JT had put the kids to bed and slept on the couch the night before because Cassandra refused to come out of the bedroom after their argument. He wished there was something he could do to restore the joy she’d had this weekend. But she was afraid again. He could see it plain as he knew his name, but he was powerless to do anything about it. “I talked to Lamont today,” JT said, trying to draw Cassandra out. Stabbing a few string beans with her fork, Cassandra kept her face directed toward her plate as she asked, “Did you ask him if you could borrow that money?” “No. I already told you I wouldn’t do that.” “No, not to save your family from being drug through the mud you won’t, but for your own selfish desires, like buying a Bentley you would spend money that you owed a friend.” “No, I wouldn’t. Not anymore. Look, Cassandra, you asked me to not just be a man but to be God’s man. You can’t have it both ways. I can’t take what doesn’t belong to me to get me out of a fix I put my own self into in the first place.”
