Saint's Sacrament - Sins of the Father (99 page)

“No need to leave, Daddy. Oh, before I forget
.” She turned away from him. “Did you get your rent paid?”

“Yes, yes I did, honey. Thank you. I’m glad you brought that up actually, Xenia. I didn’t want to tell you this, but I’m in
arrears. The money you gave me kept me from being evicted, but next month’s rent will be here any day now. This time, I want it to be a loan. You’ve done faaaar too much for me as it is, and I’ll make good on this. My social security check is little of nothing and—”

“Yes, Daddy, I’ll pay for it. Don’t worry. Everyone that comes close to you
pays
for it…” Xenia offered a syrupy smile. “Wait!” she put her finger up. “My children have already paid for it. Mama, Porsche and Ira have already paid for it.”

Her father glared at her, a look of confusion on his face.

“You know what Mama told me? Like her grandmother told her—to put salt around her door to keep the Devil out. I should’ve put salt around my doors to keep the Devil out too, Daddy. Little did I know, I kept inviting him inside, allowing him to cross over from the other side. Matter of fact, he handed me the big canister of Morton’s and winked. You always had a thing for rubbing sodium in wounds, Daddy…”

The man’s face twisted as he ran his hand nervously over his chest.

“You re-entered my life at a vulnerable time. It was calculated, like the opportunist that you are. You’re a con artist. You pimped your own daughter. You pimped my emotions. You walked into my work place, knowing damn well you were going to try to bleed my gullible ass dry! You knew I always wanted you back in my life, a part of me, anyway, regardless of how I behaved. You had enough common sense to see that when a child is angry about an absentee parent, it isn’t always because they hate them, it’s because they love them and wished to hell that man or woman loved them, too!”

Henry held up his hands. “N
-Now, Xenia,” he stuttered. “I need you to calm down. You got me all wrong. I was just—”

“Oh no, I’ve got you
all
right! You are
everything
Mama said you were and more! You’ve been lying to Porsche and stealing money from her and Gwen’s mouth this entire time. You know my sister lives paycheck to paycheck, but that didn’t stop you, now, did it? We actually help my sister out financially, but she deserves it because she works hard and is trying to do right by her child, and she is good to me and this entire family! Family…” Xenia laughed, shook her head and put her hand on her hip as she briefly looked away from him. “Something you’d know nothing about! You brought three children into the world and don’t give a damn about any of us!”

“I guess you’ve been listening to your backwards ass Mama again. Believing all that bullshit. Xenia, listen. I—”

“You are
nothing
but a slithery snake with your damned hand out all the time! How dare you use your health—which is fine except what is going on in that thick skull of yours—and your rent—which was already current—and my children to get close to me? And what
really
stinks, Daddy, is that Hassani and Dakarai and even Isis, as young as she is, really were starting to like you! How could you do something so cruel?! They’re babies, for God’s sake!” Xenia’s voice shook as she balled up her fist in anger. She wanted to lunge it straight into the python’s lying mouth.

“I guess I better be leaving. You don’t understand and it looks like the one shot we had
at a relationship is blown. I can’t win with you.” He moved away from the couch and began to approach the door.

“You wait just one more second, Daddy!”

The man turned around and faced her. He removed his hat and clutched it in his fingertips, a sheepish look on his face.

“Do you know what’s it like to not have a father? I believe that you do and funny how you didn’t even know who your father was, never even saw his damned face, and yet still, you bestowed that same curse on your offspring. Everyone else is to blame, aren’t they, Daddy?”
She wiped a tear away. “Mama and her big mouth are to blame. Porsche not having enough money to support you. Ira is too far away for you to use, but did you know he’d be home soon? You probably did and when he gets back in town, you’ll no doubt be chasing after him, too, trying to get a piece of that military salary.” She shook her head. “All you’ve done your entire life is use people. You used Mama. You knew she was a workhorse. You used me and Porsche, playing us. You thought you hit the jackpot when you saw me on television, huh?! All these years, you knew I’d done radio and you wished you could get close to me then, probably cursed yourself for not sticking around just so you could get your mitts on my hard earned income. But once you realized how financially blessed I am, and that my riches had expanded, well hell, you just couldn’t wait another second to step up your game! It all makes sense now. Your entire life is a con, Daddy. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but it sickens me that you don’t care about anybody, not even yourself!

“I’m an adult, so I can’t blame you for all the bad choices I made
.” She pointed at him. “But I picked men who were messed up, by example! Porsche and I
both
chose men who would use and abuse us, just like Mama had. Ira, for the longest, used women! He thought that is how you treat a woman! We were all messed up. It didn’t matter how much education I had. It didn’t matter how well I kept myself up. What I was driving, where I was living, Daddy. More times than not, I’d get hold of a man just…like…you!” She pointed a finger in his face.

“A man that only s
aw me for what I could do for him. I was being pimped! Your daughter was being emotionally pimped and used and it was because you were my damned role model for how men act and behave! I didn’t want to be abandoned again, you see, so I put up with bullshit! And then after a while, I drew cold and icy. I put a wall up. I didn’t want anyone near me because I believed
no
man would ever love me and treat me right! I would never get married!” More tears streamed down her face. This time, she let them fall.

“I would never have children! It would be just me and my dog, sitting on top of the world! My career became my lover, and I was lonely as hell!
I wrote a book about it, but they were lies. All lies! But what could I do? I was enduring what so many other African American women are enduring in this country. We are fatherless! We chase after men who’d rather shit on us than commit, and many of them do! This is about race, it is about a quality of men and unfortunately, in the African American community we are the most likely to not come from a two-parent household. Do you know how devastating that is?! As my husband states all the time, it takes
two
people to make a baby for a reason! Both people have to be there to nurture that seed! You can’t just screw a woman, knock her up and leave her alone with your child. Your job isn’t done, it just began! You’ve barely ever had a legit, steady job. You spend your money on booze, gambling and probably some young ass woman who is only using you for the money that I gave you! I feel like a damn fool, but you taught me well, Daddy. You taught me to always trust my gut, and never question it again.

“Saint even tried to warn me about your ass. He
knew
you weren’t worth a damn!”

Henry rolled his eyes dramatically.

“But, he stayed out of it. He could see for a short time at least, I was happy. I was so happy, Daddy!” Her voice cracked as more tears streamed. Her lips quivered and she paused, trying to regain her composure. “I thought, ‘I
finally
have him in my life and he loves me! He loves my children and he wants to be a part of this family.’ I told myself, ‘Xenia, take your wall down. He deserves a second chance.’ Brick by brick, I removed the wall and let you step inside and you came in there and tore my heart apart! You took your bare hands and ripped it out my chest! Please let it be known!” She shook her finger at him. “When you die, I will
not
be at your funeral! After a while, I won’t hurt over this anymore. You have singlehandedly ruined a blessing you will never get back! You won’t be using us anymore, Daddy. I will make sure Porsche knows
all
about this after today, and you can try to lie your way out of it to her, but I have all the cancelled checks, some of which, she already gave you money for the same shit! I will make sure Ira knows, too. He hated you more than I did! Everyone is going to know what a wretched, sad, pathetic man you are!” Her voice boomed as he turned his back and slowly walked to the front door.

“I hated you because I loved you, Daddy! From now on, your name is just Henry! I never want to see you again!”

Henry opened the door and walked out, slowly closing it behind him. Xenia hugged herself and slumped down onto the couch, sobbing uncontrollably. In an instant, she felt as if the rug had been lifted from under her feet and now her head was whirling. Before she could even blink again, she felt long fingers caressing her shoulder and back. She looked up, and Saint stood there in his silky white pajama pants and shiny wedding band. He’d been upstairs the entire time and hadn’t come out that bedroom door to interrupt. He’d heard the whole damned thing. She hadn’t shared what was happening, how her world was crumbling, but he knew—of course he knew. He gathered her in his arms and hugged her so tight to him as she trembled and turned to pudding in his grip.

“Come on now, baby
,” he cooed in her ear, rocking her. “It’s going to be alright, my Queen…everything is going to be okay.” He kissed the top of her head and cradled her to him.

Xenia continued to sob
and choke on the painful tears, her heart feeling as if it were stopping and starting up again like an out of whack stick shift. It was simply too much. She clutched him close and buried her head into his chest, while he continued to slowly rock and hug her, without saying another word. They must’ve stood there for an eternity, and for Xenia, that simply wasn’t long enough…

~***~

“The three men out of the four had—”

Saint stopped midsentence as he stood at the podium in the vast conference room. A red glowing light lit up the place. He hung his head and shook it, a nervous smile budding across his face he didn’t dare let anyone witness. He gripped the sides of the table and waited for security to make their announcement.

“Dr. Saint Aknaten, two agents from the IRS are here to see you. Where would you like me to send them?”

To hell…

“Uh, send them to my office, please.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

The warning light waned and the murmuring began.

“Gentlemen.” Saint straightened his chocolate and cream pinstriped jacket. “All I can say is that I hope I will be returning to discuss this case further.” He sighed as he stepped slowly away and made the walk of doom toward the front door. “If I do not, Lawrence and Jagger are in charge and all things must be approved through George.”

He made sure to not make any eye contact with anyone. His skull thumped hard and heavy. The fact of the matter was that Payton had been given directive orders. His offer was simple. Either she t
old them, or he released the tape. He made her understand that her own home-spun version of the account would serve her far better than the footage. That was damaging and couldn’t be sugarcoated. Surprisingly, the viper in a red dress agreed. She had a deadline and should she hesitate and let it expire, then so would she…

He opened the door and walked to his office, his thoughts blurry and hot. He didn’t call Xenia or his children. He didn’t want the woman unnecessarily upset but he’d already dreamed of the terrible ordeal the night before.
They were on their way, but the verdict still wasn’t clear. It was possible that even after Payton pleaded her case, they may have still felt their investigation did render unscrupulous financial mishaps. Once you get those dogs sniffing, they rarely come up empty-handed. As he rounded the corner, he saw two men in the distance approaching. One was a gentleman he’d never seen before. The other was the gopher. Without so much as a word, they all met up at the door. Saint unlocked it and tried to act as if he wasn’t moved by the gesture. Flowers and cards filled the place. He gritted his teeth. He’d made the mistake of telling Lawrence his dream. They had a pow-wow, a coming together, a meeting of the minds, and apparently Lawrence didn’t want him to be carted away thinking he wasn’t loved and appreciated. The IRS agents looked around in surprise as the sweet scent from the purple, white and pink blooms filled the room.

“Please gentlemen, have a seat.”

They gathered around his desk. Saint grazed his fingertips over the Black maiden, hoping to see her again soon.

The gopher opened a folder
. His pocked jaws looked full and he jittered about as if he had Parkinson’s. Saint was unnerved by the jumpy fellow, but remained cool. Two tiny eyes roamed sentence after sentence.

“Dr. Aknaten,” he beg
an, crossing his legs. “We’ve finished our investigation.”

“…Yes.”

“We’ve come to a conclusion. We’ve found your company to be in violation of Act 76.2, Section 1205.” The man continued to look downward, his lips moving as if he were chewing gum with only his front beaver teeth.

Saint grimaced
. “Okay, uh…” He gave a nervous smile. “I’m not a tax expert so what exactly does that mean?”

“It means you will be fined for six out of one hundred and twenty five discrepancies. We do not feel
, however, that it was intentional based on other findings. We will need to receive payment in the amount of $14,332.09 within thirty days, starting from tomorrow, paid in full or a payment plan can be arranged.”

Saint leaned back in his chair, unable to hide his smile. He ran his hands down his face and looked up at the ceiling, thankful.

“Thank you for your patience during this matter,” the gopher said solemnly as he stood, along with the other agent.

“No, stay right there. Let me write you out a check.” Saint pulled open his desk drawer and removed a company issued checkbook.

“Uh, sir,” the other agent spoke up, his face drawn down like a drunken rat. “We can’t accept payments. You will have to send that to—”

The gopher put his hand up to silence the man. “No, it’s fine. We will just take it with us and submit it to the appropriate party. I think this is the least we can do.”

Saint nodded and wrote out the amount. He’d never been happier to give away money in all of his life. He waved the check around like a flag at the two dowdy dressed rodents. The gopher secured it in his tiny, pale hand.

“Have a good day, Dr. Aknaten.” They turned their backs.

“Oh, I will, thank you kindly!”

The door closed and clicked behind them. The men had barely been gone thirty seconds when Jagger and Lawrence burst through, grinning like two nuns who’d seen a nud
ie magazine for the first time.

Jagger smoked his hands together. “Yes!!! It’s finally over!” he
exclaimed in relief.

Lawrence slumped down in a chair as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

Saint stood and grinned. “Well, I still haven’t heard from the police, but at least this part is finished. Let’s go back into the meeting.” He refastened his cufflink.

“What? Business as usual? No fucking way. We are getting drinks after work.” Jagger snatched his door open
. Saint laughed lightly behind them.

“Are you treatin’? I just wrote them a check and my personal funds are still frozen because of this embezzlement bullshit.”

“Oh, please! We all know you have money squirrelled away!” Jagger grimaced. “I saw the envelope!”

Saint shot him a ‘poor orphan Annie’ look.

“Oh, fine. You’re being a real cheapskate. All the damn drinks are on me!” Jagger conceded.

Both men looked at Lawrence, as if asking for permission to act a fool. He threw up his hands and shook his head.

“I know! I know! You two buffoons! I’m the designated driver!”

They burst out laughing as they re-entered the meeting and before Saint could finish his sentence, he was drowned in hearty applause…

~***~

Two days later…

“Don’t man, I’m tellin’ you,” Saint whispered to Jagger as they lounged in his basement. “Don’t call her yet.”

“I know. I guess now that Sinclair and the IRS are finished, my workload has lifted some and I’ve had more time on my hands.”

Saint pointed toward the steps. “You wanna paint the boys’ rooms?” He grinned mischievously.

Jagger waved him off and s
ank deeper into his seat, clutching a large frosted glass of bubbly Pepsi. They heard the basement door open, then tiny feet descend. Xenia peeked over the side of the rail. Her hair was wet and shiny, her lips pouty and covered in sheer gloss. She looked like a teenager filled with exuberance. As she leaned forward, wearing a pink halter top and long white flair pants, her toes curled on the carpeted step. Jagger and Saint waited for her to speak, but they both seemed captivated by her serene image.

“Hi
, fellas.” She smiled.

“Hi Xenia.” Jagger waved. Saint shot him a look; he picked up a flirtatious thought from the man, swung in his wife’s direction.

Jagger grinned shamefacedly. “What?! She looks nice, that’s all I thought!”

Saint smiled and looked back at her.

“What’s up, baby? You gotta run out or something?”

“No, but there is a man here to see you. The police.”

Saint’s heart froze. But wait…she was smiling. Before he could ask another question, he heard hard footsteps coming down, causing the floorboards to creek. A police officer approached. He took his hat off and stood amongst them, surveying the place. Saint was relieved to see it wasn’t the buzzard who’d given him a hard time. No, this man was clean shaven and had a gentle face, faded black hair and sparkling dark brown eyes to match his badge. A golden wedding band glistened on his medium brown left hand. He looked like a black Ken Doll, dressed to kill, his gun in its holster against his hip and his black shoes shined like newly minted coins.

“Dr. Saint Aknaten
.” The officer reached out his massive hand for a shake. The man had to have been the same height as Saint, maybe even taller. Saint got to his feet and took the offered hand. Jagger set his glass down and listened.

“My name is Officer Elysio. I was just explaining to your wife that the embezzlement charges have been dropped. It came to our attention that it was erroneous and based on speculation. You will get a letter in the mail from the courts in approximately seven days explaining that your court case has been dismissed and who to contact. If you do have an attorney, you could simply pass the paperwork
on to him or her, and they can take care of the remaining loose ends. I apologize for any confusion and irritation this may have caused.” He extended his hand once again and Saint grasped it, holding onto the damned thing tightly. The man’s eyes narrowed and a gleam came across them.

Oh.
My. God. He’s an Angel Child!

Jagger appeared to be puffing up like a fish as he got to his feet. The cop swallowed hard
; his Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Uh, Dr. Aknaten
.” The cop glanced back at Xenia. “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”

“Well, my personal life has already been exposed after your little friends ransacked my house and hauled my behind down to jail, so you may as well
,” Saint chided.

The cop looked
down at the floor and nodded, a half-smile on his face.

“Would you
…” He looked back at Xenia, seeming unsure of how to phrase his question. “Would you mind showing me your foot?”

Xenia’s face twisted in confusion
. She put her hand on her hip and frowned. Jagger and Saint looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Saint bent down and removed his white ankle sock and blue and white Nike gym
shoe. “I feel like O.J. ’nd shit,” Saint teased. “Only it’s not a glove, it’s a sneaker.”

He knew what the man was looking for and he was more than happy to show him. After removing the articles of clothing, he lifted his pant leg and exposed his right ankle. There, in full view, was the diamond shaped birthmark. The cop stepped closer and looked at it from various angles.

“Jesus Christ,” he whispered, as if in awe. “You have noooo idea how long I’ve wanted to meet—” He stopped mid-sentence, and looked over his shoulder again at Xenia.

“Oh man, I mean, Officer Elysio, you can speak freely in front of her. That’s my wife of almost nine years. She knows full well what I am.”

The cop’s expression immediately relaxed. Xenia grinned and made her way back up the steps.

“I’ve wanted to meet someone like you for I don’t know how long. There are others
like us around here,” the officer whispered. “But you know, some of us still keep to ourselves. … And I owe your wife an apology. As soon as she opened the door, I could sense you. She told me I could wait upstairs after I stated the nature of the business, but I just couldn’t, I needed to see you right away.” A blush came over the cop’s cheeks as he treated Saint like some star, stroking his ego.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Officer Elysio. Thank you for giving me this news. I’ve been a little a
ntsy, naturally, for quite some time.”

“Totally understandable and it was nice to meet you as well.” The cop shot a look over at Jagger and smiled. “Two in one room, this is amazing.”

Jagger grinned and waved at the officer.

“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the precinct.” He handed him his card. Saint walked him up the steps and to the front door. As the cop stepped across the porch, Saint called out.

“Wait a minute. Come back for a second.” Saint gave a ‘come hither’ motion with his finger.

“Yes?”

“You seem like the sort of guy who may like to have fun and relax on his days off. Maybe kick back with a beer or two with some friendly folks. Due to this good news, I’m throwing a party. I’ll talk to my wife about the details, but you’re more than welcome to come. I’m formally inviting you and I have your card right here.” Saint dug in his pocket and waved it. “I’ll contact you with the details if you’re interested.”

“I’d be honored.” The officer smiled cheerfully. “Do you mind if I bring my wife and daughter?”

“I
demand
that you bring them, Officer Elysio.” Saint grinned.

“Thanks, and call me Roman. You enjoy the rest of your day!”
The officer grinned and walked stiff-legged to his parked police car in the driveway.

Saint closed the door and stood there for a moment. He liked Roman already
; he liked him a lot. He glanced down at the officer’s card again and smiled. By some divine fate, he was sent to deliver the stellar news and Saint didn’t believe in coincidences. He possibly had met a new friend, only time would tell, but he couldn’t wait to pick the man’s brain…