The sisters ended the prayer with agreement. “Amen.”
Mona wiped her eyes again. “Tania, I don’t know what’s gotten into you. I don’t know how you can be like this. After all I did. And I mean all I did with...you know...the business I had.” She paused, looking at Tania intently.
Instantly, Tania knew that Mona was referring to James a.k.a. Kevin. Tania was actually thankful that Mona had refrained from speaking his name.
“What business?” Naomi asked.
“Some business that we just decided not to relive again,” Tania said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Mona.
Mona nodded in silent agreement. The matter was sealed.
Then Mona began massaging her temples with her fingers. “Tania, You showed up with your whole life in order and I don't have a clue as to what I want to do with myself.”
“Correction, Mona and I don't have my life in order. Up until now, I've been just suppressing my misery too. But God. You have to give it to Him, too. And start to focus on what you do have. I mean, at least you do have a daughter.”
“I love both of y’all, and I couldn't imagine going throughout the rest of my life without you guys,” Naomi said.
“Well, you won't have to because now we're together and nothing is going to ever tear us apart again, right Mona?” Tania said.
“Right,” Mona said as she pulled both of her sisters into a hug. “I don’t know how all this is going to work out, but it has to be better than it was before.”
Tania took a deep breath—so deep it was as though she had just been reborn and was truly allowing air to fill her lungs for the very first time. She realized in that moment that her sisters meant the world to her.
Chapter 18
Tania, Naomi and Mona had finished their lunch and were sitting around the table. Tania still couldn't believe that she was actually with her sisters feeling free and peaceful.
“Naomi, you've done a great job remodeling the house.”
“Girl, it's been a long process but well worth it. Zack and I have been working hard on making this a dream house.”
Tania wanted to say it would be like Nightmare on Elm Street if Naomi married Zack. She left well enough alone. “I feel so out of the loop.”
“Well the main thing is that you're here now.” Naomi said as she led them back to the living room again to conclude the tour.
“Mona, how are things with you and Paul?”
“Tania, Paul and I have been divorced for the last two years. I came home one day and all of his stuff was gone. He didn't leave a note or anything. I received a text saying he had moved on,” Mona's voice cracked.
“I'm so sorry to hear that, Mona. How's Alexis handling things?”
“She has her days, but for the most part she's adjusting.”
“Is he still active in her life?”
“She sees him every blue moon and as of right now, he only sends $50.00 a week for child support. We have a court date coming up soon.”
“Good for you. Paul should be ashamed of himself for leaving anyway,” Naomi said.
“I can't say it's all his fault. I was doing my share of dirt too. I should have never listened to Vivian. We were running the streets, meeting men, using them for their money. Paul was a hard-working man, and I nagged him, fussed about him not making enough money. I drove him away.” Mona seemed lost in a sea of regrets.
“Mona, do you still love him? I mean maybe there's a chance for you guys to get back together, work things out, go to counseling,” Tania said.
“I care about him but I honestly don't know if I ever loved him. I think I loved being with him, loved what he did for me. I don't deserve another chance with him. I'll just screw things up. I'm a screw-up.”
“Mona, you're not a screw up. You have to stop speaking those words over yourself. You're just a person who has made mistakes. We all have. The good news is that you've recognized yours.”
“Tania is right, sis, you can't beat yourself up. You are a mother and have to live not just for you but for Alexis, too.”
“And there’s always a beautiful life in Christ,” Tania added.
Mona spoke up, “I love God. I watch church on TV sometimes.”
Tania explained, “What you need is a relationship with Him. Spend some time with Him so that you can experience what real love is. I think that's the reason why you were chasing those men, looking to fulfill something in your life. You have a void in your heart that only God can fill. Mona, you have to ask God to come into your life so that you can experience real love.”
“God don't love me.” Mona sniffed.
“Yes He does love you, He loves all of us. His love is different from man’s love. God's love is unconditional, it's not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we are loveable or because of something that we did that was great, He loves us because He is love. The Bible tells us in Romans 5:8 But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” Tania’s evangelistic moment continued.
“I need to get myself together before I go walking up into the church,” Mona said.
Now it was Naomi’s turn to minister the gospel. “You can't get yourself together, the church is the sinner’s hospital, that's why the Bible tells us to come as we are.”
“I thought they meant clothes,” Mona said.
Tania held back a giggle to spare her sister’s feelings. “Come as you are, meaning whatever state you're in, we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. You can come to God now. He knows you can't clean yourself up. You don't have to make any promises to experience His love, all you have to do is ask Him to come into our life and He will make all of the changes. He loves us that much, He's already paid the price for all of our wrong doings. He did all of the suffering and sacrificing long before we even knew we needed His love.”
“Ok, so what you're saying is all I have to do is ask God to come into my life and He will, just like that?”
“Yes, just like that.” Naomi smiled.
“That ain’t what they said at Mt. Zion.”
“That’s why you need to know him for yourself,” Tania countered. “Everything that comes through man’s lips has the potential to be tainted. But once you ask Him to come into your life, talk to Him on a daily basis and ask Him for direction, you’ll recognize the truth from the almost-truth.”
“You can go to church with me on Sunday, as well as Bible study on Wednesday night. I'll will even pick you up if you'd like,” Naomi offered.
“Whoa... slow down, I'm not trying to be no missionary.” Mona giggled.
“First things first, do you want to ask God to come into your life?” Tania asked.
“Yes. How do I do it?” Mona asked.
“All you have to do is ask, and repeat these words.” Tania led Mona in a prayer of repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord. Mona repeated those words tearfully, and Tania did all that she could do to contain herself while leading her oldest sister—the one who had brought so much pain and anguish into her life—to the One who could take it all away.
Chapter 19
Naomi broke out in a praise dance following Mona’s conversion. Somehow that praise dance simmered down into a rendition of Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.”
Tania imagined the Lord Himself and the angels were rejoicing. Then she realized she didn’t have to imagine it might be true because the Bible says the heavens rejoice when one returns to the fold.
They were all breathless from praise and dancing. As they plopped down in kitchen chairs, “Speaking of family I need you to go ahead and get busy so that I can have some nieces and nephews, “Mona ordered.
“Can I get a man first?” Tania laughed.
“What about you and DeWayne, missy?” Naomi said.
“DeWayne and I are taking things slow.”
“Slow my foot, girl, that man wants to marry you,” Naomi squealed.
“Wow, marry you? This is se
rious stuff, Tania. How do you feel about him? I know you've known him for a while, but have you ever actually dated anybody?” Mona said.
Tania rolled her eyes playfully. “For your information, yes, I have dated someone, thank you very much.”
“I’m just saying.”
Seeing no malice in Mona’s face freed Tania to spill the beans. “But right now, I don't know if I'm coming or going. DeWayne makes me feel special. I feel like we've been together forever. It's just weird to me. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I feel safe and secure in his arms—it just feels right.”
“What were you two doing?” Naomi shouted.
“Don't get too excited, sis, we weren't doing what you think.”
“Are you sure he ain't gay?” Mona asked.
“Gay?” Tania and Naomi shot back.
“I'm just saying, I don't know too many men in the world that wouldn't be trying to get the goods unless he's gay.”
“Sis, trust me, he's not gay. He's a gentleman. We both honor God and we want to do things right.” Tania smiled.
“See how she's smiling when she talks about him? That's love,” Naomi pointed out. “I feel the same way about Zack. I know y’all don't understand it, but it's true.”
“Naomi, we're just concerned and only want what's best for you,” Tania replied.
“I don't want to talk about Zack no more. As a matter of fact, don't even use any words that start with the letter Z,” Mona fussed. “And Tania, if things go well with you and DeWayne, introduce me to his daddy, cousin or somebody,” Mona said.
“So you don't think it's happening too soon, Mona?” Tania asked.
“Naw girl, life is short and if a man cares about you and seems to be genuinely interested in you, you have nothing to lose.”
“I told her the same thing,” Naomi said.
“Yes you did and I appreciate you guys telling me what you think. I am going to see where things go. Who knows, I could be Mrs. Tania Watkins someday.”
“Awww... sookie, sookie now. Go ahead on with your bad self then,” Mona said.
“Tania, girl, you are actually glowing. So that's how I know this is meant to be—just like me and Zack.”
Mona and Tania both sighed. It was obvious that there was nothing they could do or say to change Naomi's mind before tomorrow.
“I better get going. I need to check on Alexis. Come on, Naomi drop me off,” Mona ordered.
Tania was beginning to see that Mona’s bossiness was simply a result of her personality and her birth order. Big sisters will always be big sisters, even after they meet Jesus—starting with Martha in the Bible all the way to Mona now.
“I need to go see Aunt Jean. I know she's fussing since I never made it over there yesterday,” Tania said.
“Leslie called me this morning asking about you, so yeah, you better go on over there,” Naomi replied.
The sisters hugged and left the house to go to their various destinations.
Inside the car Tania looked at herself in the mirror. She had to agree with her sisters: She was indeed glowing. She thanked God for restoring her relationship with her sisters and she also thanked Him for the new relationship with DeWayne. And she begged God to show Naomi that marrying Zack wasn't the right thing to do.
A short drive later, Tania parked in the driveway at her Aunt Jean's house. There was another car in the driveway. Tania knew the cars probably belonged to some of Aunt Jean’s church members. She hoped the saints had brought over some of their delicious food.
The door was open but the screen door was locked. It's funny how every house in the country has a screen door with a latch. Some things never changed.
“Open that door for Nia, Leslie,” Aunt Jean hollered toward the back room.
“T, hey girl, come on in,” Leslie said, unhooking the flimsy latch.
“Hey Leslie, and Aunt Jean how are you doing?” Tania asked, looking around at the other two ladies who were sitting in the living room.
“Betsy and Clara this is Nia, Ruby's youngest daughter. Nia these my church members,” Aunt Jean said.
“Pleased to meet you,” Tania said.
“Yeah, these are my sisters on Daddy's side. Daddy God, that is.”
“It's nice meeting you, too, Nia,” Betsy said, extending her hand to shake Tania's hand.
“Come give your Aunt Clara a hug,” Clara said, standing up to hug her.
And just like that, Tania had another aunt.
“You been talkin’ to your sisters?” Aunt Jean wanted to know.
“Yes, ma’am. I just left Naomi’s. We all talked. God is working everything out even better than I imagined.”
“Praise the Lord, prayer still works! I knowed the Lord was going to work it out, see He used me to getcha here. He knew all along, yes, yes, yes, praise His holy name.”
“T, Miss Betsy and Miss Clara came over here to visit Mama after they found out about her being in the hospital,” Leslie stated.
“Nia, give me Naomi number. Imma see if she can come by too, cause I want Clara and Betsy to go to the wedding and the reception tomorrow,” she said and handed Tania a pen and a notepad to write the number on.
“Momma, you can’t just put people on the list at the last minute.”
“Yes, I can,” Aunt Jean countered. “These is my friends. Plus ain’t too many folk happy about her marryin’ that old crazy Zack anyway. Every time I see him, he act like he can’t talk to nobody. Somebody need to be there to eat up the cake. Tania, you think he slow? You think he gettin’ one of them checks every month?”
Tania half-laughed as she wrote the number down and gave her the notepad back.
“T and I will let you ladies catch up. We'll be back in my room,” Leslie said.
“That's code for they need to gossip about that guy that's got Nia's nose wide open,” Aunt Jean informed Betsy and Clara.
Tania and Leslie laughed and went to Leslie's old bedroom.
The bedroom looked the same; nothing had changed. Leslie's old New Edition posters were still on the wall along with DeBarge, Keith Sweat and Al B. Sure.
“Girl, I can't believe you haven't taken these posters down.”
“I wanted my room to stay the same. It makes me feel like I never left home.”
“So tell me what's been going on, what happened with you and your sisters, and DeWayne?” Leslie asked.
“My sisters and I met up today at Naomi's and we actually made some ground. God intervened and now we're on our road to recovery.”
“That's good. What did Mona say?”
“Mona is hurting, Leslie, like we suspected, and a lot of her anger stems from that, but the good news is that she's going to be ok.”
Tania didn't know if Mona would want Leslie to know about the rape and the abortion so she figured there was no need to mention that. She didn't want Mona upset with her for sharing her business. Some things don’t change.
“I'm so happy for you guys.”
“Yeah me too, it's long overdue.”
“Ok so what's going on with DeWayne?”
“Let's just say time will tell, and as of right now we are dating, “Tania smiled.
“Wow, girl no wonder you beaming like the light on the Motel 6 sign,” Leslie laughed.
“Leslie you're a mess, I don't no what I'm going to do with you.”
“Nothing but hook me up with his cousin, coworker or something.”
“You sound like Mona,” Tania giggled.
Chapter 20
Tania left her Aunt Jean's house and went back to the hotel. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. She truly didn't know how to wrap her head around it all. Emotionally exhausted, she sat in the car trying to process it all.
Mona's news about her father raping her literally knocked the wind out of her. Tania's mind traveled back as she tried to remember if there were any clues that she could have picked up on. For some reason she felt like she was to blame.
Tania recalled M
ona being home in bed for several days. Ruby said that she had the flu, which wasn't hard for Tania to believe because it was wintertime. During that time Tania remembered not seeing her dad around at all, he'd disappeared and now she knew why.
Her heart ached for Mona, and her mom. It had to be hard on her knowing that her daughter had been raped by someone she was in love with.
When Tania's dad disappeared from her life Ruby never mentioned him and if asked she would say he's working out of town and changed the subject. Tania imagined that Ruby never told a soul and told Mona to keep her mouth closed as well.
The rape explained why Mona spent her whole life going from man to man, Tania thought. And whatever evil thought pattern had caused their mother to choose a man over her daughter could not be explained. All Tania and Mona could do now was curse the old ways and learn more about the new mind they had in Christ.
Her cell phone rang. Tania smiled when she saw DeWayne's name. “Hello.”
“Hey love, how are you doing?”
“I'm good now that I hear your voice.”
“Where are you?” DeWayne asked.
“I just pulled up at the hotel.”
“How did it go with your sisters?”
“As far as the relationship with my sisters, that part went great. But Naomi knows about Zack, yet she's still planning to marry him.”
“What did she say?”
“She basically said that it's ok for him to cheat and once they get married he will stop.”
“Tania, I hate to say this but I'm not surprised. They're so many women who would rather settle than to be by themselves.”
“How do you know?” Tania asked.
“I know because I date women. One time, I quickly came to the point in a short relationship where I realized she and I had nothing in common. I told her we should just be friends and she literally begged me to try to make it work. I didn't want to waste my time or her time. She offered to take care of me, told me I didn't have to work, all she wanted was me.”
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