The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil (40 page)

“Yes,” Uncle Michael said, getting excited, pleasing Shay-Shaunté. All she wanted to do was make her uncle proud. “Read them off to me,” he said, teacher to student.

“I didn’t kill anyone, at least not by taking them out of their physical body. But I did kill their dreams.”

“Oh, that’s good, that’s good. People without dreams are never a threat.”

She said, “Their marriage is over, I think; I’m not sure about that. I left them in quite a state, though.”

“Don’t worry about that. My hope is that they do stay together, and, because you killed their dreams, they will always be miserable.”

“And so will their children,” Shay-Shaunté said, still delighted with the final blow she’d given to the Langstons yesterday. She hadn’t gone to the police station, so of course no charges would be forthcoming. But she’d done enough to traumatize the children—especially the twins.

“Yes! Yes, Shay-Shaunté. You touched their kids!”

“I did. They let me in—they let me get to their children. Three of them—two girls and a boy.”

“Oh, a boy! I love it. The children will see their parents’ misery and internalize that,” Uncle Michael said, releasing a laugh that came through the phone as a roar. “They will have this curse for generations to come.”

She was thrilled now as she sped through the heartland of the country.

“Go on,” he panted. “There has to be more.”

She laughed. For her uncle, this was far better than sex! Mentally, she wasn’t in that place yet—sex was still what she craved, and there was always a multitude of men ready to share their bodies and tie their souls to her. The sex was always fulfilling,
always orgasmic, because the men had no clue who they were really bedding.

“The best thing, though, Uncle Michael,” she said, “is that I stole their future—whether they stay together or get a divorce. There was so much that … you know, that Man had planned for them … but they gave it up. They will never become what they were meant to be, and neither will their children.”

“So, five people were destroyed—and all the people around them will be affected. Marvelous, Shay-Shaunté! You did it—kill, steal, destroy!” He shouted their mantra.

Her eyes dulled a bit as she crossed over the line into Colorado. “The only thing, Uncle Michael, is do you think it’s permanent? I mean, I terrorized the wife and then left her with plenty of paranoia so that she would never listen to or believe her husband. And I told plenty of lies that will have them wondering for a long time. But they could sit down one day and figure this all out. They might work through it.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, sweetheart. They’ll never be able to work through it because they’ll never forgive each other. Those people want … Him … to forgive them, but they carry so much blame, and judgment, and unforgiveness in their hearts that they’re blinded, so they can’t even do what would be right for their family. They’ll never be able to see their way through.”

“Good,” she said, congratulating herself a little.

“I cannot tell you how proud I am, Shay-Shaunté. So, where are you headed to now?”

“Well, after a lot of thought, I decided to go to the City of Angels.”

“Do you know that Los Angeles is one of my favorite places!” he breathed heavily. “What made you choose that city? Oh, I know,” he said before she could answer. “All of those angels. You wanted the battle.” He laughed.

She laughed with him. “You know I love a good fight,” she said, thinking back to yesterday, and how, alone, she’d gotten the best of Adam, Evia, and their offspring. “But I figure in Los Angeles, I can destroy a lot of dreams, coerce thousands into doing things they’d never thought they’d do.” She sighed, a release of pleasure. She was in Arizona and the desert heat made her yearn for home. “But there’s one other thing, Uncle. The real reason I chose the home to all of those people who call themselves stars.”

“Oh, I can hear it.” He shivered, emotionally aroused. “I can hear it in your voice. This is big.”

“It is,” she said. Taking a breath, she told him, “Los Angeles is the perfect place for me to have my baby.”

“You’re pregnant!”

“Yes, Uncle!”

“You stole his seed! This is fantastic. Our nation grows. And you’re going to make one helluva mother!”

Shay-Shaunté laughed. “This, I know!” she said, eyeing the famous landmark that was now in her sight. Embedded in the hills that had come to represent glamour and success, nine forty-five-foot-tall letters welcomed Shay-Shaunté to her new home.

H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D.

Acknowledgments

I
HAVEN’T DONE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IN SEVERAL
years because the last time I did, friends and relatives couldn’t wait to call me to tell me all the people I’d left out. Sheeze! My feelings were hurt. I mean, all I was trying to do was say thank you and folks took the joy out of that. But then I said, why should I let a few mess it up for the many. So I’m back—but with professional acknowledgments only—you never get a call from anyone in the industry telling you that you forgot someone. So I’ll stick with them. But I will say this about my friends and family—you know who you are. And if you really know me and if we’re really related, then you also know that I love you. And that includes all of you! So there! (Try to call me now! That was a universal thank-you, if you didn’t know.)

Now to the professional folks … first, my team at Touchstone: Trish Todd—I didn’t have enough time with you! Thank you for continuing to stretch and push me. I learned so much from you and am really sorry our time is ending. Shida
Carr—everyone in the literary world and beyond knows how I feel about you. I don’t know how you do it, but every year has gotten better. You are the best publicist … period! To the woman who makes sure that I’m where I’m supposed to be, Kym Fisher—your reputation precedes me. Across the country, people tell me that I have the best personal assistant ever—ain’t that the truth!

This book was so much fun to talk about, even before it was written, and I have to give a tremendous thank-you and shout-out to Dr. Paula and John Orr—the couple who told me this could very well happen to them. Well, not really, but you know what they were saying. Anyway, how many hours did we spend in the Bahamas talking about this? OMG! It was the best brainstorming session I’ve ever had. (What are you guys doing next Tuesday, because I have another book to write.) Thanks, Sharon Paige, for helping me talk through the ending! To all my author friends who walk this walk with me, this is not the easiest road, but I have a feeling that if we keep on writing, we’ll keep on moving. And my favorite acknowledgment is to all the readers. I don’t even know what to say because those two words—
thank you
—seem so small compared to what you’ve done. My heart is filled with gratitude because if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here with my tenth adult novel. Thank you for not only supporting me by reading about these people who grow inside my head, but thank you for the other crucial side of this—and that is helping me to spread the word. It is because of you that I am here … it is because of you that I do what I do.

T
OUCHSTONE
R
EADING
G
ROUP
G
UIDE

The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil

High school sweethearts Evia and Adam Langston have been together forever. But when Adam loses his job in the wake of the recession, the Langstons find themselves quickly drowning in financial troubles and unable to support their family of five. Evia and Adam have no idea what to do until Evia’s boss, Shay-Shaunté, makes a proposition that sends the Langstons’ world spinning out of control. Shay-Shaunté, the owner of a multimillion-dollar hair-care enterprise, makes the couple a proposition that at first seems easy to refuse. But ultimately temptation proves too much to resist, and the Langstons take a trip down the rabbit hole with turns they could never expect and an outcome they could never imagine.

For Discussion

1. How did the author establish Evia’s moral center and personality in the opening pages? Did you find it effective? Did you feel as though you’d gotten to know Evia in this introduction? Why or why not?

2. Shay-Shaunté is portrayed to be the villain of this story. Describe your first impression of Evia’s boss. How did your opinion of her change, if it changed, throughout the novel?

3. Why do you think the author had Evia drive through her childhood neighborhood and visit her mother on her way home from being offered the fortune from Shay-Shaunté? What did her drive and visit add to the story, and to your understanding of Evia?

4. Shortly after readers are introduced to Evia’s husband, Adam, he teaches their children about the value of money and the importance of budgeting. What significance does this scene have for the novel? What impression did this introduction give you about Adam?

5. Beyond their very human love of money and comfort, the Langstons are intrigued by Shay-Shaunté’s offer because it seems a solution to many problems. List the hardships the Langstons have endured both before the novel’s start and in its beginning chapters. Do these hardships make you feel the Langstons’ money problems more deeply? Ultimately,
how does knowledge of their suffering influence your thoughts about whether or not they should accept Shay-Shaunté’s proposition?

6. Brooklyn and Tamica, Evia’s friends from childhood, are still a regular part of Evia’s life. Were you surprised that it was Brooklyn, the first lady of their church, who encouraged Evia to take Shay-Shaunté’s deal? Why or why not? Discuss the various opinions on the situation and the characters who deliver them to Evia and Adam throughout the novel.

7. Because of their financial situation, Adam and Evia ultimately agree to Shay-Shaunté’s five-million-dollar deal. Do you think that if they hadn’t been threatened with foreclosure on their home, they still would have taken the deal? What do you think influenced their decision more: the lure of easy money, or the need to protect their family from embarrassment and hardship?

8. In the minutes and hours after Adam leaves for his weekend with Shay-Shaunté, Evia finds that she cannot cope. She keeps imagining them together and wonders what’s keeping Adam from calling her: Shay-Shaunté’s money or her looks. Do you think Evia was being paranoid, or did she have reason to be worried? Discuss how you think you would cope if you were in her position.

9. On page 259, Evia says, “The last fifty hours had made me see that five million dollars was hardly worth anything.” Do you think she really means that, or is she just emotionally distraught at that moment?

10. How do you feel about the legal trick Shay-Shaunté played on the Langstons? Which was worse, the financial deception or the lies she told Evia at work after the weekend together?

11. When Adam and Evia are cheated out of part of the money, Shay-Shaunté says, “You would have done this for whatever I offered. Two million, three million. I was just being generous when I offered you five million” (page 276). Do you think she’s right? Is the amount as important as the fact that the Langstons were willing to sacrifice what they believed in?

12 After that weekend, Evia seems to be increasingly suspicious of Adam. She finds every reason to not trust him. Identify and discuss the reasons she finds or creates to suspect he’s still having an affair with Shay-Shaunté. Did you think there was a real threat, or is Evia coloring the daily activities with her own imagination of what could be happening?

13. Adam fulfills his part of the deal, but Evia refuses to continue working for the agreed-upon six months. Do you think Adam has a right to be upset? Should Evia have continued working, or was she right to leave even after the worst offense was already done, the bigger sacrifice already made?

14. Throughout the book, the twins are excited about planning their sixteenth birthday party. The finale of the novel takes place at the party … where Shay-Shaunté shows up with more drama. Why do you think the author chose this setting for the last conflict between Shay-Shaunté and the Langstons?

A Conversation with Victoria Christopher Murray

Although it’s not obvious from the beginning,
The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil
is a contemporary retelling of the traditional “deal with the devil” story. Did you find inspiration in any other similar stories?

Interestingly, the idea for this novel came from Facebook. I asked a simple question—would you give up your husband for five million dollars. Whew! The answers flowed in—all kinds of responses … funny and serious ones. I never thought about this as a book, but when it came time for my next contract, that Facebook status came to mind—and
The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil
was born.

In
The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil
, you’ve managed to set up a solid, almost perfect marriage and family; weigh it down with some financial trouble; and ripen it for the temptation that will bring it down. Have you seen temptation of this sort break families and marriages before? Was this story influenced by real people you know or know about?