Fortune & Fame: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

preferred to think about the days when she and Hosea Bush had been planning their wedding and their long life together.
    That would be what she would focus on from now on. Those memories and the new images she had in her thoughts during the day and in her dreams at night. It was always the same—Hosea was always glad to see her once again. He was always thrilled to have her back in his life.
    The irony of all of this wasn’t lost on her: Her dreams were about to become a reality because of reality TV.
    Natasia chuckled at that thought as she took slow steps toward her bedroom. All she had to do was figure out the right way to make her presence known. And once she did, she’d see Hosea Bush again.
    This was truly an answer to her three months’ worth of prayers.

Chapter
FOUR
Mary Richardson
    A ir had never smelled so fresh.
    Mary Richardson recalled an article that said Huntsville, Texas, had horrible pollution, ranking at the bottom of the list in air quality. But to Mary, the brisk wind sweeping across her face was Febreze fresh.
    Fresh air. Something she’d known nothing about for the past four years.
    Mary looked to her left, then her right. She wanted to cry when the realization set in that she could go in whichever direction she wanted. There was no CO telling her which way to turn. There was no warden dictating what she should do next. Every step she made from now on would be on her own terms.
    Mary closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She only opened them when she heard someone say, “There she is! My baby!”
    “Babyyyyy,” she said, running into his arms.
    Nathan Frazier picked her up and swung her around, smothering her in kisses. He wasn’t the most handsome man she’d ever dated, but he looked magnificent to her right now. Even though her friends used to tease her in high school, Maryhad never been able to shake her preference for black men. Men like Nathan were the reason why—tall, dark, and good looking without even trying.
    Mary didn’t know how long they’d been lost in their embrace when Nathan finally pulled away and said, “Okay, babe, we have many more nights of holding each other. We need to get to the airport. Our plane leaves in three hours.”
    She smiled and hugged him tightly one last time. He took her hand and said, “And the first thing we’re going to do when we get back to Atlanta is go and get this band replaced.” He fingered the small metal band on her ring finger.
    The old Mary, the con artist always looking for a come up, the one that was out to get money by any means necessary, would’ve been all set and ready to go. But the new and improved Mary, the one who had found herself in prison, who had renewed her relationship with God, and who had vowed to become a law-abiding citizen, was happy with the ring that was on her finger. Nathan had given her that ring in a small, quaint ceremony in the prison chapel. It was more than enough.
    “Honey, I told you. We don’t have to get another ring. This one means the world to me,” she told him.
    Nathan took her hand and led her to the rental car. “And you can keep it in a box somewhere as a memento.” He turned to her. “But baby, I told you, things have been really good this past year. This church business is the business. Everyone is excited and ready to meet you.”
    She’d been real nervous about that. “How are they going to feel about having a First Lady who’s been in prison?”
    “Half the congregation has been in prison. That’s how we’ve been able to build Pleasant City up so. This is a no-judgment zone and the folks are eating it up!”
    She hated when Nathan talked like he was in the ministry for the money. When she’d first met him as part of the prison ministry for a Houston church, he’d seemed genuine in hisdesire to spread the gospel. Their relationship had quickly flourished and she’d fallen madly in love with him. He’d proposed in the prison chapel, promising her that he would do everything in