Page 51 of Rewind

Amina made a point to hand the copies to the elders so they could see where the church funds were going. “A simple audit would be able get to the bottom of it,” Amina countered.

One of the deacons scanned the copies and shook his head. “What is the meaning of this Otis?”

“I’m being set up!” The Pastor cried out.

“I have more proof.” Jasmine pulled her phone out and tapped on the screen. She held up the phone and a recording played.

“Otis, you know I’ve never been with anyone but you. You told me you’d take care of our baby. You even told me you were thinking about leaving your wife so that we could be a family.”

“Jasmine, you know it’s not that simple. I can’t simply leave Katherine. She’s well-loved in the community and if I broke up with her, she and her followers could cause a lot of trouble for me and you. Trust me, I’m doing this for your protection. I’ll take care of you and the baby but you can’t come to the church anymore and you’d better keep your mouth shut or I’ll deny everything.”

It was clear who those voices belonged too.

Otis’s skin went ashen like he’d seen a ghost. His eyes were wide.

“I started recording our conversations when you started acting shady,” Jasmine announced proudly.

Mrs. Caldwell slammed her palm on the table. “This is some of that AI mess you hear about in the news. She probably faked this too. Are y’all going to listen to this bitch?”

Amina realized in that moment that no matter how much proof was presented they’d still be in denial. And some of their church members would believe them. But at least the seed of doubt had been planted, and they could do with this information what they willed.

Jasmine must have come to the same reckoning because tears streamed freely down her face as she hung her head.

Amina’s heart went out to this girl, and she felt bad for putting Jasmine in this situation. She wrapped her arms around Jasmine’s shoulders. “Come on, hon. Let’s get out of here.”

Amina escorted her out of the room. A few of the wait staff stood outside the door pretending as if they hadn’t just eavesdropped on the entire confrontation.

Paisley came trailing behind them. “Don’t leave me with these crazy people.” She called out.

When they were outside, Amina pulled out her cellphone and texted Ethan immediately.

911

She had a feeling they wouldn’t be able to leave the premises completely unscathed.

“Will you be okay Jasmine?”

The young girl nodded. “Yes. That was…a lot. I guess the scene was more intense than I thought it would be. How could he just continue to deny it in the face of all that proof? And to make matters worse, I could tell that people were still supporting him.”

“Like my grandmother used to tell me, some of the evilest people are church folks, but please don’t let this interfere in your relationship with God. Pastor Caldwell is clearly a false prophet.” Amina assured her.

She wasn’t particularly religious herself, but she did have a spiritual side her grandmother had helped her nurture. Shecould empathize with someone who grew up with a strong religious foundation like Jasmine.

“Yeah, my family is only a go to church on Easter and Christmas kinda family and even I could see through that snake oil salesman,” Paisley chimed in holding out tissues for Jasmine.

Jasmine took it and blew her nose. “Thank you.”

“I’m really sorry for bringing you into this mess Jasmine. I used you to get back at Mark and I fear I’ve caused you pain in the process.”

Jasmine shook her head vehemently. “No. I may be young but my mom always said I was stubborn. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want to, like I told you before. People need to know who the real Otis Caldwell is and part of me wanted to embarrass him for what he’d done to me.”

“Too bad he doesn’t know the meaning of the word shame,” Amina scoffed.

“I’m kind of tired, so I’d better get home,” Jasmine sighed.

“I can drive you home. I’m just waiting for someone.”

“If you’re waiting for someone I can take her home,” Paisley volunteered.

---