Tears Fall at Night-The Blessed One Box Set (Praise Him Anyhow and Blessed and Highly Favored Series) (17 page)

“I will,” Isaiah said quietly, as he dropped his outstretched hands back into his lap.

***

Joel sat at the head of the dinner table. It had been three years since he’d vacationed with all of his children. Right before his wife, Beth, had passed away, they had taken a trip to Italy with the kids. Joel glanced
longingly
at the chair at the other end of the table. Beth used to sit there. Her seat was empty now, and even surrounded by family and a table full of his favorites—pasta salad, shrimp, lobster, and mixed vegetables—the reality of Beth’s absence still pained Joel’s heart.

His eldest son, Eric, sat on his right side with his wife, Linda, seated next to him. Isaiah sat on his left side, his wife, Tanya, sat next to him. Elaine sat next to Tanya, and Shawn sat next to Elaine. Eric’s side of the table was half full, since Dee Dee and Drake hadn’t arrived yet.

Joel leaned toward Eric and asked, “Do you think the children are okay with eating at the kitchen table?”

“Are you kidding?” Eric smiled while answering his father. “They’re delighted that they don’t have to sit with stuffy old adults.”

“All right then,” Joel said as he bowed his head. “Let’s say grace and then eat up.”

As the family bowed their heads, the doorbell rang. Mary, the housekeeper, hurried out of the kitchen and into the foyer to open the door, as Joel finished saying grace over the food. The house
burst full of
energy as Dee Dee walked her fabulous self into the dining room to greet her family.

Dee Dee slung her white Gucci purse on the chair next to Linda, and then walked over to her father, bent down and kissed him on the cheek. With pouting lips, she asked, “Do I mean so little to this family that you would start dinner without me, Father?”

Joel patted Dee Dee’s diamond-bedecked hand. “Of course not, dear. But your brothers and sister managed to get here on time, so I didn’t want to make them wait any longer for dinner.”

“Maybe your other children don’t have as busy a life as I have,” Dee Dee said, as if only she and Joel were in the room.

“Oh, we’re pretty busy,” Eric told her, and then added. “We just respect other people's time.”

Dee Dee rolled her eyes heavenward, straightened and brushed off her yellow and white sundress, as she said to her father, “Well, I didn’t mean to get here so late, Daddy. But the traffic from the airport was horrible with all the tourists, and Drake drives like an old lady.”

“Where is Drake?” Joel asked, after glancing around the room.

With a flip of her hand, Dee Dee said, “He’s parking the car. I had him drop me at the door.”

Elaine glanced under the table at her sister's shoes and said, “You sure wouldn’t have been able to walk on that rock pathway with those three-inch heels on.”

Dee Dee looked at Elaine and the rest of her family; then, as if it were an afterthought, she said, “Oh, hello everyone.”

The group all responded in kind. Then Dee Dee told Elaine, “My shoes are from Versace on Rodeo. So no, I wasn’t about to walk on that monstrosity of a walkway.”

At that moment Drake walked into the dining room, waved his hand in the air and yelled, “Hello, good people.”

The family jubilantly responded to Drake. Eric and Isaiah got out of their seats and shook his hand. Shawn hollered, “How ya’ be, Brother-in-law?" And Drake leaned down and hugged Elaine and Linda, as if they were some long, lost family members he was excited to see again.

Dee Dee put her hands on her hips to protest. “Why didn’t anyone greet me like that?” she complained.

“You get what you give, dear sister,” Shawn said while piling food onto his plate.

Isaiah walked back around the table and hugged his sister. “It’s good to see you, Dee Dee.”

When Isaiah released Dee Dee, then Elaine hugged her and said, “I’m glad to see you, girl. You’re looking very pretty. But I’ve always told you that you and Angela Bassett could be twins.”

“Thank you,” Dee Dee said, then as she backed away from Elaine’s embrace, she picked at the lint on her sister’s cotton shirt. Dee Dee turned up her nose and shook her head, as her eyes lowered on Elaine’s faded jeans. “You really need to come out to L.A. so I can take you shopping.”

Elaine looked down at her outfit and said, “It doesn’t look very nice, huh? I probably should have put on a dress or something.”

“It probably wouldn’t have mattered. Most of the dresses you have are just as bad,” Dee Dee told her as she walked away from her sister, heading back to her father.

“What Elaine has on is fine; you’re just so hateful you have to find something evil to say.” said Linda, who had been quiet ever since
they sat down for
dinner.

Dee Dee scoffed as she turned toward her sister-in-law. “I wouldn’t expect you to know anything about fashion, Linda. You’ve gained so much weight; I doubt you’ve been inside a boutique in years.”

“Hey,” Linda shouted as she shakily stood up and walked toward Dee Dee with her index finger extended. “Why do you always have to put us down?”

“What are you talking about?” Dee Dee asked, eyes wild with bewilderment.

Linda tripped over her feet, almost fell, but then righted herself as she walked around the table and stood in front of Dee Dee.

“Linda, sit back down,” Eric commanded.

“No, I have something to say to Miss High and Mighty,” Linda told Eric. Then as her index finger indicated
the
occupants at the table, she turned back to Dee Dee and said, “You’re constantly putting all of us down. And I’m sick of it.”

“It’s okay, Linda,” Elaine said quickly. “Dee Dee is right. I should go shopping more often.”

Linda turned to Elaine and patted her honey-toned face with her hand. “Y-you really need to s-stop being Dee Dee’s doormat, honey.” Her words were noticeably slurred.

Dee Dee turned toward her father and asked, “Since when do you stock liquor in this house?”

Eric jumped up and grabbed his wife. He turned toward his father and said, “Linda is tired. She hasn’t been feeling well, Dad. We’re going to turn in for the night, so if you could have Mary bring us some dinner, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure, Son, I’ll have some food sent right up to you,” Joel said as he watched Eric rush his wife out of the dining room.

Dee Dee grabbed the chair next to her father and said, “If Eric isn’t going to need this seat, I’ll sit next to you tonight, Daddy.” She sat down and put some mixed vegetables and a lobster on her plate, oblivious to the part she played in the chaos that had just unfolded.

CHAPTER 5

Isaiah and Shawn walked along the beach. Isaiah held Erin’s hand and Shawn held onto his niece, Kivonna.

“I want to go in there, Daddy,” Erin told Isaiah as she pointed at the ocean.

Erin was six years old, but Isaiah didn’t like for her to run off or take too many chances. “There’s too much motion in the water for you to get in. But you and Kivonna can build houses and castles in the sand while we wait for the waves to calm down.”

“Is it okay if we play in the sand over there?” Erin pointed to a hilly area that was devoid of children so they would have all the sand to themselves.

“Yes, go,” Isaiah told them. Then he turned to his brother and asked, “So, why didn’t you bring the boys with you this weekend?”

Shawn had on a white t-shirt and a pair of long blue jean shorts. He put his hands in his pockets and turned toward the waves. “Lilly left me.”

Isaiah shook his head. He put his hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “Didn’t I tell you that Lilly wouldn’t wait forever for you to make up your mind about marrying her?”

“If that was my only problem I would just set the date and be done with it, but Lilly is through with me.”

“What makes you so sure?” Isaiah asked.

Shawn turned from the waves and watched Erin and Kivonna play in the sand as he admitted, “I have to take another paternity test next week. Lilly was home when the court papers arrived.”

“Shawn, no!”

“Daddy, Daddy. Look at our castle!” Erin screamed from her position on the hill.

Isaiah and Shawn climbed the small hill so they could view Erin and Kivonna’s masterpiece. Isaiah’s eyes were big with praise as he told the children how much he admired their artistic and architectural skills. The castle was leaning to the left, but neither Isaiah nor Shawn mentioned that to the girls.

“When do you want to move in, Daddy?”

“Silly,” Kivonna said. “You can’t live in a sand house.”

“It’s still pretty,” Erin said.

“It sure is,” Shawn acknowledged.

Isaiah grabbed Shawn’s arm and pulled him to the side. “We need to finish our conversation. I don’t understand how you could let this happen again.”

Shawn held up a hand. “Not now, Isaiah. I’d much rather hear about you being offered the senior pastor position at your church.”

“Changing the subject?”

“You know it,” Shawn said with a smile.

“I guess Dad told you about the offer?”

Shawn nodded.

Isaiah walked away from the kids to put them out of earshot as he told Shawn, “I didn’t want word of this to get out because I’m not sure what I’m going to do about it.”

“What are you talking about? This is what you’ve always wanted.”

Isaiah sat down in the sand. He didn’t respond to his brother as he stared out at the darkening sky, a sure sign of an impending storm.

Shawn sat down next to his brother. “Isaiah, when we were kids you built your own podium. You preached to each of us every chance you got and you’ve told me on numerous occasions that you want to pastor your own church. So what has changed?”

“I have a family now,” Isaiah explained.

“So?”

“See, that’s why you’re having problems with Lilly. You put everything above family. But I don’t know if I can do that.”

“How would following your heart’s desire to become a pastor harm your family?”

Isaiah glanced at his daughter. There was so much love in his heart for that little girl. He’d do anything for her, even give up his heart’s desire. So he turned to his brother and told him straight, “Tanya says she’ll leave me if I accept this position. She doesn’t want to be a preacher’s wife, and I can’t let her take my little girl away from me.”

Shawn stood up and kicked around the sand as he strutted back and forth in front of Isaiah. He finally stopped, turned back to his brother and said, “But she knew that you were destined to become a preacher.”

Isaiah stood next to his brother. “That’s what I thought too, bro. But just within the last two years she has become adamant about not going into ministry with me.”

Steam blew from Shawn’s nostrils as he said, “That’s not right.” His fist curled as he turned and walked away from his brother still mumbling, “That’s not right.”

***

“What are you doing?” Linda screamed as she watched Eric pour the contents of her 2-liter 7-UP bottle down the toilet.

“I knew you sneaked liquor into my father’s house and I wasn’t going to rest until I found it,” Eric told his wife with a self-satisfied smirk.

She ran toward him and grabbed the bottle. “Give it here. It’s mine.”

Eric moved her out of his way and continued pouring. “You will not disrespect my father’s house like this. I won’t let you.”

“Why can’t you leave me alone, Eric? Why can’t you just let me be?”

He threw the plastic bottle in the trash and walked out of the bathroom into the adjoining bedroom. “You’re my wife, Linda. You knew what you were getting into when I asked you to marry me and I just don’t understand why you are trying to destroy my life.”

Linda followed Eric out of the bathroom as she said, “Destroy your life? You must be kidding. What about what you’ve done to me?”

“What did I do to you, Linda? I gave you a beautiful home, our children and respect in our community. All of which you are trying to tear down.”

Her voice rose in anger as she said, “You and your endless campaigning has destroyed me. And you have the nerve to stand there and blame me for what has happened to us.”

“Lower your voice,” Eric told her with his finger in her face. “You will not continue to humiliate me in front of my family.”

At 6’2, Eric towered of Linda who was only 5’5. But Linda didn’t care. If getting plastered in front of Eric’s father was the only thing that granted her an audience with her husband, she would get drunk every night of the week. “I don’t care what your family thinks of me. I’m tired of pretending that I’m this perfect wife.”

He grabbed a pair of socks from his dresser drawer and sat down on the bed. “You better get used to it, Linda. Perfect wives sell in the political world, drunk wives don’t.”

“Tell me something, Eric.” Linda sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “How much is enough for you? I’m mean, you’re already mayor of a big city and now you’re running for governor.”

Eric put on his socks and then turned to his wife. “You just don’t get it do you?”

“Oh, I get it.” Linda stood back up. Venom dripped from her tone. “Your daddy isn’t as impressed as you thought he would be with your little mayor job. So, you spend your nights networking instead of being home with your family, all so you can become president of the United States and finally receive the praise you desire from your father.”

“That’s not fair, Linda.” He stood and walked to the closet and pulled out a button down oxford. “I know I’m gone from home a lot. But I’m networking with people who might be able to help me in the years to come.”

“Well, we need you at home.”

He put his shirt on and buttoned it. Without looking at Linda, he said, “And just so you know, I don’t need to become governor to make my father proud, he’s happy that I’m a mayor. I want to be governor, and yes, president of the United States because I believe I can make a difference for this country.”

Linda folded her arms around her chest. “What is your family supposed to do while you’re out saving the world, Eric?”

“Take up a hobby, Linda. Do anything you want except drink yourself onto the front page of one of those tabloid rags,” he said as he put on his shoes and then left the room.