She knew exactly who he was. He was a star athlete and the son of a rich doctor. He was always surrounded by pretty girlsâshe had watched this from afar. She knew he was popular.
He looked at her expectantly, then grinned even wider. “You're not going to tell me your name?”
She had realized belatedly that she had just been staring at him. She quickly recovered and stammered out her name. “NiâNiâNikki.”
“What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” he said, seeming to enjoy watching her squirm under his compliments. He looked around. “So, Nikki, let's get to know each other. I think we can be really good friends.”
She later found out he was one of Danielle's friends. Danielle started pushing Nikki to go out with Spencer and later, to do much more than that for him. Danielle told her to listen to Spencer's idea about making money.
The clanking of keys in the lock jolted Nikki from her thoughts. She sprang from the chair.
William stood in the doorway.
She froze.
The sight of Nikki jarred William. He had somehow known she would be here. When he rounded the corner and saw her car in the driveway, his heart had quickened. But what emotions the sight of her standing here evoked, he couldn't discern at the moment. He wanted to shake her, to hug her, to tell her the past didn't matter.
“I assume you've read the papers,” he said coolly, and he could see from the way her head jerked up that she had. He wanted his words to hurt. “Seems that I should just open the newspaper to find out who my wife really is.”
Nikki finally found her voice. “I . . . I wanted to tell you.”
“But what? Did you not have enough time? Could you not find the chance over
seven years
to say, âOh, by the way, baby, I sold my body for money'? Was that it?” Anger laced his voice and he didn't hold back. “After all we've been through, after all the things we've shared, to find out my wife is a . . . .” He closed his mouth against saying the words that came to mind. He balled and released his fists. “Dang it, Nikki!”
She jumped. She had never seen him like this. She could see a vein vibrating in his temple.
“Will, I tried to tell you.”
“You tried to tell me?” His laugh was hollow. “Oh, that's rich. You go make a fool out of me and then say, âI tried to tell you.' What man wants to find out his wife used to be a prostitute? I bet every time we were together, you were thinking about all those other men and their money. So, what was it about me? What was it about me that made you give it up for free? I know that must have been really hard, lying down with me for free when it used to go for what, $100, $200? Did you feel like you were doing volunteer service? Did you hold out on giving me your best stuff, because it was free?”
“Will, stop it!”
“What, you don't want to hear the truth? Am I striking a nerve?” He jabbed the words at her. “I bet it burned you up to know that you were married to a man who didn't have any money. Did you think you made a bad move?” His mind flashed to something else. “Oh, and Spencer. You never told me you slept with him! Why didn't you tell me he was your pimp?”
“I told you he and I were friends,” Nikki said weakly.
“Yeah, but not sex buddies! You think you could have mentioned that? Got me walking around here looking stupid. I know he must have been laughing at me every time he saw us together, knowing how I had gotten married to one of his girls.”
William shoved his hand into his pocket, snatching out his wallet. He grabbed several bills, tearing them out from their leathery confines, letting them flutter to the floor. “Here! Take this!” he grabbed her and pulled her to him. “So, does that mean I can have you now? Will you let me have you like before? Will you let me do anything I please?”
Nikki shoved away from William, her voice shaky. “You will not talk to me that way!”
“What! I thought that's how you liked it,” he said.
“Will, you can't treat me any kind of way. You can't treat me like a . . . like a . . . .”
“Prostitute? I can't treat you like a prostitute?”
“Mommy! Daddy! Stop being mean to each other!” Both their heads snapped around to see Psalm standing in the doorway to the living room, her teddy bear clutched to her chest. Her face was contorted with fear.
Nikki rushed to her child and scooped her up. “Shhh, shhh,” she said. “It's okay. It's okay.”
“Why were you and Daddy yelling?”
“It's nothing,” Nikki said, carrying the child back to her bedroom.
William rushed out of the house.
Chapter 110
Danielle tried again to reach her sister, but the call just went to voice mail. Her sister had to get her out of this jail cell. Her sister had promised nothing bad would happen to her, if Danielle just did what her sister told her to do. Danielle's mind went back to her childhood. When the man she grew up thinking was her father left, her uncle's abuse had gotten even worse. Danielle had even tried to bring up the subject with her mother. Her mother had been painting her nails in her bedroom on a Friday night as Danielle was supposed to be getting her clothes ready to go visit her uncle. She had stepped into her mother's bedroom, her heart pounding, and closed the door.
“Mama?”
“Uh-huh?” her mother hadn't looked up from the red lacquer she was carefully spreading on her nails.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Go on now,” her mother had said. “Go on and get dressed. You don't want to be late for your uncle.”
“That's what it's about.”
“I said, go get dressed,” her mother's voice was stern.
“But, Mamaâ”
“Danielle, whatever it is, I don't want to hear it,” her mother's voice raised. “Get on now, don't mess up my day!”
“But Mama, you don't underâ”
Before she knew what was happening, the bottle of polish had hit the floor and Danielle felt the sting of her mother's hand go across her face. Danielle stared at her equally shocked mother for a moment before turning. Her mother called out to her, “Danielle, baby, I'm sorry.”
Danielle kept walking. She quietly went back to her bedroom and finished packing her clothes for her overnight visit.
They never spoke of that evening again.
Danielle finally quit trying to get out of the visits and had somehow retreated into herself. Whenever she was with her uncle, she became another person. She knew what he liked. She would do what he liked and he would lavish gifts on her and would sometimes fold a wad of money into her palm and tell her to give that to her mother. Her twin hated Danielle, as did her cousins because they all saw how he favored her and would allow her to get away with not doing chores and would still buy her pretty ribbons for her hair or dresses or shoes.
The rift in her family grew. And the pressure on her mind expanded. Danielle was a junior in high school when her mother walked into the bathroom and found her in a bloody mess in the tub, her pulse weak, her slender fingers still clutching a sharp razor. Her mother had screamed, had run to the phone to call for help.
Doctors had patched up Danielle's body, but told her mother something had to be done about the girl's mind. “We must figure out why she did this,” one doctor said. “Is there any abuse that you are aware of?”
Danielle's mother had shaken her head emphatically, telling the doctor that the very idea was absurd. “Danielle has always been a drama queen. She just likes attention.”
“Well, that may be so, but this was a bit extreme,” the doctor had cautioned. “Perhaps we should have someone interview her.”
“No, she's fine,” Danielle's mother had insisted.
“I really thinkâ”
“I said she's fine.” Without looking at Danielle, she had told her, “We'll be taking you home. You'll be just fine.”
Chapter 111
William bowed out of the remainder of the afternoon's appointments. It was in the hands of the voters now. After all this campaigning, they knew what he was about and what he promised to do for the city. Either they would vote for him, or they would not, he reasoned with philosophical resignation. He pulled into the driveway at Olivia's. He had made a decision. He would move out of her house. He would stay at a hotel for a while, as he tried to figure out his next step. The house Hicks had arranged for him would no doubt be snatched from him to be loaned to a more viable candidate. That was okay; William had already decided he would get out of the house anyway. He didn't want Olivia's hook-up or Reverend Hicks's handout. All of this had gone too far. Whatever he got from here on out, it would be on his own. He would go to the dealership the next week and turn in the Yukon and get something he could afford, especially now that his business was picking up after hiring two people to handle his workload.
William dropped his blazer on the wingback chair in the living room and let his keys fall to the counter. He walked down the hall and turned on the hot water in the shower, then stepped back into the bedroom and disrobed. He let his suit fall in a heap in the floor, too drained to care. He moved with strong, gazelle-like legs across the threshold into the shower again, enjoying the freedom of being alone in the house.
He closed his eyes and let the water cascade across his shoulders and chest, willing the steam to take with it the stress and strain of the campaign and the day's argument with Nikki. So much had happened between them. He couldn't see how they could go back to better times. Maybe he had tried too hard. Maybe theirs was a love that couldn't last. Even if he still loved her, could he trust her? In his mind, unbidden, an image of Olivia materialized. She offered him so muchâher body, political power, money. She had made her wishes known on more than one occasion. Maybe he had been a fool to let that pass him by.
But just as quickly, an image of Nikki materialized. He could feel his body responding to the mental picture of her.
“Seems like I got here just in time.”
William heard the voice and he opened his eyes to see a naked Olivia stepping into the shower with him, her eyes roaming with satisfaction over his body.
Chapter 112
Election Day dawned clear and blue. The wind flirted with campaign signs and tugged at the coats of those who had risen early to cast their votes. William was the first in line in his precinct. At least he would have one vote.
He climbed into his vehicle and drove down the street. He got out at his brother's house. It was still early. Mac hadn't left for work yet.
“Hey!” William kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek and stepped into the kitchen, which smelled of fried bacon.
“Hey,” Janice said. “Grab a cup of coffee over there. We have some grits and stuff left over if you're hungry.”
“No, I don't feel much like eating.”
“What, too excited about the election?” Mac strode into the room and slapped him on the back.
“I don't know, man,” William shook his head slowly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, so much has been going on,” William said. “I mean, we've given it our best shot, but all this drama around my private life can't be good.”
“You mean what was in the paper about Nikki?” Janice cut to the chase.
“Yeah.”
“Look, what woman doesn't have a past?” she said. “Voters can't hold that against her. I say, more power to her. She cleaned up her act and moved on. That's the sign of a true transformation. And it just shows how God has worked in her life. I mean, most people just pay lip service to change. She actually made it happen.”
William hadn't thought of it that way. “Well, most people don't lie to their husbands repeatedly.”
“She didn't lie to you repeatedly,” Janice said. “Besides, I'm sure she wanted to tell you, but as life went on and she began to change, she pushed that out of her mind. God had made her into a different person. The person she was then isn't the one she is today.”
“Well, God also tells us to speak the truth.”
“Yeah, but He says our sins are cast into the sea of forgetfulness when we confess and believe,” Janice reminded him. “And if God can forgive, how can we not do the same?”
William was silent. He had always prided himself on being a good man, a good Christian. And now when his heart was tested, how had he responded? He absorbed Janice's words, but made no comment as she continued speaking.
“And as for the election, nobody is going to care about all that when they go vote today.”
“Well, I don't know,” William said. “I meanâ”
“You mean what?” Janice turned, her hand on her hip. “The girl was eighteen years old. You can't sit here and tell me you never did anything crazy when you were that age.”
William's eyes shot to Mac and his brother smirked. “Man, she got you there.”
“Remember that time we hotwired Mr. James's car and went joy riding? Mama almost threw her arm out of joint beating us. And I know you remember when we stole those beers from Old Man Jones and got sick.”
William nodded ruefully. “Yeah, I remember. But that's not anything likeâ”
“Whatever, William,” Janice interrupted with an impatient wave of her hand. “I think you're just too scared of losing this election and this is going to be your excuse if you do.”
“That's not true!” But he wondered at her words.
“So, why are you so mad then?”
“I'm mad because the woman I've been with all this time lied to me.”
“You're full of it, Will,” Janice said.
“Excuse me?”
“You know Nikki isn't a liar,” Janice shrugged. “Now, she might not have told you the whole truth, but she's not a liar. And even
if
she did all that stuff they said she did; really, what does something she did ten years ago have to do with the woman she is today?”
“Because, I meanâ” William stammered.
“Does it change the fact that she gave you a baby? Does it change the fact that she has sacrificed her career for yours?”
“What are you talking about? Nikki hasn't sacrificed anything for me.”
Janice glanced over at her husband. “Believe me, she has sacrificed plenty. She is a talented photographer, yet she isn't working in her field because you had some warped sense that you are the man and you are the only one who can bring money into the household. What, are you afraid she might bring in more than you?”
“Hey, that's not fair!” William shot back.
“Look, I'm calling it like I see it. I know she's sacrificed a lot, just like I have. It took me a few years to put in check the male ego that I live with,” she glanced meaningfully at Mac again, “to let him know that I can go out and earn a living just like him, and we are equals here. Maybe while you're getting mad at her over something she did years ago, she should be mad at you for what you are doing to her now.”
William stood up. “You know what? I'm not going to entertain this conversation. I'm getting out of here. I don't want to hear anymore of this nonsense.”
“Yeah, brother-in-law, don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you,” Janice called, dropping her hands in soapy dish water. “Take it easy. Stop by anytime.”