The Devil Is a Lie (6 page)

“Grams, it’s me, Todd.”

“Go away!” His grandmother started wildly rocking back and forth as she held her chest, her breathing growing heavier as the nurse hurried into the room.

“Miss Hattie, are you getting worked up again?” the nurse gently asked.

“Leave me alone,” his grandmother snapped, but then she calmed down a bit.

Todd stared at his grandmother in shock. He’d never seen her this bad.

“Please excuse us,” the nurse said, motioning toward the door. “I’ll let you know when it’s okay to come back in.”

Todd retreated into the hallway. He had to go talk to the doctor and find out what was going on with his grandmother. Outside the room, Todd quickly turned and scanned the hallway for Dr. Phelps. He spotted his office and raced toward it.

As Todd approached the office, he heard his mother’s soft whimpering. He walked in just as she was dabbing her eyes.

“Dr. Phelps, please tell me what’s going on. My grandmother doesn’t seem well. She’s clutching her heart and talking even more crazy than usual. I’ve never seen her like this.”

“Unfortunately,” Dr. Phelps answered, skipping the greeting, “as I was just telling your mother, your grandmother’s heart is weakening, and I think the change in her attitude is her way of dealing with the pain. She’s scared but she won’t admit it. On top of that, the dementia seems to be growing worse. But the good news is that we have an organ donor for the heart transplant.”

“What?” Todd exclaimed. When they’d first brought his grandmother here after her stroke, the doctor said a heart transplant would give her a new lease on life. But Todd had always known the chances of their moving up the organ donor list were slim because of his grandmother’s age. “That is great news!”

Dr. Phelps held up his hand to cut Todd off. “The bad news is, the transplant donor is coming from a private medical facility. The donor’s family specifically requested that the heart go to an elderly person, which is why your grandmother moved up the list so quickly. But because this is a private facility, your grandmother’s insurance will only cover seventy percent.”

“What does that mean?” Gloria asked.

“It means you will have to pay out of pocket at least twenty thousand dollars up front, then the balance of one hundred thousand within thirty days. And that’s just for the surgery and recovery, not her long-term care.”

Todd grimaced at these figures. He had known that if they were lucky enough to get a heart donor, it would be costly, but
he’d had no idea it would be that much. “What happens if we can’t come up with the money? I mean, can they really deny the transplant because we can’t pay?”

“They’ll go to the next person on the list. I know it doesn’t seem fair, but the state can’t regulate private facilities the same as they can public ones. Without the transplant, I give your grandmother one good month, and even then her heart could completely give out. To be frank with you, I think the pain she is in is taking a serious toll on her physically and emotionally,” Dr. Phelps bluntly said. “Just yesterday, we caught her trying to take a knife back to her room from the dining hall because she said her heart was hurting and she wanted to take it out.”

Gloria gasped as she and her son exchanged glances.

“Oh, my God,” Todd said, taking his mother’s hand. “Okay, what about Medicare? Won’t they cover the difference?”

“Unfortunately, your grandfather had pretty good insurance, and so Mrs. Sturgis is not eligible for Medicare.”

Gloria was not giving up hope. Instead she asked, “How do you know if the surgery will work?”

“As I told you before, it’s not like you have much choice. Yes, the elderly are at a greater risk during invasive surgery, but considering your options…” His voice trailed off before he said, “Let’s just say, if there’s any way you can get the money, I’d suggest you do it. This is a rare opportunity.” Dr. Phelps slid several papers toward them. “You can apply for assistance with this foundation, but it’s a three-month process and we just don’t have that kind of time.”

“We’ll do it. I’ll sell my house,” his mother said, wiping her
eyes. “I will call that developer that tried to buy my house last year.”

“No,” Todd replied sternly. “Mama, you love that house. It’s all you’ve got.”

“I don’t care. I can’t let my mother suffer, and I sure can’t watch her die,” she replied, her voice shaky. “So book the surgery. I don’t care, I will sell my house and live on the street, but we will find a way to pay for it.”

“Mama, you are not selling your house,” Todd said, his eyes filling with tears as he pulled her into his embrace.

She buried her face in his chest and began to cry. The strong façade she’d tried to display was all but gone now. “What other option do we have? Where in the world could we get that kind of money?”

Todd smoothed his mother’s hair as she cried into his chest. He looked up to see Pam standing in the doorway. Her satisfied smirk said it all. He no longer had a choice—he
had
to take Nina’s money.

T
odd desperately needed to talk to someone. He knew it was early—at least by Lincoln’s standards—but Todd was about to lose his mind.

“Lincoln, open the door!” Todd pounded on the front door of the brick condo. He waited a few minutes before the door swung open.

“Man, you look like death warmed over,” Lincoln said as he stepped aside to let Todd into his home.

“And I feel even worse,” Todd replied, plopping down on the sofa. He’d been up all night and his eyes bore his weariness. “Linc, I need your help.”

“Uh, I couldn’t help you after noon?” He yawned and stretched.

“It’s ten o’clock, dude. It’s time to get up.”

“Yeah, it’s ten, but I didn’t go to bed until seven. Calvin had his bachelor party last night and it was sure—”

“Look, I need your advice,” Todd said, cutting him off. He gave Lincoln’s nude body a sour glance. “But, man, can you put on some clothes?”

Lincoln cursed, then mumbled something about “sleeping in the nude in my own house” as he stomped back to his bedroom.

Todd sat silently until Lincoln returned. He was still shirtless, but at least he’d put on a pair of flannel pajama pants. “All right.” Lincoln dropped down in the seat across from Todd. “What has Pam done now?”

“Believe it or not, this isn’t about Pam.” Todd took a deep breath and explained the whole situation about the divorce that didn’t happen.

When he finished, Lincoln was definitely wide awake. He was sitting on the edge of the sofa, his mouth wide open. “You mean to tell me your divorce isn’t finalized because Pam bought a purse?”

Todd closed his eyes and groaned. “I know, it sounds crazy.”

“It’s about the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” Lincoln waved that thought off. “No, let me correct that, your girl is crazy. I’ve been telling you—”

“Lincoln! That’s not why I came over here,” Todd said, exasperated. “If I’m not divorced, you know what that means?”

“Yeah, you gotta get divorced because I doubt very seriously if Nina—” Lincoln stopped in midsentence as his eyes grew wide. “Oh, dang! Nina. The lottery.”

Todd nodded knowingly. “Yep, Pam was the one who pointed it out. If I’m not divorced, then I’m entitled to half of Nina’s winnings.”

Lincoln started to smile, knowing how straight-up his friend was. “And let me guess, you’re not feeling that idea?”

“What do you think?”

“Man, I don’t know what to tell you. You know I really like Nina and it would be jacked up to take her money, but eight million dollars? I might have to revamp my moral code for that one.”

That wasn’t what Todd meant. “You know me, at first I wasn’t even trying to hear all the reasons Pam said I should get the money.”

Lincoln’s smile broadened. “Oh, you know she’s seeing dollar signs.”

“You know it,” Todd replied. “And I wasn’t trying to go there. I just couldn’t do that to Nina.”

Lincoln frowned, not following Todd’s drift. “Okay, you’re talking past tense. You
couldn’t
do that to Nina. Not you
can’t
do that. Have you changed your mind?” He put up his hands for five. “Are we about to get paid?”

Todd swallowed hard. “I have to.”

Lincoln slapped his legs. “Well, just call me Gayle and slide me a cool mil like Oprah.”

“Would you stop joking?” Todd admonished. “I’m thinking about taking the money because of Grams.”

“Grams? What’s up with her?”

Todd squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to block out the
memory of his grandmother’s tirade yesterday. “She’s getting worse, but the good news is that they’ve found a heart donor for her.”

Lincoln perked up. “Man, that’s fantastic news.”

“It is, but the insurance doesn’t cover it all. We have to come up with at least one hundred and twenty thousand dollars of our own money.”

“Wow,” Lincoln replied, appalled by the large sum.

“Tell me about it.” Todd got up and began pacing. “I can cash in my 401k but that’s only about eight grand.”

“You got that much from UPS?”

“Nah, I carried over my 401 from the radio station.”

Lincoln’s brain was churning with possible ideas. “Can’t you just tell the people to bill you and never pay the bill?”

Todd shook his head. “Now, you know I’m not going to do that. Besides, I have to have twenty grand before they even do the surgery.”

“I’m just saying. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Your mom doesn’t have the money?”

“Nope, she barely gets by on Dad’s Social Security check. But she is talking about selling her house.”

Lincoln drew back in surprise. “What? The house you grew up in? The house she loves so much she wouldn’t sell to that developer who offered her twice its worth?”

“Yeah, that house.” Todd nodded. “So needless to say, I can’t let her do that. Not when there’s another way I might be able to get the money.”

Lincoln was stumped as he continued to think of other ways
out of the problem. “Well, have you tried talking to Nina? I mean, she might not be able to stand you but she used to love Grams as much as you do. She might offer to pay for the surgery.”

“I thought about that, but what if she says no? Then what do I do?”

“Then you take half the money,” Lincoln said like it was a no-brainer.

“It’s not just the hundred and twenty thousand. Even after the surgery, Grams’s long-term care will be ten times that. There’s just so much to take into consideration.”

“And there’s no other way for you to find the money?”

“If there is, I don’t know it. I’m torn about this, but when I look at my grandmother and I look at my options, I know I don’t have much choice. I’m going to have to fight Nina for half the money.”

Lincoln leaned forward and stuck his fist out. “Well, I got your back, whatever you decide.”

Todd bumped fists with his friend. Now he just had to pray that Nina wouldn’t hate his guts forever.

N
ina loved the expression of joy etched across Rick’s face. Clad in a tight mustard-colored shirt and Sean John jeans, he looked like he should be modeling for a physical fitness magazine.

“So what do you think?” he asked anxiously.

They were standing outside an abandoned warehouse on two acres of land that Rick was planning on purchasing. Nina couldn’t see what Rick was apparently envisioning, but his happiness warmed her heart. He’d brought her here to show her the property and talk to her about the plans he had for it.

“I think it’s great,” Nina said. “But more than anything, I just love seeing you smile.”

“Thank you, baby,” he said, taking her in his arms. “And
your good luck is making all of this possible. When I came to look at this property last month, I never in a million years imagined I had a chance of actually buying it.”

Nina’s sister, Yvonne, and her friends had all said she was moving a little too fast with Rick. Michelle had begged her to step back and take her time, saying her heart hadn’t had time to heal and jumping into a serious relationship with Rick so soon wasn’t good for her. But so far he’d been nothing but great to her. Every now and then she’d get an uneasy feeling about something he did, but she told herself she was just scared that Rick would hurt her like Todd had.

“Well, I just wanted to stop by and show you. Next stop, Robbins Brothers to pick out your ring.” He took her hand and led her back out to the street where they’d parked.

They were approaching his Ford Explorer when a black sedan with dark-tinted windows pulled up. Rick’s whole demeanor changed and his body tensed up. The car came to a stop right in front of them.

The back window slowly lowered. “Hello, Rick.” Nina immediately frowned at the sight of the supermodel-beautiful woman who batted her eyes at Rick.

“Hey,” Rick replied uneasily. “How are you?”

“How do you think?” the woman seductively replied. She gave Nina a once-over but didn’t speak to her. “I’ve been looking for you,” she said, turning her attention back to Rick.

“I’ve, uh, been kinda busy,” he said awkwardly.

The woman clicked her teeth in a feral bite. “You should never be too busy for me.”

“I was gonna call you later this evening. I just got a little tied up. I’ll definitely call you later this evening.” Rick shifted uncomfortably.

“You’d better,” the woman replied.

Nina could no longer hold her tongue. “Excuse me,” she said to Rick, “you wanna tell me who this is?” He just stood there, like he was too scared to speak.

Nina turned to the woman in the car. “Maybe you can tell me who you are.”

The woman smiled, rolled up the window on Nina, and then the sedan took off.

Nina folded her arms across her chest and glared at Rick. “Who was that?”

“It’s not even like that,” Rick said, finally coming out of his trance.

“Well, what is it like?” Nina snapped.

He gently pushed her toward the car. “Can you get in?”

Nina pulled away from him. “No, I cannot. Rick, who is that? Are you cheating on me?”

Rick vehemently denied it. “No, Nina. That’s Dior, the girlfriend of this guy named Ty. He was looking at investing in my business.” He was talking rapidly, almost out of breath. “I’ve been blowing them off because I really don’t want to do business with them, but I promised them earlier that I would give them a shot if I ever got the health club off the ground.”

Nina eyed him suspiciously. She wasn’t buying his story and he must’ve known it because he said, “Please, Nina, I swear. It’s exactly what I told you. I wouldn’t cheat on you.”

“Why were you all speechless then?”

“Because she caught me off guard. I couldn’t believe she knew about this property,” he explained. “She must’ve been following me. And if Ty has her following me, that means he’s not going away easily.”

Nina didn’t see the problem. “Just tell them you’re not interested in investors. What’s so hard about that?”

“The solution’s not that easy.” Rick let out a long sigh before admitting, “I did a big deal with Ty several years ago. It went belly-up and he feels like I owe him. So he’s not even trying to hear I want to do this on my own.”

Nina thought she understood. “Fine,” she finally said. “You just need to handle this situation, because I don’t like that woman.”

Nina was going to let the matter drop, but she remembered what her grandmother had taught her a long time ago: don’t be a fool when it comes to men. She’d take this nugget of information and store it. Something in her gut was telling her sooner or later she’d need to know more about it.