Free A House Divided by Kimberla Lawson Roby

her husband, for God’s sake, yet he had the nerve to defend Vanessa? It was bad enough that Matthew was doing the same thing, but this was a bit much.
    Charlotte took a deep breath, started up her Mercedes, and pulled out her sunglasses. It was clear that just about everyone had made up their minds about her and sided against her, but it was like she’d been saying all along: she would do what she had to when it came to being with her grandson. She didn’t want to resort to drastic measures, but now even Curtis was forcing her hand. Once Matthew went back to school, Charlotte would see how things played out, but if Vanessa and Racquel stopped her from seeing little MJ, she would get the help she needed. She would turn to Neil in a heartbeat.

Chapter 12
    C urtis drove out of the restaurant parking lot. As always, he’d had a great time socializing with his two favorite elders, but he also couldn’t help thinking about Charlotte and the conversation they’d had. At first, he’d thought telling her the truth was a good idea, but now he sort of regretted his decision. Not because he didn’t think she needed to know that her problems with Vanessa were her fault, but because one never knew what Charlotte might do when things didn’t go her way. She loved Curtis, he loved her, and for the first time in years, their marriage was healthy and stable. But she was so caught up with this whole MJ situation that there was no guessing how she might respond. He could tell by her voice how hurt she was to hear all that he was saying, but he also knew that Charlotte’s pain almost always turned to rage. Then, it wasn’t long before she set out on a mission of revenge. Normally, he never saw it coming and hoped for the best, but this time he had a bad feeling about it. She acted as though she hated Vanessa, and what worried him most was that she was obsessing over little MJ like he was hers—as if she’d carried him since conception and had now given birth to him. It was no secret that many times, Charlotte had talked about her desire to have another baby, but what Curtis had noticed over the last few months was that she didn’t mention it very much at all anymore; not since Racquel had gotten pregnant.
    Curtis drove through the intersection, but looked down at his phone when it rang. Whoever was calling had blocked their number, but he answered it anyway.
    “This is Curtis.”
    There was no response.
    “Hello?”
    Still nothing.
    “Hello?”
    Curtis held the phone to his ear a few more seconds until the call ended. He couldn’t help thinking about the anonymous letter he’d received yesterday, and he wondered if the same person was calling now. But how would they have gotten his phone number? It was one thing for them to have the church’s number, but there were only a few select people who knew the number to his cell. Regardless, he wished this vengeful person would leave him alone and go back to whatever they were doing before contacting him. He was the first to admit that his past wasn’t pretty and that he’d committed a list of wrongdoings, but when would he ever stop paying the consequences? When would he finally be able to live his life without worrying about the next blackmailer, or, in this case, worrying about a person who didn’t want money or anything else from him, but just simply wanted to ruin him—ruin his life, his family’s lives, and his ministry.
    As a pastor, he knew as much as anyone that every human being reaped what he or she sowed, but he was starting to feel as if he would never catch up. Maybe he’d done so much wrong that he would never live in peace. Maybe this was his fate, and it was time he accepted it.
    Curtis slowed his vehicle when he saw the light turning red, and his phone rang again. He almost hated to look at it, but he was relieved when he saw that it was Alicia.
    “Hey, sweetheart.”
    “Hey, Daddy. What’s up?”
    “Heading back to the church. Just came from having lunch