My Word_Interior.indd

by Gizelle Bryant

  I finally said, “That’s not going to happen, Dru.”

  She shrugged. “You never know. Someone may step up.

  So what are you and Jeremy going to get into?”

  I turned my glance back to him and sighed. “I don’t know.

  I’ll hang out with him for a little while at least. He misses

  Reverend Robinson so much.”

  “Yeah, well.” Then, she leaned closer to me and whispered,

  “Baby! He had a baby,” but before she noticed the shocked

  look on my face, she scooted up the aisle laughing al the way to the door. I couldn’t imagine what she would do if she were

  to ever find out that she’d been right, but she needed to make baby plural.

  Turning back to Jeremy, I yearned to be by his side just in

  case he needed me. But he was in full-fledge campaign mode

  and standing beside him wouldn’t have been appropriate. I

  was not his wife. So I turned, maneuvered to the left, then,

  dipped into the ladies’ room.

  Moving to the lounge part of the area, I pulled out my

  cosmetic bag, rested it on the counter and just as I began to

  powder my face, First Lady Eunice Blake pushed open the

  door and sauntered in.

  I’d always said that if she hadn’t been a First Lady, she

  would’ve been a heck of a full-figured model because not

  only did she have the features, she had the style...and then,

  she had that strut.

  “Ginger.” She also had a Boston accent that I loved. “It is

  so good to see you.”

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  “It’s good to see you, too, First Lady Blake.”

  I’d shared several meals with her at the Robinson’s home,

  especial y after her husband, Reverend Evander Blake passed

  away about a year and a half ago. He’d been the pastor of First United Missionary Baptist, our sister church. But First Lady

  Blake had left the church that her husband had pastored for

  over twenty years after their board elevated Reverend Blake’s

  arch rival (one of the deacons who’d been trying to bring the

  Blakes down) into the role of Senior Pastor. She’d been an

  unofficial member of Pilgrim’s Rest ever since.

  “I’m glad we’re going to have a few moments here.” She

  glanced around the lounge. “Are we here alone?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, I think so.”

  She moved to the space outside of the lounge that held

  three stalls, checked it out, then returned to where I was

  standing. “It’s just us.”

  As she leaned toward me, my heart began to pound.

  Suppose she wanted to talk to me about the Robinsons?

  Suppose she knew about Shaniqua? No! I didn’t want to talk

  about anything or anyone.

  Even though she knew we were alone, First Lady Blake

  still lowered her voice. “What’s the deal with you and Jeremy?”

  Her question made me blink, made me lean back a little.

  “Oh!” I paused and tried to rewind my thoughts. “Well...uh...

  I’m not sure what you mean. We’re really good friends.”

  She dismissed my words with a wave of her hand. “Oh,

  I know that. Everyone knows that. What I want to know is

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  what’s going on now? Are you going to stay friends or are you

  ready to take the next step?”

  I wondered why she was asking me this. “Well, we’re still

  in school. I mean, we’re graduating in a few weeks, but there’s still....”

  Again, she waved her hand. “Ginger, you know what I’m

  talking about,” she said with a bit of impatience in her tone.

  “Now, Jeremy told me you were his girlfriend and I just want

  to make sure the two of you are on the same page because I

  don’t want him to be hurt.”

  “He said I was his girlfriend?” When I heard my voice,

  I shook my head to snap out of it. I sounded like a little girl with her first crush.

  “Yes. I spoke to him the other night about his desire to

  lead this church and one of the things I told him was that it’s important to have a wife already by his side, no matter where

  he ended up pastoring.”

  My lips parted in surprise.

  First Lady Blake said, “And he told me he didn’t have a

  wife, but he had a girlfriend who he hoped would be his wife

  one day. Since you’re the only woman I’ve ever seen him with,

  I’m thinking that girlfriend is you.”

  When I’d decided to give up my fears and gave into my

  feelings for Jeremy, I’d gone in all the way. Hearing that he

  was calling me his girlfriend really did make me feel grade-

  school giddy.

  “So?” First Lady Blake folded her arms.

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  “Well, yes, I guess you can say that.”

  “Say what?” She didn’t give me time to respond before

  she said, “You need to be clear about this, young lady. Because Jeremy Williams is a young man on the move. Whether or

  not he gets the position in this church, he’s going to get it

  somewhere. And there will be plenty of women who will be

  willing to stand by his side.”

  Her words made my eyebrows rise, but her tone, made

  me say, “I understand. I just wasn’t trying to put our business out there like that.”

  “Well, what you need to do is put it all the way out there

  because there are wolves who need to know that Jeremy

  Williams is involved with Ginger Allen.”

  The bathroom door opened and First Lady Blake stood up

  straight as a tall leggy woman in a spandex dress that left little to the imagination and rose to her mid-thigh as she moved,

  sauntered in. She paused, then scowled, her lips pinched like

  she’d just sucked a lemon as her eyes journeyed up, then down

  my body.

  “Hello, Sharonne,” the First Lady said, even though she

  hadn’t acknowledged her.

  The transformation was instant when the woman turned

  her attention away from me. Her scowl flipped to a grin. “First Lady Blake. How are you today?”

  “I’m well.” She nodded and then with her hand, motioned

  toward me. “But I’m not the only one standing here.”

  The woman—Sharonne—turned back to me. “Hi.”

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  I frowned, wondering where all the hate was coming

  from. “Hello.”

  The woman moved to the other side of First Lady Blake,

  leaned over, getting her face closer to the mirror, checked

  her reflection, then fluffed stylish bob before she spun and

  sashayed toward the door. “You have a great day, First Lady,”

  she said over her shoulder.

  We were silent until the door closed behind her. Then

  First Lady Blake said, “And that right there—that’s what I

  was just talking about. She’s one of those wolves who wants

  what you have.”

  I pressed my hand against my chest. “What I have?”

  “Yes. You have Jeremy and that’s who she wants. So you

  better stake your claim and then get ready because these

  women out here, when it comes to pastors....”

  She left her words there but she didn’t have to say much

  more. I knew what she was talking about. I’d lived the struggle, I knew the story.

  But I guess I hadn’t really been paying atten
tion to the

  women who had shown interest in Jeremy. I mean, yeah, I’d

  noticed lots of them always taking long looks at him, but that wasn’t any kind of surprise. Jeremy Williams was everything

  that a young woman would want in a man—he was fine and

  he had a future.

  “Don’t worry,” First Lady Blake said as if she were reading

  my mind. “Jeremy has no interest in anyone else, especially

  not someone like who thinks it’s attractive to show all her

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  goodies. A man like Jeremy will choose his forever companion

  careful y and while Sharonne would be good for a rol in bed,

  she’d never be the woman who’d stand next to him at the altar.

  But women like Sharonne don’t go away peacefully. So you

  have to stake your claim.” She tapped my shoulder. “Jeremy

  has the talent to go far. But there is more to this journey than just having talent. And you have what it takes to help Jeremy

  rise to the next level. You hear me?”

  I nodded. “I do.” I’d heard her for sure, loud and clear.

  “Good.” She patted my hand. “I’ll be praying for you and

  Jeremy. “You just take care of your business.”

  Again, I nodded, then stayed in place as First Lady Blake

  checked her reflection before she did her own runway strut

  out of the bathroom. When the door closed, I turned toward

  the mirror, rested my hands on the counter and let out a long

  breath.

  That little encounter with Sharonne had reminded me

  of the vow I’d made just six years ago. Was I sure about this?

  Did I want to move forward to see where this would lead with

  Jeremy when there were so many wolves preying on pastors

  out there?

  But then, I looked up at the mirror and I thought about

  Jeremy and how I loved being with him. I loved sitting with

  him and talking and laughing. I loved studying with him and

  how he always knew the right answer when I was stuck on

  a problem with statistics. I loved reading the Bible with him

  and our discussions of the living God in our lives.

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  I loved him. I loved Jeremy Williams.

  It was too late. My vow had been broken and now I was

  all in with this man. My only prayer now, was that I hoped

  he was just like my daddy.

  Chapter Five

  Jeremy and I sat in his car, both of us stiff with surprise.

  The lights of his Nissan were on, beaming on the theatre

  that we’d just left. If I thought Slumdog Millionaire, the movie we’d just seen had drama, it didn’t compare to the phone call

  Jeremy just received.

  He was holding his Blackberry away from his ear so that

  I could hear Reverend Lewis.

  “I didn’t want you to come to church tomorrow without

  knowing the announcement the board would be making.”

  As soon as he said that, I knew what Reverend Lewis’s

  next words would be.

  “A new pastor has been selected to lead Pilgrim’s Rest and

  I think you’ll be pleased with the board’s....”

  “Wait, hold up. Someone has been selected already?”

  Even though I knew that was what Reverend Lewis was

  going to say, I had the same surprise as Jeremy. It had only

  been two months since Reverend Robinson had left. When

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  I was growing up, and around pastors with my father, it took

  churches at least a year to find a new leader between all of the interviews, the guest speakers who were tested out, and the

  background and financial checks. So how had Pilgrim’s Rest

  done this so quickly? Unless...this had something to do with

  Shaniqua. Had someone found out about her before Reverend

  Robinson had even stepped forward? Had someone pushed

  Reverend Robinson out? That was the only explanation I had

  for the church being able to move this quickly.

  “Yes, Jeremy. We’ve asked Reverend Derrick Harwood

  to be the Senior Pastor of Pilgrim’s Rest and he’s accepted.

  He’ll be introduced officially to the congregation tomorrow.”

  With the way everyone had reacted to Reverend Harwood

  a month ago, I was sure there would be no problems from the

  membership.

  Glancing at my boyfriend, his heartbreak was etched all

  over his face and without closing my eyes, I said a prayer for him.“Everyone at Pilgrim’s Rest loves you, Jeremy, but this

  was just not your time. Give yourself another ten years or so.

  Go to school, get on our staff full-time. And the next time

  there’s an opening....”

  Jeremy interrupted him, “Thanks for letting me know,

  Archie,” then he clicked off his phone.

  If I didn’t know how upset Jeremy was before, I certainly

  knew now. First, he never called Reverend Lewis by his first

  name; that was just basic respect to Jeremy. And second, he’d

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  practically hung up in Archie’s face. If I hadn’t been sure of how upset his was, I knew now.

  “Can you believe that?” Jeremy finally said.

  “I’m surprised,” was my answer because I could believe

  it. But what I couldn’t say to Jeremy was that as fast and as

  shocking as the board’s decision was, I agreed with them.

  People were still talking about Reverend Harwood. He was

  going to be a good leader for Pilgrim’s Rest and I had a feeling he was just what the church needed right now.

  Jeremy nodded and when I saw he was cool, I was glad

  for the way he was taking this. But then a second after I had

  that thought, he slammed his hand against the steering wheel

  so hard it made me jump. “That’s what’s wrong with these old

  churches. They see my youth as a negative. If anything, it’s a positive. It’s what we need to grow.”

  “I agree,” I said rubbing his back and keeping my voice

  soft and soothing. “But Reverend Harwood isn’t that old.”

  “He isn’t old compared to Reverend Robinson,” Jeremy

  huffed. “Harwood is about forty, I think. So yeah, he’s twenty years younger than Reverend Robinson, and I’m twenty years

  younger than him. If they want to move forward, they need

  someone younger, someone who has a vision on how to take

  the church deep into this millennium.”

  “Well,” I said, trying to measure my words, “they didn’t

  have your vision, but that doesn’t mean you can’t implement

  it.” He frowned when he looked at me.

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  I said, “Reverend Robinson believed in you. I believe

  in you, and yes, I would like to see you continue to at least

  getting your Master’s because that was all you talked about

  before Reverend Robinson stepped down. But I believe you

  would be an amazing pastor. And so maybe you don’t have

  to sit on someone’s staff. Maybe you don’t have to wait until

  your turn. Maybe you just go and make it happen. In your

  own church. One day.”

  He nodded slowly as if he was pondering my words. But

  then, a smile came to his face. A smile that was genuine, a

  smile that rose all the way to his eyes, a smile that I hadn’t seen since all of this Pilgrim’s Rest drama had started.

  “You may be ri
ght. I may have been too big and too much

  for Pilgrim’s Rest. I may be too big for any church. I may have to do this myself.”

  I hadn’t said all that, but all I did was nod.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he continued. “And anyway now may

  not have been the best time for me to be appointed.”

  “You think?”

  He chuckled. “I know.” He paused. “Thank you for

  believing in me.”

  “That’s what best friends do.”

  “Best friends who are in love,” he said.

  I was startled by his words but I didn’t show it.

  When he continued with, “And anyway, we have other

  things to think about,” I smiled because he’d taken away the

  pressure of me having to tell him that I loved him, too, and I knew what he meant by us having other things to think about.

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  “That’s right. Graduation. For both of us.”

  “And the celebration begins tomorrow.”

  “What’s happening tomorrow?” I asked.

  “Oh nothing. I just mean it’s the beginning of our final

  week in school.”

  “Yup. We’re about to head into our future.”

  “You got that right.” He pushed the car’s gear into ‘Drive’,

  then squeezed my hand. “Remember when I told you it was

  gonna be a hella ride with me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Buckle up, baby. We’re about to take off.”

  Chapter Six

  “Welcome to Pilgrim’s Rest.” Jeremy shook Reverend

  Harwood’s hand.

  I was so proud that not only had Jeremy decided to come

  to church, but this morning, we’d sat in the front pew of the

  church as Pilgrim’s Rest welcomed their new pastor.

  And at the end of service, Jeremy and I had stood in line

  with the other parishioners to greet Reverend Harwood and

  now, finally it was our turn to give him our good wishes.

  “You’re Jeremy Williams,” Pastor Harwood said before he

  pulled Jeremy into one of those brotherman hugs. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you and I’d love for us to

  get together this week, maybe have lunch one day.”

  “Well, this week may be a little difficult. We’re graduating

  on Saturday.” Jeremy turned to me. “This is my girlfriend,

  Ginger Allen. She’s graduating from Xavier and I’ll be

  graduating from Dillard.”

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  All of the Reverend’s attention was on me now. “Wow,

  you’re a beautiful young woman. Something about hazel eyes