WELL, WE CERTAINLY CHOSE THE WRONG PERSON TO BE ON THE board, didn’t we?” Curtis said to Charlotte, while unbuttoning his shirt.
“I guess we did. Which is strange because Brother Bailey would have been the last person I would have expected something like this from. All of it seems so out of character for him.”
“Yeah, I have to agree, but it just goes to show that you really can’t trust anyone, and I’m just glad we have the right to remove anyone we’re not happy with.”
“This is true.” Charlotte removed her suit and blouse and strolled inside the closet.
Curtis sat on the edge of the king-size bed and slipped off his socks. “It’s so amazing how quickly people will betray you, which makes me feel even worse about all the terrible things I did to people for so many years.”
“But did is the key word,” Charlotte yelled out to the bedroom. “You are a completely changed man now and that’s all that matters. The past is exactly that. And what Brother Bailey pulled tonight was totally uncalled for.”
Curtis met Charlotte as she walked out of the closet and pulled her into his arms. “I love you so much, you know that?”
“I do, Curtis, and I love you, too.”
“Having you and Matthew in my life is the reason days like today basically don’t mean a thing. The two of you give me so many reasons to be thankful about life in general.”
Curtis kissed Charlotte, but she pulled away and said, “It’s getting pretty late, so you should probably go read Matthew his story before he falls off to sleep. And I need to jump in the shower.”
Curtis didn’t like what he was sensing. She was so distant and unaffectionate. He’d been slowly but surely noticing a change in their relationship, but he’d told himself that it simply was his imagination. Charlotte had been working a lot of hours, and he’d been doing the same thing, so he’d decided that this was the reason things weren’t exactly the same between them. Maybe he wasn’t spending enough time with her. Tanya had complained about that very thing, and Mariah had constantly complained about all the time he spent away from her. So maybe that was what the problem was.
He walked into Matthew’s room and Matthew smiled at him. He was already tucked under his covers.
“Which book are you going to read from tonight, Dad?” he asked.
Curtis sat down on Matthew’s bed. “Actually, I think I’m going to tell you a real story instead.”
Ever since the day he and Matthew began living under the same roof, Curtis had started this nightly ritual of reading a story to him at bedtime. It was the one thing he’d envied about the children he saw on television back in the seventies. He’d wished a thousand times that his father could be as wonderful as the fathers on each of his favorite sitcoms, and even now, it was still a dream he’d never fulfilled. It was a dream that no one would have ever suspected from a strong, take-charge sort of man like him. But he’d promised himself that Matthew would get everything he hadn’t as a child, including a bedtime story.
“What kind of real story?” Matthew asked, locking his fingers together and resting them on top of his stomach.
“A story about you and me.”
Matthew raised his eyebrows.
“When I was a small boy just like you are now, I wasn’t very happy. I didn’t have any of the things you have right here in your room or in this house, and sometimes I didn’t even have food to eat. We were very poor, and I never knew what it was like to spend time with my father. My mother tried to be there for us when she wasn’t working, but my father was never home until late at night, and there were some days when he didn’t come home at all. But no matter how many months and years passed by, I still wished for things to change. I always believed that, one day, my father would change and that he would rush home as fast as he could to tell me how much he loved me. But he never did,” Curtis said, blinking back tears. “He never took me in his arms, he never did anything.”
“Dad, why are you crying?”
“Because, son, after all these years, it still hurts me sometimes.” Curtis wiped his face with both hands. Matthew’s eyes filled with water, and Curtis placed his hands on top of his son’s.
“I didn’t mean to upset you, but it’s important for you to know that not everyone has had the best life and not everyone is perfect. Not even me.”
“But you are. You’re the best person in the whole world and you can do anything,” Matthew said proudly. “I always tell Jonathan and Elijah that, and even when they say that nobody can do everything, I still tell them you can.”
“Well, I appreciate that, but unfortunately, they’re right. I can’t do everything. But there are two things I can do and the two things you will always be able to count on no matter what. I’ll always love you, and I’ll always be here for you.”
Matthew smiled.
“And there’s something else I need to say while it’s on my heart. I know you look up to me, and I’m very happy about that, but there was a time, before I met you, when I wasn’t such a good person. I did some things that God wasn’t happy with, and I had to pay some major consequences for them.”
“You mean like when you got shot back in Chicago?”
“Yes, like that.”
“Well, if God made you all better, then that means he’s not mad at you anymore.”
Curtis couldn’t help chuckling. “I guess maybe it does, doesn’t it?”
“Yep,” Matthew said, smiling.
“God does forgive us, but it’s so much easier if we do what he expects from us from the start. So, no matter how old you get or how successful you become, son, always try to do the right thing. Always try to treat people the way you want to be treated. Always keep God first in your life from now on.”
Curtis grabbed his son in a bear hug and held him for longer than usual. Shortly after, Matthew slid out of bed, onto the floor, to recite his prayers. When he finished, Curtis tucked him in again, kissed his forehead, and left the room.
When he went back into his own bedroom, Curtis heard the shower still running. Maybe Charlotte was a lot more relaxed now, so he removed the rest of his clothing and cracked open the pewter-trimmed shower door. “Want some company?”
Charlotte jerked her head around.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” she said. “I guess my mind was somewhere else.”
“Well, do you?” Curtis said, taking one step inside the shower.
“What?”
“Want some company?”
“Baby, not tonight. I’m really, really exhausted, and all I want to do now is get some sleep.”
“If not tonight, then when?” he yelled without planning to. He’d just told his son about doing the right thing and about treating people the way he wanted to be treated, and now here he was totally irritated with his own wife.
“Tomorrow,” she said, turning off the water and reaching for her towel.
Curtis stepped away, leaned against his vanity, and crossed his arms. “You were tired last night and the night before that, too. And as a matter of fact, last night, you didn’t even get home until after eleven. So, what’s going on, Charlotte?”
“Nothing. You know how many hours I’ve been working, and then we have church every Sunday and, of course, meetings like we did tonight. I’m just tired. That’s all.”
“Well, where exactly do I come in? And when do you plan on spending some real time with your son for that matter?” Curtis couldn’t believe he was sounding like his former wives. He was repeating some of the same words they had spoken to him only a few years ago.
“When this trial is over. I already told you that. And if it wasn’t for all this church business, I could spend more time with Matthew.”
“No, if you quit that job of yours, you’d have time to be a good wife and a good mother.”
“Well, I’ve already told you. That’s never going to happen. Not as long as you continue earning what you do from the church.”
“It’s always about money with you, isn’t it?”
“As a matter of fact it is. And if I remember correctly, money used to be important to you, too.”
“Well, it’s not anymore. You and Matthew are.”
“Please. If that were true, you’d find a way to give us a lot more. You talked a real good game before I married you, and now two years later, we’re basically still living a middle-class lifestyle.”
“What is it you want me to do? I mean, every dime of your paycheck is yours. I pay all the bills, and I even give you money for groceries. And sometimes I give you money just because.”
“And that’s fine, but all I’m saying is, you don’t earn enough for me to quit my job. And I can’t help the fact that my firm needs me to work late from time to time.”
“No, lately, it’s all the time, and something has got to change.”
“Well, I’ve already told you. I’m not quitting my job.”
Charlotte dried her back, threw the towel across a hook, and walked out of the bathroom. She never even looked back at Curtis.
What in the world was wrong with her? Why was she being so cruel and cold-natured toward him? Every couple had problems, but Charlotte was acting as if she couldn’t stand to be naked in front of him. She acted as though she didn’t want him touching her.
She was making him feel unsure about himself and about their marriage. He hoped this wasn’t all he could expect, not with him being 100 percent faithful to her.
He prayed that God would end these sudden marital issues.
Charlotte climbed into bed and turned her back to Curtis. She hated arguing with him, and, she had to admit, this was their worst disagreement ever. He was becoming more and more impatient in regard to their lovemaking, but she couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t desire him, it was just that she wanted Aaron more. He was so much more interesting and daring and the reason she could barely contain herself during the meeting. For months, she’d begged him not to sit directly across from her, but he never listened. And while she knew it was horribly wrong, it turned her on. The fact that she and Aaron were sneaking off together multiple times per week without anyone at the church realizing it was sort of fascinating. It was almost like the whole secrecy of their sexcapades made them that much more mesmerizing. And mesmerized she was. Twice this evening, she’d had to stop herself from staring at Aaron, hoping that no one had seen her. Hoping that Curtis hadn’t paid any attention to what she was doing. But of course he probably hadn’t since he’d been so consumed with his meeting agenda.
She heard Curtis breathing a lot deeper than when she’d first laid down and was glad he hadn’t started another argument or tried to touch her.
More than that, she was glad he didn’t know the real reason she couldn’t make love to him.
God forgive her.
Only hours ago, during her lunch break, Aaron had sucked the upper inside of her right thigh so intensely, she now had a purple bruise plastered across it.
She’d begged him to stop, but he’d ignored her. She’d told him that Curtis would kill her if he ever discovered it. But Aaron never broke his rhythm.
Finally, Charlotte had given in and enjoyed what he was doing to her.
She begged him to do whatever he wanted.