Lady Elect by Nikita Lynnette Nichols Read Free Book Online

It wasn’t a good afternoon for Arykah; therefore, she wasn’t about to return Mother Gussie’s greeting.
    â€œYes, First Lady. What can I do for you?”
    â€œWhat address did you give me for Brother Cartwright ?” Arykah asked.
    Mother Gussie confirmed that the address that Arykah had jotted down was correct.
    â€œWell, I’m here, and it seems like no one is home,” Arykah stated.
    â€œI didn’t think anyone would be there at this hour. The family has arrangements to make.”
    Arykah became irritated. “Well, didn’t you inform Brother Cartwright that I’d be here at one o’clock?”
    Mother Gussie was having a wonderful day. “One o’clock? You were expected hours ago, at eleven this morning.”
    â€œWhat the f—” Arykah had to catch herself and calm down. She had almost cursed. She didn’t want to lose her temper. She took a moment to inhale and exhale. She reminded herself that she was the first lady of a church.
    The day before she married Lance in Jamaica, Arykah and Monique had pampered themselves at the hotel’s spa at the Rui Resort in Montego Bay. Arykah’s face was facing downward in the opening of the pillow as a man massaged her back and shoulders.
    Arykah thought about the worldly things she’d be giving up once she said “I do.”
    One thing Arykah was known for was not holding back her tongue. Often she’d let curse words flow freely from her lips without caring who she said them to or how the recipient received them. As long as she got her point across, Arykah didn’t care. She felt liberated whenever she cursed. When it dawned on her that the next day she’d become a pastor’s wife and she could no longer express herself the way she wanted, she opened her mouth and gave herself a treat. Profanity rolled off her tongue like never before.
    Monique was lying on the massage table adjacent to Arykah. She looked up and over at her friend. The expression on Monique’s face was a Kodak moment. She looked like a deer that had been caught in headlights. “Arykah, what is wrong with you?”
    Both masseuses stopped. They couldn’t speak English but could tell by the way Arykah was rolling her neck from side to side and bobbing her head up and down that something was wrong.
    Every curse word that Monique had ever heard in her entire life spouted from Arykah’s mouth. Four-letter words, five-letter words, six-letter words, and some words that had too many letters to count were let loose into the atmosphere. She kept on and on.
    â€œArykah!” Monique shouted.
    Arykah stopped cursing and looked at her best friend. “I had to get that out of my system. Today is the last day that I can curse.” Arykah grabbed the masseuse’s hand and put it on her back. “You can continue now.” She placed her face back down in the hole of the pillow.
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    â€œMother Gussie, you told me to be here at one o’clock. I wrote the time down next to Brother Cartwright’s address that you gave me.”
    It hadn’t gone over Mother Gussie’s head that Arykah had almost cursed. Arykah’s careless slip of the tongue proved what Mother Gussie had thought all along; the pastor’s wife was incompetent and wasn’t fit to hold the position as first lady.
    â€œI’m sorry, Lady Arykah, but you’re mistaken. I specifically remember telling you that the Cartwright family expected you at eleven. I guess they got tired of waiting.”
    With her free hand, Arykah massaged her temple. She felt a migraine coming on. “I know what you told me, Mother Gussie.”
    â€œHumph, apparently you don’t. The bishop won’t be too happy to hear about this here mistake you made.” With that being said, Arykah heard a click in her ear.
    She walked down Brother Cartwright’s front steps, went back to her car, and sat in the driver’s seat.