His First Lady by Kym Davis Boyles

drawer.
    “You must have had a really busy day.”
    Without looking at her Leon removed his tie then walked back into the closet to hang it up. “Busy day at the church as usual.”
    Evan took a deep breath debating in her head whether she should continue where she was going with the conversation. She wasn’t calling him a liar but she had gone to the church after getting off of the phone with Mimi. She drove around the parking lot; saw that his Mercedes was not in the pastor’s park, before parking her car behind the big maple tree adjacent to the church wanting to make certain that she wasn’t spotted. She had waited, repeatedly called his cell phone with no answer before coming back home to a still empty house.
    “You were at the church all day?” She asked.
    “Yeah,” He answered looking peculiarly at her.
    Evan cleared her throat. “I went to the church about three hours ago and I didn’t see the Mercedes.”
    Leon stopped, walked out of the closet and stared at Evan. “You came looking for me at the church?”
    At one time, Leon’s piercing angry eyes might have frightened Evan. Although they still sent a chill through her, she made up her mind that he wasn’t going to scare her into backing down this time. “Yes.”
    Leon stared coldly at Evan for a second. “If you must know and apparently in your mind, you must; I had a brief meeting with some contractors,” Leon said with a bewildered look on his face.
    “Yeah, but you said that you were at the church.” Evan folded back the bed covers nervously treading into rocky waters in her mind. “I fixed a nice dinner and I was waiting for you. You didn’t answer your phone so I went to the church to see if you were there.”
    “No, you went to the church like some insecure, immature ghetto chick,” Leon said angrily walking closer to Evan who was sitting on the bed. “…instead of acting like a First lady who waits to hear from her husband or waits until he arrives at home because you know he’s a pastor with a lot of responsibility!”
    The strength that Evan thought she had when she had originally contemplated the conversation seemed to dissipate. “Leon, it’s late and you didn’t even bother to call me. I’m alone in this big house so what am I supposed to do?”
    Leon stared at her angrily. “Maybe you should call your mother and ask her what she used to do when your daddy was taking care of his pastoral duties,” Leon said as he walked away from her and back inside their closet.
    Evan took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you answer the phone or at least call me back?”
    Leon stormed out of the closet with his heavy feet causing the floor to shake and stood over her. “I was in a meeting! I am a pastor and that sometimes means late nights. I don’t always have time to answer the phone!”
    “I just don’t understand why you get so angry at me for asking where you were until late tonight,” Evan said looking up at him as he hovered over her.
    “With all of your First lady duties, it would seem that you wouldn’t have time to ride around looking for me like some jealous girlfriend. Maybe you have too much time on your hands. You could always travel with the mothers of the church and pray for the sick and shut in; maybe even take some meals to the elderly. Hell, I don’t know.”
    “You don’t have to talk to me like that.”
    “That’s the only thing you understand!” Leon threw his arms up. “Maybe if you had some children, you wouldn’t have so much time to sneak around like you do.”
    Evan raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “My not having children has nothing to do with this. But some of the women at church who you are so friendly with might have something to do with this.”
    All Evan remembered was the force of Leon’s hand hitting the left side of her face. It was quick and hard but slow and fierce. The blow knocked her back on the bed. She instinctively grabbed her face in horror. Leon stared at her before walking off