Jezebel (28 page)

May 1996

S
ix years later, Holt received his doctor of theology degree. Joy leaped in Jessie Belle's heart as she watched him walk across the stage to receive his degree.

Traynor and Jessie Belle hosted a dinner in his honor.

Shortly before dessert was served, Holt pulled her off to the side. “Mother, I have to tell you something.”

Concerned, she asked, “What is it, Holt?”

“You were right…. This is my true calling. I realized it the first day I walked on Duke's campus. I just wasn't ready to admit it at the time. I was so discouraged when I came home from LA. I only decided to attend school because I knew it's what you and Dad wanted. But being here changed everything. I still love music.”

“I love music, too, and at one time I considered being a concert pianist, but my calling is to be a wife and a partner to your father. I accepted it without question.”

Holt met her gaze. “I never knew that.”

“I saw no reason to mention it,” Jessie Belle stated. “I'd made my decision the day I married your father.”

“Any regrets?” Holt inquired.

Jessie Belle shook her head. “I have no regrets.”

“I was so close to a record deal, Mother. I guess God closed that door to get me here.”

Jessie Belle smiled and hugged him. “I'm so proud of you, sweetie.”

“I thought you'd want to know. Now, don't go and spoil it by telling Father. I want to be the one to tell him.”

“Okay. I won't say a word.”

A dark-skinned full-figured young woman with braids and a brightly colored pantsuit walked into the foyer.

“Who in the world is that?” Jessie Belle asked. “Son, is this a friend of yours?”

“Yes,” Holt responded. “She's a close friend.”

He gestured for the girl to join them. The two embraced, and then he introduced her. “Mother, this is Frankie.”

Jessie Belle saw the tender look he gave her and knew they were more than friends.

“My name is Francis, Mrs. Deveraux. But everyone calls me Frankie.”

“Why?” Jessie Belle wanted to know.

“Mother…”

Frankie laughed. “It's okay. I was a tomboy growing up and I wanted to play basketball. None of the boys wanted to play with a girl, so I put on one of my brother's caps and pretended to be a boy. I guess the name stuck.”

“Interesting,” Jessie Belle murmured.

Mary Ellen joined them. “Hi, you must be Frankie. It's so nice to finally meet you.”

Jessie Belle surveyed her son's friend while Mary Ellen engaged her in conversation. Frankie was tall—around five six—and dark-skinned, and looked like she hadn't missed a meal ever in life. She had a brightly hued scarf wrapped around hundreds of thin braids.

Jessie Belle caught Holt watching her and pasted on a polite smile. “Honey, you should go over and introduce Frankie to your father.”

She glanced over at Mary Ellen. “Holt told you about her?” Jessie Belle questioned when they were alone.

Nodding, her friend responded, “She and Holt have been dating for two years now, I believe.”

“Where did he meet her?”

“They met when he was in Los Angeles. They were just friends up until a couple of years ago.”

“I can't believe he's dating her,” Jessie Belle whispered. “She's nothing like the type of woman I thought he'd pick. And she goes around calling herself Frankie. What kind of name is that?”

“It's a nice name,” Mary Ellen uttered. “Jessie Belle, why don't you like her? What's wrong with her?”

“Just look at her, Mary Ellen. She's got braids and that scarf wrapped all around her head. She looks so ethnic.”

“I think she looks cute.”

“Hopefully this phase in my son's life will pass.”

“And if it doesn't? What then?” Mary Ellen questioned. “Are you going to try and pay her off?”

Jessie Belle sent her a sharp look. “I can't believe you said that to me.”

“Why not? It's definitely your MO.”

“There's no need to keep bringing up the past. If you were in my shoes, Mary Ellen—I believe you'd do the exact same thing.”

“I'd like to think that I wouldn't interfere in my child's life. I'd trust him or her to make their own decisions. Or anybody's life, period.” Mary Ellen finished up her lemonade. “Jessie Belle, I never told you this, but Richard told me that you knew about Amelia and the baby. I didn't believe him back then because I couldn't accept that a person who was supposed to be my best friend would keep an enormous secret like that from me.
But you did
.”

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Jessie Belle replied calmly.

“I knew you were very manipulative—I'd seen it with Atkinson, with Traynor, and even with Holt, but I never thought that you'd do it to me.” She shook her head sadly. “What was I thinking?”

She'd never seen her friend look so angry. Mary Ellen's eyes glittered with fury and her mouth took on an unpleasant twist.

“Mary Ellen, I—”

“I really don't want to hear it, Jessie Belle. And before you fire me, I brought a copy of my resignation letter with me. I'm leaving Raleigh.”

“You don't have to do this, Mary Ellen.”

“Actually, I do,” she retorted. “I'm not about to let you drag me down with your schemes. If you pull this kind of mess with your family—there's no telling what you'd do to someone who crosses you.”

“Where are you going? Do you have another job lined up?”

“I'd rather not say. I've seen the damage you can do.” Mary Ellen's eyes traveled over to where Traynor was standing. “You have such a wonderful family, Jessie Belle. Why can't you just stop trying to control them?”

“I've always known you were jealous of me, Mary Ellen. You want my life, but you can't have it.
Or my family
. You've tried to turn Holt against me—don't think I'm not aware of what you're doing. You're just as manipulative as I am, trying to steal my son from me. You love throwing it up in my face how much he confides in you.”

“You're crazy, Jessie Belle. I don't want your life.”

“It's time for you to leave, Mary Ellen.”

“No, it's long past time for me to leave. I was just too blind to see it.”

“I really thought of you as my friend.”

“I guess I should consider myself one of the lucky ones, then. But then I see how you treat your own family. I feel sorry for you, Jessie Belle. I really do.”

“I don't need your pity.”

Mary Ellen gave her a tiny smile. “But you have it anyway.”

“Where did Mary Ellen run off to?” Traynor inquired.

“I'm not really sure,” Jessie Belle responded. “She didn't say.”

“You look upset. Did you two have an argument?”

“I'll tell you everything after our guests leave. I don't want to put a damper on the evening. We'll talk later.”

“Did you meet Holt's girlfriend? She's a lovely girl.”

“He told me she was just a friend.”

Traynor looked surprised. “They've been dating for almost two and a half years, from what I understand.”

“He didn't tell me that,” she insisted. “He introduced her simply as a friend. That's very telling, if you ask me.”

“Relax, Jessie Belle. You won't lose your son.”

Her heart started to race. “Are they talking about getting married?”

Traynor laughed. “No, I just wanted to see what your reaction would be.”

“When is she going back to Los Angeles?” Jessie Belle wanted to know.

“I think she's going to be here for a couple of weeks. Frankie's looking for a job in this area.”

“Why?”

“She and Holt want to be together.” Traynor put an arm around her. “He loves her, Jessie Belle.”

“It's not love,” she countered. “Holt doesn't know anything about love. He's never really dated anyone seriously. I'm sure he likes her as a good friend, but I don't think we should call it love. This is just a phase.”

“Jessie Belle, don't do this. Don't interfere in our son's life.”

She glared at him for a moment before saying, “You know, I really thought you'd forgiven me, Traynor. But I guess you haven't.”

“I forgave you a long time ago, but, sweetheart, I know how you are about your son. You've got to let Holt live his life on his own terms. If you don't, you'll lose him.”

“She's not the one for him, Traynor. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I feel about it. That Frankie girl will never be his wife.”

Traynor and Jessie Belle had a dinner invitation to John Winters's house. He'd called the day before, inviting them over.

“Have you talked to Mary Ellen?” Traynor questioned as he zipped up Jessie Belle's black dress. “We really need her back at the station. I haven't found anyone as capable as she is.”

Jessie Belle shook her head no. “Traynor, we need to get used to the fact that our season with Mary Ellen is over. To be honest, I just think she couldn't get past her resentment that her marriage didn't last and ours did. She was jealous of my life.”

“I never saw that in her.”

“You're a man,” Jessie Belle teased. “Women know women.”

She picked up her purse and said, “I'm ready. We don't want to be late.”

They walked out to the car and got inside.

Traynor pulled out of the driveway, saying, “I'm still wondering why John Winters invited us for dinner. It's not like we've ever been friends.”

“I guess he's decided to change that,” she murmured. Jessie Belle was excited at the prospect of a relationship with John Winters. She'd spoken with his late wife on several occasions in the past, but they never became confidantes.

John greeted them at the front door.

Jessie Belle noticed a young woman standing a few yards away and inquired, “Is this your lovely daughter?”

“Yes, it is. This is Natalia.”

She eyed the brown-eyed beauty and smiled.
This is the type of girl I envisioned for my son
.

Traynor and John were over by the fireplace, talking.

Jessie Belle moved around the room, looking at the various family photographs. She pointed to one. “When did you graduate from college?”

“I just graduated law school. I'm taking the bar exam in a month.”

“Good for you. Your mother told me a few years back that you wanted to go to law school.”

Natalia smiled. “I've been talking about being a lawyer since I was a little girl. I love law.

“I met your son, Holt,” she told Jessie Belle. “He's a very nice man and a wonderful preacher. I heard him over at Mount Olive Baptist a couple of weeks ago.”

“Really?”

Natalia nodded. “He preached on true holiness. The message really spoke to me. I went up and introduced myself to him.”

“So tell me, Natalia. What do you really think of my son?”

“I find him incredibly sexy, handsome and intelligent. Mrs. Deveraux, I have a strong feeling he's going places.” Her gaze met Jessie Belle's. “Holt is exactly the kind of man my father would approve of.”

Natalia glanced over her shoulder to where her father and Traynor stood before she continued. “I've been telling my father that it would be advantageous to both our families if we were to merge the two churches together.”

Jessie Belle's eyebrows rose in surprise, but she remained quiet. She wanted to hear what Natalia had to say.

“Think about it. Your church is growing in leaps and bounds. You don't have any more space and our church is huge, but on Sunday, there are a lot of empty pews. The truth of the matter is that a lot of our members left to join New Salem Baptist Church.”

“And you want them back?” Jessie Belle responded.

“As I said, it would be mutually beneficial to both families. You-all need a bigger church and we need more members. It's a marriage made in heaven.”

“How does my husband fit into this?”

“He and my father would be copastors of the new Mount Vernon Baptist Church.”

“And Holt?”

“A marriage made in heaven,” Natalia murmured. “If Holt and I were to marry, my father would be more inclined to consider the merger.”

Smiling, Jessie Belle said, “I see I was right about you.”

“And I about you,” Natalia shot back. “Mrs. Deveraux, I don't see anything wrong with going after what you want in life.”