The Preachers Son (8 page)

“Don’t be mad.” I gave him a pleading look. “After you left my house, I called my boss and asked if I could come in. I can’t cancel on him twice. How ’bout tomorrow?”

His expression relaxed. “Aw’ight. But can we make it Monday? I have something to do tomorrow.”

I nodded and he smiled.

“You need a ride to work?”

“You can give me a ride to the train.”

“You don’t want a ride to work? I’m not a stalker, you know,” he said half jokingly.

“It’s just that I don’t mix business with pleasure. I try to keep my relationships as far away from work as I can.”

“So what are you doing here? I’m at work,” he teased.

“The sign outside says they only have Bingo two nights a week, and I know you don’t pay a note on that pretty truck I saw you driving off calling out Bingo numbers. Besides, you invited me to come here.”

“I did, didn’t I?” He smiled and squeezed me a little harder as he kissed me again. “You know, I like you, Tanisha. A lot more than I wanted to admit at first.”

“Good, ’cause I like you, too, Dante.”

“I know you don’t have time for dinner but how about I buy you a cup of coffee before you go to work?”

I smiled. I definitely liked the idea of spending more time with him. “Sure. There’s a coffee shop right by the subway.”

He reached out and took my hand. “Then it’s a date. Let’s get outta here.”

I pulled into my driveway feeling like I was floating on air. I’d had kisses before, but I’d never had a kiss like the one Tanisha laid on me at the church and again at the subway station. Her lips were so soft and she smelled so good she made every other woman I’d ever been with easy to forget, and that included Anita. We sat in my car outside the subway talking and I was enjoying it so much I considered begging her not to leave. I hate to admit it, but she had me open. I couldn’t wait for Monday so I could see her again.

As I exited my truck, my thoughts of Tanisha were interrupted and I was nearly frightened to death. A dark figure appeared from the bushes surrounding my house. I was so scared that I jumped back, tripping over my own feet, and landed right on my ass. Whoever it was could have killed me in a snap if they wanted to.

“Where have you been?” the figure growled.

At first I thought it was my mother because the voice, although distorted, was obviously female. My mother had a tendency to trip every once in a while when I came in later than she expected, but when this person took a step out of the shadows, I couldn’t believe who I saw.

“Anita?” I whispered in confusion.

“I asked you a question, Dante. Where have you been? The deacon and I left you and that little hussy over two hours ago.” She was acting as if she’d just caught me cheating.

I ignored her question and asked one of my own as I got up from the ground. “Anita, what are you doing here?” I brushed myself off as I waited for her answer, glancing nervously toward my house.

At first I thought maybe she and her husband had stopped by to see my parents after Bingo and she’d just stepped out back to smoke a cigarette. Deacon Emerson and my father were close, and that would have answered my question about the lights being on so late. But then I realized I wasn’t going to be that lucky. Anita was wearing a raincoat on a humid, eighty-degree night. I could only imagine what she was wearing underneath it, if anything. Despite the objections from my big head, my little head once again took over.

“I’ve been waiting to talk to you. I’ve been waiting out here for almost two hours,” she growled with attitude. She made it sound like I’d stood her up and she was the one who should be upset.

“You’ve been waiting here? For what? I never told you to meet me here.” This was starting to get a little scary.

“I came here because you’ve been avoiding me, Dante. You won’t answer my phone calls, you avoid me at work, but bringing that tramp to Bingo tonight was the last straw. I will not be humiliated. Why are you doing this to me?” I couldn’t believe it. She was jealous.

“How the hell am I humiliating you? I’m not the one who got married, Anita. You are. You had your chance, but you chose Deacon Emerson over me, so don’t get mad at me or Tanisha. Be mad at yourself because this is all your doing.”

“I know that, Dante, and that’s why I’m here. I wanna make it up to you.”

She walked toward me, and with each step she unbuttoned her raincoat until she was two feet away from me and I could see her completely naked body underneath the coat. Just like that day in my office, I knew I was in trouble, so I took a step back only to find that I was pinned between her and my car. I raised my hands to try and keep her at arm’s distance, but she grabbed my wrists, pulling my hands toward her breasts. I tried to resist touching them, but by now my little head had completely taken over. Her breasts were soft yet firm in my hands. I probably could have caressed them all night as she nibbled on my neck, but two things stopped me.

One was the thought of my date with Tanisha. Obviously it was too soon for us to make any commitment to each other, but I saw potential with this woman. Sure, it had surprised me to feel it, but during the short time we spent together earlier that night, she proved to be much deeper than I had given her credit for. In spite of where she lived and the way her mother acted, Tanisha had something special about her. Something I hadn’t felt since me and Anita first got together. I wasn’t thinking marriage or anything, but I was definitely looking forward to getting to know her, and I wasn’t about to let Anita get in the way.

The other thing that stopped me was the kitchen light that had just come on in my house. I grabbed Anita and dove onto the grass in the shadow of the bushes just as my mother pulled back the curtains and peered out the window.

I think Anita took my action the wrong way because she started to plaster my face with kisses as she moaned, “Ohhh, Dante, I love it when you get rough. Take me. Take me, baby. Take me right here on the grass under the moonlight.” She opened her legs and wrapped them around me.

“Shhhhh,” I whispered.

“What? What’s the matter?” she asked.

I pointed at my mother in the window and she froze. We watched my mother stare out that window for a good thirty seconds before she opened the door just enough to shout, “Dante? Is that you, son?”

I don’t know if it was stupidity or what but I yelled, “Yeah, Mom. I’ll be in in a minute.”

“Is there someone with you? I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

“Ah, no, I’m just putting some Armor All on my tires, Ma.” It was a stupid lie, but she bought it.

“Okay, come on in. I have something important I wanna talk to you about.”

“Sure, Ma. I’ll be right in.” She closed the door and I pushed myself away from Anita.

“Why the heck did you do that? She couldn’t see us,” Anita snapped.

“I did it because she knows I’m home, Anita. She might not be able to see us, but she could see my truck. If I didn’t answer her, she would have come out here to investigate, and I know you didn’t want her to see you dressed like this.”

Anita didn’t reply to that. She just got up from the ground and tried to hug me. I pushed her away.

“Now what’s the matter?” she asked.

“You need to go home to your husband.”

“He’s ’sleep, Dante. He won’t be up for hours. Why don’t you go pacify your mother then come back out? We’ve got all night.” She tried to kiss me again.

“No,” I said sternly as I sidestepped her grasp. I stepped out of the shadows and into the safety of the light where I knew Anita dared not come because of my mother’s prying eyes. “Anita, we’re over. We are through.”

“This isn’t over, Dante. You know you want me, and I want you. It’s just a matter of time. That little hussy I saw you with tonight can’t do for you what I can.”

I couldn’t help it. I had to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You know, earlier tonight she said the same thing about you.” She glared at me. “But you’re right about one thing, Anita. I do love you. I’ll always love you. You’re the woman who made me a man. But my father always told me that the best way to get over someone you love is to find someone else to love. And that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”

“I’m not gonna let you go, Dante. You’re mine and you are always gonna be mine, so don’t think you’re just gonna walk away from me and be with some other bitch.”

“You know, Anita, that’s exactly what I’m afraid of, that this whole thing could get real ugly and real personal.”

“It’s already gotten personal, Dante. You tell that bitch to watch her back, because one of these days I might be standing behind her, and that’s the day she’s gonna get her ass whipped.”

I turned and looked at Anita. Her expression was dead serious, almost scary.

“If I were you, Anita, I wouldn’t sleep on Tanisha. She ain’t one of these scared church girls. You mess with her and you might be the one who gets her ass whipped. Now go home to your husband.” On that note, I walked away from her and headed into my house.

I took the candied yams I had cooked and placed them on the counter with a smile. I loved Sundays and I loved cooking Sunday dinner even more. I guess it was because I was such a good cook and everyone complimented me, including my mother. If there was ever a day I needed a compliment from my mother, it was today. She was already angry enough with me for coming home late and not opening the church for Bingo the night before. Usually, after she got on me, I’d be moping around the rest of the day, but after making love to Terrance four times last night, I was in such a good mood I was humming. I guess that’s what good loving will do for a sister. Maybe I would talk to the bishop and see if I could get him to give my mom some. That might get her panties out of that permanent bunch. Yeah, some good hard loving was exactly what she needed. A sudden chill ran through my body at the image of my parents having sex. Now that was nasty.

Anyhow, this Sunday after church, I had cooked pork roast garnished with parsley sprigs, a large pot of turnip and mustard greens, candied yams, golden brown corn bread, macaroni and cheese, and a peach cobbler. I could already imagine everyone seated around the table “throwing down,” reminding me of a scene from the movie
Soul Food
.

“It sure smells good in here. Anything we can do to help?” The bishop smiled as he walked into the kitchen, inspecting the food. He was followed by his right-hand man and protégé, Reverend Reynolds.

Reverend Reynolds, a much younger man than my father, was the youth and prison outreach minister. The last couple of years he’d been like family, coming over for Sunday dinner whenever he wasn’t out of town or at a conference. If it weren’t for my parents’ desire for Dante to be the next pastor, Reverend Reynolds would be the most logical choice. And I still wouldn’t count him out, especially since Dante was secretly yearning to be a lawyer. Reverend Reynolds was probably one of the most well-liked men in the church, and with the right woman by his side, he could end up being the pastor someday.

“Dinner’s just abo—” I didn’t finish my sentence because I had to smack both their hands with the serving spoon when they tried to steal a piece of the roast pork I had just sliced.

“Ouch!” Reverend Reynolds laughed. “You sure swing a mean spoon, Donna.”

“I’ma swing more than that if you two don’t get out my kitchen. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Go and get washed up.”

I pointed at the door with a smile and they both turned to leave, but not before the bishop reached out and snatched two pieces of pork, handing one to Reverend Reynolds.

“Lord, you two should be ashamed of yourselves. You got what you came for, now get out my kitchen and tell Dante to come help me bring this food out.”

I went back to the stove and stirred the pot of greens. I glanced up as Dante swept into the kitchen and bowed graciously like Jeffery, the butler on
The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire
.

“Hey, sis, what’s up? Reverend Reynolds said you wanted me.”

“Yeah, help me bring this food out for dinner.”

“No problem.” He approached the counter and looked me dead in the eye. “So, where were
you
last night?”

“Don’t start, aw’ight, Dante?” I groaned. “Mom is already giving me enough grief about that.”

“She should. Guess who had to work Bingo with Anita and Deacon Emerson last night because of you? Do you know how unpleasant that was?”

“Oops, my bad.” Now I felt sorry. “I had no idea she would call you when I didn’t show up. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” I gave him a sincere smile.

“You better.”

“I will. So what’d you end up getting into after Bingo?”

He didn’t give me an answer at first. He just broke into this goofy smile that raised a thousand flags in my mind.

“Nothin’ much.”

“Nothin’ much, like what? And why you grinning so much?” I studied his face. “What’re you up to?”

He gave me this innocent look. “What? I’m not up to nothin’. I was just thinking about something that happened last night.”

“Like what?” I was in interrogation mode now.

“None of your business. You have your secrets, I’ve got mine.” He reached for a platter and walked out of the room. He returned a few seconds later with the same goofy smile. Oh, there was no doubt in my mind something was going on and it was killing me not to know. I took a long look at my brother. There was a look about him that I hadn’t seen in a long time. A look that was familiar, but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on. Then it hit me.

“Oooh, Dante…you think you’re slick, don’t you?” I whispered.

“What?” He tried to look innocent.

“I haven’t seen you smile like that since you was knocking boots with Anita.” I put the spoon down and placed my hands on my hips, shaking my head. “You slept with her again, didn’t you? You slept with Anita!”

Dante raised his finger to his lips, shaking his head to quiet me. “No! Hell no. I ain’t messin’ with her,” he scolded through gritted teeth. “Look, sis, she’s married, so as far as I’m concerned, that woman is off-limits.”

“You sure? I know how you feel about her. They say love can make you do strange things.”

“Yeah, but I’m not the one you got to worry about. She’s the one chasing me. Last night when I got home, she was staked out in the bushes waiting for me.”

“For real? Why would she do that?” I asked, wide-eyed.

“Don’t ask me, but if she could, I think she would have raped me. That bitch is crazy, Donna. She’s obsessed.” From the look on his face I could tell he was concerned, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of Anita or himself.

“Is she? I know you have feelings for her. Are you sure your actions haven’t led to any of this?”

He hesitated. “I’m not gonna lie. I love Anita, Donna. I always will, but God hasn’t come up with the pu-pu that could make me play second fiddle to Deacon Emerson.” He picked up another platter and smiled. “Besides, I’m seeing someone else.”

“You are? Who is she? Don’t tell me it’s that Sherrie McDonald I saw you with last week. Oooo, Dante, didn’t you mess with her sister a while back?” Now I wanted all the details. Dante and I used to share all our secrets, but things had changed lately, ever since I had a secret too deep to share even with my brother.

“Oh, so you wanna know who I’m see but you’re not willing to tell me who you’ve been creeping with?”

I froze for a moment. I wanted to tell Dante, but I promised Terrance I wouldn’t say anything until he said the time was right. “Touché. You’re right. It’s none of my business.” To get Dante out of my Kool-Aid, I turned the tables back around on him. “Anyhow, I’m worried about you. You stay away from Anita. If she finds out about you dating someone else, she could be trouble.”

“She already has and already is.”

“Oh, Lord, what happened?”

“Nothin’ yet, but she made a lot of threats.”

“Dante, please be careful. Anita doesn’t sound too stable.”

“She isn’t.” He started to walk out the door with a platter and I grabbed his arm.

“Seriously, Deacon Emerson has a lot of guns in that house. If Anita’s as crazy as we think she is…”

Dante pulled his arm free as if he didn’t want to hear it. “I know, Donna. I’ve already thought about that, okay?”

“Sure, but when you come back, I need to ask you something.”

“Does it have to do with Anita?”

“No.”

“Good. I’ll be right back.” He walked out the door.

When he returned, I went straight to the point of what had been on my mind all night. “Can I ask you that question now?”

“Look, don’t take all day. We’ve got some hungry folks in there. The bishop and Reverend Reynolds look like they’re about to eat their napkins.”

“Don’t worry. This won’t take long.”

“Aw’ight, what’s the question?”

“How can a woman tell if a man loves her?”

“What?” A frown took over Dante’s face. “What you wanna know that for? You think you’re in love or something?”

“Maybe…or maybe I’m trying to find out if someone else is in love. Now can you just answer the question so we can go eat?”

He exhaled. “Hmmm. You can probably tell by how he treats you, not by what he says. Most men are willing to say anything to get some. It’s the ones who don’t push you that usually care.”

“So if a man asks for something, he usually doesn’t care?”

“Nah, I wouldn’t say that. I mean, wanting some pu-pu is a natural thing. I don’t care who he is, he could be the nicest guy in the world. He’s still gonna wanna get some ass. I guess it’s the way he goes about trying to get some that’s important.”

That made me feel a lot better. Terrance never pushed me when we first started to date. It was me who ended up giving him the condom.

“Well, let’s say the man has proven he loves the woman. Do you think a woman should do everything a man asks her to do?”

“Baby sister, it depends on what it is. You can’t just do anything a man asks. You have to use some common sense. Ain’t no man worth going to jail for.”

“What if it’s something in the bedroom? Should a woman do everything a man asks her to do in the bedroom?”

“Donna, this is not a conversation I wanna have with you.” He picked up the last platter.

“But…but I need some advice, Dante. Look, we been through a lot together. I’ve been there for you.”

“I can’t. This is something you need to talk to one of your girls or Mom about.”

“Mom? You know I can’t talk to her. She lost her virginity the night of her wedding.”

“Well, what about RaShanda? Why don’t you talk to her?”

“No. I want a man’s perspective.”

He exhaled again, this time louder. “Okay. Let me put it like this, and don’t ever forget this. If a woman gives a man everything he wants, he loses interest. Men are hunters. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, a lot of men like to go after women. They like the chase, the hunt. And women have to know how to give just enough, but not so much that the man gets bored. But a good man, he’ll be loyal and true to the one woman.”

“Like the bishop?”

“Yeah, like the bishop. Although, I think they mighta broke the mold when they made him. If you could find his clone, then that’s the man I’d want you to marry.”

I left the kitchen with a big smile on my face ’cause that’s the man I felt I had.

“Amen,” we all repeated as the bishop finally finished up his rather lengthy blessing of the food. Unlike most Sundays when our dinner table consisted of only Reverend Reynolds and my immediate family, today’s table had some extra last-minute guests. Right before we were about to sit down to eat, we received a visit from Deacon Emerson and my brother’s ex, Anita. Of course they apologized when they heard we were about to eat dinner, but they just happened to be in the neighborhood, the deacon explained, and decided to stop by. Now, I’ll give the deacon the benefit of the doubt, but Anita knew we always ate Sunday dinner between five-thirty and six o’clock so the bishop could watch his favorite show,
60 Minutes
. The bishop, of course, said there was no reason for them to apologize and invited them to dinner. Anita, much to Dante’s chagrin, quickly accepted the invitation without even a glance at her husband. I wasn’t sure what she was up to, but I was glad my mother didn’t place her next to Dante, because that woman had hands like an octopus.

Despite the obvious awkward situation for Dante, things were pretty decent for a while. I could tell that the food was good from the way all conversation stopped as everyone filled their plates and dug in. This was a relief to me because I was hoping to score a few brownie points with my mother since I was still not forgiven for missing Bingo the night before. As it turned out, Bingo was the last thing on anyone’s mind once my father noticed that my brother didn’t seem too happy.

“Dante,” the bishop called, “are you all right? You barely touched your candied yams. And we all know you love candied yams.”

Dante glanced in Anita’s direction then plastered a fake smile on his face as he answered. “I’m fine, Bishop.”

But I could tell he wasn’t fine. He did not want to be there.

“You sure? You look a little distant.”

“He must be thinking about that half-dressed woman who came looking for him at the church last night, Bishop Wilson,” Anita announced. I swear I thought that witch was about to cackle after she said it.

The room fell silent—no more silverware clinking against plates, not a word from anyone—as every person at the table turned toward Anita. Everyone but me, that is. I was looking at my brother, who was glaring at Anita, his eyes telling her everything he couldn’t say.

“What half-naked woman?” my mother asked.

“Dante’s new little girlfriend. Hasn’t he told you about her? Everyone at Bingo was talking about them. They really put on a show. Isn’t that right, Emerson?”

“I don’t know if I’d call it a show. They were just showing each other some affection.”

“Affection! In the church? Is this true, Dante?” my mother asked, continuing her interrogation. All eyes were now on my brother. I guess he wasn’t lying when he said he was seeing someone new. Now I wanted all the scoop.

“It’s not what you think, Ma,” Dante protested. “I just gave her a little kiss.”

“Just a little kiss? Hmph, it was more than a little kiss,” Anita corrected him. For anyone paying attention, her jealousy was transparent. “What’d you call it, Emerson? Young love. It was more like lust. Kissing on each other like they was married. I tried to tell them they were in the house of the Lord, but they wouldn’t listen to me.”

Now, ain’t that a bitch? She had the nerve to complain about Dante kissing in the Bingo hall when she and Dante probably screwed in every room of the church. And only the Lord knows what she and Deacon Emerson did.

“Who is this woman?” my mother asked. She was staring at Dante so hard she looked like she could see through him. “Do I know her? Is she a member of our congregation?”

“No. We just met a few days ago.”

“And you’re carrying on with her like that in the church? What is wrong with you? Don’t you have any shame?” I wasn’t used to hearing our mother get on Dante like this. Usually I was the one she felt she had to put in place.