11/11/2007

Deacon Logan watched the exchange between Pastor Van Duren and Sis. Rhineholt. He laughed at the whole discussion. It was obvious that Sis. Rhineholt was flirting with the young pastor. Deacon Logan had wondered why more of the single women of the church had not been flirting with the young preacher. He was handsome. He seemed to have himself together. He was also very respectful. Perhaps, Sis. Rhineholt had telepathically staked her claim on the new minister and the other single women knew better than to miss with him. He and his wife had some reservations about hiring a single pastor. There was always the chance that a torrid romance could occur at any moment with a young pastor, especially one who had the wrong motives. After talking with Pastor Van Duren, it was apparent that he had his head on straight and could handle himself.

Deacon Logan watched as the woman walked off from the pastor sensuously. Pastor Van Duren watched her walk off intently. Deacon Logan laughed. It was hard for him to not watch the woman walk away, so he did not make a big deal that the young pastor was watching her walk away, after all, he was a man.

Precious and Alexia walked around on the first floor of the mall. There was not much of interest to Precious on this floor. This floor of the Orchard Park Mall housed all of the family orientated stores. There were stores for children, families, furniture, and the major department stores. All the men on this floor were more than likely married. Precious had no interest in married men. That was one line that she was not willing to cross. Messing around with single men was one thing, but breaking up someone's marriage was not a risk that she was interested in taking. She was not big on religion and church, but she knew that God did not like it when you messed up a marriage. She knew she had enough of God's wrath coming her way; she did not want o mess with an institution that He held so dear to His heart.

Alexia liked looking in the furniture stores. She liked to see what new designs were out. She liked seeing how the designs were put together. As much as Alexia liked looking at the furniture, she had an ulterior motive for looking in the furniture stores. Alexia knew that Precious would not mess with a married man. Precious had her flaws, but she did have some morals. Alexia wanted to put off Precious' man hunting for as long as possible. Precious knew complained about Alexia looking in the stores, so Alexia never stopped the tradition.

Precious and Alexia was walking around in the furniture. There was a black leather sofa set that would look exquisite in her apartment. She sat down on it. The leather felt good nest to her skin. She crossed her legs. A man walked by as she crossed her legs. He stopped for a moment, "Ohh that couch looks good on you." Precious made stealth like glance at his ring finger. He had a ring on it. She smiled, "Thanks. Whatever I am wearing looks good on me." The man smiled. He moved as if he wanted to sit down next to the sexy woman. She took note of this and stood up from the couch, "I better go find my man and see if he likes this couch." She walked off with a flip of her hip in the man's direction. He looked sad as he walked off.

Precious got close to Alexia who had watched the whole exchange.

Alexia was laughing, "Girl, you are so crazy. You ain't even right."

Precious laughed, "Whatever. You know I ain't even about to entertain a married man. Are you through acting like you are looking at furniture?"

Alexia made a face, "Why you gotta be silly?"

Precious frowned, "I ain't even crazy. I know what you are doing, Auntie Stalling."

Alexia stuck her tongue out at Precious, "Do not call me that. I have no idea what you are talking about either. Do you have somewhere else to be anyway?"

Precious started walking towards the exit of the store that led to the mall, "Yep, go find me a man."

Mikala Neu walked around the mall with her mother. She wished that she could ditch split up with her mother and go where she wanted to go. Mikala knew every inch of the mall. She hung out at the mall. She loved it. She had walked all of the 2,793,200 square feet of the mall. She had been in all of the stores. Most of the people in the stores knew her by name. She was the only teenager that really hung around the mall. Most of the teenagers hung out at the Woodhills Mall in the Woodhills area of the city. Mikala did not mind being different. She did not like hanging out with teenagers her own age anyway. They usually ended up in trouble more than anything else. Mikala hated being in trouble. She hated disappointing her mother, which it seemed like she had been doing more often than not lately.

Michelle tapped her daughter on the shoulder, "Mikala, what do you think about this dress?"

Mikala looked at her mother who was holding up a pink dress, "It is okay." Mikala did not mean it. She did not want to wear the dress.

Michelle shook her head. She could tell that her daughter did not like the dress. Michelle blew a breath. She could not figure out why her daughter did not like wearing dresses.

Mikala watched her mother. She did not know what to do. She did not like the dress, but she would wear it if her mother wanted her to wear it. Sometimes, Mikala wanted to start a big fight with her mother so that her mother would just leave her alone. She had started a small fight before. It took her mother 3 weeks before she said anything to Mikala after the fight. Mikala did not like those 3 weeks. From then on, she tried not to instigate any fights, although they still occurred. But at this moment, Mikala was fighting the urge to start a fight. She wanted to leave the mall so badly that she was willing to risk another 3 weeks of the silent treatment from her mother.

Michelle stepped back. She bumped into something. When she turned around, she saw that it was a lady that she had bumped into. Michelle looked at the lady, "I am so sorry. I was not paying attention." The lady smiled, "It is okay. I was not watching where I was going." Michelle smiled back at the lady, "I guess we both need to pay attention." The lady walked away, "Yes, we do. Have a good day of shopping." Michelle responded, "You, too."

While her mother was engaged with the lady, Mikala walked over to the jeans section of the store and started looking through the jeans. She saw a pair that she did not have. The jeans were dark blue with silver accents and rhinestones. As much of a tomboy as she was, she still loved wearing rhinestones and other jewels. That made her mother happy and even gave her some hope. Mikala laughed to herself, "One of these days, I am going to have to start acting like a girl."

Michelle looked around for her daughter. She was nowhere to be found. Michelle uttered something unintelligible and then headed for the pants section of the juniors department. She knew that her daughter was going to be there.

Michelle reached the pants and saw her daughter looking at a pair of jeans that had rhinestones on them. Michelle smiled. Her daughter did have some feminine traits. The girl loved rhinestones. She put rhinestones on everything. Michelle thought to herself, "There is still hope for her. Maybe she will not be a tomboy forever."

Mikala could sense her mother's presence. She turned around and looked at her mother, "Sorry, Mom. I thought you were going to be a minute talking to that lady."

Michelle took the pair of jeans from her daughter, and then looked at them, "You and your rhinestones. Do you want these?"

Mikala smiled, "Yes. Can I get them?"

"Yes, if you promise to pick out a cute dress to wear on Sunday," Michelle bargained.

Mikala laughed. Her mother always had an angle. She wanted the jeans, so she obliged, "Ok. Cool. If you help me pick it out." Mikala knew that would make her mother feel good.

Michelle smiled, "Okay. Let's go find a dress."

Mikala took the jeans from her mother and draped them over her right arm. She walked close to her mother's right side and looped her left arm into her mother's arm and they walked back over to the dress section, happy with their compromise.

Boyd and Brock walked off the escalator onto the 3rd floor. This was the men's floor. Everything that a man could want was found on the third floor, from clothes to hunting equipment. They walked until they reached RayRay's Men's Store. This was the store to get men's dress suits. RayRay's had all the latest men's suit. They had all the colors in the rainbow, even if you wanted a pink suit, you could find it at RayRay's. The pink shoes to match your pink suit could be found at the store as well.

RayRay's was the first store that Brock and Boyd found out about when they got to the city. One of the deacons in the closing interview meeting said, "Man, if you like to buy clothes, you have got to go to RayRay's. There are two of them in the city, one at the Orchard Park Mall. The other is in a shop in the Plainview Hills Mall. That's the store. Mr. Ray goes to our church. He may give you a discount, since you are the pastor." Brock silently laughed at the younger deacon. He seemed to take pleasure in being the one to tell the new pastor about the store. Brock knew that Boyd would love the store.

Mr. Ray was standing at the cash register waiting on a customer. The customer was in an exquisite suit. He had diamond rings on three of his fingers. On his ring finger, he had a ring with a big purple jewel on it. From that, Brock surmised that the man must have been a Bishop. Brock waved at Mr. Ray and started to walk towards the suits.

Mr. Ray called his name, "Pastor Van Duren, come here for a second." Pastor Van Duren compiled to the store owner's request and walked over to the counter.

Mr. Ray extended his hand, "Bless you, pastor. Good to see you today."

Pastor Van Duren took the man's hand and shook it, "Good to see you, too, Bro. Ray."

"I want you to meet Bishop Bryant Terraholt. He is the pastor of the Greater Emmanuel House of Restoration and Deliverance Through the Power of God," Mr. Ray relayed.

Pastor Van Duren looked at the Bishop and then extended his hand, "Pleasure to meet you Bishop Terraholt."

Bishop Terraholt reluctantly extended his hand, "Hello. And you are who?"

Pastor Van Duren did not appreciate the tone of the bishop's voice, "I am Pastor Brock Van Duren. I am the new pastor of New Tabernacle of Praise Baptist Church."

Bishop Terraholt turned his nose up at Pastor Van Duren, "Uhh huh. That's good." The bishop looked at Mr. Ray, "I have to go. I have some important things to take care of." The pretentious bishop walked off after shaking Mr. Ray's hand. The ostentatious man made no effort to acknowledge Pastor Van Duren's presence as he left. Pastor Van Duren made a face at the bishop's back. He regained control of himself. He did not want to act up in front of Mr. Ray.

Brock hated it when other preachers acted as if they were better than another preacher just because they had a "bigger" title. Titles did not really matter because they all did the same job, preached the gospel and won souls to Christ. Brock shook himself, "Let it go man. It ain't worth it."

Mr. Ray could tell that Pastor Van Duren had been offended by Bishop Terraholt's actions. The store keeper was not sure what to do, should he try to comfort the young man or should he just leave it alone? Mr. Ray decided to wait to see how the pastor responded and then he would take the appropriate action.

Pastor Van Duren looked at Mr. Ray, "Have you been busy today?"

Mr. Ray smiled. He did not have to do anything. He shook his head up and down, "It has been non-stop up in through here. I have not even had a chance to go get lunch. I think my son should be coming in after he gets off from work and help me out for awhile. Hopefully, he will get off early."

Pastor Van Duren looked around the store. There did not seem to be much left in the store. Mr. Ray turned his attention to a customer who had walked into the store. Brock walked towards Boyd, who was in the shoes section.

Boyd was looking at a pair of brown shoes. Brown was Boyd's favorite color. He had more brown things than the law allowed.

Brock tapped his friend on the shoulder, "Man, not another pair of brown shoes. You got enough brown shoes anyway."

Boyd paid no attention to his friend.

Brock laughed and then looked at a pair of blue shoes that would go great with the outfit he had on. He looked around for an attendant. A guy who looked younger than Brock walked over to them, "Can I help you?" Pastor Van Duren smiled and used his preacher voice, "Can you bring me this shoe in a size 12?" The attendant took the shoe from Pastor Van Duren and walked to the storeroom.

Boyd looked at his friend, "Why are you looking at some blue shoes?"

Brock continued to look around, "Cause I do not like these shoes I have on now. I do not have any that I wanted to wear with the outfit, so I may buy some now."

Boyd laughed, "You buy some shoes and wear them out of the store. Whatever. What brought that on?"

"I heard a lady downstairs say, 'He could have found some better shoes to wear,' so I decided to do just that. Cannot have folk talking about my shoes. I am trying to make an impression," Brock shared.

"I have been telling you to get some better shoes. You cannot walk around in some loafers. You are a pastor. People expect their pastor to be flossing, whether folk will admit it or not, that's how they think. It's about time you realize that," Boyd reproved.

Brock shook his head and ignored his fussing friend. Boyd always made a big deal about how people looked. Brock did not care as much as Boyd did. As long as you were ironed and did not have holes, you looked fine to Brock. He knew that he had to better in the clothing department. As much as Brock did not want to admit it, Boyd was right. Brock had been saving up some money to buy more suitable pastor clothing.

Brock had a thought, "Perhaps that was why the Bishop Terraholt looked down his nose at me. I was not dressed properly." Brock shook his head as the attendant walked up to him with two boxes in his hands. Brock sat down on a chair that was in the shoe section so that he could try on the shoes.

The attendant knelt down on the floor next to Pastor Van Duren and took a pair of shoes out of one of the boxes. He took the paper that was stuffed in the shoe out of the box and then help Pastor Van Duren put the shoe on his foot. Pastor Van Duren put the other shoe on and then stood up and walked around for a few seconds. He walked over to the mirror and looked at his foot in the shoes. They looked good on his foot and with his outfit.

Boyd walked over to Brock and lifted his pant leg up, "They look good. I like them."

Brock shook his leg, "Are you my daddy now?"

Boyd laughed, "I am just trying to help you out. You know you ain't got no style anyway." Brock made a face and then went back over to the chair where the attendant was.

The attendant said, "I brought these shoes, too. They look a little better than the ones you have on. You can try them on if you want to." The attendant took the shoes from the box and handed them to the young pastor.

Pastor Van Duren took the shoes from the attendant and looked at them. He looked at the shoes that were on his feet. The shoes in his hands did look better than the ones on his feet. The only problem with the shoes in his hands was that they had a string on them. He hated dress shoes that tied; he could never keep them tied. He did like the look of the square toed shoes, so he decided to try them on.

While Brock was trying to take the shoes on his feet off, Boyd walked over to where he was. He grabbed the square toed shoes from Brock's lap.

Boyd looked the shoes over, "Man, I like these. You are not thinking about getting these are you? You hate tie up shoes. Let me get these."

Brock tried to take the shoes from Boyd hands. He almost fell off the chair. Boyd laughed, "Man, just give me the shoes and there will not be any trouble."

Brock made a face, "Boy, give me them shoes and go find some of your own. You got enough shoes. Let somebody else own a pair of shoes beside you."

Boyd walked away from Brock with the shoes. Brock made a face.

The attendant was having fun watching the two friends fight over the shoes. He hoped that they both would buy the shoes; it meant more money for him.

Brock looked at the attendant. He was half laughing. Brock felt kind of bad because he looked foolish in front of the young man. How could he have forgotten who he was and acted silly? Brock became stoic.

Boyd saw the expression on Brock's face change. He knew that Brock felt bad for acting goofy in public. Boyd hated when Brock acted like that. They were just having fun. They had not done anything wrong. It did not make any difference to Brock though, he always felt bad when he thought he had acted foolish in public.

Boyd handed the square-toed shoes to Brock, "Here are the shoes. You can get them if you want to. I was just messing with you."

Brock took the shoes. He really wanted to leave, but he wanted to try on the square toed shoes. He tried them on with the help of the store attendant. He repeated the routine he had done before when he was wearing the other shoes. He liked the look of the square-toed shoes. He decided to get them instead of the other shoes. He walked back over to the chair.

The attendant was talking to Boyd, "How long have you all been boys?"

Boyd laughed, "Forever man. We are more like brothers than friends."

The attendant admired the relationship that they had. The attendant was not close to his two brothers. He did not have many friends either. He usually just hung by himself.

Boyd could tell that the attendant was not paying attention to him. He wondered what the young guy could be thinking about. After a few seconds, Boyd said, "Do you have any brothers?"

The attendant was startled, but he responded, "Yea. I have two."

Boyd responded, "That's cool. How long have you been working here?"

Before the shoe salesman could answer Brock walked back over to where he was. Brock said, "I like these. I will take these."

The attendant looked up, "Okay. I will take them up to the front for you. Do you want to look around some more?"

Brock looked down at his feet. He did not want to take the shoes off, "I want to keep these on. I can go pay for them now and then keep looking around the store."

The attendant smiled, "Cool, man. I will just put your shoes in the box for you. You can take the box up front and pay for them. Just tell Mr. Ray what you are doing. He will take care of you."

Brock smiled, "Cool. Thanks."

The attendant did everything that he had said that he was going to do and then handed the box to Brock before taking the box of shoes that Brock did not want back into the store room.

Brock walked up to the cash register. Mr. Ray was talking to a young man who had entered the store. Brock looked at the young man. He was tall enough to be a basketball player. The more Brock looked at the young man, the more the young man looked like one of the players from the Jouette Doggs. He did not know which player it was, thought.

Mr. Ray looked at Pastor Van Duren. He paused for a moment, and then he introduced the two men.

"Pastor Van Duren, this is Marquis Moore. He plays for the Jouette Doggs. Marquis, this is Pastor Brock Van Duren. He is the pastor of New Tabernacle of Praise Baptist Church."

The two men shook hands. Pastor Van Duren smiled at the basketball player, "Nice to meet you. I did not know Mr. Ray had famous customers."

Marquis giggled nervously, "Yea, I heard about Mr. Ray from one of the other player son the team. He takes good care of us."

Mr. Ray smiled, "Pastor, I am trying to get him to come to church on Sunday, but he is being stubborn."

Marquis giggled nervously again, "Mr. Ray, why you gonna put me on blast like that?"

Mr. Ray grabbed the young man's arm, "I am just trying to get you to church, that's all."

Pastor Van Duren joined the conversation, "Marquis, we would be happy to have you visit us. We have a very relaxed atmosphere, so you will be comfortable at the church."

Marquis looked off. He was not sure what to do at this moment. He did not see a way out of making a commitment to the two men. He giggled nervously for a third time, "I will try and come by the church. I cannot promise that I will make it, but I will try to make it."

Mr. Ray wanted a promise to come, but Pastor Van Duren interrupted the older man before he could speak, "Marquis, that's all we can ask for. Prayerfully, the Lord will work everything out so that you can make it to the church. Mr. Ray will save you a seat."

Marquis smiled. The young minister had helped him out. He had an excuse to leave, "Thanks Pastor Van Duren. I need to go. It was cool meeting you."

The two men shook hands and then Marquis left the store.

Mr. Ray was a bit irate at Pastor Van Duren. He wanted an explanation as to why he did not make Marquis promise to come to church.

"Pastor, why did you let him get out of coming to church like that," the old man shrieked.

Pastor Van Duren was a bit shocked at the man's voice level, "Mr. Ray, I could tell that he did not want to make a promise. It would have been more detrimental to make him promise. By giving him a choice, he will more likely come to church."

The store owner was not happy with the young pastor's response, "I have been trying to get that boy to church forever. It was a blessing to have you here when he was here. I at least figured you would get him to come to church."

The newly appointed pastor could not understand Mr. Ray's attitude, "I believe he will be at church on Sunday. I did not make him feel like he had to come to church or else, but I made him feel like it was his choice to come to church."

The store owner began to believe the young preacher. Maybe he was right. If Marquis did not come to church on Sunday, Mr. Ray was going to be upset.

Marquis Moore was happy to get away from the pesky old man who was always trying to get him to come to church. The store owner seemed to hate taking no for an answer. Every time that Marquis walked into the store, Mr. Ray was on his case. Marquis was beginning to think that he should have never told Mr. Ray that his father was a pastor. After Marquis told the old man that, the man began bugging him like crazy.

Marquis was a rookie on the Jouette Doggs basketball team. He had been having a good season. He was coming off the bench. Everyone said that he was a good candidate to win the Six Man of the Year Award in the league. Marquis was hoping that he would win the award, too. Then he would be able to prove to his father that he had made the right decision about being a professional athlete instead of becoming a preacher. Marquis had no interest in following his father's footsteps and becoming a preacher.

Marquis had seen too much as a pastor's kid to want to be a preacher. There was not anything wrong with being a pastor, but their family got treated like dirt most of the time. Marquis' father missed a lot of his basketball games because he was doing "church" business. Marquis had not been to church in awhile. He knew that he needed to go. He had promised his mother that he would find a church when he got to Jouette, but he had never taken the time to do so. Maybe going to New Tabernacle of Praise Baptist Church would be a good idea.

Marquis had been impressed by the pastor of the church. He seemed cool. It was even cool that the pastor had not tried to force him to promise that he would come to the church. Marquis liked that. Preachers were even pushier than old men who bugged you about coming to church. Marquis was going to go to the church on Sunday. He did not have a game, so he knew that he could go. Maybe he would even try to get a couple of the other rookies on the team to come with him. It was not going to do any good to try to get the veterans to come with him, they never listened to him anyway, and after all, he was a snot nosed rookie, as they called him. Marquis smiled. He felt good about going to church on Sunday. He felt real good because he was going to be able to tell his mother that he was going to church when she called to check on him.

David Victor Lyons, III walked past four teenage girls who were eating salads. They might have been in their twenties, but they were very young. They giggled as he walked by. He wondered what they had been talking about. He nodded his head at the young ladies and continued on his way. He did not have time to get caught up with any jail bait.

He was hoping to see Mr. Bill Logan's wife. He knew that she would make him feel better than he was feeling. She always made him feel like he was the most precious person in the whole wide world. Sometimes, he wanted to call her Mama badly. That's how he saw her, as a mother. David did not see Mr. Logan like that because he was always fussing at the young man. David wondered why she had not been around yet today. She made it a point to find David and give him a big hug. He felt weird not getting a hug today. He did not get many hugs, being alone in Jouette. He could always count on his grandmother to give him a hug when he was back in the old city that he had left.

David saw Mr. Logan and walked up to him, "Has Mrs. Logan been by today?"

Mr. Logan made a face, "Boy, you know she has not. She would have found you if she had. I do not know where she is."

David wanted to see his mother figure, "Have you called her?"

Mr. Logan laughed, "No. When she gets here, she will get here. I am sure something came up. If she had wanted me to know what was going on, she would have called me. Do not you need to be somewhere?"

David made a face before he walked off to go back to patrolling the food court. He wanted to see Mrs. Ray. He thought about calling her, but he knew that Mr. Logan would get upset at him, even though Mr. Logan had not told him not to call Mrs. Logan. David knew Mr. Logan well enough to know that when he had said, 'If she had wanted me to know what was going on, she would have called me,' that meant that he was not going to bother his wife and if David knew what was best for him, he would not either. David decided to not call Mrs. Logan. He silently prayed that she would come by the mall today. He really needed one of her hugs.