The Family Business 3 (The Family Business #3)(45)

Orlando nodded his understanding, but didn’t reply as I disappeared into the elevator.





Chippy





29


“Honey, you know that I consider myself the luckiest woman in the world to have a man like you love me for as long and as well as you have. We could have each made different choices back then that would have led us away from each other, but we didn’t. We were smart enough to choose to be together, and neither of us has ever regretted that decision. We just kept moving closer together, and our love has helped us to withstand a lot of crises that would tear apart most couples.

“I can’t imagine my life without you, but I know that I need to honor your wishes and do what you would want, even if it’s the last thing I want to do. What I want is to have my husband back . . . for you to wake up the great LC Duncan, and for us continue loving each other for the next thirty years. That’s what I’ve been praying for all these days, as I watch you lying here hooked up to all these machines.

“But I know it’s selfish, because you have made it clear to me in the past that if anything ever happened to you, you didn’t want to suffer. I don’t want to see you suffer, either, my love. That is not fair, and I know it’s not what you would want.

“So, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am giving you twenty-four hours to decide if you want to wake up and to rejoin your family. I know you’re in there listening, and I know it won’t be easy, but we are all here fighting for you. All I’m asking is for you to fight too. You have twenty-four hours to get up and get the hell out of this bed, or I’m going to have no choice but to let the doctors pull the plug.” I leaned close, peppering his face with kisses, giving this man all the love I had in my whole body, praying that it would be enough to help him to come back to us.

“We love you, and now this is your time to decide what you really want, LC. You have six children, four grandchildren, and a wife that wants more time with you. Baby, I need you to do this. Come back to us.” I got up from my chair beside the bed, watching him closely to see if my words had had any impact, but there was no change. His heart rate monitor still beeped at the same steady pace, and his eyes were still closed and motionless.

The sound of someone clearing her throat let me know that I was no longer alone. I wiped away a tear and turned to see Donna standing in the doorway.

“Excuse me. I didn’t mean to interrupt such a beautiful moment.”

“How long have you been standing there?” I asked, feeling a little uncomfortable that she had witnessed my private moment with my husband.

“Long enough,” she answered, moving closer to LC. “You really think this stubborn man is going to just give up?”

“Lord, I hope not,” I answered with all my heart as she reached her arm around me. Donna and I had come a long way.

“Speaking of the Lord, I went to church yesterday. Not the fancy First Jamaica Ministries I attend for image and photo ops,” she said. “I found me a little place. Reminded me of the one I attended as a girl. I got down on my knees and I prayed like I hadn’t since I was young, back when I believed that God would grant my every wish and I would never, ever suffer. That all I had to do was love the Lord and my life would be perfect.” She shook her head as if to laugh at the na?ve child she had once been.

“Well, I went back to that God, and I begged and pleaded for him to let LC live. To let this family continue with the patriarch that so many black families don’t have.”

I took her hands in mine. I knew why she’d had that crisis of faith years ago, and in spite of our past differences, I also knew that she truly loved my husband.

“Now, all we can do is wait.” I said, and I felt strangely calmed by the depth of that truth. LC had really passed into God’s hands, and I just prayed that God wasn’t done with him on earth and would give him back to us.

Pulling me away from the bed and speaking in a quiet voice, as if LC might overhear our conversation, Donna said, “Chippy, I’ve been here a while and seen all of the children. Everyone except for Junior. You want to tell me what’s going on?” She stared at me unflinchingly so I got the message that she wasn’t giving up without getting the truth out of me.

“He’s good. He’s just taking care of something.” I knew it wasn’t the answer that she wanted, but as far as I was concerned, it was the only part of the truth that she was going to get out of me.

“Then why is everybody saying that the reason LC is lying up in this bed is because of Junior?”





Paris





30


Sasha sat in front of me in one of our warehouses, along with about a dozen of Popeye Wilson’s best soldiers and another six from our camp. They didn’t have to say what was on their minds, because their expressions said it for them: they wanted to know why this hot-ass woman was standing in front of them, giving orders. Well, maybe that’s not what Sasha was thinking about. Hers eyes were glued on Popeye Wilson’s son, Larry, who she’d been flirting with for the past twenty minutes. Besides, she knew exactly what I was trying to convey. She’d been my sounding board during the ride over from the hospital, and she was one hundred percent on board. Now I had to convince the other eighteen to hop on the bandwagon as well.