There was a frantic knock at the bedroom door and Curtis sat up. “Come in.”
“Dad, Charlotte, you have to turn on the television!” Alicia exclaimed.
“You have to turn it on now,” Matthew added.
“Why?” Curtis asked. “What’s on?”
Charlotte picked up the selector and pushed the power button.
Alicia dropped down on the foot of the bed. “BBN just ran a clip, and we saw Reverend Tolson. We heard him saying something about how the nationally known Reverend Curtis Black is not the upstanding Christian people think he is.”
Curtis’s heart sank and he could already see the look of astonishment on Charlotte’s face. Would Tolson actually go this far? Would he actually go on national television, trying to pay Curtis back?
As they sat waiting for the commercials to end, Lisa called Curtis’s cell.
“Pastor, are you watching?”
“Yes. My children just came in and said they saw Tolson, so I’ll call you back as soon as the interview is over.”
“Okay,” she said, and they hung up.
Charlotte raised the volume of the television and now the home phone was ringing.
“It’s Janine,” she said, and picked it up.
Curtis could tell Janine was also calling to inform them about the news broadcast, but he heard Charlotte tell her she’d get back with her. Then, finally, the anchors, a man and a woman, appeared on-screen again, and the male newscaster began speaking.
“We now take you by satellite to Chicago to talk with Reverend John Tolson. Good morning, Reverend.”
“Good morning, and thank you for having me.”
“Well, why don’t we start with the reason you wanted to come on with us. Because it’s my understanding that you have some very surprising information to share with everyone.”
Reverend Tolson laughed. “The question is, where do I begin? There’s so much to cover, but I think what most people will be shocked to learn is that Pastor Curtis Black has a six-month-old baby, and it’s not with his wife.”
“Hmmm. Well, if it’s not with his wife, then who’s the mother?”
“For right now, I’d rather not say, but what I will say is that the entire time I was serving at his church as interim pastor, he was out on the road with his mistress, living the good life. They traveled together, slept in the same hotels, and now they have a baby.”
“And just so we can clarify this for our viewing audience, you’re talking about the Reverend Curtis Black, the New York Times bestselling author and national faith-based speaker, correct?”
“Yes. That’s exactly who I’m talking about.”
“Well, you do know that these are some very strong allegations you’re making.”
“Of course. And that’s why I would never make them unless I was telling the absolute truth. Pastor Black has been keeping secrets for years, and I finally decided that the public has a right to know what he’s really about. Especially when millions of people have such high regard for this man. There are millions who see Pastor Black as one of the nation’s top spiritual leaders, and I felt it was time for the chickens to come home to roost. It’s time for Pastor Black to take responsibility for his actions.”
“Do you think Reverend Black and the mother of his child will now come forward?”
“I have no idea, but if I were him, I’d do the right thing. And that would be to come clean.”
“Reverend, we’re almost out of time, but just quickly, if you don’t mind us asking. Are you still serving as interim pastor at Reverend Black’s church?”
Tolson smiled wide into the camera. “Not after today, I’m not.”
“Well, thank you again for coming on.”
“No. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity.”
When the screen focused back on just the anchors, the female shook her head. “Amazing. Just recently, we heard about Pastor Haggard, head of the largest Evangelical organization, and how he’d been keeping secrets and now Reverend Black.”
“It’s pretty interesting news.”
“It is, but I do have to say that my heart goes out to both families involved, Reverend Black’s and the alleged mother of the child, because something like this is never easy to deal with.”
“I couldn’t have said it better,” the male anchor agreed and turned his attention back to the camera. “I’m sure we’ll have more coverage on this story as the day continues, so please stay tuned for further developments.”
Charlotte frowned. “Why did he try to make it seem like he was still serving as interim pastor?”
“He was just trying to make himself look good.”
“But he’s been out for over two weeks or so.”
“Yeah, but they don’t know that, and to be honest, I’m surprised they didn’t try to contact us first before just letting him go on live the way they did.”
“So now what, Dad?” Alicia asked.
“I’m going to call Lisa back right now to see what she suggests.”
“This is bad,” Matthew said and stood up. “This is so embarrassing and after this, I’ll be the biggest joke at school. No one will ever stop talking about it, and I wanna transfer somewhere else.”
“Honey, I understand how you feel,” Charlotte told him. “But once the media gets wind of this, people will find out at the other schools, too, so I think it would be best if you just stayed where you are.”
“I don’t mean another school around here. I want to transfer to a school in Chicago.”
“But the news is going to be out over there as well.”
“I still want to leave here, and maybe David will let me come live with him.”
“Matthew, you don’t mean that.”
“I do, Mom,” he said, and walked out of the room.
Curtis wanted to run after him, but he simply didn’t have the energy. He wanted to beg Matthew to forgive him, but he knew Matthew wasn’t in a forgiving mood. His son was angry and disappointed at both him and Charlotte and it wasn’t like anyone could blame him. Curtis and Charlotte had failed him as parents, and now Matthew had actually told his mother that he no longer wanted to live with them. Curtis had known the news about Tabitha and Curtina would be devastating, but what Curtis hadn’t counted on was David’s being in the picture when this all came to light. He hadn’t counted on David’s wanting to have a regular relationship with Matthew, one that involved frequent visitation.
“Dad, is there anything I can do?” Alicia asked.
“No, baby girl. Just being here is help enough.”
“Well, I’m going to go get in the shower, and I’ll also try to talk to Matthew.”
Charlotte headed toward the doorway. “That’ll be good, and while you’re getting ready, I’ll go talk to him now.”
When Charlotte and Alicia left, Curtis dialed Lisa back.
“So are you just as shocked as I am?” he said.
“Probably even more so.”
“And this is all because we wouldn’t agree to pay him double what we owed him.”
“But that’s what doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, who would go on national television, trying to defame someone, just because they didn’t get a few thousand dollars?”
“Apparently, the money was worth more to him than we realized.”
“Or maybe it was never about the money at all, and he has some other motive.”
“Well, if he does, I don’t know what it is.”
“This is not good. And what we have to do now is issue a statement to the media right away because it’s only going to be a matter of minutes before the calls begin coming in. They’ll be calling me as your representative and if they can get access to your number, they’ll be calling you as well. The other thing we have to do is decide which national news channel or talk show we should get you and Charlotte an interview with. We should do something on Monday, and the more I’m sitting here thinking about it, I think the best platform might be Live with Michael Price. Michael is watched and respected by millions of viewers every weeknight and he’s extremely fair. He asks very good questions, but he never takes sides.”
“When are you thinking we should do this?”
“Monday evening. You should still go speak to your congregation tomorrow but if I can get you on, we’ll need to fly to New York first thing Monday morning.”
“Just let us know.”
“I will, and for now if you get any calls, please check the caller ID and only answer calls you recognize from family and friends. Don’t answer anything from the media or any numbers showing as private, restricted, or unavailable.”
“Fine, and I’ll let Charlotte and the children know, too.”
“Anyway, let me get this statement out over the wire and call up the producer for Michael Price’s show, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, Lisa. And what I’m going to do now is call my agent at home, so I can discuss with her the letter of apology I want to send to everyone at my publishing house.”
“That’s a great idea. And if you can speak directly to your editor and your publisher that would be good as well.”
Curtis started into the bathroom but stopped when he heard the home phone ringing to check the display. It was the local NBC affiliate. Then the ABC affiliate. Then the CBS affiliate, and the top local FM radio station.
But Curtis did as Lisa had told him and ignored every one of them. He ignored them and then he went to tell the rest of his family how they were to do the same thing.
How they were to dodge the media at all costs because of him.
Within a few hours, Charlotte and Curtis were dressed and still waiting to hear back from Lisa about their possible trip to the East Coast two days from now. In the meantime, however, they’d called their friends and family members. Charlotte called her parents, Janine, Tracy, and even her aunt Emma, and Curtis called Lana, Elder Jamison, and Elder Dixon. He’d even called his sister, but as usual, they hadn’t gotten an answer and Charlotte felt sorry for him. She could tell just how badly Curtis was hurting and still not being able to make things right with his sister wasn’t making him feel better.
Then there was Matthew, who seemed a lot more cooled down now that Charlotte and Curtis had sat and talked with him, but Charlotte still worried that he was serious about going to live with David. Something she would never be able to stand.
Charlotte poured diet ginger ale into a glass filled with ice and did the same with a bottle of spring water for Curtis. Matthew and Alicia were upstairs in his game room, but she and Curtis were sitting in the kitchen. They sat talking about what had happened earlier with Reverend Tolson’s interview and all that they would probably have to endure in the days ahead. Charlotte tried to see the bright side of things, but no matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find one positive element when it came to their predicament. Curtis kept saying that the good thing about all of this was that they no longer had to hide any secrets, but she didn’t see it that way. What Charlotte saw was a ton of slander and humiliation they’d have to deal with for months and years to come.
When the phone rang for the umpteenth time, Charlotte closed her eyes and refused to go see who was calling. So Curtis left his seat to check instead.
“It’s David.”
“Let it ring.”
“I think you should talk to him. Because I’m betting he’s heard the news by now.”
Charlotte hesitated and by the time she took the receiver, the ringing stopped. But at Curtis’s urging, she called him back.
“David?”
“Hi.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t answer in time.”
“I wanted to talk to you about that BBN broadcast this morning. I didn’t get to see it live, but I’ve seen a ton of replays, and I have to tell you, Charlotte, I’m not happy about any of it. I’m not happy about the type of environment Matthew is living in.”
“I know this looks bad, but Matthew is fine.”
“That’s not what it sounded like when I spoke to him earlier.”
Charlotte had had no idea a conversation had taken place between David and her son.
“What did he tell you?”
“That he wants me to come pick him up for the rest of the weekend.”
“This isn’t a good time. Not with everything going on. Plus, you agreed to pass on seeing him this weekend, as long as I called you in a few days.”
“That was then. But now things have changed.”
“I understand how you feel. And I appreciate you caring about Matthew’s well-being, but we need him here with us. We need our family here together until we can try to get past this.”
“So the answer is no?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am because now you’re leaving me no choice.”
“David, if you could just try to understand. If you could just give us a week or maybe even until after Thanksgiving, which is only a couple of weeks away.”
“I’ve waited long enough. Thirteen years, remember? So I’m through talking about this.”
“David, please.”
“I’ll see you in court.”
“But…” Charlotte tried to reason with him again, but he hung up. Curtis clasped his hands together and rested them atop the island. “Well, I guess that didn’t go over too well.”
“Not at all, and we have to hire an attorney first thing on Monday.”
“What did he say?”
“That he’ll see me in court.”
“Why is he pushing so hard about this?”
“I don’t know,” she said, lowering her voice and looking behind her to make sure Matthew was nowhere in sight. “But I wish Matthew had never asked to see him because David has been nothing but trouble ever since then.”
“What we have to do is get the best custody attorney we can find, either here or from the Chicago area.”
“I hope that’ll be enough, because just like you were saying before, David is his biological father and he has rights. Not to mention, he’s made that very clear to me more than once himself.”
“What I’m hoping is that the court will think twice about removing a child from a home he’s been in for so many years and giving him to a father who has a very demanding job and who can’t be home every day right when Matthew gets out of school.”
“Baby, I’m scared.”
“I know you are, but we have to face this.”
“Well, just so you know. I’ll die if Matthew is taken away from us.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“But what if it does?”
“We have to believe it won’t. We have to pray for all of this to work out in our favor.”
“I have been praying. Every single day about every single thing. But it just seems to me that no matter how hard I pray, things only tend to get worse. I’m so frustrated, and I’m to the point where I feel like I was better off when I wasn’t praying at all.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“And you’ve heard me preach on the power of prayer how many times?”
“Still.”
“I know we’ve been through a lot, but the worst thing you can do right now is lose faith. The worse thing you can do is stop praying.”
Charlotte heard him and while she would try to do what he was telling her, she couldn’t promise anything. It was the reason she changed the subject.
“So was Lisa leaving right after you spoke to her?”
“She had a couple of calls to make, and then she said she’d be on her way. She should be here in a couple of hours.”
“I’m glad she decided to be here for tomorrow’s service.”
“So am I.”
“Did she hear anything about Live with Michael Price?”
“She doesn’t have final confirmation, but they’re definitely interested.”
“Of course they are. I was sure of that just based on all the people who’ve called here today. They’re still calling, and I wonder how they got our phone number.”
“For all we know, Tolson could have given it to them.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it, and to be honest, I’m surprised we haven’t heard from Tabitha yet.”
“Maybe we won’t,” Curtis said. But he spoke too soon because now the phone was ringing and it was in fact Tabitha.
Charlotte answered it on the first ring.
“Hello?”
“Well, well, if it isn’t Miss Thing, the schizo who had my tires slashed.”
Charlotte wanted terribly to tell Tabitha how right she was and how more than that was going to happen if she didn’t leave them alone. She wished she could tell her how she’d smiled herself off to sleep right after Tabitha had called Curtis crying on the phone. She’d wanted to laugh because Curtis hadn’t believed one word of what Tabitha had told him.
“Think whatever you want to,” Charlotte finally said.
“I don’t have to think. I know you did this. And that’s why you and Curtis are getting everything you deserve. Yeah, that’s right, I saw the broadcast and the media has already begun calling me. And as soon as I meet with my attorney, I’m planning to tell them everything they want to know.”
“Do whatever you want, Tabitha, because we no longer have a single thing to hide.”
“We’ll see. Because at the least, I’m sure the public will be more than interested in hearing the details of my affair with Curtis and how you were basically sitting home alone for five years. And I also wonder what people will think when they hear about all the other schemes you’ve concocted.”
“Good-bye, Tabitha.”
Charlotte put the phone down. Curtis was breathing heavier than normal. “I don’t know why you insist on talking to her.”
Charlotte wasn’t sure why she kept talking to Tabitha either but what she did know was that she couldn’t wait to speak to Dooney again. She’d spoken to him earlier and thanked him for the way he’d carried out phase one, but now it was time for phase two. Now it was time he showed Tabitha just how serious this was.