A House Divided (17 page)

C
harlotte paced back and forth in her bedroom, calling Curtis again. This was her tenth time over the last half hour. Curtis had left to go meet that Dillon guy late last night, but now, it was three minutes before seven, and she hadn’t heard a word from him. She’d thought it strange when she’d awakened and had seen that it was three a.m., but now she was worried to death and didn’t know what to think. When something like this had happened in the past, Curtis not coming home until the wee hours, it had always been because he’d been out with Tabitha. Charlotte didn’t want to believe he’d resorted to having affairs again, but if he wasn’t with another woman, that meant only one thing: he was in danger or someone had already hurt him pretty badly.

Charlotte dialed him again and hung up. Earlier, she’d left a couple of messages, but now she didn’t see where it would matter. She’d thought about calling the police but she knew that not enough time had passed, and a part of her was hoping she wouldn’t have to alert anyone outside of their household. “Curtis, where in the world are you?” she said out loud.

After another twenty minutes, she dialed his number again, but there was still no answer. She wasn’t sure what to do at this point, and while she didn’t want to alarm Matthew, she had to tell someone. So she went down to the nursery. When she didn’t see him, though, she went over to his bedroom and knocked.

“Come in,” he said. She’d barely heard him, but he probably spoke low because he didn’t want to wake the baby.

Matthew lay in bed with his head propped against two pillows, watching television, and MJ lay next to him with one blanket beneath him and another covering his little body.

“Honey, something’s wrong,” she said. “I’ve been trying to call your dad for hours, but he’s not answering.”

Matthew got up. “When did he leave?”

“He got a call last night from a guy he’s been counseling, and he went to meet him.”

“And he never came back?”

“No.”

Matt pulled his phone from his dresser and dialed his dad. Charlotte looked on, praying he would pick up, but he didn’t.

“Hey, Dad, it’s Matt. Call me as soon as you can.”

“This isn’t like your father at all. I’m really worried.”

Charlotte’s phone rang, so she quickly scuttled out of the room so she wouldn’t wake MJ. Matthew followed behind her.

“Hello?”

“Charlotte?”

“Lisa, how are you?” Charlotte said. If there was one person on the outside who had proven she could be trusted, it was Curtis’s longtime publicist in New York. So Charlotte was glad to hear from her.

“Not the best. Is Pastor Black there? I tried to call him three times.”

“No, he’s not. He went to meet one of our members last night, and I haven’t spoken to him since.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I just received a call from the CBS affiliate there in Mitchell.”

“Why?”

“They wanted to know if I had any comments.”

Charlotte didn’t like the sound of this and frowned. “About what?”

“They’re going to be interviewing some guy by the name of Dillon Whitfield, and they wanted to know if Pastor Black would like to make a statement.”

“Well, that’s interesting because Dillon is the guy Curtis went to meet. I don’t know his last name, but I doubt this is a coincidence.”

“Whenever something like this happens, it’s never good, so I was hoping to talk to Pastor Black beforehand. Supposedly, the man is claiming that Pastor Black is responsible for his mom’s death. I wish we knew more, but the interview is scheduled for seven-thirty. I wish I were there, but since it’ll be streaming live from the station’s website, at least I’ll still be able to see it.”

Charlotte looked at the clock on her nightstand. That was only minutes from now, so she lifted the TV selector and flipped on the television. “Why would they interview someone without hearing both sides?”

“Ratings. The producer told me that this Dillon person offered them an exclusive. So, once they air the interview, they’ll post it on the Internet and it won’t take long at all to go viral. The national affiliates will pick it up as well.”

“Why won’t people just leave us alone?” Charlotte said.

“Mom, what’s going on?” Matthew asked.

Charlotte looked at him, not knowing how she would explain things. “Lisa, I’ll call you when the interview is over, okay?”

“Sounds good. And please let me know if you hear from Pastor Black.”

Charlotte hung up and told Matthew all the details, but now she regretted it.

“What?” he said, raising his voice. “More scandalous news about Dad?”

“Honey, try to stay calm. I have no idea what this is about, but I’m sure money is involved. Someone is probably trying to blackmail your dad again.”

Matthew didn’t seem convinced and reached for the remote. Charlotte had already turned it to the right channel, but Matthew upped the volume. “It’s bad enough that everyone knows us, but I have a son now, Mom. I also have to go back to school.”

“I’m sure this will be fine,” she said, praying her words were true.

When the commercial ended, Candy Hernandez, the picture-perfect, Saturday morning anchorwoman, smiled into the camera.

“As we mentioned earlier, we have a young man here in our studio who says his mother’s story is long overdue. He also says that local resident and nationally-known pastor, Reverend Curtis Black, played a huge part in it. Dillon Whitfield first contacted our producers yesterday morning, stating that he wanted to do an exclusive interview, and while we did reach out to Pastor Black, there was no comment.” Candy turned toward her guest, and now he appeared in full view. “Good morning, Dillon.”

“Good morning, and thank you for having me.”

“So, it’s my understanding that your mom met Pastor Black many years ago.”

“Yes.”

“Down in Atlanta, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you say he’s the reason your mom died in an accident?”

“Yes, and that’s not all. Pastor Black is also my biological father.”

Candy’s face stiffened, and Charlotte dropped down on the bed.

Matthew folded his arms. “Wow.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Candy said. It was clear she’d been blindsided with this “biological father” bit just as much as Charlotte, Matthew, and everyone else who was watching.

“When my mom was in her early twenties, she worked at a strip club in Atlanta, and Pastor Black used to go there with some of his college buddies. He was in grad school, but eventually he and my mom started dating…well, maybe
dating
isn’t quite the right word, but you know what I mean. Anyway, not long after, my mom got pregnant, but when she told Pastor Black about it, he said he wasn’t the father. She told him that she hadn’t been with anyone else for months, but he stopped seeing her and never spoke to her again.”

“Before we continue,” Candy said, looking directly into the camera, “I just want to clarify to our viewing audience that Pastor Black has neither confirmed nor denied these allegations and that we will do everything we can to obtain a comment from him.” She turned back to Dillon. “Even if this is true, what does her having a baby have to do with her death? How is Pastor Black responsible for that?”

“He may not be responsible legally, but he’s definitely the reason she’s dead. After I was born, she contacted him again, but by then he’d just finished his master’s degree, he’d become a minister, and he was engaged to be married. She called him because she wanted him to take a DNA test, but he said she was just trying to ruin his future with lies. Said he had big plans, and she would never be a part of them. But even after that, my mom begged him to see me and when he wouldn’t, she filed a paternity claim. Next thing she knew, though, she’d gotten fired from her job, no other strip club would hire her, and when the DNA test came back, she was told Pastor Black wasn’t the father.”

Candy looked at him in shock. “Then why do you believe he is?”

“Because a few months ago his play brother, Larry, contacted my aunt and told her he was the one who took the DNA test for Curtis. He was also the one who got two of the girls at the strip club to say my mom was stealing money from the owner. That’s how she lost her job.”

“I’m really sorry about everything your mom went through, but I still don’t see how Pastor Black caused her accident.”

“Well, I’ll tell you. After she lost her job and the DNA test came back negative, she went to Pastor Black again. She begged him to admit that he was my father and to help take care of me, but he told her that if she ever mentioned a baby to him again, she would be sorry. And according to Larry, she confronted Pastor Black one last time and threatened to go to his fiancée. Then, a week later, I ended up missing. But within one hour after I was taken, Pastor Black called my mom and told her that if she ever wanted to see me again, she would have to sign papers. She had to agree to say he wasn’t the baby’s father and that she would never contact him again. But even though I was returned that same evening, my mom became chronically depressed. According to my aunt, she was like that for weeks leading up to her accident. My aunt never knew about the legal papers or that I’d been taken until Pastor Black’s brother called her, but it was common knowledge that my mom had borrowed a friend’s car and slammed it into a tree. She did it on purpose and killed herself because of my father.”

Curtina pushed her parents’ bedroom door all the way open. “Is that man talking about Daddy?”

Charlotte picked up the remote and flipped the channel as fast as she could. “Not really, honey. Just news stuff. You sure did sleep late this morning.” Charlotte hoped she wouldn’t ask any more questions.

Curtina rubbed her eyes. “I was really tired after Grandma and Grandpa left.”

Matthew turned toward the doorway when he heard MJ crying, and Charlotte quickly said, “Honey, why don’t you go with your brother to see about the baby?”

“Okay,” she said.

Matthew never looked at Charlotte, but left. He was livid, and Charlotte hoped and prayed this Dillon character was lying about everything. Curtis just wouldn’t do something so evil. Taking someone’s baby from them? Even for an hour, it just didn’t sound like her husband. And then disowning a child for nearly thirty years? And pushing the mother so far that she committed suicide?

Charlotte wondered if the interview was still airing, but when she turned the channel back to the CBS affiliate, a commercial for Deliverance Outreach was on. How fitting.

She picked up her phone to call Curtis again, but Lisa’s number displayed.

“Hello?”

“Did you watch?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, and so did Matt.”

“Charlotte, this is bad. I’m hoping there’s no truth to any of this, but at some point we’re going to have to respond. Still no word from Pastor Black?”

“Nothing. Something’s definitely wrong.”

“Well, I’ll see what else I can find out. I’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks, Lisa.”

As soon as Charlotte pressed the button, Elder Jamison called. “Hey, Charlotte, is Pastor there? I just saw some crazy interview.”

“No, and I haven’t heard from him since last night.”

“Why?”

“He went to meet a member named Dillon, and I believe it’s the same guy we just saw on TV.”

Elder Jamison sighed. He was Curtis’s right hand and greatest supporter at the church, no matter how bad things got, but his silence told Charlotte that he was getting a little tired of all these surprise secrets that came out of nowhere.

But just as Charlotte was getting ready to respond, Elder Jamison said, “Oh no, are you still watching the news segment?”

“No.”

“You’d better turn it back. They’re saying they have an update about Pastor.”

Charlotte flipped the channel and saw the words
breaking news
at the bottom of the screen.

The screen was also now split, with Candy Hernandez in the studio displayed on one side and a young male reporter on the other.

The reporter held the microphone closer to his mouth and spoke. “We’ve just arrived on the scene, but we’re getting word that nationally known,
New York Times
bestselling author Pastor Curtis Black was found just behind this popular strip club, beaten and unconscious. The police aren’t giving any further details at this time, but we will of course bring you all new developments as this story unfolds.”

Charlotte watched the television but couldn’t move or say anything. The news was far too devastating.

W
ell, the deed is finally done, and I have been feeling on top of the world for hours. All those years of wanting to pay Curtis back for the way he treated me and then finally being able to stare him straight in his face, well, it just feels good. I
’d
finally stood up for myself the way I should have done the whole time I was married to him, but better late than never. Actually, I’d always been weak, even as far back as elementary school. I’d allowed other kids to bully and walk all over me year after year, until I graduated high school. So, in a sense, tearing down Curtis has also helped me pay back anyone who’s ever hurt me. Of course, no one, especially not Curtis, would have suspected me of doing what I did, and this is the very reason doggish men need to be careful who they play with. They should think long and hard before charming, using, and tossing away certain women because they might end up messing over the wrong one just like Curtis did with me. But again, I felt good about it because
I
’d gotten
a chance to torture the infamous Reverend Curtis Black all while he was tied up and helpless. I felt even more satisfied knowing he’d been beaten to the core right before Tommy and Ronan brought him to me. I’d planned everything carefully and perfectly, even down to renting a small house out in the country and paying two guys
I’d
grown up with on the South Side of Chicago to teach him a lesson—they’d beaten Curtis to a bloody pulp, and although it may sound harsh, just for a few moments, a part of me had wished they’d killed him. Ended his life so that he would never have a chance to hurt another woman again. I
’d
gotten Curtis back for me, but I
’d
also done it for his first wife, Tanya, and also Adrienne, the mistress he’d had two affairs with—one affair while married to Tanya and one while married to me. But the reason I
’d
felt so sorry for Adrienne was because she had
so believed Curtis would eventually marry her the way he
’
d claimed, that when she
’d
realized he’d been lying to her, she
hadn
’t
been able to take it. She
’d
shot him and then turned the gun on herself. It had taken a long time for me to get over that, but it was Adrienne’s suicide and the fact that Curtis’s lies and deceit had caused it—well, this was what had prompted me to help Dillon. To be honest, I had sort of made a decision to forget about Curtis and stop obsessing over getting revenge on him—especially since so many years had passed—but when Dillon contacted me and told me about his mother and her death, I
’d been
pushed over the edge. I’m not sure why, given the fact that I’d never met Sonya, but hearing that Curtis had used and tossed away yet another innocent woman…well, that had been way, way too much for me. Of course, the icing on the cake was the fact that the reason he’d gone to such extremes to get rid of Sonya was simply so he wouldn’t jeopardize his new little life, which included entering the ministry and getting married. He’d disowned his own flesh and blood and hadn’t thought twice about it. It was as if the man had no conscience, and I
’d
decided it was time to do something about it once and for all. But interestingly enough, it had been Larry who’d gotten the initial ball rolling in the right direction. Weeks before I
’d
ever spoken to Dillon or even knew that this young man existed, Larry had chosen me as the one to call with his confessions—something that was a bit strange, since I’d only met Larry a couple of times when Curtis and I were married. I’m sure, though, he
’d
done it because he still had it in for Curtis (Larry had told me about Curtis having him arrested a few years back), so I just think Larry was hoping he could convince me to help him scheme against Curtis—which he
’d
quickly been able to do once he told me that Curtis had slept with even more women while I was married to him—women I didn’t know about. Anyway, Larry had been looking for an ally, and though I had no interest in Curtis’s money, Larry hadn’t talked about much else. Money was the reason he wanted to ruin Curtis.
Finally, after we
’d
spoken a few times, though, Larry had called Sonya’s sister and told her everything he’d done—how he’d taken the DNA test for Curtis, how he’d gotten her sister fired and blackballed at other strip clubs. Sonya’s sister had then contacted her nephew, Dillon. Shortly after that, Larry had given Dillon my number, and Dillon had called me, saying he couldn’t let “Pastor Black” get away with what he’d done to his mother. And since I’d been hurt by “Pastor Black,” too, he wondered if I would please help him. I didn’t even have to think about it, because I’d already started planning the perfect scheme right after talking to Larry. Dillon was living in Atlanta, working at a fast-food restaurant, though, barely making ends meet, so I
’d
told him that he and his girlfriend, Melissa, could move to Chicago to stay with me and that I would take everything from there. The first thing I did was have them drive over to Mitchell every single Sunday eight weeks in a row, so they could attend service at Deliverance Outreach. I even rented a new Cadillac for them to drive until this thing was over with. Then, I encouraged them to join. Then, once they completed their new membership classes, I had them make an appointment for martial counseling. With Curtis’s congregation growing the way I’d been hearing, I
’d
called the church to find out whether he met with couples himself or couples met only with the assistant pastors. The woman on the phone had told me that Curtis felt an obligation toward handling marital counseling himself, and this was when I sat down and figured out the rest of the plan. I guess I could have chosen any problem at all for Dillon to be struggling with, but somehow because Curtis had met Sonya in a strip club, I decided that being addicted to porn and strip clubs was priceless. The irony of the whole thing was too much to pass up, and boy did it work. Anyway, my part is done, and I can finally move on. Also, given the fact that Curtis is likely in critical condition—at least that’s what it seemed like when Tommy and Ronan took him back to the strip club and dumped his body next to his truck—so yes, given
that particular fact, I doubt Curtis will be contacting me anytime soon. I’m also sure he won’t be telling the police anything about me, either, because he’ll be hoping no one ever finds out about what he did to Sonya and Dillon. I’m sure he has no idea about the interview I just watched on television. He has no clue that loads of websites are already reporting the story. I just Googled it again, and comments are flooding in from many of his angry supporters, too. When I’d told Dillon that he would have to secure a live local interview over in Mitchell, he’d worried that folks might think his story was farfetched. But I had quickly promised him that by now, most people nationwide had heard so much about Curtis’s past, they knew he was capable of just about anything. Like I said, though, my part is done, and I finally have the closure I need. Right or wrong, revenge feels good. Especially when it involves a ruthless whoremonger like Curtis. Especially when I
’d been
able to right a wrong that had been done to me and so many others, namely Sonya Whitfield. She’d killed herself because of Curtis, but her death would now get her the only thing she’d wanted from Curtis in the first place: for him to take care of his son. I
’d
put forth the effort to punish Curtis physically and emotionally, but Dillon will reap the financial rewards. I know this because Dillon is now the newest heir to the Black Family fortune. He is Curtis’s firstborn child.