He racked his brain trying to remember if Phillip and his wife, Shelby, had ever said what church they went to. And as he thought about it he did recall that the couple was from Silvermont.
Travis quickly found a seat and opened up his program. The program listed Phillip as being one of the ministers in the church filling in for the pastor. His friend—well, really acquaintance—Phillip was the one who would be delivering the sermon for the 8:30 and 11:00 A.M. services.
Phillip wasn’t Travis’s friend per se. He and Beryl had met Phillip and Shelby while attending a marriage retreat in the mountains of North Carolina. He and Beryl had gone to the retreat in hopes of making their marriage stronger. Phillip had been the minister facilitating the retreat.
Phillip knew much about his marriage to Beryl and the problems they had. Phillip and the others at the retreat actually knew more about his marriage than Travis was comfortable with. And Travis knew a few things about Phillip and Shelby. So even though Travis couldn’t really say they were friends or buddies, the two men were on a first-name basis.
As the service began, Travis stood and clapped his hands with the choir, eager to soon hear the Word of God. From what he remembered, Phillip had a great deal of insight, and even though he didn’t want to admit it at the time, Phillip had even had insight on how Travis’s marriage would turn out when he didn’t want to hear what the man had to say—and he would pay attention this time.
In the same manner he’d used at the marriage retreat in the mountains, Phillip ministered and taught the congregation of people. Travis wished he had brought a pen with him so he could have jotted down key points in the sermon with their corresponding scriptures. In the end, the sermon had been too brief for him. He wanted more of the Word. And even after the benediction was over, Travis continued to sit in his seat wishing he could hear more.
Then it dawned on him that he really didn’t have any place in particular to be, so nothing was holding him back from staying for the next service. His stomach started to rumble and he remembered that it was empty. He looked at his watch and figured he would have just enough time to run over to the gas station that was adjacent to the parking lot of the church and grab a bite of something to eat—just enough to appease his stomach for the next couple of hours.
By the time he returned from the store to the church, it was almost filled to capacity. His stomach was coated with honey-roasted peanuts and orange juice. Determined not to sit in the back of the church, he ignored the ushers as they tried to point him to the back. Instead he headed toward the front of the church, sure there might be at least one or two vacant seats dispersed throughout.
To his luck he found a seat in the second row, front and center of the pulpit. Once seated he felt close enough to almost be able to touch Phillip, or to at least be able to possibly speak to him after the service was over.
As the service started for the second time with the choir singing the same songs they’d sung for the first service, Travis had a feeling of déjà vu. This time he clapped with more enthusiasm with the songs, as he now knew some of the words to the songs. The spirit was indeed alive in this church as the congregation praised the Lord as if all on one spiritual accord.
Travis had been to many a church service and had heard choirs sing and church members clap along with the beat of the music. But what he was experiencing right then at the second service was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. And he didn’t know why he thought about it, but he knew this was the kind of service his wife, Beryl, would thoroughly enjoy. He mentally caught himself. Beryl wasn’t his wife anymore. She was his ex-wife. That was the way she wanted it and Travis would just have to adjust to that fact and continue to move on with his life.
As Phillip preached along the same track he’d preached in the previous service, Travis found himself whispering the Bible scriptures Phillip was going to say before he said them. He’d also found himself whispering the key points Phillip was about to say before he said them, too. He jotted down notes in his newly purchased one-subject notebook he’d gotten from the gas station. The gas station attendant had given him a pen with the gas station’s logo on it.
A few times as he whispered words and statements he remembered from the first service, Travis noticed the woman sitting next to him glancing at him. He hoped he wasn’t being annoying by distracting her from the service. So from then on he tried his best not to speak aloud. Instead he mouthed the words.
After the second service he made a point to make eye contact with the woman with an apologetic smile. It felt good to smile and show his teeth without feeling ashamed of them. In return the woman smiled back.
“Sorry if I was disturbing you during service,” Travis said. He stuck his hand out to her. “Hi, my name is Travis.”
She gave him a strong handshake. “Marla,” she replied.
“I didn’t mean to distract you,” Travis said.
“You didn’t disturb me,” Marla said. “I was just admiring how much you know your Word.”
“Oh, that,” Travis said. “That was nothing—” Travis started to say more about it being his second service that morning, but Marla cut him off.
“You said it is Travis, right?” Marla asked.
“Yeah,” Travis said. His eyebrows rose in question.
“Don’t ignore the obvious gift the Lord has given you. You have insight into the Word and you shouldn’t sell yourself short,” Marla said. “The Lord gives us gifts and talents and it looks as if you have the gift of knowledge. You know the Word. It is evident. So don’t run from your gift, embrace it.”
Travis was speechless. He was taken aback. He had retained much of the information from the first service and found himself whispering the words Phillip was about to say from memory. And this woman actually thought he was speaking from self-knowledge or by some sort of gift from God. He was about to try to explain and correct her but she started talking again.
“I have to say that I admire a strong man of God and I see that in you,” Marla said. “Are you a minister?”
“No,” Travis said.
“Well I shouldn’t stereotype, but you sure look like a preacher.” She looked him up and down. Then she smiled. “Please excuse me for being so forward.”
“No, miss, you are not being too forward. I’ll take a compliment. I mean it’s not like you told me I look like a bum or a pimp or anything.”
Marla had a light brown skin complexion. And upon hearing Travis’s comment her cheeks started to turn red. “Oh my goodness. I must sound like a complete fool.”
“Nah, miss. I like the compliments. Keep them coming,” Travis said. “It is miss, right?” Travis wanted to check and make sure he wasn’t about to flirt with a married woman.
“It is. I am divorced.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, let me try to redeem myself. I just thought you were a very nice-looking gentleman and I wanted to let you know.”
“Well I am flattered. And thanks,” Travis said.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Phillip walking and talking with a few people as he attempted to leave the sanctuary. Travis tried to get Phillip’s attention by waving at him. As he did, the woman touched his arm lightly and said that she had to leave and that maybe she’d see him again another Sunday.
By the time Travis realized he wasn’t going to be able to get Phillip’s attention the woman was going through the front doors of the church to exit. She seemed pretty nice and he had enjoyed the compliments she’d given him.
When he looked down to retrieve his Bible and notebook from his seat he saw that the woman had left her Bible in her seat. He headed to the foyer of the church and then out to the parking lot but didn’t see any sign of her. So he figured he’d just hang on to the Bible. He could look for her the next Sunday and return it to her.
As he left the church, hailed the bus, and rode back to the house, Travis marveled about the fact that the woman had truly thought he was not only a man of God but she actually thought he wa
s a minister. This thought actually blew his mind. Not that he was a heathen or anything, but he still had a way to go in the spiritual and ministering department. His first step would be to start going to church more often. So he vowed to himself that he would do just that. Next Sunday he would return to New Hope again.
Chapter 12
Weeks passed before Travis secured another job. It was the Friday before Father’s Day and he would be starting his first day at a place called Alley’s Pizza. Alley’s was a kid-friendly restaurant with a play zone for kids to enjoy. The place put him in the mind of a Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant, except in addition to the little games the children could play to redeem tickets for prizes, they also had the gigantic jumping toys where kids could climb, jump, run, and slide until their hearts were content. Alley’s had party rooms for special occasions like birthdays.
Travis’s job was to be Alley the Alligator. At various intervals, Travis had to walk through the establishment and greet the customers. He also had to make appearances in each one of the birthday rooms to greet the happy little birthday boy or girl who was being honored for their special occasion.
He was told that the establishment was geared toward children between the ages of two and ten. He wasn’t too keen on having to wear the alligator suit, but was glad that no one would know who he was underneath the protruding felt, shaped teeth.
Travis donned his alligator suit and felt foolish. Each step he took was awkward and he had to be careful when he walked because of his big, bulky feet. For the first two hours he waddled from room to room greeting children for parties, and standing outside in front of the store to try to entice more people to come in and check Alley’s out.
A couple of times he had to shake a couple of children off of his tail as they wanted to try to climb onto it and ride. Although he didn’t like wearing the alligator suit, he did like the fact that the head of the alligator muffled the sounds of the screaming and shrieking children. And as the hours ticked on, he really didn’t know how long he was going to be able to play the role of Alley.
Just as he was about to step into the dinosaur birthday room to greet a little boy who was turning five years old, Travis thought he saw a woman who favored Beryl, but this woman had a short haircut, unlike his ex-wife who had beautiful flowing dreads. He’d done a double take, but when he did, whoever the woman was had gotten lost among a crowd of people who were coming in the front door. He figured the heavy suit with its claustrophobic feel was finally getting to him.
After greeting the little boy in the dinosaur room, Travis made a round around the perimeter of the big play area, while the manager played the theme song for Alley’s, which went to the same beat as the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”: “Come on, kids, follow Alley. Jump and play and eat, yippee.” The deal was that Travis was to do a walking dance around the perimeter while the children danced and walked behind him with a conga-line type of feel. Once he’d gone around the perimeter two times the music would end and the children could go back to playing.
As Travis walked back toward the break room, he did another double take. On the giant dragon, he thought he saw a little boy who looked just like his youngest son Jayden. Then a moment later he stared at another boy and knew for sure it was his oldest son Cameron.
He blinked his eyes and wondered what was going on. It was surreal seeing his boys there. He wanted to pinch himself but couldn’t because of all of the padding he was wearing. The boys sat at the top of the slide on the dragon.
He looked about, knowing Beryl would never let the boys go too far out of her sight. He turned his suit-clad body around, almost knocking a child over with his tail. He bent over to make sure the child was okay and then continued looking around. That was when he saw Beryl smiling up toward the boys, encouraging them to slide down. She looked the same but very different: she had cut all of her dreads off and was now sporting a short haircut, which didn’t look bad with her oval-shaped face.
His first thought was to try to duck out of sight so that Beryl would not see him. Then he wondered how she might have found out he worked there. He realized there was no way she would recognize him in the alligator suit, and besides that, she was watching the boys play as if she didn’t have a care in the world. So it was clear that she was there on her own and not seeking him.
As he stood there watching Beryl, who was oblivious to the fact that Alley the Alligator was staring at her, Travis saw a tall, skinny-looking guy who reminded him of Urkel from the old Family Matters television show. This Urkel lookalike didn’t wear any glasses.
The guy walked up to Beryl, handed her an ICEE drink, and then put his arm around Beryl’s waist. Beryl took the drink and placed her arm around the guy as well as if they were a couple.
Travis’s jaw dropped wide open. “What the ...” His voice trailed off as he was tapped from behind.
“Hey, T, we’ve been waiting on you. You’ve got to go to the princess birthday room to make an appearance,” Travis’s new boss said. The boss called him T because there was already another Travis who worked there, and it made things simpler for everyone to distinguish who was who.
With reluctance Travis followed his boss to the princess-themed room. In the room he danced the Alley the Alligator dance and sang “Happy Birthday” to the little girl, who turned out to be afraid of him the whole time he was in there. In Travis’s mind he and the little girl had something in common: she didn’t want him to be there and he didn’t want to be in there either. As soon as was humanly possible he’d hightail it out of the room to seek out his ex-wife and her friend, whoever he was.
This time when he found them the guy didn’t have his arm around Beryl but he was whispering something into her ear. Whatever he said she must have liked because she started giggling as she hit the guy playfully on his arm. The guy smiled like he’d just scored a point in a game.
Travis felt himself getting hot, and not because of the heavy suit he was wearing. What was that man doing whispering sweet nothings into his sons’ mother’s ear? And the guy had the nerve to do it right in front of his kids. The next thing he knew his baby boy, Jayden, ran up to the guy. The guy scooped his son up and swung him around in the air. Travis’s youngest son giggled with glee. The guy put him back down on the floor, so he could go back and play with his big brother.
Before Travis knew it his body was off in a forward-moving, wobbling run headed toward his ex and the guy. Just before reaching them he tripped over his two oversized alligator feet and fell into the guy, causing the bright red ICEE drink he was holding to fly into his face and down to the Urkel lookalike’s sky-blue Polo shirt and the white linen shorts he was wearing.
Just as Travis picked himself up off of the floor, the guy pushed him, asking what his problem was. Travis pushed the guy back and a fight ensued. Neither man received any bruises during the tangle due to the fact that Travis suit was well cushioned and because Travis’s big alligator hands were soft and could only throw soft blows.
The manager had to end up coming over to pull the two men apart. Before Travis could say a word the guy started telling the manager what happened. Travis tried to catch his breath in the meantime. He was seething within.
Travis’s manager looked at the whole mess. “T, go to the office. We’ll talk in a few minutes.
Travis was about to say something. He wasn’t going leave without telling his side of the story. But then he realized the place was quiet. As he looked around, people watched, trying to see what would happen next. Then he ended up keeping his mouth shut when he saw his two little boys hugging their mother with tears in their eyes. Travis realized what a complete spectacle it must have all been. And now his two little boys were seemingly terrified of the big bully alligator.
With newfound humiliation because of his actions, Travis turned to go to the locker area so he could take the slushy, stained alligator suit off. As he walked away he heard his boss apologizing profusely to the guy he’d just fought. As he passed them, ch
ildren shied away and he received glares from the adults.
As he wobbled past the princess party room, the little girl from the party he had recently visited screamed to the top of her lungs as she cried, “Alley’s hurt. Blood, Daddy, blood.”
Now Travis really couldn’t wait to get out of the outfit and couldn’t get out of the place fast enough.
Chapter 13
The Sunday of Father’s Day Travis sat in silence in the recliner of the bonus room. He’d tried to concentrate at church that morning and then later tried to watch a movie when he got back home, but kept having to rewind it because it wasn’t keeping his attention. Father’s Day came and went without a phone call from Beryl or the boys.
That night he tossed and turned as his thoughts kept wondering why in the world Beryl had been in Silvermont. It was true that Silvermont was less than two hours from where they used to live. But she hadn’t usually frequented Silvermont. Greensboro or even Raleigh, but not Silvermont. What was she doing there on a weekday, no less?
By Monday Travis had had enough of stewing over everything and trying to figure out what Beryl was doing in Silvermont as well as who the Urkel-looking guy was. He picked up the phone and did something he hadn’t done in months: he dialed Beryl’s cell phone number ready to give her the third degree with the barrage of questions he had swirling in his head.
As soon as he heard Beryl’s voice say hello, he asked, “Who was that guy you were with at Alley’s the other day?” His voice was louder than he had intended for it to be. He’d intended to ask her more, but realized he’d actually gotten her voice mail. She’d changed her message since the last time he’d spoken with her and her pause just after saying, “Hello,” on the message made it seem like she was actually answering the phone.
When the phone did finally beep for him to leave his message, he hung up instead. He didn’t want to give her a heads-up on why he was calling. He wanted her honest reaction and response to the questions he had. So next he dialed her number at work. He knew Beryl didn’t like to be disturbed at work, but this was one time she was going to have to make an exception. He had questions that needed to be answered right then. After punching in her direct extension from memory, he again poised himself to ask the questions.
The Marrying Kind Page 9