Alicia started out of the family room. “When you came in, I was just on my way upstairs to get some photos of my parents and of Matthew and Curtina, so I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Carmen picked up what looked to be a glass of iced tea. “We’ll be right here,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. Then she set it back onto the coaster on the coffee table and made herself more comfortable on the sofa.
When Alicia was gone, JT looked at his former mistress and spoke in an angry whisper. “Carmen, what in the hell are you doing here?”
“Wow! The good reverend is now resorting to four-letter words? Shame, shame, shame,” she said, snickering at him. “I mean, not the man who’s always claiming he loves God so much. The man who despises curse words of any kind.”
“Look. I’m not playing with you, Carmen. What are you doing here?”
Carmen’s face turned cold. “And I’m not playing with you either. I told you this wasn’t the end for you and me, and that’s exactly what I meant.”
“You’re crazy. You’re sick, and you need a psychiatrist.”
“Maybe. But if you don’t end your marriage to Little Miss Thing, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Oh, and I suggest you unblock my numbers on your phone, too. Unless you want me calling the church or calling you here at home.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“You know why.”
“Carmen, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave right now and you’ll never come back here ever again.”
Carmen laughed at him and crossed her legs. “And if I don’t?”
“If you don’t, you’ll wish you had.”
“Oooooh,” she said, feigning fear. “I’m so scared I don’t know what to do.”
JT opened his mouth to respond but closed it when he heard Alicia coming back down the stairs.
“Here they are, girl,” she said, walking back into the room and sitting down next to her friend.
“Oh my. Your little brother is such a handsome little thing, and your sister is a cutie, too.”
“I know,” Alicia said, and then showed Carmen a photo of her father and Charlotte and then one of her mother and James.
JT looked on for a few seconds but then politely excused himself and went up to their bedroom. When he arrived, he removed his blazer, slammed it onto the bed, and gritted his teeth. He was fuming and couldn’t believe Carmen had been willing to do something so psychotic. He’d dumped a number of women over the years, but not once had any of them been this obsessed with him.
JT paced back and forth across the room, trying to figure out the best way to handle this situation. What he wanted more than anything was to get rid of her. Not just for the moment, but permanently, so he’d never have to lay eyes on her again.
Chapter 13
JT pulled open the door, slipped onto the patio, and then closed the door behind him. Alicia was getting dressed for a publishing seminar she’d registered for a couple of weeks ago, and this gave him ample opportunity to call Carmen. His first instinct was to wait a day or two before contacting her, but when he’d thought about all the trouble she might end up causing, he’d decided it was better to deal with her as soon as possible.
He dialed her number, and she answered right away. “Hi, baby,” she said. “Miss me already? I mean, I just left your house not even a whole hour ago.”
“This has to stop, Carmen.”
“Does it?”
“Yes. It does. But one thing I wanna know is why you never told me you knew Alicia. I wanna know why you kept that hidden all this time.”
“Why? Because you’re a liar and a cheat. And when I found out you were dating that high-priced ho, I knew my relationship with her just might be the insurance policy I needed.”
“Insurance policy?”
“Yes. You heard me. You’d been dating me for all those years and had me believing I would eventually be your wife, and then you betrayed me with that tramp. Then, when I saw that you were really going to marry her, I realized my past friendship with Alicia was well worth keeping a secret.”
“You’re acting like a complete fool, you know that?”
“Well, your wife certainly doesn’t think so. Because as it turns out, she’s thrilled to have me back in her life. She’s excited to have someone right here in Chicago that she can spend time with, and I’m going to be there for her as much as she wants me to. Before you know it, I’ll be her best friend in the world.”
“No, what you’re going to do is stay away from my wife and me. Or else.”
“Or else what?”
“If you don’t leave us alone, you’ll be sorrier than you’ve ever been about anything.”
“I don’t think so. Not with everything I know about you. Not with all the dirt you’ve done, all the horrible things you had me do, and all the people you’ve hurt in the process. If you push me, JT, I’ll tell everything I know. To your congregation and the whole city of Chicago.”
JT clenched his phone tightly. He hated this. Hated ever having gotten mixed up with the likes of Carmen and then being careless enough to confide so many incriminating pieces of information to her. Although, he knew those moments of sharing had only come right after they made love, a time when he was most vulnerable about everything.
Carmen continued, “Look, it doesn’t have to end this way. We don’t have to be enemies, JT.”
“Hmmph. Well, from where I’m sitting, I don’t see where we have any other choice.”
“Oh, there’re always other options. Because don’t get me wrong. I do despise the fact that you married Alicia, but I also understand your reason for doing it. You wanted to use her father as a way to grow your ministry, and I don’t blame you for that. Actually, I don’t blame you in the least, and that’s why I’m willing to give you six months to do what you need to do…and then I want you to file for a divorce. And in the meantime, I expect things between you and me to go back to the way they were. We’ll spend time together the same as in the past, and everyone’ll be happy.”
JT wanted to yell “No!” as loud as he could, but he knew it wouldn’t change anything. He knew Carmen really did know way too much and could ruin him on a moment’s notice. So he said, “Fine. Whatever you want, but you have to stay away from Alicia.”
“I’ll keep my distance, but now that we’ve reconnected, it’s not like I can just cut her off for no reason.”
“Then make up something. Tell her that you have to go away for a while to take care of a sick relative. Tell her whatever you have to.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good,” JT said, and looked inside the house, making sure Alicia hadn’t come downstairs yet. “Hey, I need to get going.”
“Okay, JT, but just let me say one more thing.”
“What?”
“You know I’m only doing this because I love you, right?”
“I guess.”
“I do, JT. Sometimes I think I love you more than I love myself. Sometimes I wonder if life would even be worth living if I can’t be with you, and that scares me.”
JT raised his eyebrows. He didn’t dare respond to what she’d just said, but little did she know, he was scared, too. He was afraid of any woman who thought that lowly of herself.
But he said what he could to pacify her. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“You promise?” she said, sniffling, and now he was even more worried. Here just a few minutes ago, she’d been threatening him to no end, and now she was sobbing into the phone.
“I promise,” he hurried to say.
“Then I feel better about this whole thing. I feel better than I have in over a week.”