Flawfully Wedded Wives (13 page)

—
Sullivan Webb

 

Sullivan found herself traveling to St. Simons Island to see Vera for the second time in two months, which was twice as many times as she normally saw Vera per year. However, the circumstances warranted a personal visit, as opposed to a phone call or e-mail. It was rare that she got a chance to rub Vera's nose in anything, and she wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity.

“I just want you to know that you're completely wrong about him,” Sullivan announced, sitting down across from Vera at the kitchen table.

Vera took a sip of her drink. “Wrong about who?”

“My father. He's nothing like the shiftless, lying, low-down scumbag you made him out to be.”

“Says who? Him? You just met him, Sullivan. Give him a few months. The real Samuel Sullivan never fails to show up eventually.”

“For all of your bad-mouthing about him, my father has never once said anything negative about you.”

Vera appeared surprised. “Ain't that special?”

“Just admit you were wrong about him.”

Vera jerked back. “Wrong about which part, Sully? That he's a cheating husband or a deadbeat dad?”

“Both. His marriage to Marti and his relationship with you were extremely complicated. He was conflicted because he loved both of you very deeply but differently. I've been there. I know what that's like.”

Vera shook her head in disbelief. “He's even got you sounding like him. You're gullible enough to believe anything that man tells you, ain't you? How he's convinced you he's a saint is beyond me.”

“I don't think he's a saint, but I don't think he's the horrible excuse for a human being that you described, either. Samuel Sullivan is a very gentle, caring man. You should see him with Charity. He's wonderful with her, and she adores him.”

“What about his wife? Does Marti adore her grandbaby too?” Sullivan bit her lip. “Yeah, that's what I thought. She doesn't know that child exists any more than she knows that you exist. Wake up, Sully! This man is playing you, and you're just stupid enough to fall for it.”

Sullivan could feel the rage rising inside of her. Vera never failed to bring out the worst in a person. “Even if I am stupid for believing him, I must say that it's very refreshing to have a parent who doesn't need to put me down to feel better about her own pathetic life.”

“You can say whatever you want about me. I stopped giving a cat's behind about what you thought of me years ago. I'm trying to help you, and you're too fool-headed to even see that!”

“How is lying to me and withholding information from me about my father
helping?
I should've known that you couldn't be trusted to tell me the truth, but it doesn't matter. My father and I are developing a very good relationship without your assistance or interference. He's even coming over for our Christmas party this year,
and
he's bringing his wife.”

“Sullivan, a mouth can say anything. Do you want to know the kind of man your daddy really is? Ask him about Amber. Then come back and tell me what a fine, loving Christian family man he is,” Vera said, daring her.

“He told me all about Amber.”

Vera was stunned and stopped short of bringing her glass to her lips. “What did you say?”

“That's right. He told me about the little girl he and his wife lost in a tragic accident and how it broke his heart. Only a sadistic moron like you would take his heartbreak as a sign of weakness or as some kind of proof that he's less than a man.”

Vera slammed the glass down and began rocking back and forth and trembling. “That lying son of a . . .”

“He's told me everything, Vera. I know all about how you met, how he tried to love you, but your reputation had proceeded you, so there's no way he could introduce you to society without ridicule. Unlike you, he's been extremely forthcoming with all my questions.”

“That man is still the same!” Vera uttered to herself. “He's the same low-down dog he's always been.”

“What's the matter?” Sullivan taunted. “Are you mad because I finally know the truth about how you were too big of a whore for any decent man to marry you? Or that you tried to pressure him into leaving his wife and kids? When that didn't work, you snatched me away from the only parent I had who cared whether I lived or died. Was it not enough for you that he'd already lost one child? Did you have to make the devastation complete by taking me away too? And for what? Because he didn't want to keep slummin' with the likes of you?”

Without uttering a word, Vera struck Sullivan hard across her face.

Hot tears pricked Sullivan's eyes as she held her bruised cheek. “Is that all you got?”

Vera glared at her with intensity.

“Is that all you got, old woman?” Sullivan repeated. “I've had much worse from you. You should've used your backhand. It would've made it feel more like old times.”

“You ungrateful, idiotic wench!” croaked Vera. “You ain't got the first clue as to who your daddy is and even less of a clue as to who Amber is! Amber was
my
baby, not Marti's.”

Sullivan let her hand slide down her face. “What?”

“
I
was the one who carried that sweet child in my womb! You want to know what really happened? The real reason I
snatched
you away from your daddy, as you put it?”

“Wait . . . Amber was
your
child?” asked Sullivan, still trying to put the pieces together.

“Yes.” Vera took a deep breath and calmed down. “I got pregnant with Amber when you were around seven years old. I had been with Samuel for about nine years, and after nine long years, he promised that we were finally going to be a family. He said his boys were old enough to where he could leave his wife, and he was going to ask her for a divorce. Months go by, and I'm steadily planning for our new baby. I started getting her room ready and buying pretty little clothes. I even picked out a name for her and everything. Amber Nicole.” Vera smiled and held her stomach as she spoke, as if she'd been mentally transported to a happier time and place.

A flash of her eyes signaled a new, harrowing thought. “Six months go by, and Samuel starts coming up with every excuse in the book for why he still hadn't left his wife. After I have waited for this man all this time, he comes over one day and says he's decided to stay with his wife and family. Then he tells me that I can't have this new baby, because it'll ruin everything for him.” Tears streamed down Vera's face. “I loved that man, and I would've done anything for him. But I had somebody who I loved more. I told Samuel that I was too far along not to keep the baby, and I threatened to go to his wife and tell her everything.

“Samuel then turns on the charm and says he's had a change of heart. He said I was the only woman he had ever wanted and that he was leaving Marti for real this time. In fact, he said we should go tell her together. To this day, I don't know why I believed him. I guess what folks say is true. Love makes the obvious invisible.”

Sullivan moved in closer, rapt by the story.

Vera continued. “So I dropped you off next door and got in the car with Sammy. I know that man must've driven the road from my house to his a million times, definitely enough to know every curve and bend in that road.” Vera started wailing hysterically. “He did it on purpose, Sullivan! He wanted to kill me and my baby! I know he did!”

“Did what?” queried Sullivan. “What did he do?”

Vera pulled herself together. “He careened that old Mercedes of his right into a tree. I don't think he even cared about killing himself at that point. He just wanted me and that baby out of his way.” Sullivan covered her mouth in repulsion. “And that's why I took you and left without telling anybody where we were going, and that's why we never stayed in one place too long. He'd already succeeded in killing one child by causing me to have a miscarriage. I wasn't going to stick around long enough for him to try again.”

“Vera, do you know what you're saying? What you're accusing him of is murder!”

“That's exactly what I'm accusing him of, and I'll believe it till they put me in my grave. Samuel Sullivan purposely rammed that car into a tree and killed Amber, and he wouldn't have hesitated to kill me too if I wasn't too stubborn and ornery to die!” Vera gulped down her drink. “Nothing was ever the same after that.”

Sullivan vehemently shook her head. “I can't believe this. I can't believe any of this, Vera! The man I know would never do anything as cruel and vicious as that.”

“What man do you know, fool? You haven't met the real Samuel Sullivan. You just met his representative. The real Samuel is ruthless and cold and has a dark side to him that not even the devil wants to get on. Yeah, he can be charming, but cross him and see what happens. If a man would stoop to killing his own unborn child, there ain't nothing else he won't do!”

Sullivan exhaled. “With all due respect, I believe that you believe everything you just told me. I have no intentions of trying to change your mind or question your truth, but personally, I don't think he tried to kill you. He loved you, and he loved me. What was there to gain by taking that kind of risk?”

“It ain't what he had to gain. It's what he stood to lose by everybody finding out that he had not one, but two babies by the woman everybody had decided was the town whore. He wasn't going to risk his reputation, his ministry, or his family's name like that.”

“If my dad says it was an accident, I believe him. He's been honest about everything else, so he has no reason to lie about this.”

“Wake up, child!” Vera whacked the back of Sullivan's head. “He's been playing you all along. Are you that desperate for a man to love you that you'll believe anything one tells you?”

Vera's words cut Sullivan to the core. “How dare you question anything about me when you know the kind of hell you put me through as a child? If I have issues with men, it's probably because my own mother pimped me out to them from the time I was fourteen years old until I left to go to college. And if I am a whore or any of the other labels you like to put on me, never forget that I learned by watching you!”

“Then learn this by watching me. Stay away from Samuel Sullivan! I'm telling you, he ain't no good, Sully. He's going to hurt you.”

“So what?” Sullivan shrugged her shoulders. “My parents have been hurting me my whole life. What can he possibly do to me that you haven't already done?”

“Why do you think I'm the way I am today, huh? That man took everything about me that was sensitive and hopeful and kind and squeezed out every drop. This bitter, tired old woman is all that's left.”

“That'll never happen to me,” vowed Sullivan. “I'll never be you, Vera.”

Vera laughed a little. “That's the same thing I said when I saw it happening to my mama. Sullivan, you're more like me than you want to admit. And just like me, loving Samuel Sullivan is going to end up costing you way more than you can afford to pay.”

—
Kina Battle

 

Reginell looked outside of Lawson's living room window at the rain pouring down in buckets. “Can you believe that in two days we're going to be laid out on the beach on Grand Bahama Island, looking at the aqua water while some sexy, rude boy named Dexter St. Jacques serves us drinks?”

“Not if we don't get through this checklist first.” Lawson closed the blinds, disrupting both Reginell's view and her fantasy. She pulled out her clipboard and stuck a pen behind her ear.

“Lawson, must you treat everything like a covert military operation? We're going away for the weekend, not plotting a coup,” said Sullivan. “You're taking all the fun and spontaneity out of it.”

“Sullivan, you already know that I'm type A. I have to have everything methodically planned out, including my spontaneity, and there's nothing
fun
about getting stopped by airport security or not making it through customs.” Lawson clicked her pen and began marking off items on her checklist. “Did everyone print a copy of the TSA regulations I e-mailed you? If not, I printed out extra copies.”

“Yes, Lawson.” Reginell groaned and perched herself on the arm of the sofa.

Lawson jotted something down. “Kina, do we have your word that there'll be no filming on this trip?”

“Absolutely. I've given Chris this week off, so all your dirty little secrets are safe, at least for this weekend.”

Lawson released papers from her clipboard and began issuing them out. “I took the liberty of researching activities for us to do while we're there.” She stopped when she got to Angel, who was dozing off. “Am I boring you, Miss King?”

Angel yawned. “No, I'm just tired. I think my iron is low. My energy level has been shot lately.”

“That's because you've been working too much,” Kina told her, diagnosing the problem. “You definitely need to get some rest while we're in the Bahamas this weekend. I'm sure Lawson scheduled some nap time for us.”

Lawson handed Kina an itinerary. “As a matter of fact, I did.”

Angel scanned the list. “Do you all know that this is the first weekend I've had off in almost four months?”

“You look a little peaked too,” noted Kina. “Are you sure you're not coming down with something, Angel?”

“I don't think so.”

“You better make an appointment with your doctor as a precaution,” said Lawson. “The last thing you need is to be sick on vacation.”

“And the last thing we need is to be stuck in close quarters with you if you're contagious,” pointed out Sullivan.

Kina passed around her iPad. “Here are some pictures of the villa. Isn't it gorgeous?”

Lawson scrolled through the snapshots of the lavish property. “It looks heavenly. I may get over there and not want to leave, which might not be such a bad idea.”

Sullivan took possession of the iPad. “Are you and Garrett still on the outs?”

Lawson shook her head. “I wouldn't call it the
outs.
We're very cordial and polite to each other, but we talk only when needed. I think we're both afraid that one careless word will cause an avalanche that ends in divorce court.”

“Are you worried about him seeing Simone while you're away this weekend?” asked Reginell.

“If Garrett wants to cheat again, he'll cheat whether I'm in the Bahamas or in his back pocket,” Lawson responded. “I can't drive myself crazy worrying about it anymore.”

Angel's cell phone rang. “Hold that thought. It's my mom.” Angel answered the phone. “Hi, Ma. What's going on?”

“Do you have a minute?” asked her mother Ruby.

“Yes, I'm just here talking to the girls, trying to get this trip to the Bahamas sorted out. What's up?”

“I saw one of your high school classmates at the gym a little while ago.”

“Who?”

“Crystal Pennymon. You remember her, right? Little scrawny thing with long hair.”

“Yeah, we were in a lot of the same clubs together. How is she?”

“Oh, she's fine. She asked about you, and I told her that you were living in Georgia now and had recently started dating another one of your classmates, one named Jordan.”

“I bet she was shocked to hear that,” said Angel with a giggle.

“Yes, she was shocked, but not for the reasons you might think.”

“What do you mean?”

Her mother hesitated. “Well, she was shocked to hear that he was out.”

“Out of what?” Angel asked in horror. “Out of the closet?”

“No, sweetie. Out of jail.”

Angel's jaw dropped.
“Jail?”

“Angel, baby, I'm so sorry to have tell you this. Apparently, Jordan got caught up in some duplicitous check scheme at the bank he was working at a few years ago. He was cashing fraudulent payroll checks for one of his friends. They got away with about a hundred thousand dollars of the bank's money before getting caught.”

“Maybe Jordan didn't know the checks were fake,” suggested Angel.

“Honey, if that was the case, he would have gotten fired, not arrested. The police, the DA, the bank, and everyone else seem to think he was in on it.”

“I can't believe this.” Angel shook her head. “There's got to be a logical explanation for all this. I know Jordan. He's not the kind of person who'd steal that kind of money. Besides, I'm sure he would have told me if he'd been locked up before, especially if it was recently.”

“Well, you know everything's on the computer these days. Why don't you do a little research and see what you can find out?”

“I will.”

“I know this is probably difficult for you to face, but it's better that you find out now, before you start to really fall for this guy.”

Lawson rushed to Angel's side as soon as she hung up the phone. “What's wrong? Is your mother okay?”

“Yeah. She said she bumped into one of my old classmates today. When my mom told her I was seeing Jordan, she revealed to my mother that Jordan had been locked up recently for check fraud or something like that.”

“Are you serious?” Sullivan asked. “Has Jordan ever mentioned anything about it?”

Angel shook her head. “Not a word.”

“Do you think that's why he left D.C.?” Lawson flung her hand over her heart. “Oh, my God. You don't think he's on the run, do you?”

“I don't know. I was about to check online to see what I could find out.”

“Wait here a minute.” Lawson disappeared into her bedroom. She returned with her laptop in tow and popped it open. “Here. Do a search for his name with the word
fraud
and see what you find out. Better yet, there's the Web site my students are always on to find out who's been locked up. I think it's Bust-a-Mug, or something like that.”

Angel found the Web site and typed in Jordan's name. His mug shot appeared on the screen. “Yep, that's him, charged with fraud,” Angel affirmed and lowered her head. “God, how could I have been so stupid?”

“What's the main newspaper in D.C.?” asked Lawson. “Go to their Web site and see if you can find some more information about it.”

After a brief search, Angel found an article about the incident archived on the newspaper's Web site. Angel's heart sank when she saw his picture under the headline
BANK BRANCH MANAGER CHARGED IN CHECKING SCHEME.
“I guess this makes it official.”

Sullivan started reading the article. “Well, wait a minute, Angel. It says here that he denies knowing that the checks were fraudulent.”

Lawson scrolled farther down. “Oh . . . but here it says he pled guilty. That's probably not something an innocent man would do.”

Angel couldn't bear to read any more. “We've talked about our lives and our past. Why wouldn't he tell me about that?”

“I hate to say it, but it sounds like Jordan might be a con artist,” concluded Lawson. “I wouldn't be surprised if he's been gearing up to make you his next mark.”

“Lawson, don't scare the poor girl like that!” admonished Sullivan. “He was probably ashamed to tell you, Angel. I know firsthand what it's like to want to keep your past behind you.”

“Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?” asked Lawson. “Are you going to confront him? Is this a deal breaker for you?”

Angel sank down in the sofa and exhaled. “I don't know. I'm so confused right now that I don't know what to do or to think. If Jordan could keep something like this from me, what does that say about him? How can I trust him?”

“I wouldn't go jumping to any conclusions until you've heard his side of the story,” cautioned Sullivan.

“He's been misleading her for weeks,” said Lawson. “How can she believe anything that comes out of his mouth?”

“I say listen to what the man has to say and give him another chance,” Reginell volunteered. “Besides, Angel needs a little thug in her life.”

“It's that kind of logic that has pushed the number of female inmates to a record high,” Lawson declared.

Kina sat down next to Angel. “Are you in too deep with this guy to just end it?”

“It's hard to say. I care about him, but I feel like I don't half know him at all.”

“Okay, we know that he was locked up, but he's out now. He's paid his debt to society,” Sullivan argued. “If you feel that strongly about him, maybe you ought to consider letting him explain what happened and giving the relationship an honest chance.”

“What bothers you more? The fact that he has a record or that he didn't tell you about it?” asked Kina.

“Both are equally undesirable, Kina,” answered Angel.

Lawson closed her laptop. “I say cut your losses. You haven't been seeing each other that long. You're not obligated or tied to him in any way.”

Unless you count being soul tied,
thought Angel, remembering Mark 10:8, which said that after sex, “And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh . . .”

“I don't think I'm even going to bring it up until we get back from this trip,” Angel said, having decided what to do. “Perhaps then I'll be more focused and can come back with some answers.”

“And don't forget about that checkup before we leave,” Lawson reminded her.

Angel nodded.

“But you
do
need to forget about your troubles, your stress, your bills, and all that other drama,” said Reginell. “Because we're going to the Bahamas, baby, and ain't nothing stopping us from having a ball this weekend!”