A House Divided (6 page)

I
t was a new day, but Charlotte still didn’t feel any better about things. She tried to focus on something other than Vanessa and Racquel and even the baby, but she couldn’t. Now, she’d dropped by the church to see Curtis. He’d wanted to get an early start working on this coming Sunday’s sermon, so he’d left home earlier than usual.

“You look sad,” Curtis said, closing the door to his study and caressing the side of her face.

“Maybe because I am.”

Curtis sat down on the leather sofa, and Charlotte sat next to him.

“Baby, I know you’re upset about your argument with Vanessa yesterday, but you have to let it go. Maybe you should just step back altogether.”

“Why should I have to step away from anything?”

“Because things are getting worse instead of better. Sometimes it’s best to let things cool down. Then figure out another way to tackle the problem. Matt’s going to be here through the weekend and will be spending all his time with Racquel and the baby, anyway.”

“What does that have to do with me?” she asked.

“Everything,” Curtis said, resting his arm across the back of the sofa. “If you let them have their time together, then you can focus on something else for a few days. I’m really worried about you, baby.”

Charlotte was livid. “If I allow too many days to pass without seeing little MJ, not only will he not know me when he sees me again, but Vanessa will think this is the way things are going to be. Matt will go back to school on Sunday, and she’ll think they can keep the baby away from us until he’s home again.”

“Maybe you, Vanessa, Neil, and I need to sit down and have a talk. Just the four of us.”

“Well, I’m not sure what good that’ll do, since Vanessa has already made her feelings very clear: she doesn’t want me at her house under any circumstances.”

“Something’s gotta give. This whole mess is uncalled for, and it’s unfair to Matt and Racquel.”

“Well, I’m going on record right now,” she said, crossing her legs. “I won’t be treated this way and not do anything about it.”

“That kind of talk isn’t going to help anything. What you need to do is pray. Let go and let God.”

Hmmph. Charlotte wished it were that easy, and the reason she’d never been good about letting go and letting God the way Curtis did was because sometimes God took a little too long to fix things. Sometimes she saw no other choice except to handle situations herself.

Curtis’s office phone rang, so he got up to answer it. “Yes.”

Charlotte could tell it was Lana, and she hoped he didn’t have to end their visit because she really needed him right now.

“Oh, that’s right,” he said. My time got away from me. I’ll leave now.”

Curtis laid the phone on its base. “Baby, I’m really sorry, but we’re gonna have to cut this short. I have a lunch meeting with Elder Jamison and Elder Dixon, and then I have to rush back here to do a counseling session. I didn’t realize how late it was.”

Charlotte stood up, already heading toward the door. “I guess I’ll see you at home, then.”

“Baby, wait,” he said, coming after her. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything. And now you’ve gotta run off to some meeting.”

“But you know I can’t help that. Elder Jamison and Elder Dixon do a lot for me and for the church, and a month ago I asked Lana to schedule lunch with them. I wanted to take them out. I told you about it yesterday.”

“Like I said, I’ll see you at home.”

“No kiss good-bye or anything?”

Charlotte wasn’t in the mood, but she turned and kissed Curtis anyway.

“I’ll call you this afternoon,” he said, grabbing his blazer and walking out with her.

When they made it to the parking lot, Charlotte got in her car, pulled out her cell phone, and called Matthew. She’d debated whether or not she should, but since Matthew had spent the night in Racquel’s room and she was going home today, Charlotte wanted to see how the baby was doing.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, son, how are you?”

“Good.”

“And little MJ?”

“Great. He’s going home tomorrow or Friday.”

“That’s wonderful, Matt. I’m so thankful and glad to hear that. Can I come see him?”

“That’s fine, but I wanna make sure Racquel’s mom isn’t here when you do. So, I’ll call you back to let you know what time.”

Charlotte was outraged all over again, but all she said was, “Okay, I’ll just wait to hear from you.” When she hung up, she immediately dialed Curtis.

“Hey, baby. Everything okay?”

“Do you wanna know what your son just said to me?”

“What?”

“That he’ll have to call me back to let me know when it’s okay for me to come to the hospital. He wants to make sure Vanessa isn’t there.”

“Well, as much as I know you don’t wanna hear it, this is probably a good thing.”

Charlotte hit the steering wheel with her fist. “A good thing for who?”

“Everyone involved. You know what happened when you went there yesterday, so why even take a chance on running into Vanessa?”

“You know what this is really about, don’t you?” she said.

“What?”

“Vanessa and how she probably told Matt all kinds of lies about what happened when he and Racquel went down to the nursery. She’s trying to turn my own son against me, and if you don’t watch out, she’ll turn him against you, too.”

“Baby, you’re not serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? This woman is evil, Curtis.”

“You know what?” he said. “I’m staying out of this, because I already asked you to take a step back.”

“I’m not about to go four whole days without seeing my grandson. Today is only Wednesday, Matt isn’t leaving until Sunday, and then who knows when I’ll get to see MJ after that?”

“I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Say you have my back and that you’re gonna demand that I be allowed to see our grandson whenever I want.”

“I’m not doing that, Charlotte. We shouldn’t have to demand anything; we should all be getting along like adults. And I’ll tell you something else: if you don’t stop this, you’re going to push Matt farther and farther away from you, and I know you don’t want that.”

“But what about me, Curtis? What about my rights as a grandmother? And why isn’t Matt standing up for me and setting Vanessa straight?” Tears streamed down Charlotte’s face. She could barely breathe.

“Look, baby. For months now, I haven’t wanted to say anything because I knew you wouldn’t receive it well, but you caused all of this.”

“What do you mean?”

“From the time you found out Racquel was pregnant, you started calling her every day. Making sure she was reading the right books, and asking her for the dates and times of all her doctor appointments. Then, you started going to those appointments uninvited.”

“And what was wrong with that?”

“A lot,” he said. “Baby, Racquel has a mother who loves her, and if Racquel wanted you hanging around all the time or going to all her doctor visits, she would have asked you.”

“But I was only trying to let her know that I’m here for her.”

“Even when you ordered baby furniture and never asked her what kind she wanted? And let’s not forget the way you started driving over to their home unannounced.”

“I only did that when Matt left for school. I wanted to make sure she was okay, and that she didn’t need anything.”

“Why would she? Her father is a neurosurgeon. But you wanna know the worst part of all?”

“I’m sure you can’t wait to tell me,” she said.

“The day you started talking down to Vanessa.”

“When have I ever spoken to that woman like that?”

“You did it all the time. I remember once when they invited all of us over for dinner, and Vanessa was saying how she and Neil were going to start a college fund for the baby. But then you quickly rattled off something like, ‘Actually, Curtis and I will be able to pay for everything. You guys won’t have to worry about a thing. And if you want, the baby can even live with us when Racquel leaves for college because we’re having a huge nursery designed. It’ll be finished in a month or so.’”

Charlotte was flabbergasted. Curtis was officially blaming her for everything, and it would be hard to forgive him for this.

“I’m sorry I had to say these things to you, but it was time.”

“I’ll talk to you later,” she said.

“Baby, I know you’re angry, but I hope you think about what I’ve said. Bragging and boasting can turn people off.”

“I’ll see you later,” she said and hung up.

How dare Curtis make her out to be the villain? He was her husband, for God’s sake, yet he had the nerve to defend Vanessa? It was bad enough that Matthew was doing the same thing, but this was a bit much.

Charlotte took a deep breath, started up her Mercedes, and pulled out her sunglasses. It was clear that just about everyone had made up their minds about her and sided against her, but it was like she’d been saying all along: she would do what she had to when it came to being with her grandson. She didn’t want to resort to drastic measures, but now even Curtis was forcing her hand. Once Matthew went back to school, Charlotte would see how things played out, but if Vanessa and Racquel stopped her from seeing little MJ, she would get the help she needed. She would turn to Neil in a heartbeat.

C
urtis drove out of the restaurant parking lot. As always, he’d had a great time socializing with his two favorite elders, but he also couldn’t help thinking about Charlotte and the conversation they’d had. At first, he’d thought telling her the truth was a good idea, but now he sort of regretted his decision. Not because he didn’t think she needed to know that her problems with Vanessa were her fault, but because one never knew what Charlotte might do when things didn’t go her way. She loved Curtis, he loved her, and for the first time in years, their marriage was healthy and stable. But she was so caught up with this whole MJ situation that there was no guessing how she might respond. He could tell by her voice how hurt she was to hear all that he was saying, but he also knew that Charlotte’s pain almost always turned to rage. Then, it wasn’t long before she set out on a mission of revenge. Normally, he never saw it coming and hoped for the best, but this time he had a bad feeling about it. She acted as though she hated Vanessa, and what worried him most was that she was obsessing over little MJ like he was hers—as if she’d carried him since conception and had now given birth to him. It was no secret that many times, Charlotte had talked about her desire to have another baby, but what Curtis had noticed over the last few months was that she didn’t mention it very much at all anymore; not since Racquel had gotten pregnant.

Curtis drove through the intersection, but looked down at his phone when it rang. Whoever was calling had blocked their number, but he answered it anyway.

“This is Curtis.”

There was no response.

“Hello?”

Still nothing.

“Hello?”

Curtis held the phone to his ear a few more seconds until the call ended. He couldn’t help thinking about the anonymous letter he’d received yesterday, and he wondered if the same person was calling now. But how would they have gotten his phone number? It was one thing for them to have the church’s number, but there were only a few select people who knew the number to his cell. Regardless, he wished this vengeful person would leave him alone and go back to whatever they were doing before contacting him. He was the first to admit that his past wasn’t pretty and that he’d committed a list of wrongdoings, but when would he ever stop paying the consequences? When would he finally be able to live his life without worrying about the next blackmailer, or, in this case, worrying about a person who didn’t want money or anything else from him, but just simply wanted to ruin him—ruin his life, his family’s lives, and his ministry.

As a pastor, he knew as much as anyone that every human being reaped what he or she sowed, but he was starting to feel as if he would never catch up. Maybe he’d done so much wrong that he would never live in peace. Maybe this was his fate, and it was time he accepted it.

Curtis slowed his vehicle when he saw the light turning red, and his phone rang again. He almost hated to look at it, but he was relieved when he saw that it was Alicia.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Hey, Daddy. What’s up?”

“Heading back to the church. Just came from having lunch with Elder Jamison and Elder Dixon.”

“Wow, I can only imagine how fun that was. Elder Dixon cracks me up.”

Curtis chuckled. “You can’t imagine half the stuff he said. We had a great time, though. Don’t know what I would do without them.”

“They’ve been very loyal to you, and it must feel good having two longtime staff members you can trust.”

“It does. My assistant pastors are great, too. Minister Simmons and Minister Morgan carry a lot of weight when I have to travel, and no one ever complains about them. They both know the Word extremely well, and they deliver their messages in a very straightforward format.”

“I like them both, too, and you know what else would be great?”

“What’s that?”

“If Phillip were there again.”

“Well, you know how much I love my son-in-law, and the offer has always been on the table for him. One of the saddest days for me was when he resigned.”

“I’ve always felt bad about that, Daddy.”

“The past is the past, though, and all is well.”

“I know, but if I hadn’t gone out and had an affair, we would still be married and he’d still be one of your pastors.”

“Maybe, but we all make mistakes, baby girl.”

“I still love him so much, though, Daddy. I love him more now than when I first married him. Isn’t that crazy?”

“No, not at all. That happens all the time.”

“To be honest, I’d really thought we’d be married again by now. It’s been three years since I divorced that awful JT.”

“Yeah, but it’s like I’ve been telling you for a while. You really hurt Phillip, and he’s afraid. There’s no doubt that he still loves you, but some people have a hard time getting past certain situations.”

“I know, but I just wish he knew that I would never, ever hurt him again. Even if I wanted to I wouldn’t, because I know how good he is for me.”

“Just hang in there. I know Phillip is taking a while to come around, but it’ll happen.”

“I hope. I don’t know why it’s taking him so long, though, when we spend just about all our time together.”

“Spending time and living in separate households is a lot different than being married. But if you really love him and want to be with him again, there’s nothing wrong with waiting. You owe him that.”

“You’re right, Daddy. And hey, before I forget—I just talked to Matt, and boy, is he happy. I’ve never heard him so excited before.”

“Yeah, he’s definitely a proud father. We all wish he and Racquel could have waited until they’d graduated college and gotten married, but we love little MJ already.”

“Matt told me the baby will be home by this weekend, so Phillip and I are driving over to see him. Oh, and he sent a photo to my phone. What a gorgeous little thing he is.”

“Wait until you see him in person.”

“I can imagine. Matt also told me about Charlotte. He said things between her and Vanessa have been horrible.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Why is she acting this way?”

“She’s obsessed. The baby is all she talks about, and she thinks Vanessa is trying to keep her away from him.”

“That’s crazy.”

“She’ll never admit it, but Charlotte hasn’t liked Vanessa since the beginning. And once she decides something, that’s just the way it is. No one can change her mind about anything.”

“That’s really too bad, and I can tell Matt feels like he and Racquel are in the middle of all this.”

“It’s unfortunate, but I’m not sure what else to do,” he said. “I just talked to her earlier about it, but she was pretty upset when she hung up.”

“Well, you know Charlotte and I still aren’t on the best of terms, so I’m not saying anything to her.”

“Hopefully, this’ll pass.”

“I hope so, too. Especially for Matt’s sake.”

“Well, I’m almost at the church, so I’d better go. But it’s good hearing from you, baby girl,” he said.

“I’ll see you this weekend.”

“Sounds good. Love you.”

“Love you, Daddy.”