Amanda Jean shook her head. She could not
believe that her sister was so hyped about God. How could anyone still be hyped
about a God who let them suffer like her sister Ramona had suffered? Amanda
Jean pushed her sister. Ramona was in a wheel chair because she was too weak to
walk. Ramona had been diagnosed with cancer over 6 months ago. Amanda Jean did
not believe how happy Ramona had been about the whole situation. Amanda Jean
just could not do it. She could not be happy about her big sister getting
cancer. The world did not seem right. Ramona had lived her whole life as a good
person. She always went to church. She had always told the truth. Ramona should
not have been sick. Amanda Jean on the other hand had been a rascal. She
stopped going to church once she graduated from high school. She did not care
about anyone other than herself. She had even done her share of bad things. If
anyone should have been sick, Amanda Jean thought it should have been her.
Amanda Jean had grown tired of
hearing her sister drone on and on about how wonderful God was. It was more
than Amanda Jean could take. It made no sense to her. She did admire her sister
for staying happy while going through the enormous ordeal. Amanda Jean had
watched her sister go from being a 180-pound woman to nothing more than flesh
and bones. She had watched her sister lose all her magnificent hair. Amanda
Jean had watched her sister loose her friends and even some of their family had
given up hope on Ramona. There were family members going around saying that
Ramona had done something evil; that's why God was punishing her. Amanda Jean
knew that was the furthest thing from the truth. There was no way that God was
punishing Ramona. She hadn't done a thing to warrant the suffering that she had
received.
Amanda Jean had agreed to go to
Easter service with Ramona. She could not believe that she had let her sister
talk her into doing that. Ramona had been so excited about going to the church
that Amanda Jean had agreed to go to church with. Ramona had been talking about
the church, the new pastor, and the new things that were going on at New
Tabernacle of Praise Baptist Church so much that Amanda Jean had to see what all
the excitement was about. As Ramona continued to talk about God, Amanda Jean
was starting to regret agreeing to go to church with her sister.
***
Alexia and Precious had been
driving around in the Orchard Park Mall parking lot for the longest time.
Precious was getting tired of going around in circles. Alexia was doing her
usual thing, driving around, and praying for a close parking space. Precious
did not really believe that it worked, but she did not have a problem with a
close parking space. With her high heels on, she did not relish having to walk
a mile in the high heels she was wearing.
Alexia prayed again silently,
"Lord, I need a parking space up close. I do not want to walk too far in
these high heels. I know Precious is tired of me driving around in circles.
Lord, I need You now."
They circled around the parking
lot one more time and at the beginning of the next time they were going to
circle around, a close parking space opened. It was about 35 meters from the
door of the mall, but it was close enough. Precious blew a long hard breath,
"Thank goodness. We finally got a parking space." Alexia corrected
her niece, "Thank God, baby. Thank God." Precious made a face,
"Do not start that religious stuff today. I am not in the mood for it
right now." Alexia smiled, "Whatever, let's go."
They got out of the car and
made the walk to the mall. Precious could not wait to get into the mall to see
what trouble she could get into. Alexia looked at her niece, from the look in
Precious' eyes; Alexia could tell that she had trouble on her mind.
Brock and Boyd parked the car.
Boyd was the first person to exit the car, "Dawg, it is packed up in here.
Where all these folks come from?" Brock lifted his head up after exiting
the car, "Yea, I guess everyone is trying to buy an outfit or something.
It is amazing how commercialized religious holidays have become. This world has
gone crazy. What did Jesus die for?" Boyd laughed, "Man, do not
preach a sermon out here. Let's just get up in here and then get out of here. I
do not want no problems today." Brock laughed at his friend, "I
cannot help it if I like my job." Boyd started walking towards the mall,
"Man, you are going to be busy doing your job for the rest of the weekend,
so take a day off, please." Brock laughed as he jogged to catch up with
his friend.
Lela Rhineholt arrived at the
mall. She was looking cute. She did not know who might be at the mall today.
She was hoping to see Pastor Van Duren there. She knew it was a long shot, but
she made sure to look extra lovely just in case. The Lord did work in mysterious
ways.
She got a little upset because
she had to walk so far to get into the mall. It was crazy out there. There were
cars everywhere. Who were all these people and why weren't they at work today?
Lela shook her head and made the trek to the mall entrance.
She walked into the enormous
mall. It looked different every time that she walked into it. She looked around
as if this was the first time she had ever walked into the mall. She was
started walking towards the escalator. She was going to go to the fourth floor
and see Deacon Logan. He was one of the deacons from her church. He worked at
the mall. People from the church were always going by to see him. If Deacon
Logan found out that you had been in the mall and hadn't stopped by to see him,
he was offended. It did not make much sense to Lela. She did not want anyone
coming to her job and looking for her, but that was how she felt.
When Lela stepped off the
escalator, she saw Deacon Logan. He was talking to someone. Deacon Logan's body
had the person he was talking to blocked, so Lela could not see who the person
was. Lela walked towards Deacon Logan. As she got closer to the deacon, she
began to see the person he was talking to. It was Pastor Van Duren. Lela
stopped walking. She could not believe her eyes. She began smiling and rubbed
her hair. She ran her hand down the front of her pants and then down the back
of her pants to smooth them out. She sucked her teeth to make sure that she did
not have anything in them. She did not see a mirror anywhere around so that she
could check herself out. She prayed that she did not have anything stuck in her
teeth.
Brock looked up. There was a
female figure walking towards him. As she got closer, he could see that the
woman was one of the members of his church. He figured that she was coming to
see Deacon Logan. Brock tried to finish his conversation with the deacon so
that the lady could have talk to the deacon by herself.
"Yes, deacon, I believe
that God is going to move mightily this weekend. I appreciate all the support
you and the deacon's staff have given me. Your support has been priceless. You
all have made my job here easy," the young pastor declared.
Deacon Logan smiled,
"Pastor, God put you here. I have to support you and your vision. You have
some good ideas. I have liked what you have done so far. God is doing something
at New Tabernacle of Praise Baptist Church."
Brock smiled. He felt good.
Everything hadn't gone well at the church but having Deacon Logan's support had
helped him a lot. Brock admired the wise man and he was thankful that the
deacon was at his church.
Lela walked up to the two men.
She did not get too close because she did not want them to think that she was
eavesdropping on their conversation. She looked the gorgeous man up and down.
He looked good in his outfit. He had on a pink button-down shirt with a pair of
blue slacks. His blue blazer went nicely with his slacks and shirt. The outfit
would have looked better with some blue dress shoes instead of the black loafers
the pastor had on, but he still looked good. "He always looks good,"
Lela thought to herself.
Lela stared at Brock's eyes as
he looked intently at the man he was talking with. Lela liked that about the
pastor. He always looked you in the eyes when you talked to him. He focused
only on you. He made you feel special, as if you were the only person in the
room. It always made Lela feel special when she was able to spend a few seconds
with the pastor and that was all she could ever get.
Brock could feel a pair of eyes
staring at him. He did not want to look away from the deacon. Brock had been
taught by his uncle that if you were talking to someone to always looks at the
person in their eyes. Brock could feel the pair of eyes checking him out. Brock
was a little flatter, but he was becoming uncomfortable with the length of time
the woman seemed to be staring at him. Brock was glad that the deacon had
finished talking.
Brock looked past Deacon Logan
and looked at the woman. It was Sis. Rhineholt one of his members. He smiled at
her and extended his hand, "Hello, Sis. Rhineholt. Nice to see you."
He noticed how nice she was looking and wanted to tell her, but he felt that it
would be inappropriate to do so. He did not want her to get the wrong idea,
either.
Lela extended her hands after
Brock had extended his. His hands were warm and comforting. She did not want to
let his hand go. She could tell by the look on the pastor's eye that she had
held his hand too long. She reluctantly let his hand go and said, "Hello,
Pastor. Nice to see you, too. Are you here doing some shopping?" Brock
smiled, "Something like that. What are you doing here?" Lela almost
lost her breath. She could not believe that she was talking to the pastor. She
gasped and the said, "Trying to find something to wear on Sunday. I am
probably too late to find anything nice. All the good stuff is probably gone,
but I still wanted to look."
Brock smiled. Lela had some
pretty brown eyes. He had never looked at her eyes before. Most of the time, he
just shook hands and went on his way. So many people were trying to talk to him
after the service that it was a blur to him. He realized that Boyd hadn't come
back from going to the restroom yet. Brock shook the thoughts of his friend off
and focused his attention on the pretty brown eyed woman in front of him. He
smiled at her, "I hope you can find something." Lela felt a sensation
in a place that she hadn't felt any sensation in for a long time when Brock
smiled at her. She tried to make herself stopped staring at Pastor Van Duren's
lips. For a moment, she was hoping that he would kiss her.
"Sis. Rhineholt, are you
okay?" Pastor Van Duren interrupted Lela's fantasy.
Lela blinked her eyes and tried
to regain her composure, "I am fine pastor. I drifted off into Daydream
Land for a moment."
The cause of Lela's daydream
smiled again, "What were you daydreaming about?"
"If I told you, you might
have to pray for me right here and now. I better get out of here," Lela
winked at the pastor and walked off quickly before she got herself into some
serious trouble.
Brock was startled. He hadn't
expected Sis. Rhineholt to wink at him. He was trying to figure out why she had
winked at him. Had she been daydreaming about him? Lord, have mercy. That was
all he needed, one of his members chasing after him. He did not want anything
to do with her, but he did watch her walk off. It was a magnificent site to
watch, too.
Boyd walked up as Brock was
watching Sis. Rhineholt walk away.
"Dawg, ain't it against
the pastor's creed to look at a woman that hard. That is a nice site
though," Boyd laughed.
Brock turned purple, "Man,
why you gotta mess with folk?"
Boyd hit Brock on the shoulder,
"You the one staring like you wanted a piece of that."
"It ain't like that and
you know it," Brock defended.
Boyd laughed loudly, "If
you say so man. Who was that anyway?"
Brock started walking,
"Sis. Rhineholt from the church."
"Ole girl that speaks to
you every Sunday?" Boyd inquired.
Brock scratched his head,
"Yea man. Can we go? And
Boyd snorted, "Why you
getting all nervous? Were you flirting with ole girl?"
"Naw man, I think she was
flirting with me. We were talking, and she drifted off. I asked her if she was
okay. She said she was daydreaming. I asked her what she was daydreaming about.
She said that I might have to pray for her if I told her. Then she winked at me
before she walked off," Brock elucidated.
Boyd howled, "Dawg, you
wouldn't even know what to do with that! You betta leave these women alone. You
gonna get yourself into trouble."
Brock laughed, too, "Hey,
she started it. I ain't interested in her anyway."
Boyd laughed at his friend. He
was always turning down some woman. Boyd began to believe that Brock was going
to be a bachelor forever.
