by E. N. Joy
“My apologies,” Deborah said with a warm smile as she scanned the room to find the person she had skipped over. Her smile suddenly faded as if she’d just swallowed a peeled lemon when her eyes landed on the oversight. How she could have missed this particular visitor, she still doesn’t know to this day.
“No need to apologize,” the female visitor said. “Like the Word says, the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” She winked.
The way the woman spoke, that underlying sassiness, and that wicked wink answered the question that Deborah had floating in her head, which was, I wonder if she remembers me?
This woman, who later introduced herself as Helen, remembered Deborah all right; just as well as Deborah had remembered her. If only Deborah hadn’t been so noticeable that day when the two had originally met. If only she hadn’t stood out. But no, thanks to her accomplice, no one in that place that day would ever forget Deborah’s face, and Deborah would never forget that day. And Helen had showed up to make sure of it.
Chapter Nine
“She’s not answering.” Paige looked back at Tamarra after knocking on Deborah’s door.
“Here, let me try,” Tamarra said, slightly bumping Paige out of the way as she proceeded to pound on the door.
“Did you used to work for five-0 or something?” Paige asked, referring to the way Tamarra had just pounded on the door like she was the police.
“Girl, no, but this ain’t my first drive by either. You can’t come play pitty-pat with the devil. You got to beat the devil down to let him know you mean business.”
“What makes you think the devil has anything to do with Sister Deborah not being in church today?”
“If I recall, Sister Deborah was supposed to fill in to do the first time visitor’s welcome. Pastor originally had Mother Doreen down to do it, but she had a family emergency and had to go see about her ill sister in Kentucky. I’m almost certain she asked Sister Deborah to fill in for her.”
“Hmm, you may be right. Because only the devil himself could keep her from that assignment,” Paige stated.
Tamarra pounded on the door again. “I wish we could see in that garage of hers; to see if her car is in there.”
“I can call her.” Paige pulled out her cell phone and began to dial. Tamarra stared at Paige, waiting to see if she was going to engage in a conversation with Deborah on the other line. “No answer.” Paige shook her head. “Let me try her cell.” When Deborah’s cell phone went straight to voicemail, she hung up the phone.
“Come on, Deborah. Answer the door before the buffet line at the Golden Corral gets a mile long.” Tamarra pounded on the door once again.
“You a mess, woman of God,” Paige chuckled.
“Girl, you know I’m right. We go there almost every Sunday after service.” Tamarra looked down at her watch. “And right about now is usually when it gets stacked up in there. But never mind me and my grumbling belly; I just pray my sister is okay in there.”
“Um, hmm, yeah right. Don’t try to clean it up now, woman of God. You know good and well—”
Just then the two women heard the door locks jiggling, and then saw the door open. They hadn’t anticipated the vision that awaited them on the other side of the door.
“Well, hello, Sister Paige . . . Sister Tamarra.” Deborah smiled as she stood in the doorway looking back and forth from one woman to the next. “What brings you by?”
Tamarra and Paige looked at one another, each one signaling for the other to speak because neither knew what to say. The two felt like complete fools standing there expecting the worst but being greeted by the best. They’d expected to see Deborah in her house coat, puffy red eyes, or even looking hung over with a remaining stench of alcohol as a result of some cabaret she’d attended the night before. Some sign of backsliding or visible evidence of a stronghold that had kept her from coming to church today. Those were some of the scenes Tamarra had grown accustomed to over the years of doing drive bys. But that wasn’t the case at all this time around.
Deborah could tell the two women from her church were dumbfounded; that she’d given them something they hadn’t expected. She’d presented herself to look holy and acceptable unto the Lord. Like everything in her world was A-okay, although her insides begged to differ.
That pounding that had been in her head all morning was mistaken for the recent pounding on her front door. Once Deborah realized that the pounding wasn’t in her head but one story below her in her split-level home, she raced to her bedroom window only to see both Tamarra and Paige’s cars pulled up in her driveway.
“Haven’t they ever heard of calling before coming by?” she’d complained to herself, but then realized that her upstairs cordless phone hadn’t been charged and that on Sundays she never turned on her cell phone until after church service was over.
Deborah raced over to her full-length mirror and straightened out her clothing. She put on her shoes, and then went into the bathroom. She pulled out a hair twisty from her bathroom drawer and put her locks up in a ponytail. She then ran back into her bedroom and over to her dresser where she retrieved a pair of turquoise clip-on earrings to match the turquoise, black and white pantsuit she was wearing. After thirty-two years, Deborah still feared the little pinch of the earring gun used to pierce ears. To this day she still wore clip-on earrings.
“I’m coming,” Deborah said, knowing her two uninvited guests couldn’t hear her as she raced downstairs to the door. Now here she stood in front of them looking like her marvelous and wonderfully made self. “Is everything okay?” she asked Paige and Tamarra, turning the tables.
“Oh, uh, well, uh,” Paige stammered, searching for words.
Tamarra knew it was time to jump in. “You weren’t in church today, Sister Deborah. We were worried. You had welcome duties today, and we know how much you look forward to that assignment. We knew that nothing but the devil or death could keep you from it. It’s obvious it’s not the latter . . . although you do look casket good if I don’t say so myself.”
Deborah chuckled. “Well, thanks for the compliment. The minute I saw this suit, I knew I had to have it.”
There was a moment of silence.
“So anyway,” Tamarra continued. “You didn’t attend church today.”
“Yes, I did,” Deborah stated. “I just didn’t go to New Day. One of my clients invited me to her church, Power and Glory Ministries over in Reynoldsburg. She dances in the dance ministry there and invited me to see her minister in dance. It was awesome. You know that church goes crazy for the Lord. They be running around the place and everything. They say if folks can get all radical and scream and shout at the football games and basketball games, then they can definitely give the Lord some radical praise.” Deborah had tried her best to recall the visit she’d made to the church over a year ago and make it sound like it had been just yesterday, or in her case, just today.
“Yeah, I heard you can go there on any given Sunday and expect to encounter a move of God,” Paige stated. “I’ll have to go visit one day.”
“Yep, like Pastor always says,” Deborah stated, “it doesn’t matter where you go to church, as long as you do go to church.” On that note Deborah had almost dared the women to question her any further regarding her Sunday whereabouts. “I’ll have to call Pastor, though, and apologize for neglecting my altar duties. I’d honestly forgotten all about Mother Doreen asking me to fill in for her.”
“I’m sure Pastor will understand. We’re just glad to see that everything is all right,” Tamarra stated. She looked over to Paige as if to ask her if there was anything she wanted to add.
“Uh, Tamarra and I are on our way to grab something to eat. Would you like to join us?” Paige threw in.
“Oh, that’s okay. I’ve already whipped a little something up for myself. But thanks anyway,” Deborah declined.
“No, problem,” Paige said as she and Tamarra headed back to their cars.
Deborah watched the women’s backs
and let out a deep sigh of relief. “Thank you, God,” she looked up and said, giving Him credit for being able to get rid of them without incident. How could she have told them why she really wasn’t in church? What in the world would they think of her? But then again, what if God had sent them there for her to tell them? Maybe sharing her hurt, pain, guilt, remorse, and shame with someone would help her get through. Just maybe . . . .
“Tamarra, Paige!” Deborah called out, swallowing hard, trying to force the words she needed to invite them back out of her mouth.
Both women turned around in unison. For a minute there Deborah thought she saw a gleam of hope in their eyes. A gleam of hope that told them that they weren’t crazy after all. That the Holy Spirit had, in fact, led them over to her house in order to save her; save her from herself. Save her from her past.
Deborah wanted so badly to invite the women back. She wanted to beg them to come back; miss a meal on her behalf and just sit and listen while she bared her soul to them. But she couldn’t get naked before them. No. She had far too many unsightly bruises and scars. She hadn’t even been able to get naked before the Lord, who already knew the ugliness of the wounds.
“Yes, Sister Deborah?” Tamarra asked, snapping Deborah from her thoughts. “Did you want something?” She paused and took a couple of steps back toward Deborah. “Did you need something, my sister?” Tamarra had made her last question in somewhat of a pleading tone.
“Uh, I, uh just wanted to say thank you for being so concerned as to drive all the way over here and check on me. Enjoy your dinner.” Deborah quickly closed the door. She pressed her back up against the door and looked up to the heavens with tear-filled eyes. “Please hide me, oh, Lord. Hide me.”
Chapter Ten
“So I saw you come back into the theatre last week after you got off work,” Norman said to Paige as he entered the ticket booth. Today he had come in an hour earlier than he was scheduled in order to relieve Paige while she interviewed a couple of prospective employees.
“What? What are you talking about?” Paige asked, puzzled.
“Well, if you’ve forgotten about Mr. Movie Man already, then I guess he didn’t have anything worth remembering, huh?” Norman winked and elbowed Paige in the arm.
“Mr. Movie Man?” Paige thought for a minute, and then realized that Norman must have been referring to Blake. “Oh, you mean Blake.”
“Is that his name? At least you remembered it. I know how those one-night stands can be.”
“Blake wasn’t a one-night stand,” Paige defended.
“Oh, then there was something memorable about him. It’s amazing what a man can do to a girl in a dark theatre. Trust me, I know.”
“Look, Norman, I know back in the day you and I used to talk about everything. But things have changed now. I’m—”
“My boss now.” Norman finished her sentence with a slight attitude. “Oh, I get it. You got a little promotion, and now you can’t associate with the little peons anymore. And you’re supposed to be a Christian. Tsk. What is that in the Bible about staying humble?” Without even giving Paige a chance to respond, Norman continued with his rant. “Well I guess in all of your Bible Study sessions you missed that one. But you don’t have to worry about me conversing with you anymore, Boss. You’re way up there on the totem pole now. Got a new title, making a few extra dollars. Too good to rub elbows with the little guys now.”
Paige wanted so badly to just sit Norman down and explain to him that her position as his superior had nothing to do with the fact that she was choosing not to engage in such conversations with him as she had done in the past. “Look, Norman—”
“Oh, what are you going to do now? Write me up for insubordination? Well, I apologize, Boss. I beg that you’ll let me off this time with just a verbal warning. I promise this will be my last time ever saying two words to you again.”
Norman appeared to be so hurt and offended that Paige almost felt sorry for him. After all, Norman wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t a bad person. Once upon a time Paige had honestly looked forward to her conversations with Norman. But things had changed. She had changed and, if the conversations didn’t glorify God, she just didn’t want to be a part of them. But how could she get Norman to understand that? Deciding not to say anything to him at the moment, but to pray on it instead, Paige grabbed her things and exited the booth while Norman proceeded to help a customer.
Norman’s little fit hadn’t been all bad, Paige thought in her attempt to see the glass half full. “At least he called me a Christian.” She smiled as she made her way to meet her prospective new employee.
“So how has work been going?” Blake asked Paige as the two sat in a family-owned café in Malvonia with a name that reflected such: Family Café.
“Work is great,” Paige answered. “It’s the people I have to work with that are the problem.” Paige picked up her Reuben sandwich that was cut in half and took a bite.
“Is someone giving you trouble?” Blake had a concerned look on his face as if the school bully had stolen his girl’s lunch money, and he had every intention on meeting him at three o’clock after school to retrieve it.
Paige chuckled, flattered by the protective stance Blake was taking on her behalf even though he’d only known her a couple of weeks. “No, Blake, it’s nothing like that.”
“Then what is it?” Blake ate a spoonful of his chili.
Paige didn’t care how famous the café was for its chili, for the life of her, she didn’t understand how people could still eat it during the hot summer months. Her father would have had a fit had her mother tried to serve him chili anytime other than late fall and winter. Paige smiled. The glass was half full. Blake wasn’t like her father in that respect at least. So far she’d have a good report to give to Tamarra.
“Well, it’s just that there is this employee of mine named Norman.” Since Paige hadn’t gotten around to talking about her issues with Norman to Mother Doreen, she figured she’d give it a stab with Blake. He’d been so easy to talk to about everything else. “Back before I became his supervisor we used to—”
Blake put his hand up to halt Paige’s words. “Pardon me for the interruption, but I’m a strong believer that when two people are in a relationship, details about their past relationships, unless detrimental to one’s health or something, shouldn’t be discussed. So if it doesn’t bother you all the same, I’d prefer not to hear about Norman or how you dated him before you became his supervisor.”
Relationship, Paige smiled inside. Had she heard correctly? Had Blake just spoken their relationship into existence after only three dates?
For years, Paige had been a firm believer in the dating game. She felt people needed to date several people in order to see what all God had to offer. She’d heard church members bad mouth reality shows such as The Bachelor, finding nothing holy about a man dating dozens of women at one time in order to find the perfect one for him. But Paige begged to differ and would always use the book of Esther to back up her belief. “If King Ahaseurus hadn’t dated all those women that ultimately led him to finding Queen Esther, what in the world might have become of the Jews?” Then of course someone always had some smart aleck un-Christlike comment such as, “Well, I don’t know, Sister Paige. You’ll have to ask Hitler about that one.”
In spite of others’ opinions, Paige felt that dating was necessary and never put her eggs all in one basket by being exclusive with one man. But this time she felt different. This time it wasn’t about her putting all of her eggs into one basket. It was about her putting all of her faith in God. Not just her faith, but her trust as well. She was going to trust God and believe that what she and Blake were on more than just a date. They were on a path to a relationship, as he’d just so eloquently put it.
“Norman and I were never in a relationship, Blake.” Paige blushed. “What I was going to say was back before I became his supervisor we used to always talk about life, being single, dating and what not. But back then I wasn’t
saved, so the conversations were . . . how can I put it?”
“Uncensored?”
“Yes, exactly,” Paige confirmed. “And now that I’m saved, Norman just doesn’t get it.”
“Get what? The fact that you don’t do the things you used to do and say the things you used to say? So now, you pretty much don’t have anything to converse with Norman about because he’s still where you were?”
“Exactly!” Paige’s eyes lit up. First he’d finished her sentence with the exact word she was searching for, and now he was reading her spirit as if it had been communicating with his spirit.
“And let me guess,” Blake continued, “this Norman fellow probably thinks you’re just being all high and mighty because you’re his boss now.”
“You hit it right on the money, Blake.”
“Yeah, because I’ve been there, done that, wore the T-shirt and drank out of the coffee mug,” he explained before taking a sip of his sweet tea. “Before I got saved, I was the typical bachelor. I was a firm believer that the dating thing was the way to go. I mean, after all, look how well it worked out for Queen Esther’s husband.”
Paige almost choked on her lemon water when Blake said those words. This man was definitely her equal in thoughts.
“You okay?” Blake asked Paige when he heard her swallow hard.
“Better than okay,” Paige said, regaining her composure. “You were saying . . .”
“Oh, yeah, the dating thing. Anyway, I never thought it was a good idea to just date one woman, and then jump right into an exclusive relationship with her. But once I got saved, I had to ask myself, what if I felt that same way about God? What if I only dealt with God when I felt like it? How could I possibly expect to form a relationship with Him? So I knew right then and there that the same way God wanted all of me and wanted me to have a relationship with Him, I needed to apply the same principles when it came to women. Now I’m not saying not to date altogether. I’m saying dating multiple women at once didn’t make good sense.”