The Trials of Nikki Hill by Dick Lochte, Christopher Darden

with Satan, Juanita. You better do something and do it quick.”
    Their hostess, elegant as always, in a pale purple gown, looked nonetheless dismayed. “I’ll have a talk with her, Sister,” she said. “Thanks for your concern.”
    Nikki and Loreen exchanged glances. Loreen winked and said, “Sister, you want to bless this gathering before you leave?”
    The fat woman’s head spun toward her. “Well, Loreen Battles, I may not be empowered by the good Lord to bless, but I am a religious woman and proud to say it aloud, no matter how sinful the atmosphere.”
    “This atmosphere’s sinful?” Christine Martin asked angrily.
    “I see people drinking spirits,” Sister Mumphrey said. “And Evangeline Arnold’s top is so small her tits are falling out. And—”
    “Sister, I really do want to thank you for coming by,” Juanita said, interrupting the uninvited guest’s critical flow. She took the woman’s balloonlike hand, intending to lead her out. Only Sister wasn’t quite ready to leave.
    “Money is no substitute for the rewards of heaven,” she informed the Mavens. Then she spied Nikki. “Well, Nicolette Hill. I been hearin’ all about you, girl.”
    “Nikki’s been on the TV more today,” Juanita said, “than I’ll be on all week.”
    “Not from the TV, ” Sister said. “I don’t waste my time watching TV. No, I been hearing about Nicolette from her daddy.”
    Nikki stared at the fat woman, wondering where in the world she and her father might have gotten together. As if tuned in to her thoughts, Sister said, “Tricia and I have got real friendly thanks to our church work.” Tricia was Nikki’s stepmother, the main reason she wound up being raised by Grandma Tyrell.
    “You and Tricia,” Nikki said. “Don’t that figure.”
    “A fine woman. A real Christian. Your daddy’s a fine man, too. You ought to visit them more often. They’d love to see you, I’m sure.”
    “Sister,” Nikki said, trying to keep her anger under control, “you don’t know anything about it.”
    “I know some of us feels so high and mighty they forgets their family.”
    “I think Juanita’s daughter got it right, Sister,” Nikki said. “You
should
go fuck yourself.”
    There was a moment of silence as Sister’s mouth dropped. Then Loreen let out a boisterous laugh and the whole room joined in.
    Except for Sister, of course, who stormed from the apartment.
    “I thought she’d never leave,” Nikki said.
    “If I’d known that’s all it took,” Loreen said, “I’d have told her to go fuck herself thirty minutes ago.”
    Dinner was buffet-style.
    Nikki was seated on the sofa beside Angie Arnold. Esther Douglas, a real estate agent, occupied an overstuffed chair to their right.
    “Imagine that uptight Sister Mumphrey dissin’ my tits like that,” Angie was saying.
    “I think it was your outfit she was dissin’,” Nikki said.
    “Yeah.” Angie grinned. “Not even Sister’s gonna find fault with these tits. And they’re not even my best asset.”
    Esther gave her a polite but fleeting smile and turned to Nikki. “Sister seems to have a habit of riling folks,” she said.
    “Some people are like that.”
    “You know, when I was reading about you today, I got to wondering: You gonna be running for district attorney one of these days?”
    “I don’t suppose I’d turn the job down.”
    “I don’t suppose, either. The newspaper said you graduated top of your class. You could have started out with one of the big law firms at a very nice salary. Especially since you’d have helped satisfy two quota categories. Instead, you became a prosecutor. Why would a bright young woman do that, politics not be on your mind?”
    Nikki had known Esther for about two years, ever since the initial meeting of the Mavens, and while she had the real estate saleswoman to thank for her home in Ladera Heights, they weren’t tight friends. Until that moment, they’d never discussed anything more personal than