Charlotte and Curtis had dropped Curtina off at her big sister Alicia’s house, and now they’d just exited I-90 east, heading toward the south suburbs of Chicago. At first they’d considered taking Curtina with them to see her aunt Trina, but Curtis had decided that it might be best if he and Charlotte went alone. Curtina, of course, hadn’t seemed to care one way or the other, but had still found the audacity to ask if she could stay home while they were gone—all by herself, that is. Needless to say, her request had been denied, as she was proving more and more just how little she could be trusted. Not to mention, Curtis and Charlotte didn’t believe a twelve-year-old should be home alone for such a long period of time anyway. Maybe for an hour here and there, whenever it couldn’t be helped, but that was it.
“For the life of me,” Curtis said, “I don’t know what’s gotten into that girl.”
“Neither do I, but her attitude is really starting to get on my nerves. She’s so ornery and disrespectful, and I’m tired of it.”
“We’re going to have to have a serious talk with her.”
“That sounds all good and well, but I don’t know if talking is going to change anything,” Charlotte said, and then filled Curtis in on all that had transpired this morning—including the cruel message Curtina had texted her friend about them.
Curtis glanced over at Charlotte and frowned. “She said what?”
“You heard me. That we make her sick.”
“This is crazy. And what’s sad and so unfortunate is that I’m hearing this from a number of other people, too. Those who have daughters between the ages of ten and thirteen. They’re acting as though they’re twenty-one in some cases.”
“I’ve heard the same thing, and it’s scary. Very disheartening. I mean, these young girls are so ungrateful. So unruly.”
“Well, like I said, we’re going to have to have a serious talk with her. And if that doesn’t do anything, we’ll just start taking away privileges. Beginning with that phone of hers.”
“I agree. I don’t know if that’ll change her attitude, but we have to do something. Before she slips further out of hand.”
For the next few minutes, Curtis and Charlotte conversed more about Curtina, but when one of Curtis’s favorite gospel songs played on SiriusXM’s channel 64, their discussion ceased and it wasn’t long before Charlotte thought about the sabbatical she so desperately needed to take. And at this very moment, she wanted to tell Curtis how she felt. Ask him to understand her desire to do this. Make him see what it was like to be first lady through her eyes versus his. But she also didn’t want to burden him right now, not when he’d just learned such devastating news about his sister. So she decided against it. Still, she couldn’t help thinking about how miserable she’d been in service today. For most of the ninety minutes, she’d barely been able to stand being there, and she’d also spent much of her time gazing at her watch and thinking about all the other things she’d rather be doing. She was sorry for tuning out her own husband while he delivered his morning message, but she just couldn’t help herself. It was the reason that when church had finally been dismissed, she’d felt totally relieved.
It was sad to admit, but she was now at the point where she had to make herself go to church on Sunday mornings, and then once she arrived, she basically counted down the minutes until service was over. Which was also the reason she was going to have to find a way to tell Curtis the truth: She needed a break, and she was going to have to take one, starting at the beginning of next month—or before then. That would be three weeks from now, and all she could hope was that he would be on board with her decision. She knew he wouldn’t be happy, because for one, members of the congregation would have tons of questions, and two, folks would begin making assumptions about their marriage. Over the years, they’d been through a lot and had caused many family- and church-related scandals, so quite naturally, people would think the worst about her absence. But Charlotte couldn’t worry about any of that. What she needed to do now was worry about herself, both emotionally and mentally. Her decision would cause at least some harm to Curtis as a pastor, but he would just have to support her on this. He would have to be there for her, no matter what.
When the song ended, Curtis sighed. “I just can’t believe my sister has stage four cancer.”
Right after service, Curtis had quickly given Charlotte the basic details about Trina’s illness and told her that he wanted to go see his sister today, but that had been it.
“So, when you talked to Jason what else did he say? I mean, are her doctors preparing a treatment plan?”
“She’s already had surgery and chemo and tried an experimental drug.”
Charlotte looked at Curtis. “So, this has been going on for a while, then?”
“A year, and I just wish I’d known before now. I wish I’d spent more time with Trina, and I’ll always regret the fact that I didn’t.”
“But you did try to make things right. After your mom died, you tried on more than one occasion.”
“It’s still my fault, though. I’m the one who left for college and never looked back. I erased Mom and Trina from all my thoughts. As much as I could, anyway. Then I pretended that Larry was my biological brother, even though I didn’t meet him for the first time until I arrived at school. Then I pretended that his mom and dad were my real parents. I created a whole new life for myself, just so I wouldn’t have to think about my childhood. I lived a total lie. For years.”
“Well, the good news is that Trina is still here now, and you’re headed to see her.”
“Yeah, but as much as I’m going to keep trusting God to heal her, she’s already decided to live out the rest of her life without further treatment.”
Charlotte looked out the passenger window with sadness. For Trina, Jason, their children, and Curtis. Whenever anyone became ill before the age of eighty, it always seemed so unfair to Charlotte. She knew we all had to leave our earthly lives at some point, but hearing how sick Trina was in her middle fifties was heartbreaking.
Charlotte searched for the right words to say to Curtis, something that might ease his pain. But she knew she couldn’t. Not when he’d learned just a few hours ago that his only immediate family member from childhood was terminally ill, and that there was likely very little time for him to make proper amends to her. Charlotte hated that this was happening to her husband, but the one thing she would do was be there for him. She would support him until the very end. It was true that she was struggling with her own issues, but she would support Curtis as much as she could. Because if there was ever a time when he needed her, it was now.