Heaven Forbid (16 page)

Life was good for Kelvin Petersen. He’d met a luscious Caribbean sistah at the mall the previous weekend. She was still at his house. Pursuing married Guy Harris had not only left Fawn little time to bother him but had also given him quality time alone with his son. But his real reason for celebration had to do with the phone call he’d just received. It was time to celebrate! Nothing major—there was a full day of practice tomorrow—but a little something to mark the occasion. He got into his car, plugged in his phone, and hit speed dial.

“My man,” he said as soon as Jakeim answered.

“Playa, playa. How you livin’?”

“You ain’t heard? I’m back in the starting lineup, dog!”

“Word?”

“Guy Harris is getting ready to warm the bench, son.”

“Congratulations, bro.”

“I’m heading to the club for a little low-key celebration. You down?”

“I’m there, dog. Hold my spot.”

Kelvin smiled as he disconnected the call. Finally, all the pieces of life’s puzzle were coming together for him, especially in the female department. He felt he deserved it, after what went down with Princess and the drama he’d endured with Fawn for the past three years. Stephanie was the type of sistah he thought he could hang with for a minute. She was smart, beautiful, confident, and had her own life and her own money. Her father was a diplomat with the Bahamian government, and her mother was a doctor. Baby girl had been raised in the lap of luxury, so she wasn’t chasing the dollar signs. For the first time since dating Princess, he felt he was with a woman who was about the love, not his paycheck. Life couldn’t get much better.

Kelvin reached into his console and then, on second thought, nixed the idea of lighting a blunt. He was content jamming with the sounds of T.I. and Rhianna and was content with how he planned to live his life from now on—drama free. He joined in, singing at the top of his lungs, banging out the beat on the steering wheel of his cherry-red Ferrari, smoothly swerving in out of traffic on the I-10, cutting through Phoenix on the way to the suburbs and the Myst club, less than fifteen minutes from his house. Kelvin cranked up the music even more and settled into the vibe of his good mood. He was less than five minutes from the club, and when he saw the green light at the intersection, he changed into the straight-ahead lane and increased his speed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something coming at him and only had time to utter one word before the crash: “God!”

The car came out of nowhere, doing sixty in a forty-five-mile-per-hour zone. The young driver of the other car had been texting on his cell phone and hadn’t seen the red light until it was too late. He tried to swerve but still broadsided Kelvin on the driver’s side. Another car was clipped, spun around, and hit Kelvin from behind, pushing his car another twenty feet. T.I.’s and Rhianna’s voices continued in the otherwise deadly silence, encouraging all who listened to live their lives. The music played on, but Kelvin could no longer hear it….

Joni’s hands were shaking so much she could barely dial Princess’s number. Had she not been so frantic, she would have remembered that Princess was number three on her speed dial. But the news she’d heard had nearly rid her of the ability to think.

Princess had barely answered before Joni began talking. “Princess, have you heard what happened? Kelvin’s been in a bad car wreck. It doesn’t look good, Princess. We need to pray.”

Princess grabbed her throat, trying to dislodge her heart from there. Instant panic set in at Joni’s words. She jumped off the bed, where she’d been studying, and began to pace the floor. When she could finally breathe again and found her voice, Princess’s question was simple: “What happened?”

Joni filled her in with what she’d heard on the news: After the accident, Kelvin had been airlifted to Maryvale Hospital and was in a coma. “Brandon’s flying out tonight,” Joni finished. “And I’m going to fly down tomorrow. I know there’s been a lot of bad blood between you and Kel, but at one time we were all best buds, and he’s still one of my husband’s best friends. I know it’s a lot to ask, Princess, but—”

“Book me on the same flight you’re taking,” Princess interrupted. “I’ll call my prayer circle and—wait, Mama’s on the other line. Let me call you back.” Princess clicked her call-waiting button. “Mama, I just heard…”

“Oh, Lord, I was hoping to reach you before you heard it on television.”

“I just got off the phone with Joni. That’s how I found out. How’s Uncle Derrick doing?”

Tai paused as she thought about the conversation she’d just had with her best friend, Vivian Montgomery. Vivian was concerned about her husband, Kelvin’s biological father. Even though Kelvin was sixteen when Derrick found out he existed, they’d created a strong father/son bond since then. He’d taken the news hard and had canceled a trip to South Africa to fly to his son’s side. Tai relayed this information to Princess and could hear her daughter sniffling in the background. “What about you, baby? I know you still have feelings for Kelvin. One always does, for their first love.”

“I’m flying to Phoenix tomorrow, Mama. Me and Joni.”

“Are you sure that’s wise, Princess? We’re all concerned for Kelvin’s well-being. In fact, your father and I will be there in a few days to pray for Kelvin and to be there for Viv and Derrick. Maybe you should wait until then to come visit.” Tai didn’t know what would be worse for Princess—if Kelvin lived and they rekindled their tragic romance, or if he died, leaving Princess with a lifetime of what-ifs.

“I already told Joni to book my ticket. I know Brandon needs her and she needs me. I’m going to be there for her…and for Kelvin.”

Tai couldn’t argue with her daughter. That rationale was exactly why she was dropping everything to be by her best friend’s side. “Well, keep me posted, baby. I’ll also e-mail you our travel plans as soon as they’re confirmed.”

They talked a little bit more, and then Princess’s phone started blowing up with one call after another—all fellow students or friends who knew of her and Kelvin’s shared past. She talked to a couple and then put her phone on vibrate so she could process the roiling emotions that were running through her. A part of her despised Kelvin and the things that had happened while being with him. But her mother was right: Another part of her still loved him. She was about to get on her knees to pray in earnest when her phone vibrated. It was Rafael.

“Yeah, I know about it,” Princess sighed into the phone. The tears that had threatened to erupt since Joni’s call now ran down her face. The familiarity and comfort she found in hearing from this old friend finally gave her the space to cry out loud. “I’m scared, Rafael.”

“Don’t cry, baby girl. It’s gonna be all right. It’s messed up, though. I can’t lie about that. I don’t know why these fools keep trying to text and drive at the same time. If they’re making it a law not to
talk
on your phone while driving, how does one then think they can
type
while behind the wheel?”

“I don’t know,” Princess whispered.

“Princess, do I need to worry about you? Now, don’t get me wrong—I feel bad for dude and all—but it took you a long time to get over what happened between y’all. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“Kelvin’s in a coma, Rafael,” Princess said harshly. “I don’t think he’s in a position to hurt anybody.”

“I know what I’m saying might sound cold, but you’re my best friend. So I have to be one hundred with you and say what’s on my mind. Don’t let your sympathy turn into something else. That’s all I’m saying.”

“I’m doing my duty as a child of God,” Princess countered. “This isn’t about any personal feelings I have for Kelvin. It’s about being there for my friends and praying for someone in need.”

“Okay, you remember that,” Rafael replied, not backing down one bit from his position. “And remember, too, that I’m the brother whose shoulder you cried on when that fool pushed you to the curb for baby mama. Be careful, Princess.”

“Look, Rafael, I gotta go.” Princess hung up the phone, cried, prayed, and remembered the good times—when Kelvin was her prince.

“I’m worried about Princess,” Tai said, having called Mama Max as soon as she’d hung up with her daughter.

“I thought something about that youngster was familiar,” Mama Max replied. “It stopped me in my tracks, hearing his name on the news. I was making dinner, and it stopped me right where I was. I’ll sure pray for that young man, sure will.”

“Pray for Princess too,” Tai said. “We all need to be strong during this very difficult time.” Tai felt her words ironic, considering the hard time her mother-in-law was facing. “What about you, Mama Max? How are you doing?”

“As well as can be expected,” Mama Max said conversationally, as if she were discussing the weather. “For a woman whose husband is a plastic-pussy-poking preacher.”

Tai paced her floor again, much like she had when talking to Princess. “Mama, I’m really concerned about you. You didn’t come to church last Sunday, and you haven’t been to work out with me all week. You might as well admit it—you miss the reverend. It isn’t a sin to miss the man, you know,” she continued quietly. “Y’all have been together for more than fifty years.”

“Don’t matter, we ain’t together now. And it looks like things might stay this way. I need to think about putting this house up for sale, think about getting something smaller, a condo perhaps.”

“He hasn’t called at all?”

“He’s called a few times, but I’ve ignored them.”

“Why?”

“Because he still hasn’t gotten rid of that disgusting doll. Talking ’bout he can’t find a way to get rid of it. I told him to take it out of the house the same way he brought it in there. Besides, according to him, it ain’t sinning since she ain’t real. I told him, ‘Trust me, if you have to hide it behind a fake wall, you can pretty much bet it’s sin.’ The nasty scoundrel. Look, child, I need to check on my rump roast. Let me call you back.”

Mama Max’s face was fixed into a frown as she basted the rump roast with the succulent juice at the bottom of the pan. Eight hundred miles away and almost three weeks later, and she was still very angry at Obadiah Brook. It had taken her exactly forty-eight hours to pack up some clothes and her favorite cooking utensils and fly back to Kansas, forty-eight hours after finding the doll, confronting Obadiah, and demanding that he get that filth out of her house immediately.

Mama Max didn’t have to put him out of the bedroom that night. They’d been sleeping in separate rooms for almost fifteen years. It started when they moved into their latest, three-bedroom home. Mama Max had set up a “sanctuary,” a place where she could do her crocheting, knitting, and sewing. But very quickly, the bed she’d bought for guests became the one she slept in each night. After falling asleep there after a late-night prayer session, she realized she appreciated a sound sleep uninterrupted by Obadiah’s loud farts and even louder snores. She didn’t have to worry about him pawing on her or waking up to find something hard and long poking her in the back.

The decision to stop having sex was never discussed. Obadiah kept asking, and Mama Max simply kept having a headache, or a backache, or a don’t-feel-like-it ache. Once he stopped asking, Mama Max was so thankful for the silence that she never questioned why. The thought of him cheating came up from time to time, but as they both grew older, and with no evidence to suggest the validity of such a thought, those worries faded. Mama Max thought Obadiah had finally reached the place she’d been for years, done with intimate encounters. Their lives had settled into a peaceful pattern. During the day, Obadiah spent a considerable amount of time in his study, while a majority of her time was spent in either the den watching television or the kitchen. Several times a week, Obadiah met with a group of seniors who played golf at a nearby course, and occasionally he’d grab a fishing pole and go in search of catfish, black bass, bluegill, or perch. They’d eat most of their meals together: breakfast between five-thirty and six-thirty, lunch around noon, and dinner at seven. Afterward, they’d usually watch a television show together, normally one from the sixties or seventies on TV Land or a religious channel, and they’d discuss various goings-on of the day and within the family. After that, Obadiah would retire to his study or bedroom, and Mama Max would fall asleep watching television, before finally going to bed around nine-thirty. She’d thought theirs was a simple life, but a good life. Now she didn’t know what to think.

Mama Max had just put on a pot of coffee when the phone rang. Without even realizing it, she wished it was Obadiah telling her that he’d thrown the trash out and purchased her a ticket back to Texas. She was half right: the caller was in Texas.

“Hey, Nettie.”

“Mama Max, how you doing?”

“Tolerable, can’t complain.”

Nettie had been worried about Mama Max since before she’d left Texas, and while Mama Max tried to keep up a strong front, Nettie heard the strain in her voice. And she’d dreamed about her too. “I saw Reverend Doctor last week. Took a casserole over to your house, a pan of corn bread and an apple cobbler. He seemed real appreciative, Mama Max. He’s lost without you around.”

“Might be lost, but he ain’t lonely. Was the girl still there?”

“Even if she was, I don’t think he’d have her in either the living room or the kitchen, and that’s as far as I made it into the house. But I can tell he misses you, Mama Max. It seemed like he wanted to talk, but he just wouldn’t open up, beyond church matters.”

“Who wants to open up about the type of stuff he’s doing?”

Nettie paused, looked out her window, and watched two sparrows fly in and out of the two large oak trees that framed her window. The birds chattered as they danced along the leafless branches, seemingly content to simply enjoy the beauty of the day. If only man could be more like the animals in God’s creation: taking no thought for the morrow, knowing that each day was sufficient unto itself. Mama Max was already making plans for something that hadn’t happened—a divorce.

“His eye is on the sparrow,” Nettie found herself saying out loud. “And I know God is watching over you and this situation, Mama Max. I don’t need to tell you that tongues are wagging. People are naturally wondering where you are, especially since you’ve been at the church practically every time the door opened since y’all got here. The reverend doctor hasn’t said anything from the pulpit, and I don’t think it’s my place to say anything either. But people know we’re friends…and they’re asking.”

“Lord have mercy.” Mama Max sighed. “This whole thing is a hot mess. But I’m not ready to come back, not until the reverend changes his ways.”

“There’s one more thing you should know,” Nettie continued after a slight hesitation. “Dorothea has been over to your house—at least twice.”