Is everything okay?” Charlotte asked Curtis. They were on their way home from church and Matthew was sitting all the way back in the third row of the Cadillac SUV, watching some DVD.
“Curtis, did you hear me?” she said when he didn’t respond.
“What…did you say something?”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Why do you ask?”
“I’m asking because you’re so quiet and you seem like you’re in deep thought.”
“I’m just thinking about what I have to do over the next few days. I have meetings every day this week.”
“Even tomorrow? Because tomorrow is your day off.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, but I have a meeting with Pastor Reynolds and Pastor Jones. We’ve been trying to get together for the longest and this was the only day we all were available.”
Charlotte looked away from him and back toward the road.
“What?” Curtis asked.
“You know what.”
“No. I don’t. So tell me.”
“You promised me that you wouldn’t do any church business on Mondays. You promised me that this would be our day to spend together.”
“I know and this is a one-time deal. I’ll only be gone for maybe two or three hours at the most.”
First it was the call from Tabitha last night and now this. Charlotte was trying to stay positive but she couldn’t help being suspicious of Curtis and his sudden desire to meet with two of his minister friends. She hadn’t heard him talk about them much at all lately and for the last year, it had been automatic that she and he would spend time together on his days off. They’d made a pact but now he was breaking it. She couldn’t help but wonder why.
When they arrived home, Matthew darted up to his bedroom and Charlotte and Curtis followed behind to theirs. Once inside, Charlotte removed her St. John outfit and thought about her mother, who loved nice clothing but thought the idea of spending well over a thousand dollars on anything to wear was just plain ridiculous. Charlotte, of course, didn’t see what the problem was, especially since she and Curtis could afford it. Not to mention, after all that Curtis had put her through, she deserved to have anything she wanted.
“Why are you acting so distant?” she asked.
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. And now that we’re on the subject, why were you doing all that crying in the pulpit this morning?”
“Charlotte, please. You’ve seen me filled with the Holy Spirit hundreds of times, so why was today so different?”
“Because it was. You seemed almost sad and like something was really wrong with you.”
“You’re just being paranoid.”
“I hope so.”
“You are.”
Charlotte covered her head and face with a silk scarf so she wouldn’t get makeup on the cashmere sweater she was getting ready to pull down over her head. She even did this when she tried on clothing at the mall because she didn’t think it was fair to soil items that she might not end up purchasing in the first place.
“So where are we going for dinner?” she asked.
“It’s up to you. Matthew mentioned pizza.”
“Matthew always wants pizza, but today I was thinking we could go to a good steak house. Actually, we should have just gone directly there after church.”
“It would have been nice,” Curtis said, straightening the collar on the turtleneck he’d just slipped on. “But remember you were the one who promised Matthew we could come home first to change out of our dress clothes.”
“I know, but only because I’m trying so hard to do whatever he wants.”
“And there’s nothing wrong with that, because right now, we both need to do everything we can to make him happy.”
Charlotte watched Curtis’s expression and no matter how well he was attempting to hide what he was thinking, she knew something was wrong. He was conversing with her like normal, but something was very different in comparison to when they’d left for church this morning.
“Curtis, did Tabitha try to call you again today?”
“No.” He frowned. “Why do you ask?”
“Because something isn’t right. I know you keep saying everything is okay, but I know you better than that.”
“Okay, look. I’m bothered by this whole thing with Tabitha and Curtina. It bothers me because even though I agreed not to see Curtina, I know it’s not the right thing to do.”
“Of course, it’s the right thing to do. That is, if you want to stay married to me.”
“See, that’s why I didn’t want to say anything. You keep asking me what the problem is and now that I’m telling you, you’re already getting upset.”
“I’m upset because I thought I’d made myself clear. Before the baby was born, while that whore was carrying it and then once she’d had it. Actually, I thought I’d explained myself pretty well but apparently not, because you’re still whining about this whole thing.”
“You’re impossible.”
“No. You are. Because now all of a sudden you’re thinking I’m going to just forget everything that happened and that I’m somehow going to say, ‘Sure, Curtis, go see Tabitha and Curtina. Shoot, even spend the night with them if you want to.’”
Curtis looked at Charlotte and then went inside his closet.
Charlotte walked over and stood in front of it.
“What is it going to take for you to get what I’m saying?” she said, raising her voice.
“Look, I don’t want to argue about this.”
“Well, I do, because we need to get this straight once and for all.”
“Let’s just go to dinner.”
“No. Not until we settle this.”
“I don’t see how it can be settled. Not with you being so dead set against me seeing my daughter.”
Charlotte didn’t like the way he’d referred to Curtina. Thus far, he’d called her by her name or had simply said “the baby” but now he was calling her his daughter. He was allowing himself to use a more personal and familylike term and this bothered her.
“Curtis, did you or did you not tell me that if I stayed with you, you would do whatever I wanted?”
“Yes.”
“And did you or did you not tell me that once this baby was born you would never have any contact with the baby or Tabitha?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Then why are we having this conversation? Why do you keep bringing this up and now you’re even moping around here like someone just died.”
“Why? Because Curtina is innocent in all of this. She’s just as innocent as Matthew and Marissa were when they were born, even though you lied about who their father was. You lied but I still loved and treated them as if they were my own.”
“Oh please, please, please just stop it! Stop bringing our children into this because they have absolutely nothing to do with it.”
“They have everything to do with it, because if it was okay for me to be their father, how in the world could you possibly decide it’s not okay for me to be a father to my own flesh and blood?”
Charlotte didn’t know what to say but no matter how Curtis tried to make his case, she would never change her opinion. She would never, ever welcome that baby into her household. She would never allow Curtis to go anywhere near her.
“Why can’t you just leave well enough alone?” she asked him. “Why can’t you just move on and leave the past behind?”
“Because Curtina isn’t the past.”
“As far as I’m concerned, she is.”
“Charlotte, look, let’s just leave this alone, okay?”
“Not until you agree to forget this whole thing.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then you and I are headed for a lot of turmoil.”
“If you would just try to be more understanding, it wouldn’t have to be that way.”
“I’ve told you how I feel and either you’re going to respect that or you’re not.”
When Charlotte turned to walk away from Curtis, she heard a knock at the door. Then she heard Matthew’s voice.
“Mom. Dad. Can I come in?”
“Of course, honey,” Charlotte told him.
“What is it, son?” Curtis moved closer to him.
“I wanna meet my other father.”
Charlotte’s heart was already beating faster than normal and without warning, she dropped onto the bed. She was mortified.
“I’m sorry,” Matthew apologized. “But I really want to see him.”
Charlotte looked at Curtis, who didn’t seem bothered by any of what he was hearing and she couldn’t understand why.
“Are you sure?” Curtis finally said.
“Yes. I mean, I’m sort of afraid, but I want to see who he is.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Charlotte added.
“Why not?”
“Because Curtis is your father. He’s always been your father and he loves you more than David ever could.”
“I know and I love Dad,” he said, glancing at Curtis. “But, Mom, I still want to see my other father. My friend at school just got a chance to meet his and he said it helped him stop being so sad. It helped him a whole lot.”
“Then we’ll make it happen,” Curtis assured him.
Charlotte wanted to scream. She couldn’t believe Curtis was being so understanding and so willing to send their son off to meet with some stranger. It was true that she knew David, but she hadn’t seen him in over thirteen years and she just couldn’t see how Matthew’s meeting him was going to make any difference in the way he felt about everything.
“Can you call him for me, Mom?”
“I’ll have to see if I can get his number. I’m not even sure where he lives.”
“Can’t you call Cousin Anise?”
Charlotte had been hoping he wouldn’t think of that. Hoping he wouldn’t realize that Anise probably had David’s number memorized. They were divorced and had had a terrible marriage, but from what she’d heard from Aunt Emma, Anise and David sometimes spoke by phone and had become friends.
“I’ll try to call her this week,” Charlotte finally answered.
“Can you call her now?”
Matthew was being persistent and he was making Charlotte uncomfortable. And she wanted to kill Curtis, who was standing by practically waiting to see what she was going to do about this.
Then he said, “If Matthew feels this strongly about meeting his father, then I think he should be able to.”
“Mom, please. Can you call her?”
“Fine,” she said and picked up the phone.
She dialed the number and Anise answered almost immediately.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Anise. This is Charlotte.”
“Uh-huh.”
“How are you?”
“I’m well.”
Charlotte waited for her to return the question, but she didn’t and Charlotte was already regretting having to make the call. Yes, it was true that she’d slept with David while her first cousin was still married to him but how long was Anise actually planning to hold a grudge against her? Charlotte had apologized more times than she cared to remember and it was high time for Anise to get over it. It was time she dropped her petty pride, forgave Charlotte, and moved on with her life.
“I’m calling because Matthew asked me to.”
“And?”
“He wants to meet his father.”
“I don’t blame him.”
That witch. Charlotte couldn’t stand her and if she’d been standing side by side with her, she probably would have slapped her. At the least, she wanted to give her a piece of her mind.
But since Matthew was staring and listening to her every word, she said, “Do you have his number?”
“Actually, I do, but it’s probably best if I have him call you and Curtis instead.”
“If you don’t mind doing that.”
“I don’t mind at all. Especially since this is for Matthew.” Anise spoke in a short tone, letting Charlotte know she wasn’t doing her any favors at all.
Still, Charlotte ignored her. She wanted to slam the phone down, but she acted as though she wasn’t bothered by Anise in the slightest bit.
“Can you call him today?” Charlotte asked.
“He’s in New York, but he’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Fine. Can you try him then?”
“Sure. Like I said, anything for Matthew.”
“Well, I guess that’s it. And thanks for all your help.”
Anise hung up the phone without even saying good-bye and, for some reason, that really hurt Charlotte. It hurt because there had been a time when they’d been as close as sisters. A time when they’d laughed so hard they’d begun crying. They’d always enjoyed each other’s company, but not since Anise had learned of Charlotte and David’s affair.
“He’s out of town, honey, but Anise is going to call him as soon as he gets back.”
“I love you, Mom,” Matthew said and hugged her. “I love you, too, Dad,” he said, glancing over at Curtis.
“We love you, too, son,” Curtis told him.
“We love you more than anything or anybody else in this world,” Charlotte added.
“Can we go to Giordano’s?” Matthew asked, and interestingly enough he was sounding happier than he had in weeks.
“I guess so,” Charlotte answered. She’d already decided that she wanted steak but at this point, she was willing to do whatever she had to in order to keep Matthew content.
When he left the room, Charlotte looked at Curtis and got angry all over again.
“Why didn’t you try to discourage him from wanting to see David?”
“Because he has every right to see his father.”
“And what if David doesn’t want to see him? Hunh? Then what, Curtis?”
“I don’t see that happening.”
“You don’t even know him, so how can you say that?”
“I think he’ll want to see his only son. I mean, didn’t you say he doesn’t have any other children?”
“That’s my whole point exactly. Because maybe that means he never wanted any, period.”
“You’re blowing this way out of proportion. And what I think we need to do is support Matthew any way we can.”
“Why are you doing this? Don’t you love him?”
“What kind of crazy question is that? You know I do. Plus, how can I be hesitant toward helping him when I’m basically in the same predicament myself?”
“Oh, so that’s what this is all about? You and that baby of yours?”
“All I’m saying is that Matthew has a right to spend time with David and Curtina has a right to spend time with me.”
“She may have a right, but it’s like I keep telling you, it’s not going to happen. You’re not having anything to do with her or her lunatic mother and that’s all there is to it.”
Charlotte left the room and headed down the stairway. She walked down each step, slowly but surely, and wondered how she could get rid of Tabitha.
How she could do it and legally get away with it.