Flaw Less Page 2

  Reginell looked confused. “Chocolate pie? I don’t know how to make no chocolate pie. The only pie I made was a sweet potato pie.”

  Lawson winced and eased away from her sister. “You might wanna go check on it, boo. It’s looking more like burnt potato pie at the moment.”

  Reginell cussed and dashed into the kitchen.

  It was a typical Sunday afternoon for lifelong friends Sullivan, Lawson, Angel, and Reginell, who gathered together as often as possible to share the latest gossip, obsess over their most recent man crisis, and thank the Lord for His presence and each other.

  Sullivan laughed and raked her fork across the plate. “You’d think with all the money she makes sliding up and down the pole at the club that she would’ve had the meal catered and spared us this catastrophe. I’m actually embarrassed for her.”

  “Reggie is trying to show us how mature and domestic she’s gotten, Sully,” Lawson reminded her.

  Sullivan threw down her fork. “Either Reggie wants to be Martha Stewart or Amber Rose. She’s got to make a choice.”

  Lawson inspected her plate, hoping to find something that looked edible. “She says dancing down at that strip club is just temporary. She’s still hoping that it’ll lead to her meeting some music mogul who’ll sign her to a record deal.”

  “That’s the same thing she said a year ago when we found out she was working there,” piped in Angel.

  “I know,” admitted Lawson. “But she’s almost twenty-three years old. She’s a grown woman. Reggie is going to do exactly what Reggie wants to do.”

  Sullivan stabbed a foreign congealed substance on her plate. “Judging by this dinner, what she wants to do right now is poison us!”

  “Not everybody, Sullivan,” snarled Reginell, barging into the room. “Just you.”

  “Oh, no!” barked Angel. “We are not about to start this again. I swear you two are worse than the girls with all this back-and-forth bickering.”

  “How are those precious little angels?” asked Lawson in reference to Angel’s soon-to-be stepchildren, offsprings from her ex-husband’s marriage to his deceased wife.

  Angel rolled her eyes. “They may be ‘precious’ and ‘little,’ but the jury is still out on the ‘angels’ part.”

  Lawson looked up from her plate. “What’s happened?”

  “Same ol’, same ol’. Miley and Morgan miss their mom. They’re still adjusting to the idea of Duke and me getting married and having a new stepmother, which is why . . .” Angel’s voice trailed off.

  “Which is why what?” prodded Sullivan.

  Angel lowered her voice, already anticipating her friends’ disapproval. “Duke asked me to move in with them, and I said yes.”

  Lawson frowned and shook her head. “Shacking up—really, Angel?”

  “It makes the most sense,” she rationalized. “Duke needs help with the girls, and I’m over there all the time. I’m practically living there anyway. It’s just more convenient this way.”

  Lawson raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but you know what the Word says about it: ‘Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.’”

  Sullivan sucked her teeth. “Don’t be a hypocrite, Lawson. You and Garrett lived together for five years before you got married.”

  “Yeah, but once we got saved, I kicked his butt out,” pointed out Lawson.

  “The wedding is in a few months. I don’t see the harm in getting started on our family life a little early,” Angel reasoned.

  “I’m sure you don’t. Unfortunately, God does,” replied Lawson. “Besides, Angel, you and Duke haven’t even been back together that long.”

  Sullivan leaned in closer to Angel. “Wouldn’t you feel weird living there with all of Theresa’s stuff still all over the place? It’s like she’s still living there.”

  Angel pretended not to be bothered by it. “Duke just keeps it for the kids’ sake. He doesn’t want them to feel like they have to forget their mother, and neither do I. As for me moving in, it’s not like we aren’t planning to get married or like we’re not already—”

  “Sleeping together?” filled in Sullivan.

  Angel let out a sigh. “We were married for three years before getting a divorce so—”

  “There’s no harm in being his wife between the sheets, right?” finished Lawson.

  Angel rolled her eyes and forced Reginell’s oversea-soned green beans down her palate. “Considering all of the commandments broken between everybody at this table, I don’t think anyone here is in a position to pass judgment.”

  “Amen to that,” muttered Sullivan.

  “Are you sure you and Duke aren’t rushing things?” Lawson posed. “I mean, within six months after Theresa’s death, you and Duke were already boo’ed up again. Three or four months after that, you were engaged. Now, you’re moving in. His wife hasn’t even been dead a whole year. It just seems like things are moving kind of fast.”

  “Lawson, I’ve been waiting to be Duke’s wife again since our divorce was finalized ten years ago, and you know I’ve always wanted to be a mother. None of this feels rushed to me. If anything, I’ve had my life on hold too long. Now, I’m ready to live it.” Angel wiped her hands on a napkin. “Enough about that. It’s time for a new subject. How is Operation Baby coming, Sully?”

  Sullivan’s mood spiraled downward. “It’s coming along, I guess.”

  Lawson raised her eyes. “Well, you and Charles, um, making an effort, right? You know you have to do more than just wish for a baby. It requires a bit of work.”

  “I’m making an effort, but getting Charles to the bedroom has been like pulling teeth these days. I’ve had to all but strap him to the bed and make him take it!”

  Angel snickered. “That’s a far cry from last year when you were sending him to bed alone with a bottle of lotion and a deflated ego.”

  Sullivan sighed. “Yeah, I know, but I’m already thirty-one and at forty-eight, Charles is no spring chicken! At this rate, we’ll be older than Abraham and Sarah before we have a baby. That’s why I may need to take matters out of Charles’s hands—literally—and into my own.”

  “Uh-oh,” groaned Lawson. “It never ends well when you decide to do that. Why can’t you wait on the Lord sometimes, Sully? I believe He’s been at this life thing a lot longer than you have.”

  The doorbell rang. Reginell answered and let Kina in. “You’re soaking wet! Can you shake yourself off before coming in? I don’t want you messing up this carpet, costing me my deposit.”

  “Relax, Reggie. No harm done.” Kina let down her umbrella and breezed into the dining area. “So what have I missed?”

  “It’s about time you got here!” Sullivan huffed. “You know we don’t like to be kept waiting.”

  “Says the Princess of CP Time,” grunted Angel.

  Sullivan sucked her teeth. “Just because I’m usually late doesn’t mean I tolerate it in others.”

  Kina joined them at the table. “The interview ran longer than I thought it would,” explained Kina. “On top of that, traffic was slow because of all the rain.”

  “Well, how did it go?” pressed Angel King, passing Kina a plate. “Did you get the job? Are you going to be the pastor’s new administrative assistant or what?”

  Kina placed a napkin in her lap. “He said he was going to call me in tomorrow to give me his decision.” Angel nodded. Kina reached over and touched Angel’s hand. “And I hope you know my quitting isn’t about you, Angel. I’m very happy working for you, but now that I’m a single parent, you know I need the money.”

  “No, you deserve this, girl. There’s no way I could pay you what the church is offering.”

  “Sullivan, you could help the girl out with a little pillow talk with your husband tonight,” playfully suggested Reginell. “You know you don’t do anything else in bed to get the man excited.”

  Angel laughed. “You know, Pastor Charles is the only one
I’m willing to lose you to! I’m going to miss having you around. You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had at Guardian Angel.”

  “You’ll find someone in no time,” Kina assured her. “And you know it’s nothing personal. Working at the church just fits into my schedule better now that I’m in school full time. Maybe you should think about hiring Reggie to fill my spot.”

  Reginell cleared her throat and sat down. “Reginell has a job.”

  “Don’t get me started on the kind of job it is,” fired Sullivan.

  Reginell rolled her eyes. “I know that you all can’t see how this is helping my career, but it is. You’ll never guess who I met last night. Tron and all of the other guys from that group Intermission. I was this close to signing with Down South Records.”

  “So what stopped you?” posed Lawson.

  Reginell shook her head. “It just wasn’t the right deal for me, that’s all. But I know I can sing. One day very soon, there’s going to be a record deal on the table with my name on it, you’ll see,” she vowed.

  “But in the meantime, I assume you’ll still be entertaining perverts down there at Paramours,” surmised Sullivan.

  Reginell stiffened at the snarky remark. “Honestly, I don’t know why you all still act like stripping is the worst thing in the world! Personally, I see nothing wrong with celebrating the human body.”

  “Celebrating the body is one thing. Selling the body is another matter altogether,” replied Lawson. Reginell flashed a cold glare in her sister’s direction.

  Kina tried to break the tension. “So what’s for dinner?” she asked, looking around at the still-full plates.

  “Don’t worry, there’s plenty left over.” Sullivan slid her plate across the table. “You can have mine.”

  Kina’s eyes widened. “Wow, this looks . . .” She gulped and scrambled for something kind to say. “It looks like you put a lot of time and effort into this dinner, Reggie.” She passed the plate back to Sullivan. “But I ate a banana on the way over so I’m good.” She patted her stomach. “I’m still on my diet, you know. I got to watch what I eat if I want to be able to fit into all these size sixteens I just bought.”

  “Down to a sixteen from size twenty, huh?” Angel smiled. “Congratulations!”

  “Well, a lot of the credit goes to you and all those salads you make me order whenever we go to lunch.”

  “I’m a nurse, Kina. What else would you expect?”

  Lawson poured a glass of tea. “How are your counseling sessions coming, Kina?”

  “Everything is fine,” she answered quickly and turned her attention to Reginell. “You must’ve spent all day in the kitchen whipping this up for everyone, Reggie. That was very sweet of you to do.”

  Reginell began clearing dishes off of the table. “Thanks. You want me to wrap up a plate for Kenny, Kina?”

  “God, no!” shrieked Sullivan. “He’s only twelve. His stomach can’t digest that!”

  “Forget you, Sully,” grumbled Reginell and plunked down in her seat with a pout.

  Angel chuckled at the two of them. “Is everything still going well for you with school, Kina?”

  Kina nodded. “It’s great. The professors are so kind and helpful. Everybody is really sweet. They all go out of their way to make you feel at home.”

  Lawson stood up to close the blinds to block out the lightning. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I know you were a little apprehensive about returning to school to earn your degree after being out of the loop for so long.”

  “Yeah, well, E’Bell’s gone now, and Kenny spends most of his time at school with his friends, or at Lawson’s with Garrett and Namon. I needed something to keep me busy. I’m just thankful that Sullivan convinced Charles to give me a shot at this new job.”

  Sullivan declined taking the credit for it. “It didn’t take much convincing. Even I have to admit that you’re good at what you do, Kina. Lord knows somebody as holy as you will fit right in over there.” Sullivan took a sip of her tea. “Plus, you can be my eyes and ears. It’s always good to have an insider.”

  Kina was concerned. “Why would you need an insider? You think somebody is over there stealing the church’s money?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Sullivan deadpanned. “And it’s no secret that more than a few of those lonely witches over there would like to steal my husband!”

  “That’s a switch,” noted Angel. “It wasn’t that long ago that you were practically giving him away.”

  “That was the old Sullivan,” declared the first lady. “The new Sullivan adores her husband and is the paradigm of fidelity, sanctimony, and . . . any of those other words that people should use to describe Mount Zion’s first lady.”

  Lawson rolled her eyes. “Sullivan, you know exactly what words people use to describe Mount Zion’s first lady. Most of them can’t be said in front of children.”

  Sullivan frowned. “So I had an affair—big whoop.”

  “You didn’t just have an affair. You had a sex tape,” clarified Reginell.

  “That was blasted all over the Internet,” remarked Kina.

  “And cost your husband his bid for county commissioner, not to mention made him a laughingstock for months,” added Angel, contributing her two cents.

  “We’ve work through all that,” retorted Sullivan with conviction. Her confidence faltered after a few seconds. “We’re trying to anyway.”

  “Well, he stood before the entire congregation to publicly forgive you and ask the church to accept you back in,” recalled Kina. “He didn’t have to do that. I think it shows just how much Charles loves you and wants to make the marriage work.”

  “I don’t know,” began Lawson. “I don’t think marriage ought to be looked upon as work. It’s supposed to be a blessing. I mean, look at Garrett and me. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”

  “That’s because you’ve only been married six months,” replied Sullivan. “Let’s have this conversation five years from now when you’re studying episodes of CSI to see how you can kill him in his sleep and get away with it.”

  Lawson shook her head. “When you’re married to the one God intended you to be with, you don’t have those kinds of thoughts; at least I won’t.”

  Sullivan rolled her eyes. “Not to sprinkle any rain on your delusional parade, Sister Banks, but I believe the Bible says, ‘Don’t boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.’ No marriage is written in heaven, not even yours.”

  Lawson was undeterred. “Sullivan, when Garrett and I took those vows, we meant them. Divorce and failure just simply aren’t an option.”

  “Humph!” Sullivan laughed a little. “Ignorance is bliss.”

  “I can’t attest to ignorance, but my marriage sure is,” boasted Lawson. “I thank God for Garrett every chance I get.”

  Angel agreed. “Thank Him, girl, because you know there was a time when we weren’t so sure we were gonna be able to get the two of you down that aisle!”

  “Thanks to your big-mouthed sister over here,” mumbled Sullivan.

  “It’s not Reggie’s fault,” protested Lawson. “All she did was tell Mark the truth. I should’ve told Mark we had a teenage son together after we first reconnected, and I definitely shouldn’t have let him come between Garrett and me. All that’s in the past now. Mark and Namon are closer than ever, and Garrett and Mark are getting along now that Mark has stopped obsessing over me. All’s well that ends well.”

  “Now that Mark’s stopped obsessing?” echoed Reginell. “I believe the ‘obsessing’ was mutual, dear sister.”

  Lawson bristled at the notion. “My obsession with Mark ended right around the time I was in the delivery room screaming at the top of my lungs while Namon clawed his way out of my sixteen-year-old uterus. Anyway, I married Garrett, didn’t I? His proposal is the one I accepted, not Mark’s.”

  “Can you all believe what a crazy year and a half it’s been?” asked Kina, thinking back on everything th
ey’d been through. “Between Kenny killing E’Bell, Sullivan getting outted on the Internet, Angel reuniting with Duke, and Lawson’s battle with Mark over Namon, it’s a wonder we’ve made it through in one piece!”

  “It’s no wonder, Kina. The Lord brought us through, pure and simple,” attested Lawson. “There’s no way we could’ve survived all that without Him.”

  “Tell it, girl,” affirmed Angel.

  “But you know what?” Lawson went on. “I’m grateful for the trials and everything we’ve gone through. It’s made us all stronger in our walk with the Lord, in our friendship, and made us stronger as women. 1 Peter 1:7 says, ‘These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.’ So I praise him, y’all! I have a level of faith and endurance that I’ve never had before and that I don’t think I would have if I wasn’t forced to lean on God to get me through. We need to count it all joy, even when we suffer through hard times because it’s those experiences that God uses to make us better and more mature Christians. We also have to remember that whatever we go through isn’t just for us; it’s also so we can help and encourage someone else.”

  “That’s true,” said Angel. “Believe it or not, Sullivan, you and Charles are part of the reason I was able to accept Duke’s proposal. I didn’t think I could trust him again after he cheated on me with Theresa and walked out on our marriage. Seeing how forgiving and loving Charles was toward you helped give me the strength I needed to move past that. It also showed me that a marriage can not only overcome something as devastating as infidelity but can also be stronger as a result.

  “And, Lawson, watching the way Garrett is with Namon—the way he treats him like he’s his own child—made it a lot easier to love Theresa’s daughters like they are my own, unconditionally.”

  “We can’t deny it, ladies. God has been good to all of us,” affirmed Lawson. “Even when times are hard, He still works things out for the good of those who love Him. The devil intended all of those trials to break us and to make us give up. God used those same trials for us to build one another up.”