On Time (Persaud Girl)

by Teisha Mott

  Klao had mapped out in her mind from Wednesday what dress she was going to wear. She would wear her Diane von Furstenberg jersey wrap dress. It was a pure silk ruby multicolour leopard print number, with a spread collar and v-neckline. She thought she looked very womanly in it. But that morning, for the life of her, she could not find the dress. She had searched both the closets in the apartment, and the dress was nowhere. She was about to call Bianca and ask her if she had borrowed it, when she recalled that she had dropped it at the dry cleaners two weeks earlier and had forgotten to go back for it! That was typical of her, Klao thought, to ‘forget’ a designer dress at the dry cleaners! Now where was she going to find another dress (with sleeves) at 7:15, no, 7:20 in the morning?

  Minx’s yappy little puppy voice caused her to jump. 7:20! She had to hurry. She had only 25 minutes to be ready.

  “Oh God, I need to find a dress!” She muttered to herself, as she waded through racks and racks of clothes all jumbled up together. She mentally cursed her housekeeper, Miss Gem, for not organising the clothes by function. If she told her once, she told her a thousand times – put all the work suits together, skirts with skirts, pants with pants, dresses with dresses… Why were jeans mixed with cocktail dresses, and why,whydid Miss Gem wash, press andhang up her pyjamas! No wonder she could not find them. Klao disgustedly yanked down four pairs of pyjamas and threw them to the floor. They landed on top of Minx, covering him over. Minx whined.

  “I don’t get Miss Gem at all!” Klao quarrelled to Minx. “Doesn’t she have any common sense? I – hello…”

  She came upon a ‘BCBGMAXAZRIA’ fireworks floral print dress with three quarter sleeves and a tie at the front. It was ruby red and black, just like her Diane von Furstenberg dress, which meant she did not have to find another pair of shoes, or remove the red elastic tie she had used to form her hair into the world’s perfect ponytail.

  “Where have you been hiding?” Klao said, as she pulled the dress off the hanger. “I did not even remember you existed!”

  She quickly discarded her robe and pulled the dress over her head. It fell perfectly over her hips and to her knees. She formed the front tie into a side bow and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Perfect! And it had sleeves!

  “What do you think, Minx?” She turned to pose for her puppy, hands on her hips.

  Minx gave a little bark of approval.

  “I absolutely concur!” She smiled, pausing briefly to pat his fluffy head, while simultaneously slipping her feet into the red and black patent leather Christian Louboutin Altadama Peep-toe pumps that she had removed from her shoe closet earlier. The 4 inch heels made her feel like a giant – or Victoria's Secret model, Giselle Bundchen. How perfect it would be if she were 5’ 10”, she thought, not for the first time. Tall girls were so much more elegant. Like Samantha. She gave another twirl in front of the mirror for good measure. No doubt she looked hot. Matt was going to be floored when he saw her. She sashayed to the bathroom to put on her makeup. She had ten minutes before he got there…

  Then she was startled by the buzzer.

  Trust Matt to be early. She replaced her Mac compact on the sink ledge and went to the buzzer.

  “Come in, Matt!” She called, punching the gate opener. “Let him in when he gets to the door,” she instructed Minx, as she opened the front door and headed back to the bathroom. “And please don’t stare him down.”

  “Klao Melissa Persaud!” She heard Matt call. “You ready?”

  “In a minute! I’m putting on my face.”

  “Putting on your face? You take it off at night?”

  “Hah!”

  “Come out here, girl! Let me see what you look like without it! Or should I come in there and look for myself?”

  “You better not set foot in here!” Klao warned. “Just have a seat and be quiet! You only speak if you are telling me where we’re going.”

  “Klao, you waited one whole week to find out!” Matt pointed out. “You can wait five more minutes!”

  Klao smiled at her reflection in the mirror. The Mac lip gloss made her lips look shiny and kissable. Not that she wanted Matt to kiss her. She liked him, but not like that! Nonetheless, it was good to know that she could look kissable.

  “All I am saying is if you take me anywhere strange and let anything bad happen to me, my brothers are going to cut out your intestines and strangle you with them!” She exited her bedroom, her Lady Dior large clutch firmly secured under her arm. “’Cause I don’t know…”

  Then her mouth fell to the floor.

  “Oh my God!” She thought, as she looked at him.

  He was standing in the middle of her living room. And of course Minx was staring at him, but with good reason. That was not ‘Megamart Matt’ in his tattered grandfather jeans standing there. It wasMatthew. She had seen him dressed up before, but not like this! He was shaved and trimmed and dressed to the nines and looking like he had just stepped off the pages of a GQ magazine. His tailored navy pants were pressed to perfection with front seams that could butcher a cow, and the gold cuff links gleamed from the cuffs of his starched white shirt. And he was smiling. God dammit he was handsome. How could she have missed it before?

  “And you said you didn’t have any dresses with sleeves!” He said. “You look really nice!”

  “Thank you!” Klao managed to choke out. Now that Matt had turned into a hottie, she was not sure how to talk to him.

  “Although those shoes could use a pole!”

  Klao glared at him. He was back. “Whatever dude! I’m not changing them.”

  “I never told you to!”

  “Let’s just go!” She stooped to kiss Minx. “Behave yourself!” She warned the puppy. “And Stacy is coming to walk you at eight, so don’t pee in my shoes!”

  “He does that?” Matt asked, as he ushered Klao to his Tiida.

  “On occasion!”

  “Perhaps he does not like being left alone in the apartment!”

  “He’s a house dog, Matt. He expects to be in the house.”

  “Doesn’t mean he wouldn’t like being outside every now and again!”

  “So the bigger dogs can bite off his head, and cars can run him over? No thanks!” She got into the front seat, and Matt closed the door as she secured her seat belt.

  Matt got into the driver’s seat. Klao looked at him. He was looking at her and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

  “What?”

  “Nothing!” He said. “Just that you are a five threat today. You look hot!”

  Klao blushed. “Are you sure I am appropriately attired? Since I don’t know where I am going?”

  “You are more than ‘appropriately attired’, Klao M!” Matt assured her, as he backed out of her parking lot. “And we, my friend, are going to church!”

  For the second time in less than ten minutes, Klao’s mouth fell open. “Church? But it’s Saturday!”

  “Yes. That is the day I go to church!”

  “You’re Adventist?”

  “Then why did you you say it like that?” Matt asked. “’You’re Adventist. Adventist? Eww!’ You made it sound like I said I have herpes!”

  “I didn’t know you were Adventist!” She recalled telling him how weird it was for people to go to church on Saturday. She recalled his interest when she told him Andie and Nathan went to church on Saturday. No wonder he could not go out on Friday night, and before eight on Saturday night. The whole sunset to sunset thing that Andie and Nathan were always talking about! Good grief! Nowshe was going to church on Saturday! With Matt!

  “You don’t go to Andie and Nathan’s church, do you?” She asked. The worst thing in the world was turning up at Church with Matt and seeing her cousin there.

  “No,” Matt said, and she was relieved. “You said Andie goes to Kingsway. I go to St. Andrew.”

  Something else dawned on her. “Andie and Nathan don’t go to church at quarter to eight!”

  “My church is different,” Matt explained. “Our congregat
ion is large, so we have two services – one at quarter to eight and the other at eleven.”

  “So why did you choose to take me to the early one?”

  “Because that is the one I go to,” Matt replied simply. He indicated and turned the car on to Liguanea Avenue.

  “Are you sure I am dressed alright for church?” She asked again.

  “You’re fine, Klao,” Matt promised her. “If you weren’t, I’d tell you.”

  “Perhaps I should have worn a hat! Or brought a Bible. I don’t even have a Bible. Can we please turn back for my Bible?”

  “You don’t need a Bible,” Matt said patiently. “All the scriptures are projected on the screen. Could you relax please? You are making me nervous!”

  Klao folded her hands in her lap and sat quietly for the rest of the trip. She was not sure she wanted to be going to church. Of all the scenarios that had gone through her mind all week about where Matt was taking her, Church was not one of them.

  Before long, they pulled into the gates of the impressive-looking Sanctuary on Hope Road. Klao had passed it time and time again, but had never gone inside.

  “This is your church?” She asked Matt, but he did not respond. He was talking on his cell phone.

  “Where are you?” He asked the person on the other end. He paused and waited for the response. “I just pulled in…. I said I just pulled in…. Chillax, nuh! What is wrong with you… I’m not late…”

  He rolled his eyes and hung up the phone. “She just irritates me sometimes!” He told a curious-looking Klao.

  Klao wondered who 'she' was, that could elicit such a response from Matthew ‘he-who-angers-you-controls-you’ St. James, but did not ask.

  Matt pulled into a parking spot at the side of the building. The spot was marked ‘Reserved’. Matt had reserved parking? Perhaps one of the many benefits of being on the church board. Klao peered through the car window. Many people – idle people who obviously owed on their rent, so could not sleep in their bed late on a Saturday morning – had already made it to church. Many society people, she noted, from the number of Mercedes Benz and SUVs that were parked all around.

  Suddenly, Klao noticed a girl, tall and slender girl but with a body that would make Beyoncé think that life is not fair, and a no-nonsense stride similar to her brother, Dylan’s, marching over to the car. She was wearing a v-necked wrap dress, in a green, yellow, black and white diamond pattern. Klao was positive it was not a Diane von Furstenberg, but it did not make the girl look any less a knockout. Even her pointy toe stilettos were yellow, green and black! She had skin the colour of toasted almonds, and her hair was jet black, bone straight, and cut in an asymmetrical bob like Rihanna’s.

  That, Klao thought, was how she would look if she had a choice.

  The girl stopped at the Tiida and placed her French manicured hand to her thrust out hip. She looked like she had just struck a fierce pose at the end of the runway at an Izzy fashion show. Klao was waiting for the cameras to start flashing.

  “You’re late!” Supermodel/super diva accosted Matt.

  “I am not late, I am on time!” Matt disagreed.

  “The platform party is already here!”

  “So? They could go up without me!” Matt was taking his own sweet time getting out of the Tiida and into his navy jacket that matched his pants.

  “Can you just hurry up, for goodness sake?” The girl trilled.

  “Can you just shut up for goodness sake?” Matt returned.

  Klao sat in the car, looking from one to another, like a spectator at a tennis match.

  “You not coming out?” The girl pounced on Klao.

  Klao’s eyes widened. “Me?”

  “No, that idiot on American Idol!” Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she opened the door. “I don’t know who he is fooling that he is not gay. Of course, you! Come on!”

  Klao had no choice but to get out. She looked at Matt. “Matt…”

  “I have to go,” Matt said to her. “Go with Mary. You’ll be fine. I’ll see you later.”

  Klao was beyond mortified. That was Mary? Matt’s twin sister? It was obvious which twin got the long end of the 'good looking' stick! What did Matt mean by ‘go with Mary’? Where was he going?

  “Matt…” She felt like a small child being abandoned by her father.

  “Come!’ Mary repeated. She took Klao’s Dior clutch that lay forgotten on the Tida’s leather seat, and then took her hand. “By the way, I’m Mary. You’re Klao, right?”

  Klao nodded absently. She looked behind her as Mary led her away. She saw Matt disappear behind a glass door at the side of the building. “Where’s Matt?”

  “He’s going inside.”

  “So where are we going?”

  “Inside!” Mary looked at her strangely. “You never go to church before?”

  “Yes, but… I thought…” Mary pushed open the main doors of the sanctuary and Klao forgot what she thought. “Wow!” She breathed. It was the most beautiful sanctuary she had ever set foot in. After the dank stuffiness of St. Andrew Parish Church, the bright, airy modern structure of Matt’s church was a welcome relief. It was wide and spacious, with mahogany benches and cushioned seats. It had domed ceilings and huge glass windows, and not even one cross or statue with a suffering Jesus anywhere in sight.

  The church was tastefully decorated with lilies and fabric, and there were glass – not old wood, but glass – lecterns. The congregation was seated and singing one of Klao’s favourite songs: ‘Come thou fount of ev’ry blessing’ – and the words were projected from the flat screen TV monitors on the wall. There was a choir in blue and red robes, two song leaders, also in blue and red robes, and an organist and a pianist and a band of violinists, flautists, and saxophonists accompanying them. The TV monitor in the middle at the podium said ‘Reverence My Sanctuary’.

  “Wow!” Klao breathed again. When she was getting married, this was going to be the church she would use. She trotted behind Mary, who was gliding down the aisle as though she was on a runway. Every second, Mary turned and smiled or waved at someone. Finally, she stopped at what Klao assumed to be her pew, and allowed Klao in before her.

  “Where is Matt going to sit?” Klao asked. She shivered a bit, realising why Matt had insisted she wear a dress with sleeves. The church was air conditioned, and the unit was kicking like Bruce Lee. One would not imagine that outside felt like one of the portals to hell.

  “What do you mean ‘where is Matt going to sit’?” Mary asked, looking at Klao as though she was a complete idiot. She placed Klao’s Dior bag on the seat next to them. “By the way, loving your dress.”

  “Thanks. I love yours too!” Klao replied, and Mary smiled. Klao noticed her smile was as pretty as Matt’s.

  Mary opened her hymnal to the new song that the song leaders had selected, although it was projected on the screen. It was not one that Klao knew, but she liked it. It was about ‘seeking the lost’ and she actually started to get thrills when the men and women broke into rounds at the chorus. She nodded to the music and glanced at Mary. She was not singing. Klao wondered why.

  Finally the singing came to an end, and the congregation rose to its feet as the platform party entered. Klao did a double take when she saw Matt in the middle of the platform.

  “What is Matt doing at the platform?” She whispered to Mary.

  Mary looked at her. “I know you are not religious,” she whispered back. “But the platform is where the Minister sits.”

  Klao felt as though she could have been knocked over with a feather. “Matt is the Minister?”

  “Duh!” Mary shook her head. She handed Klao a church programme.

  Klao gazed at the yellow and white programme. There was a picture of the church on the front. The caption read “The Seventh-day Adventist Church of St. Andrew. Pastor Matthew L. St. James”.

  “Oh my God!” She gasped.

  “You didn’t know he is a Minister?” Mary asked, confused, as the leader announced the ‘cal
l to worship’.

  “No!” Klao hissed. The congregation began singing ‘Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne’. “He didn’t say. I…”

  “Shh!” Mary instructed, and promptly closed her eyes.

  “Oh, great Monarch of the Universe…” Matt began, his smooth baritone reverberating through the church’s A-Class sound system. Klao’s eyes popped open in awe, as he gave the most pious-sounding invocation she had ever heard. Son of a gun – hewas a Minister.

  Klao thought she was having an out-of-body experience, as the congregation sang the opening hymn, and as the scripture reading was being done, and as the choir sang a song that led them into the opening prayer. She was finally able to think clearly, as Mary instructed her to kneel, while a gentleman, shaped like the world’s perfect O, prayed. He prayed for a remarkably long time, allowing Klao an opportunity to think. Matt was a Minister? Why hadn’t he told her? Every time she asked him what he did for a living, he managed to circumvent her question. No wonder he was not tied to a desk. No wonder he had so much time in the day to run up and down for her. No wonder he was so even tempered. No wonder he was so sweet and polite – or at least most of the time, as she had discovered that past week, when she was introduced quite unceremoniously to his biting wit. He was not a normal man. He was a man of God! Of course his boss did not get on his nerves! His boss wasGod!

  Klao opened her eyes and looked at him, kneeling on the podium. He was so young! She did not expect a Minister to be so young! Of course they had to start somewhere, but she always pictured Ministers to be like the grey haired Pastor Rollins who was the chaplain at Mobay Mercy. She never pictured a Minister to be a twenty-seven year old, who sipped ‘safe sex on the beach’ and sent her text messages all day long. It was suddenly all clear to her – the board meeting, the reserved parking, the Sunday night service; the day off on Monday; his name… He hadn’t ‘disaquarted’ his parents. He had indeed become an apostle. He was a Minister!