Been There Prayed That (9781622860845) (5 page)

“It's so good to have you back in fellowship with us, Sister Bethany.” Pastor Davidson gave Bethany a hug as he stood at the altar shortly after giving the benediction.

He always hung around the sanctuary for a few minutes after service to meet and greet the congregation. His sole purpose for doing so was so that he could get a chance to speak with any visitors or potential members. Pastor Davidson was big on numbers as far as membership. He knew the more members that belonged to his church, the more tithes and offerings he could collect, which meant the more kingdom work he and the church could do. But it always seemed as though the same old members rushed up to speak with him, taking up so much of his time that he could rarely catch up with all the visitors before they left. Some of the folks that always made sure they were the first to get to Pastor Davidson were even ministers and leaders, people who talked to or saw him on a regular basis. Then there were those who acted like church wasn't church unless the pastor laid hands on them. The devil is a liar.

“And it's so good to be back, Pastor Davidson,” Bethany replied. “I can't thank Living Word enough for all the prayers and acts of kindness toward me. My family and I so much appreciate it.” Bethany looked next to her at Mother Doreen. “And I don't know what I would have done without my dear sister here as well.” Bethany rubbed Mother Doreen's back, who bowed her head in modesty.

“Yes, Mother Doreen,” Pastor Davidson greeted her with a handshake. “You know it's always a pleasure to have you here at Living Word, Living Waters too.” He gave her hand a pat before releasing it. “You know, we'd like it even more if you became a member and blessed us with those wonderful gifts and talents God has blessed you with.” Pastor Davidson winked.

“Oh no, Pastor.” Mother Doreen smiled while shaking her head. Pastor Davidson was an excellent minister of the Word in Mother Doreen's opinion. With all of the wonderful ministries and evangelistic works he oversaw at Living Word, Mother Doreen didn't doubt that he was about God's business. His only flaw, as far as she could see, was his aggressiveness in seeking membership. “That's flattering, but I'm praying that once I finish my business here with my sister, God will send me back to Ohio and allow me to resume my works at New Day.”

“Been there prayed that one.” Pastor Davidson chuckled. “God initially sent me here as just an interim pastor.” He raised his hands in the air and let them fall to his side. “But look at me now.”

“And we are so blessed that God let us keep you,” Bethany told him.

“Thank you, Sister Bethany.” Pastor Davidson smiled before turning his attention back to Mother Doreen. “Perhaps God will let us keep you too, Sister Doreen. I mean, after all, Bethany's out of the hospital now and looking like she has the strength of Christ. I mean, look at her. She appears to be stronger than ever before. So with her seeming to be doing so well, seems like you could mosey on back to Ohio. So something must be keeping you here. Perhaps the Lord?” He winked again.

Mother Doreen didn't doubt that the Lord was indeed the one keeping her there. After all, He was the one who sent her there in the first place. Even so, she wasn't about to turn around and move back to Ohio any time soon after packing up everything she owned to move into her sister's guest room. She had a home to go back to if she wanted because she hadn't sold her house, choosing instead to rent it out to a Section 8 tenant. The home had long been paid for by her late husband, Willie, so besides any maintenance involved in preserving the property, Mother Doreen simply banked the rest of the rent.

“Oh, the Lord is definitely keeping me here indeed,” Mother Doreen told Pastor Davidson with conviction. Just then Pastor Frey walked up. Mother Doreen shot him one of her looks. “But the Lord ain't the only somebody that's keeping me here.” She stared at Pastor Frey.

Pastor Davidson, Bethany, and Pastor Frey proceeded to chat a bit while Mother Doreen subconsciously continued to stare at Pastor Frey. In the midst of the conversation, Pastor Davidson noticed how attentive Mother Doreen was to Pastor Frey. He couldn't help but smile internally while Mother Doreen's last comment played in his head.
“But the Lord ain't the only somebody that's keeping me here.”
And she had made the comment just as his assistant pastor had walked up.

Putting two and two together, an external smile appeared on Pastor Davidson's lips. He'd had a sudden thought as to how he might at least be able to keep Mother Doreen busy during her stay in Kentucky.

“I know I prayed to God for help, but that was not the type of help I had in mind,” Lorain complained to her mother over the telephone. “I mean, I don't know if Pastor was trying to be funny or what.”

“Maybe that was Pastor's way of shutting the both of you up,” Lorain's mother laughed.

“Eleanor Simpson, you always could make a joke out of serious things,” Lorain stated, calling her mother by her name.

“Oh, chile please. It ain't that serious.”

“And will you stop talking like you're from down South knowing you were raised in Youngstown, Ohio?” Lorain's voice was full of attitude, as if she didn't appreciate the way her mother was trying to lighten up a situation that she had already deemed as dark and gloomy.

“Don't go getting snippy with me, girl. I ain't but a hop, skip, and electric slide away from your tail. Grown or not, I'll come over there and remind you who the momma is in this relationship.” Now Eleanor was serious.

“I'm sorry, Mama. I don't want you coming over here whooping on me. It's just that—”

“It's just that it ain't that serious is what it is, Lorain. I mean, come on, you should be used to this type of thing by now. Girls have never liked you, so what's the big deal? And apology accepted. Besides, I ain't got time to come over there and take a switch to your behind anyway. I's gots me a date. Ha-haaaa,” Eleanor said in a sing-song voice.

Lorain was still stuck on the comment her mother had made about her being disliked by girls. “Girls have never liked me? Is that your way of making me feel better about all of this?”

“Get over yourself. It's not about you, Lorain. Ain't that what you always telling me your pastor says? That it ain't about you, but it's always about God? Well then, let it be about God. Obviously there's a reason why God chose for you to be connected with this Unique person.”

“But wasn't going to church with her and being a part of the Single's Ministry with her enough? But for Pastor to assign her as my co-leader of the Single's Ministry is just outright evil!”

“Speaking of singles, let me get up off this phone so I can get ready for my date so that, hopefully, I won't have to be single too much longer. That fine man I gave my number to on Sunday is picking me up for a movie.”

“On a weekday?”

“Yeah. I guess there's some girl who goes to y'all's church—Paige or something—who works at a theatre somewhere and gets free passes that she shares with the congregation. She gave him two.”

“What's this fella's name anyway?” Lorain asked before her other line beeped. She looked at the caller ID. It was a blocked number. Sometimes she didn't answer blocked calls, but since she was caught up on all of her bills, she decided to go ahead and answer it this time. “Ma, let me take this other call. You have fun on your date.”

“I will, sweetie. Bye-bye.”

Lorain clicked over to the other line. “Hello.”

“Yeah, this is Unique. I was just calling you like Pastor said so that we could set up a time to hook up.” Unique's voice wasn't the least bit enthusiastic. It was as if someone had woken her up at three o'clock in the morning, put a gun to her head, and forced her to dial Lorain's number. Then on top of that, forced her to actually talk.

Lorain wasn't excited about having to meet with Unique to discuss matters of the Single's Ministry either. She was even less excited that Pastor had even asked Unique to assist her with the Single's Ministry by appointing Unique co-leader. Both Lorain and Unique had been absolutely floored when Pastor called them back into the office and shared with them the instructions God had ordered. Certainly God had jokes by choosing those two to work together. Or maybe it was Pastor who had jokes. Neither woman had figured it out. All they knew is that they weren't willing participants.

“God bless you, woman of God,” Lorain forced herself to say. She was bound and determined to approach this situation with the understanding that she was doing God's work. And if doing God's work meant having to battle with the devil, then so be it. She'd just put on her full armor.

“Yeah, um, hmm,” Unique said.

Lorain could just visualize Unique rolling her eyes up in her head. And she figured she probably had a scarf tied, Aunt Jemima style, on her head over all of that long black weave she wore. She was probably picking at her long, neon polished acrylic nails too. And batting those fake eyelashes with an entire tube of mascara on them. Lorain felt that Unique wore so much make-up that no one had any idea what her natural complexion was underneath it. She looked orange to Lorain.

“So Pastor said we should meet to go over what our vision is for the New Day Single's Ministry. Are you free this Saturday?” Lorain asked.

“Oh no, girl. My Saturday is on lock.
BET
picked up the sitcom series called
The Game,
and they showing re-runs all day starting at nine o'clock in the morning. I been waiting on this for a month. How about next Saturday?”

Lorain could already foresee there was going to be issues with who put in more work regarding the ministry. “We could do it one day during the week,” she suggested.

“I've got way too much going on during the week,” Unique was quick to say.

Lorain sighed and rolled her eyes up in her head. “I guess you would with three children and all.” Lorain sucked her teeth. “Next Saturday is fine. We can meet—”

“Sounds good. You can pick us up at around one o'clock if that's cool with you.”

Lorain cleared her throat. “I was thinking we could meet somewhere. My place isn't that big, and with all your kids—”

“Oh, we're used to being crowded. You should see how we work it out with all of us living here at my sister's place. Grab a pen and write down the address,” Unique ordered.

Lorain removed the phone receiver from her ear and stared at it as if to say, “Is this chick bossing me, telling me what to do?” She then heard the words her mother had just reminded her.
“It's not about you, Lorain.”
She located a pen and slip of paper, returned to the phone, and wrote down the address Unique rattled off. “Okay, well I'll—”

All of a sudden there was a loud crash in the background.

“Awww, I'm tellin'. You gon' get it,” Lorain heard a child say in the background.

“Nique!” Lorain now heard an adult yell. “Come and get your child before I—”

“I've got to go,” Unique said. “My kids done broke up something else in my sister's house.”

Before Lorain could say good-bye, Unique had hung up the phone. She looked around at her modest townhouse that was decorated with nice things. She made a mental note to stop by U-Haul and purchase boxes to pack some of her nicer things away before Unique and her brood paid her a visit next Saturday. Just thinking about having that woman and all her children in her house made Lorain tense up.

Lorain wanted to kick herself now for even praying to God about help with being a leader. Next time she was going to be a little bit more careful about what she prayed for just in case God decided to give it to her.

“Now Lord, I said I needed help, but I thought my help cometh from the hills.” Lorain paced in anger. “Not from that ghetto—” She stopped herself before any explicits rolled off of her tongue. She'd been two years free of the cussing demon, and she wasn't about to let it creep back into her life.

Flopping down on the couch, Lorain took a deep breath. “It's not about you, Lorain,” she reminded herself over and over again while taking several more deep breaths to calm her nerves.
But Lord, what is this about? Please show me what this is about?

“But can you believe he had the nerve to not even come back into Bible Study and tell me good-bye?” Tamarra fussed to Paige through the phone receiver as she pulled the large, aluminum pan of macaroni and cheese out of the oven. That was her signature dish, which just happened to be Maeyl's favorite and the dish that snagged him as her man in the first place. She was so glad she'd decided to make the dish for the very first Single's Ministry dinner. She was even gladder that Maeyl had shown up to the event and fell in love with the dish, and her.

Macaroni and cheese was also the final dish she needed for the catering affair she was about to go to. Her client had specifically requested the dish for Tamarra to prepare, stating that she'd come highly recommended by a friend who'd used Tamarra's catering services and that the mac and cheese had been a hit.

Tamarra could vouch that word of mouth was the best advertisement. It seemed like every new client she'd received lately had been a referral. If God continued to show favor on her business, allowing it to continue to prosper, she'd have to hire a couple more employees, making her current staff of four people grow to at least a half dozen.

“He just gon' creep on by the door and leave.” Tamarra continued her rant.

Paige couldn't hold in her laughter.

“Oh, and my best friend thinks it's funny. I must be missing something.” Tamarra sat the pan on the cooling rack that lay across her counter. The phone that had previously been locked between her shoulder and cheek was now cupped in her hand.

“Girl, my bad,” Paige said as her laughter trailed off. “I can just picture Brother Maeyl tippy-pausing down the foyer, trying to get by that door without you seeing him.”

“Yeah, well, I don't think I'm the only one that he didn't want to see him.” Tamarra sighed.

“So you really think he knows this Sasha chick from somewhere?” Paige asked.

Tamarra had filled Paige in on all that had occurred since Sasha and the little girl had gone down to the altar on Easter Sunday. She'd also filled her in on her suspicions that Sasha was someone from Maeyl's past. She was too embarrassed to even mention that she thought there was a chance that the little girl could even be Maeyl's child.

She'd lost her ex-husband of fifteen years to a woman and a child he'd had as a result of his affair with the woman. She couldn't imagine finding herself in a similar circumstance, and especially not with just a
boyfriend
. Maeyl hadn't even reached fiancé status by proposing to her. Maybe she would have entertained the thought of involving herself in such drama if he'd at least proposed to her by now. Even though she and Maeyl hadn't even been dating a year, marriage was something she'd consider. In fact, she would welcome it with open arms. This was something she never thought possible after the heartbreak of her divorce from a man whom she'd still been deeply in love with on the day she signed the divorce papers. But eventually, love was replaced with hate, then bitterness, then no feelings for the man at all.

She'd known Maeyl much longer than Paige had known Blake, yet Paige had accepted Blake's proposal and was already in the planning stages of their wedding. But Tamarra didn't want to compare her relationship with that of her best friend's. That was just the devil's way of trying to rear his ugly head and spit venom poisoned with jealously. Tamarra had to admit, though, that she'd much prefer that trick over the one the devil was trying to play on her now with this Sasha woman.

“I'm almost positive he knows this Sasha person . . . from where, I don't know.” Tamarra sounded so sure of herself.

“Well, I'm not understanding why you don't just flat out ask him about the woman. I can hint around about it at choir rehearsal if you want me to. You know he comes sometimes to do the music.”

“Nahh,” Tamarra replied.

“Then just ask him yourself. I mean, what have you got to lose?”

“My Christianity if that fool comes at me with some bull.”

Once again, Paige was overcome with laughter. “Slow your roll now, Sister Tamarra, and remember who you are and whose you are. You are a child of the King, and God is not going to allow one of His children to run around here and be made a fool of. If something ain't kosher with Maeyl and Miss Sasha, be sure that God will reveal it to you, if you ask.” Paige could tell by Tamarra's silence that she hadn't yet prayed on the matter and asked God to reveal the situation to her. “But even more so, God won't put more on you than you can bear.”

Tamarra knew God's Word to be true. And no load He'd given her thus far had been too heavy for her to carry. But for once, she just wanted happiness without having to go through hell and high waters to get it. She wanted to bypass the wilderness and go straight to the Promised Land. Was that too much to ask of a God who could do anything? Couldn't He do that one small, tiny favor for her just this once?

“I know He won't dish out more than I can handle, Paige.” Tamarra sighed. “It's just that I'm so tired. I just want to be happy.”

“Well, Mary J. Blige used to say that same thing, and look at her now. She's happy. You can tell by her music. She used to sing stuff that made you want to cut your own wrist, or your man's wrist. But now she sings all those happy songs that have women all over the country posing in the mirror.”

This time Tamarra laughed. “You are a mess, in a good way. But a mess no less.”

“Speaking of mess,” Paige said, “I need to get off this phone and do something with my house. Blake is on his way over. We're going over some wedding stuff.”

“Well, don't get too engulfed in wedding stuff before the wedding, if you know what I mean.”

“Don't you worry. My mom and dad are meeting us here too. After all, they are paying for the majority of the wedding, so I thought it was only fair that we allow them as much input as possible in the planning of it.”

“Have you guys come up with a color scheme yet?”

“I was thinking of a chestnut brown and—”

Tamarra's line clicked. “Hold on real quick,” she told Paige before clicking over and greeting the other caller. “Hello.”

“Well, hello to you too, stranger.”

“Mom,” Tamarra said with enthusiasm. Once an estranged relationship, Tamarra now looked forward to talking with her mother on a weekly basis. She'd missed talking with her mother last week. Well, actually, she'd only spoken with her briefly. When her mother had called last week, Tamarra was on her way out the door to a catering affair, so she'd told her she'd call her back. She had noticed her mother's phone number on her caller ID a couple of times since then, making a mental note to return the call. She'd never gotten around to it though, and now here she was practically on her way out the door again. “I have Paige on the other line. Hold on for a second, Mom.” Tamarra clicked over and ended her call with Paige, then clicked back over to her mother. “Okay, Mom, I'm back.”

“I missed talking to you last week.”

“Same here, Mom.” Tamarra switched and swayed in her gourmet size kitchen, boxing up things she needed to load into her Jeep Cherokee for the catering affair. She'd recently been contemplating getting a van for her business. With extra employees and an extra vehicle, she might land herself in a position to be able to do two catering events at one time.

“Did I catch you at a bad time again?” her mother asked, hearing all the hustle and bustle in the background.

“Uh, well, no, Mom.” She looked down at her watch. “I've got a minute,” Tamarra lied. She only had half a minute. She'd wasted more time than she'd thought venting to Paige on the phone. She figured if she could dedicate that much time to fussing about her relationship issues to her best friend, she could surely take a moment to chat with her mother.

“Good, because there's someone else who wants to talk to you.”

Tamarra's heart began to race. She couldn't think of anyone else there with her mother who'd want to speak with her. Her father was the only other person who now shared a home with her mother, and for as long as she'd been estranged from her mother, she'd been estranged from her father even longer. It had taken her years to finally begin to work on forgiving the two for the role they played in her being raped repeatedly as a child by her own brother, their son. She blamed her father for having porn in the house, which helped to arouse her brother in the first place. She blamed her mother for not knowing sooner that something was going on. She blamed them both for the cover up.

During all this time, her father had avoided her like the plague. Never even speaking with her on the phone. Tamarra felt as though he acted as if he were mad at her for everything that had happened. She'd been seeking God in the matter and had come to realize that everyone had a part in it, including herself. She should have told her parents the first time it happened. She should have told.

“You still there, baby?” Tamarra's mother asked.

“Yes, Mom, I'm still here.”

“Did you hear what I said? Someone wants to speak with you.”

“Yeah, Mom. Fine. Sure,” Tamarra said as she rested the phone receiver between her ear and shoulder, then picked up the pan of macaroni and cheese to load it into the jeep. As she walked toward the garage door to her vehicle, she nervously waited to hear her father's voice come through the other line. What in the world would she say to the man? Before she could come up with anything, she heard the voice on the other end of the phone.

“Hey, Tammy. It's me.”

The voice Tamarra had expected to hear was anything but her father's. The voice she did hear, though, sent an electric wave through her body that caused the phone to hit the ground simultaneously with the large pan of macaroni and cheese.

It can't be,
Tamarra thought to herself as she stood in a daze.
It can't be him. He's dead. I know he's dead because I killed him.