A Reason to Sing

by Michelle Lindo-Rice

  Kyle’s unnecessarily wordy. Like me. But unlike him, Brian believed in God. “God is not jargon to me. He’s a healer in many ways.”

  “Pardon me if I don’t share the sentiment, especially when I’m writhing in pain from my psoriasis.”

  Brian tried to control his shock, but he was sure it showed on his face. Psoriasis? His stomach clenched. He knew about that pain. If he had any doubts before about who his father was, he had none now. Brian had read up on psoriasis when he had first been diagnosed and knew it was about ten percent hereditary.

  “I see I’ve managed to shock you,” Kyle said. “It’s not contagious.”

  “I know,” he said. “I’ve been suffering for years.”

  Kyle’s eyes widened. “Really? What do you do about it?”

  “Pray.” Brian brushed his pants leg. “I’ve been going through a honeymoon phase. I haven’t had an outburst in some time.”

  “You’ve got to tell me what you use because the pain can be relentless.”

  “It’s the pain that put me on the path to prayer. The path to a new life with Christ. If you had told me last year I would be here today, I would’ve laughed you to scorn.”

  “My pain put me on the path to success. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t fight through the pain.” Kyle jutted his chin toward Brian’s booted leg. “What happened there?”

  “A few months back, I pushed a friend out of the way of an upcoming truck, and in the process…” Brian gestured to his leg before continuing. “I had a ruptured spleen, a collapsed lung, and all sorts of injuries. To sum it up, I could’ve died. I’ve had a miraculous and speedy recovery. This boot’s coming off in a week or two.” I could have died not knowing the man before me is my father.

  Kyle watched him for several beats before leaning forward. “You pushed your friend out of the way of a truck?”

  Brian nodded.

  “Why?” Kyle asked.

  Brian clasped his hands. “To save his life.”

  “You almost lost yours.”

  “But I didn’t.” Brian maintained eye contact until Kyle’s gaze slithered away. He resisted a shudder. The man before him was…dark. Brian felt weighed down, suppressed just being in his presence. He couldn’t understand the feeling and wasn’t sure what it represented.

  Kyle splayed his hands. “There’s no way I would’ve done that. My life is too important to me.”

  What life? His father was a shell of a human being. A walking corpse. Brian clenched his jaw, no longer sure he wanted to do this internship.

  I am with you, even when you are in the valley of the shadow of death.

  Brian held onto the words whispered in his mind. He had to trust that God wouldn’t lead him anywhere he wasn’t meant to be. Brian eyed Kyle. Now he understood. God had a mission for him. He didn’t know if he was equipped to fight the darkness, but God’s Word said one could chase a thousand…or in this case, a legion. I need Your Holy Spirit, Lord.

  “You got quiet on me,” Kyle said. “You think I’m selfish for what I said?”

  Brian shook his head. “I know you’re selfish, but God thinks your life is important to Him.”

  Kyle’s face transformed and his eyes glittered. He jumped to his feet and pointed an index finger at Brian. “Listen, Choir Boy, this is a religion free zone. You’re here to work with me and to learn as an apprentice, not to save me. I’m beyond saving.”

  Brian raised an eyebrow. His father really believed that. What could have happened to Kyle to bring him to that place? Brian had come to destroy Ryan Oakes, but God seemed to have another plan. His heart thumped. He was a new believer and wasn’t confident in his spiritual abilities.

  Just live.

  I will. Brian relaxed. “I have no intention of foisting my faith on you,” he said. He did intend to be a good example of a follower of Christ.

  Kyle sat back in his chair. He tapped his chin. “I like you. You’re direct. You remind me of myself in many ways.”

  Brian didn’t welcome that compliment. He hoped he was nothing like Kyle. Did Kyle already know who he was? Did Kyle’s first words of greeting hold a double meaning? Brian tried to appear unaffected. “Thank you.”

  Kyle rose and headed to the mini-bar and took out two glasses. “If you stick with me, you’re going to reach the pinnacle of your career as an attorney.” He reached for the pitcher and poured water into each glass and handed one to Brian. “I can take you to the top of the world. You can be iconic like Johnny Cochran, or,”—he smirked—“me.”

  Brian felt chilled. Kyle’s words were an echo of when the devil promised Jesus the world. “No one can promise that,” he said. He took a sip of water. Pity it wasn’t tea.

  Kyle’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Ease up, Choir Boy, I’m only messing with you. I bet you had a vision of me throwing you off the mountain or something for God to save you.”

  Brian frowned. He disliked this man and didn’t like being called Choir Boy. Though consoled he had met his father, Brian had found his father wanting. It made his heart sad. Brian wanted to leave, but God stilled his feet.

  Kyle tapped his shoulder and Brian froze.

  “Surprised by that comeback?” Kyle laughed.

  Brian wanted to deck the other man but instead counted to ten. Engaging in a physical altercation was not what God would expect from him. This was the weirdest interview of his life.

  “I do know the Bible, Choir Boy. I have a photographic memory, and I probably can recite it better than you.”

  “But can you live it?” Brian countered. “And my name is Brian.”

  “Touché, Brian.” Kyle held out his hand. There was that soulless grin again. “You’re tenacious. You’ll take some molding, but I’m confident this will be a fruitful enterprise for both of us.”

  Brian shook hands with the devil, a.k.a. his father. Ryan was a saint compared to Kyle. There was no way he could deliver Ryan over to the likes of Kyle Manchester. He wanted Ryan to pay but not under Kyle’s form of justice. What had his mother been thinking? He held back a snort. She hadn’t been thinking.

  “We’ll begin next week,” Kyle said. “Welcome to my world.”

  Brian departed feeling deflated. Meeting his father in person had rid Brian of any foolish sentiment of a warm and fuzzy ever after. “I don’t see it, God,” he whispered. “I don’t see what You want with him.”

  You didn’t see what I wanted with you, either. Now, look at you.

  Brian put on his sunglasses. He wouldn’t argue with God, but from Brian’s point of view, Kyle was a member of the walking dead. Kyle needed a couple whiffs from the Breath of Life, but he couldn’t see Kyle doing that, not even to save his life.

  Ch. 12

  Merle slammed her front door. “How dare she insinuate that I’m a fraud!”

  Hot tears filled her eyes. “That woman wouldn’t know the voice of God if He bit her in the—” Merle bit her tongue. “Butt. I was thinking butt, God.”

  She dropped her purse on the floor of her otherwise immaculate living space and grabbed a tissue from the box on her coffee table. She dabbed at her eyes and then headed into the kitchen. Merle always kept a clean house. She had faded welts on her back for the rare times when she hadn’t. When Norma Baskins said she wanted the house clean, she meant pick-up-the-bread-off-the-floor-and-eat-it clean.

  Sister Inez had embarrassed her in front of the entire women’s group. Merle had decided to try out her newly acquired spiritual skills at the weekly prayer chain held at the church.

  Merle began by giving a prophetic word she had rehearsed, but in the midst of her “prophesying,” Inez commanded, “Stop! In the name of Jesus, you false spirit, take your flight! I rebuke you! Now go back from whence you came!”

  The entire crowd of women had become silent.

  Merle lifted her hands and nodded. “Yes, you need to leave, Satan!” She shouted in her tongue at the top of her voice.

  Sister Inez came over and touched her shoulder.
When Merle paused mid-praise and turned to face her, Sister Inez closed her eyes. “Lord, let my hand be a point of contact. The devil is disguised as an angel of light. Now, flee from this woman and set her free.”

  Merle had closed her eyes, but inside she fumed because Sister Inez had called her out in front of everyone. How could that be of God? Merle ignored the fact that she had been perpetuating a great hoax, which was why God had exposed her openly.

  She propped one eye open. Ten pairs of wide eyes rested on her. Merle opened her other eye and scanned the women. She read their pity and took a step forward. Why did she do that? All the women began to cry out to God like a bunch of crows. A couple shifted away as if they were scared of her.

  Merle had no choice but to pretend to swoon. She rested her hand on her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and made her body go limp. Merle hoped someone would have the good sense to catch her because she was going down. Sister Inez and another person held her in their strong hands. She knew one of the persons was Sister Inez because she proceeded to yell the name of Jesus, almost bursting Merle’s eardrums.

  The women dragged her toward the bench. Merle made sure they felt her deadweight. Serve them right. They had no regard for her Red Bottoms, and this was her favorite pair. Merle flopped her hand. It must have made contact somewhere on Sister Inez’s face.

  “She hit me,” Sister Inez said.

  Merle had to bite her cheek to keep from smiling. She wished she could open her eyes to see Sister Inez’s face.

  They grabbed her hands, and the women began praying with frenzy. She felt someone rubbing holy oil on her forehead. That oil better not soil her silk blouse. Oomph. What was that smell? Merle bit her lip and held her breath. Someone’s stank breath was heating up her nostrils. She held her breath and turned her head, catching a whiff of someone else she was sure had halitosis. Goodness, this is what they needed to be praying about.

  When she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, Merle knew it was time to stop the farce. She made a big show of waking up. Merle opened her eyes wide and looked around in wonder.

  “Thank you, Jesus,” a woman said.

  “Thank you, Lord, for deliverance!” someone screamed.

  “Thank you, Lord,” Merle said. She repeated it until all the sisters began to sing and dance for joy. She gave them a show of great spiritual recovery. And the Academy Award goes to…

  Then her eyes met Sister Inez’s knowing eyes.

  Merle lifted her chin. She praised and sang, but the entire time she wondered, “How did Sister Inez figure out she was faking?” The tongue had sounded real to her.

  After Sister Inez quieted the women. Merle hunched her shoulders. She prayed Sister Inez wasn’t about to tell everyone she had been faking. It didn’t matter to Merle that God knew.

  All the women looked at Sister Inez with reverence. Merle bit her lower lip. Jealousy filled her heart. She wanted what Sister Inez had. She wanted that power as she had never wanted anything before.

  “Sister Merle, you’ve got to wait on your blessing,” Sister Inez said. “You can’t run ahead of what He has planned. He does everything in His time. Don’t rush Him.”

  Merle stammered. “I—I—I’m not rushing God.”

  Sister Inez lifted an eyebrow. “Aren’t you?”

  Merle felt the heat sear her cheeks. “God speaks to me, and He does it all the time,” she said with plenty of sass in her tone. “Where do you get off—?”

  “I come with the power and authority of the Holy Ghost, my child,” Sister Inez interrupted.

  Merle lowered her head. “I will wait on Him.” In the meantime, she would try another strategy.

  Sister Inez seemed satisfied with Merle’s docile attitude. She nodded, closed her eyes, and prophesied.

  Merle slipped out with her bag on her shoulders and her pride on the floor.

  Now that she was home, Merle paced the length of her kitchen. She didn’t know if she could show her face at Brighter Hope Deliverance Center after this morning’s debacle, but she had to return. She had to prove Sister Inez wrong. Merle massaged her temples then spied the time on the clock.

  She gasped. Karlie would be there in a half hour.

  The doorbell rang.

  Make that one minute.

  Merle patted her hair and checked her face in the mirror. To look at her, you would never know the humiliation she had suffered because of Sister Inez.

  She rushed over to answer the door and greeted her granddaughter with a kiss. Each time Merle saw Karlie, her heart flooded with love. She kicked herself for not taking Karlie in as a teen when Tiffany had asked her. Merle shuddered when she remembered how vile she had behaved. She had tossed Tiffany out of her house after calling her out of her name.

  “Are you okay?” Karlie asked.

  Merle waved her off. “Of course, honey. I’m too blessed to be stressed, as the saying goes. Besides, I have a granddaughter who spoils me, so I’m all right.”

  Karlie leaned closer to Merle until they were almost nose-to-nose. “Are you sure?”

  Merle showed off her veneers with a bright smile. “I’m sure. Now, are you ready to go dress hunting?” When Karlie called to cancel, saying she would wait for Tanya before shopping, Merle convinced her not to wait. “I bought several magazines and found a couple dresses I think would look divine on you. One is tulle and the other is a strapless mermaid number.” Her enthusiasm made Karlie’s eyes sparkle.

  “Ooh, I can’t wait to see what you have.” Karlie dug into her bag. “I brought my magazines as well.”

  “Would you like something to eat? I’ve got lasagna if you want some?” Merle didn’t add that she had gotten up early and made two pans especially for Karlie.

  Karlie shook her head. “I already ate. I stopped by my parents before coming here. I would take it with me, but I’m not heading straight home and I don’t want it to go bad in the heat.”

  Merle plastered a smile on her face. She would take it to Bible study. It would be gone before she even placed it on the table. “How are Neil and Myra doing?” she asked, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Those two were Christians in name only. As long as she lived, Merle would never forget how Neil had thrown her out of Tiffany’s funeral. Her chest ached from the memory.

  “They are preparing to go on their cruise. I’m so glad they’re taking a vacation. Addie is staying with me. I have all sorts of fun things planned. We’re going to go to Coney Island and then going into the city to see Lion King. Plus, we’re both psyched about going to the M&M store in Manhattan.”

  Merle nodded when appropriate, although she wasn’t interested in the Jameson’s lives, but gave Karlie her full attention when Karlie mentioned Addie’s “calling.”

  “Addie has a calling on her life. It’s already evident. You should hear her pray. That girl could bring God from the throne and move His hand. Let me see if I have it on video. They asked her to pray the other day and the whole church was on their feet.” Karlie picked up her phone and started swiping.

  Merle froze. A young child, not even ten, had the Spirit of God? What was up with that? She busied herself with looking through the magazines because she didn’t want Karlie seeing the envy she knew had to be on her face.

  “Here it is!” Karlie held up her iPhone for Merle to see. There was Addison with her chubby cheeks and Shirley Temple curls. Neil gave Addie the microphone. Addie closed her eyes and began to pray.

  As she listened to the power of the little girl’s prayer, Merle felt goose bumps spread across her arms. “She’s anointed,” she whispered.

  “Yes. Addie’s going to be a mighty prayer warrior.”

  Merle nodded, mesmerized by the rest of Addie’s prayer. This was how she wished she could pray. Merle knew she had God with her. She loved praising God and feeling His presence, but she wanted power. She wanted the spotlight. When Addie was done, Merle’s eyes glistened.

  Karlie mistook Merle’s tears and said, “You felt it too, right? Even through t
he phone you can feel God moving.”

  “Yes, I did.” Merle shifted the conversation to Karlie’s wedding. Merle called an exclusive boutique in Manhattan and set up a special reservation. Then she helped Karlie choose several styles on the website. Merle oohed and aahed at the right moments, but Addie’s prayer stayed with her. That child had some skills.

  After about an hour, Karlie gathered her belongings to leave. Merle kissed her on the cheek and Karlie handed her a check.

  “Oh, thank you,” Merle said, tucking it into her pocket, before giving her usual response. “You don’t have to give me something every time you come. You’re more than generous, and I have no need for anything.” Merle had at least twenty thousand in the bank. She saved Karlie’s “pocket change,” preferring instead to use her AMEX Centurion. Merle liked the perks that came with the card—and the fact that Karlie paid the bill.

  “It’s for incidentals,” Karlie said.

  “Don’t forget you’re coming to Praise Extravaganza the last Sabbath of April. I promised everybody at Brighter Hope you’d sing.”

  Karlie nodded. “I know. I have it in my calendar. I have a medley of worship songs I plan to do.”

  Merle’s chest puffed. She had approached the praise and worship leader and offered to have Karlie sing. Karlie would draw a crowd and the press. Wherever Karlie went, the cameras followed. It could also lead to more souls for Brighter Hope, but the best part—Merle would get the credit. She made sure Pastor Blake knew about her idea. She had one-upped Sister Inez with that one.

  “I’m not sure if Brian can make it, though,” Karlie said. “He’s starting a new internship soon.”

  Merle didn’t want Mr. Sharp Eyes there anyway. “It’s all right, baby. I know he’s busy.” She tilted her head. “What are you going to do about school?”

  “I’m swamped with the wedding planning, my album, and this television show, but I plan on finishing up my degree online.”

  “Your life is so hectic. I’m grateful you’re making the time to come. I want everyone to see my talented, famous grandchild.”