by Joy, E. n.
Even today as they sat next to each other in church receiving the Word, when instructed by Pastor Davidson to touch their neighbor and tell them that they are blessed, they both made it a point to touch the neighbor opposite of one another. When instructed to touch their other neighbor, they were forced to speak.
“You are blessed.” Neither one of them sounded convincing. And other than those three words, the two didn’t share anymore with each other. They just sat through the remainder of the Word, altar call, and then the benediction.
Mother Doreen had noticed that Bethany was one of those church folks who always made her way to the altar after service to shake her pastor’s hand. Normally, Mother Doreen would be by her side, but she didn’t want to be transparent in front of Pastor Davidson, fearing he might call the two sisters on the clear distance between them. So Mother Doreen decided to go on and head to the car.
“Mother Doreen!”
She turned to see Pastor Davidson waving her down. Her plan of escape had failed.
Mother Doreen huffed under her breath, and then made her way to Pastor Davidson. She stopped momentarily and huffed even louder when she saw Pastor Davidson wave down Pastor Frey as well. Everything in her wanted to turn around and pretend she hadn’t even noticed the pastor’s summons, but she’d already made clear eye contact with him.
“Pastor Davidson, you preached a mighty powerful word today,” Mother Doreen complimented. “Didn’t he, sis?” Mother Doreen looked to Bethany and smiled.
Bethany appeared to be like a cat in its kitty litter trying to cover up a mess.
“Why thank you, Sister Doreen. I’m glad you received it.” Pastor Davidson smiled, not taking note of the fact that Bethany slightly rolled her eyes at her sister and didn’t respond. “You know, membership usually goes down whenever I preach about hell and damnation, but hey, I have to be obedient to the Master.”
“Amen to that,” Mother Doreen agreed.
“But anyway, I haven’t gotten a chance to speak with either you or my assistant pastor here.” Pastor Davidson patted Pastor Frey’s back. “How did your dinner date go a couple of weeks ago?”
Bethany twisted her lips.
“You mean our meeting?” Mother Doreen was precise in her annunciation of the word meeting.
“Uh, yeah, well, you know.” Pastor Davidson laughed it off. “Was Pastor here able to enlighten you on the different ministries here at Living Word, Living Waters? I understand that eventually you’d like to return to your hometown in Ohio and continue your ministries there, but while you are here, I don’t see why you can’t bless us with your gifts, talents, and time. You know, God’s work is never really church work. It’s kingdom work, which means your ministries should be able to go wherever you go. God will make room for them, you know. But I’m sure I don’t have to remind a woman of God such as yourself about God’s Word. Do I?”
If Mother Doreen wasn’t mistaken, it sounded almost as if Pastor Davidson was trying to convict her for not being active in his church.
“Oh, I’m sure you don’t have to remind her,” Bethany said, not making a very good attempt at covering up her sarcasm. “She knows everything, about the Word that is.”
Pastor Davidson let out a nervous chuckle, and then continued. “Nonetheless, that’s why I asked my assistant pastor here to sort of mentor you, or counsel you if you will, on the vision and mission of our church.” Pastor put his hands up in defense before Mother Doreen could say a word. “Now I know what you are thinking, that Pastor Frey is younger than you.” He patted Pastor Frey once again. “Oh, but he is wise with wisdom of the Word. Loaded with biblical knowledge. Besides, age ain’t nothing but a number.” He looked to Pastor Frey. “Ain’t that right, brother?”
Pastor Frey discretely looked at Bethany before his eyes focused on his shoes. “That’s what I hear, Pastor. That’s what I hear.”
“Good, then it’s all settled. Until Mother Doreen receives a revelation on what she’s called to do while here, I’d like for the two of you to meet weekly, and then report back to me.” Pastor Frey looked at Mother Doreen. “Over dinner of course. And of course, I’ll be flipping the tab. That way, even if you decide not to be a part of the ministry, you’ll still at least get something out of it.” He winked, then looked to Pastor Frey, and then back at Mother Doreen. “Maybe even more than you both ever bargained for.” He looked at Bethany and winked at her, accompanied by a nod. “Now if you all will excuse me. There are a couple of visitors I’d like to go say hello to before they get away.” On that note, Pastor Davidson walked away.
Reading between the lines, it was now pretty clear to the three parties left standing there that Pastor Davidson had something up his collar. It was more than just seeing to it that Mother Doreen became a part of the Living Word family. It appeared more as though he wanted her to become a part of Pastor Frey’s family.
Mother Doreen had to admit that after having dinner with Pastor Frey a couple of weeks ago, he wasn’t that bad at all. She was glad that she’d declined Uriah’s invitation for them all to have dinner together. This enabled her valuable time alone with Pastor Frey in order to discern his true intentions with her sister. Surprisingly enough, after she’d returned from the restroom where she had a minor altercation with her sister, the two had a pleasant time.
At first, Mother Doreen had studied his actions closely. She wanted to see if he acted funny with Bethany having dinner with her husband a mere few tables away. She studied his eyes closely, figuring she would find them wandering off to observe Bethany and her family, but they never did. His eyes, instead, stayed steady on Mother Doreen as he held conversation with her. She looked for all the tell-tale signs; his looking downward, over her shoulder, at her chin, doing anything at all cost to keep from looking her in the eyes for fear she’d see right through him. But again, none of that happened. Not once did he seem distracted from his mission at hand, his assignment from his superior to share with her the different ministries at Living Word and where she might be able to assist.
Pastor Frey wasn’t the only one doing the talking over dinner. Mother Doreen had found herself sharing information about her ministries back at New Day Temple of Faith, including the Single’s Ministry.
“We don’t have a Single’s Ministry here at Living Word,” Pastor Frey had informed her. “Perhaps that’s something you could lay the foundation for while you are here,” he suggested.
“Well, it was fairly new, too new to really see whether or not the vision, mission, and bylaws we had set up were actually effective,” Mother Doreen replied in between bites of her French Onion Soup. “Anyway, I need to call back to Ohio and get with the new leader that was left in charge to see how things are going. Prayerfully the ministry is growing.”
“Oh, if you planted the seed ordained by God, I’m sure He’s watering and doing a wonderful work with it indeed. Which is why you should maybe pray that God would have you do the same for Living Word.”
“Hmmm.” Mother Doreen’s spoon rested over her soup. “You might be right, Pastor Frey.” And she didn’t even stutter when agreeing with the man. “I never thought of that. I guess God could have some other work for me lined up down here besides watching out for—” Mother Doreen halted her words, and then quickly shoved a spoonful of soup in her mouth. She couldn’t believe she’d almost said what she was about to say, that God had something for her to do in Kentucky other than watch his sneaky behind. “Anyway, I’ll pray on it.”
“That’s all we can ask.” Pastor Frey smiled and winked. The smile was charming to Mother Doreen. The wink made her blush, only she didn’t realize that she was blushing. But Pastor Frey noticed.
“So I hope you don’t mind me asking, but with God putting it into your spirit to start a Single’s Ministry, can I assume that you are single and in the market for a husband?”
“I wouldn’t go as far as to say that. I mean, I am single, but in the market for a husband? I mean, I follow the lead of the Holy Spiri
t. Whatever God has for me, I want it. But I can’t honestly say starting that ministry had anything to do with me wanting to find a husband. After all, any man God sent my way would have big shoes to follow after my Willie.” She looked up. “God rest my Willie’s soul.” She drew an invisible cross across her heart with her index finger, and then continued. “He was a mighty fine husband indeed. Flaws and all.” A light bulb went off in Mother Doreen’s head as the breeze from the door of opportunity swiftly opened and brushed across her face. “So tell me, Pastor Frey, have you ever been married?”
“Once or twice,” he winked. Mother Doreen kept a steady face that made Pastor Frey change his mind about the smile that was going to follow the wink. He cleared his throat and got serious. “I’m once divorced, once widowed. My first marriage, I was young and fresh out of high school. Trying to be too big for my britches. We never even made it through our honeymoon before she ran off with a fellow high school classmate who went pro-ball first round draft pick.” He shook his head. “I knew I shouldn’t have quit the basketball team junior year.”
“God’s plan is always better, so I’m sure some good came out of the situation.”
“It did, it did,” Pastor Frey agreed. “Then there was Jean, my second wife. Virtuous woman of God she was. She lost her life in a car accident.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Pastor.” Mother Doreen gave her deepest of sympathy.
“I just thank God that He saw fit to give me seven years with her, even though He took her away in an instant.”
“That must have been difficult for you and your children.”
“Oh, I don’t have any children, not technically. After the accident we learned that Jean was with child. That was a double whammy because we had tried for years to conceive.” He looked up to heaven. “Though He slay me, still will I trust Him.” He cited the scripture from the book of Job.
“Amen. Hallelujah,” was all Mother Doreen could say before finishing up her soup. “How come you never thought of starting a Single’s Ministry?” Mother Doreen got back on track and started picking. For some reason, Pastor Frey’s genuine sincerity had a way of throwing her off her path. “You are single after all. Aren’t you?”
“Uh, yeah, you know how it is. I really don’t have the time it takes to dedicate to develop a relationship.”
“I see.” Mother Doreen paused momentarily. “I’m sure if God has that special someone out there for you, He’ll make it so that you have the time.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. He always seems to make time for everything else. For instance like right now. I can’t remember when I was last able to fit a night out to dinner into my busy schedule, but what do you know? It’s just like you said, Sister Doreen, God made a way.”
Mother Doreen couldn’t help but stand there at the altar and reflect on those words that Pastor Frey had spoken at dinner two weeks ago. If she weren’t mistaken, it was almost as if he were inadvertently trying to flirt with her. She blushed at the thought, not realizing that she was blushing. But as Pastor Frey stood there, he noticed. And Bethany noticed too.
Chapter Sixteen
“Your clients must be writing you blank checks to have you catering events on Sundays now,” Paige said as Tamarra followed along side of her down the buffet line at the Golden Coral. Since Paige hadn’t had the pleasure of enjoying Sunday dinner with her best friend in quite some time, she invited (insisted after Tamarra had initially turned her down) that they meet at the Golden Coral Buffet. The line moved swiftly as it wasn’t nearly as crowded on Thursdays as it was on Sundays.
Although the last thing Tamarra had on her mind was food, she’d been glad a few days ago when she sat on her couch screening her calls, and then finally decided to answer it, that it was Paige. Her mother had just called, and she’d let the call go to voice mail, so when the phone immediately rang again, she had assumed it was her mother. She let out a deep breath when it was Paige’s voice she’d heard on the other end of the phone instead of her mother’s.
“No, it’s not that. When I booked the catering affairs, I must have been looking at the wrong month or something, not realizing the dates fell on Sundays.”
“And back to back Sundays no less.” Paige shifted her head and her slicked back ponytail swung from side to side.
Tamarra tried to detect whether or not Paige was insinuating that she wasn’t being truthful, but she couldn’t tell. But what if, in fact, that’s exactly what Paige was getting at? It wasn’t like it was the truth. Tamarra had lied to Paige, telling her the reason for her absence the last couple of Sundays at church was due to catering events she had to tend to. Thank goodness for Tamarra that Paige didn’t really go to Bible Study on a regular due to her work schedule, or else she would have questioned her on being absent from Bible Study as well.
“I know. I have no idea what I could have been thinking.”
“I do,” Paige said with confidence.
Tamarra froze at the thought that someway, somehow Paige had learned the ugly truth about her having a brother and what he’d done to her. Had her mother somehow managed to reach out to her best friend and fill her in on all the filthy details? That wouldn’t have surprised Tamarra as it wouldn’t have been the first time she felt her mother had betrayed her.
Learning her lesson about jumping to conclusions, like she’d done so many times in her and Maeyl’s relationship, she decided to act nonchalant. “You do?” Tamarra put a couple of pieces of lettuce on her plate as the foundation for her salad.
“Yep. It’s Maeyl and that woman, isn’t it? Sasha’s her name?”
Relieved and willing to go with the lesser of the two evils that had been plaguing her thoughts, Tamarra agreed. “I guess you could say that.”
“Tamarra, girl, I can’t believe you haven’t talked to him about it yet.” Paige shook her head.
Tamarra couldn’t believe it either. She couldn’t believe that in the past two weeks, Maeyl and Sasha had actually been the least of her worries. For all she knew, the two of them had been secretly seeing each other behind her back.
Tamarra simply shrugged her shoulders at Paige’s comment and the two women continued down the buffet and returned to their table.
Paige’s plate was practically full, while Tamarra had barely placed anything on hers. Scarfing down a few bites of her meal, Paige noticed Tamarra’s half naked plate and her sparse appetite.
“Are you sure everything is okay?” Paige asked Tamarra. “The last time we came here and you barely put anything on your plate, it had to do with you and Maeyl.”
Paige was referring to the time when Tamarra was dealing with all the gossiping and whispers that were floating around church regarding a picture of her and Maeyl that had been posted on the church website. The picture was misleading, making it appear as though Tamarra and Maeyl were in a compromising position. Tamarra had initially thought Maeyl was responsible for posting it, but she later learned that it was Helen. And the thought of Helen and Maeyl being in on it together had only briefly crossed her mind.
Tamarra was fit to be tied when instead of kicking Helen out of the church, Pastor ended up giving her a leadership position in children’s church. Sometimes Tamarra felt as though their pastor wasn’t nearly as hard on members for their actions as needed to be, but that was something she and some other members were praying on, that the New Day pastor would walk in holy boldness and put the smack down when need be.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Maeyl,” Tamarra answered.
“Oh, then something is wrong then.” Paige said it as though she’d tricked Tamarra into confessing.
Tamarra knew she couldn’t hide the truth from Paige (the truth that something was wrong that is) because she’d done a great job in hiding the fact that she even had a brother. So now, even though she knew she needed to talk about what was truly bothering her, she couldn’t. So she decided to follow up one lie with another. “Oh, I can’t fool you. I guess the thing with Maeyl is bother
ing me.” She didn’t feel like she was really lying because now that Paige had brought the issue back up, it was bothering her.
“You really love that man, don’t you?” Paige asked as if she’d just had a revelation about her best friend and the man she was dating.
“I really do, Paige. I really do.” Tamarra said it in a sigh as she picked around at her food. “After my divorce, I never thought I’d know love like this, a love so honest and true.” Tamarra wrapped herself up in thoughts of how much Maeyl loved her. Outside the love of God Himself, Maeyl’s had been the love that made her feel safe and protected. Now the one thing that threatened that security, she couldn’t share with him either. And how could he protect her from something he knew nothing about? She felt so torn.
Seeing the look of confusion on her friend’s face, Paige all of a sudden felt torn too. It ached her heart to think that another man might hurt her friend. Tamarra had already survived a divorce that she hadn’t wanted. She’d all out begged her husband not leave her for his other woman and the child that the two of them had out of wedlock. Paige couldn’t sit quietly knowing that there was a chance that the scene could replay itself.
“Tamarra.” Paige set her fork down on her plate. “There’s something I need to tell you. It’s about Maeyl, Maeyl and Sasha and something I witnessed on Sunday.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you en route?” Lorain asked her mother over the phone.
“I am indeed,” Eleanor replied into her cell phone as she drove down the highway.
“I figured as much. When I called your home phone, and it went to your answering machine, I knew you were probably on your way to my house.”
“What do you mean on my way to your house?”
Lorain could hear the confusion in her mother’s voice. “Uh, hello, it’s Saturday . . .” Lorain looked at her watch, “at one o’clock. I thought you said you were going to come over and help me put the information bags together about the Single’s Ministry,” Lorain reminded her mother as she sat in her living room with dozens of plastic bags, flyers, scriptures, and personalized items she’d had made up with New Day Temple of Faith Single’s Ministry printed on them.