It had been a long time since Charlotte had manipulated Curtis into doing something he didn’t want to do. But earlier this morning, she’d done exactly that. She hadn’t known whether he would go along with what she was suggesting, but she’d finally convinced him to let Curtina go to Taylor’s sleepover and miss church tomorrow morning. She’d had to make a sacrifice herself, though, in the process, because in return, she’d told him that she wanted to go with him today to see Trina. Curtis had seemed pretty shocked, but he’d also been happier than she’d seen him in a while. Especially when she’d told him that with everything they’d gone through lately, including her father’s heart attack, she wanted them to spend some time together with just the two of them; which was the reason they were dropping off Curtina now at eleven a.m.
Curtis backed out of Taylor’s driveway and headed down the street. “It’s so good to see the change in Curtina. She seems more like herself.”
If only Curtis knew the reason, was all Charlotte could think. “It really is, and that’s why I thought it might be nice to let her go to Taylor’s right away this morning and stay until tomorrow afternoon. She’s really trying,” she said, knowing that this couldn’t be further from the truth, and that Curtina was only pretending to have changed for the better so she could get what she wanted. If only Charlotte had set that alarm system and had heard her come back into the house last Sunday, Curtina never would’ve caught her drinking.
“I agree, and she’s still not texting anything out of the ordinary, which is good. She did tell Taylor and Lauren on a group text, though, that she can’t wait until she’s sixteen so we can buy her a brand-new car. That way, she’ll finally be able to drive and go anywhere she wants. Of course, Taylor and Lauren just loved that whole idea.”
“I’m sure they did, and I guess none of them know that we’ll still be monitoring everything Curtina does.”
“Exactly, until she leaves for college.”
“And what about her Internet browsing?” Charlotte asked.
“She visits a lot of department store web sites. And I do mean a lot of them. But I guess she has that honestly.”
Charlotte turned and looked at Curtis over the top of her sunglasses, smiling. “Is that a hint?”
“Take it any way you want,” he said, laughing.
“Yeah, right. Although you do have to admit, I don’t shop nearly the way I used to.”
“I agree, and why is that?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t feel the need to do that anymore,” she said, wishing she had the courage to tell him that she no longer cared about trying to impress people at church or anywhere else. If only she could tell him her true feelings about being first lady. But for some reason, she still couldn’t.
“Times change and so do people, and that’s a good thing,” he said.
“It is.
“But you know what else?”
“What’s that?”
Curtis looked at her and then back at the road. “I’m really glad you wanted to go see Trina. I know you don’t understand why I’m making all these trips back and forth to Chicago, but baby, she’s getting weaker all the time. I noticed it a lot this week when she was recording those videos.”
“I’m so sorry, and I’m glad I’ll be able to see her today.”
They drove another minute or so in silence, and then Curtis said, “And on a lighter note, since you thought we needed some alone time, I hope you’ll still be feeling that way tonight.”
Charlotte shook her head, and they both laughed. “You kill me, but we’ll have to see what we can do about that.”
Curtis eyed her up and down with a smirk on his face, and Charlotte hit his arm. She loved, loved, loved Curtis, and it was the reason she had to stop drinking before he found out. Before Curtina told everything. Because sadly enough, she’d done something this morning that she hadn’t done since she’d started back drinking. She’d snuck into the guest bedroom while Curtis had been showering, taken a few sips of vodka, and then rushed downstairs to make a quick cup of coffee in the Keurig. A few days ago, she’d been searching online and had discovered that coffee, like onions and garlic, eliminated the smell of liquor. So by the time Curtis had come downstairs in his robe to have a cup himself, she’d just been finishing hers and had gone back up to their bedroom to get dressed. Then, when he’d returned upstairs as well, she’d gone downstairs again to make a second cup of coffee, which must have worked, because Curtis hadn’t noticed that she’d been drinking.
When they arrived at Jason and Trina’s, Jason let them in, and now the four of them were sitting around laughing and talking.
“Curtis, remember that time you stood up on one of the picnic tables at the park? You told me and some of the other kids to sit on the grass so you could deliver your message. And the thing is this, you were only ten.”
They all laughed.
“Yeah, I remember very well, and I also remember all the Amens you guys gave me.”
“I know,” Trina said. “We were playing church, but in all seriousness, I knew you weren’t joking. I always thought you would end up being a minister.”
“Really?”
“I did. So when I heard all those years ago that you’d moved back to the Chicago area and had become pastor of Faith Missionary, I wasn’t surprised. And neither was Mom.”
“I received my calling very early, even though I tried to ignore it for as long as I could.”
Jason agreed. “I think that tends to happen to most of us. When we’re kids we usually know what feels natural to us, but sometimes it takes years before we pay close attention to our passion and the purpose God has for our lives. When I was a teenager, I knew I loved drawing more than anything else, but it never occurred to me that I would become an architect for large commercial buildings.”
“That’s very true,” Trina said, “because I was the same way. It took me years to realize I wanted to be a counselor for single mothers and rape victims. Mom wasn’t a single mother, but it always felt like she was, and that feeling never left me. So I finally went back to school in my forties to get a master’s in counseling.”
“That’s awesome,” Charlotte said, thinking back to when she was twenty-five and recently married to Curtis. She’d held a position at a law firm as a paralegal, and while she hadn’t thought it then, one of the firm’s wealthiest clients had told her that she would make a great attorney. At the time, though, Charlotte had only been interested in Curtis doing all he could to make as much money as possible. She hadn’t considered that there might come a day when she wished she’d done more with her life. Because even as first lady of a church, she was beginning to think there was a lot more she could be doing for women outside of it as well as for those who were members.
They all chatted and discussed old times, and finally Jason stood up. “So, Curtis, man, I need to make a run to a couple of stores to get a few things. You can ride along if you want.”
“I will,” he said, scooting his body to the edge of the chair.
“Can I get you ladies something to drink or eat before we leave?” Jason asked.
“I’ll have some mango tea, if you don’t mind,” Trina said.
“And I’ll have some coffee if it’s not too much of a bother,” Charlotte said.
“Wow,” Curtis said. “Another cup of coffee? And not only that, you want one in the afternoon? Next thing you know, you’ll be bouncing off the walls in here.”
Everyone laughed.
“I mean, I know you love coffee, but you rarely drink any after noontime,” Curtis continued.
He didn’t know that she’d actually had two cups of coffee this morning and that this would be her third, otherwise he might question her more. “I don’t know, I guess I just have a taste for it. Plus, I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“I guess,” he said, and he and Jason went into the kitchen.
Then, after they brought Trina and Charlotte their beverages, they left the house.
Now Charlotte sat on the sofa with Trina, picking up her coffee from the glass table.
Trina sipped some of her tea, set it on the table, and slightly turned her body toward her sister-in-law. Then she grabbed her hand. “Charlotte, thank you.”
Charlotte smiled at her. “For what?”
“Because I know how much Curtis loves you, your children, and your grandson. He loves all of you more than life itself. And I know my illness has really interrupted your lives. I know that all my phone calls to Curtis and his visits here to Chicago have been a lot. But I hope you can tolerate all of this just a little while longer, because what I want is to leave here knowing that Curtis and I have spent as much time together as we possibly could.”
Charlotte squeezed Trina’s hand, and then slid over and hugged her. Soon they were both crying, and Charlotte felt like the worst person in the world. Here she’d had the cruel audacity to be angry at Curtis because of all the time he was spending away from her and mad at Trina for calling so often. When all Trina and Curtis had wanted was to enjoy what little time they had left with each other. They’d had their whole childhood taken away from them and both their parents were deceased, so all they had now from that part of their family was each other. That was it. And worse, when Trina was gone, Curtis wouldn’t even have her.
Now Charlotte cried harder than Trina—for the terrible loss Curtis would have to endure and also because of how selfish she’d been about everything. But from here on out, she would encourage Curtis to go see Trina anytime he wanted, day or night or even in the wee hours of the morning. Whatever it took, Charlotte would support Curtis completely.