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  Chapter Four

  Sunday morning at King David’s Christian Tabernacle

  It was the first time William had laid eyes on April since last Sunday’s embarrassing incident with Sister Gordon. He had not even spoken to her. He spied her as she took a seat on the second row pew on the opposite side of the sanctuary, far away from where he and his family normally sat.

  He attempted to call her on Monday while he was at his desk, but his call was answered by her voice mail. He left a generic message for her to give him a call when she had an opportunity. He tried again on Wednesday, and the same routine played itself out. On Friday when she had not returned either of his previous calls, he called her again. This time when the voice mail picked up, he was a little more specific in what he said.

  “April, I would truly appreciate a return phone call. It is not like us to go this long without at least conversing. I know last week at church was awkward for you. It was for me as well. Please, baby. Call me so we can talk about it, preferably face-to-face.”

  And still William heard nothing from his beautiful mistress. He was beginning to believe something terrible had happened. He had made up his mind to go to her home unannounced on Monday if he had not heard from her by today. He had even considered going Sunday evening, but he never saw April on Sundays. William always spent the holy day with his wife and child, choosing to at least not participate in his affair with April on the Lord’s Day.

  But now that he had seen her face and knew she was all right, at least physically, he relaxed. However, no matter what, he was determined to go to her on Monday.

  As April took her seat in the sanctuary, she could feel William staring at her from across the room without having to actually even see him looking. She was willing to bet her life savings that usher Gordon was looking as well. Sitting away from William and his family today served two purposes. She eliminated the chance usher Gordon would be in her face after service, and she could continue to make William squirm, wondering why she had not been in touch with him at all in the past seven days.

  April had decided to put William’s loyalty and desire for her to the test. After last week’s humiliating episode, April no longer wanted to continue to play the part of William’s sneaky, albeit sexy, other woman. She resolved it was time to begin making moves to either be his one and only, or to begin getting him out of her heart for good. So she had purposely avoided William for the past week. She needed to know how not seeing her or even hearing from her for longer than ever before would affect him. April felt she had the upper hand after listening to the three voice mail messages he’d left for her this past week. The one she heard on Friday spoke of just the right amount of desperation she needed to hear. She understood it would not happen overnight, but from here on out, she would step up her game by having him make choices she never before demanded of him.

  Aujanae sat next to William in the pew as he stared obviously across the room at the beautiful woman who usually sat near them. He appeared to be completely lost in his observation of her appearance in the sanctuary. It was as if everything and everyone, including her, was non-existent at that very moment. Aujanae began to believe that if she asked William where he was at that very moment, he would be completely unable to give her a rational answer.

  “Billy!” Aujanae called to him in a loud whisper in hopes of breaking the trance the beautiful woman had on him. As she figured, he was so lost in his thoughts he did not even hear her initially. “Billy!” she repeated a bit louder. This time she got his attention as he jumped slightly at the sound of her voice.

  “Yes, baby. What’s wrong? Why are you so loud in church? You startled me.”

  Aujanae realized William knew he had been caught staring at April, but he was not ready to concede in his gawking, so instead he was going to try to make her believe something was wrong with her for being so aggressive in the sanctuary.

  Aujanae really wanted to give her husband a not-so-pleasant piece of her mind right then and there, but she would not dare humiliate him or herself in that way. She remembered her vow to do all she could to keep her suspicions to herself and to keep things good between them.

  “Honey, I’m sorry, but you seemed so far away. I just wanted to pull you back into the service and into the presence of God. Work, since I’m sure that’s what you were thinking about, can wait until tomorrow. This time belongs to the Lord.”

  William nodded his head in concession to her suspicion about him thinking about work and apologized. “I’m sorry, Aujanae. I was consumed with thoughts of work. Forgive me. You are right. This time belongs to God.”

  William righted himself in the pew and stared straight ahead. Aujanae looked away from the side of his face slowly, knowing he had just lied to her—and in church, no less. She began silently praying for the strength to not, at the very least, get up and walk out of the sanctuary so that she could release the tears that began building in her broken heart.

  Maleeka began looking for Darrin the moment she and Tammy stepped into the sanctuary. The loud huff from her cousin let her know she saw her scoping the place for her man and that she was totally through with her. Maleeka did not know why she rode with Tammy to church today. The two of them had not spoken since last Sunday when Maleeka announced she was going to ask Darrin to move in with her. But it had been their tradition for the past couple of months. Maleeka’s car was having issues at that time, so Tammy agreed to pick her up for church. Even since the car had been repaired, the cousins continued to ride together, usually enjoying their time together.

  Tammy had berated her for her decision on the entire ride to church. Maleeka took her verbal lashing with very little retort. Her mind was made up, and there was really no use in discussing it any further with someone who was not a party to her decision or her actions thereafter.

  Maleeka spotted Darrin talking with his parents, Deacon and Deaconess Thomas and Shirley Osborne. “Tammy, I will talk to you after church. I’m going to sit with my fiancé and my future in-laws. Hopefully I will be catching a ride home with Darrin, but don’t leave until I let you know that for sure.” Maleeka kissed Tammy’s cheek and walked away before her cousin could give one of her famous sarcastic remarks about Darrin.

  Maleeka approached Darrin from the rear, getting to him just before he sat down in the pew. She tapped him on his right shoulder while he faced left in conversation with his father. He turned, surprised to see her appear so suddenly.

  “Hey there,” Darrin said as he grabbed her in an embrace.

  “Hey yourself,” Maleeka responded while still in the hug. As Darrin released her she asked, “Do you mind if I sit here with you and your parents?”

  Darrin replied with a shaky, “No.”

  The two of them took a seat on the pew, Maleeka sitting very close to Darrin. She heard the unsteady answer, but ignored it. Darrin had been avoiding her all week. She was sure he was dodging her because he assumed she was going to pressure him about setting a wedding date. She decided to allow him to squirm for a few moments. It was no less than he deserved for playing silly games with her.

  Just before praise and worship got underway, Maleeka leaned in and whispered in Darrin’s ear, “I would like to ride home from church with you this afternoon. There is something important we need to discuss. I know you have been avoiding me all week, but today I am not standing for it. And for your information, this is not about setting a date for our wedding, so there is no need for any further games or excuses.”

  Maleeka then sat back in her seat and took Darrin’s hand in hers. She sang along with the praise team as they began their first song, not giving Darrin a chance to reply one way or the other. As far as she was concerned, the matter was settled. She and Darrin would talk about living together on the ride home from church.

  Darrin knew he would run into Maleeka in church today, so he was prepared to have the dreaded conversation with her about their wedding date. Though he was still unsure of what he would say, he knew he coul
d not continue to avoid her.

  When she approached him, she startled him a bit, but instantly he realized how much he had missed seeing her this week. He grabbed her in a hug and reacquainted himself with her. When she returned his embrace wholeheartedly, he was again surprised. He was sure she would be a little stiff because she was upset with him for his avoidance tactics.

  Once they were seated and she began whispering in his ear, he understood why she was so calm. She spoke with a determination that was unlike her, and he felt compelled not only to listen, but also to do as she said. He felt relief in hearing that she did not want to discuss a wedding date—but only a little. Something deep inside of him told him that whatever it was she wanted, he would not be pleased with it.

  Chapter Five

  Katrina sat in her usual seat, second pew, close to the west side of the sanctuary, watching mesmerized as David led the praise team in song. She could barely concentrate on the lyrics to the song because she was too busy concentrating on the singer himself. After several moments of gawking and lusting after David, Katrina became convicted of her actions. She realized that instead of singing along with the praise team in praise and worship to God, she was sitting and worshiping David Mathis, making him a god in her spirit. She tried to reign in her wayward thoughts and put her focus back where it belonged, on Jesus. She was determined to get a grip on her emotions.

  Katrina said a quick prayer of forgiveness and then began singing aloud with the choir, deliberately giving her all to God. All was well until just a few moments into the next song, when she opened her eyes to find David looking directly at her. The look only lasted a second, or at least she had only caught the last second of the look, since her eyes were closed. But however many seconds it actually lasted was one second too long. She was again lost in adoration for David for the duration of the time allotted for praise and worship.

  David looked out into the congregation as he sang lead on the song, “The Lord Is High above the Heavens,” to make eye contact with the crowd. As he spotted Katrina Hartfield sitting in the seat she occupied Sunday after Sunday, his eyes lingered a little longer than on the rest of the people situated in the sanctuary. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be in total praise to the Savior. She looked really cute in her peach-colored skirt and blouse. The color complemented her caramel complexion very well, making her skin glow. When she opened her eyes, David felt as if he she had caught him paying her special attention, so he looked away quickly.

  A few days ago, David had made up his mind that he would ask Katrina to go out with him. As time passed, however, he began to feel a little guilty because he was supposed to be in a relationship with Toriyana. The guilt made him begin to waiver in his decision. Seeing her standing there praising God to his voice just now, however, strengthened his resolve. He made up his mind to not only ask Katrina out, but to ask her if she would join him for a meal right after church.

  After telling his mother and father good-bye, Darrin went to the car to wait for Maleeka, while Maleeka went to tell Tammy she would be riding home with him.

  “Tammy, if you don’t hear from me until tomorrow, then you can assume my conversation with Darrin went well. Otherwise I will call you tonight because I will need your shoulder to cry on,” Maleeka explained with an unemotional quiet.

  Tammy’s reaction was the polar opposite to Maleeka’s statement. She threw her one hand on her hip, the other in Maleeka’s face, rolled her neck, and spoke loudly.

  “I cannot believe you are going to be all broken up if this man tells you he doesn’t want to live with you, but you can tolerate him not wanting to marry you.”

  Maleeka looked around, embarrassed by her cousin’s outburst, to see if anyone was paying close attention to them. She then addressed her cousin with a hushed, angry reply.

  “You know what, Tammy? I am sick of you trying to run my life, or least my relationship. This is really none of your business. This is between me and Darrin, my fiancé, so please, from here on out, keep your nasty, sarcastic comments to yourself.”

  Maleeka’s last word came out a little louder than she wanted it to. She again looked around to find the scene between her and her cousin had drawn the stares of the few people left in the sanctuary, which included her admirer, Gerald Miller. Gerald left the conversation he was having with one woman and bravely approached the two feuding cousins.

  “Hello, beautiful ladies. Is everything all right between you two? I thought I heard some tension,” Gerald asked smoothly.

  Maleeka immediately straightened herself out in an effort to hide the issue between her and Tammy. Tammy, on the other hand, held onto the scowl that blanketed her features from head to toe. As Maleeka stared at her cousin, she could almost swear Tammy looked as if she was about to tell Gerald Miller everything about their conversation—every private, dirty detail. Maleeka knew Tammy wanted her to give in to Gerald’s incessant flirting and allow him to take her on a date. She would not be surprised if Tammy did not tell Gerald the whole truth about their little argument; therefore, she quickly spoke up before Tammy had a chance to say a word.

  “Hello, Gerald. My cousin and I are having an unpleasant moment, but nothing we cannot work out, right, Tammy?”

  Tammy truly did want to tell Gerald what a fool Maleeka was being and beg him to rescue her cousin from the pain-pit she called a relationship.

  On Gerald Miller’s first visit to King David’s Christian Tabernacle about six months ago, he inadvertently sat next to Maleeka, who sat alone. He noticed her beauty immediately, but he also noticed the huge ring she wore on her left hand. The disappointment he felt was instant and strange considering he had not even had a conversation with the woman.

  Gerald continued to sneak glances at Maleeka during the entire worship service. Once or twice he thought she actually caught him when she was not truly caught up in the service. The fact that she enjoyed church so much, at least that day, attracted him to her all the more. Despite the fact she wore the ring, he still initiated a conversation at the end of service just before the two of them got up to leave the sanctuary.

  “Hello. My name is Gerald Miller. I’m new here to the Phoenix area. I hope I’m not being too forward, but I wanted to say that I think you are beautiful. I enjoyed watching you enjoy church today,” he finished as he extended his hand to Maleeka for a shake. That had always been Gerald’s style—straight up, no chaser.

  Maleeka looked at Gerald’s hand for a quick second, then, deciding not to be rude, she gave him her own to shake. “Hello, Mr. Miller. My name is Maleeka Davis, soon to be Maleeka Osborne. I am engaged to be married. My fiancé’s name is Darrin Osborne.” Maleeka realized Gerald was flirting with her. Though he was quite an attractive man, something she noticed during service, she wanted to make it plain to him that she was not available to receive this kind of attention from him. She ended her introduction by wiggling her engagement ring in Gerald’s face.

  “I noticed the ring, Miss Davis,” Gerald said, emphasizing the fact that Maleeka was still single at the moment. “However, I still felt compelled to introduce myself and hope for the best. Perhaps the ring meant something else. May I ask why your fiancé isn’t here with you today?”

  Maleeka was caught off guard by Mr. Miller’s forwardness. Part of the reason, she admitted to herself, was how embarrassed she felt knowing she could not offer him a good explanation for Darrin’s absence from church. He simply decided he did not feel like going, so he stayed home in bed, which left her annoyed with him after their phone conversation that morning. She was also a little shook by Mr. Miller’s confident aggressiveness.

  Unwilling to tell a flat out lie in church, Maleeka answered as honestly as she could without making Darrin look too bad. “My fiancé was a bit tired this morning, so he decided to take the day off from church, Mr. Miller.”

  Gerald noticed Maleeka’s uneasiness as she explained Darrin’s nonattendance. His observation led him to believe that she was covering for a man who ei
ther did not regularly attend church, a man who was lazy, and/or a man who was selfish and paid little concern to the desires and wishes of his woman. For Gerald, all of those scenarios worked in his favor as far as he was concerned.

  “Well, if you were my fiancée, it would take more than a little fatigue to keep me from coming to the House of the Lord and sharing in praise and worship to our Savior with you. I would anticipate and savor this time together. I believe Sunday morning church service is one of the most intimate ways a couple can spend time together, at least for a couple who are rightfully practicing abstinence until they are married.”

  Maleeka did not even bother to hide the shock that crossed her features. “Mr. Miller—”

  “Please, call me Gerald.”

  “Mr. Miller, I think you are being quite offensive and perhaps even a little invasive. You know nothing about Darrin or about our relationship, so please don’t presume anything about him or our level of intimacy. That is just plain rude.” Maleeka was obviously taken aback by Gerald’s forwardness, but more so by his accuracy. She hoped she had not given that away in her reprimand of him.

  “I never actually made any verbal assumptions about you, your fiancé, or your relationship. I simply stated how I, personally, would handle it if you were going to be my future wife. I’m very sorry if you found anything I said rude, offensive, or invasive. I did not mean to imply anything. I was only trying to share my views about me.” Gerald was actually not too sorry. He only apologized because he offended Maleeka with his comments.

  Maleeka could sense that Gerald’s apology lacked sincerity. She in turn stormed off without uttering another word. She decided that she did not particularly care for Mr. Miller and would from then on out steer clear of him. Gerald, however, made that very hard to do. For the past six months, each time Maleeka was in earshot of him and Darrin was not, Gerald would openly flirt with and flatter her.