Changing Faces (8 page)

“Nothing. I’m just sick of Charisse talking down to you and me like we’re children. She does that crap to Marvin all the time, right in front of everybody, but I’m not putting up with it anymore.”

“Yeah, but what did you and she argue about yesterday, because things seem a lot worse than usual.”

“I wasn’t planning on telling you this, and that’s why I didn’t bring it up when I called you two nights ago. But Charisse was saying how crazy and irresponsible you were for not taking your medicine and that Cameron wasn’t worth a thing if he wasn’t making sure you took care of yourself. And then when I wouldn’t discuss anything about you, she started ragging on me about my weight.”

“Oh really?”

Maybe I shouldn’t have been shocked, but it really bothered me that Charisse had spoken so rudely about me behind my back. Especially when I had always defended her to people who didn’t like her or who thought she had mental issues.

“That’s why I let her know that she hasn’t always been the saint she claims to be now,” Whitney said.

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning that I know things about Charisse.”

“Like?”

“Like things you won’t want to believe.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Trust me, you won’t ever look at her the same again.”

Chapter 10

C
HARISSE

B
RANDON?
Brianna? Let’s go.”

It was already eight-thirty, and for as long as Charisse could remember she had never been late for Sunday school. Even as a small child, she’d never arrived at church even once after nine o’clock, and these children of hers would not change her tradition. Sunday school, like her pastor’s sermon, was nourishment for the soul and she didn’t want to miss any of it. As a matter of fact, she was considering the idea of teaching the adult women’s class herself. The superintendent had asked her about it just a few weeks ago, but now it was time to think more seriously about it. She loved reading the Bible, she loved being in church, and she loved discussing God’s Word. So, it was only fitting that she would take on this type of responsibility. As far as she was concerned, she was the perfect person for the job.

Charisse grabbed her keys and saw Brandon hurrying down the stairs. But Brianna walked slowly, practically dragging her feet. It was almost as if she did it just to irritate Charisse, and Charisse wanted to yank her by her throat. And she just might have done it if today hadn’t been the Sabbath. Like the fourth commandment outlined, she remembered the Sabbath and kept it holy. But tomorrow would be different. Tomorrow would be Monday and Charisse wouldn’t be so lenient. Instead, she would chastise Brianna the way Proverbs 22:15 had instructed her to. “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

It was one of her favorite scriptures and it was unfortunate that thousands of parents were ignoring it. There were far too many who were sparing the rod and spoiling the child, and Charisse refused to be one of them. She would not go to hell for that or any other reason.

“See you guys later,” Marvin said when they all walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table reading his stupid newspaper.

“I don’t know why you can’t come with us,” Charisse said.

“I’m not going because I don’t feel like it. And if you want to know the truth, that pastor of yours is not someone I wanna listen to anyway. All he does is speak about money and prosperity and it just seems to me that he should be more concerned about saving souls.”

“He preaches about that all the time.”

“Not when I used to go.”

“Well then, you just weren’t there enough.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But I still don’t care for him.”

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
. She recited those words in her head over and over so that she wouldn’t have to curse Marvin out. She was trying her best to stay calm.

“Kids, let’s go,” she said, walking toward the garage.

“Bye, Daddy,” Brianna said, kissing her father.

Brandon followed suit. “See ya, Dad.”

“See ya.”

“Will you be here when we get back?” Charisse asked.

“More than likely.”

“Look, Marvin, either you will or you won’t.”

“Like I said, more than likely.”

“Brandon, you and your sister go get in the car and I’ll be out in a minute.”

Marvin folded his arms and stared at her.

She shut the door behind the children and asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“Why am I doing what, Charisse?”

“Why are you acting this way? Like you don’t care about anything. Like I’m your worst enemy.”

“Because you don’t care anything about me.”

“How can you say that?”

“Remember last week when I told you that I cared about you but that I wanted us to get counseling? And you refused?”

“So because I won’t do what you say, you’re going to punish me for it?”

“Call it whatever you want, but just know that I’m only here because of my children. If it weren’t for them, I would have left you a while ago.”

Charisse glanced at her watch and saw that it was eight-forty. She couldn’t believe she was actually going to be late. It was obvious that Satan was causing these problems on purpose. He didn’t want her to be on time and he was using Marvin, clearly one of his head warriors, to distract her.

“Marvin, I guess I don’t understand what’s going on. Is it another woman? What?”

He laughed and shook his head in disbelief. “Another woman? Charisse, please. This is all your fault and your fault only. So don’t try to blame this on someone else.”

“Look, Marvin, I’m not stupid. Nobody changes overnight the way you have. Not after having the perfect marriage the way we did.”

Now he laughed even louder.

“Perfect? Is that what you think? Charisse, the only reason our marriage was perfect to you was because you controlled everything.”

“But why are you all of a sudden complaining about it now?”

“Baby…I woke up. It’s as simple as that.”

How in the world could this be happening? And why hadn’t she seen it coming? How could she have been so blind and not paid any attention to what had been evolving? This was such a hard reality to take, and while she hated Marvin for changing on her, she felt sad—a feeling she’d rarely felt in her whole adult life. She had always been so much stronger than that. So much more confident and in control of her situations. And the idea of this man leaving her all alone with Brandon and Brianna made her uneasy. She certainly would never want her mother finding out. She would never want anyone, not even her friends, learning that her marriage was a lie. That it was no longer happy and Christian-like.

She didn’t want anyone to know that Marvin was now possessed by the devil.

“Tell me what you want me to do,” she said.

“I told you before. I want us to see a professional.”

“What about Pastor? He counsels people all the time.”

“You just don’t get it, do you?”

“Marvin, what better person could we talk to? Pastor is a true man of God and right now that’s what we need.”

“No.”

“Why not?

“Either we find someone with a real counseling degree or just forget it.”

“Pastor does have a degree.”

“What kind? An honorary one?”

“It’s still a degree.”

“But it’s not good enough for me. Plus, I don’t trust that man as far as I can throw him. I don’t trust any man who has a history of picking up prostitutes.”

“That was twenty years ago.”

“I don’t care if it was a hundred.”

“But—”

“But nothing. Either we find a reputable therapist or we continue living just like we are.”

She glanced at her watch again. She wanted to leave the house right now, but it was time she set Marvin straight once and for all. She’d been pleading with him like a child, doing something she had never done before, but enough was enough. It was high time she put him in his place the way her mother had taught her to. It was time she stopped playing this little game of his and reminded him that she was in charge.

“Marvin, I want you to listen to me and I want you to listen real good. We’re not seeing any therapist, you’re not going out to any bars again, and this ridiculous idea about you doing whatever you want to do is over with.”

“You think so?”

“I
know
so.”

“Well, if I were you, I’d think again.”

“Don’t push me, Marvin. I’m begging you not to do that.”

“And if you know what’s good for you, you won’t push me either.”

“Push you to do what?”

“Tell your mother about that insurance policy your brother left for her.”

Charisse was stunned. Her heart raced and she tried diligently to catch her breath. Marvin’s news flash had knocked the wind out of her.

“Yeah, that’s right. I know all about that. You thought you had me so trained, but girl, I know more than you realize.”

“My brother left that policy for me.”

“No he didn’t. He left the whole two hundred thousand dollars to your mother and somehow you collected all of it. To this day, I don’t know how you got them to send it to you. And then you were slick enough to open an account in your name and your mother’s, deposit the check in it, transfer it out, and then close the account like it never existed.”

“You don’t even know what you’re talkin’ about. There was never any joint account, and I’m telling you again, Johnny left every dime of that money to me.”

“Charisse. I saw the paperwork with my own eyes.”

He couldn’t have. And if he had, how could she have been so careless? How could she have misjudged what he was capable of? He’d had no right snooping around in her personal files or anything else that belonged to her.

“My mother will never believe a word you say,” she warned.

“Really,” he said, walking over to the phone. “Why don’t we call her and see what happens. Let’s just call up Mommy Dearest and see how this plays out.”

Charisse jumped in front of him. “No, Marvin. Please don’t do that.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. Your own wife.”

“I can’t believe a lot of things, but that’s beside the point. What matters now is that I know what I know, and if you don’t change your attitude, I’m calling your mother.”

Charisse thought long and hard, trying to figure out how she’d allowed this to happen. How she’d allowed Marvin to slip right through her fingers and get the best of her.

“It’s not like you have any proof,” she said, preparing to head up to the attic where the evidence was stored. If only she could get to it and get rid of it, she wouldn’t have a thing to worry about.

But Marvin stopped her in her tracks. “I made copies weeks ago.”

Charisse turned to look at him. She was violently enraged, but the thought of her mother discovering the truth quickly settled her down. Her mother wouldn’t think twice about killing her, especially over such a large sum of money. She would call the police and tell them what she’d done like it was nothing. As it was, she had killed some boy during her teen years, claiming that he’d tried to rape her, and she had gotten away with it.

“I hate I ever married you,” she said.

“Believe me, the feeling is mutual.”

“Then I guess you were lying every time you said you loved me.”

“No, I was telling the truth. And even now, I do still love you, but only as the mother of my children. I stopped loving you as my wife a long time ago. Even when we had sex I only gave it to you because you wanted it.”

Brandon opened the door and stuck his head through it. “Mom, what’s taking you so long? It’s almost nine o’clock.”

Charisse dropped down in one of the chairs. “We’re not going.”

“Why?”

“We’re just not. So go turn off the car and tell Brianna to come inside.”

Brandon stood for a few seconds, obviously confused, and then went back outside.

“So, where does this leave us?” she asked Marvin.

“I keep telling you. We have to get counseling. It might not make a difference for our marriage, but it will for the kids.”

Charisse stood and walked out of the kitchen. She walked upstairs to their bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

What was she going to do? If only she could dispose of him and get away with it. But she would never be so lucky. If only she could kick him out of the house and then file for a divorce. The only problem was he knew her secret. And she believed him when he said he would squeal to her mother about it. She could tell from the way he’d looked at her that he was serious. He was thrilled that he had something to threaten her with.

And she was scared to death. She would never let on that she would do just about anything to keep him quiet and that she would, against her will, go see a marriage counselor. She would even see a family therapist for the four of them. She despised the whole idea of it, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. Her mother, of course, wouldn’t be happy about her new marital arrangement, specifically the part where Marvin was now telling
her
what to do, so she would never tell her mother the truth. She would tell Mattie Lee that she’d boiled the water as planned but how Marvin had fallen to his knees and apologized to her, begging for her forgiveness. That way her mother wouldn’t have anything to complain about or criticize her for. She would pat Charisse on the back for handling her business the way any real woman should have.

Charisse slipped off her shoes and dress and then sat down on the side of her bed. She thought about her brother and how she’d pleaded with him to add her to his insurance policy, but he’d never gotten around to doing it. Not because he hadn’t wanted to but because he’d been lazy and irresponsible the same as most other men she knew. If only he’d done what she’d advised him to do, she wouldn’t be in this predicament to begin with. She would never have to bow down to Marvin like she was spineless.

But as far as she was concerned, bowing down was only temporary. She would pretend that she truly wanted to work things out with him and she would even try to get along with Brianna in the process. She would be the pleasant little wife that Marvin was forcing her to be.

She would do all of this, but in the end, he would be sorry. He would wish that he had stayed out of her business. He would never threaten any one person he could think of ever again.