The Atonement (3 page)

Though he said that he was calling to
properly congratulate her, Allen had a lot of questions, and Callie
answered them as honestly as she could. He was reaching out to her
and she didn’t want to risk scaring him away. Since Jim had
abandoned the clique, there was no sense in mentioning the affair
she’d had with him. It wouldn’t serve any purpose except to hurt
Allen and that was the last thing Callie wanted to do. To Callie’s
surprise, it wasn’t long before Allen was offering his assistance.
He escorted her to doctor appointments and childbirth classes. He
helped her to find a new apartment, move in, and decorate a
nursery. Allen even got Tamiko to help him plan a baby shower for
her and, when the time came, he even stood by her in the delivery
room. They had been through a lot together and in the process of
time their relationship had blossomed beyond mere friendship just
as she had hoped.

Callie admired Allen. He was a good man and a
good father to Darius. Sure there were times when he was a little
over zealous with regard to matters of religion, but as long as
Allen wasn’t trying to force her into the church, she could over
look this. Allen was everything she imagined her ideal partner to
be: generous, smart, caring, and handsome. Now that he was going to
law school, she also knew that it was just a matter of time before
he would become a great provider as well. Callie now had the
picture perfect family she had always wanted. For the first time in
her life she felt she had achieved happiness. Everything was going
well until the night they rushed Jim to the emergency room at St.
Luke’s.

Initial reports of Jim’s condition were
bleak. All the doctors predicted that he wouldn’t last more than a
few hours. Callie couldn’t help but feel relieved. She felt bad
about wishing death for someone who had been such a close friend.
Jim had been good to her, but in her mind there were justifications
for her feelings. “If Jim is still the same way he was at our last
meeting, he might as well die. He’d be no good to himself or anyone
else,” she thought. Then that detective from the police department
came. It seemed he knew the Sharpes and as soon as he identified
who the patient was, he contacted them. It wasn’t long before the
Sharpes, the Bynums, and their friends had converged at the
hospital. Allen got everyone together in the church chapel to pray
for Jim. They were there every evening praying that Jim would make
it, while Callie was in the emergency room, hoping that he
wouldn’t. To Callie’s dismay, her friend’s prayers prevailed. Jim
survived and Callie had to think fast about what she was going to
do to neutralize the threat to her happiness that had
materialized.

Callie knew Allen would be determined to
reconcile with Jim. At first, she tried using Jim’s condition to
her advantage. Jim was in the intensive care unit for more than a
couple of days. This, in and of itself, limited Allen’s time with
him due to the fact that patients in ICU couldn’t have visitors for
very long. During this time Callie tried to get Allen to reconsider
his relationship to Jim. She remembered their past conversation as
vividly as if it were moments ago.

“Jim is my boy. We’ve been through hell and
high water together. There’s no way I’m not going to be there for
him now.”

“How do you know if he even wants you to be
there? You said yourself, the last time you two spoke, he made it
clear he didn’t want to be bothered.”

“He was only going through some changes. He
just needed some space so he could figure things out…”

“And from the looks of things, I’d say he’s
done a pretty lousy job of it.”

“All the more reason why I should be there
for him.”

“You couldn’t help him before, so what makes
you think you can help him now? I mean think about how he ended up
at the hospital. Based on what that detective said, the
circumstances sound kind of shady, don’t you think? It’s obvious he
wasn’t mugged or was just some unfortunate bystander!”

“We don’t know what happened to Jim and I,
for that matter, don’t care. That’s not even the issue. The point
is he needs our support right now. Maybe I can’t help Jim with
everything, but I’m willing to let God use me however He sees fit.
After everything we’ve been through together, I owe Jim that.”

“Allen, I know how much you care about Jim
and I’m not saying that you shouldn’t. But at the same time, it
just seems that this brother is determined to go down and I don’t
want him to take you with him.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“But how do you know…”

“I won’t abandon him, Callie. That’s all
there is to it.”

Trying to convince Allen to drop his
friendship with Jim went nowhere and Callie knew if she continued
to press him, she would risk losing his affection. So Callie
resorted to another tactic: she decided to control the amount of
information that passed between the two. Callie was grateful to
Pastor Bynum for suggesting that Jim not be overwhelmed by a lot of
questions and gossip until he was stronger. It gave her the perfect
cover for not revealing the details of her relationship with Allen
to Jim, and since Allen tended to have a high regard for his
Pastor’s advice it was easy to get him to agree. If Allen didn’t
bring up the subject of the relationship, it was less likely that
Jim would bring up what happened between him and Callie so long
ago. Shortly after Jim had awakened from his coma, he could barely
put two coherent words together. His doctor had even told them that
some parts of his memory might be affected for a while as well.
This, coupled with the fact that Jim spent most of the time doped
up on painkillers and other medications which made him drowsy and
unable to maintain consciousness for more than an hour at a time,
gave Callie a sense of relief for a while. Now, things were
starting to change and she knew her secret wouldn’t be safe for
long.

The stronger Jim got, the more lucid he
became, which in turn, made him more talkative. From her
conversations with Tim and Allen, she realized that Jim was
bringing up more and more of the recent past. Although she was
certain Jim had not brought up the subject of their ‘fling’, Callie
knew it wouldn’t be long before he did. She would have to make sure
she was able to get to him before that happened – that is, if it
hadn’t happened already.

The buzz of her intercom interrupted her
reverie and nearly made Callie jump out of her skin. She hastened
over to answer it.

“Who is it?”

“Handyman,” she heard a familiar voice
say.

Allen was obviously trying to be funny which
gave Callie a sense of relief. If he was in a joking mood, then she
knew that her secret was still safe. She walked over to the door,
unlocked it and waited for Allen to arrive.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said after he got off
the elevator and headed in her direction. She noticed he was also
carrying a large shopping bag.

“I thought you had class tonight.”

“I did, but I was running late, so I decided
to skip it. Besides, I felt like I haven’t seen you two in so long,
I just had to drop by. I hope I haven’t spoiled your plans.”

“Not at all. In fact, I’d say this is much
better than the phone call I was expecting.”

“Really? Then let me make it even more
pleasant,” he said before he took her into his arms to kiss
her.

“You’re right; that made my day. How was
yours?” said Callie as she led him into the apartment.

“Just okay, until now. How’s Darius?”

“He’s asleep. He was a little gassy earlier,
but thankfully I remembered that trick you showed me.”

“He hasn’t gotten feverish lately, has
he?”

“Not for a whole week now. His immune system
must be building up. What’s that you’ve got there?”

“I stopped by the book store after I left the
hospital and decided to pick up some bedtime stories for Darius.
When I saw them I just had to get them. I remember my dad used to
read these to me when I was a kid,” he said as he took them out of
the bag to show her before placing them on the coffee table.

“And you were worried that I would spoil him?
Allen, you just bought him a whole bunch of clothes last week, not
to mention that big birthday party you threw and all the toys you
bought.”

“I just want him to have everything he needs.
Miko says reading to him even at this age is going to prepare him
for school.”

“You say that like…”

“I’m his dad? As far as I’m concerned, I am.
If that’s okay with you?”

“
No complaints here. So, how
was Jim?”

“Physically, he’s a lot better, but he’s
still kinda down on himself. Ya know?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s feeling guilty about cutting us off and
all the mistakes he’s made.”

“I think that’s a good thing. If you don’t
feel guilty all you do is keep on repeating the same mistakes.”

“I guess. Then there are all the changes he’s
heard we’ve all been going through. I know you wanted to be there
so we could tell him together, but I told him about us.”

“You what?!”

“I’m sorry, but Tamiko gave him a hint and he
asked me point blank. I didn’t want to have to lie.”

“Of course, that little…” began Callie under
her breath, gritting her teeth in an attempt to stifle her anger.
“It’s just that I wish you would have waited like we planned.”

“I know, but at least things didn’t go as
badly as we thought.”

“Are you saying he’s happy for us?”

“I wouldn’t quite put it that way.”

“So how would you put it?”

“He’s just concerned about the amount of
responsibility I’m taking on.”

“In other words, he doesn’t like the idea of
us being together, either,” said Callie throwing up her hands.

“At least he didn’t seem angry about it like
my parents were. Anyway at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter
what Jim or anyone else likes or doesn’t like. As far as I’m
concerned, it’s not going to change anything.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Anyway, I think he’s more concerned about
his own situation - like where he’s going to fit in when he gets
home.”

“That’s his problem. Jim’s a grown man and
he’s going to have to find his own way.”

“I think he will. He’s going to be staying
with my parents and I when he gets out. He’s even been talking
about coming back to church.”

Callie’s heart sank. Allen and Jim living
together for who knows how long was making this just that much more
complicated, not to mention Jim’s sudden development of religious
convictions.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I think it’s exactly what he needs.
It’s what I’ve been praying about for a long time and I thank God
He heard my prayer. Now if I could get one more person to come to
down to church…”

“Allen…”

“No pressure. Just thought I’d suggest.”

“Maybe one day. Do you want something to eat?
It’s going to be late by the time you get back to your mom’s.”

“I don’t know. I have some reading that I
have to finish when I get home.”

“So I’ll make something quick. How about eggs
and rice with sausage?”

“O.K. Sounds good.”

“Just give me ten minutes.”

Just then, Darius started to cry.

“Oh, no!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll check on him,” said Allen
before he started off to Darius’s room.

“Thanks.”

Callie rushed around the kitchen gathering
the items she needed for the dinner. As she was preparing the
sausages she could see Allen coming back into the living room with
little Darius who had since quieted down. Allen was rocking him
back and forth gently and talking to him.

“Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Our conversation probably woke
him up. He was probably wondering, ‘who’s making all that noise
when I’m trying to sleep?’ Right, Darius? Well don’t worry little
man, next time I’ll keep it down. Hey, would you like to hear a
story? Maybe this will help you get back to sleep. I got a good
one, too. It’s called, The Snowy Day.”

Allen grabbed one of the books from the
coffee table and took Darius with him to the recliner and began to
read him the story. For the first time tonight, Darius seemed calm
and content. Callie’s heart melted as she watched them together.
All of a sudden her protective instincts kicked in. There was no
way that she could allow anyone to destroy the domestic bliss she
had worked so hard to build. Callie knew what she had to do. She
was determined to see Jim as soon as possible - tomorrow morning to
be exact.

Three

“
So what would you
recommend?” asked Tamiko as she and Davis looked over their menus.
They had just been to see a Christian film called, “The Last
Apostle” and Tamiko had practically begged him to have dinner with
her at La Rosita, a little Latin restaurant that was next door to
the theatre.

“I was going to have the pork chops, with
beans and rice, but that might not be to your taste. I know you
like to eat healthy and everything.”

“But it’s not like I’m a fitness fanatic or
something. I’ve eaten pork before. Besides, it sounds good. I’m
willing to give it a try.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. I trust your judgment,” she beamed.

Davis smiled back, but he couldn’t help but
feel uncomfortable. Every time they went out, she would always ask
him what he wanted and then end up ordering the same thing. At
first, he thought it was because they had the same tastes, but
after a while he’d observed that she was doing this just to copy
him, which was becoming annoying. It just seemed like game, like he
thought this whole night was turning out to be.

When Tamiko invited him on this outing, she
told him that Tim and Allen would be coming with them, however,
both of them were conspicuously absent when he showed up to meet
her at the theatre. In all fairness, he knew Allen wouldn’t show.
Allen had told him earlier in the day at work that he’d have to
stop by the hospital to see Jim and then he had school afterward.
Tim on the other hand, just bailed on them. Tamiko said she texted
him to see what was up, but he hadn’t answered and now Davis was
starting to wonder if Tamiko had something to do with it. He knew
she and Tim could be like peanut butter and jelly sometimes, and
Tim would do almost anything she asked him to. Davis wasn’t
thrilled about having to entertain the possibility that he’d been
cornered into yet another ‘date’, but this was the fifth time this
had happened in the past month. She was even dressed up like it was
a date: fancy black silk dress with white polka-dots and ruffled
skirt, topped with a red sweater and belt, finished with black high
heels. What was worse was he hated to entertain the idea that
Tamiko, of all the women he knew, would ever resort to such tricks.
“What happened to that sweet girl that I met not long ago?” he
thought to himself. But he suspected he might know the answer to
that question.