Lies and Alibis (4 page)

I’m too stunned to cry; too horrified to even move.  I am not prepared for this.  I had my mind prepped to see Rod freaking on a stripper, or maybe even laying up with her.  But this…a child…when a baby is all that I want from him?  My insides feel as if they’ve come unglued. 

“Oh my word,” Hailey says, finally catching on to the scene.  “Girl, let’s go.  We’ve got to regroup and come up with another kind of plan.”

Regroup?  Plan?  I can’t e
ven contemplate my next breath, let alone plot revenge.

“
Dionne, honey, we’ve got to go.  You don’t want Rod to see you out here.  Not until you’ve done the necessary.”

I shake my he
ad with a lack of understanding, but I do let Hailey drag me away from that house and that horrific scene.

Daddy’s baby.

I’ve been one-upped by a skanky, trashy, booty shaking broad.  Right under my nose, my husband has been making babies with a bottom barrel rhymes-with-witch.

Hailey turns on the radio.  Bumps Jay-Z through the speakers, bobs her head back and forth with the beat. 

“Come on girl,” she says.  “You need to feel this right here!”

I close my eyes as the loud bass line and melodic hook
of
Hard Knock Life
whisk me away from this nightmarish afternoon.

I may not
know what the necessary is, but I’m dang sure ready to let it occur.

~6~

Camille

I won!  I won!  I won!

The jackpot at my afternoon bingo session had my name on it!  And I went in there and claimed it. 

Those other thirsty, old blue-haired biddies thought they were going to get
my
blessing.  But thus said the Lord and the Lord said, “No!” Somebody better shout glory up in here!

Twenty-five thousand dollars and it’s all mine.  Well, minus the twenty-five hundred I’m giving as a tithe on Sunday.  I’ve got to be faithful in my giving.  That’s what got me this blessing in the first place. 

My entire body tingles at the thought of cashing that check.  That seditty teller who treated me like crap just because I had an overdraft is going to have to bow down.  I am a child of God, so I won’t treat her rudely even though she deserves it.  I am a Christian woman, and I’m just glad that the Lord is allowing me to see His perfect work.

God is a good god.

I just hope my husband is feeling some of the Lord’s grace and mercy tonight.  I didn’t quite make it to choir rehearsal this evening.  The drawing for the jackpot wasn’t going to happen until seven o’clock, and I just had to stay there for that.  You had to be present to win, and if I hadn’t stayed, well…we wouldn’t have the money to pay our electric bill this month.

Like I said, God is good, and He’s faithful.  He sent a word through His prophetess and I believed it.  But it’s not enough to just believe it.  You’ve got to act on that thing.

Faith is a verb, right?

I pull into my driveway and push the button on my garage door opener.  Nothing happens.  Then, I notice that Bryan’s car is parked outside.  Hmmm…maybe the garage door is broken.  It’s a good thing I’ve got this cashier’s check in my purse, because we sure didn’t have the money for a repair.

Since I can’t go in through the garage door, I go around to the front door and let myself in.

The entire house is pitch black, so I hit the light switch.  Nothing.

Oh, no…I thought I had until Monday on that disconnection notice.

“
Camille, is that you?”  I hear Bryan’s voice in the darkness.

“
Yes, honey.”

“
Don’t you honey me!”  Bryan roars.  “Why are the lights off?”

I’ve never heard Bryan sound this angry. Butterflies flit nervously around my stomach. 
“Maybe there’s a power outage.”

“
There’s no power outage Camille.  Why didn’t you pay the electric bill?  I gave you the money two weeks ago.”

I’m glad that Bryan can’t see me, because I’m trembling all over.  He wasn’t supposed to find out that I didn’t spend the money on the bill. 

“It must’ve…it must’ve slipped my mind.” 

Bryan’s hoarse laugh slices through the dark.  The sound of his soulless tone makes me afraid.  I really
did
mean to pay the bill, but I was trying to win the jackpot. 

Bryan says,
“I would believe that if the money…
my money
…was still in the bank.  But I checked the balance on my phone, and guess what?”

I assume this is rhetorical so I remain quiet.

“Guess, Camille!  Guess!”  Bryan’s voice now resembles that of the frantically insane.

“
The money wasn’t there?” I ask.

Bryan claps loudly, the sounds echoing through the silent house. 
“Congratulations!  You win a cookie.  Too bad I can’t find one because it’s dark as night in here.”

“
Bryan, I’m sorry.  I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

“
How, huh?  How are you going to do that?  The money is gone.  What did you spend it on by the way?”

“
I don’t know.  Probably groceries or something like that.  I’ll get the money from Sydney tomorrow.”

Perhaps that was the perfect opportunity for me to tell Bryan about my winnings, but I don’t think he’s in the mood to receive our blessing.  I’ll just pay the bill, and then tell him about my winnings later.

“I don’t want your sister giving us money.  I will get it from pastor first thing in the morning.”

Pastor!  I can’t have Bryan telling the pastor that our electricity is shut off. 
We’re not beggars.  We don’t have to be.  The Lord has just blessed us over and abundantly.

“
Bryan, please.  Just let me take care of it.”

“
Let you take care of it?  I did let you take care of this and all of our other bills.  Obviously, you couldn’t handle the pressure, because I’m sitting here.  In.  The.  Dark.”

“
I’ve got the money, Bryan.  I just won twenty five thousand dollars at bingo this evening.”

Now I wait for the celebration to begin.  Just saying the words
“twenty five thousand dollars” make me want to shout!  Surely, Bryan can get past this minor inconvenience to rejoice in our victory.

“
Is that where you were instead of choir rehearsal?” Bryan asks.

“
Um, yes.  That’s where I was.  It went long this evening.  But aren’t you happy about our financial blessing?”

Bryan
releases a weary-sounding sigh.  “We wouldn’t need all these financial blessings and breakthroughs if you were a good steward of our money from the start.”

A good
steward
?  Bryan really doesn’t want to start throwing stones.  Not when his house is constructed with the thinnest of glass.  He might not be reckless with our money, but he’s reckless with everything else – including his baby maker.  So he can keep all that self-righteousness to himself.

“
This is what you’re going to do Camille.  Tomorrow, you’re going to pay all of our outstanding bills.  Then, you’re going to take the rest of your
blessing
and donate it to the church.”

I don’t reply.  I can’t answer him.  The Lord blessed me with this money.  He blessed
us
with it.  If the church needed this, I don’t believe God would’ve made it come through my hands.  Not when we need so much and have so little.  No one told me that a marrying a minister of music was a ticket to poverty.

“
Camille, do you understand what I’m asking you to do?”

I don’t reply, and Bryan can’t see the furious expression on my face in the dark. 
I’ve never disobeyed my husband.  Not in all the years of our marriage have I deliberately gone against his wishes.

I suppose there is a first time for everything.

~7~

Sydney

I just lost a patient.  Her name was Mrs. Exum.  Interesting how you immediately start thinking of someone in past tense as soon as they die.  But even though she's in heaven now isn't her name still Mrs. Exum?  I think so.  Her name
is
Mrs. Exum; she was ninety-three years old and had come into the ER with complications stemming from a quadruple bypass.  A nasty infection that left fluid on her lungs. 

S
aying those words, time of death, always jolt me to the core. It's unnatural to announce someone's death in a room full of hospital staff.  It is a moment that demands reverence, stillness and maybe even silence.  But it is never silent in the ER.

I wasn't ready for someone to die on me this morning.  I only woke up two hours ago, and I haven't even had caffeine. 

After comforting and receiving comfort from Mrs. Exum's family, I escape to the cafeteria.  I need to talk to Dionne.  She always cheers me up when I'm having this kind of a day.

On walking into the cafeteria, I spy out the available tables.  There is a group of first year interns in the center of the room.  Newbies.  I'm not plopping myself down anywhere near them.  They all try to make friends with residents so that they can get included in interesting cases.  They don't realize that we have only a little bit more clout than they do.  The attending doctors get to make all of the decisions.  We just get in where we fit in.

In the corner by the window are the nurses.  I can hear their cackling from the cafeteria entrance, and although I would usually welcome their banter and gossip, I'm not in the mood this morning.  I choose, instead, a table at the very back of the cafeteria. 

I plop down in the hard plastic chair and speed dial Dionne.  She picks up on the first ring.

“Hey, Syd...”

Instantly, I know there's something wrong with my big sister.  I can tell by the sound of her voice.  

“Dee, what's wrong? What did Rod do this time?”

“
It's...okay.  I'm cool.  What's going on with you?”

“
Dionne, stop playing.  For real.  I know you're not okay.”

“
You're right, but I can't talk about it right now.  Just tell me what's up with you today.  Occupy my mind.”

“
I lost a patient.  She died while I was trying to resuscitate her.”

“
I'm sorry honey.  Are you okay?”

I nod as if she can see me. 
“Yeah, I guess so.”

“
What are we doing for your birthday?” Dionne asks.  “It's this weekend.  Camille said something about a trip.”

“I didn't know if you'd be in the mood for a celebration.  With everything going on with Rod....”

“
Everything is cool with Rod.  As a matter of fact, I think I may have conceived last night.”

“
Why do you keep trying to have a baby with him Dee?  Just leave him!  You can do better.”

“
Girl, please.  Every man cheats.  Even the broke ones, why wouldn't I be with one who's paid?”

Every man cheats. 
This makes me think of Lucas.  He left a note on my locker this morning that said, “Invitation still open...Lucas.”  I rolled my eyes and tossed it in the trash. 

I say,
“I hope that there are men that don't cheat.  If not, I'm never going to get married.”

“
Sometimes you don't know until after you marry them.”

But Dionne knew.  She
knew
.  Even before they were married. 

Dionne continues,
“You're going to find the one Sydney.  You
have
to.”

“
I hope so.”

“
Maybe you'll find someone on your birthday weekend!  Let's drive to New Orleans.”

“Can’t
we fly?  I'm not in the mood for a road trip with Camille.  Maybe, I don't want to ask forgiveness for my sins this weekend, you know?”

Dionne laughs out loud. 
“Girl what sins?  I wish you would sin, so we would have something interesting to talk about!”

“
I've sinned!   And I repented!”

Still cracking up, Dionne replies,
“You sinned once, in college, and you're still talking about it.”

Okay, it's true.  My life is somewhat boring.  I don't have any time for carnal pleasure.  I work, work and then work some more.  But I save lives and that's pretty exciting. 

“Who's getting the plane tickets?” I ask, desperately wanting to change the subject so Dionne can stop laughing at me.  “I don't have any money.  So it must be you.”

“
Wow.  Because my husband is the millionaire, I'm just supposed to ante up, huh?  You make a doctor's salary.”

“
Not even six figures.  Don't go there.  I can barely keep a roof over my head.”

“
You could if you'd move out of that swanky little downtown loft.  You need to just stay in our guest house.  No one ever uses it.”

“
No way.  Rod might lose his life, and then I'd be doing jail time.  Don't think so.”

Now she's laughing again. 
“Now the
innocent
is talking murder!”

“
You know what!  Just take that little black American Express of yours and get us some airfare and a hotel room.  Email me the flight arrangements.”

“
Okay, baby girl.  Feel better...your patient is probably in heaven.”

“
Okay.”

I disconnect the call, sit my phone on the table and sigh.  I feel better about Mrs. Exum, but now I've got the blues about my birthday, thanks to Dionne.

Lucas walks into the cafeteria, with deliberate and purposeful looking strides, as if he's on a mission.  I slide down in my seat and will myself invisible. 

I watch him scope out the side of the room where I usually sit.  Is he really looking for me?  If he is, I need to do a better job of hiding. 

He walks up to the head ER nurse, Connie, and taps her on the shoulder.  She turns and looks at him, or I should say, she beams at him.  Freaking ridiculous how he has them all fooled.  Then, she points in my direction and nods.  Shoot!  She's ratted me out.

I dash out of my hiding spot and make a beeline for the door.  I'm pretty fast, but his long strides can match mine all day long. 

“Sydney!  Wait up!”

Okay, it would be really silly of me to keep fleeing him.  We're both adults, and even though he cheated on me, I should still be able to hold a civil conversation with him, right?

Wrong!  I press my internal turbo boost button and zoom around the corner.  I make it to the on-call room (where naps and occasional sinning occur) and pray that it is unlocked.  Score!  It is!

I hurry inside, slam the door behind me and lock it.  Safe.

Then I hear the tap, tap, tap of Lucas knocking.  Seriously?  He's going to knock?

“
Who is it?” I ask.

Lucas laughs. 
“Sydney.  You are crazy!  Can you open the door?  I want to ask you about a patient.”

Perhaps he's being serious, so I open the door. 
“Which patient?”

“
Patient?  Did I say patient?  I meant to say that I've been patiently waiting for a response from you.  My mom’s birthday party at Pappadeaux's on Saturday.”

I try to slam the door shut, but he holds it open.  He's stronger and his biceps are bigger than I remember...

“I'm going with my sisters to New Orleans for the weekend.  Now you've got your answer, can you leave me alone?”

“
Why didn't you just tell me that from the beginning?” Lucas asks. 

“
I just decided to go today, but it's not like I owe you a response.”

Lucas's face twitches.  It's a very tiny move, but I see it.  He does that when he's annoyed. 

“You're right, Dr. Baker.  You don't owe me anything.  Enjoy your birthday weekend.”

Darn, darn, darn!  Why can't I be a mean girl?  The cheater looks genuinely disappointed, and I feel sorry for him.  Why do I feel sorry for him?

“Lucas...” I say to his back as he turns away.

“
Yes?”  This sounds hopeful.  Sigh.

“
Tell your mother I said hello?”

He nods. 
“Sure thing, Syd.”

As he walks away, he stands tall and gets his stride back, but I've seen it.  The chink in his armor is growing, but I wish he'd duct tape that thing together. 

Before I can close the on-call room door Head Nurse Connie trots up to me with an expression of glee on her face.

“
So, are you going out with Lucas?” she asks.  “Everyone wants to know.”

I lift one eyebrow and say,
“You can tell everyone to get some business, Nurse Connie.  Y'all are not about to be talking about my love life at the nurse's station.”

“
Or lack thereof,” she says.

I let out a big sigh. 
“Or lack thereof.”