JT worked his left foot into an Italian leather slip-on, put on the other, and walked over to where Alicia was sitting. She gazed at him, and then he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. “I know you’re not happy about not being able to go, but, baby, please try to understand.”
She ignored his last statement and asked, “When will you be back?”
“As soon as I can, but it might take a few hours because I don’t want this man to feel that I’m rushing him to get everything off his chest just so I can get back to my daily life. He wants me to be there for him, and as his pastor it’s my responsibility to help him get things right with God. It’s my job to help him work toward getting his soul saved.”
Alicia didn’t bother responding but had a mind to tell him everything that that awful woman had told her this afternoon. She wanted to tell him, too, how Tamara, the first lady she’d been sitting next to, had even confirmed his womanizing history. She especially wanted to tell him that, once again, someone had insinuated he was a murderer. However, she decided that maybe this wasn’t a good idea. She wasn’t sure why exactly, but something told her it was better to keep all the information she had to herself-better to wait and see how all this eventually played out.
It was better to keep a closer eye on JT, the way Tamara had suggested.
When Alicia finished speaking to Melanie and then to her mom, she went into her office and sat down at her computer. This morning, before she’d begun getting ready for the luncheon, she’d signed in to her e-mail account and had been shocked by one of the messages she’d opened and read multiple times. She’d even felt guilty about the content of it and also about the warm feeling it had given her, but at the moment, she didn’t feel an ounce of remorse. She didn’t feel bad about it at all, and she knew it was because she now had valid doubts and reservations about her husband.
Alicia read the e-mail again.
Hi sweetheart. It’s me. I debated whether I should contact you since Darrell said you didn’t want to see me but I couldn’t help it. Alicia regardless of who you’re with now I still think about you daily. After all this time you’re still the first person I think of when I wake up in the morning and you’re the only person I fantasize about before going to sleep at night. You are absolutely my everything. Yes I know you’re married and that the last thing you need is to have someone trying to cause problems for it but the love that I have for you hasn’t changed. If anything it’s grown stronger and so much deeper and I really need to talk to you. We don’t have e-mail access through the correctional facility but one of the sta? members who looks out for me was cool enough to let me use his personal account. But I do have to say I definitely don’t have any typing skills so it took me way too long to type this. I also didn’t dare try guessing where I should add commas! I’ve always been a great speller but terrible with that other English stu?, so will you call me between four and five this afternoon at the number below? Please if you don’t mind do me this one favor. Because I really need to talk to you. I really need to hear your beautiful voice and tell you how different things are going to be for me when I’m out of here. Okay? I love you sweetheart and can’t wait to hear from you. Levi.
When Alicia finished the last word, she read the e-mail one more time but still hesitated responding. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she knew that once she did, there would be no turning back. She also didn’t trust the excitement and nervousness that was overtaking her body. She didn’t like how thrilled she was to be connecting with Levi.
So, she waited. She stalled for a few seconds, trying to forget about her ex-lover, and then finally browsed some of her favorite department store websites. Strangely enough, however, she wasn’t interested in anything she saw. She still loved shopping, but what she’d been noticing more and more, specifically ever since marrying JT, was that shopping was no longer the most important thing in her life-maybe because she could do it whenever she wanted to. She still loved nice things, expensive ones for that matter, but she was finally starting to realize that there was so much more to life. There were so many other things to worry about. There were so many people to worry about-namely, two-timing husbands and the women who slept with them.
Alicia browsed the Internet for another fifteen minutes, voluntarily yielding to temptation, and dialed the number Levi had given her. The phone rang three times before someone answered.
“Hello?” a deep voice said.
“Uh, hi. Is Levi available?” she said, thinking how weird it sounded asking for a prison inmate no differently than she would a free man.
“Sure, he’s right here.”
Alicia heard Levi thanking the owner of the phone and then heard a door shut. A second later, he was greeting her.
“Hi, beautiful. How are you?”
His voice gave her the same kind of comfort as it had in the past, and she felt like melting. For a moment, she wished Levi could be any normal everyday guy and not a convicted felon. She wished he’d never even thought to begin selling drugs.
“I’m good,” she finally said. “And you?”
“Well, the facility isn’t as bad as it could be, but being locked down means exactly that, and it’s not the kind of thing I could ever be okay with.”
Alicia wasn’t sure what to say next and waited for him to continue.
“So, it’s been a long time, huh?” he said.
“Yeah, I guess it has.”
“Were you shocked to hear from me?”
“Actually, I was.”
“I figured you would be, but I had to take a chance. You know?”
“It was good hearing from you.”
“So, how’s married life treating you?”
Alicia wanted to tell him how worried she was about JT and what he might be doing behind her back, but she didn’t.
“Everything’s good.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I am.”
“Then why don’t I believe you?”
“Probably because you don’t want to. Maybe you’d rather believe what you want to believe.”
Levi laughed. “Come on, sweetheart, this is me you’re talking to. Remember, I don’t play games or say things I don’t mean. I deal only with reality, and I can tell from the sound of your voice that something’s troubling you. I can tell you’re not all that happy.”
“You’re wrong,” she said, knowing he’d assessed her true feelings to a tee.
“Whatever you say, but I know better.”
“So, tell me, really,” she said, changing the subject. “How are you?”
“I’m hanging in there and pretty much just praying for this appeal process to progress. Darrell told you about that, though, right?”
“Yeah, he mentioned something like that.”
“My attorney says I have a very strong case in terms of the way they violated my rights, so hopefully I’ll be out of here in just a matter of months…hey, hold on for a second,” he said, and Alicia heard someone talking in the background. “Cool. Thanks, man.”
“Who was that?” she asked.
“That was my boy who’s letting me use his phone. He was just saying the coast was clear and that I could talk for another thirty minutes if I want.”
“Then he must be a really good friend.”
“Sweetheart, in here, money can buy you a lot of privileges. The kind of privileges you would never be able to have otherwise.”
“But I thought all of your money was confiscated.”
“I guess you really don’t know me as well as I thought you did.”