Church Folk

by Michele Andrea Bowen

  Coral Thomas knew in her gut that a woman was behind all the humming and whistling and starry-eyed looks off into space. When Susie James had first confided the young pastor's troubles, asking Coral to take him under her wing, she had vowed that she would do whatever it took to protect him from Glodean Benson. She knew from Sister Clayton, Glodean's aunt, that she was helping out in the family funeral home in Atlanta and was relieved that she hadn't come back home to Memphis—and Greater Hope—during Reverend Simmons's first year. But there had been times when Theophilus was so heavyhearted that he looked like he was lugging all the bricks and mortar in the church on his shoulders. "Help him, Lord," Coral had prayed. "This young man is in travail. He lonely and his loins on fire. Clear the path, Lord. Make a way out of no way and lead that boy to his wife. Just turn his life around, Lord. Bless him, Lord."

  When she prayed she had felt a burning in her heart that told her that the Lord was listening. And now it seemed that, all this time, he had been mapping out the answer to her prayers. She called Susie James to confirm her suspicions and was gratified to learn that Theophilus had been phoning Charleston every Saturday night to get inspiration for his sermons from one Miss Essie Lee Lane. And it tickled her no end to hear that during at least one of those phone calls, Miss Essie was overheard giving Theophilus a deep sexy laugh.

  Coral Thomas now decided that it was her Christian duty to give God a helping hand and bring these two lovebirds together. Since their church district's Annual Conference was to be held that year in Memphis, she urged Theophilus to invite Murcheson and Susie, along with a few "special" church members to attend. Plotting with Susie, she made sure that the "special" delegation included Lee Allie and Essie Lane.

  Bishop Jennings assigned Theophilus an important role in the Annual Conference—the responsibility to find accommodations for the out-of-town ministers and their families. With so few hotels and boarding houses open to Negroes, Theophilus planned to ask members of Memphis Gospel United churches to open their homes. Then inspiration struck him—he would require guests to pay their hosts a modest room-and-board fee, which would both compensate the hosts for their trouble and let the guests feel like less of an imposition. The plan won tremendous popular support but logistically it was a nightmare. He was so tired by the time the conference finally started that he prayed he wouldn't fall fast asleep on the floor of the parsonage and miss the whole thing.

  Uncle Booker, Essie, Lee Allie, and Mrs. Neese arrived in Memphis on a Friday morning. Coral Thomas had personally offered to host them and had cooked for days to prepare for their visit. As they climbed the porch steps, they were hit with the smell of ham simmering in redeye gravy. Then Coral opened the door, and after welcoming the rest of her guests, grabbed Essie up in a great big hug.

  "Ooohh, baby girl," she said. "I sure am glad to meet you."

  "Thank you, Mrs. Thomas," Essie said politely, puzzled that she would get such a warm reception. She had no way of knowing that Coral Thomas felt halfway responsible, since she had prayed so hard about it, for Essie meeting Theophilus.

  "I've been hearing all about you from Susie James," Coral replied. "And the way I understand things, there a real goodlookin' Memphis preacher who been callin' you lately to get himself a little in-spi-ra-tion for his sermons."

  Essie's mouth fell open, and she stared at Lee Allie, who suddenly became interested in the contents of her purse. Clearly her mother had been telling Essie's business at church, and it had now, humiliatingly, spread all the way to Memphis. But before she could scold Lee Allie, Coral said playfully, "What's wrong, Miss Essie? Don't you think you got what it takes to give yo' man some inspiration?"

  Essie fumed, but saw she wouldn't get much satisfaction when her own mother and godmother, Mrs. Neese, slapped palms and laughed at Coral's remark. Coral Thomas's good humor and outspokenness were engaging—just as long as you weren't her target. Now Coral beckoned them all into the house.

  "Y 'all come on in, set your things down, and go and get washed up so we can eat this breakfast I been workin' on all morning. My D.S. will catch up with us at church this afternoon. He's working today, but, Booker, he said to tell you he taking you out a little later on."

  Uncle Booker started grinning. Rev. James had promised that when Booker got to Memphis, he'd have his old pal D.S. take him to the dog track. Rev. James disapproved of gambling, but he knew that their shared passion for it would unite his two favorite friends. But he warned Booker that D.S. always attended church before going to the track, for he hated to gamble on "an empty stomach"—without giving honor to the Lord first. That was a philosophy Booker could understand and respect.

  Coral finished setting the table and motioned for them all to come sit down and eat. As soon as everybody was at the table, mouths watering at the sight of that ham in redeye gravy, grits, scrambled eggs, fried apples, biscuits, homemade sorghum molasses, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and coffee, the doorbell rang. Coral, who had just sat down, hopped up and went to answer the door. She came back and said, "Well, Essie, that man you been inspiring just arrived and looks kind of hungry to me."

  Theophilus came in with a warm smile on his face and carrying a large bouquet of fresh flowers.

  "Rev. Simmons," Lee Allie said, "I can't begin to tell you how glad we are to see you this morning. Ain't that right, Essie?"

  Essie kept quiet, trying to act like he wasn't anybody special, but Theophilus didn't seem to mind. He handed the flowers to Coral Thomas, saying, "Glad to see all of you, too"—while looking straight at Essie.

  "This is a nice surprise, Theophilus," she finally said, as calmly as she could. All those phone conversations couldn't prepare her for her overwhelming emotions at seeing him. He was looking so good in his pale blue jersey-knit sports shirt, sharply creased navy blue slacks, and that straw hat cocked up on his head.

  "Theophilus, sit down and rest your hat."

  Handing his hat to Coral Thomas, he sat down right next to Essie. Coral hung up the hat, then returned, saying, "Theophilus, bless the table."

  Theophilus reached out for Essie's and Coral's hands, and, as everybody bowed their heads, prayed: "Dearest Lord, we are grateful for this morning. A beautiful morning with your saints sitting 'round this table. A bounteous table filled with your precious gifts from the earth. Bless this food and the hands that prepared it. Bless this meal and those who will partake of it. And thank You, for we know that so many are not so blessed as we are to have such a feast before them. In the name of your precious son, Jesus, we thank You, Lord. Amen."

  "Whew," Essie said as she pulled her hand out of his. "For a minute there, I thought you were going to break out into a sermon."

  Coral looked at her and thought, "That poor girl just don't know how to act when that man is around." She said, "Essie Lee, that was a beautiful prayer and it wasn't long at all."

  Lee Allie agreed. "Coral, I don't know why Miss Essie thinks it is her duty to give this boy such a hard time about everything."

  Theophilus, who was well aware that his nearness made Essie nervous, stuck up for her. "Thank you, but I know Essie. Seems like Essie is always concerned about me doing the right thing. You never let me do wrong, do you, Essie— Ouch!"

  She had pinched him hard on the thigh, letting him know that she didn't like his teasing her in front of people—and especially about "doing the right thing." Uncle Booker, who had been studying the two of them, knew from that pinch just how hard Essie had fallen for this man.

  Now Coral rescued Essie. "Theophilus, how you been farin' this week? Annual Conferences are a big headache for the folks runnin' it. Lord knows some of them bishops and big shot preachers can wear out the patience of Job."

  Theophilus smiled. Mrs. Thomas was never one to bite her tongue. He said, "Between the room-and-board program and other things this week, I have been run just about ragged."

  "You runnin' the room-and-board program?" Mrs. Neese asked. "I think it was a good thing you made everybody pay for a place to st
ay. Just ain't right for ministers to expect folks to put them and their families up for free. Folks be workin' too hard to have to deal with all of that."

  "You are absolutely right, Mrs. Neese. That's the very reason why I fought so hard to make these people pay for staying in somebody's home."

  Uncle Booker swallowed a piece of his biscuit and said, "Well, I'm glad to hear you making these here preachers do right. You know, some of them is so greedy and spoiled, they expect for plain workin' people to pay for everything, from the grease they put on they nappy heads on down to the soap they use to wash they funky butts."

  "Booker, watch your mouth," Mrs. Neese blurted out. "You need to be a little more gentle about preachers with Rev. Simmons here as Essie Lee's guest."

  Everyone turned to look at Mrs. Neese, wondering when she got so familiar with Booker. A widow, she was a longtime family friend, but her rebuke implied that she was more than that to Booker. But she revealed no sign, and neither did Booker, who slurped noisily at his coffee. "Aw, hell, son," he said. "I know that you all right. When you trying to do the right thing by me and mine, you won't have nothing but support from me."

  Theophilus drained his coffee cup, marveling at Uncle Booker's change of heart about him. "Thank you," he said. "And thank you for driving these ladies to the conference."

  He stood up, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and patted his stomach, smiling at Coral. "Mrs. Thomas, I tell you, that breakfast was too good for words. I really wish I could stay and let my food settle, but I have some errands to run before the service this afternoon."

  Then he held out his hand, saying, "Essie?" She took his hand and let him lead her out of the kitchen, trying to act like she didn't hear the giggles trailing behind her.

  Theophilus made sure he was out of earshot of Essie's folks, then said, "I don't think you know how glad I am to see you, girl."

  He pulled her chin up and smiled into her eyes. He started to lean down and kiss her, until he remembered that Uncle Booker was only a few feet away. Instead, he said, "Have dinner after service with me, Essie. I would love to take you to Mabel's Kitchen before you leave Memphis."

  She smiled shyly back at him. "It would be nice to talk to each other without my family and the whole church staring down our throats."

  He nodded in agreement. "So, we eat at Mabel's Kitchen after church?"

  "Yeah, Mabel's Kitchen."

  He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek and left. Essie could feel the lingering warmth of that kiss when she rejoined the women, who were busy washing the dishes.

  "Pastor gone so fast?" Coral said, hands deep in dishwater.

  "Yes," Essie said dreamily. "He had to run, but, uhh, he did kind of invite me to eat dinner with him after the service this evening. But he didn't ask me on a date or anything like that, just out to eat."

  Lee Allie and Rose Neese looked at each other slyly, trying not to laugh. "Essie Lee, where he taking you for a bite to eat?" Lee Allie asked.

  "Some place called Mabel's Kitchen."

  "Mabel's Kitchen, Essie?" Coral said. "Baby, I know all about Mabel's Kitchen and I can tell you, it's the nicest Negro restaurant in the city—expensive, too." She got quiet for a few seconds, let that bit of information sink in, and then said, "And, I believe, Miss Lady, it is definitely the kind of place a man takes a woman to when he takes her on a date."

  This time Lee Allie and Rose started laughing out loud. Rose said, "Well, Coral, I'm with you. I think the good Reverend is taking our baby on a date. What about you, Lee Allie?"

  "I'm with y'all. Mabel's Kitchen don't sound like any place I'd go just to get a bite to eat."

  Essie looked at the three of them and determined that they were not going to get to her with their laughing and sly winks about Theophilus. She sounded a bit more defensive than she wanted to, though, when she said, "Well, Mabel's Kitchen may be fancy and all that, but it certainly didn't sound that way when Theophilus told me about it. Now, can I do something to help clean up, Mrs. Thomas?"

  "No, chile, we're almost done. Why don't you go on and get yourself ready, since you got a date to go on after church?"

  Tired of their teasing, Essie was glad to leave.

  As soon as she was gone, Coral said, "Lord, I hope I didn't hurt her feelings. But don't y'all know, that little gal is just love-struck over that big chocolate preacher of hers. Trying to act like that man don't mean nothing to her—I don't know who she think she trying to fool."

  "Herself, Coral," Lee Allie said, shaking her head. "That girl ain't trying to fool nobody but herself."

  Chapter Six

  THEY DIDN'T LEAVE FOR CHURCH UNTIL CLOSE TO 3:00 because they were waiting on Uncle Booker to finish dressing. But when he finally walked into the living room, Rose thought he looked so handsome in his navy blue pin-striped suit, starched white shirt, and burgundy silk tie, it was worth the wait. She smiled at him, and Lee Allie had had to say, "Booker! Don't you look good? I'm surprised, seeing as you were never a churchgoing man."

  Booker just grumbled a bit and herded everybody out of the house, fussing about being on time after making them wait on him.

  When they arrived at the church, he dropped them off while he parked, so they could head to the rest room and get a jump on the pre-service rush. Just before the service, it would take forever to find a stall or even a sliver of mirror space, with all of those women powdering and touching up; blotting makeup; combing and patting their hair; adjusting pastel and brightly colored hats of all kinds of materials, shapes, and sizes; spraying purse-sized vials of perfume on their necks, cleavages, wrists, legs, thighs, and ankles; and tugging at tight girdles, straightening out twisted garter belts, and trying to relieve the pinch of those confining longline bras.

  Essie came out of a stall, washed her hands, and went into the lounge area where there was a long, wide mirror attached to the wall. She touched up her lipstick, blotted her lips with a tissue, and wiped the shine off her face with a red powder sponge. She had made a special dress for the service—a sunset pink, shantung silk shirtwaist, with a wide shawl collar and a low waistline, resting just above the hips, with a full skirt that was accentuated with a soft tulle petticoat. There were pearl buttons down the front of the dress and on the cuffed, elbow-length sleeves. She wore pearl earrings and a dainty pearl bracelet, along with a wide, pleated headband that she had made out of a scrap of material from the dress. In this outfit, Essie was a vision of church fashion perfection—from her thick pageboy hairstyle to the envelope purse tucked neatly under her arm to the matching pearlescent beige, patent leather pumps with tiny bows on the toe.

  As they made their way back upstairs, Coral insisted that they stop in the church lobby to find D.S., whom she knew had arrived late. As she searched for him, Essie looked around the lobby, which was full of well-dressed church folk, ministers, and bishops, hoping to pick Theophilus out of the crowd. Finally she spotted him on the other side of the room, talking to Rev. James and another minister who looked to be about his age. A small group of ladies walked up to him and gave him hugs and kisses. She could almost hear him complimenting an older woman—whom he held at arm's length, to get the full effect—on the beautiful white crepe suit with navy trimming on the collar she was wearing.

  For a moment Essie wondered if any of the women in this group were his admirers. But as she watched them, she decided that, just like her mother, Mrs. Neese, and Coral Thomas, these were the women who sustained the congregation with their tithes and offerings, care of the pastor, care of the sick and shut-in, care of each other, church dinners, fund-raising events, and maintenance of the church building, along with the parsonage. No, these women were not the pastor's admirers—they were the lifeblood of the church.

  Theophilus caught sight of Essie and gave her a smile and a wave. Rev. Eddie Tate, the preacher who was standing between Theophilus and Rev. James, asked, "Who are you waving at?"

  He looked across the lobby again and then back at Theophilus with a smile. "Umph. That
girl is wearing the daylights out of that dress. Theo, brother, you need to take me on over there so I can get a better look at her and then just shake her mama's hand."

  Theophilus's body language suddenly changed from relaxed to stiff and defensive. With a chill in his voice, he said, "I'm not taking you anywhere to shake anybody's hand."

  But Eddie wasn't put off. "Now, Theophilus," he said. "Judging from the way you're acting, that can only be Essie Lane— the sweet thing you've been hiding down in Mississippi away from the rest of us."

  "That's Essie Lane, all right. But I haven't been hiding her. You don't know her because she doesn't run around in any of these fancy church circles and has little if any interest in being seen at an Annual Conference."

  "Well, she's definitely going to be seen at this Annual Conference, Theo. Because a man would have to be blind not to see the legs on that woman."

  Theophilus bristled at Eddie's comments about Essie's legs. But Eddie just clasped his shoulder and said good-naturedly, "Relax, man. Don't get all bent out of shape with me because your new woman is so fine. Isn't that the dream of every man—to have a fine woman at his side?"

  Theophilus smiled, a little sheepish at his overreaction.

  Rev. James, who had been listening to the friends with bemusement, now looked at his watch. "Well," he said, "it's time for me to meet Bishop Jennings in the sanctuary and find out where I am to sit during the service. I lost my seating chart and don't have a clue as to where he put me."

  The two young men understood what he meant. Annual Conferences were notorious for sparking rivalries among preachers for the attention of the bishops and prominent pastors. On a few occasions, preachers had even come to blows over being placed in seats too far from the pulpit, limiting their access to a bishop or a highly placed pastor. Bishop Percy Jennings had a lot of power in the denomination, so much of the jockeying would revolve around him. Fortunately, he was a stickler for fairness, which extended even to his seating plans.