by H.H. Fowler
In Tayah’s book, the Panda Express was the best tasting Chinese food in the bay area. She smiled to herself. Her father would argue differently, however. He was not impressed by a long shot. The building itself was austere and would not appeal to those who judged a book by its cover. It was practically a word-of-mouth kind of thing. She ordered two sodas as soon as she sat down, then decided to order some food as well. Her watch told her she was five minutes early, but it didn’t matter anyway because her lunch date was making his way in.
She stood up to greet him. “Thanks for coming Dominic, you are a true friend.”
Dominic smiled in response before taking a seat opposite her. In his heart, she was more than a friend to him. She had married Phillip, but she was still the love of his life. It was a pity that he would never get the opportunity to express it. He unbuttoned his jacket, staring into eyes that would never be his.
“Tayah, when have I ever let you down?”
“Give me a minute and I’ll think of something,” she quipped.
“Don’t wreck your brain in the process. I know my stats pretty well.”
She laughed, taking in his appearance. She had always loved his style of fashion – preppy, cool, and outgoing. “How have you been, Dominic?”
“I have seen better days.” He took a sip of soda. “I missed you in church yesterday. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen you since the last youth forum.”
“Three words: Black Heritage Festival. Volunteer work is gruesome work. Thank goodness I got today off from my ‘real’ job. But I like it. I learn a lot about the music and the arts of our black people.”
Dominic cocked a grin at her. “You and the arts? Come on, Tayah, you’ve been holding out on me.”
She threw a rolled up napkin at him. “I would have you to know that I am multidimensional. I am not just the pastor’s daughter, you know. There’s a lot to me you haven’t seen.”
“Tayah, you are a workaholic. Admit it. I’m actually amazed by how you find time to do all that you do. How does Phillip feel about all this?” Dominic noticed the gradual change in Tayah’s expression. “Whoa, what did I say?”
“I came here to talk about him, but I don’t feel like I want to anymore.”
Dominic was relieved to hear that. “Then, talk about you. How has Tayah been? We haven’t had a real talk since you got married on me.”
Her eyes found his. They were so attentive – if only Phillip was that attentive, she thought. “I feel like I can tell you anything.”
“You can tell me anything. We didn’t click for nothing.” He looked at her, frowning playfully. “Explain to me again why we didn’t get married?”
She blushed. “Some things never change about you.”
“I’m not the changing type, girl. What you see is what you get.”
She shifted gears a bit. “Do you pray for me, Dominic?”
The waiter brought a huge serving of Singapore noodles and placed it between them. “I ordered before you came.”
“Thank you. To answer your question – I do, at every opportunity.” Dominic sensed Tayah’s sudden reticence. “Don’t feel obligated to spill your beans. It’s cool if you don’t wanna talk about Phillip.”
“You read me so well.”
Dominic smiled. “How funny. I only seem to work the gift of discernment when I’m with you.”
“Would you stop?” she chuckled. They grew silent for a bit, but she kept her eyes on him. “Do you still wish to share something with me?”
He chewed his food slowly, then said, “Yes and I know I can trust you with it.”
“It sounds serious.”
“I think it is. It’s about Abraham.”
“Really? Is he okay?” Tayah asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
Dominic’s weakness was not gossip, but what he had witnessed had greatly troubled him. He had to tell someone about it – to help him deal with the battle that was going on in his mind. Tayah was the right person. The only person. “I think Abraham is stepping out on the scene.”
Tayah furrowed her jet black brows. “I hate it when you do that. Speak English, please.”
“Abraham is sleeping with prostitutes,” Dominic deadpanned.
Tayah stopped chewing. “Pastor Abraham? The Youth Minister?”
“Imagine when I saw one of them in his place. It threw my world in reverse. I thought I walked up in the wrong crib.”
Tayah found herself getting angry with Dominic. “I don’t believe it. Who else have you told this to?”
“C’mon on girl, you know me better than that. I walked off the organ yesterday.”
“You did what?” Tayah stared at Dominic to see if there was a hint of fallacy in his words. “You are serious, aren’t you?”
“Dead serious. Right when Abraham was making his big announcement about the mentorship program. I couldn’t stand to hear him talk about purity and accountability when he wasn’t living any of it. I couldn’t even sleep that night … after I found about his mess.” Dominic looked away to gather his thoughts. “Last Friday, my boy, Sanchez and I were at Abraham’s place, chilling for ‘lil bit. We left, but I ended up leaving my Accounting notes there, which I needed for my mock exam the following morning. So I turned the car around and drove back to Abraham’s place. The door was unlocked and I went in, as I usually did. That’s when I saw her.”
“Who?” Tayah was thinking about how her father would react to such news. Abraham was his right-hand man.
“The prostitute – she was, um…”
“She was what?”
“She was naked. Butt naked, smoking a cigarette.”
“And where was Abraham?”
“I don’t know. I think she told me he was in the shower or something…”
“How did you know she was a prostitute?” Tayah was still not convinced.
“You would have assumed the same thing if you had seen her.”
Tayah disagreed. “But how could you be so sure she was with Abraham?”
“C’mon on, Tayah. What other explanation is there?”
“Maybe there is, Dominic. You shouldn’t be too quick to judge a circumstance at face value. I do believe Abraham is a sincere man of God.”
“Tayah, I’m not judging. I’m struggling to keep a pure mind. I have no reason to hurt the man.” Dominic took another sip of the soda, looking directly into Tayah’s brown eyes. As it was with her younger brothers, she strikingly resembled Leroy. Her thick, flowing hair softened her features. “I’m really having a hard time coming to terms with this.”
“Have you confronted Abraham about it?”
“No, I bolted for the door before I saw him.”
Tayah was not sure how to feel about this. “You know, none of us is perfect. We all have some stuff inside of us we don’t want the world to see. So don’t nail him to the cross if this turns out to be the way it looks.”
Dominic grew silent on that, appreciating Tayah’s perspective on the situation. She always saw the good in everyone. That alone won big points with him. Unfortunately, however, Tayah had warned him a little too late. He had condemned Abraham the minute he saw that naked woman parading around in Abraham’s living room. His next plan of action was to remove his name from Abraham’s mentoring program. “Believe me, Tayah, I’m praying that I’m wrong.”
Chapter Ten