Jezebel (32 page)

January 1997

H
olt Junior was born two weeks early on the fourteenth day of January.

Jessie Belle and Traynor went to the hospital to visit with Frankie and meet their first grandchild. She spotted Holt near the nurses' station when they stepped off the elevator.

“Holt, why didn't you call us? We could've come out here and stayed with you.”

“Mother, I didn't want to keep you up all night.”

“We could've handled it,” she responded with a laugh. “We're not that old.”

“How's Frankie and the baby doing?” Traynor inquired.

“They're doing well,” he responded. “Y'all can go on in the room.”

Traynor rapped lightly on the door before walking inside.

“Come in,” they heard her say.

“Hello, Frankie,” Jessie Belle greeted. “How are you feeling?”

“Just a little tired. I'm glad you and Mr. Deveraux could come. I've been telling Holt Junior all about his grandparents.”

“Really?”

“Yes and he's very excited to meet you.”

Jessie Belle glanced over at the little bundle in the see-through bassinet. All she could really see was a head full of black curls.

“You can pick him up if you'd like,” Frankie told her.

“Let me go wash my hands first.”

“He's so beautiful,” Jessie Belle murmured as she stared down at her grandson.

“He looks like Holt.”

She agreed. “He sure does.”

A knock on the door drew their attention from the baby.

Mary Ellen stuck her head inside.

“Come on in,” Frankie gushed. “I can't believe you're here.”

“I told you I wasn't about to miss the blessed event.”

“You were too busy to join us for the baby shower,” Jessie Belle blurted.

“Which is why I made it my business to be here now,” Mary Ellen responded. “Your grandson is beautiful, Jessie Belle.”

“I think so, too. Wash your hands and I'll let you hold him,” she said. Jessie Belle was tired of the tension between them.

Mary Ellen glanced over at Frankie. “Is that okay with you?”

She nodded. “Sure is.”

Jessie Belle turned to her daughter-in-law. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries.”

Frankie's expression indicated that she didn't believe Jessie Belle. “It's fine.”

After Mary Ellen, Traynor and Holt went down to the cafeteria to have lunch and spend quality time together, Jessie Belle decided to have a heart-to-heart with Frankie.

“I never hid my dislike of you, Frankie, but I want you to know that's all in the past now.”

“I really don't think it is,” she responded. “You have no choice but to accept me because I'm married to your son and I just gave birth to your grandson. You don't want to risk losing them. But if Holt knew who you really are—he wouldn't have anything to do with you.”

Jessie Belle was taken aback by her words. “Excuse me?”

“I know what you did to him,” Frankie stated. “I know all about the way you coerced the record companies into not signing him by threatening to take airtime away from their artists. He was devastated, Mrs. Deveraux.”

“You don't know what you're talking about. I can't believe Mary Ellen would tell you something like that. I know she hates me, but to do this—it's cruel. I sat in here today trying to make peace with her and she's stabbing me in the back. I should've known better.”

“Miss Mary Ellen has nothing to do with this,” Frankie countered. “She never betrayed you and she wouldn't try to turn Holt against you. She didn't have to open her mouth. I know about it because I worked for Peace Records. I never told Holt what you'd done—it would hurt him too much.”

“Are you trying to blackmail me?”

“I would never sink to your level, Mrs. Deveraux. I simply want it understood that I know who you really are. As long as you respect my position in this family, you will have a place in my son's life. However, I won't let you use him as a pawn. Not the way you've done with your husband and Holt.”

“Understood,” Jessie Belle responded.

She rose to her feet. “I guess I'll let you get some rest.”

Traynor decided to spend the day clearing out the office he and Jessie Belle shared. He couldn't stand the clutter any longer.

Jessie Belle was over at Holt's. Since the baby was born, she was trying to build a solid relationship with Frankie. It pleased him that she was making strides to not interfere in their marriage.

He thanked God once more for the positive changes his wife had made. Jessie Belle was a different woman now and Traynor was proud of her.

Singing softly, he walked over to the file cabinet to put away some files lying around on her desk.

Inside the cabinet were several stacks of yellow envelopes. There was one with Elton Newman's name on it, which Traynor assumed had to do with the radio station. His eyes strayed to a thick envelope with John Winters's name written on it.

Curious, he picked it up and looked inside.

When he eyed the contents, Traynor suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He went back and grabbed the one with Elton's name on it. He then saw other names he recognized. Charles Maxwell and several other deacons in their church. The pastors he ran against briefly for ECC president.

Charles and the other deacons suddenly changing their minds about the mandatory tithe increase all those years ago; Elton agreeing to give him a radio show—Traynor was sick at heart.

He could scarcely believe how deep her deceit went. Most of it was in the past—all except John Winters. She was up to her old schemes.

He heard the front door open and close. Jessie Belle was back.

“Traynor, honey, I'm home…,” she called out. “Where are you?”

“In the office,” he yelled out.

She came running in, holding up the digital camera in one hand. “I got some great shots of Junior. Honey, he's getting so big.”

Jessie Belle's eyes traveled down to the thick envelope in Traynor's hand. “What are you doing with that? Were you going through my personal things?”

“I thought you told me…” He rose to his feet. “No, you promised me that you wouldn't resort to blackmail anymore. And I see that you've got bank accounts—accounts I knew nothing about. I don't know who you are.”

“Every woman has or should have their own bank account. It's not a big deal, Traynor. As for that stuff, I never did anything with the information.”

“I guess you think I'm stupid,” he uttered. “You went to John, and that's the reason he suddenly did a complete turnaround on the merger. Winters died because of this information.”

“I don't like your tone.”

“I really don't care,” Traynor shot back. “You might as well have put the gun in his mouth yourself.”

“How dare you talk to me like this?” Jessie Belle stammered. “I had nothing to do with John's death. I considered him a friend.”

Traynor held up the envelope. “This is how you treat your friends? I told you I would not tolerate this type of goings-on.”

“John Winters is dead because he was a coward. He killed himself, Traynor. It had nothing to do with me.”

“I need to know, Jessie Belle. Did you go see him about this file?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to decide what to tell Traynor. He was furious with her right now. Jessie Belle knew that he was probably going to leave her this time.

“Well…,” Traynor prompted. “And I want the truth.”

“Honey, I was concerned—,” she began.

Traynor stopped her. “I said the truth, Jessie Belle. You're not as good a liar as you think.”

“John was a closet homosexual. He was involved with his assistant pastor. Doesn't that bother you?”

“Who are you to judge anyone?”

“I simply suggested to John that he consider handing the reins over to you once the merger was completed.” Jessie Belle quickly went on to say, “I didn't threaten him, but I confronted him with the truth.”

Traynor looked completely disgusted with her. “Holt once said that you manipulated me through our entire marriage. He's right, but no more. It ends now.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just what I said.”

“I made you,” Jessie Belle stated. “Traynor, you didn't get here all by yourself. I made sure you were successful.
I made you
.”

“I can walk away from it all, Jessie Belle. You wanted all this. I never did. Oh, I went along with the ride, but I shouldn't have. My spirit was trying to tell me, but I ignored it. You have information on Elton Newman…. That's why he gave me the radio show, isn't it?”

“Yes.”

“You did all this talking about how you had so much faith in me—it was all a big lie, wasn't it?” Traynor demanded. “Because if you had any faith in me at all—you wouldn't have gone around blackmailing people.”

“Traynor, I do believe in you,” she snapped in anger. “That's why I did it all.
I did this for you
.”

“You hung around that man's widow until you convinced her to sell you the radio station. Then you dropped her faster than a hot potato. And there's Mary Ellen—your own best friend. You even tried to manipulate her life. She told me how you kept Richard's affair from her.”

Jessie Belle didn't respond.

“Why didn't you just trust God?”

She didn't have an answer for him.

“I can't be around you right now.” Traynor tossed the envelopes on her desk. “I have to get out of here.”

Jessie Belle found her voice. “Traynor…”

“There's nothing else to be said. It's over, Jessie Belle.
We're over
.”

“You can't mean that. Traynor, you promised to stay with me until death. I expect you to honor your vows.”

He released a harsh laugh. “
You
want to talk about keeping promises.” Traynor shook his head.

“Please don't leave,” Jessie Belle pleaded. “I love you, Traynor.”

He walked out of the office and headed upstairs.

She followed him.

Traynor pulled out a suitcase and began to pack. He couldn't stand to be near his own wife.

Traynor was an idiot! An ungrateful idiot.

He should be thanking her for all her hard work, Jessie Belle thought to herself. After all, everything she'd done was to propel his career forward.

I did all this for you.

Traynor's mad at me now, but he'll get over it. He always does.

He has to get over this and come back to me.

Jessie Belle's eyes filled with tears. Traynor had actually walked out on her.

Deep down, she knew there was no reason to be angry with Traynor. All of this was her own doing. If she'd just stopped going behind his back, scheming and manipulating others to get what she wanted, Jessie Belle wouldn't be in this mess.

How do I get him to come home? Lord, what do I do now?

She paced back and forth for nearly an hour.

Jessie Belle tried calling Traynor, but he wouldn't return her call. She called Holt, but there wasn't an answer over there either. She burst into another round of tears.

All cried out, Jessie Belle slowly headed back up to her bedroom and took off her clothes. She wanted to wash away the nervous tension in her body in a hot bubble bath.

She felt a little better afterward.

After slipping on a black silk nightgown and matching robe, Jessie Belle paced back and forth in her bedroom, praying for another chance with Traynor.

“I don't want to lose my husband,” she whispered. “Please let him forgive me. I only wanted to help Traynor. It's not my fault that John took his own life. He couldn't live with his own shame.”

Jessie Belle kept checking the clock, hoping that Traynor would eventually walk through the front door.

The telephone rang.

She answered it on the first ring.

It was Holt.

“Have you talked to your father?” Jessie Belle asked.

“He's fine, Mother. The reason I'm calling is to let you know that he's staying with us.”

“Holt, tell your father that he needs to come home. We can't work out our differences if he's over there with you.”