After JT drove inside the garage, he stepped out of his vehicle and Alicia opened the door leading to the kitchen. Then she closed it behind her.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she said. “Before you go in, I need to talk to you about something.”
He leaned against his car door. “I’m listening.”
“When I called you earlier, Carmen was actually taking her mother’s death pretty well, but as time went on this evening, she became a lot more emotional. As a matter of fact, she pretty much cried her eyes out just before my mom and Dad James came by, but then while they were there, she laughed and joked about just about everything. So, needless to say, I’m very worried about all these mood changes she keeps having, and I didn’t think it was a good idea for her to spend the night all by herself.”
“That’s all fine and well, baby, but I’ve already expressed to you how I feel about this.”
“I know, but, honey, she really needs me right now. She needs us.”
“No, she needs
“But you know she’s my friend and that I care about her, right?”
“Nonetheless, I still don’t want her here.”
Alicia tossed him a dirty a look, something JT hadn’t seen her do before. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked loudly. “I mean, how can you be so cruel?”
“I’m not. But it’s like I told you before, I don’t want someone staying here when I don’t know if they can be trusted.”
Alicia folded her arms. “You know, JT, I’m really shocked to see you taking such a strong stance about this because this is so totally unlike you. You’re acting as though Carmen has done something to you personally or like she’s one of your worst enemies, and I don’t get that.”
JT wondered if Alicia was simply trying to make a point or if maybe his negative attitude toward Carmen was beginning to make her suspicious. Either way, he couldn’t take any chances.
“Okay, fine, baby,” he said. “She can stay.”
Alicia hugged him and then pecked him on the lips. “Thank you for understanding, and I’m sure she’ll feel well enough to go home by tomorrow or the next day.”
When they went inside and into the family room, Carmen stood up. “JT, I hope you’re not upset about my staying over here.”
JT gritted his teeth. “Of course not. You just lost your mother, and we’re glad to have you.”
“Oh, bless you,” she said, smiling, and JT wanted to smack that grin from her conniving little face.
“You’re welcome,” he said reluctantly.
But he had barely gotten the words out before Carmen rushed over and hugged him. “You and Alicia really are lifesavers, and I don’t know what I would do without the two of you.”
JT pulled away from her and glanced over at his wife, checking to see her reaction. Interestingly enough, she was smiling with the utmost approval. She was actually thrilled beyond measure and clearly had no idea her “good friend” was scheming and doing everything she could, trying to take her place.
This whole scenario, though, was too much even for him and the reason he finally said, “Hey, baby, I’m beat. So, I’m gonna head upstairs to take a shower and get ready for bed.”
“That’s fine. I’m going to sit and chat with Carmen for a while, but after that I’ll be right up.”
“Take your time,” he said, and went on his way.
JT slipped off his suit jacket, plopped down onto the chaise, removed his tie, and flipped on the television. A few minutes ago, he’d told Alicia how tired he was just as a way to escape Carmen and whatever she was plotting, but now he realized he hadn’t been lying. He truly was exhausted, and if he hadn’t been a stickler about always showering before turning in, he would have skipped freshening up altogether and would have fallen straight to sleep.
So he sat only for a short while, then finished undressing and went into the bathroom. He opened the glass door, threw his plush bath towel over the side of it, turned on the steamy-hot water, and stepped in. This felt good already, and this was one of the days when he was glad he’d insisted the builders install a very high- pressure showerhead. It could easily be adjusted so that the water flowed less powerfully, but he always kept it at this position. He loved the way it massaged his muscles and how rejuvenated he usually felt once he finished lathering down and rinsing off. It was one of the small luxuries he’d requested but one that had been well worth asking for.
JT stood still for longer than normal but then finally turned off the water and stepped out. He dried himself off, secured the towel around his waist, and strutted back into the bedroom. It was then that his heart skipped a beat and began pounding rapidly.
He couldn’t believe his eyes but knew he wasn’t hallucinating. Carmen stood in front of him, dropping to the floor what appeared to be one of Alicia’s bathrobes, and then moved closer. She had not a stitch of underwear on.
She placed both arms around his neck, but JT pushed her away. “What are you doing? And where is Alicia?”
“She’s out. Yeah, I sent the little wifey off to fetch me something to eat. I told her I was finally hungry and that I had a huge taste for some Giordano’s deep-dish pizza, and she was in her car and on her way in no time. She’ll be gone for at least an hour.”
“You’re sick, Carmen. You know that? You’re sick and you need help.”
“Why? Because I know what I want, and I’m not afraid to go after it?”
“No, because you’ve got my wife thinking you’re her friend, yet here you are standing in her bedroom, butt-naked, trying to seduce her husband.”
Carmen smirked at him. “I guess I don’t see what the problem is.”
“You know exactly what I mean, and I want you out of here.”
“But your wife wants me to stay, remember? She told me I can stay for as long as I want, and before she left to go get me something to eat, she told me to come right on up to that gorgeous guest bedroom I’ll be sleeping in…but I decided to come satisfy my man instead.”
“Carmen, I’m only going to say this one more time. Get your crazy behind out of here.”
“Geez. You’re so testy these days,” she said, stroking the side of his face.
JT slapped her hand away as hard as he could.
“And violent, too,” she said, laughing at him. “But I forgive you.”
Now JT wanted to laugh himself, because this whole travesty seemed more like a bad joke. It certainly didn’t seem real, but what he worried about most was how he was going to bully Carmen back to that room Alicia had set up for her.
“You know, baby,” she said, laying across JT and Alicia’s bed and resting her head against two pillows, “you really should answer my calls or at least have the decency to call me back. We’ve had this very conversation before, but you still don’t seem to understand.”
“I understand perfectly. But in case you forgot, Carmen, I’m a very busy man with a lot of important responsibilities, and it’s not like I can drop everything I’m doing just because you want me to.”
“You drop what you’re doing whenever that little tramp calls you.”
“What tramp?”
“Your wife, of course.”
“Oh, so now you’re back to calling her names again.”
“I’ve never stopped. I mean, maybe for a little while, but she’ll always be a tramp-trick in my book.”
“Look, Carmen,” he said, “Alicia could walk in at any time, so do you really want her to catch you lying in our bed like this?”
“Do
“Of course I don’t.”
“Well, then I suggest you drop that towel and make love to your
“Yeah, right. You must be crazy.”
“Make love to me or else I’m telling her the truth about this baby I’m carrying.”
JT took two steps backward. “What baby?”
“The baby I told her about this afternoon. The baby that belongs to her loving, faithful husband, Pastor JT Valentine. Right now, she has no idea who the father is, but if you don’t give me what I want, I’m telling her everything.”
JT glared at Carmen and wanted to choke the life out of her. He wanted to end her existence, dump her body, and read that she’d been classified as a missing person.
But he knew his thoughts were nothing more than wishful thinking and that he had to do what Carmen wanted. He wouldn’t have sex with her in his and his wife’s bed, and he would instead insist they go back to her guest room, but he would do whatever else she wanted just to keep her quiet. He would play all her ruthless games until Minister Payne took care of things. JT would sit back, waiting patiently, until his gracious protege brought this nutcase to her knees.
Chapter 32
It was just after seven, but Alicia lay quietly with her back toward JT and couldn’t stop thinking about that FedEx delivery. She’d thought about it on and off quite a bit yesterday, but with Carmen’s mom passing, she hadn’t focused on it nearly in the manner she was now. Then, last night when she’d returned with Carmen’s pizza, sat, eaten a couple of slices with her, and had finally gone upstairs to bed, she’d come into the room and found JT sound asleep. For a moment, she’d considered waking him up but had decided she just didn’t have the energy or desire to talk about Donna and the terrible things she’d said about him.
Alicia sighed and turned onto her back. She looked over at JT and surprisingly, he smiled at her. Still, all she did was look up at the ceiling, refusing to say anything.
“What’s that about?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“C’mon,” he said, reaching over and caressing her stomach. “Tell me.”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.”
