The McCoys of Holy Rock

by Shelia E. Bell

  Khalil tuned out the girl sitting next to him whispering in his ear and zeroed in on an attractive, somewhat older looking female a few lanes down from where he was situated. When he was a teenager and heavy into the streets and drugs, he messed off with a few older women. He found them more to his liking because they seemed to be more grounded, realistic and not all hung up on getting married or pregnant. The ones he bedded had a little cheddar and helped support his drug habit. He didn’t miss being involved with drugs and crime, but he did miss the perks that came along with being involved with an older woman.

  Khalil was glad, with the help of his parents, that the drug and crime fueled life he lived as a teen was behind him. He was thankful that he had wised up enough to get clean and sober. He never wanted to go back down that path again. He often shared his story with teens at church, especially during the teen summits his mother implemented at Holy Rock when she worked with youth. It felt good being sort of a mentor for younger people.

  When his father first talked to him about sharing his testimony of deliverance with other young people, Khalil balked at the idea. He was far from being a speaker unless it was to talk up on some drugs. But, much like Hezekiah, he had the charm and charisma to captivate an audience.

  Hezekiah kept pressuring Khalil to talk to the youth and Khalil kept bucking against the idea, until one Thursday evening, during a teen summit for at risk youth and adolescents, after constant prodding from his mother, he reluctantly approached the podium and began sharing his story. When he finished and went to take his seat, the auditorium full of young people stood on their feet awarding him with a standing ovation. Khalil felt invigorated at that moment and was pleased that perhaps he had helped to make a positive difference in someone’s life. It was also at that moment that Hezekiah felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to place Khalil in the position of assistant youth director. It was a decision that Hezekiah had not regretted. Within a year of being off drugs, and living in Memphis, Khalil had made a complete about face.

  When his father promoted him to Youth Director of Holy Rock a few months ago, Khalil knew that it was nothing short of a miracle for his life to be as magnificent as it was now. He smiled as he reverted his thoughts to the mysterious woman at the end of the lane. Slightly pushing off the girl who had been all up in his ear, Khalil excused himself and walked toward the woman when he saw her get up and go to the food court by herself. Game on, he thought.

  Khalil increased his pace when he saw her retrieve her beverage from the automated dispenser, turn around, start walking with it…and then drop it. One hand rose in frustration mid-air, a menacing frown instantly replaced the tempting smile he’d seen minutes earlier.

  After three, maybe four, giant leap-like steps, Khalil was at her side offering his assistance. “Let me help you with that.”

  She looked at him and her smile accentuated her large, perfectly made up brown eyes and arched brows. The lady didn’t object to Khalil’s offer. “Thank you,” she said, her voice soft but less confident than he would have imagined.

  “What was in your cup?” Khalil asked.

  “Sugar free lemonade.”

  “Sugar free lemonade, huh. Yeah, I’m sure you’re plenty sweet already. I’ll be right back.” Khalil walked past her, went to the restaurant counter, and informed one of the restaurant employees about the mishap. He returned shortly, thereafter, with another lemonade. “Here you go,” he offered, extending the cup toward her.

  She received it with a smile. “Thank you again. That was so nice of you. My name is Dee.”

  “I’m Khalil,” he countered. “Anytime, Dee.”

  8

  The only people I owe my loyalty to are those who never made me question theirs. Unknown

  Francesca continued to keep to herself, not bothering to communicate with Stiles and Pastor on a regular basis. Her and Tim’s lives had been far too hectic, especially over the past year.

  Her health continued to yoyo. For the past few weeks, however, she had been feeling pretty good. She and Tim talked about making the trip to Memphis, and they both felt she would be able to make the short trip without incident.

  She and Tim had been quite busy preparing the last round of adoption paperwork. Through prayer, GoFundMe, and their church family, their prayers about adopting a child seemed to finally be materializing.

  This was the second time they'd gone through the adoption process. The first time they were denied solely on the basis of Francesca's diagnosis. Tim pushed Francesca not to give up just because they'd been rejected one time. He found a lawyer who was an expert in the area of fighting for the rights of people with disabilities and who had connections with international adoption. He pointed out to Francesca and Tim that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed to insure that those with disabilities were not discriminated against. In regard to those with AIDS/HIV the law protected individuals with HIV whether asymptomatic or symptomatic.

  It was a long battle, but Francesca gained more strength at each round of the fight, and now they were about to celebrate a true milestone victory, according to their lawyer. Everything looked favorable and in a few weeks they hoped to receive positive news about getting a child.

  Francesca looked forward to attending Holy Rock’s Jubilee service. This was when she planned to share the good news with Pastor and Stiles.

  Later that Thursday evening, she called her brother and told him she and Tim had decided to come to Memphis, but she didn’t want him to tell Pastor.

  When Francesca was young, she and Stiles had a good brother and sister relationship. It wasn't until he came home from divinity school and became involved with Rena, that things changed. But since then and since his divorce from Rena, and the death of his mother and most devastating, the death of his child, their relationship was slowly evolving. Though they still didn’t talk much, he realized how valuable family, health, and life was and it was not to be taken for granted. So what if Rena and Francesca had a lesbian relationship. It happened before he and Rena got together, and it was a choice the two of them had made. Who was he to judge anyone? Did he agree with it? Definitely not. Did he believe it was a sin? He most certainly did, but so was fornicating and he’d done plenty of that. The more he grew in the Lord, the more he realized that there was not a big sin and a little sin. Sin was sin. He had to let go of the unforgiveness if he was going to move forward in his life. He prayed that the time and day would come when he could stand before Rena and tell her how sorry he was for the way he treated her. He wasn't exactly a nice person back then.

  Kareena seemed to be responsible a lot for Stiles' new outlook on life. She was so easy to talk to, and he found himself confiding in her some of his deepest, darkest secrets. It felt good to release the pinned up emotions he wrestled with. He had friends like Leo to call up and talk to, but it was nothing like Kareena. She had that certain, nonjudgmental way about her that made the words pour out of him. He suggested to her on more than one occasion that she should return to school and study to be a psychologist because she was just that good at listening.

  "Pastor is going to be thrilled to see you and Tim," Stiles said to his sister when she told him their plans.

  "We won't be able to come to the banquet, but we plan to be there in time for the second service," she explained to Stiles. "We'll hang out with you and Pastor for a couple of hours after service before returning home."

  "Oh, yeah, they’re combining all three services Sunday. They’re just going to have the ten forty-five service."

  "Okay, cool. I'll let Tim know. How are things going on your end? Are you still enjoying living in Houston and your new pastorship at Full of Grace?"

  "Houston is huge and the streets are always crowded. You can't go anywhere it seems without getting on the interstate. As for Full of Grace, it's nothing like pastoring at Holy Rock. It's a much smaller congregation, but it's growing so I'm not complaining. I do miss the hustle and bustle of a church the size of Holy Rock, but it is what
it is.

  "Anybody special in your life?" Francesca prodded.

  "No, I can't say that there is. I have friends and there is one special friend, but that's it. Nothing intimate," he told his sister.

  "You deserve to love again and to be loved, Stiles. Don't shut love out of your life and out of your heart. If it can happen for me, I know darn well it can happen for you."

  "Yeah, anyway," he said, disregarding what she'd said. "I can't wait to see you, Sis. We'll talk later. I need to concentrate on this road. I should be in Memphis in about three hours."

  "Okay, drive safely. See you Sunday."

  "Sure thing. Bye now."

  "Goodbye, Stiles."

  ‡

  Stiles turned up the volume in the car and jammed to a Bruno Mars song on his drive to Memphis. He wasn't able to convince Kareena to come along, but he couldn't blame her. He shouldn't have waited until the last minute to invite her. But maybe it was best this way. He needed to face the music in Memphis for himself.

  He was already feeling some trepidation about the visit, but Jubilee was extremely important to Pastor, especially since he would be speaking.

  Pastor's renewed involvement in the church made Stiles feel extra proud and happy for Pastor. Hezekiah had proved that he respected the great work Pastor did in the past to put Holy Rock on the map. It said a lot for the church to still be flourishing after 40 years.

  Stiles and Hezekiah spoke periodically via social media and phone from time to time. Initially, there was a rough patch between them when Hezekiah first took Stiles' place as senior pastor. Hezekiah fired all of the staff and brought in his own select people, including deacons and trustees. From what Stiles had heard, Hezekiah had also added himself as one of the authorized signees on Holy Rock's bank accounts. This was something Stiles and Pastor refused to do. They sat in on financial meetings and had valuable input of how the church's funds were to be spent, but they drew the line at being authorized signees. They never wanted it said that they had say so over the church funds because it would put them in a vulnerable position to be accused of too many illegal activities when it came to money.

  Obviously, Hezekiah didn't share in that belief or practice. Once Stiles got over the way Hezekiah chose to run things, he and Hezekiah were cordial and cool. It touched Stiles deeply that Hezekiah gave Pastor a position at Holy Rock. Pastor was back to his old self because he was eager to answer the calling of God once again.

  Stiles' phone rang. He turned down the volume of the radio before he pushed the button on the steering wheel to answer Kareena, whose name appeared on the dash.

  "Hi, there," she said. "How is the drive so far?"

  "Other than running into some major construction about 50 miles back, everything is good. That's basically the only thing that slowed me down. How are you?"

  "I'm good. I'm home and about to sit down, watch my recordings on my DVR, while I eat. I was just checking in on you."

  "That is very thoughtful of you. I still wish you had come with me."

  "You'll be fine. Enjoy your family and seeing your friends and some of your former flock. I've been praying for you and will continue to do so. God's got you," she reassured him.

  "You know," Stiles paused.

  "What?" Kareena responded.

  "You know you're a good friend," he said. "I thank God for you, Kareena. I really do. I'll call or text you when I make it to the hotel."

  "Oh, so you're not staying with your father and his wife?"

  "I thought about it, but decided against it. I think it's better if I stay at a hotel. I got a good rate for a four star hotel in east Memphis. It’s close to the interstate, so I can jump on 240 and be at Holy Rock in fifteen minutes tops."

  "Oh, well, I don't understand why you wouldn't stay with them. But you know better than I do. I'll let you concentrate on driving. I'll talk to you later. Drive safely."

  "Will do. Bye, Kareena."

  "Buh-bye," she replied.

  Stiles disconnected the call and smiled as he turned the volume back up and continued listening to his playlist.

  He practiced in his mind what he would say to Rena if she happened to show up at the banquet or at church Sunday. He had no reason to think that she would travel from Massachusetts for Holy Rock’s anniversary, but he felt that her parents would. Knowing Rena the way he thought he did, she wouldn’t let them travel alone if she could help it. If she didn’t come and they did, he would ask them how she was only for curiosity's sake. He hoped that things with her and Robert were going well. Rena was a great girl. It was just they were younger and he couldn't swallow the fact that she had been his sister's lover and had contracted an STD from her that she didn't tell him about. It was too much at the time for his marriage to survive. Now that he was a bit older, and hopefully wiser, he could sincerely wish her the best. He was still full of anger when she used to reach out to him. When she called to extend her condolences for his little girl's death, he couldn't accept it. He was rude to her and now he wanted the chance to ask her to forgive him. There were many times he started to send her a message on social media or text her, or call her, but he talked himself out of it every time. This time, if she came, and if she gave him the time of day, he was going to be a man and talk to her. He wanted all of the bad blood between them to be washed away for good. If only he felt that way about Detria—but he didn't. He was still a work in progress. Being a man of God was one thing; being a man in the flesh was an entirely different matter. God still had a lot of work to perform on him, that much he knew for sure.

  He continued his drive to Memphis. The next song that started on his playlist, "It Didn't Prevail" by Jason White and New Day, fit him and his situation to a tee. It was another one of his favorites. He listened carefully to the words and then began to sing along, “Through every hurt, with every scar, it didn't prevail cause God is with me..."

  9

  There are two ways to be fooled; one is to believe what isn't true. The other is to refuse to accept what is true. S. Kierkegaard

  Hezekiah sat in his home office going over his message for Sunday. Everything was going right in his life and for that, he was especially grateful. He had a fat bank account, a couple of nice rides parked inside his three-car garage, a beautiful wife who loved him deeply and a church full of dedicated and committed members who loved presenting him with 'love offerings.'

  Jubilee would probably bring in at least a hundred thousand and that wouldn't include the money he stood to receive personally from many of his members. He didn't take a salary. Instead, he preferred a love offering, which was raised for him every Sunday and could easily tally five figures. Along with the love offerings plus all the extra perks he received from Holy Rock, one could easily surmise that Pastor Hezekiah McCoy was sitting on top of the world. He wasn't an Osteen, Jakes, or Dollar but he was definitely doing well for himself and his family.

  Not that he needed to, but because he could, he had his hands in a little of this and a little of that at the church, but he didn't think it was enough to cause suspicion. He'd learned from his past and knew how to avoid getting caught with his hand in the church cookie jar. Only one thing, or one person, could mess things up for him, and that was his head of Security, George Reeves.

  About a year ago, George started attending Holy Rock with his wife, Bernice. She was a faithful member while George only attended to keep peace at home.

  During one of his visits, he thought that he recognized the McCoys from somewhere other than Holy Rock. It wouldn't have raised suspicion because the McCoys quickly became known not only at Holy Rock but in the mid-south community. But George’s recognition went further than that. He thought there was something worth looking into with the dynamic duo.

  Hezekiah leaned back in his office chair, placed the top of his ink pen to his lips, and inwardly cursed the fact that George was a sickening, nagging thorn in his flesh. He remembered that Sunday like it just happened yesterday. He had preached all three services and his
voice had dwindled down to almost nothing. Yet, right before the end of service he left out of the sanctuary went to take a quick shower, customary for him, before he changed into the extra set of clothes he maintained in his church office. He planned to return to the sanctuary to greet his members as they exited.

  This particular Sunday, after he’d performed his ritual and was about to go back into the sanctuary, he stepped outside his office and was confronted by a stocky, short white guy who looked eerily familiar. Hezekiah looked around. His armor bearers were nowhere to be found, and after what transpired, Hezekiah fired them. "Horace? Horace McKellar," the stranger said.

  Hezekiah stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the man. He looked around again for his armor bearers. No one but him and this stranger were in the hall. Holy Rock was a diverse congregation but there was something that stood out like a sore thumb with this guy.

  "I beg your pardon?" Hezekiah replied to the man. What did you call me?"

  "I said, Horace McKellar. That is your name, isn't it?"

  "I’m sorry. You’re mistaken. I'm Pastor Hezekiah McCoy. Look, if you need help, you can go to the front receptionist area and they can get one of the ministers to talk to you. Follow me. I’ll show you," Hezekiah said, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. Who was this man? How did he know his real name? This could not be good for Hezekiah. He continued to walk down the hall, hoping to run into his armor bearers, and get this dude escorted out of the church. But was that what he really wanted. With this man knowing who he was, it may not be such a good idea.