Scandalous Truth (10 page)
Authors: Monica P. Carter
Chapter 24
The next few days had seemed to crawl by for Nikki. She had just wanted the surgery to be done already. For once though, she had been glad William was so busy with the campaign and the computer business that he barely had time for anything else. Even the other day, when Nikki had told him she had found the money for the surgery, he had only half listened.
“Really? That's good, baby,” he had said, kissing her absent-mindedly as he pored over poll results. “I knew you'd make the insurance company see things our way.”
She had not corrected his assumption. Even when they had driven to church Sunday, William's mind had seemed to be elsewhere. They had ridden in relative silence.
But today was Monday, Psalm's surgery day. Troy had told her to speak to a certain person at registration, and that's what Nikki did when they arrived ten minutes early.
“May I speak with Denise, please?” she asked now as the woman at the counter prepared to pass her a clipboard. A woman quickly hurried over to where Nikki stood. Nikki checked the woman's nametag to confirm her identity. Yes, this was Denise.
“Oh, I'll take care of her paperwork,” Denise said to her coworker, who shrugged, dropped the empty clipboard on the counter, and walked away.
“Suit yourself.”
“Baby, can you go get me some water?” Nikki looked for an excuse to get rid of William.
“Sure,” he said. “I need to make a call right quick, anyway. I'm going to step outside, make the call, then I'll get you a water. Okay?”
“Sounds good,” Nikki said hurriedly.
William disappeared.
The woman pulled out paperwork that was already filled out. “All you have to do is sign here,” she pointed to a line.
Nikki held her breath as she scribbled a name on the line. Troy had told her what name to use. He had told her that this was the person who was going to take care of the bill for her. Nikki let out her breath when the woman took the paperwork and nodded. “Okay,” she said. “You're all set.”
Nikki glanced around to make sure William was still nowhere around when she saw Spencer's wife coming her way. Nikki had forgotten the woman worked there. Nikki quickly lowered her head. Denise handed Spencer's wife Nikki's paperwork.
Spencer's wife never flinched. Nikki and the woman had met a long time ago, shortly after Nikki and her family relocated here from New Orleans. The woman hadn't taken too kindly to Nikki then, and Nikki wasn't interested in developing a relationship with anyone connected to Spencer. Now, Nikki let out a shaky breath to steady herself.
Maybe she doesn't recognize me
. Nikki knew that was close. While she didn't know all the details of Troy's hookup, Nikki knew enough to be afraid of being found outâespecially by Spencer's wife.
Maybe she doesn't recognize me
. Nikki knew that was close. While she didn't know all the details of Troy's hookup, Nikki knew enough to be afraid of being found outâespecially by Spencer's wife.
William returned from his errand and extended a bottle of water to Nikki. “Here you go, baby,” he said.
Nikki shook her head and held up her hand, forgetting she had requested the beverage.
William frowned. “I thought you wanted some water?”
Nikki, remembering she had sent him for it, apologized. “Oh, yeah,” she said. “I'm sorry. I'm just so nervous about the surgery.”
William put his arm around her. “It'll be fine. You see, God blessed us to get the surgery. He would do no less than bless the hands of the doctors.”
Nikki nodded. William didn't know about her part in making the surgery happen, and that made her wince inside.
William's mother was standing next to a window when they entered the waiting area. “Hey, Ma,” William said and leaned in and hugged her. “Thanks for coming.”
Nikki smiled at the woman and gave her a stiff hug. They waited the entire morning to hear word. Nikki paced the waiting room and William stood stoically near the door.
“Stop all that pacing,” William's mom chided Nikki.
“Mama, leave her alone, please.” William defended his wife before Nikki could respond. His mother folded her arms across her chest but said nothing more.
As Nikki strode from one end of the room to the other, she tried to comfort herself by reciting scriptures, but kept getting the words mixed up as she fished in her memory for specific references. She could not concentrate. Each time someone entered the waiting room, her eyes flew to the doorway. But none of those who arrived came with news of Psalm.
Sister James and two other ushers stopped in and prayed with them. Reverend Chance dropped by briefly and gave a few words of encouragement before heading to a campaign event.
William strode to his wife. He put his arm around her and they embraced without words. Stepping back, William smiled. “It'll be all right.”
Nikki tried to smile back.
“Mr. and Mrs. Broussard?”
They whipped around to see the doctor standing before them.
“Yes?” they said in unison.
“Your daughter came through surgery beautifully.”
Nikki slumped into William with relief. She hadn't realized how tense she had been, but hearing that Psalm was doing all right made her burst into emotion.
“Oh, thank you, doctor!” Nikki exclaimed.
“Thank you, Jesus!” Sister James shouted and William's mother and the ushers called out praises of their own.
“So she'll be all right? Can we see her now?” William asked.
“Yes, and yes,” Dr. Woods said with a broad grin. “She is a tough little girl.”
The next few weeks passed quickly. Things returned to normal for Nikki's family as Psalm recovered from her surgery and seemed to suffer no ill effects. Nikki wanted to take a late summer vacation to relax, but William shot down the idea. He couldn't afford the time away, and gas prices were too high to be touring the country, he told her. When Danielle asked Nikki if she wanted to ride over to Dallas with her for a shopping trip, Nikki said yes, knowing William would never even miss her.
They piled into Danielle's Lexus and made the three-hour westward drive. They went to Northpark Center in the central part of the city, then Danielle insisted on heading up to Plano to check out a new shopping center. Nikki tried to decline when Danielle offered to buy a pair of pink sandals for Psalm, but Danielle ignored her, buying the girl shoes that were more expensive than anything else Psalm owned. She also knew Psalm would outgrow them before the seasons changed, but Danielle didn't care. Danielle was shopping, and doing it with her best friend, so she was in a generous mood.
When they returned home late that night, William was still gone. Nikki sighed. She had known William was too busy to miss her, but it would have been nice if he had.
August was zipping by with William working still longer hours than Nikki would have liked, but she knew he was giving the Chance campaign his all. Especially now that it seemed the pastor was taking a beating in the polls. Just the other day, a newspaper story had come out broadcasting all of Lo Dark's so-called accomplishments, though Nikki knew Dark hadn't done muchâcertainly not for folks who were not his political friends. He had browbeaten the city council into approving a plan for a new entertainment complex with a convention center, movie theater and shopping center that was now coming to fruition. But even that project hadn't been all that great as it had been delayed more than six years because of various problems with the site. But the entertainment complex had now become a reality and it seemed no one cared its arrival meant an increase in taxes to pay for it. That the mayor had given the go-ahead for the construction of a parking lot at a soccer field in the rich part of town without the council's consent, seemed not to have raised any eyebrows either, even though that meant less money for a city-funded feeding program for needy, elderly residents.
Reverend Chance had a small piece of the story as he touted his plans for a project that would give more contracting opportunities for businesses owned by women and minorities. He also supported a project to direct more faith-based funding to social programs, but his opponent received twice as much inkâas if Dark needed any more free publicity.
Reverend Chance kept a positive attitude, pointing to the fact that he was included in the story at all as a good thing. The other challengers weren't even mentioned. Reverend Chance may have been optimistic, but Nikki could tell William was worried. She tried to encourage him, but she was lonely and missed her husband.
She telephoned Danielle a couple of times to get together, but Danielle always seemed busy. Danielle made time, however, to stop by Nikki's one afternoon with a bit of news.
“I'm getting married,” Danielle grinned and flashed a nice-sized princess cut diamond in a platinum setting.
“To whom?” Surprise was etched on Nikki's face. Her eyes moved from the ring to her friend's visage.
“What do you mean? Troy, of course!” Danielle said with irritation, snatching back her hand.
“You can't be serious!” Nikki said, staring at her friend in disbelief.
“Yes, I am. Now, don't go and rain on my parade.”
“Girl, you need to think about that,” Nikki insisted, shaking her head. “Just a few weeks ago, you were convinced he was cheating on you.”
“Well, we've gotten past all that,” Danielle said, moving around her friend to the hall mirror where she fluffed her hair over her shoulders and then admired her ring. “Just be happy for me. He's a good man. And he's changed. He loves me. And I love him. He appreciates me and all I've done for him. And he is going to join church.”
Nikki doubted the miraculous change Danielle described, but she knew this was not the time to be skeptical. She swallowed her words and pasted on a smile. “Well . . . congrats!”
Chapter 25
MAYORAL CANDIDATE CHANCE FOUND DEAD IN RED RIVER.
The headline ripped through William's consciousness like a bullet. His eyes widened as he snatched the paper out of the bin, hungrily devouring each word. The story wasn't very long, but it was the lead piece on the front page. It didn't say much, just that Reverend Chance had been found floating in the river near the casinos.
“Oh, my God,” William said. His head hurt as he took in the story. He drove to the office as if in a trance. If he ran a red light, he didn't remember. If he rolled through a stop sign, it didn't register.
He stepped into the somber office just after 7:30 in the morning and was greeted by a red-eyed Olivia.
“What happened?” he asked.
She hunched her shoulders. “I don't know. All I know is what I read in the paper. Someone from the police department stopped by my house last night, but they didn't have many details. I wanted to go to the scene but I had to be with my mother. It was really late when they discovered him. I guess that's why there isn't much in the paper.”
William gave her an awkward hug. “I'm so sorry.”
“William, my dad is dead.” She said the words as if she couldn't believe them.
The door flew open and a gaggle of reporters stormed into the office. The bright light of a camera momentarily blinded William, who threw up a hand to block the glare.
“So, was the reverend losing all his campaign funds at the casinos? Is that why he committed suicide?” a reporter asked.
“You guys, get out of here!” Olivia demanded.
“Was your father afraid of losing the election or was he afraid of facing the public with the truth about his gambling habit? Is that why he jumped?” Jimmy Vaughn demanded, standing in front of Olivia. A TV reporter thrust a microphone into her face.
William stepped in front of Olivia and spoke. “Reverend Chance did not commit suicide. We are investigating all of this. Of course, we are quite distressed at the news we've just found out. You'll have to excuse us as we absorb this very sad and shocking turn of events. That's all we have to say.”
“So, are you denying the reverend killed himself over gambling debts?” a reporter insisted. “I thought the reverend said he hadn't set foot in a casino in years. Can you explain why his body was found near them?”
“No comment,” William said sternly. “We will have a statement later. Until then, good day.”
He pushed them toward the door. When they were safely on the other side of it, he turned to face Olivia.
The sadness in his eyes mirrored her own. “I can't believe he's dead.”
William didn't have time to stop and grieve, as he immediately began to look for answers to the questions. How did Reverend Chance end up face down in the muddy riverâoutside the casinos he said he hadn't visited in years?
The idea of suicide just didn't sit well with William, but the stories flew around like confetti on a gusty day. It just didn't seem that the man he had worked so closely with these past few months could have done this. What if there was more to this story? What if Lo Dark's people had something to do with it?
“Surely, you don't think Spencer, I mean, Mr. Dark, would do such a thing?” Nikki asked after listening to William speculate. “That is so unreal.”
“I don't know what to think,” William said. “But I'll figure it out. Something just doesn't sit right about this whole thing. And I wouldn't be surprised if the other side is behind it.”
William demanded an investigation, but the police department said they had no resources to devote to something that was so obviously a suicide.
“Those guys are on Lo Dark's payroll, so of course they would say that,” William fumed. The police chief liked the mayor because the mayor made sure the department got all the money the chief wanted. “Of course the chief wouldn't care about what happened to the mayor's challenger.”
William was surprised when Thurston Hicks, pastor of the city's largest black church, approached Olivia about having the funeral at his big church. “Why does he want to have the funeral at his church?” William asked when Olivia told him about the conversation.
“He says my dad had a lot of supporters and my dad's own church would be too small,” Olivia said.
“So. Your dad's church is fine. He's just thinking about the publicity. He probably wants to step into your father's shoes or something. Maybe he wants to run for mayor himself.”
Olivia didn't say anything for a moment, then she spoke. “I don't know. Maybe he is right. Maybe we do need a bigger place.”
William knew Olivia was taking most of the responsibility for arranging her father's funeral. Her mother had taken to her bed after hearing the news and Olivia's brother, who had been deployed to Iraq, hadn't come home yet, though he was due any day. William knew Olivia was strongâat 29, she had already buried a husbandâbut he couldn't imagine being in her position now.
“Well, I'm here if you need me,” William said, giving her a one-armed hug.
Olivia leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled. “Thanks.”
“You know you don't have to move the funeral to that other church if you don't want to. Your dad's church will be good enough.”
“What if Pastor Hicks is right though?”
“Well, if there are that many people, then they can stand.”
In the end, Olivia's mother settled it when she finally pulled herself from the bed and said the funeral would be at the church her husband had built.
William wondered what lay ahead.
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