11/04/2007

Precious looked at the peach blouse and the black slacks. She stared at it, hoping that the blouse would do something. It never did. She grabbed the blouse and the shoes, and then walked back over to her closet. She hung the blouse up and then put her shoes back where they belonged. She did not want to wear peach today. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw her blue and pink blouse that everyone says that she looked good in. She snatched it. She looked at it and then decided to wear it. She hadn't worn the shirt in a few weeks, so it was an okay decision. She reached for the blue slacks that she normally wore with the blouse. She got the shoes that she wore with the outfit as she exited the closet.

She put the outfit on her bed. She admired it. It was perfect. The blouse was cut low enough to be seductive, but high enough to not be scanty. Precious laughed at herself. She never considered herself scanty. Her Aunt Helen had always told her, "Baby, if you want to dress sexy, that's fine, but do not show the world all of your stuff. That ain't nice."

Precious went into the bathroom to put on her make-up. She had already taken a shower, so it wouldn't take her as long to get dressed. She and her aunt, Alexia were going to Orchard Park Mall. They were going shopping for outfit to wear to church on Sunday. Actually, Alexia was looking for an outfit to wear to church. Precious was going to the mall to hunt for men. She could care less about a church service.

Precious grew up in church, not by choice, but because her grandfather was the pastor of a big church in the city, so she had to go to church, but once she turned 17 years old, Precious did not set foot in a church again, except for a wedding or funeral. She had made up her mind that she wanted nothing to do with a God that had frauds like her grandfather working for him. Precious hadn't been to church since her Aunt Helen's funeral over eight months ago. The church funeral was not even Precious' idea. She wanted to have the funeral at the funeral home, but the Trudeau's insisted that the funeral be at the church.

Precious took extra time on her make-up. It had to be flawless. She wanted her face to look as if she was not wearing make-up. She hated it when women looked like they were wearing make-up. She made sure that the girls she worked with at the foundation knew how to apply their make-up. Precious did not want any girl that she had worked with to say that she did not teach them how to put on make-up.

This weekend was special. It was Easter weekend. A lot of church people were going to be at the mall looking for outfits to wear to church on Sunday. With three days left, before Sunday, it was going to be nearly impossible to find a decent outfit. Precious did not have to buy an outfit. She had plenty of clothes that she could wear that no one had ever seen before. But Alexia had insisted. Precious knew Alexia's true motive for wanting to go to the mall; to try to get Precious to go to church with her. Alexia asked Precious to go to church during every major Christian holiday; Christmas, Mother's Day, and Easter. Every time, Precious said no. Alexia did not seem to care that Precious said no. Precious did not seem to mind saying no.

Precious had every intention of finding a man at the mall. She knew that she could use her wiles to seduce any man that she met. With her long slender legs, lengthy pretty eyelashes, wide sweet smile, and firm, stout breasts; she could make a man melt with just a sweet sounding hello. She never failed to come away with a man when she set her mind to it.

Many people thought that she was a hussy, but she really was not. she had not slept with as many men as everyone thought she had. She had only slept with 10 men since the age of 19. she just liked being around men and having them fawn over her. By most standards in modern society, only sleeping with 10 men was a small thing. She was always safe whenever she slept with someone. She liked having fun, but she did not want to catch a disease while having fun. Oddly enough, the ten men she had slept with were so called church men. Precious could not figure out why she always ended up sleeping with church men, but they were usually the ones who were eager to sleep with her, at least that is the way that it seemed to her.

Precious did not understand her weakness for church men. She never wanted anything to do with them after she had slept with them. She just wanted them to leave. A couple of them had tried to come back to try to sleep with her again, but she refused their advances.

Precious hadn't been with anyone since her aunt's funeral. She had promised her aunt that she would change her ways and even go back to church. Precious wanted to keep her promise, but she had needs and her body was screaming loud and clear. She was tired of hearing her body, too. She would have to try to keep her promise to her aunt another time, but today, she needed a fix and fast.

Precious finished with her make-up and then put on her clothes. She made sure that every button was lined up correctly; that the crease was perfectly straight. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was ready, ready for whatever the world had to offer her today.

***

Brock Van Duren was getting ready to leave his house in a little while. He was going to meet his bestfriend, Boyd. They were going to the mall. Boyd wanted to find a suit to wear for Sunday. Brock did not have to worry about what to wear, he would be wearing his black robe, so it did not matter what he had on.

He was the new pastor at New Tabernacle of Praise Baptist Church. He had been appointed as the pastor of the church a month earlier. It had been a smooth transition up until Brock had announced his plans for Resurrection Weekend. Most of the people at the church complained that it was too much to do for the weekend and that they had never done anything like that before. Brock knew that God had given him the plan for the weekend and he intended to carry out that plan. He had the support of most of the deacons of the church, so he could go ahead with the plan.

Brock was 28 years old. He was the youngest pastor that had ever been appointed as a pastor in the Central Maddocha Baptist Fellowship of Churches. The youngest person appointed before him was a 30 year old pastor. He had been a youth pastor before. He had been very successful at that endeavor; that's what got him noticed by the fellowship. When the position at New Tabernacle became available, Brock was the fellowship's first choice. He was happy that he had been appointed to the church. He was not afraid because of his age. He was usually the youngest person wherever he went in the fellowship. Most of the ministers were at least 5 years older than him, but Brock never let his age be a hindrance to him. He was as smart as most of the ministers in the fellowship. He was just as educated as the ministers. He also had as much experience as the other ministers.

Brock wanted to be a basketball player at one point in his life. He was a great player, too, but a tragic injury cut his promising basketball career short. Shortly after his injury, Brock decided to go into the ministry full-time and heed the call of the Lord on his life. Brock had been ministering since he was 15 years old. He started in his uncle's church as a deacon and then he was licensed at the age of 13 and ordained at the age of 15. he worked with his uncle as a children's church minister, a youth minister, and as the nursing home minister. Brock liked the nursing home ministry. The people in the nursing home loved him. They were always happy to see him. It was fun, too. Brock enjoyed listening to the stories that the people had to tell. He especially liked talking to an old preacher who lived in the nursing home. Rev. Claude Manikins told the best stories about his life as a traveling evangelist. Rev. Manikins had even given Brock some words of wisdom.

Brock brushed his low cut hair. He had a lot on his mind. This was a big weekend for him. He had never preached a big weekend like this before. He was excited. He was nervous. He was even a little scared. He wanted the weekend to go smoothly. He especially didn't want to make a fool of himself. He had been talking to his uncle all week. His uncle had been encouraging and helpful, but Brock knew that he had to do this weekend by himself with the help of God. Brock was thankful that he had his friend Brock there to help him.

Brock was very confident in his ability to be a pastor, but New Tabernacle was a small church. Brock had never been a part of a church so small. He knew that his every move would be scrutinized and watched. It didn't help that he was single either. That was on of the complaints that the older saints had stated when he was first interviewed to be the pastor. Being single was one of Brock's flaws; at least it was a flaw in the eyesight of his counterparts. They often teased him about being single, especially since he was a good looking dark skinned man. Brock would shake off their teasing. He got tired of it though. Brock had never found anyone he wanted to marry. It was one of those things that he had to live with. No one knew anything about Brock's sex life. No one ever asked him about it. they just made assumptions about it. Brock was still a virgin. He had never been with a woman. Only two people knew this, his uncle and Boyd. Brock had sworn both of them to secrecy. Boyd teased Brock constantly about being a virgin. That was the only thing Boyd had on Brock.

Brock thought about what he was going to wear to the mall. He knew that everyone was going to be at the mall. He had to look like a preacher, but he wanted to be comfortable. He had to change his whole public image, now that he was a pastor. Before, as a youth pastor, he could go out in regular street clothes, looking like the masses, but now, he had to look like a preacher wherever he went. He didn't want to wear a suit all the time, though. He hated that part of being a pastor. He didn't like to wear suits and ties. His uncle teased him about that all the time, "Boy, how can you want to be a preacher and can't stand wearing ties? You are crazy."

Brock stood up to his full six foot length. He stretched and then sat back down on his bed. He was half dressed. He had on his pants and an a-shirt. He had a polo shirt sitting out on the bed that he wanted to wear and a pair of tennis shoes. He shook his head. He couldn't wear that. He went to his closet and found a button down shirt to wear. He also grabbed a pair of black loafers. He reached for his blue blazer as well. He shook his head as he looked at his outfit. He was going to look like a geek, but he had to do it. he knew that Brock was going to have a good laugh at his expense, too.

Brock retrieved his clothes and went to the bathroom to finish dressing. He put on the pink button down shirt and his blue blazer. He looked nice, but it wasn't what he really wanted to wear. He took off the blazer and then the shirt. He reached for the cologne that was sitting on the shelf. He sprayed it on his a-shirt and then put the bottle back on the shelf. He put his shirt back on and took his blazer back into his room. He had 20 more minutes before he had to leave to go pick up Boyd.

Brock went over to his computer desk that sat in his bedroom. His apartment was a small one bedroom place. It was the only thing he could afford at the moment. He was a little cramped, but it served the purpose that he needed it for. He sat down in his chair. He looked at the computer screen. He had tried to start his sermon for Sunday several times, but he still hadn't typed anything on the page. It was blank. Brock stared at the screen, hoping that something would appear on the screen, but nothing did. Brock wasn't worried; he still had 3 days to come up with a sermon.

Brock stood up from the computer. He was tired of staring at the screen. He shut the computer down and grabbed his blazer off the bed. He headed out the front door to go meet Boyd. Brock would have to write his sermon later.