Authors: Cheris Hodges
Recipe for Desire (22 page)
The women settled into the lesson and Devon thought about all of the wedding talk and wondered if his mind should even be going there. Was Marie ready for marriage? Her quip about deferring to him made him wonder if she had simply been trying to take herself off the hook.
Mrs. Devon Harris,
Marie thought as she loaded the garbage into the green trash compactor.
Marie Charles-Harris. Oh my God, I’m acting like a damned high school freshman. Just because someone said marriage, I can’t simply believe that it’s what Devon wants. He’s never mentioned it.
She pressed the compression button and tried to think of something other than walking down the aisle in a strapless butter yellow Angel Sanchez–designed dress. Her cell phone rang and she reached into her pocket, hoping it was the car service so that she could give them a sharp piece of her mind. It was an unknown number, but she had an idea who was on the other end of the phone.
Marie thought as she loaded the garbage into the green trash compactor.
Marie Charles-Harris. Oh my God, I’m acting like a damned high school freshman. Just because someone said marriage, I can’t simply believe that it’s what Devon wants. He’s never mentioned it.
She pressed the compression button and tried to think of something other than walking down the aisle in a strapless butter yellow Angel Sanchez–designed dress. Her cell phone rang and she reached into her pocket, hoping it was the car service so that she could give them a sharp piece of her mind. It was an unknown number, but she had an idea who was on the other end of the phone.
“What do you want, clown?” she answered, assuming the caller was William.
“Is that how Richard Charles taught his daughter to answer the phone?” an unknown voice said.
“Who is this?” Marie asked.
“This is Devon Harris, Sr., and we need to have a serious conversation about you and my son,” he said.
“Are you serious?” Marie inquired. “Your son doesn’t have anything to do with you, so what could we possibly have to talk about?”
“Young lady, I thought you would appreciate what family means; after all, unlike the last trollop my son was involved with, you were raised with class even if you don’t display it.”
Marie gripped her phone and gritted her teeth. “You’re going to give me a lecture on class when you went to one of the sleaziest blogs on the Internet to dish about your son last month?”
“The same blog that made you a star? Was it sleazy then?” Devon Sr. asked.
“I have nothing else to say to you.”
“Listen,” he said. “I honestly want to make peace with my son before I leave this planet. Maybe I haven’t done things in the right way, but he’s all I have left.”
“And what am I supposed to do about it?” she asked.
“I’d rather not get into it over the phone. But if you could talk my son into coming to Atlanta for a fund-raiser I’m hosting in his mother’s memory, we can talk about it.”
Marie released a low whistle; after what Devon had told her about his father and the abuse his mother had suffered at the hands of his father, this was going to be an explosive minefield that she wanted to avoid. “Does he know about this?”
“He would if he answered my calls.”
“I don’t want anything to do with this,” she said, then hung up the phone. Marie trembled as she tried to figure out how to tell Devon about the phone call she just received.
Chapter 21
When Marie and Devon headed to Hometown Delights after his class, he noticed that she was very quiet. “Is everything all right?” he asked as he turned into the restaurant’s full parking lot.
She glanced at him and nodded, still unsure how she should tell him about the conversation she’d had with his father.
“I don’t believe you,” he said, noting the somber look on her face. He shifted the car in park and turned his full attention to her. “You’ve been quiet since we left the shelter. Tell me what’s wrong.”
She sighed and stared into his eyes; concern and worry were etched on his face, and she knew what she was about to say would only make things worse. “Devon, promise me you won’t get too upset when I tell you this.”
“That’s not a good way to start a conversation,” he said. “But, I’ll try.”
“I got a phone call from your father.”
He mumbled a string of curse words that would’ve caused Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor to blush. Marie shook her head. “Devon,” she murmured.
“What did he have to say?”
“Well,” she said, chewing her lip as she considered her words. “Umm, he wants us to come to Atlanta.”
“Absolutely not. The last conversation we had was the
last
conversation we’re going to have.”
last
conversation we’re going to have.”
“But, ahh, he’s doing something that you should be aware of, and you’re not going to like it in the least.”
Devon folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s the bastard up to now?”
“Oh, God,” she moaned. “He’s sponsoring a fundraiser.”
He shrugged. “So what? He lends his name to everything. If only people knew what kind of asshole they were worshiping, they would—”
“It’s in your mother’s name,” she blurted out, dropping her head in her hands as if she were bracing for an explosion.
Devon unfolded his arms and hopped out of the car. His silence made Marie worry as she got out of the car herself. Crossing over to him and touching his shoulder, she didn’t know what to expect.
“You know,” Devon said quietly, “he’s done a lot of things that I’ve ignored. There was a time early in my career where his people wanted me to participate in some event he had going on in Atlanta. I told them to go straight to hell. But this. This shit here is beyond tasteless. He wants me to show up. Well, I will. And I’m finally going to rip that mask of I-give-a-damn-about-people off his smug face. That son of a bitch doesn’t have the right to mumble my mother’s name, and he wants to do this?”
“Devon, no.”
He faced her, anger contorting his face into something she barely recognized. “Marie, I love you and I know that you’re close to your father. You love him and he loves you. But the only thing my father has ever cared about is himself and his image. He will not sully my mother’s reputation to add a further feather in his cap. I don’t give a damn if he’s dying or not, I won’t take this lying down.”
She opened her arms to him and hugged him. “Is this what you’re going to need to do to release the anger and find peace? Devon, I don’t know what it was like for you with your father, but he’s dying. Yes, he hurt you and your mother in painful ways that I can’t imagine. But don’t you owe it to yourself to let it go?”
“Every time I think about trying to make real peace with him, he pulls some bullshit like this. All I can do is sever this relationship, and what I plan to do at this fundraiser will do just that.” He started to storm away from her, but Marie grabbed his arm.
“Devon,” she said quietly. “Calm down. Look at me.” He turned and faced her, and she could see his face slowly softening. “Don’t run from me, I want to help you. You’re in pain and I don’t like this.”
He stroked her cheek and tilted his head to the side. “And what am I supposed to do?”
She closed her hand around his. “Forgiveness isn’t about the other person winning; it is about you. You finding peace within yourself. You can’t love if you’re holding on to hate for your father,” she said, her eyes bubbling with tears.
“Is that what you think?” he asked. “You don’t get it. You know what it’s like to have a real father.”
“And that’s why I know you need to see him. Maybe not at this fund-raiser, but you should talk to him, Devon.”
He shook his head and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I can’t. I’m going to take a walk,” he said.
She didn’t know if she should’ve followed him or not. Instead, she headed inside the restaurant and ran for the office. Devon needed his friends; specifically, he needed Kandace.
“Alicia,” Marie said breathlessly from the doorway. “Do you know where Kandace is?”
Alicia looked up from the computer, surprised to see Marie standing there. “I haven’t seen her since earlier. What’s going on?”
Marie closed the door behind her and sighed. “I think Devon needs her.” Despite the fact that Marie wanted to be the one who calmed her man down, she knew Kandace had a deeper understanding of Devon’s relationship with his father.
“Why? What’s going on?” Alicia asked.
“Devon’s having a tough time and I just don’t know how to help him. I’m guessing Kandace does because she’s dealt with his father before.”
Alicia nodded. “That man just doesn’t quit.”
“His father called me and said he’s doing a fund-raiser in memory of Devon’s mother. So, you can imagine how that went over.”
Alicia’s mouth dropped and she snatched the phone off the hook. “I’ll call Kandace.”
Devon hadn’t realized how far he’d walked until he passed Wendy’s. It was really ironic that he ended up there since this had been the only fast-food restaurant that his mother would allow them to dine at during their adventures. Smiling, he started to go in and order a single with cheese, mustard, and extra pickles, his mother’s favorite sandwich. Instead, he grabbed his cell phone and called his father.
“Son, I’m surprised to hear from you,” Devon Sr. said when he answered the phone.
“That’s a damned lie and we both know it. Why did you call Marie?”
“I want this war between us to end, Son. I want us to try and put the past behind us. That’s why I’m honoring your mother.”
“That’s a damned joke. You honoring the woman you abused for years, right. You’d better call it off or I will tell the world what a louse their hero is. I will tell them why I spent the last decade avoiding you and everything you stand for.”
“You don’t want to do that. There’s no need to air our family business.”
“I’ve tried to handle this by just ignoring you. Obviously, you can’t take a hint.”
“Is this about your mother or the fact that you blame me because you couldn’t keep it in your pants and that girl caught you? Get over it, Junior. She certainly has.”
“You’re a pathetic, lonely old man and I actually feel sorry for you. You know what, I’m not wasting my time on you anymore. When your judgment day comes, you’re going to have to answer for everything you’ve ever done,” he said, quoting his mother. He actually heard his father gasp. Devon couldn’t remember how many times he’d heard his mother say those exact words to his father. Knowing that he couldn’t do anything to make his father see the errors of the past, Devon felt peace wash over him. His mother wouldn’t want him to spend another day angry with his father. He finally understood her last words to him.
Baby, you can only control what is in your soul.
Baby, you can only control what is in your soul.
“I hope your fund-raiser is successful and you find the forgiveness that you’re seeking before you meet your end,” he said, then hung up the phone.
As he walked back to the restaurant, his phone rang again. Though he started to ignore the call, thinking it was his father, Devon pulled the phone from his pocket. “Kandace?” he questioned when he answered.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Heading to the restaurant. What’s up?”
“Are you all right?”
Devon laughed, knowing Marie had told his friends what happened. That was sweet and a bit annoying. “Everything is cool, and why did Marie have you call me?”
“Because that girl loves you and wants to keep you on this side of sanity. You’re really going to have to open up to her. It takes a lot for a woman to ask a man’s ex for help.”
“Kandace,” Devon said, “I’m good. I’m going to go to Marie and let her know that.”
“Are you sure? She told me and Alicia what your father had planned and how ...”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said. “I was pissed, ready to smash his face in and tell the world what kind of man he is. But as I walked, I felt the presence of my mother, and I really let it all go. I can’t keep this anger inside me and I released it today.”
“Please let Marie know that. And whatever you do, don’t mess things up with this woman,” Kandace said. “You need her.”
“It’s not often that a man can find the right woman once, but to have it happen a second time, I know what to do not to mess it up.”
“Umm, that’s great. I have to go, I think my water just broke,” she said, then the line went silent. Devon jogged to the restaurant to share the news of Kandace’s labor.
Waiting for Devon to return was driving Marie crazy. Where did he go? Was he all right? Maybe she should’ve followed him because she knew how upset he was.
“Marie,” Alicia said as she watched her pace back and forth. “You’re going to walk a hole in the floor.”
She stopped and cast a sheepish glance at Alicia. “Sorry. I’m just worried about him. What if Kandace wasn’t able to calm him down? You didn’t see him; he was so angry and I just can’t help but wonder if he ...”
The door to the office swung open and Devon burst in. “Have you two heard from Kandace or Solomon?”
“No,” Alicia replied. “Why?”
“Are you all right?” Marie asked Devon as she crossed over to him. He nodded and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Kandace said her water broke,” he said.
Alicia brought her hand to her mouth, and as she was about to call Jade and Serena, the office phone rang. Alicia grabbed the extension and Marie turned to Devon, whispering, “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” he replied. “We need to talk about what you did.”
“Look,” she began. “I was ...”
“Guys,” Alicia called out. “Kandace is at Presbyterian Hospital. Jade and Serena are on the way.”
“Let’s go,” Devon said.
“I think I’m going to my office,” Marie said. Devon shook his head.
“Come on, ride with me,” he said. “We can talk on the way to the hospital.”
The last thing Marie wanted was to hear a lecture from Devon about calling Kandace, but what else was she supposed to do? He didn’t give her much of a choice with his silent anger. Rolling her eyes, Marie decided that she wasn’t going to let him make her feel bad about trying to protect him. She walked out to the car with him and noticed a slight change in his gait.
“Devon,” she said. “Look, if you’re upset because I went to your friends and ...”
He took her face in the palm of his hands. “I’m not upset. I owe you an apology,” he said. “I haven’t let you in and that’s not fair to you.”
Marie blinked and sucked her bottom lip in. “OK.”
“No, seriously. The last thing I wanted was to scare you or make you think that I was going to lose control. I’m done with my father, and if he’s truly going to ‘honor’ my mother, then I wish him the best. It’s the least he could do for the hell that he put her through. I can’t be angry with him anymore if I expect to truly experience love,” he said, then brushed his lips against hers. “And I don’t want you worrying about me when all we should be thinking about is what we have between us right now.”
Marie tilted her head and kissed him again, slipping her tongue between his lips as if she was showing him how relieved she was that he’d calmed down. Breaking the kiss, Devon stared into her eyes and nodded. “We’d better get going,” he said.
“OK,” she replied with a smile. When Marie and Devon arrived at the hospital, Jade, Alicia, Serena, and Antonio were there in the lobby of the maternity ward. “How is she?” Devon asked.
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