by Joy, E. n.
“Amen,” the women agreed.
“Good. Now, Sister Unique, how about you close us out in prayer?” Pastor stood and signaled for the women to stand as well so that they could all join hands.
“Heads bowed, eyes closed, and minds cleared,” Unique instructed after they had all stood and joined hands. “Heavenly Father, we come humbly to your throne of grace on this blessed day that you have made. Father, we are rejoicing. Father, we are glad in this day for we have entered these very gates with thanksgiving in our hearts.”
Lorain had to open her eyes and look at Unique to make sure she wasn’t reading from a piece of paper. Her words flowed like a melody that was reaching the very ears of God. She was clear and precise, and even quoted scriptures during her prayer, feeding back to God His very Word. Lorain was shocked. She had no idea that Unique knew how to go to the throne. She was moved and touched by Unique’s powerful prayer to guide and instruct not only their ministry, but New Day as a whole.
By the time Unique concluded the prayer, one of the New Day ministers had begun Bible Study without them. The prayer ended up being a half hour long, even though it felt like mere seconds. All three were in the Spirit, shouting, dancing, crying, and giving praise. Unique had taken them to another level with her words. Lorain couldn’t deny it. Walking out of Pastor’s office, Unique was not the same person she’d seen her as upon entering it. More importantly though, Lorain wasn’t the same person either. Just think, the words of her so-called nemeses were what had changed her.
Lorain’s mind was clear, and her heart was light. She’d seen the errors of her ways as the Holy Spirit dropped the story of Mary and Martha into her spirit. Had she been Martha, doing all the labor, and then running to complain to Jesus how Mary hadn’t helped her with it when all along she should have been over with Mary at Jesus’ feet?
It had been Lorain’s prayer that a change take place. It turned out, all while she was praying for God to change Unique so that she could deal with her, Unique wasn’t the one who needed changing. Lorain was grateful for God working on her, but little did she know, God wasn’t done with her just yet. He needed to make a lot more changes in her. Her heart needed to be prepared like never before in order to receive the blessing He was about to bestow on her. But Satan was gearing up to do everything in his power to block it.
Chapter Eighteen
“Is there something going on between you and Pastor Frey that I should know about?”
There. She’d said it. She’d asked the million dollar question.
“Tuh! Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that same question?”
Mother Doreen couldn’t believe that the question she’d been wanting to ask ever since she arrived in Kentucky had been asked. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the words sauntered around in thin air before evaporating away while an answer was thought upon. Only thing is, she thought that she would have been the one asking the question first and that her sister would have been the one answering. Instead, she found herself on the opposite end. It was almost laughable. Even to the point where Mother Doreen thought her sister might be trying to use reverse psychology, asking her the question before she could get around to being asked the question herself, beating Mother Doreen to the punch so to speak.
“Oh, don’t you dare try to answer a question with a question,” Bethany snapped, letting out a frustrated chuckle. “That’s the oldest trick in the book.”
“Oh, child, please.” Mother Doreen shooed her hand at Bethany and continued snapping the fresh green beans in the kitchen sink like she’d been doing prior to Bethany interrupting her.
“Don’t ‘child, please’ me. As if you haven’t noticed over the years, I’m all grown up now, Reen. I’m not a child, which means I don’t need you here just to be some type of watch dog over me the way you did with Ester, Clarice, and me when we were younger.” Bethany then mumbled under her breath, “I can see why our two sisters went to college as far away as they could and never came back. They didn’t want you hovering over their every move. God bless their sweet, sweet souls.”
“Excuse me? What was that?” Mother Doreen asked, not able to make out her sister’s words.
“Look, Reen, now I agreed to you coming here when I thought you were genuinely here because you cared about my health and wanted to see after me,” Bethany said, ignoring Mother Doreen’s request for her to repeat the words she’d mumbled under her breath. “But now I’m not so sure that was a wise decision.”
Mother Doreen paused before snapping a green bean in half. “How dare you question my motives? You know how much I care about you. I’ve already lost two siblings to disease. Do you think I want to lose you too, Beth?”
Flaring her hands in the air she sat down. “Oh don’t call me Beth. You know Uriah calls me that.” She said it with such disdain. Like the word Beth was tainted.
“And just what in the world is so wrong with that? Any other woman would be glad to be given a pet name by her husband.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not any other woman.”
The door was wide open, so Mother Doreen walked through it. “Okay, perhaps you are not any other woman, but tell me this, sis, is Pastor Frey the other man?”
“There you go insinuating things again.” Bethany looked down, fiddling with her wedding ring.
“Well, I wouldn’t have to insinuate anything if you’d just speak the truth and shame the devil.”
There was a few seconds of silence. Mother Doreen looked at her baby sister and could tell that there was a mental tug-o-war going on in her head. She decided to come at Bethany with a more civil tongue. After all, the Word of God had already told her that she’d accomplish more with a sweeter tone than that of a bitter one. Snapping the ends off a green bean, she placed it in the bowl next to the sink, dried her hands on the apron she was wearing, and then walked over and sat down next to Bethany.
“Look, sis,” Mother Doreen said, placing her hand gently atop Bethany’s. “You may think I’m old, and you may think I’m a fool. But I’m a wise old fool.” Mother Doreen let out a peace making chuckle, then folded her hands in front of her. “I know what I see, sis, even with my eyes closed.” Bethany didn’t speak, but noticing the moisture forming in her eyes, Mother Doreen knew if she kept walking around the wall, it would eventually crumble. “I guess what I don’t understand is why. I mean, I don’t know exactly what has gone on between you and Wallace, but I can see what’s going on now and what it could lead to. Besides, God done blessed you with such a good man that—”
“Wallace?” Bethany cut Mother Doreen off. “You called him Wallace.” She rose to her feet slowly as she glared at Mother Doreen accusingly. With hands on hips she spat, “Since when do congregation members call their pastors by their first names? That’s a sign of disrespect.”
Mother Doreen found herself chewing on the very same words she’d posed to Bethany not too long ago. She was at a loss for words, not knowing when she’d found it appropriate, when she’d gotten to a point with Pastor Frey where she now referred to him by his first name, outside of church. Perhaps it was at their brunch meeting earlier that day when he’d told her, “Please feel free to call me Wallace in these settings.” Mother Doreen had asked him just what setting he was referring to. “This type of setting,” he’d responded, “when it’s just you and me on a more personal level. Because for some reason, when we meet, it just don’t feel like church business.”
Mother Doreen blushed at that recollection of how much she’d blushed when he’d actually said the words. But she couldn’t get caught up in the snare of the devil, which is what a wee bitty part of her thought Pastor Frey might be trying to do, avert her attention, distract her from her true mission in Kentucky. Only thing was, in all honesty, the man didn’t seem to have a manipulating bone in his body. He seemed so sincere in every way.
“And besides,” Bethany continued, “what good is it for a woman to have a husband who gives her pet names if he ain’t gonna b
e around to pet, if you know what I mean. Even if something was going on between Wall . . . Pastor Frey and me, could anyone blame me? It’s been three months since Uriah has even touched me.”
“Well, what did you want the man to do for God’s sake, get freaky in the intensive care unit? Girl, you been in the hospital more than you’ve been out.”
“Now don’t you go making excuses for him too,” Bethany said. She implied that either Uriah himself or someone she’d confided in about her and her husband’s lack of intimacy had defended Uriah as well. “I’ve been out of the hospital a good while now. The only thing is, he’s never home. And when he does drop in for a spell, the man is too tired to . . . pet.” She flopped back down in her chair exasperated.
“I know it must be rough for both you and Uriah.” Mother Doreen once again tried to speak in a gentle tone while placing her hand atop her sister’s. “But turning to another man for comfort is just not the godly thing to—”
Bethany snatched her hand from up under Mother Doreen’s. “Don’t you dare sit there and try to judge or convict me of anything. Just because your Willie chased after every skirt in the Midwest, and you were dumb enough to go chasing behind him doesn’t mean I—”
Mother Doreen slammed her fist on the table and stood. “Don’t you ever let my Willie’s name—” she looked up. “God rest my Willie’s soul.” She drew an invisible cross across her heart with her index finger, and then continued, “Come out of your mouth in that fashion again. You hear me?”
Bethany jumped in, and the women began to talk over one another, pointing, accusing, and offending.
“Mom, Auntie. Please stop it! Hudson and I can hear you guys all the way from the study in the basement,” Sadie informed the two women as she stood in the doorway of the basement.
Both Mother Doreen and Bethany looked embarrassed to see the young girl’s presence. They each secretly wondered how long she’d been standing there. And if they’d been so loud that the child deemed it necessary to come upstairs and order the two to quiet down, then exactly how much had been heard?
Sadie looked from her mother to her aunt, then headed back down to the basement, closing the door behind her. She left both women feeling naked and exposed.
Mother Doreen cleared her throat, then walked back over to the sink to finish up the green beans. She said a silent prayer to God as she snapped away, repenting for her previous actions. She was grieving because she knew she had grieved God with her actions. He’d trusted her enough to send her there on assignment, and she couldn’t keep it together long enough to minister to anyone. She felt like a complete failure by having to ask God to forgive her and to give her one more chance. Trusting God’s Word and knowing that He’d forgiven her instantaneously, Mother Doreen knew she now had to seek forgiveness from her sister as well. Forgiving her sister for anything she said that Mother Doreen’s flesh might have wanted to hold against her.
“Bethany?” Mother Doreen turned from the sink to see her sister hunched over, holding her stomach. “You all right?”
Bethany nodded her head, but it wasn’t convincing. This was the second time this week Mother Doreen had witnessed her sister having stomach issues. She started to beat herself up all over again, wondering if she’d worried her sister sick with all this business about Pastor Frey. She felt that she might be doing more harm than good, and she didn’t want God to think that He couldn’t use her.
“We’re calling your doctor first thing in the morning,” Mother Doreen told her sister as she walked over to her. “But first, we’re going to get you to bed so you can rest. You’ve probably just been working yourself up. I promised God that I would see to it that you walked in your healing, and no matter what, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Bethany, willingly and appreciatively, allowed her sister to lead her to her bedroom. Mother Doreen helped Bethany get comfortable in the king size bed she mostly slept in alone.
“God, please have your way in this house,” Mother Doreen found herself praying as she tucked her sister in bed. “We surrender our ways for your ways, Lord. Please, God, have your way.”
Exhausted, Bethany closed her eyes and seemed to fall off to sleep before Mother Doreen could even exit the bedroom. Mother Doreen smiled at her resting sister, convinced that God was already at work making things better. Little did she know though, things would get a lot worse before they would get any better.
Chapter Nineteen
“Are you trying to make me look like a fool or something?” Tamarra yelled as soon as Maeyl opened the door to his apartment. It was Saturday afternoon and she’d driven at least twenty miles over the speed limit trying to get to his house. What should have been a twenty minute drive had only taken her ten minutes tops.
Tamarra knew that obedience was better than sacrifice, but she prayed God’s grace and mercy would keep her from the sacrifice of getting a speeding ticket for disobeying man’s traffic laws. God’s grace and mercy had surely served to be sufficient this time.
She was still sick to her stomach with the information Paige had shared with her at the Golden Coral about Maeyl and Sasha this past Thursday. She had quickly lost her appetite and hadn’t eaten a full meal since. Before Paige could stop her, Tamarra had barreled out of the restaurant like a woman on a mission, leaving a trail of smoke behind her. And where there was smoke, there was fire, so it was time to see who was going to walk away with third degree burns.
On the day at the Golden Coral when Paige had enlightened Tamarra with the information about seeing Maeyl and Sasha together, Tamarra had gone straight to Maeyl’s place to confront him. Fortunately for Maeyl, he hadn’t been home. At the time, Tamarra figured that was a good thing. She had been so fired up that her flesh might have gotten her into some real trouble. But after two more New Day members called her on the phone repeating the same information that Paige had shared with her (that Maeyl and Sasha had been spotted together in the waiting area outside Pastor’s office holding hands) she couldn’t take it any longer. She’d grabbed her purse and keys and drove straight to Maeyl’s house. A phone call was not in order. This deserved a face to face on every level.
It angered her even more that Maeyl hadn’t even tried to call her all week to explain his sorry behind. But enough was enough as she stood at his doorstep again, this time finding him at home, ready to confront him about himself.
“Tamarra,” I was just about to call you.
“Like—” Tamarra caught the expletive before hurling it from her tongue. A lot of Christians justified their explicit use of the “D” word and the “H” word by saying that they were in the Bible. Some Christians even went as far as grouping the “A” word for donkey in that category as well, but Tamarra was determined not to be one of those Christians. “Like heck you were,” she stated instead.
“But I was. Honest,” Maeyl proclaimed. “I know I haven’t called you all week, but you wouldn’t believe the things that have taken place, which is exactly why I was about to call you.”
“Sure you were. And honest? What do you know about being honest?” Tamarra folded her arms and stood on the doorstep.
Maeyl let out a sigh, then closed his eyes. “I guess you heard.” Maeyl shook his head as he opened his eyes again. “Those busy body—”
“A busy body don’t have nothing to do with you getting busy with Sasha’s body.”
Maeyl’s mouth dropped wide open. Tamarra couldn’t tell whether the expression he wore on his face was one of shock or embarrassment.
“Whoa, hold up!” Maeyl put his hands up in defense. “I don’t know what you heard, but—”
“Enough, that’s what I heard,” Tamarra said as she brushed Maeyl out of her way, barging into his place. “Enough to know that once again, I’ve been made a complete fool of when it comes to me and Maeyl Ruebinstein.”
Tamarra threw her car keys on the coffee table and fell onto Maeyl’s couch, tired and broken. Tired of being the bearer of a broken heart. When Paige ha
d told her that after church service she’d witnessed Maeyl sitting next to Sasha outside of Pastor’s office, Tamarra thought she’d just die right there on the spot. But when Paige added salt to the wound by telling her that the two were holding hands, Tamarra thought she had died. Unable to catch her breath, she really thought she had died, or was dying, one of the two. She felt as though she’d held her breath on the entire ride there. And now here she was in the living room of the man that she loved wondering if she’d ever breathe again.
Closing his front door, Maeyl slothfully joined his woman on the couch. Tamarra, like a child would do, scooted away from Maeyl when he sat next to her.
“Look, Tamarra, I don’t know what you heard,” Maeyl started to explain, “but Sasha is someone from my past that I hadn’t seen in years up until recently. Don’t you think you at least owe it to me to tell you the whole truth of the matter? You know where your jumping to conclusions has gotten us before.”
Tamarra could admit that in the past she’d come up with her own conclusions before seeking the facts. Doing so had caused even more heartache and troubles for everyone. But this time she honestly felt as though she’d come to a true and factual conclusion. The information she’d received had come from a reliable source, someone who would never lie to her or set out to purposely sabotage her relationship. No, Paige was Tamarra’s best friend. What she’d told her was pretty much Bible. Tamarra could see that in the agony in Paige’s eyes as she’d told her. She could tell poor Paige had been agonizing over whether or not to share what she’d witnessed with her own two eyes for fear of hurting her best friend.
“I’d rather hurt you now with this information,” Paige had told Tamarra back at the Golden Coral buffet, “than allow you to be hurt later; when it’s too late.”