Page 85 of The Devoted Husband

Vanessa chuckled like Sade hoped she would. “Silver lining, and I’m sure you can say the same.” They both shared a laugh. “Can you come over? No funny business, I promise. You can bring anyone you’d like. It will just be me and Clay. There’s something about Atlas that I’d like to share with you.”

Sade looked at Dante, and he nodded. “I would only feel comfortable with Dante being there with me.”

“The man who killed my son?”

“The man your son tried to kill. The man who defended himself. Can you just...tell me over the phone?”

Vanessa sighed. “I probably will never be ready to face him. I don’t care about the logic of him defending himself against Atlas and that being the reason he’s dead. That was still my baby.”

Vanessa’s sniffles tugged at Sade’s heart.

“Vanessa, I’m not sure this is a good idea. How about we just discuss this over the phone?”

“How about I go and just sit in the car?” Dante suggested. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”

Sade thought it over before agreeing. “Okay, I can do that.”

“Good,” Vanessa said. “Can you come over in two hours?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, Sade.”

With a nod, Sade disconnected the call. Her mind raced with ideas of what could be so important that Vanessa wanted to tell her in person. She didn’t feel comfortable around Vanessa after what happened at the restaurant and would have preferred to meet her with Dante, but Sade understood her plight. She didn’t know how she’d feel if she had to sit across from the man who murdered her child, whether it was self-defense or not. That took a level of maturity, forgiveness, and spirituality that Sade wasn’t sure she’d ever have.

Sade

Two Hours Later

“I’d feel more comfortable sitting outside,” Sade said as Vanessa held the door open.

“It’s kind of chilly out here. Are you sure?” Sade nodded. “Okay. Clay! Come out here.”

While they waited, Sade leaned against the pole on the porch. Resting her weight on the bottom step, she looked back at Dante. Though she couldn’t see him through the tinted glass, there was no doubt in her mind that his eyes were on her.

When Clay stepped onto the porch, his eyes shifted from Sade to the car. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he forced himself to look at Sade.

“What’s this about?” she asked, wanting to get their meeting over with.

“I wanted you to know that I never hated you; I hated the idea of Atlasbeingwith you. He really liked you, and I feared it would lead to him having an episode,” Vanessa said.

“An episode? What do you mean?”

“Atlas had schizophrenia,” Clay shared, completely knocking the air from Sade’s lungs.

She gripped the pole and looked from Clay to Vanessa.

“What? H-how did Inotknow that?”

Vanessa smiled as her eyes watered. “Because he was taking his medicine. When he takes his medicine, the symptoms are under control. I think he stopped taking them when you returned to Memphis.”

“I noticed a little difference in him,” Clay said. “But I didn’t take it seriously. He hadn’t had an episode in a while. I thought he was just depressed and not handling his emotions well.”

“And I was in denial,” Vanessa added. “I’d just gotten him back home, and I didn’t want to believe he had stopped taking his medicine. If I questioned him about it, he’d pull away.” She wiped a tear before it could fall. “I didn’t want to lose him again.”

“So the schizophrenia is why he started to spiral?” Sade asked.

“It was,” Clay answered. “The delusion, the detachment, inability to control his emotions or not having an emotional reaction when needed. All of those things were signs that he’d stopped taking his medicine.”

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