Ruthless (20 page)

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Authors: Shelia M. Goss

BOOK: Ruthless
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Chapter 47
Sheba allowed David to make the funeral plans for their baby. She knew it was the cowardly way, but she could barely breathe. She felt an emptiness inside that left her feeling sad. Even when she lost Uriah, she didn't feel this much despair, and losing him had taken its toll on her.
Delilah pinned Sheba's hair up for her.
“Thank you.”
“Sheba, you know you don't have to thank me.”
Sheba turned her seat around. “This is what family is about.”
Delilah bent down and gave her a hug. “Look at me. I'm about to mess up your hair.”
“I don't even care.” Sheba stood up.
David entered the bedroom. “Baby, it's time to go.”
He reached his arm out, and Sheba grabbed his hand. Delilah left the room before them, and they followed right behind her. There was no funeral-home limousine, since David owned his own.
Sheba looked out the window as they proceeded to Church On the Way Missionary Baptist Church. A small crowd was there, only because David had insisted that he didn't want a lot of people around.
The walk up the middle aisle seemed like déjà vu for Sheba, except this time it was her baby she was burying, instead of her husband. There he was, little David, dressed in a little baby blue suit and in a small baby blue casket. She had had no idea they even made caskets that little. Seeing him there made her weak in her knees.
“Baby, I got you,” David said as he held her up.
She cried out, “My baby,” as she fell on top of the casket and sobbed.
David grabbed her. “Come on, Sheba. There's nothing more we can do for him. Come on. Let's go take our seats.”
“No. I want my baby.”
Nathan walked up to them. “Sheba, little David is with the Lord. He's no longer in pain. He doesn't want to see his mother in pain, so come on. Let me and David walk you to your seat.”
Sheba loosened her grip on the casket and stood up. “Thank you,” she heard David tell Nathan.
She was seated. David wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Her head fell on his shoulder and stayed there throughout the funeral. Nathan presided over the funeral. He said a special prayer for the parents of little David. Sheba couldn't recall much else as she sat in a zombie state.
The organist played “Amazing Grace” as they were getting ready to walk out of the church. Memories flooded Sheba's mind. That was the song her mother had loved to sing. Ironically, it was being sung today. David had no idea that was her mother's song. The pain and all the memories were too much for Sheba to bear. She cried out and couldn't stop weeping. David had to carry her out of the church.
“I'm okay,” Sheba said over and over as he placed her in the back of the limousine.
Sheba had noticed that David had remained quiet during most of the service. She seemed to be his main concern. She loved David beyond a shadow of a doubt.
No one, not even Uriah, had ever been as attentive to her needs as he was.
David had told her earlier where he wanted to bury little David. She had agreed that that would be a good place, but she couldn't watch as they buried her firstborn in the plot David had had dug right next to the gardenias in the garden. It was a place she had found comfort in when she was able to walk around outside the house.
She went to her bedroom but looked out one of the windows as they lowered her baby's body down into the ground. David, who normally stood straight and tall, was hunched over. She watched as Nathan's hand patted David on the back.
Sheba closed the curtains and slowly walked back down the hall to the master bedroom. She removed her clothes and slid under the bedcovers. Sleep wasn't her friend. She wished she had a sedative so she could sleep. Maybe if she could sleep, she would feel better.
She heard a knock on the door. She yelled, “Come in.”
Delilah walked in, holding a plate of food. “I brought some of your favorites.”
“I'm not hungry.”
“Come on. You need to eat something.”
Sheba took a small bite of each item. “Satisfied?” she asked.
“It is better than nothing.” Delilah took her plate and placed it on the side of the bed.
“Where's David? Where's my husband?” Sheba asked.
“He's downstairs. I'll go get him.”
“Tell him I need him. I can't make it through this day without him.” Sheba pulled the covers up over her body and once again attempted to go to sleep.
Chapter 48
David was going through the motions. He talked and laughed at some of the jokes being told, although he didn't feel like it.
Nathan said, “Man, you don't have to put up this front like everything is okay. People will understand if you don't want to talk.”
Nathan was referring to some of the colleagues who had stopped by to show their respect. David knew they didn't think it was his child, so that was why he was able to stand there and be strong. And he was able to be strong because he and the Lord had had a one-on-one. David knew that his child's death was predestined because of his own sins.
Delilah walked up to him and whispered, “She's asking for you. She says she needs you.”
David attempted to get everyone's attention. “I want to thank you all for coming out and paying your condolences. Me and my wife appreciate all that you've done for us. You're all welcome to stay, but my wife needs me, so I'm going to retire for the evening.”
Ten minutes later David was upstairs. He discarded his tie before he made it through the bedroom door. Sheba was under the covers.
“David, is that you?”
“Yes, baby. I'm here.”
She peeped over the covers. David's heart skipped a beat as he made his way to the bed. She reached her arms out to him, and he embraced her. He wiped the tears from her face. Their eyes locked, and his mouth ravished hers.
Were those moans he was hearing coming from Sheba?
It had been a couple of months since David had felt a woman's body. He hadn't cheated on Sheba once since he moved her here from Shreveport. His body responded to her, but he tried to refrain himself. Sheba's hands roamed over his body.
“Baby, it hasn't been six weeks. Normally, you're supposed to wait six weeks.”
“I don't care. I need to feel you inside of me,” Sheba said.
David could not resist his wife. Sheba could have whatever she wanted from him. He gave in to her demands, and the day that they buried their son was only the second time they slept together.
The love he felt for Sheba poured out of him and into her. He held her close to his heart as they drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, when David woke up, he found Sheba sitting up on the side of the bed. He rubbed her back. “Lay back down with me. It's still early.”
“I'm fine. I needed you last night, and I thank you for being there for me.”
“I love you. I will always be there for you,” David said.
Sheba turned around to face him. “You have a good heart, David. I know you don't like to show it much, but you do.”
David felt a little emotional. “I can't help but love you. You and I have been through a lot, Bathsheba. If we can make it through all of this, I think we can make it through anything.”
“You're right. This past year has been hard on me, but with you by my side, I feel that everything is going to be all right.” Sheba leaned down and kissed him on the lips.
David got out of the bed. “I'll go run you some bathwater. You shouldn't be getting around too much.”
“I'm fine, baby.”
“Let me take care of you.” David wondered if Sheba could hear the fear in his voice. He almost said, “Let me take care of you, because I don't want to lose you, too,” but he caught himself.
“Use the French vanilla bubble bath that I love.”
David ran the bathwater and helped Sheba get in the tub. He washed her body and dried her off afterward. After he made sure she was okay, he went and took a bath himself. He drifted in and out as he mediated in the tub. He thanked God for another chance. He vowed to live upright from that day forward. He thanked Him for the love of a good woman.
The temperature of the water dropping prompted David to climb out of the tub. Sheba wasn't in their bedroom. David called out for her.
One of the maids said, “Mr. King, she's out on the patio.”
David rushed out on the patio, but she wasn't there. He could see her off in the distance. She was near the place where they had buried their son. He walked to where she stood.
Before he could say anything, Sheba said, “He was so handsome. He looked just like you.”
“He had your eyes.” David reached for her hand, and they stood there and held hands.
David stood out there until Sheba was ready to go back in the house. Inside, the couple had a quiet brunch. After eating, Sheba left the dining room and left David alone. He took the time to get caught up on the news. He was fine until he saw one of the headlines in the morning paper belonging to one of his competitors:
RUTHLESS MEDIA MOGUL BURIES HIS STEPCHILD
. Several question marks followed the word
stepchild
.
He proceeded to read the article. It read:
Sources close to David King reveal he was more than the stepfather. Could the nation's King of Media be tied to a love-child scandal? He married his wife only a few months after she buried her husband of over ten years. Who says money can't buy you love?
David's face turned beet red. He stopped reading the article and hid the paper under his arm. He didn't want Sheba to find out about the article.
Chapter 49
David's attempt to shield Sheba from the paper was not successful. Sheba grabbed the paper from under David's arm before he could object. She read some of the article out loud.
“His wife's husband was one of his employees. He was working in one of the most dangerous areas in the world. What kind of man would send an employee to a death trap? David King is ruthless.”
Sheba couldn't believe the hateful words written in the article. “They are the ones who are ruthless. We just buried our son, and they are writing stories like this.”
Sheba was livid. Although it was true that little David was David's biological son, only two other people knew it besides themselves, so the reporter was just speculating.
“I'll call someone and get them to retract the story,” David said.
“Don't bother. I'm just overreacting. We both know that little David was yours, and it'll only make them try to dig into our past more. What's that saying? ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.'”
David said, “The reporter who wrote that story is as good as fired. The owner of the paper owes me a favor.”
“Oh, you got it like that?” Sheba smiled.
“Baby, I'm the king, so you better know it.”
“Well, as soon as your queen is up to it, she can't wait to hit the malls. I need some retail therapy, something to keep my mind off all this.”
David got up and returned with an iPad. “In the meantime, let your fingers do the shopping.”
“Do I have a limit?” Sheba asked.
David looked up at the sky through the window. “The sky's the limit.” He winked his eye at her and then left her alone.
Sheba scanned several sites and had a difficult time making a purchase. Things were different now that she was able to buy whatever she wanted and never had to worry about money. But she would give it all up if she could have her son back.
“I'm going to think happy thoughts,” she said out loud.
She clicked on several Web sites and made purchases with the credit card David had given her when she first moved to Dallas. She chose clothes that were just a few sizes larger than her regular size, since she had gained weight from her pregnancy. Surprisingly, some of the baby weight had already started to drop off her body.
Her hand went to her stomach, to the empty place that used to house her baby. “Lord, please look after my little baby.”
After shopping, Sheba turned on the television and was appalled at some of the comments coming from someone who was supposed to be a well-respected journalist. Why were they concerned about David's love life? So what if he had fathered her child? It was their business and their business alone.
She was grieving and shouldn't have to deal with the foolishness of these reports, which seemed to be the talk of the town. The phone rang, so she turned the volume down on the television. Delilah's number displayed on the caller ID.
Without saying hello, Delilah blurted out, “I thought I was scandalous, but, girl, you got me beat.”
“Not you, too,” Sheba said, frustrated beyond belief.
“I saw it on my favorite talk show this morning. I started to call you then.”
“Glad you didn't.”
“Well, I think you should know that I've been contacted by several reporters wanting the scoop.”
“Delilah, you didn't? Please tell me you're not the source.”
“Of course not, dear sister. I would never betray you like that.”
Sheba sighed. “It would hurt me to find out that you are the one leaking information. Tell me now, because the truth always comes out.”
“Sheba, I promise you, I'm not the one. But if you ask me, it is probably Joyce. I wouldn't put nothing past her. I saw her in a new ride last week, and didn't you tell me she lost her job?”
“Yes,” Sheba responded.
“Well, I think she's the link and someone paid her to tell her story,” Delilah speculated.
“Glad you told me. I have a phone call I need to make.” Sheba was livid.
“What are you going to do?” Delilah asked.
“Let's just say I'm about to handle some business.” Sheba clenched her teeth.
“Don't do anything I wouldn't do,” Delilah said.
“No need to worry about that.”
Sheba disconnected the phone call with Delilah and dialed Joyce's number from memory.
“Hello,” Joyce answered.
“This is Bathsheba Baker King, and I advise you to keep my name out of your mouth.” Sheba didn't try to hide her anger.
“Sheba, so now you want to talk,” Joyce said, with sarcasm in her voice.
“For someone who claims to have loved their cousin, you sure are going about it the wrong way.”
“I loved Uriah. He was like a brother to me. You're the one who didn't love him. While he's off risking his life, working, you're whoring around with his boss. That's scandalous.” Joyce raised her voice.
“No. What's scandalous is you telling lies to reporters for money,” Sheba responded. Joyce remained silent. Sheba continued, “Yes, you thought I wouldn't find out. You're the source. Uriah would be appalled that you're tarnishing his image the way that you are.”
“Oh no, sister, don't blame me for your mistakes.”
“What goes on with my body is my business and mine alone. Not yours or anyone else's in your nosy family.”
“See? That's why I never liked you. You always thought you were better than us.”
Sheba responded, “You better be glad I'm a Christian, or I would purposely drive to Shreveport and commence to whupping your—” Before Sheba could finish, she heard the phone click. “Oh no, she didn't just hang up on me.” Sheba pressed REDIAL. This time she got Joyce's voice mail.
She waited for the tone and said, “Don't think this is over. If you talk to another reporter, I will sue you for slander, and that new car you just got will be mine.”

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