Page 128 of Love's Most Wanted
Nodding, I exhaled, then said, “Sharon, I want to apologize to you for the whole thing that happened in church. It was never meant to hurt you, but I can see how it did.”
“I understand. You kept the plan a secret for Unique.” She drank more of her tea.
“I did. He comes before everybody, and I had to have his back.”
She smiled softly and replied, “I remember when I felt that way about my husband.” Her smile melted off her face as quickly as it had shown up. “I don’t know what to do now, though. He claims the guys are lying and that I need to trust him.” She looked to me as if she wanted my advice.
“I mean, I’m not the best person to go to, as I haven’t been married for decades or anything. And I didn’t even do it on purpose.”
“Huh?”
“Unique and I got married in Vegas while drunk. The annulment was harder to get than we thought, and eventually, we realized we wanted to be together, so it was no point in separating.” I gave her the abbreviated rundown.
“Ah.” Her eyes lowered for a beat like she found that whole shit to be odd. It was.
“I told her she needs to divorce his gay ass and go back to preaching, get her own thing going.” Aunt Bell came into the living room, her same rose soap she’d been using for years peppering the air as she leaned down to kiss my cheek in greeting.
“I don’t know about all that, Rosabel.” She set the mug down on the coffee table as my aunt sat down. “People aren’t fond of female preachers, which is why I even stopped and got married. I wanted to be in the church, and I knew preaching wasn’t my calling because of all the sexist people.”
As my aunt Bell began talking, someone began assaulting the doorbell. This wasn’t my home, so I let my aunt get up to answer it, seeing her brows were already bunched in irritation.
When she opened the door, Devante stepped inside briskly, almost knocking her down.
“Sharon, you need to come home,” he said sternly as if he were her father.
“Nigga, you need to get out!” Aunt Bell shouted, but he ignored her presence completely.
“Kyle, I told you I need some time to think,” Sharon responded.
“Think on what?” He moved further into the living room so he could stand before us like we were his congregation. “I told you they are lying! You’re going to ruin everything we’ve built over some random men you don’t know?”
I was trying to fade into the background and remain quiet, but hearing him claim Unique and his brothers were lying pissed me off.
“They are not lying,” I intercepted, and he looked over at me like he’d just realized I was in the room. His expression quickly switched to disgust. “There is evidence, including pictures of you with them, and if it needs to be done, a DNA test is also proof. Also, your parents are very much alive. I met them.”
Ignoring me like he’d done my aunt, Devante turned his attention back to his wife. Moving closer and sitting in the chair beside the couch she was on, he took her hand into his.
“Baby, my name was never Devante Compton. I have never been married, and I do not have six other children. You have to believe me.” He gripped her hands in his as Sharon looked off.
My aunt and I were watching, probably both hoping she didn’t fold. Unique told me that while in the church, Devante sort of admitted to everything by claiming he was forced out of their lives. Then again, Sharon claimed it was too much going on for her to think straight.
“Then what would be their reason for doing this, Kyle? That doesn’t make sense. Why would those boys randomly choose you to pin this on? Majority of them are rich, so it can’t be for money. What would be the reason?” She finally let her eyes meet his. When he failed to come up with a response, she continued. “I need you to be honest with me. It is the only way we can ever get anywhere.”
Devante looked off, still holding his wife’s hands before turning back to face her. His eyes were glazed over like he was about to cry, and I hated the pang in my chest that let me know I felt sorry for him.
Sniffling, he nodded then spoke. “It’s true.” He’d spoken so softly it was almost inaudible. “I’ve been struggling with those desires since I was in high school, and it was the reason I even had sex with my ex-wife. I thought if I did that it would make it go away. It didn’t, though, and even worse, she got pregnant. My parents, who are alive, were very religious as were hers and… they made us get married.
“From there, I thought if I was married and forced into this life, my desires would go away. I tried,” he began to break down, “I tried to be normal. I got her pregnant when I was supposed to, I prayed away those thoughts, and I was faithful to her.” He paused like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue. “But as the boys got older, and I had more free time, the thoughts returned. God says an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, and it’s true.” He sniffled, shaking his head at himself. “It got harder to stay away from when I had so much time to think about it, and I failed. It was nothing more than an emotional relationship with the occasional fellatio, but she caught us. She wouldn’t believe what I told her, and she wanted a divorce.
“When I wouldn’t come out, my… the person I had the affair with exposed me, and my career was over. My sons hated me, my ex-wife didn’t want me, and no one wanted Devante Compton as their preacher. But it was the only way for me to make a living. I knew if I wanted to make money, I had to rebrand. And by that time, my ex had a new husband, my sons were happy with him it seemed, they already didn’t like me anymore, and it made no sense to try and interrupt that. Plus, how would I juggle my old and new identity?” His eyes scanned hers as she cried quietly, listening. “I’m sorry for lying, but I knew you wouldn’t give me a chance, and we wouldn’t have this beautiful family if I were honest, Sharon.”
Sharon was quiet for a long while, as were Aunt Bell and I before she finally whispered, “Thank you.”
“But baby, I love you. I don’t wanna break up or be with anyone else.”
“Have you been with any men recently?”
Swallowing hard, he responded, “No. I had a slip up a few years ago, but nothing since.”
