Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Amina couldn’t stop herself from snickering. Mark’s parents were the worst kind of hypocrites. They ran a moderate sized church that had a few hundred members but wasn’t quite big enough to be what was classified as a ‘mega’ one. They did well, but the handful of times she’d attended their church, they were both decked out in designer clothing from head to toe.
First Lady Caldwell had several pairs of red bottoms, while some of the parishioners wore thread bear clothing. There were several clunkers in the parking lot while Pastor Caldwell drove an Escalade with chrome rims and his wife had a Range Rover. Amina didn’t understand why the two of them drove to church separately in those fancy cars if for no other reason than to flex.
Pastor Caldwell spoke about prosperity and giving so that God could hand out the blessings but from what Amina saw, the only one being blessed was were the Caldwell’s. The McMansion they lived in on the hill of an exclusive gated community told Amina everything she needed to know about that family. However, when she’d first started dating Mark, Amina had been blinded by opulent lifestyle in the name of Jesus.
Mrs. Caldwell was a terrible snob who looked down on her and made snide comments about the way Amina dressed, how nappy her hair was, and how dark her skin was. It was clear she didn’t think Amina was good enough for her precious son.
Pastor Caldwell wasn’t much better. Though he was better at hiding his contempt, his kind of ick was worse because when he wasn’t sitting in judgment of her, he was giving Amina lecherous looks. His sister Deanna was a total pick-me who parroted everything her mother said. Thankfully she married early into Amina and Mark’s relationship and moved to Nigeria with her missionary husband.
When Mark completely dropped his mask of kindness and the bruises appeared all over Amina’s body, they all turned a blind eye to her pain and struggle. His mother even applied that Amina deserved it.
The more she thought about the horrible past treatment from Mark and his family, the angrier she grew. Amina didn’t owe any of them a damn thing, especially Mark.
“To be quite honest, I don’t give a shit what your mother thinks about me and clearly you agree with her if you’re repeating it to me. Maybe she’s right. We don’t belong together. Why don’t you go find yourself a nice upstanding church girl your mommy and daddy approve of and you can exit from my life.”
Before Amina could blink, Mark gripped her by the arms and slammed her against the wall. The fear she’d felt all those years from his abuse instantly returned and Amina realized she’d pushed him too far. Mark was a true nut case, and she needed to be careful, so she didn’t end up like she did in her previous life.
“You need an attitude adjustment, Amina. Do you think you can just dump me like I’m a piece of trash after I’ve invested all this time in you? Who the hell do you think you are?”
She wanted to slap his face, kick, scream and bite but the flashback of his last rage-filled black out made her shake with terror. His eyes were wide and wild. He was practically foaming at the mouth as his breath heaved aggressively. Amina played this the only way she could think to get herself out of this situation safely.
“Mark, you’re hurting me. Please let me go, unless you’d like for me to call the police. What would your pillar of the community parents say if their son was arrested?”
His nostrils flared and he gritted his teeth. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Try me. I’m clearly not the one who’s not himself if you’re putting hands on me.”
As if a switch went off inside of him, he released her and backed away with his hands in the air. “Look, I wasn’t trying to hurt you but obviously you can’t blame me for being upset about what you said. I’m sure you didn’t mean it because you wouldn’t break up with me. Who else would love you like I do? Let’s face it, Amina, you’re cute and all but you’re not the gold standard of women.”
“Clearly, you’re having a bad day so I’ll cut you some slack. I’m going to give you a few days to get your head straight and then we can talk again. Maybe I’ll take you out to that nice seafood place you like so much. What do you think about that?”
He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. It took everything in her not to flinch away and smack him in the face. Her hands wouldn’t stop trembling and her racing heart made it difficult to breathe.
Amina forced herself to nod in agreement.