and that this was the reason he whined as much as he did, but as far as Charlotte was concerned, there was no such thing as spoiling a baby you loved. You simply held them and gave them whatever they needed, because you cared and wanted the best for them.

Charlotte thought she heard her cell phone ringing, so she hurried down the long hallway and into the master bedroom. Sure enough, it was Matthew calling.

“Hey sweetie,” she said, smiling.

“Hey Mom. What’s goin’ on?”

“Well, actually, I was just checking out your son’s nursery. I made a few changes to it.”

“You crack me up.”

Charlotte was glad she and Matthew were finally on good terms again. “I know you think I’m fussing over him too much, but I can’t help it. Plus, now that he gets to spend some time over here, I want his room to be comfortable for him.”

“I’m really proud of you for doing what you did, Mom. I’ve wanted to tell you that ever since you went over to visit Racquel and her mom, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

“I was wrong, Matt, and it was time I owned up to it and made amends. You and your dad had been right all along. All the drama between Vanessa and me was my fault.”

“Racquel is so much happier now and so relieved. She’s a good person, Mom, and she’s always wanted to have a relationship with you. From the very beginning.”

Charlotte almost felt guilty about the storm that was coming, but she had to remember that everything she’d done had been for her grandson. There would certainly be a few people hurt in the process, but eventually everything would settle and all would understand.

“I’m glad we were able to work things out.”

“So am I,” he said, “because the whole thing was really stressing me out. It took a toll on my studies—and I might as well tell you now, I got a B on my biology test and a B on the calculus.”

Charlotte remembered the day he’d been trying to study—the day she and Janine had gone to the Tuxson for lunch and had run into Racquel, Vanessa, and MJ. The afternoon had gone horribly, and, of course, Racquel had called Matthew with an exaggerated story.

“Honey, I’m really sorry I caused you so many problems that week. There was no excuse for it.”

“It’s in the past, but I just wanted to let you know because I know how you feel about Bs.”

“I know you’re doing the best you can, and you can still get As for your final grades.”

“We’ll see. Harvard is no joke. I think I can handle it, but it takes a lot of study time. Now I’m glad I passed on playing football.”

“You’ll be fine. These four years will be over before you know it.”

“I guess I’d better get going. Just wanted to check in and to thank you for making things right with Racquel and her mom. That was really important to me, Mom.”

“I know, honey. You have a good day, okay?”

“You, too, Mom. Love you.”

Charlotte ended the call and sat down on the side of the bed. She felt bad about ruining Matthew’s study time and causing him to not do as well on his tests as he could have. Maybe if Racquel hadn’t called him whining and complaining the way she had, things might’ve turned out differently. But there was no sense backtracking and trying to figure things out, because what was done was done and there was no changing it. The goal and plan now was to move ahead and on to better days. It was true that life in the Black household was about to shift pretty drastically, but Charlotte believed that when you did things for the right reasons, even if others didn’t understand it, it all worked out in the end. So, again, she reminded herself that she was doing this necessary deed for little MJ.

Charlotte closed her bedroom door, just in case Agnes came upstairs to do some cleaning. Then she called her mother. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, sweetie. Any news yet?”

“Not so far, but I’m sure we’ll hear something soon.”

“You sound a little hesitant,” Noreen said.

“More nervous than anything,” Charlotte admitted.

“I can imagine, but it’s not like you had any other options. Racquel and her mother made it pretty clear that you really didn’t count when it came to MJ. I know they’re treating you a little better now, but you’re still doing the right thing.”

“I agree, but I’ll just be glad when all this passes.”

“So will I, and I’m here for you if you need me.”

“I’m so glad you have my back with this, Mom, because there’s no one else I can share this with.”

“This will always be our little secret.”

Charlotte thanked God for her mother, because only a mother could love and stand by her daughter the way Noreen was doing. Not even Charlotte’s father would be okay with what was about to happen, and Curtis would likely divorce her. Actually, he wouldn’t
likely
do anything—he would
definitely
end their marriage. It was the reason he could never find out the truth; the reason no one except her mother and the parties who were carrying out her plan could know that Charlotte was behind everything. She’d plotted the initial idea, made the right call to the right person, and then allowed that person to take it from there. That person was Meredith Connolly Christiansen, the same trusted friend who’d paid a DNA technician to fudge the test results for Curtis and Marissa. Because of the affair she’d been having with Curtis’s best friend, Aaron, Charlotte had known that there was a chance Marissa might not be Curtis’s daughter, but she hadn’t wanted to take a chance on losing Curtis and had called Meredith for help. Now Meredith, a woman in her early eighties and who was still the wealthiest woman in Mitchell, had come to her rescue again, and Charlotte couldn’t be more grateful. The only difference this time was that Charlotte had her own money and was able to pay for services rendered. She hadn’t paid the four individuals who were directly involved, but she’d gone to the bank, gotten a cashier’s check, and given it to Meredith. Meredith had deposited it into her account and then taken care of the final payments.

Now Charlotte waited. Meredith had told her that because this was such a delicate situation, they had to think things through, take their time, and be extra careful. Falsifying DNA results was one thing, but the task Charlotte needed handled now was in a different category. If something went even slightly wrong, people could lose their jobs and get jail time, and Meredith didn’t want that. So again, Charlotte waited to hear from her and tried to go on with business as usual. She went about her daily routine with no one suspecting anything, and she planned to keep it that way. When the grand finale commenced, Charlotte would seem more shocked than anyone. She would act as though she was in the dark about everything.