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Authors: Reshonda Tate Billingsley
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what?” she asked.
“About Jordan,” Bobby replied.
Rachel was speechless. Flirting with Bobby over the phone or in a place filled with hundreds of people was one thing, but to be in a car alone with him, just the two of them, was something totally different. Suddenly the reality of what she was doing set in. Lester was a good man. She’d left her wild ways behind her. Well, then what are you doing up in the club? the little nagging voice in her head asked.
“Ummm, it’s…it’s getting late. Twyla’s right. I better get going,” Rachel stammered.
Bobby looked disappointed. “Are you sure? I, um, I’d really like to talk to you.”
It took every ounce of strength in her body, but Rachel took a deep breath and replied, “Yeah, I’m sure. Just give me a call, okay? We’ll talk later.”
She grabbed Twyla’s arm and pulled her out of the club. Rachel didn’t stop until they were inside the car. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat.
“You want to tell me what that was about?” Twyla said as she started the car.
“That,” Rachel said as she opened her eyes and looked at her friend, “is what they mean when they say the devil is always hard at work.”
Chapter 11
L ester opened the refrigerator, pulled out the orange juice, poured a glass, then put the carton back in the refrigerator. He walked over to the toaster and dropped a piece of bread in. He stood there waiting on it to brown. When it popped up, he snatched it out, grabbed a paper towel and sat down at the kitchen table and began nibbling on his toast.
Rachel sat across from him at the table. “So, you’re just not going to say anything to me all morning,” she said, staring at him.
Lester didn’t respond and just kept chewing.
“Lester, I said I was sorry for staying out so late.” Rachel had tried to stay mad, but his refusal to even talk to her when she finally made it in last night and told him where she’d been had caused her to break down and apologize.
Lester finally stopped chewing and glared at her. “A club. My wife, the first lady of one of the best churches in Houston, was up in a nightclub, doing God knows what, with God knows who.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. She should’ve just lied when she came in last night. But Lester was waiting up and she felt bad enough about the conflicted emotions running through her mind over Bobby that she’d told him she’d gone out to Visions.
“I wasn’t doing anything but hanging out,” Rachel said.
“Hanging out? You’re dang near thirty years old, why do you still feel the need to hang out?” Lester was furious. Rachel couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen him so angry.
“I won’t be thirty for three more years. And you say that like thirty is old or something anyway. That’s crazy! I’m still young and if I want to go out and have a good time now and then, I don’t see the problem with that.”
“You don’t see the problem?” He got up and started pacing across the kitchen. “We lead by example, Rachel! How am I supposed to get up and preach to people about how wrong it is to be hanging out in clubs until all hours of the night when you’re doing that very thing?”
This argument was starting to get on her nerves, especially since Lester was starting to sound just like her father: always worried about what the people of Zion Hill would think. “I don’t care how or what you preach. You got the calling. I didn’t. I try to be supportive of you and that church, but you can’t even respect me enough to stop these tramps from getting all up in your face, so why should I respect you enough to stay out of the club?”
“So this is all about Nikki, isn’t it?”
Rachel glared at him. “Hell, yeah, it’s about Nikki!”
“Rachel, I have asked you over and over, please do not curse.”
“Oh, give me a break! ‘Hell’ is not a curse word. Heaven or hell, remember?”
“That is not the context in which you used the
“About Jordan,” Bobby replied.
Rachel was speechless. Flirting with Bobby over the phone or in a place filled with hundreds of people was one thing, but to be in a car alone with him, just the two of them, was something totally different. Suddenly the reality of what she was doing set in. Lester was a good man. She’d left her wild ways behind her. Well, then what are you doing up in the club? the little nagging voice in her head asked.
“Ummm, it’s…it’s getting late. Twyla’s right. I better get going,” Rachel stammered.
Bobby looked disappointed. “Are you sure? I, um, I’d really like to talk to you.”
It took every ounce of strength in her body, but Rachel took a deep breath and replied, “Yeah, I’m sure. Just give me a call, okay? We’ll talk later.”
She grabbed Twyla’s arm and pulled her out of the club. Rachel didn’t stop until they were inside the car. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat.
“You want to tell me what that was about?” Twyla said as she started the car.
“That,” Rachel said as she opened her eyes and looked at her friend, “is what they mean when they say the devil is always hard at work.”
Chapter 11
L ester opened the refrigerator, pulled out the orange juice, poured a glass, then put the carton back in the refrigerator. He walked over to the toaster and dropped a piece of bread in. He stood there waiting on it to brown. When it popped up, he snatched it out, grabbed a paper towel and sat down at the kitchen table and began nibbling on his toast.
Rachel sat across from him at the table. “So, you’re just not going to say anything to me all morning,” she said, staring at him.
Lester didn’t respond and just kept chewing.
“Lester, I said I was sorry for staying out so late.” Rachel had tried to stay mad, but his refusal to even talk to her when she finally made it in last night and told him where she’d been had caused her to break down and apologize.
Lester finally stopped chewing and glared at her. “A club. My wife, the first lady of one of the best churches in Houston, was up in a nightclub, doing God knows what, with God knows who.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. She should’ve just lied when she came in last night. But Lester was waiting up and she felt bad enough about the conflicted emotions running through her mind over Bobby that she’d told him she’d gone out to Visions.
“I wasn’t doing anything but hanging out,” Rachel said.
“Hanging out? You’re dang near thirty years old, why do you still feel the need to hang out?” Lester was furious. Rachel couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen him so angry.
“I won’t be thirty for three more years. And you say that like thirty is old or something anyway. That’s crazy! I’m still young and if I want to go out and have a good time now and then, I don’t see the problem with that.”
“You don’t see the problem?” He got up and started pacing across the kitchen. “We lead by example, Rachel! How am I supposed to get up and preach to people about how wrong it is to be hanging out in clubs until all hours of the night when you’re doing that very thing?”
This argument was starting to get on her nerves, especially since Lester was starting to sound just like her father: always worried about what the people of Zion Hill would think. “I don’t care how or what you preach. You got the calling. I didn’t. I try to be supportive of you and that church, but you can’t even respect me enough to stop these tramps from getting all up in your face, so why should I respect you enough to stay out of the club?”
“So this is all about Nikki, isn’t it?”
Rachel glared at him. “Hell, yeah, it’s about Nikki!”
“Rachel, I have asked you over and over, please do not curse.”
“Oh, give me a break! ‘Hell’ is not a curse word. Heaven or hell, remember?”
“That is not the context in which you used the
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