Raven had just finished recording her internal video announcement with Melvin for Sunday, and now she was heading back to her office. She’d considered letting her members know that her ex-father-in-law was not the man who’d raped her, but she’d decided to wait. She also had planned on updating her online following with the same information, but she was putting that on hold as well. The reason: She needed proof that D.C.’s financial demands were in fact connected to Dillon and his father. D.C. had claimed that they weren’t, but Raven just couldn’t be sure. She’d even decided this morning that D.C. was definitely in cahoots with them. But again, what if he wasn’t and she went ahead and exonerated Pastor Black, anyway? D.C. would still end up wanting $270,000 from her, and she would lose all leverage with Pastor Black for no reason. In the beginning, she’d only wanted people to think he’d done something to her for publicity purposes, but she’d also known that her accusation might create a chance for her to blackmail him in some way.
Raven continued down the carpeted hallway, smiled at a couple of her staff members, and walked inside her office. She closed her door, sat behind her desk, and opened her laptop. Then she leaned back in her chair, weighing her options again. Maybe she should call Dillon to see if she could feel him out. Maybe he would slip up and say something he shouldn’t. Although, with Dillon that was highly unlikely. He was too clever for that kind of thing, and whether he was the mastermind behind this D. C. Robinson drama or not, he would never let on. He would much rather see Raven squirm and suffer with curiosity. He was dirty that way, and he had no mercy on anyone he couldn’t stand. And with her it was worse, because he outright hated her.
But maybe it wasn’t Dillon who she should be calling, anyway. Maybe Pastor Black was the person she needed to talk to. Especially since he was the person all the rumors were circulating about.
Raven debated what she should do and then picked up her smartphone. She Googled the phone number for Deliverance Outreach and dialed it.
“Pastor Curtis Black’s office. This is Lana speaking.”
“Uh, hi. Is Pastor Black available?”
“May I tell him who’s calling?”
“Raven.”
“Is there a last name?”
“It’s me, Miss Lana. Pastor Black’s ex-daughter-in-law.”
“Oh, how are you, Raven?”
“I’m doing well, and you?”
“I’m good. Please hold for a moment.”
“Thank you,” Raven said.
Miss Lana had been cordial enough. And although Raven hadn’t spoken to her since she’d embezzled the money from the church, she knew she probably wasn’t one of Miss Lana’s favorite people. Not when Miss Lana saw Pastor Black as her surrogate son and was very protective of him and his family. It also didn’t help that because Dillon had been estranged from his dad the whole time he and Raven had been married, Raven hadn’t seen Miss Lana in nine years. She’d never even had a chance to apologize to her, but it wasn’t as if Raven felt she needed to, either.
Lana came back on the line. “I’ll transfer you now. And you have a good day.”
“Thank you.”
Raven waited a few seconds for her ex-father-in-law to answer.
“Pastor Black speaking.”
“Hi, Pastor.”
“Raven,” he said with no feeling in his voice.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m calling you, but if you have time I’d like to speak to you about something.”
“Go ahead.”
“I’m not sure how this happened,” she began lying, “but for some reason when I shared online that I’d been raped by a pastor, some people took it the wrong way. They assumed I was talking about you.”
“Uh-huh, and why do you think that is?”
She could already tell he wasn’t happy. “I don’t know. Maybe because I worked for you.”
“Well, for one thing, you and I both know that I never touched you in any way, let alone raped you. I also understand that my son already contacted you about this.”
“He did, but I just wanted to call to say how sorry I am. Because not once when I bared my soul to the public did I think they would start mentioning your name.”
“Well, they did, and it’s already causing people to think the worst of me. It’s damaging my reputation.”
“I never meant for that to happen, so I hope you can forgive me.”
“Have you corrected your statement? Made it clear to everyone that you specifically weren’t referring to me?”
“No, but I’m going to…but I did want to ask you about something else, too.”
“Which is?”
“D.C.”
“Robinson?”
“Yes.”
“What about him?”
“Did you ask him to contact me?”
“No, why would I?”
Raven closed her eyes with disappointment. “I don’t know. I just wondered if maybe you’d done it to get back at me about the video.”
“Look,” Pastor Black said. “First of all, I know I’m not guilty of raping anyone, and second, Dillon already told you what you needed to do. Retract your statement…correct it or do whatever you need to do to clear my name. That’s all I want. Nothing else.”
“Well, it just seemed strange that I broadcasted live on Monday, and two days later D.C. showed up at my church. He literally came to Bible study last night.”
“Why?”
“To scare me, I guess. But that’s not the worst part. He wants his thirty thousand dollars back.”
“Well, Raven, it’s not like you don’t owe the man. So I suggest you pay him.”
“Well, I would, except he wants one hundred percent for every year I was late. So instead of the original thirty thousand, he wants two hundred and seventy.”
“I guess I don’t know what to tell you, because I don’t get involved in D.C.’s business.”
“But you did before I went to prison.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“No, but I just had a feeling that you did, because D.C. doesn’t let anyone get away with not paying him. Even after I was arrested and was going back and forth to court, he never bothered me. For years, I never heard from him.”
“I’m sorry about your situation with D.C., but you’ll have to work that out with him.”
“I already tried, but he wants his money. And I don’t have it.”
“Well, it’s like I just told you, Raven, I don’t get involved in D.C.’s business.”
Raven wanted to plead with him to help her, just like she’d pleaded with D.C. earlier, but she didn’t.
“I need to get going,” Pastor Black said, “but I trust you’ll be clearing my name as soon as possible.”
“I will,” she said.
“I appreciate it. You take care.”
Raven ended the call and set her phone on her desk. She wasn’t sure what to think or what the truth was. Would Pastor Black lie about hiring D.C. to do his dirty work? He didn’t sound as though he was, but what if he were? What if he’d only told her what she’d wanted to hear, and once she cleared his reputation, D.C. would still be waiting to collect six figures from her? Because it wasn’t like she could ignore her gut feeling about this. Or what if Dillon had hooked up with D.C. on his own as a way to finally get back at her? He’d lost his church, his power as a pastor in the community, and his popularity with women, and he blamed her for all of it. Not to mention, she’d divorced him, and she also had that sex tape of him and Porsha.
This last thought sort of lifted Raven’s spirits a little. She’d always told herself that there might come a time when that lurid sex video might become her saving grace. She hadn’t known how or when, but she’d always thought that she would use it if she had to. So maybe it was time she stopped being a scared little wimp—maybe it was time she stood up for herself. At least when it came to Dillon. She still had to figure out how to handle this D.C. state of affairs, but if Dillon contacted her again, she would remind him about his and Porsha’s sex tape. If he threatened her, she would threaten him right back with no fear in her heart.
This was also the reason she wasn’t retracting anything about her rape story. She was leaving everything as is, and if Dillon or his dad wanted her to fix her statement, they would have to pay. They would need to compensate her dearly—by way of $270,000.