Dru shook her head. “No, I don’t sound anything like Sonya, Cecily, or the rest of them biddies. All I’m saying is that I’m not going to be the one to tell you what to do either way. I’ll be here to discuss it and pray with you, but....”

“It’s all on me.”

She nodded, then held up the baggy. “I’m going to drive this over to Silver Spring. I already did the research and there’s a lab there that can get results in forty-eight hours. They’re open today, but only until one.” We both glanced at the clock; we still had a little more than three hours. “But we’ll be able to find out if Jeremy is the daddy, okay?”

Her question made my heart ache in all kinds of way. I was Ginger Williams, First Lady of New Kingdom Temple, one of the largest, arguably the most influential predominantly African American churches in the country’s Capitol. What in the world was I doing here?

“Ginger?” Dru called my name taking me out of my descent into the abyss. “We just need one more thing.”

What was Dru talking about? What else could she possibly need from me when she’d already taken my heart.

She said, “We’re going to need Jeremy’s DNA,” she explained.

Of course, I hadn’t thought of that, but I hadn’t thought of much. I nodded, then, turned on the car’s ignition.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go to my house. Jeremy’s DNA is all over the place.” That was my attempt at humor, but all I wanted to do was cry. “And then,” I continued, “I’ll drive you to the clinic.”

“No,” Dru shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll handle this, Ginger. I got you.”

“I know you do and I thank you for that. But I want to make sure this gets there myself. I don’t have to go inside the clinic with you; it’s a better idea that you handle it because I don’t want anyone to recognize me. But you and I will deliver this to the clinic and then, you and I will pick it up. Because like you said, when I go to Jeremy, if he is this baby’s father, there will be no way for him to deny that it was a mistake, that the envelope was tampered with, that someone got something mixed up; he won’t be able to say anything. If we find out that Jeremy Williams is the father, all of us are going to know this for sure.”

Dru nodded as if she understood. She laid her hand on my arm, I knew to give me comfort. “It's going to be okay. No matter which way this turns out, I got you, okay?”