The Prodigal Son (A Reverend Curtis Black Novel) (19 page)

A
fter Lana gave him the okay, Dillon walked toward his dad’s office and eased open the door.

“Hey son,” Curtis said.

“Hey.”

“Have a seat. And again, I’m really sorry I couldn’t talk yesterday. My day was full.”

“No problem. I know you have a lot to do here.”

Dillon didn’t think anything should come before a man’s oldest son, but he faked like he understood it.

“So, I’m guessing you wanna talk about that big announcement you made at the cookout.”

“Sort of. I’m excited about it, and I can’t wait to get started.”

“Well, actually, it’s going take a little more than just getting started.”

“Meaning?”

“Well, for one thing you need to ask yourself a lot of questions, and then you need to answer them for me. This isn’t a formal requirement of any man who says he’s been called into the ministry, but they are questions I ask all new ministers who are planning to serve at Deliverance Outreach.”

Dillon didn’t like any of what his father was saying, but he went along with it. “What kind of questions?”

“For one, have you truly accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior? Do you recognize and worship the Trinity as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Do you fully understand what it means to be called by God to preach? Do you understand the responsibilities that come with it? When you say God called you, did He truly speak to your heart and mind or is this something you’ve chosen to do on your own?”

“I can answer yes to every question, and yes, He spoke to my heart and mind. I would never choose something like this just because.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Dillon didn’t know why his father felt the need to grill him this way, and he wished he’d move on to something else.

“What about your situation at home?” Curtis asked.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Melissa and the fact that you live together. Surely, you don’t plan to keep shacking up like that if you’ve been called into the ministry?”

His dad was going too far with all these questions and borderline demands. It was as if he wanted Dillon to be perfect.

“I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll figure out something, though.”

“You don’t plan to marry her?”

“Maybe. I just don’t know. It might be best if she just got her own place for a while. That way I can focus on what I need to do as a minister.”

Curtis looked at him strangely, and Dillon wasn’t happy about it.

“Look, son, I know these aren’t questions you want to answer, but as a man of God and because I’m your father, I can’t help but feel a certain level of responsibility toward making sure you understand what will be expected of you.”

“It’s not a problem,” he said, but what irritated him was the idea that his father wasn’t being very supportive of his
call
to the ministry.

“This is very serious, and the reason I know that is because of my own experience. I was called at a very young age, too, but I did things no minister should ever do. I did whatever I wanted, no matter how sinful, and I’ve reaped every bit of what I’ve sown. So much responsibility comes with being a minister, and even more so once you become a pastor. When that happens, you end up leading innocent people who are sometimes very hurt, very vulnerable human beings. So again, saying that you’ve been called is very serious, and I just want you to be sure that God really has spoken to you.”

His father sounded as though he was lecturing him instead of encouraging him, and Dillon was offended.

“Dad, I’m not sure what you want me to say. I’m not some child trying to play games with you. I’m not a dummy.”

“I know you’re not, and I’m not trying to discourage you. I don’t want to doubt you either, but I also need to be honest with you.”

“About what?”

“Well, for one, son, I rarely see you open a Bible. You don’t even carry one or have a Bible app on your smartphone. On Sunday mornings, when everyone is flipping through pages of scripture, all you do is sit there. You don’t even seem all that interested. And you almost never attend Bible study on Wednesday nights.”

“I read my Bible all the time at home,” he said. He knew that wasn’t true, but he was telling his father what he wanted to hear. “And as far as Bible study, Melissa and I have our own sessions. We do that at home, too.”

He was lying again, but he did what he had to do.

Still, Curtis didn’t seem to be buying it, and if anything he seemed less supportive of Dillon than he had been a few minutes ago.

“Maybe you should spend a few days praying about all this. Go into deep prayer, just to make sure this is really what God wants you to do.”

“So you think I’m lying?” Dillon said, frowning. “You think I made all this up?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I just want you to spend some quality time with God, both down on your knees in prayer and also by reading the Word.”

“How long do I have to do this?”

“Until you hear confirmation.”

“And when I do—when I get confirmation again, that is, since I already have it—then what?”

“We’ll get you enrolled at a seminary. There are a lot of good ones out there, all over the country, so we’ll sit down together to choose one. We’ll figure out which one is best for you.”

Seminary? Good ones all over the country? This meeting wasn’t going nearly the way Dillon had planned for it to, because the last thing he wanted was to leave Mitchell. The whole point of putting on this call-to-ministry charade was so his father could assign him an office near his and so he could add him on as an assistant pastor. That way he could work side by side with his father and see him every day. Apparently, his father didn’t want that.

“This really is very serious, son. I’m telling you from experience.”

Dillon wondered how many more times he was going to say that.

“I really thought you’d be happy about my call from God,” he finally said.

“I just want you to be sure, and I’m here for you either way.”

Dillon stared at him with anger and disappointment.

“Trust me,” Curtis said. “You’ll be glad you took your time with this.”

Dillon heard everything his dad was saying, but he wasn’t happy in the least. Especially since he was pretty sure that if his father’s golden boy, Matthew, had announced that he’d been called to preach, his dad would have shouted to the heavens. The other thing that infuriated Dillon was the way his father sat there judging him. So
what
if he never read his Bible or saw a reason to attend Bible study? What did that have to do with anything? What mattered was that he was planning to start studying his Bible
now
.

Dillon listened as his dad went on and on with more boring, self-righteous suggestions, but mostly he couldn’t wait to get out of there—mostly he wanted to forget about this whole plot to become a minister altogether. The reason: it was time to concentrate on plan B—or even C if he had to. It was time to do whatever was necessary.

W
hat a morning. It was almost noon, and Dillon was sorry he’d ever gone to see his father. Their meeting had been a disaster, and Dillon was livid. Then, when he’d pulled into his driveway, he saw Roger trimming the edges of the grass and that irritated him, too. Yesterday, Roger had called to say that because of another dental appointment, he’d be coming on Wednesday again, but Dillon wasn’t in the mood for seeing anyone.

As Dillon drove into the garage, Roger grinned like he had perfect teeth, but Dillon hurried to close the garage door so he wouldn’t have to speak to him. He just couldn’t be bothered with any of Roger’s country bumpkin chatter today, and he wasn’t going to apologize for it either. His dad had certainly enraged him with all his doubts and questions. For months, Dillon had blamed Charlotte and his siblings for the distance that existed between him and his father, but now he blamed his father for it, too. Dillon loved Curtis and he was trying to do everything he could to win his approval, but he was slowly but surely losing his patience. He was tired of begging and pleading with his dad and then getting nowhere. It just didn’t make sense to him, and it wasn’t fair. Here his dad had humiliated Dillon’s mom many years ago, he’d disowned Dillon as soon as he was born, and now after all that, he still couldn’t do right by him?

It took everything in Dillon not to explode—it took everything in his whole being not to add his dad to the top of his revenge list.

Dillon threw his keys across the kitchen counter and went upstairs. He’d been hoping Melissa would pretend he wasn’t there, but no such luck.

“Hey baby,” she said, walking into the bedroom behind him. “Is everything okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? And instead of asking a bunch of dumb questions, where’s my information? What have you found out about that trick, Charlotte?”

“The investigator is still working on it, and he’s even had her followed a few times. But he’s found nothing.”

“Why not?”

“He just hasn’t.”

Dillon stepped closer to her and grabbed her by her arm. “This is all your fault. You can’t do anything right, can you? But I’ve got news for you. If you don’t get me what I need, then I want you out of here.”

“Baby, you’re hurting me. And what else can I do?”

“You do what I told you, Melissa!” he said, staring her down and pushing her away from him.

She tried to steady her balance. “But the investigator can’t find anything. He’s tried and tried, but everything he’s come up with is the stuff we already know about.”

“I hope he’s not expecting to be paid. And, anyway…why haven’t you contacted a different investigator? If this one can’t do his stupid job, why haven’t you hired another one?”

“I don’t know. Jasper Davis is one of the best, and I just don’t see where we’ll be able to find anyone better.”

Dillon tossed the lamp from the nightstand and brushed by Melissa so forcefully, she lost her balance again.

Still, she followed him downstairs. “Baby, what’s wrong? Why are you so upset?”

Dillon plopped down on one of the chairs in the family room. “Just leave me alone.”

“But baby, what is it? Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

“I already did, but you couldn’t even handle that.”

“I’m so sorry. I really tried, and it’s not like the PI is gonna give up. Maybe he’ll come up with something soon.”

“You know what? I’m sick of you, my dad and everybody else I can think of right now, so just leave me alone. I already told you that.”

“Why don’t we go upstairs,” she said.

Dillon scrunched his forehead. “For what?”

“To make love. That always makes you feel better.”

“Well, not today. Today, I just wanna be left alone. This is my third time telling you that.”

“But—” she said before he cut her off.

Dillon squinted his eyes and spoke through gritted teeth. “I told you to leave me alone. Now, get your stupid behind out of here.”

Melissa backed away in tears and finally left.

When she did, Dillon grabbed his keys, went back out to his SUV, and called Racquel. All this morning, he’d tried to push her out of his mind, but here, hours later, he was still thinking about her. This was totally new territory for him since he’d never
needed
to be with any woman, but he knew why he felt the way he did. Racquel made him feel good, and he wanted more of her. Not tomorrow, not next week, or next month. He wanted her today, and he would have her.

Matthew had told himself he wouldn’t see Stacey right away again today, but here they were, sitting next to each other at Jonathan’s.

“I’m really confused,” he said. “I mean, so much is happening so fast. Here I am about to go through a divorce, but I’m also in love with you…and the guilt is killing me, Stacey.”

“I get that, but it’s not like we can help the way we feel, Matt. We didn’t purposely go looking for this. We saw each other at a bowling alley, but we didn’t plan it.”

“Still, what we’re doing is wrong.”

“I know that, too.”

“I just wish my divorce was already final.”

“So do I. I know that probably sounds terrible, but that’s just the way I feel. I’ll wait for you as long as I have to, though.”

Matthew pulled her into his arms so that her back rested against his chest. “Hopefully, it won’t take long at all.”

“Even if it does, I’m not going anywhere.”

“You say that now, but what about when it’s time for you to go back to school?”

“I’ll still be waiting.”

“I could kick myself for breaking up with you in high school. Just because you wouldn’t have sex with me.”

“You were young and dumb back then, so I forgive you,” she said, laughing.

Matthew chuckled, too. “I guess I was.”

“But now you’re much older,” she said sitting up and turning toward him. “And I’m in love with you.”

Matthew wished she wouldn’t look at him this way. What he’d hoped was that she would simply be content lying in his arms and watching television. But now they stared at each other like animals, and Matthew grabbed both sides of her face and kissed her.

A whole minute passed, but then Stacey pulled away. “Make love to me again.”

Matthew gazed into her eyes, admiring how beautiful she was and wishing he could deny her. But he couldn’t, because the truth of the matter was, he wanted her, too. She was almost like a drug that he didn’t want to wean himself from, and that scared him. It alarmed him because the love he’d had for his own wife had never been this intense. It hadn’t as much as come close, and the chemistry he’d shared with Racquel couldn’t compare either.

Nonetheless, he still knew that what he was doing was wrong and that he was committing another terrible sin. But he couldn’t stop himself. Likely because he didn’t actually want to.

T
his is the day the Lord hath made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it,” Curtis said, standing behind the podium in the pulpit.

It was Sunday morning, and as Dillon sat listening to his dad preparing to give his weekly sermon, he glanced down the pew at his wicked stepmother. He just knew there had to be at least something—anything would do—that he could learn about Charlotte the Harlot, and he was sorry that this worthless investigator Melissa had hired hadn’t come through for him. Actually, he still blamed Melissa for every bit of this because had she made this Charlotte thing her top priority, Dillon would now have all the damaging information he needed, and Charlotte wouldn’t be sitting a few feet away from him, all decked out in some overpriced outfit. He was sure her suit and shoes had set his father back close to a thousand dollars or more.

Melissa had been trying his patience for a while, but as of last Wednesday, he’d become flat-out sick of her. He’d even gone these last few days without saying more than five words to her, and he’d also made her stay home this morning. Then, there was the fact that he’d spent the last five days straight with Racquel. Dillon hadn’t wanted much to do with Melissa for months and months, but now that he’d found a real woman who willingly gave him what he wanted without being asked, Melissa was the least of his worries. And to think Racquel was only twenty, and nine years his junior, yet she could run circles around Melissa. He wasn’t sure where she’d learned all her tricks, but he loved those tricks just the same. He was actually a bit surprised at how experienced she was, given her age, and also because she’d gotten married so young. But Dillon had learned a long time ago that some seemingly nice, quiet women were, well…well, they were just born with a little freak in them. Church girls, well-educated girls, rich girls, it didn’t matter. It was simply a fact, and Dillon loved it.

Dillon looked up at his father and then glanced down the pew again, this time paying attention to Matthew, MJ, Curtina, Alicia, and Phillip. They were all such a joke, and Dillon wished they would somehow disappear. He wished none of them had been born, period.

“Today,” Curtis said, turning pages in his Bible, “I want to talk about the prodigal son, so if you would, please turn with me to the Book of Luke, chapter fifteen, verse eleven. I know I’ve preached from this particular chapter more than once, but because my son Matthew and my little grandson are back home with us, I believe this is the reason God has laid it on my heart to share this message again.”

Dillon listened and watched, and although his father had been right about his rarely spending any time reading the Bible, this was the one chapter Dillon had paid attention to. He remembered last year, the first time he’d heard his dad speak about the prodigal son, how upset he’d gotten. Like a sick puppy, his father had delivered part of his message in tears, all because he missed his precious Matthew, and this had persuaded Dillon to read this story multiple times on his own.

Curtis looked across the congregation. “As most of you know, I sometimes read scripture from the King James version, the New Living Translation, and also from the New International Version. Today, I’ll be reading from the NIV, and it reads as follows:

Dillon watched his father walking back and forth in the pulpit, and he had to admit, he did tend to like the very last part of what his father read; particularly the line that stated, “and everything I have is yours.” Dillon liked it because he believed his father was saying that, since Dillon was the eldest of his two sons and he had never left Curtis, it would be Dillon who would inherit Curtis’s final fortune. After all, just last year, his father had already proven that he considered him to be an important heir, right when he’d given him that large sum of money. His father had felt bad about the way he’d disowned Dillon for nearly thirty years, and recognizing Dillon as his primary heir was likely Curtis’s generous way of making things up to him.

So as it had turned out, hearing his father read from Luke 15 had ended up being a blessing, and Dillon felt a lot better. Things hadn’t gone well between him and his father over the last week, but maybe the reason his dad had chosen this topic was because he felt guilty about their last meeting. Maybe his dad was sorry for doubting his call to the ministry.

Curtis spoke for another forty minutes, and although he was just about finished with his sermon, suddenly the tone and meaning of his message changed drastically. So much so that Dillon thought he would pass out when he heard him say, “So as I prepare to close, I just want to say how enlightening this story has always been for me. More so now than before, though, because it represents what happened between my son Matthew and me. The only difference is that Matthew never went out and squandered my money or slept with prostitutes, and he’s still just as much of an heir to my estate as the rest of my children. Actually, because of all the problems his mother and I have caused him over the years, I feel like we owe him even more.”

Dillon didn’t like what he was hearing, and his heart pumped a little faster.

“As a matter of fact,” Curtis said, reaching his hand out to Matthew, “son, why don’t you bring my beautiful little grandson up here so everyone can see him. Let ’em see that he’s just as good-lookin’ as his grandfather.”

Everyone laughed, and when Matthew walked up the steps and passed MJ over to Curtis, they applauded. Even MJ seemed tickled by all the commotion, but Dillon wanted to tear Matthew’s head off.

Dillon tried to calm his nerves and mask his anger, but as soon as Matthew and MJ took their seat, things got worse.

“I would also like to ask all of you to pray for my other son, Dillon. On Memorial Day, he shared with us that God has called him to minister.”

There was loud applause again, and this time folks stood up. Had his father not just made it clear that Matthew was still his golden boy and also the son he loved more, all this attention from the church would have made Dillon feel special. But the most he could do was force a phony smile onto his face, pretending to be happy.

“Dillon has assured me that God has given him confirmation, but I’ve asked him to go into deep prayer. I want him to be totally and completely sure about this.”

Lots of amens filled the sanctuary.

But Dillon had never been more humiliated. Whether his father realized it or not, what he was doing was telling everyone that he didn’t believe his own son. He was telling a church full of people that his son was a big liar.

Dillon couldn’t imagine anything worse happening than that, at least not today. But sadly it did.

“And then if you’ll allow me to keep you just a little longer,” Curtis said, smiling and beckoning for Phillip to join him. “I have one final announcement.”

Dillon looked down the row at Alicia. She seemed just as curious as he did.

“First, I just wanna say what a happy day this is for me,” Curtis continued. “A few years ago, Phillip married my daughter, and although they’re divorced now, I’ve never stopped loving him. I know he was my son-in-law, but I never saw him that way. I’ve always loved and respected him like a biological son. Anyway, he and I had a long talk yesterday, and he has something he wants to say to all of you.”

Phillip hugged Curtis, and Dillon cringed. Didn’t he have his own father? Although, now that Dillon thought about it, he remembered hearing something about Phillip’s father being dead. Still, as far as Dillon was concerned, Phillip needed to go find someone else’s father to latch on to, because Curtis had enough of his own children to worry about.

“First of all,” Phillip began. “I just wanna say how much I still love every one of you. When I served as an assistant pastor here at Deliverance Outreach a few years back, those were some of the best days of my life, and it is because of my love for this church that I’ve decided to accept my former father-in-law’s offer. I’ve done a lot of praying and soul searching, and I know coming back here to serve is the right decision. I know this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Practically every parishioner got to their feet again, smiling and applauding in a way that Dillon had never seen them do before.

But Dillon couldn’t understand why there was so much excitement, and his heart thumped so hard he felt it against his chest. He couldn’t believe his father would betray him this way. How could he ask Phillip to come back to the church but then totally disregard Dillon’s calling to the ministry? Dillon had decided to forget about being a minister, anyway, but his dad didn’t know that. So, to Dillon, his father should have been doing everything he could to support him, and it should have been him his father was offering that assistant pastor position to.

“Thank you all so much,” Phillip said, smiling. “Thank you for everything.”

Dillon glared at Phillip, wishing he could do bad things to him. He’d never cared for his tagalong behind, anyway, but now he hated him.

“And that’s not my only news,” Phillip said, looking directly at Alicia. “Baby, I know our marriage didn’t end well, but for three years now, you’ve gone completely out of your way to prove just how much you love me. You’ve shown me time after time how committed you are, so baby…will you marry me? Will you be my wife again?”

Alicia covered her mouth, as tears flowed down her face. “Oh my God,” she said. “Yes, yes, yes.”

She left her seat, and Phillip walked down the steps and hugged her. They held each other for what seemed like a century, and Dillon wanted to hurt somebody. He was so taken aback by all of these newsflashes that his body went numb.
I’m the one who’s been here for my father, yet he wasted a whole freakin’ sermon on Matthew? I’m the one who told my dad that God has called me to preach, yet he’s giving Phillip a full-time pastor position? Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he just told everyone here that Phillip has always been more a son to him than a son-in-law?

Dillon broke into a cold sweat and wondered if he was dreaming. He must have been, because there was no way he could make himself believe his father would dismiss him and ignore him so publicly. He was reminded again of Aunt Susan’s words when she’d told him that his father simply couldn’t love him the way he loved his other children. It was the most painful reality, one he now had to accept, and he wished he’d never moved to Illinois. He wished he’d never gotten to know his dad at all, and since his father had done him so dirty, he was now glad his father’s ex-wife, Mariah, had gotten two thugs to beat him nearly to death. Dillon was also happy that he’d exposed his father’s sinful little secret on local television last year—by telling that awful story about his mom and the way his dad had treated her. To Dillon, this had been the ultimate payback, but he would pay his father back again, too. Curtis was great at quoting scriptures, but there was one in particular that Dillon loved. He wasn’t sure where it was located in the Bible, but it went something like, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

Dillon tossed those words back and forth in his mind, and then he got up and walked out of the church. He had tried with all his might to love his father and build a relationship with him. But now Dillon knew Curtis didn’t care a thing about him, which meant Dillon didn’t have any choice but to get even—and he would use that scripture he loved to help him. He knew these were God’s words, but in this case, vengeance belonged to Dillon…and vengeance he would get—against his father and anyone else who had wronged him.