Like Lance, Deacon Bronson Marshall was an avid golf player. When he received a set of tailor-made golf clubs for Christmas from Lance, Deacon Marshall couldn’t thank Lance enough. “I would have never been able to afford these clubs, Bishop. Thanks so much.” Deacon Marshall was always the first to say how wonderful and selfless his pastor was.
Lance couldn’t think of any other reason why the deacons had spared his job as pastor. But whether it was because Lance had helped them in their time of need or not, he was grateful that he could still grace the pulpit at Freedom Temple.
Lance answered a knock on his office door. “Come in.”
The door opened and Myrtle, Darlita, Chelsea, and Gladys walked in.
“Team Arykah,” Lance smiled and said.
“Praise the Lord, Bishop,” Myrtle greeted.
The ladies sat in four of the chairs that the deacons had just vacated.
“Bishop, Lady Arykah just called me,” Myrtle said. She sighed. “I’m not happy about this situation.”
“None of us are,” Chelsea added. “I couldn’t believe my ears when Mother Myrtle informed us that Lady Arykah and Monique had been arrested and were banned from this church.”
“Well, they haven’t been banned from the church. Angela Moore has a restraining order against them. They can’t be within five-hundred feet of her.”
“But Lady Arykah is the first lady of this church, Bishop. Not Angela,” Darlita complained.
Lance nodded his head in agreement.
“We’re feeling some type of way about this. Something needs to be done,” Gladys added.
“I don’t want any of you getting involved,” Lance said. “I’m going to speak with Angela today to see if I can get her to drop the charges against Arykah and Monique.”
“But what if she doesn’t?” Myrtle asked.
“Then we finish where Lady Arykah and Monique left off,” Darlita responded.
All but Myrtle nodded their heads at what Darlita had just said.
Lance held up his palms. “Whoa, hold on now, Sister Darlita. There’s no need for that kind of talk. And I don’t wanna take another trip to the jailhouse.”
It seemed that the more time Arykah’s team spent in her presence the more they behaved just like her.
“If I’m gonna get Angela to drop the charges, I need all of you to behave. If she comes to church today, don’t look at her crazy, don’t roll your eyes, and don’t point your fingers in her direction. We don’t wanna give her any reason to not drop the charges.”
Team Arykah sat in Lance’s presence with their lips pursed.
“Agreed?” he asked them.
No one responded.
He raised his eyebrows and looked each of the ladies in their eyes. “Agreed?” he asked again.
“Agreed,” they mumbled.
Lance dismissed the ladies, then dialed his home from his desk telephone.
“Praise the Lord,” Arykah answered.
“Cheeks, you won’t believe what the deacons said.”
Arykah’s heart started to race. “Oh no. They fired you?”
Lance chuckled. “Just the opposite. They praised us.”
She frowned. “What?”
He chuckled again. “They told me that you and I were doing a fantastic job at Freedom Temple. They even said that you should have been here so they could tell you themselves that you were great on Friday night.”
Arykah shrieked into the telephone. “What?”
Lance laughed out loud. “I know, right?”
“What a minute. Hold up, Bishop.” Arykah needed to be sure that she was hearing Lance correctly. “The deacons said it was great that I helped beat down Angela?”
“You know what’s crazy, Cheeks? I had to remind the deacons about that. They didn’t even mention the fight, but I had to because I wanted to make sure that I was on the same page with them. All they did was remind me that fighting was prohibited in the church.”
“O . . . M . . . G,” Arykah said. “All that stressing you did was for nothing.”
Lance shook his head from side to side. “If you hadn’t laid before God all night, the meeting probably wouldn’t have gone that way. There is power in prayer, Cheeks.”
“Humph,” Arykah said. “You ain’t gotta tell me. My legs are still burning.”
Lance heard praise and worship beginning. “I gotta go, Cheeks. I just wanted to call and tell you about the meeting.”
“Okay, Babe. Have a great service. Diva Chanel and I send kisses.”
“I’ll see you both when I get home.”
Arykah disconnected the call from Lance and dialed Monique’s home.
“What’s going on, Thelma?” Monique greeted.
Arykah laughed. “Good morning, Louise.”
“It feels weird being at home on a Sunday morning, doesn’t it?”
Arykah sighed. “Yes. But I called with good news. The deacons didn’t fire Lance.”
“That’s awesome,” Monique said. “Adonis and I were so worried. Before he left for church this morning he told me that if Lance was released from Freedom Temple, he’d leave too.”
“Really?”
“Adonis was grateful that Lance gave him that job as head musician. He owes Lance.”
“No, he doesn’t. When Lance does something, he does it from his heart.”
“That’s true,” Monique agreed. “So, what did the deacons say to the bishop?”
Arykah shrugged her shoulders. “According to Lance, the meeting was called to tell him how pleased they were with him as pastor. And apparently the deacons are good with me too. Lance said they didn’t even mention the fight. He had to remind them about it.”
“Shut the front door!” Monique said. “Are you serious?”
“Ain’t that crazy?”
“Well, I’m glad everything worked out.”
“So, what are you gonna do this morning?”
Monique sighed. “Girl, try to clean this house, I guess.”
Arykah frowned. “Uh-uh. Let’s go shopping.”
Monique became excited. “For stilettos?”
“Yep.”
Monique cheered into the telephone. Whenever Arykah bought stilettos for herself, she bought Monique a pair as well. That method kept Monique out of Arykah’s closet. “Where are we going?”
“Neiman Marcus, Honey. Where else? If you fly, I’ll buy.”
“That works for me. Give me about ten minutes to shower and I’ll swing by to get you.”
“Sounds good.”
The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident at Freedom Temple. Adonis was on the organ. The entire musician staff was on point with the choir. Praise and worship always got the people wound up and ready for Bishop Lance to deliver what thus said the Lord.
Myrtle, Chelsea, Darlita, and Gladys sat on the front pew, opposite the deacons, but were disturbed by Monique and Lady Arykah’s absence. However, they did their best to participate in the fellowship.
“I love you, Jesus,” the congregation sang. “I worship aaannnnnd adore you. Just want to tell you, Lord, I love yoooouuuuu more than anyyyyythannnggg.”
The congregation was on their feet. Hands were in the air and heads were thrown back. Eyes were closed as they gave honor to the Father.
Lance stood in the pulpit giving God His due when he opened his eyes and saw a striking beauty enter the sanctuary doors.
Angela sashayed down the center aisle wearing a wide-brimmed white hat. She was dressed in a starched white two-piece suit with pearls trimming the wrist and collar. The skirt was extremely short. A French manicure adorned her toenails, and they looked pretty in the strappy high-heeled gold sandals.
She demanded the attention of the worshippers. Each pew that Angela passed on her way to the front of the church caused folks to look her way.
Lance had forgotten about praise and worship. He and others watched Angela’s boldness as she strutted to the front pew and placed herself in Lady Arykah’s spot. She stood r
ight next to Myrtle.
Myrtle was too outdone. She looked at Angela with bulging eyes, then connected her eyes with Lance in the pulpit. Myrtle saw Lance’s eyes pleading with her to remain calm and keep her composure. But it was Darlita, Chelsea, and Gladys that stepped to Angela.
“Trick, you got a lot of nerve,” Darlita said.
Myrtle grabbed Darlita’s elbow and tried to pull her away from Angela’s face. Gladys stepped in the spot where Myrtle had pulled Darlita from. She glared at Angela.
“You are not gonna sit here.”
“That’s Lady Arykah’s spot,” Chelsea added.
Though Team Arykah knew that their first lady wouldn’t attend church that morning, they wouldn’t allow anyone—especially Angela Moore—to fill the void on the front pew.
The congregation’s attention was pulled away from praise and worship. Everyone focused on the drama occuring on the front row. Lance didn’t move from the pulpit. His right-hand man, Minister Carlton Weeks, saw the commotion and was headed toward Angela and the ladies, but Lance stopped him because he saw two female ushers coming up the center aisle. He knew they would ask Angela to sit somewhere else.
The ushers were dressed in black suit jackets, black skirts, and wore short white gloves.
“Sister Moore,” the tallest usher said to Angela, “this seat is reserved for Lady Arykah.”
“We can find you another place to sit,” the other usher said to her.
Chelsea, Darlita, Gladys, and Myrtle waited to see what Angela would do. It would be in her best interest to move. Team Arykah was ready to pounce on her if she didn’t.
“Lady Arykah isn’t here,” Angela said. “And she won’t be for the foreseeable future.”
Chelsea rushed to Angela, “Girl, I will beat the—”
“Chelsea!” Myrtle yelled. She stepped between Chelsea and her target.
The entire congregation watched Lance come from the pulpit and whisper in Myrtle’s ear. She glared at Lance before whispering his words in Team Arykah’s ears. All four ladies angrily snatched up their Bibles and purses from the front pew and exited the sanctuary.
Angela sat on the pew. Lance instructed the ushers to leave her be. He went back to the pulpit. He knew he had to deal with Angela, but right then wasn’t the time. Lance would allow her to have her one hour of fame that she desired more than her next breath.
Lance was disappointed that he had to dismiss Team Arykah from the sanctuary, but he had no other choice. His reputation was on the line. From the unauthorized funeral he permitted at Freedom Temple to Arykah and Monique fighting in the fellowship hall to Angela Moore imitating the first lady, Lance didn’t want or need another fiasco. If Angela thought, for one moment, that she was going to replace Arykah, she had another thing coming. He had a surprise for the Arykah-wannabe.
He stood at the podium, then nodded his head to Adonis. Adonis understood and brought the organ’s pitch back to where it originally was. Lance did his best to get the people back in praise mode. “I love you, Jesus,” he sang. His spirit was jacked up. He hoped that the Lord would restore his mind so that he could preach the Gospel. He continued to worship. “I worship and adore you.”
Slowly but surely, the people joined in with Lance.
Angela didn’t care that she had just interrupted service. She came to make a point that she—not Arykah—belonged on the front pew, and she would see to it that she remained there. She closed her eyes, raised her hands, and sang along with everyone else. It didn’t bother Angela that the church looked at her like she was insane. There were whispers and mumbling all around her. Heads were shaking in disgust. “I worship and adore you,” she sang out loud. For that moment she was the first lady.
When praise and worship ended, Lance asked the church to be seated. Usually it was during that time, just before Lance addressed the people, that he and Arykah would wink and blow kisses at each other. He refused to look in Angela’s direction. Lance figured she’d probably lick her lips seductively or uncross her legs, then cross them again. The skirt she wore that morning hadn’t left much for anyone’s imagination.
“Praise the Lord, everybody,” Lance said.
The people responded, “Praise the Lord.”
“Praise the Lord, everybody,” he said again with his voice an octave higher.
“Praise the Lord!” the congregation shouted back.
“It is truly an honor to be back in the house of the Lord one more time.”
There were a bunch of “Amens” to Lance’s statement.
Lance looked out at the people. “Y’all look good today.” He scanned the audience. “You’re wearing that hat, Sister Green.”
Delores Green, a widow and a longtime member of Freedom Temple, stood from the fourth pew so that everyone could see her new hat.
It was no secret that Deacon L. C. Woodard was attracted to Sister Delores Green. He had been chasing her for a whole year before Lance tried to make a love connection between the two.
“Sister Delores, why don’t you give Deacon Woodard a chance? He’s a cool dude, and he has a nice pension.”
She shook her head from side to side. “No, Bishop, I can’t do that. L. C. is still sucking on that bottle.” She shook her head again. “Uh-uh. I can’t be bothered with that.”
Delores was turned off when Deacon Woodard asked her on a date. He was honest and revealed that he didn’t have a driver’s license because of his drunken driving charge.
“So, you mean I gotta drive you around all the time?”
By the tone of her voice, Deacon Woodard knew that he’d never have a chance with Sister Green. But he never gave up hope of changing her mind. He continued to flirt with her.
“Ain’t she fine this morning, Deacon Woodard?” Lance asked.
The congregation chuckled.
Deacon Woodard looked at Sister Green and winked his eye at her. “She sho is, Bishop.”
The congregation chuckled again.
Sister Green waved her hand at Deacon Woodard to dismiss his comment, then she sat down.
The folks at Freedom Temple loved their pastor. Lance often brought smiles to their faces in a comical way on Sunday mornings. But Lance knew the time had come for him to speak about what happened at the “Ask Arykah Anything” session and why she was absent from church that morning.
He scanned the folks and remembered seeing many of them on Friday night.
“I know by now that most of you, and maybe all of you, have heard what took place downstairs, in the fellowship hall, this past Friday evening. First and foremost,” he said. “I want to apologize to those of you who were present to witness Lady Arykah, Sister Monique, and Sister Angela fighting.”
The people mumbled and many looked at Angela and wondered why she was sitting by herself on the front pew.
“Lady Arykah and Sister Monique regret their actions. Unfortunately, neither of them could be here this morning. They are remorseful and asked that I speak on their behalf. Lady Arykah and Sister Monique send their sincerest apologies and ask for your forgiveness.”
More mumbling came from the people. Lance could tell by the expressions on their faces that they were wondering why Arykah and Monique couldn’t be there to speak for themselves.
“Hopefully,” Lance said, “when enough time has passed, things can get back to normal and Lady Arykah and Sister Monique can attend church. But for now, because of their actions, they can’t be here.”
Good riddance to both of them, Angela thought to herself. With the restraining orders in place, Angela could show Lance and the entire Freedom Temple Church family that she was more fit to be the first lady.
Lance decided not to preach. His heart wasn’t in it, and he didn’t want to short-change the people and give them a mediocre sermon. Souls were at stake. He knew today he wouldn’t do the Gospel any justice. Instead, he took the morning service in another direction.
“Brother Adonis,” Lance looked at him.
Adonis sat behind the o
rgan ready for whatever Lance was going to do. “Bishop?”
“Play something soft,” Lance said to him.
Adonis pressed down on the organ’s keys, then looked at his staff and nodded his head. The drummer, keyboardist, and trumpet player followed his lead.
“Many of you are afflicted,” Lance said to the congregation. “Today is a day of healing.”
“Yes, it is, Bishop,” someone responded.
“Amen, amen,” others said.
Lance turned to his right-hand man. “Weeks, get me my oil.”
Moments later, Minister Carlton Weeks was at Lance’s side with a small bottle of blessed oil in his hand. Lance moved from behind the podium and exited the pulpit with Minister Weeks in tow. He came and stood before Jasper Sprawlings, an elderly man confined to a wheelchair. Jasper had been stricken with multiple sclerosis ten years ago. In spite of his disease, he attended church every Sunday morning.
“Brother Sprawlings,” Lance said to him, “because your faith in God never faltered and because you continue to praise Him, God is gonna do a miraculous thing for you today.”
“Amen, Bishop,” the people responded.
Those seated near Jasper stood and stretched out their hands in his direction. The congregation knew how Lance flowed. They knew he was going to lay holy hands on and bless Jasper.
Lance held up his palm. Minister Weeks poured a small amount of the blessed oil into his hand.
Some folks started speaking in an unknown tongue as they watched their pastor.
Lance massaged the oil in both of his hands, then knelt before Jasper. He closed his eyes and began to pray for healing on Jasper’s behalf. Jasper closed his eyes and lifted his hands in the air to receive the blessing from God. Lance spoke in an unknown tongue as he rubbed the oil up and down Jasper’s legs.
The church’s prayers got loud. Adonis raised the pitch on the organ.
“Thank ya, Jesus !” a woman shouted out.
With his free hand, Minister Weeks stepped to Jasper and touched his shoulder. He stood in agreement with what Lance was doing.
Lady Arykah Reigns Page 12