Fault

Chapter 22

By the time Aunt Tionna made it home, Jeremy and I had just finished wrapping things up—literally and figuratively. She noticed things were a little strange between us, but we played it off as being cool. Truth be told, I had just finished going off on him for not saying anything when the condom broke. With all this talk about babies, I was starting to think he was trying to get me pregnant on purpose. As a solution, I made the firm decision to take charge by getting on formal birth control. He wasn't happy about it, but in my opinion, there was no logical reason as to why he would protest.

We had Chinese food for dinner, and since the snow held us captive indoors, we decided to play a competitive game of Uno. The only other option was the game Monopoly, and I strongly objected because it always brought out the worst of my character. As a whole, I didn't feel like flipping any boards or slapping anybody tonight.

I was astonished to hear Tionna propose the idea for Jeremy to spend the night. I understood her traveling safety concerns, but was still surprised nonetheless. She followed the invitation by saying he had to sleep on the couch though, which was an appropriate request.

"Damn Tee, I guess you're really starting to like a brothas company, huh," Jeremy teased.

"Not really," Tionna said dryly. "Take yo a** out in the cold if you want to, I don't care either way, honey!"

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid, Nah I'm cool staying here for the night," he laughed.

"Oh, so you're a cussing pastor now? How do you call yourself a youth pastor while carrying on like a goddamn fool?"

"Man, cut me some slack, Tee. The Bible says..."

"Boy! Shut the hell up talkin' to me about the Bible! I KNOW what the Bible says... 'Blessings and curses shall..."

"WHAT IT says is, 'Judge not lest ye be judged!'" He interrupted.

"Oh, so you pick and choose what to follow," she laughed. "What church do you go to anyway? I think we might attend the service this Sunday." Tionna mentioned.

Based on Jeremy's demeanor, everyone could tell that something was wrong. He awkwardly stuttered and shifted restlessly in his seat. He further appeared guarded and highly uncomfortable. I could have easily saved him from her questioning, but to be honest, attending church sounded like a good idea to me. Never having been to a service, let alone his church period, I too had questions that needed to be answered.

"Shi Shi, for whatever reason, it's taking him too long to answer. What's the name of the church he preaches at?" Tionna interrogated. Embarrassment came over me.

"I have NO idea, Auntie..." I said ignorantly.

"You mean to tell me you've been with this n***a all this time, and you don't even know where he works!"

A flash of heat engulfed every facet of my body, as I came to the realization that her statement was a hundred percent accurate. Only someone like me could be this stupid. Tionna wasn't the type to let up when she applied the pressure, so I knew I had to say SOMETHING!

"Yeah, I mean, no. Well...I'm mean, I haven't actually been to the physical church, but I HAVE met his boss...you know, the pastor that's over him," I stuttered. I'm sure I sounded like a complete idiot, and if I didn't she sure looked at me that way.

"Both of y'all are stupid," was her only reply. I needed Jeremy to come to my rescue, so I gave him a look.

"I'ma be honest," he stated coolly. I don't really go to that church for the word. What I do is strictly a job, so I really wouldn't have Y'all come there to go to church-church. We can attend any other church you want to though—all of us together."

"Don't worry about it," Tionna said dismissively and continued on playing the game.

"Uno and out!" Leah screamed in celebration.

As she celebrated her well-deserved victory, I laughed right along with her. But, deep inside, I couldn't help but hold a feeling of booming suspicion toward Jeremy. After thinking about all the time we've been spending together, there was just no way he worked full-time at a church as he'd claimed. There was just no way! Sure, we weren't together whenever I had class, but the timing still didn't add up. Once again, I knew he was lying to me...