Craving Temptation (17 page)

Amina jumped from the bed. “Shotgun!”

Tears misted Rasheeda's eyes, her brother's screams pounding through her head. His verbal attack was mean-spirited and unnecessary but she knew he was only being this way because of Kareem. She clenched her hands into tight fists as he snatched her by the arm and threw her into the backseat of Kareem's car, the other man eyeing her with disdain.

She folded her body into the corner, pulling her knees to her chest as she wrapped her clothes tight around her body. Her tears dripped past her lashes, saturating the edge of her veil.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Basil hissed as he eased into the passenger seat, securing his seat belt around his torso. “Father is so disappointed. What did you think you were doing?”

Rasheeda didn't bother to respond, instead curling her body into a tighter ball.

Basil shook his head, continuing to rant. For ten minutes all Rasheeda heard was what she'd done wrong. She'd been mortified when Basil had found her and her friend Todd in the hospital cafeteria enjoying a quick cup of coffee before Todd had to return to his shift in the emergency room. Todd would never have known anything was wrong with the performance Basil had put on, her brother pretending to be concerned about her well-being. Todd had kissed the back of her hand before sending her off with him. Rasheeda had wanted to protest but would never have caused a scene. Even when Basil escorted her back to her hotel for her belongings she didn't say anything, not wanting to draw attention to either of them. The door to her room had barely been closed when her brother had threatened to hit her, throwing a punch against the wall instead. It had scared her to death. She'd barely caught her breath before his fist smashed into a lamp on the table, sending it straight to the floor. Her head was still spinning from his yelling at her. She felt battered, her entire spirit bruised.

Like every time before, Basil had blamed her for what he'd done. It was her fault that he was mad, thinking it was okay to threaten to cause her harm. It was her fault that he'd been made to reprimand her. It was her fault that he'd caused her pain, hurting her feelings. And like every time before, Basil had wiped her tears away, berating her to be good and dutiful so that he would not have to be mean to her ever again. But things were different this time and Basil didn't even begin to know. Rasheeda blew a deep sigh as she laid her head down on the seat.

“So what now?” Kareem snapped.

“I need to get her back home and then we need to deal with Amina.”

“She's married!” he spat, the ire of his having lost painting his expression with pure rage. “How do we deal with Amina?”

Basil cut his eye toward his friend. “She can still be of use to us. She married an Elliott. His name alone will allow us to still do this deal.”

“How do you figure that?”

“We'll transfer the property into her new name. No one will think twice about the property moving from one family member to the other. She can say her husband transferred it to her as a wedding present.”

“And how do you think you'll be able to make her do that?”

Basil smiled. He waved Rasheeda's cell phone in the air. Since he'd arrived there'd been no fewer than thirty calls from Amina trying to reach her sister. He gestured into the backseat. “She'll do anything to keep our baby sister safe and happy. Nasser says Rasheeda can have no contact with Amina. I will make sure she wants to. And I'll make sure the only way she will ever know whether or not Rasheeda is well is if she does what I say, when I say.”

“Neither one of us can afford for this to go wrong, Basil. I have some serious reservations.”

“So do you have a better idea?”

“Yes. I think we need a little more insurance. So Rasheeda will marry me. And she'll be an obedient wife. Because if she's not, she'll pay the price. That should give your sister a little more incentive.”

Basil nodded, a slight grin rising to his face. “Father would approve of Rasheeda marrying you, especially after the embarrassment that Amina has caused us all. Rasheeda can say that she realized she felt more for you after our sister betrayed you.”

“We don't need an elaborate ceremony. We'll tell everyone that Rasheeda thought long and hard about committing to her boyfriend in Maryland and realized that she and I were a better fit for each other. There was no reason for us to wait. And you need to make sure everyone at the mosque knows how treacherous Amina was; how she dishonored both of our families with her marriage to that man.”

Basil tossed his sister a quick look. “This is for the best, Rasheeda. Your submission will serve you well. You will marry into a wonderful family!”

Rasheeda had been listening intently. She met the stern stare her brother was giving her, her own eyes devoid of any emotion. Knowing that there was nothing she could do from the backseat of Kareem's car, Rasheeda closed her eyes. It would be a long ride back to Memphis. She had at least fourteen hours to figure out what she needed to do to make all of this right.

 

 

Amina, Harper, and Rachel were seated at a booth at Bonefish Grill after an entire day of shopping at Carriage Crossing. They'd dropped their credit cards at Abercrombie & Fitch, Caché, Ann Taylor, Chico's, Talbots, Soma, and at least six other stores; the trunk of Rachel's SUV looked like its own clothing warehouse.

The waitress had just delivered two chocolate martinis and an iced tea to the table when Amina lifted her cell phone to try Rasheeda's number one more time. Her frustration showed on her face when she got no answer.

“It's been three days now and she hasn't answered any of my calls!”

“Who?” Rachel asked as she took a sip of her drink.

“My sister.”

Harper shook her head. “You don't think anything's wrong, do you?”

Amina blew a heavy sigh. “Everything's wrong. I would never have thought she would allow my father to do this to us.”

“What about your mother?” Harper asked. “Has she talked to Rasheeda?”

“She hasn't heard anything from her either.”

“That's not cool!” Harper chimed.

There was a pause in their conversation as the waitress came to take their orders. Rachel was excited to try the Chilean sea bass and Harper and Amina both ordered the pecan Parmesan-crusted rainbow trout, sautéed and topped with artichoke hearts, fresh basil, and lemon butter.

They made small talk while they snacked on the restaurant's signature Bang Bang shrimp. When their entrees were on the table, everyone enjoying the meal, Rachel resumed their conversation about Rasheeda.

“Why don't you just go to your father's house and talk to your sister? I find that if you corner someone unexpectedly you leave them no other choice but to talk to you,” she said.

Harper laughed. “Or knife you. You can't box everyone in a corner and expect it to turn out all right.”

“I would but I've been banned from the property. My father doesn't want me talking to Rasheeda so I'm not allowed to see her.”

“Can you go to the mosque?”

“I thought about that but I ran into one of the church mothers and my name is mud in the community. Apparently I disgraced the family name when I married Troy.”

Rachel and Harper both shook their heads from side to side. “That doesn't make any sense,” Rachel said.

“I'm an only child,” Harper started, “so I don't exactly know what it's like to have a sister although I claim my best friend Jasmine. But Jasmine does have a younger sister. There's a four-year age difference between the two of them and I don't think they've ever had a close relationship. They grew up in the same house together and you and Rasheeda are closer than those two ever were.”

“I wish Rasheeda and I had grown up together. Our relationship started out a little rocky but once we got comfortable with each other, it was really good between us. She's my baby sister and I love her to death and I'm definitely protective of her.”

“I wish I could say that about Jasmine. She and her sister Taya don't talk. I have seen them together at family events where they don't speak to one another. And Jasmine has even refused to go places she knows her sister will be at.”

“What could be so bad that they don't even speak?” Rachel asked.

“Taya's a little different. Opinionated, condescending, judgmental, competitive, and a tad evil.”

Rachel laughed. Amina shook her head for emphasis.

“I actually think there's some emotional disorder going on with her that makes it hard to get close to her,” Harper added.

“That's not good,” Amina said, “but I still don't understand what could be so bad.”

“It's not good.” Harper took a bite of her fish, chewed, and swallowed before talking again. “About six years ago they got into a heated argument on Mother's Day. Heated! Taya was having a bad day and she snapped at Jasmine the wrong way. They got into it. Things were said that couldn't be taken back and Taya called her sister everything but a child of God. Their parents were mad and Jasmine walked away saying that she'd had enough. For a minute there everyone thought they might make up, then Father's Day rolled around. Taya wanted to celebrate at her house and apparently Jasmine didn't respond fast enough. Then Taya pitched a fit because Jasmine took her parents to dinner the week after and didn't give her enough notice. It was all childish and stupid and you would think the two of them would be over it but Jasmine says she can't do it anymore. She feels like she has always had to coddle her sister's feelings and not once has her sister given her feelings any consideration. She cut Taya from her life and hasn't looked back.”

“That is so sad,” Amina said, unable to fathom not having Rasheeda in her life. She suddenly felt tears burning behind her eyelids.

“What's really sad is that their parents indulge the behavior. My grandmother says that Mrs. Holt should have put a stop to that mess when they'd been little. Instead it's almost like she enjoys parenting them separately.”

“Everyone has some kind of family drama,” Rachel said. “It's just a shame.”

“Well, I don't want to think about me and Rasheeda never talking again. I need to figure out how to fix this.”

“I'm just glad that with everyone else's drama me and my man are getting along just fine,” Harper said as she sipped the last of her martini.

“Me, too!” Rachel said with a snap of her fingers.

“Me, three!” Amina chimed.

The three women burst out laughing. They talked for another hour, sharing secrets and advice. When the last refill was delivered to the table Rachel lifted her glass.

“Let's toast, ladies!”

Amina lifted her iced tea and Harper lifted her martini in salute.

“I don't have a sister but I consider you both to be my family. To good times with good friends, good sex with good men, and whatever else good we can think of!”

“Hear, hear!” Harper chanted.

Amina laughed. “You two have had a little too much to drink. I'm driving us all home!”

 

 

Troy laughed as Amina replayed the afternoon for him. She'd been giggling since she'd walked in the door. He was glad that she'd allowed herself an opportunity to relax and he appreciated Harper and Rachel's taking her mind off the things that were bothering her.

They'd been lying in bed, trading easy caresses as they shared their respective days. Troy was concerned about his numbers, the polls showing the slightest dip in his popularity based on his very liberal views on the definition of family and marriage. It was the one issue where Amina's father had a loyal following, his values popular with an ultraconservative, Southern mind-set that agreed with him in principle.

“So what does Mike recommend?” Amina questioned.

“He doesn't think it's a problem. His answer is to ignore it and focus on those issues where we've captured public opinion.”

“I don't agree.”

“What do you think? How would you advise me to handle it?”

Troy massaged her foot as she pondered his question. She closed her eyes for a brief moment as he applied just the right amount of pressure against the ball of her foot, his fingers pressing around the heel and moving her toes to curl. When she opened her eyes he was staring at her, his fingers gently teasing her calf.

“You can't ignore it. It's a hotbed issue right now for all politicians and you can trust that someone is going to bring it up wherever you go. I'd advise you not to hide from it. You believe what you believe and you can agree to disagree. You don't need to argue your opinion. You state it and move on. But you always end that conversation by saying everyone needs to do what makes them comfortable. That way you're not pushing your opinion on anyone and you validate what someone else might be feeling or believe.”

Troy was nodding his head slowly as he moved on to her other foot. “So do you want to come work for my campaign, Mrs. Elliott?”

Amina laughed. “No, Mr. Elliott. I start my new job tomorrow and I'm very excited.”

“Don't let Rachel bully you because she can be a bully.”

“Rachel and I will be fine together.”

“I'm just warning you,” he said.

“Duly noted,” Amina replied as she leaned forward to kiss his mouth.

“Did you eat?” Troy asked. “Are you hungry?”

“I'm antsy,” Amina said as she shook her body from side to side.

“Do you want to go to the gym and work out?”

Amina thought about it for a quick moment. “I think I really just want to walk.”

“Then let's walk,” he said as he slid his body off the bed, pulling her along behind him.

After slipping on their running shoes the duo headed outside. There was a full moon floating in the late night sky. It shimmered bright like an oversize pearl in a sea of black silk. Side by side they walked the cul-de-sac, occasionally peering into their neighbors' homes when curtains were open and lights were on.