Raven hadn’t slept a wink. Maybe she had for ten minutes here and there, but that was about it. Now she was up, pacing back and forth in her bedroom, trying to figure a way out of this mess. For one, she was definitely planning to record another Facebook Live message, clearing up any questions about who might have raped her. She wouldn’t take back the part about being raped, but she would clarify that Pastor Black wasn’t the man she was talking about. She would even state that while she and his son were divorced, Pastor Black had never been anything but a gentleman to her. She would then go on to say that he’d been a joy to work for, and that she was very sorry if her words had led anyone to believe anything else.
But before doing any of that, she wanted to call D.C. again. That way she could try to reason with him one more time about installment payments. He’d already told her that he wanted the entire sum, but maybe she could convince him otherwise. That way, when she clarified the rape story and he lowered the amount she owed, she could still spread it out over several months.
Raven picked up her cell phone and dialed his number before she lost her nerve.
He answered on the first ring. “Banks open up this early now?”
Raven hated how arrogant he was. “No, I just needed to talk to you about something.”
“Unless you’re callin’ to say you have my money, we don’t have a single thing to talk about.”
“D.C., please just listen. This won’t take very long.”
“What is it?”
“I know you said you want all the money, but I just don’t have it.”
“Then what you do have is a problem. A really big problem.”
Raven had planned on offering to pay half of it now, but with the way he was sounding, she decided to up the ante a bit. “Can you at least accept a hundred and fifty thousand, and then twenty thousand over the next six months?”
“What part of ‘I want all my money’ don’t you understand?”
“It’s not that I don’t understand. But I can’t give you what I don’t have.”
“I don’t believe that. I think you have two-seventy and a whole lot more. You’re just tryin’ to get out of payin’ me.”
“I would never do that.”
“A trick like you who used to lie and steal like it was nothing? Of course you would.”
“D.C., I don’t have it. But as I said, I can pay you part of it and then give you the rest over the next six months.”
“I’m gonna say this again. I want all of my money or nothin’ at all. But let me warn you about somethin’. If I end up with nothin’, I’m gonna handle things the way I see fit.”
Raven knew he was threatening her with bodily harm again, and before she could stop herself she said, “Did Pastor Black or my ex-husband put you up to this? Is that why you waited nine years to contact me?”
D.C. laughed at her. “Why would my money have anything to do with them?”
“I don’t know, but it just doesn’t make sense that you would wait all this time.”
“Heifer, I think you need your head examined. Because right now, you’re soundin’ real stupid. Paranoid even.”
Raven didn’t know if he was telling the truth or if he was only pretending that this wasn’t revenge for Pastor Black and Dillon. She just didn’t, and that worried her.
“I don’t know what else to say,” she finally admitted.
“So does that mean you won’t even have the money by next week the way you claimed?”
“D.C., how many people do you know could go to the bank and bring you almost three hundred thousand dollars?”
“I know exactly who could do it. Big-time pastors like you. Those with large congregations and huge online followings. Plus, from what I saw, you’re easily livin’ in a four- or five-bedroom home. A big, beautiful one at that.”
Raven’s heart skipped several beats. “Excuse me?”
“What? Are you shocked that I know where you live? With all my many contacts and as small as Mitchell is? Sweetheart, not only do I know where you live, I know what kind of car you drive, where you work, and as you know, I have your phone number. So if you’re thinkin’ about trying to dodge me, you can forget it.”
“D.C., I’m asking you again. I’m begging you. Please let me pay you what I can. Let me get you the hundred and fifty now and the rest later. Please.”
“No, you’re now makin’ way more money than some people make in a lifetime, and that’s why I want my two seventy. You’re out here using God’s Word to fool people out of their money—innocent people, at that—so it’s like I told you last night, pay me or deal with the consequences.”
Raven tried to figure out what else she could say, but before she could, D.C. said, “The clock starts tickin’ now. You hear me, heifer? Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. You had better get me my money.”
When D.C. hung up, Raven dropped down on the chair in the corner of her bedroom. What if he was telling the truth? What if his wanting all this money from her had nothing to do with Pastor Black or Dillon? What if she was dealing with two different scenarios, and all three men were out to get her?
But something told her that her instincts were right, and that this had everything to do with that video she’d broadcast. It was true that Raven despised Dillon and Pastor Black, but now she sort of regretted the way she’d led people to believe that Pastor Black might’ve raped her. Until this morning, she hadn’t noticed just how many comments had been left about her ex-father-in-law, those from folks speculating about whether he was her predator. She had certainly hoped that at least a few people would think it was him, because it was getting her a lot of new attention, but now the rumor mill was turning a lot quicker than she’d planned for.
Which meant she had to figure out both a way to change her statement and a way to get every dime of the money D.C. was asking for. He was adamant about receiving it all at once, and now she knew there was no changing his mind about it. She wasn’t sure how she would find so much money so quickly, but she knew she had to. Because when it came to D.C. and his vicious rules, her life depended on it.