by E. N. Joy
“And I’m sorry for that. It’s just that when you had me check your cell phone to see if that was Pastor’s call you had missed, I pushed a couple of buttons trying to clear the screen, and that picture of us that was on the Web site was on your phone. My mind started thinking up all kinds of things. I honestly thought without a doubt that you were the one who had posted the pictures. But then Sister Deborah came to my house today and shared with me that she’d found out the true culprit. You don’t know how awful I felt.”
“If you felt as bad as I did when I thought that, once again, the woman of my dreams had somehow slipped out of my life, then you’re wrong. I do know how awful you felt.”
“Maeyl, why are you like this? So forgiving? You don’t even make me work for your forgiveness. I’d feel a lot better if you’d at least show some kind of a grudge.”
“I’m only operating the way my Lord and Savior would have me,” Maeyl reasoned. “Remember how many times the Bible says we must forgive a man?”
“Seven times seventy,” Tamarra answered.
“And on top of that, God doesn’t make us have to work for His forgiveness. It’s automatic once we ask. And who has time to hold a grudge? As a man of God, I try my best to walk in love daily, and sometimes that means forgiving those who we don’t even feel deserve forgiveness.”
“So are you saying that I don’t deserve your forgiveness?” Tamarra asked softly.
“Would that make you feel better if I said you didn’t?” Maeyl smiled.
“Perhaps,” Tamarra teased.
“Well, sorry. I cannot lie, not even to make you feel good. You deserve forgiveness, Tamarra, and I forgive you.”
“Thank you, Maeyl, and I really am sorry. I’m so sorry for once again jumping to conclusions.”
“Once again, apology accepted. But tell me, who is the real culprit?”
Tamarra proceeded to give him the details. But with curiosity still getting the best of her, Tamarra asked, “But can I ask you one thing? Why did you have the picture on your cell phone?”
“Well, when the church secretary couldn’t get me on either my home phone or my cell phone, she decided to send me a text message along with the picture to download. I simply had forgotten to delete it.” Maeyl paused for a moment. “I take that back. That’s a lie. I didn’t forget to delete it. I didn’t want to delete it. Heck, you looked kind of cute in that picture.”
Tamarra blushed before planting a kiss on Maeyl’s cheek. This was the first time she’d ever laid lips on him, and it felt good. “I’m gonna go over to the vending machine and grab a Mountain Dew. Would you like anything?”
“No, I’m good,” Maeyl replied.
“All right,” Tamarra said, then stood up with her purse in hand. That’s when she saw Paige heading toward her. She’d forgotten that she had also called Paige and told her about Deborah’s car accident. She realized that perhaps she should have called Paige back and told her not to come to the hospital when Maeyl called Pastor. It was too late now.
“I left work as soon as Norman showed up to fill in for me,” Paige explained, hugging Tamarra. “I didn’t have any business working on a Sunday no how,” Paige fussed at herself. “Now God done made a way to pull me out of that place, although I wish it had been under different circumstances. How is Sister Deborah anyway?”
“She’s fine,” Tamarra replied. “Just a bump on the head pretty much. The emergency squad just wanted to take precautions and bring her here for X-rays. Everything is fine.”
“Thank God,” Paige said as she hugged Tamarra. That’s when she saw Maeyl sitting nearby. “Uh, hi, Brother Maeyl,” Paige said, then looked at Tamarra in an attempt to study her face to make sure she was okay with Maeyl being there. Tamarra had told her about how she was really finished with him this time after discovering the picture from the Web site on his phone. But when Tamarra shot Paige the “it’s okay” look, Paige figured everything had been worked out.
“Hello, Sister Paige.” Maeyl stood, then looked at Tamarra. “I’m going to go now that Sister Paige is here.”
“All right, Maeyl. I’ll call you. And thanks again for coming.” For the second time, Tamarra allowed her lips to rest on Maeyl’s cheek. “Drive safely.”
It was a toss up between Maeyl and Paige as to who was more shocked by Tamarra’s show of public affection in front of someone they knew. Maeyl exited the hospital.
“Did I just see you plant a pucker on that man’s face?” Paige asked.
“Yes, you did,” Tamarra said proudly as she looked around the hospital. “And hopefully someone got a picture of that.”
The women high-fived as they waited for Deborah to be discharged. Tamarra filled her best friend in on all of the past couple hours developments. She praised God the entire time, thanking Him that everything had worked out for her good in the end. But when Paige then turned the conversation to her and Blake and how quickly their relationship was moving along, Tamarra realized that almost everything had worked out for her good in the end—almost.
There was still a tad bit of information she’d withheld from Paige. It was information regarding what Paige referred to as her divine set-up. Hopefully everything would work out for good in that situation as well. Now if only Tamarra could find just the right time to tell her before things between Paige and Blake moved any quicker.
Chapter Twenty-five
“I was scared out of my mind. Your father and I were five minutes from taking the next flight to Ohio.”
Tamarra had forgotten all about the fact that she’d been talking to her mom right before Deborah decided that a squirrel’s life was more valuable than her BMW and ran off the road in a failed attempt at avoiding the little critter. With all of the excitement of being at the hospital, making up with Maeyl, and her issue with Paige, she’d forgotten to call her poor, worried sick mother.
“Oh, Mom, I’m so sorry,” Tamarra told her, then filled her in on all that had happened. “I didn’t mean to worry you or Dad.” Although Tamarra was still trying to keep her spirits up, a part of her wanted to get indignant with her mother and ask her why she was so worried about her well being now when she should have been worried over twenty-five years ago.
“Well, is your friend all right?”
“Yes, she’s fine. Only suffered a knot on her head. Her car even ended up being okay once the tow truck pulled it out of the ditch. I drove her to it once they released her from the hospital.”
“Well, look at what God did for you.”
“Yeah, He is something,” Tamarra said. “Well, Mom, it’s been a long, long day, and I have a brunch to cater tomorrow. I’d best lay it down and get some shut eye.” Tamarra wasn’t really tired. She was just attempting to keep her spirits up, and she knew that if her mother resumed the topic of conversation she was about to bring up prior to their phone conversation being cut short, Tamarra’s spirit would pop like a balloon blown up beyond capacity, then deflate accordingly.
“Well, okay, dear. I understand.” Tamarra could hear the disappointment in her mother’s voice. It was evident her sweet hopes of resuming the conversation had just turned bitter. “Can you call me tomorrow after your catering affair?”
“Sure, Mom,” Tamarra lied. “Talk to you tomorrow.” Tamarra hung up the phone, then folded her arms in prayer. “Lord, I just got over one huge hurdle. Please spare me a little time to be refilled with your strength before I’m faced with an even bigger one, one that I know has been a long time coming.”
On the following Wednesday after Bible Study, Deborah and Tamarra met with Pastor and reported the information about what Deborah had seen on Helen’s cell phone. Pastor said that before any further steps were taken or before Helen was confronted with the matter, everything needed to be reported to and addressed with the New Day board members. Pastor then wanted time for the board to look into things further, see if they could find a way to confirm that the pictures had actually been posted from Helen’s phone. There had to be some type of t
echnology that could prove their claim.
In the meantime, Pastor asked Tamarra if she would be able to deal with attending services with Helen until the investigation was over. At first Tamarra was set on putting up a fight, thinking the pastor was just trying to save face and avoid confrontation with Helen. But then the Holy Spirit reminded her of how many mistakes she had made without properly looking into things. How she’d been falsely accused of things without anyone bothering to look into them on her behalf. She imagined she’d want the same type of respect.
She agreed that Pastor and the board members were right to want to be clear on everything before they went accusing anyone of anything. So she decided to let things go and let God. After all, it seemed as though whenever she did that, things always worked in her favor. For once she wanted to know what it felt like to be out of God’s way and in God’s will.
Deborah purposely neglected telling Pastor about how Helen had been taunting her. Telling Pastor would more than likely mean revealing every little thing dating back to four years ago. She’d vowed she’d never do that. She’d never speak on it; not even with God. Besides, she didn’t want Pastor to think she was going on some kind of witch hunt against Helen. If Deborah got her way, Helen would be so embarrassed and ashamed once Pastor and the board confronted her about the pictures, that she’d find a new place of worship anyhow. Then Deborah’s little secret could stay swept under the rug just like it had been.
It all sounded like the perfect plan, but unfortunately, God’s plan isn’t always man’s plan. This was one of those times. Sooner or later, it was God’s plan for Deborah to finally face her past demons . . . and Him.
Chapter Twenty-six
Paige and Blake headed up Interstate 70 toward her parents’ house for only the second time in their now almost six months of dating. Blake had practically insisted that Paige arrange for them to go up one Saturday and just hang out with her parents. He’d told her that two major holidays had passed since he’d met her parents, Thanksgiving and Christmas (three if counting New Year’s), and he’d yet to spend some real quality time with her mother and father.
Although Paige could almost always bear to stay away from her father for as long as possible, she loved spending time with her mother. But no matter how much time she spent with her mother as an adult, she knew it couldn’t make up for all the times she’d wanted to spend with her as a child . . . but couldn’t. Usually she never got any alone time with her mother, but this time Blake had asked Paige to hint around to her father that he’d like for him to take him over to the construction company and show him the ropes a little bit.
Mr. Robinson was more than happy to oblige. Although retired, he still had a great deal of control over the company, making it a point to visit the establishment or one of its sites daily just to stay on top of things. For the first time since Paige could remember, this would give her an opportunity to have some alone time with her mother. No interruptions by her father’s yelling out orders from another room.
“You nervous?” Paige asked Blake as he drove with her on the passenger side. It was all like déjà vu; everything, right down to Blake’s nervous silence.
“No,” he replied without letting two seconds go by before recanting. “I take that back. I lied. I repent. I’m nervous as heck.”
Paige laughed. “I knew it.”
“It’s that obvious, huh?”
“You haven’t said two words in the last ten minutes. But this time I can’t imagine why you’d be nervous. You’ve already met my parents, and they love you. My mom adores you, and my dad adores anyone who is willing to relinquish their Saturday afternoon to hear all about his thirty-five years in the construction business.”
“I guess I’m just rehearsing in my head what to say.”
“What do you mean rehearsing what to say? Just be yourself. That’s the person who they already know and like.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Blake said with a smile as he tapped Paige’s knee, then allowed his hand to rest on it momentarily.
Paige felt a tingling sensation throughout her body. She hadn’t felt that way since the last time Blake had touched her; when she had finally confessed to him the secret she’d been keeping from him, which was the fact that she was still a virgin. Unbelievably, a twenty-seven-year-old virgin. She had been so embarrassed, initially not being a virgin by choice, but because she’d never dated a man long enough for him to get up to bat, let alone any bases. But after getting saved, Paige had been glad that she had not sinned against God with her body.
Ever since sharing such personal information with Blake, he had been very mindful not to do anything that might arouse either one of them in the wrong way. He wanted to respect both her Christianity and her virginity.
As soon as Blake pulled up in Paige’s parents’ driveway, her dad came barging out of the house with his jacket on. “You ‘bout ready?” he said to Blake, shaking his hand.
“Dang, Daddy. Can we go inside and at least say hi to Mama,” Paige asked him.
“Oh, she’ll be there when we get back. Blake can say hi to her then.” He then looked to Blake. “Ain’t that right?”
Blake shrugged, wishing he could shake off his nervousness. He at least wanted to go inside and pray before venturing out with Paige’s father, especially knowing that what he really wanted to discuss with the man had nothing to do with the construction business whatsoever.
While Blake and Paige’s father had immediately headed off for her father to begin showing Blake the ins and outs of the construction business, Paige remained at the house with her mom. The two women were in the kitchen. Paige’s mother stood at the counter placing the ingredients for a cake in the bowl. Paige sat at the kitchen table nibbling on a couple of slices of the ham her mother had prepared.
“Mom, why don’t you come sit down and rest? That will give us time to talk. Besides, you said yourself you’ve been up since six this morning, and now you’re over there slaving over some cake.”
“Oh, I’m fine. I want to get this cake made before your father gets back.”
“Figures,” Paige mumbled under her breath as she sank her teeth into a piece of ham and yanked like a dog at feeding. She was more than just a little bit perturbed that even in her adult years she couldn’t get her mother to pull herself away from doing something for her father long enough to have a five-minute conversation.
“What was that?” Paige’s mother asked.
Paige hadn’t meant to make her snide comment as loud as she had. It was just intended for her ears; her own release. But obviously she hadn’t expressed herself in a low enough tone. “Nothing, Mom,” Paige said at first as she stood to go into the living room, but then decided she’d bitten her tongue long enough. She was a grown woman, and her mother would just have to accept it; that her daughter had an opinion, a voice, and that she’d never end up like her. “Actually, Mom, I did say something. I said ‘it figures.’”
“What figures?” Her mother continued mixing without even looking up at Paige.
“It figures that you’d rather stand over there until you collapse just to please Daddy instead of take five lousy minutes to devote to a conversation with your daughter.” Paige felt moisture running down her cheeks and couldn’t believe she had worked up tears.
“Oh, honey, you sound like a spoiled brat,” her mother said, still not looking up.
“Spoiled kids get doted with attention and everything they want. I grew up anything but spoiled. I couldn’t even get my own mother to teach me how to use a tampon. You know who had to teach me how to use one, Mother? Sylvia from next door. And she was a year younger than me. She’d already had her period a year and her mother had taught her how to use one. I cried so hard that day in Sylvia’s bathroom. She didn’t know I was a virgin. That’s when she told me I should use Maxi Pads. And you know what? I’m still a virgin. I bet you didn’t even know that about me, did you, Mom?”
By now Paige had tears streaming down her face.
She was sniffling and snotting. Shoulders heaving. Of course, her mother was now giving her daughter her undivided attention.
“Honey . . . I . . . I—”
“You’re what?” Paige stood up in frustration. “Sorry you allowed Dad to force you to be at his beck and call. And while you were so miserable slaving for him you missed out on the time with your daughter?”
Mrs. Robinson dropped the mixing spoon into the bowl. “Force? Sweetheart, I don’t know what you’ve been thinking all of these years, but I love your father, and I love doing things for him. He’s never forced me to do anything a day in my life. I don’t always say the words ‘I love you’ to your father, so my way of showing him versus telling him is doing things for him. I love pleasing my man,” her mother assured her.
“Mom, you can save it, because I saw your face that day. I saw how good it made you feel the first time you all met Blake and he offered to get you a dinner roll instead of you jumping up and down like a jack-in-the box doing for everybody else.”
“You’re right, it did make me feel good. It made me feel good for you.”
Paige was confused now, and it showed all over her face.
“Sit down, sweetie, and let me explain something to you,” her mother said.
The two women sat down at the table. Mrs. Robinson took her daughter’s hands into her own. “I know how you are. ‘Spite the house you grew up in and how you witnessed my relationship with your father, I knew you’d never be like me. God didn’t cut you from the same cloth as me. He cut you from the same cloth as your father.”
“I’m nothing like Dad.” Paige was appalled at the fact that her mother could even make such a comparison.
“Oh, but you are.” Mrs. Robinson smiled while patting Paige’s hand tenderly. “You’re strong like your father. You’re independent like your father, and you always know what you want like your father. And that’s okay, honey. There is nothing wrong with that, but at the same time, you have to know your role as a woman. And from the bottom of my heart, I honestly thought that was the example I was displaying to you all those years. I had no idea you thought I was allowing myself to be some doormat. I love your father, and when God blesses you with a man whom you love the way I love your dad, you’ll happily want to do all those things for him as well. And you’ll do them cheerfully.”