The Choir Director (37 page)

“Yes, because he knows he can’t have me and that I will never love him.”

T. K. looked me directly in the eye for the first time in days. “Do you have any feelings for that man?”

“No. I’ve got no feelings for him at all. I love you, T. K., and only you.”

“Then Maxwell Frye will have to get over it, because our love is here to stay.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Finally, we were both on the same page.

“I think he’s trying to ruin both of our lives,” I said.

“Don’t worry. As soon as this competition is over, I’ve got something for Maxwell Frye.”

Now all of T. K.’s anger was directed at Maxwell and not at me. I was glad for that, as long as he didn’t find out what I’d been doing recently.

“You don’t hate me, do you?” I asked.

“I can never hate you. I love you.” There was a pause. “Is that why you haven’t been sleeping with me? Because you were ashamed of me?”

I didn’t answer.

“Wow, okay. You don’t have to answer that.”

“Baby, I love you,” I said.

“I love you too. I’ve missed you.”

For the first time in weeks, T. K. took me into his arms and held me tight. We began to kiss, first slowly, tentatively; then we intertwined our arms, our legs, our hearts and made love for the first time in a long time and became one again.

There was only one day before Aaron and the choir left for Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Gospel Choir Championship. Maxwell had been on my ass constantly about making sure they ended up on the losing end. He was very clear about not wanting them to get the money they needed to pay off the mortgage on the church and the school. He kept emphasizing that if he didn’t get what he wanted, I wouldn’t get the three hundred thousand dollars he’d promised me, and I’d wind up in jail.

He had no idea that I already had a plan in place to take care of the situation but I can’t lie—I found Maxwell’s threats to be quite motivating. My original plan was to make sure Aaron was so shaken up by my threat to expose his criminal past that he’d come running back to me with his tail between his legs. Either that or he’d pack up and leave town to save himself from the humiliation of being exposed in front of the church.

He’d tried to play all hard the night I showed up at the church, but he was afraid I was going to tell. I could see it in his eyes. His pride wouldn’t let him give in, but he was definitely concerned. The only reason I hadn’t exposed his ass right away was because I didn’t want to play all my cards at once. I also didn’t want to give him or the church enough time to recover from the bomb I was about to drop on their heads.

There was also the little fact that despite everything that was going on, I still loved Aaron and I knew that once I revealed his little secret, there was no turning back. I’d probably lose him forever. That was not something I wanted, but unfortunately it was either him or me, and, well, self-preservation is key. Things
were down to the wire now, and it was time for me to accept that Aaron and I were through and it was time to bring down his egotistical ass.

I walked into the school building around 6:30 p.m. with a small folder under my arm. I found what I was looking for when I heard Tia’s voice coming out of a classroom. I peeked in the small window and saw her sitting in a circle with about ten other women. When I pushed open the door, everyone in the room turned to look at me. Tia’s eyes seemed to bug out of her head with surprise.

“Can I help you?” Tia asked.

“Pardon me. This
is
the rape counseling group, isn’t it?” I continued to speak before anyone could answer. “I know I’m late, but it’s okay for me to come in, isn’t it? I don’t have to register or anything, do I? Is everyone welcome? I just have so much I need to get off my chest.” I patted my eyes with a tissue.

The expression on Tia’s face said exactly how she felt:
Hell no, you’re not welcome
.

But before she could say a word, the other women were welcoming in the timid, shy-acting woman I portrayed. Tia watched as one woman pulled a chair into the circle so that I could take a seat.

“Thank you for having me. I’m sorry again for being late,” I stated.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Tia lied. “We welcome you.” She was gonna have some heavy repenting to do afterward. I know she hated me as much as I hated her, but she had no idea how much she would hate me when it was all said and done.

“Thank you, Sister Tia.” I smiled.

Sister Tia. Now, that was a good one.
I wanted to laugh, but I kept my composure, and believe it or not, so did Tia. She ignored me as best she could and got right back to her meeting.

“So, anyway, ladies, like I was saying, tonight we’re going to talk about something we haven’t touched upon yet, and that’s forgiveness: forgiving ourselves and the person or persons who hurt us.”

There were several sighs, and some of the women shifted uncomfortably in their seats. I could tell they weren’t anywhere
near the point of forgiveness. Good for them. Tia was spewing a bunch of feel-good crap anyway.

“I know, I know, ladies. Forgiveness is easier said than done. But remember, I’ve been in your shoes before, and I’ve forgiven the men who raped me.”

“But how do you forget?” a woman asked. “I can’t even look in the mirror without replaying the whole scenario in my mind.”

“You will never forget, but you can move on. That, however, is for another night, or maybe a one-on-one session. Let’s deal with forgiveness tonight.”

Tia had her mouth poised to continue speaking when I interrupted. She had better be ready for a lot of interruptions tonight, because I was planning on making a habit of it.

“Pardon me, uh, Sister Tia, but, uh, I have something specific that I was hoping to discuss tonight.”

I know she wanted to smack me for taking over her meeting. You should have seen the look the bitch gave me when I said, “I promise it won’t take long, and then you can get back to the matter of forgiveness. It’s just that it’s so heavy on my heart right now.”

I gave each woman in the group a sad puppy-dog face. Then I put my hand over my chest as if something was ailing me, something I just had to get out.

The woman sitting next to me put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, baby. Let God use you up in here.”

I glanced over at Tia, who was clenching her fists at her side all the while nodding with false concern. “Please, Simone, what is it that’s on your mind?”

“Well …” I leveled my gaze on Tia. “I was just wondering what do you do when someone you know is dating a rapist?”

There were gasps around the room, just as I’d hoped. This was going to work out perfectly. I couldn’t have gotten a better response if they were all on my payroll.

“You tell the person,” one woman said, and several quickly agreed.

“Simone, the ladies are right,” Tia cosigned. “You have to tell this woman. Imagine how you would feel if something happened to her, if she became one of the rapist’s victims.”

This was intense. From the look on these women’s faces, they would have taken up arms and followed me to kill the son of a bitch—which might not have been such a bad idea if I didn’t love him.

I paused for dramatic effect, before I looked at Tia and said, “You’re right. I should tell her.” I turned my head, making eye contact with every woman in the circle. I wanted to be sure I had everyone’s undivided attention before I announced, “Tia, you’re dating a convicted rapist. Aaron Mackie is a convicted rapist. And those two goons you always see coming around are his parole officers. If I were you, I’d be careful.” I leaned back and folded my arms, watching the drama unfold.

“Huh?” Tia sat there, absolutely stunned. She couldn’t say a word, but the other women did.

“Oh my God! Isn’t he the man who sat in on one of our meetings?” a woman asked.

It was kind of obvious from the way she spoke about Aaron that she wasn’t from our church, and neither were the other women, for that matter. I didn’t recognize any of them, now that I thought about it. Then again, I guess if I’d been raped, I wouldn’t go to a support group in a place where everyone knew me. I don’t care what type of agreements they have to keep things confidential—women talk! Besides, who knows who you might run into?

“Yes. He could have been here trying to pick up information on how not to get caught next time,” another woman replied.

“Or even worse, what if he came here to find another victim?” The woman who said this shuddered, genuine fear evident on her face.

I almost felt bad for putting them through this—not completely, but almost.

“What if he’s got his mind set on one of us?”

I felt the energy in the room shift. My announcement had just the effect I’d been looking for.

“Jesus, Tia, not only are you dating a convicted rapist, but you brought him into our lives too. We were supposed to be able to trust you.”

I could almost see Tia’s heart breaking into a thousand pieces
just thinking that she could have betrayed these women. Now, that’s what I call dropping a bomb on someone’s head!

Tia swallowed hard, standing up. “Excuse me, ladies. I’d like to speak to Simone outside for a second. Certainly there has to be some mistake. I’ll be right back.”

“Sure, no problem, Tia. I’d be happy to.”

She gestured for me to go to the door and I obliged. As happy as I was about the success of this mission, I was careful to walk solemnly so as not to blow my cover in front of these women.

We stepped out into the hallway ready for war. If she thought what I just dropped on her head was something, she hadn’t seen anything yet.

“Yes, Tia?” I turned to face her as if it were just another day. As if I hadn’t just come in there and made statements that turned her world upside down.

“How could you make up such lies about Aaron? I know you hate me, but I thought you actually loved him. How could you throw him under the bus like that?”

“I wouldn’t, Tia. After all, who in their right mind would publicly make such strong allegations if they didn’t have proof?”

“I … I just can’ t believe it.”

“Then believe this.” I handed her the folder, then watched as she opened it and began reading.

“See, I told you. It’s all right there in black and white. He’s a registered sex offender, Tia.”

“Oh my God.” Before I realized it, the papers she was reading had slipped through her hands.

“I’ll get it.” I bent over and picked them up, then handed them back to her. “Here, you can keep this. I have plenty more copies. We may be enemies, but I just thought you should know.”

She stood there frozen.

“Look, I know you don’t want to believe this coming from me, but like my father always said, the best way to find out the truth is to go to the source. So, why don’t you just go ask Aaron for yourself? And make sure you tell him I’m the one who told you.”

It had been a long, emotional day for everyone. Per James’s request, his body had been cremated and there was no funeral, but we still held a memorial service for him at the church. Although many people over the past year or so had written him off because he went to jail, we were all pleasantly surprised by the turnout at the memorial. The pews were packed like it was Sunday service, and you wouldn’t believe how many women were crying. I didn’t know half those sobbing women even knew James that well, but from the tears they were shedding, it looked like they knew him a hell of a lot better than the rest of us.

I don’t know if anyone shed more tears than my husband, though. T. K. had taken James’s death extremely hard. He’d held himself together long enough to put together the service just the way his friend wanted, but once we stepped foot in the church and saw the urn holding his ashes and James’s portrait beside it, T. K. lost it. He had to struggle to keep his composure during the rest of the service. I gave him a sleeping pill at home to calm his nerves and help him sleep through the night.

I was sad that James’s kids didn’t show up, but I wasn’t surprised. They hadn’t been around at all during his incarceration or his illness. However, I was amazed that Simone hadn’t shown up, despite the fact that I had texted her the time and place. Yes, she was banished from the church and I personally couldn’t stand her right now, but I did know how she felt about James. I thought she might have wanted to be there. Believe it or not, that bastard Maxwell was there with two large guys who looked like bodyguards. Luckily he knew enough not to start anything at such a solemn occasion.

Even though Maxwell behaved himself in public, having him there made the day even more difficult for me. It was painful to see my husband’s true friend reduced to ashes in an urn and his worst enemy sitting in the pews. For much of the service, I couldn’t even pay attention. I was too busy thinking about what, if anything, I could do to stop Maxwell’s attempted takeover of the church. Unfortunately, he pretty much had my back up against the wall, because as soon as I tried anything, he’d tell T. K. what I’d been doing lately. Short of killing Maxwell, there wasn’t much I could do.

I had to try, though, which was what brought me to the church at two in the morning, letting myself into the bookkeeper’s office. I had a strong suspicion that the papers Maxwell had shown me were forged. If I could locate the originals, I would have proof of T. K.’s innocence, and Maxwell would no longer be able to threaten to send my husband to jail. Hell, if I was lucky, I’d find proof that Maxwell was the one who stole all the money. At that point, Maxwell could put an announcement in the church bulletin that I’d slept with him, and not a soul would believe him.

I guess I could have turned on an office light, but just in case someone drove by the church, I didn’t want to bring any unnecessary attention to myself. So, I pulled my flashlight out of my purse and headed for the file drawers. Unsure of what I was looking for, I started by going through the church’s records of accounts receivable and accounts payable.

My heart was pounding. I had no idea what I was going to find in these files, and regardless of what it was, I knew that the outcome would be painful for me. What if, by some million-to-one chance, I was wrong about the forgery and the files confirmed that T. K. actually had been stealing?