Authors: Joan Early
“I didn’t see the article before he left. He lives about fifteen minutes from here. I’ll have to wait until he gets home to ask him about it, but I think the article speaks clearly enough.” She tipped the bottle with both hands.
“Susan, I want you to promise me that you’ll calm down before you confront this man,” her father said, his voice filled with obvious worry. “I remember when you found that boy you dated in high school with another girl. You attacked his car with a piece of iron, broke the windshield and the windows. Scared the devil out of both of them. And now that I think back, you sounded a lot calmer then. And we all know what you did to Stan. I think we should come down there. I don’t want you to face this alone, and I don’t want you to do something regrettable.”
“Your father is right. I want to see Houston, anyway. It’s been—”
“Mom, Dad, I love you for your concern, but I’ll be fine. I promise not to do anything rash or regrettable, though at the moment I can’t imagine regretting chopping Will Cartwright into tiny pieces of vermin. I feel used. Used by Sealand, by that prick Price Bishop, but most of all, by Will. I’m okay now. Don’t worry, Daddy. You won’t have to bail me out of jail. I’ll call you later tonight.” She hung up and called Angie.
“Girl, I don’t know if Will had anything to do with this, but I want to see some bastard fry. I want to ask about your weekend, but I’m sure it’s spoiled now.”
“Angie, I’ve never been this angry in my life. He deliberately got me out of the way to allow this to hit the papers. You should hear the message Price left. He has probably already planted his sorry butt in my chair. ‘Be in my office at nine.’ Who the hell does he think he’s talking to? One way or another, I’ll mop up this mess with his ass, and that’s a promise. How far did you get on the files?”
“I had four more, but when I read this I just dropped everything and finished them. Did you see the part about that Rev. Otis? He said he discovered this problem…oh yeah, with the assistance of Rev. Cartwright. As it turns out, his file was one of the last rejects. I’ve been calling all over the city to get the 411 on him and got it. It’s all here.”
“Thank you, Angie. Now all I have to do is find someone in the media, preferably TV. I wish I could do it tonight. I’ll start—”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Angie yelled excitedly. “I know someone. You tell me what to say and I’ll do my best to get your comments on the ten o’clock news. I also know the reporter who wrote the story—not personally, but he has covered a lot of stories involving Sealand.”
“Yes, I know,” Susan said. “I gave him my business card at the ribbon cutting for the Memorial Drive office. He called my cell phone to get my side of the story, but I was in Atlanta with Rev. Charm.”
“Listen, Carl is at work. Why don’t you come on over here and spend the night?”
She was touched. “Thanks, Angie, but I need to collect myself and make some calls. Guess whom I’m calling first? He said he wouldn’t turn his cell on until he got home. Angie, you should have heard him telling me how much he loved me. He even asked me, unofficially of course, to marry him. Mom called a few minutes ago. I’ll have to call back tonight so they won’t worry. If things get too hairy here, I’ll let you know. I can never thank you enough for your help with those files. You’re a true friend.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’re in this together. I don’t even care anymore if they find out I’m involved. We’ll get all of them. Be sure to call me later.”
She opened the sliding glass door to the balcony and was almost pushed back by the heat.
It’s October. It’s blistering even when the sun is down.
She sat on the patio, blowing hot air into hot air, and looked at the thermometer hanging on the window.
Ninety-two! At seven o’ clock?
Seven o’clock. He’s home.
She stopped and held her head, telling herself to calm down before calling Will or anyone else. She placed the CD she had purchased into the machine, collected her wits, and dialed his number.
* * *
Will stopped by to see his parents before going home. He smiled when he saw both of his sister’s cars in the driveway. He could deliver his good news to everyone at the same time.
He almost ran into the family room, where his father and brother-in-law were enjoying dessert and the football game. “Hey, everybody. How was service today, Pop? Tell me what I missed.”
“Nothing special,” Rev. Cartwright said, looking up. “But you sure seem happy. Did something happen in Atlanta?”
His mother and sisters came in from the kitchen. He could hear the children playing upstairs. One day, he thought he would be hearing that sound from his own children, and felt happy all over.
“You could say that. I just got sort of engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“That must be Miss Cross. I didn’t know she went with you. Congratulations, son.” Rev. Cartwright let out a hearty laugh. “She sure is a looker.”
Everyone began talking at once until his sister, Eugenia, yelled, “Will someone please tell me what’s going on here? Who is this Miss Cross, and why does everyone know about this but me?”
“You would have met her if you’d been at the fashion show, Jean,” Terri said. “She’s very pretty, but don’t you think you’re moving too fast, Willie? You just met this woman a few weeks ago.”
“And it was love at first sight. I know she’s the one. She’s beautiful and wonderful and bright, and she loves me. Be happy for me, please.”
He took his cellphone from his pocket and switched on the power. It rang before he could slip it back into his pocket.
“Hello, Reverend.” Susan’s voice was dry, colorless. “I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear from me, so don’t bother lying. You’re done quite enough of that already. ‘I love you, Susan, I want you in my life.’ What you wanted was to get Susan out of the way so your conniving band of devils could plant your seed.”
Each time he tried to speak, she cut him off with another angry outburst. Pain and humiliation punctuated her accusations.
“I can just hear you and the boys sitting around the pulpit and making your plans. ‘Use your charm to get the broad out of town. She likes you.’ Well, let me boost your ego a few notches higher, Reverend.”
“Susan, baby, whatever you’re talking about is making no sense to me. Please calm down and tell me what’s wrong. Tell me—”
“I’m about to tell you. I’m going to tell you the whole story. See, Reverend, from the moment you walked into my office that first day I was hopelessly gone on you. Doesn’t that make you feel mighty? I have never had such feelings for anyone. I was blinded by my feelings for you, but it’s all clear now. Crystal clear. I let my guard down, Rev. Cartwright. I allowed you into my life and allowed myself to care for you.”
“Susan! Please—”
“Shut up and let me finish. I’m no minister, and right now I don’t feel much like a Christian, but I would never stoop so low as to use someone the way you used me. Bask in your glory, Reverend. Ride high so you’ll have a long way to fall when your house of deceit crumbles. And it will. That’s a promise.”
The phone clicked in his ear. He first looked at his father, who did not seem surprised.
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“That bastard Rev. Otis,” Terri answered, holding a folded copy of the
Houston Chronicle.
Will read the headlines. “Why would he do this?” He dialed Susan’s number. “Why would he sabotage…don’t hang up, please! My sister just showed me the article. Susan, I swear to you that I didn’t—”
“Oh, you naughty Reverend, you even swear. I don’t think I’ve ever felt the rage and loathing I now feel for you, but I’ll live through it. I have a debt to pay.”
The phone clicked again, and flashes of pain shot through his heart.
“I can’t believe this. She thinks I deliberately got her out of town so she couldn’t respond to this. I’ve got to convince her that I knew nothing about it.”
“You didn’t, but that snake Clyde Otis did.” Mrs. Cartwright shook her head. “He’ll get his. God will get tired of this. He’s take Clyde by the neck and wring the evil out him like a soggy dishrag.”
Will threw his hands up. “That man tries to undermine everything I do. He’s done it before, but I’ve never had so much to lose.”
* * *
Using the repeat button on the CD player, Susan sat on the floor and listened again and again to words of passion, love, and loss, that aptly described her pain and disappointment. Stroking Dino and trying to keep a clear head, she resisted the urge for more wine. She needed to relax, but was afraid of dulling her senses.
She looked around her first solo apartment, her first attempt at housekeeping alone. She believed in home ownership to the point of never even imagining spending top dollar for a rental, but she did enjoy the ambiance. The richness of the material on the sofa and chairs, the dining table that she had only shared with Travis, the fresh-cut flowers she bought twice a week. It had been home only briefly, but she did not want to lose it. Not this way.
“I could have had a relationship with Travis, but no, I wanted Rev. Cartwright.” She stared at the wine bottle in her hand, feeling her heart shatter anew as she realized how much Will had come to mean to her in a very short time.
The tone of Price’s messages and the fact that Mr. Deeds had been summoned suggested they were planning a hasty exit for her. She was not shocked that she was being used as a scapegoat for the company, but the fact that Will had used her was unimaginably painful.
“Betrayed, Dino. Mighty Will, a little branch from the Judas tree. I’m fighting this, Dino. I may go down, but I’ll go down fighting. I’ll take him and…” The doorbell interrupted her declarations.
She thought it was Travis and, despite the risk of sending mixed signals, she would have welcomed a shoulder to lean on. “Yes?”
“Susan, it’s Will. I need to talk to you.”
Her heart raced. Taking deep breaths to stifle the screams that were building in her throat, she cracked the door and spoke slowly. “We have nothing to talk about, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would just leave.”
“Just give me ten minutes. Please let me explain. Please.”
She stood behind the door and tried to calm her anger. Smoothing back her mussed hair, she fumbled with the security latch and let him in. He reached for her but she moved back and pushed his hand away.
“I can’t imagine what you could possibly have to say now, but go ahead. Tell me some more lies, Will.”
“Susan, I know how this looks, but believe me, I had nothing to do with that article. I had no idea the media had been contacted. I swear…”
The telephone interrupted his attempt to explain. She let the machine pick up, and then held her finger to her lips to tell him to keep quiet.
“Susan, this is Travis again. I want you to call me no matter how late you get in. Price called Deeds, and now he’s acting like he already has your job. Call me.”
She turned to Will; his face was a mass of frowns.
“Did you hear that? My job is on the line. I don’t really care to hear your defense. Now please leave.”
“Why is your job on the line? You weren’t even in the city when this happened.”
“Forget the logistics! My job is on the line because the rest of the world is just as crooked and manipulative as you are. Did you think you and your little bunch of troublemakers had a monopoly on deceit? There are people out there waiting for me to fail in this position, and guess what? You just helped them reach their goal.”
“I swear to you, I had no knowledge of this. I invited you away with me because, for the first time in a long time, I thought I had found someone to love. I never lied to you. I love you, Susan. You’ve got to believe me.”
“It doesn’t matter now. One way or another, my days in this sweatbox are numbered. Even if our relationship survived all of this, it would soon become a long-distance one. From what I understand, most of those don’t work out. It—”
The phone rang again. She picked up when she heard Angie’s voice.
“Hi, how did it go?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. I was able to reach my friend at the TV station, and they’re going to air your rebuttal. I also called the newspaper. It took a while to get to the right person, but I said that I was you and told them how shameful it was that they had printed such a one-sided story. Mark Chestnut called me back. He will be at Sealand in the morning, and so will a TV reporter and camera crew.”
“I don’t know what I would do without you. You’re the only true friend I have in this place,” she said, looking at Will. “Angie, I have a guest right now. Rev. Cartwright is here. I’ll call you back. If you don’t hear from me in ten minutes, that means one of us is dead, so please call the police.”
Angie giggled. “Got you!”
Will shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his pained expression growing more pronounced by the minute.
“Susan, I don’t know how to make you believe me. I love you. I would never hurt you. I thought this matter was under control. I would do anything to relieve you of this burden. Anything. I didn’t use you, and I love you beyond words. Please believe me. At our last meeting, one of the members questioned my handling of this matter and suggested I might have a conflict of interests. He had seen us together at the church. I advised them to wait until my return and we would find a solution, but obviously they didn’t. I’m not lying, Susan.”
“Don’t sweat it, Will. One way or the other, there’s nothing between us now.” She looked at the floor, trying to remain cool, but feeling as though she was going to faint. Walking over to the stereo, she said, “I have a lot of things to do before morning, so please leave.”
“For heaven’s sake, Susan. Don’t let this happen to us. This is tearing me apart. I love you. How can you doubt that after the last few days? I did nothing to—”
She held up her hand. “Let me give you the gospel from my side of the fence, Will. I received this promotion to head Sealand’s production staff less than a year after I was made branch manager back in Canton. I’m qualified. I sacrificed my time well beyond normal work hours. When they promoted me to branch manager, Sealand revised its ad campaign. Guess who made the cover of every piece of printed material? We had a little uprising of black activists there, too. I accepted that maybe I was the new black poster child. I didn’t particularly like it, but I accepted it. When offered this position less than a year later, I would have been crazy not to question Sealand’s motives, don’t you think?”