by E. N. Joy
Margie turned quickly and shot her secretary a sharp stare. “Do you think I have a problem being out with Lance because he’s black and I’m white?” Margie questioned. “Because that would be the furthest thing from the truth. His race has nothing to do with this.” Margie raised her arms. “Look around. I’m surrounded by people outside of my race. Eighty-five percent of the New Day members are African American. They look just like Lance.”
“Yeah, but preaching to black folks is one thing; dating them just might be another,” Vegas reasoned.
Okay, this was the last time Margie was going to be offended, and that was that. Flinging back her blond hair, Margie allowed her eyelids to cover her blue eyes. She said a silent prayer to God before opening her eyes and facing the woman who had been her secretary since she began pastoring at New Day. “I hope you don’t think that just because I’m a white woman that I’d have a problem dating a black man.”
That’s exactly what Vegas had thought. She knew that Margie was pastor to a flock that was predominantly black. She’d seen Margie pray with them, pray for them, lay hands on them, whatever. Heck, she’d even allowed one to move in with her. But when it came to relationships, actually dating someone outside of one’s own race, even Vegas knew that might be where some people drew the line. But that wasn’t the issue in Margie’s case.
“Did you not hear what I said earlier?” Margie asked her secretary. “I had a wonderful time at lunch with Lance. I don’t care if he were green. What I have a problem with is being tricked and manipulated.”
“Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, Pastor. Honestly, I didn’t see it as tricking or manipulating you.” With a long face, Vegas stood and walked toward the doorway.
“Wait a minute, I’m sorry,” Margie apologized. “I didn’t mean to be so harsh. It’s just that this entire thing about me being a single pastor, a single female pastor, has me a little spent. Forgive me.”
“Sure, Pastor,” Vegas said. “I forgive you.”
“Good. Please just forget about everything I’ve said.”
“Not a problem, Pastor,” Vegas said, then pushing the issue continued. “So does that mean you’ll go out with Lance again?”
“Oh, no,” Margie went and sat back down in her chair.
“Why, Pastor? Lance is a good man. I wouldn’t have set you up with just any old body. Don’t punish him for my mistake.”
“Vegas, you just don’t understand... that man ... that man could finish my sentences. It was like he knew me,” Margie said about Lance.
“And what’s so wrong with that?”
“Nobody should know me that well; nobody but God. It was scary. Scary enough to make me forget that I was a pastor.”
“Humph.”
“What was that for?”
“Oh, nothing,” answered Vegas. “It sounds to me like this is a dead issue, so I’m just going to return to my office. And again, Pastor, I apologize for interfering in your private life. It won’t happen again.” Although Vegas hated throwing in the towel, she didn’t want to jeopardize her relationship with her pastor by pressing the issue. If it was meant to be for Margie to eventually become her cousin-in-law, it would have to be through the grace of God.
“Thank you, I appreciate that. But please do tell your cousin that I had a wonderful time and thanks again for lunch, but that will be our last lunch together. If I’m gonna get set up, I want a divine setup.” Pastor winked at Vegas. She opened her Bible to Psalm 37:23 as Vegas exited.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord ...”
Margie looked up and smiled after reading that scripture. “I hear you, Lord, and that’s just what I told my secretary.”
Margie continued to read the Bible, but after awhile she couldn’t seem to focus on the words. That lunch with Lance had stirred something in her that she didn’t know what to do with. She now knew firsthand why a Singles’ Ministry was so important to have in the church. “I know, I still hear you, God,” Margie said, getting up from her desk and leaving to go see about Mother Doreen.
Chapter Thirty-one
Paige felt like an infant, curled up in Norman’s arms in her office, crying like she’d just lost her best friend. Funny thing was, she had just lost her best friend. She’d lost trust as well.
“I hurt, Norman,” Paige cried. “My heart hurts. It really, physically hurts.”
“I know. I know.” This was all new to Norman, this comforting women thing. His experience with women had mostly been sexual—intimate. But here lately, when it came to Paige, he’d had to take on roles he’d never played before. First, he was defending her from her husband, and now he was playing the comforter. He didn’t know he had it in him.
“No, you don’t know.” Paige lifted her head from Norman and pulled herself away from him. “And I hope you never find out.”
“It’s going to be okay. I know it hurts right now, but it’s only going to get better. It always does. It has too. You have to get it together. It’s not even an option. It’s a matter of life and death—mine.”
Paige looked at her coworker strangely. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you break, then I’m pretty much broken. You’re the one I look to for strength ... you know, like Pastor says ... to walk this thing out.”
Paige shook her head. “So those three times a year you come to church, you really are listening?”
“Hey, I told you once before that I’m listening. And enough of the wisecracks here. I’m serious.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just that you always appear to be so together.”
“It’s not an appearance, I actually am together. And I’m together because of you. I watch you, Paige. I see how you handle things; situations and people. I’ve seen you go through a great deal of things, and each and every time you’ve held strong in your faith. You’ve never let anything break you. I know there were times you might have felt a little bit bent out of shape, but broken . . .” Norman shook his head. “... uh, un ... never. And because of that, Paige, I know there is a God. Yeah, I know I used to give you a hard time at first when you got all,” Norman used his fingers to make quotation marks, “saved, sanctified, and Holy Ghost-filled.”
Paige chuckled.
“But that’s because I was jealous.”
“Jealous?” Paige questioned.
“Yes, jealous. I used to be your go-to guy. The one you talked to all the time. Then He took over.” Norman nodded upward. “God stole my partner in crime from me. And try as I might to pull you back over here into the world with me, you just wouldn’t take my bait.”
“You little ...” Paige play punched Norman in the arm. “All this time you had me thinking that I wasn’t acting Christian enough or something; like I wasn’t doing this Christian thing right. I would try to figure out what I was doing so wrong that you couldn’t see the God in me and see that I had changed. Then Blake came along looking, talking, and acting like he could see all of that and then some in me.” Paige shook her head.
“I hate to think that my actions are partly to blame for you hooking up with that—”
“Hey, watch it. That—whatever you were going to call him—is still my husband ... for now anyway.”
“So you’re really thinking about throwing in the towel on your marriage?”
“I don’t want to, but I can’t hang around thinking I can save someone that only God can save. And not even God can save Blake if he doesn’t want to be.”
“That’s true. So what are you going to do?”
“Just keep praying that God will lead me, give me a sign, show me the way ... something,” Paige replied. “The court date for the charges the state filed against him is tomorrow morning at nine o’clock.” She looked at the clock on her desk. “Think God can give me my answer within the next fourteen hours or so?”
“You never know,” Norman replied. “After all, He is God.”
“You got that right,” Paige agreed. “Well, you better get back out t
o the ticket booth. What’s her name is probably having a fit relieving you.”
“So what. Let her. My best friend needs a shoulder to cry on right now, and I have to be here for her.”
“Oh, that’s sweet, Norman, but you don’t have to pretend that I’m your best friend just because I just lost mine.”
A sad look swept across Norman’s face. “Pretend? Paige, you really are my best friend. I mean, have you ever heard me talk about anybody else being just a friend, let alone a best friend? The things I’ve shared with you over the years, I’ve never shared with anyone else. All these years I’ve truly looked at you like a best friend; a real true friend. I guess I kind of thought you felt the same about me.”
“Really, Norman?” Paige was surprised. “That’s really how you’ve seen me over the years?” Paige was truly touched. She’d honestly had no idea what a pertinent role she’d played in Norman’s life, both on a personal and spiritual level. A tear formed in her eye.
“Yes, really.” Norman noticed Paige tearing up and walked over to her. “Don’t cry. You’ve shed enough tears for the day already.”
“It’s just that the people who I knew to be—who I thought to be my best friends—hurt me so badly. And all along, God’s had you right here the entire time. I’m so sorry for not seeing that, Norman.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. Like I said, you’ve been the best friend any person could ever have. If Tamarra and Blake want to mess that up, then that’s too bad for them. That just leaves more of you for me to love.”
The word love seemed to have caught both Paige and Norman off guard. It became sort of awkward at that moment.
“Well, uh, I’m gonna ... go ... back out to the ticket booth.” Norman walked backward toward the office door. “What’s her name is probably, you know, uh ...”
“Yeah, uh, I know.” Paige was amused by Norman’s nervous reaction to letting the word love slip out. Love in any form or fashion was not his MO.
“Okay, then, I’ll see you—” Norman turned and ran smack into the door. He instantly grabbed his nose. “Ow, shhh—” He caught himself from letting a curse word slip.
“Careful,” Paige flinched. Norman had hit the door pretty hard. She knew that had to hurt.
“Yeah, I’m gonna go to the concession stand and grab some ice first.”
“Yeah, you do that,” Paige agreed. “Oh, yeah, and Norman,” Paige called out as he opened the door and walked out.
“Yes?” He turned around, still holding his nose in pain.
“I love you too ... friend.”
The painful expression that had just been on Norman’s face quickly faded. It was as if Paige’s words wiped all the pain away. He simply smiled and left her office.
Paige smiled too as she flopped down in her chair. Unfortunately, that smile wouldn’t be long-lived. In less than fourteen hours, in Courtroom B on the tenth floor of the courthouse, there would be absolutely nothing to smile about.
Chapter Thirty-two
“I don’t know. What if this is all just some kind of setup?” Unique asked through the phone.
“Setup?” Lorain replied. “How in the world do you suppose my mama could be setting us up?” Lorain had gone back to her desk and immediately shared with Unique her mother’s invitation for dinner the next night. Lorain was still ecstatic and overjoyed. Unique, on the other hand, was suspicious.
“I don’t know. I just can’t see her turning over a new leaf and accepting me and my kids just like that.” Lorain could hear the snapping of Unique’s fingers through the phone.
“Just like that? Are you serious?” Lorain begged to differ. “The woman has been slapped, I’ve been locked up, and you talking about ‘just like that’? We’ve been through the fire in just the little bit of time she’s known the truth about you. Besides, I’ve been praying, and prayer works, obviously.”
“Why are you so amped about a dinner?”
“And why are you so scared?” There was silence on the line. “Huh, Unique? Tell me, why are you so scared?”
“Who said anything about me being scared?”
“What else could it be? I mean, can you honestly say this is something that you haven’t dreamed about just once? You being with your biological family?”
“Yeah, sitting around like one big happy family one minute, and then the next thing you know, someone is fighting and going to jail. I’m not sure if I want to involve my boys in all of that. They’ve been doing just fine not knowing, so who’s to say that knowing will make things better?”
“Who’s to say it won’t?” Lorain countered. “Come on, Unique, where is all of this coming from? I thought this is what you wanted.”
“No, this is what you wanted. You’re the one who is probably still running around feeling guilty and just want to make things all better over spaghetti and garlic bread.”
“That’s not true. Well, I mean, yes, I want things to be right between us, but I know it’s going to take more than a dinner. But this is a start, Unique. Can’t you see that? My mother is putting forth an effort. The least we can do is meet her halfway.”
“Why tomorrow? Why so soon?”
“Why not tomorrow?”
“Let me pray about it and see what—”
“Will you stop it already?” Lorain snapped. Unique had brought her down off of her high. “Stop stalling. Stop making excuses. Stop being afraid.”
“I’m not afraid!” Unique yelled back.
“You are, and that’s what I don’t get. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“There’s plenty to be afraid of,” Unique begged to differ.
“Like what?”
“Like this not being real. Like us getting together to have some fancy dinner, pretending to be a family; then the next thing I know, you take these two babies, and then you throw me away again just like before. Only this time, it will be worse, because this time, you’ll be tossing my boys right alongside of me.”
Lorain could hear Unique’s voice crack and could tell that she was crying. At that moment she felt so selfish. She hadn’t looked at things from Unique’s perspective. “I’m sorry, Unique. I’m sorry that you feel that way. Maybe you do need some time to pray on it. But before you do, please hear me when I say this. I love you. I love you and the boys so much.” Now it was Lorain’s voice that was starting to crack. “I’d stop breathing first before I ever let you out of my life again. And if in the back of your mind you think I’m trying to use your babies to make up for what I did to you, you’re wrong. Dead wrong. Babies or no babies, Unique, you are my baby. You are my firstborn. Nothing and no one will ever be able to replace you. Ever. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
Waiting for some type of reply from Unique, all Lorain heard on the other line was some sniffling. “Look, I’m going to let you go,” Lorain said. “Try to get some rest. Just call me tomorrow and let me know what you decided. Bye, Unique.” Lorain ended the call wondering how one minute she could be on cloud nine and the next minute she felt as if she were at ground zero.
“I need some air,” Lorain said to herself. She stood up from her desk and walked back outside. As she made her way through the reception area and out of the door, that’s when she crashed right into the gentleman coming inside. “Oh, goodness, I’m so ... Nicholas?” Lorain was stunned to see Nicholas standing there with a take-out bag in his hand.
“It’s Chinese,” Nicholas stated. “I hope you like Chinese. I figured that maybe a hospital cafeteria wasn’t the best place to take a lady on a first date. I figured that’s why you didn’t show up.”
Instantly realizing she’d forgotten all about her lunch date with him, Lorain’s hand flew over her mouth. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to stand you up. It’s just that when I got to my car my mother was out there, and she forgave me and I forgave her, and then she wanted to have dinner, and then ...” Before Lorain knew it, she was standing there in tears trying to explain to Nicholas al
l that had gone on in the last forty-five minutes.
People walked by and looked strangely at the couple as Lorain whined on and on. An entire five minutes must have gone by before she stopped talking and just buried her face in Nicholas’s white hospital coat. She cried hysterically as he held the take-out bag, not knowing how to react. Finally, he spoke. “I guess you really don’t like Chinese, do you? I knew I should have gone with Italian.”
Chapter Thirty-three
By the time Margie arrived at the hotel where Mother Doreen had been staying, went inside, and requested the clerk inform Mother Doreen she had a visitor, she was surprised to hear the clerk say, “You just missed her. Miss Tucker checked out already.”
She’d missed her indeed. Mother Doreen was now driving down the highway with less than thirty minutes to go before crossing the Kentucky state line.
That entire scene in the church conference room had really gotten to Mother Doreen. She couldn’t believe herself that she’d even threatened to leave New Day. “But that’s exactly what the devil wants me to do,” she’d spoken to herself out loud. She wasn’t about to leave the only church home she’s ever really known in Ohio. Not because of man and not because of the devil.
Never let man keep you from the church. Never let man keep you from growing closer to God, Mother Doreen recalled her pastor preaching.
That’s exactly what Mother Doreen had almost let happen. Those board members had made her so angry. She couldn’t have cared less if she ever stepped foot in that church again. She had prayed all the way back to her hotel. Come to think of it, it hadn’t really been much of a prayer; just a bunch of complaining about a few of God’s saints; namely the ones who served on the New Day Temple of Faith board.
By the time she got back to her hotel room, God had brought something back to her remembrance. It was that day she stood in Deborah’s living room where she witnessed her get delivered from old demons. Deborah had been the co-leader of the Singles’ Ministry up under Mother Doreen. The two women had gotten pretty close as a result of working together on the ministry. So close that Mother Doreen learned that Deborah had been haunted by a late-term abortion she’d gotten.