Chapter Twelve
“I thought I heard voices,” Mother Doreen said as she came down the steps and entered the living room. “Am I dreaming, or is that the best brother-in-law in the whole wide world standing right there, smack in the middle of the living room?” A huge grin spread across Mother Doreen's face as she noticed her sister's husband, Uriah, standing in the living room with two duffle bags at his feet.
“Doreen, my favorite sister-in-law.” Uriah smiled and stretched his arms open wide, welcoming her. He gave Mother Doreen a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Isn't this a blessing?” Mother Doreen turned and asked Bethany, who was sitting on the couch with her feet tucked under her bottom doing crossword puzzles.
“A blessing indeed it is,” Bethany replied. “God is good.” She scribbled down a word, but then erased it when it didn't fit into the boxes.
“Well, I hope you're staying longer than one night, unlike the last time you were here,” Mother Doreen told her brother-in-law, poking him in his chest. “Heck, you were here one minute, I went to the bathroom, came out, and you were gone,” she joked.
“I know. I know, but until we get out of this adjustable rate mortgage mess I got us into, I have to take every truck run that comes my way. And with the price of diesel fuelâneed I say more?”
“Oh, that's right.” Mother Doreen shook her head. “Bethany told me y'all got caught up in that balloon mortgage mess. Hopefully President Obama's stimulus plan can help y'all out.”
“I hope so too, even though some people feel like it shouldn't. But I wish I could let America know that I didn't get myself into a house I couldn't afford on purpose. In the beginning, every time the payments increased, I paid them just fine. But then the cost of gas went up, and with me owning my own truck and trying to take every load I could, I wasn't making as much money. Then with Beth in and out of the hospital and those bills accumulating, I just couldn't seem to make ends meet anymore.” Uriah sighed. “I tried my best. I'm still trying. That's why I'm always on that road driving across the country. I don't want America's tax dollars to bail me out like they've been doing all those corporations and banks. I'd rather they bail out the schools. A loan modification or refinance at a lower interest rate will do me just fine. In the meantime, I gotta keep hustling for the sake of my family. You know.”
“I understand you're trying to do everything you can to look out for your loved ones, but a man's still got to take care of his family in the physical.” Mother Doreen looked to Bethany, who she felt should have been the one giving the pep talk to her husband. “Isn't that right, Bethany?”
Without even looking up from her task at hand she said, “Oh, yeah right, sis,” then continued scribbling down words.
Mother Doreen looked her brother-in-law in the eyes. “God will provide all that other stuff.”
Feeling encouraged, Uriah smiled. “Yes, Doreen, I know that God is a provider.”
“And don't you forget it,” she playfully scolded. Flattening out her blouse, she then changed the subject. “I sure do wish I'd known you were coming. I would have made up something real special in the kitchen.” Mother Doreen looked to Bethany. “Did you know he was coming home? Why didn't you tell me?”
“Sis, I'm just as surprised as you,” Bethany told her, still not looking up from the crossword puzzle.
“Oh, don't worry about it,” Uriah told Mother Doreen. “I wanted to take my family out to dinner anyway. It's not often I can do that. So dinner is on me tonight.” Uriah looked down at his watch. “It's three o'clock now. Bethany, what time do the kids usually get home?”
“They have band practice today, so the activity bus won't get them home until about five-thirty,” Bethany answered, finally looking up, but not at her husband. Straight forward, as if she had to think about her answer.
“Well, that gives me time to get cleaned up and take a little cat nap,” Uriah said to Bethany before turning toward Mother Doreen. “Sis, you'll be joining us too, right?”
“I wish I could, but I'm having a dinner meeting with Pastor Davidson this evening.”
“Dinner? With Pastor?” Bethany jumped in. Finally, something had pulled her attention away from that crossword puzzle.
“He says there is something he wants to talk to me about,” Mother Doreen replied. “But maybe I can cancel. It's not every day we all get to have dinner together.”
“Oh no, I wouldn't want you to do that,” Uriah said.
“Please, that man is just trying to wine me and dine me into becoming a member of his church.” Mother Doreen shooed her hand.
“Reen!” Bethany said in a shocked tone. She was now looking at Mother Doreen.
“Oh child, please. Don't even try to act shocked. If they had a word for pastors chasing folks to become a member of their church like they do attorney's who chase ambulancesâ”
Uriah chuckled. Bethany shot him a look. It was the first time Mother Doreen noticed her looking at her husband at all.
“Come on, honey, you know she's right,” Uriah agreed. “I love Pastor Davidson to death, but he's bar none when it comes to filling that sanctuary with members.”
Bethany shook her head and fought to hide her smile. She knew both her husband and sister were speaking the truth. Pastor Davidson took evangelism and discipleship to a whole new level.
“Anyway, sis, you go ahead with your meeting with Pastor,” Uriah told her. “Maybe the next time I blow through town I'll give you a heads up so you can make something real special. How about that?”
“I'm gonna hold you to that,” Mother Doreen told him. “And it better be real soon. I had planned on whipping Bethany and the kids something up to eat before I headed out, but since you're taking them out to dinner, I don't have to worry about that now. Guess God wanted to free me up some time to go get prayed up before my meeting with Pastor Davidson.”
Bethany smacked her lips and dropped her pen. “Reen, you act like you got a meeting with the devil. It's Pastor Davidson for goodness sakes.” Bethany was almost offended at this point.
“Child, I don't care if I was meeting with Jesus Himself. I always want to be prayed up and ready. So I'm just gonna pray that God be in the midst of our conversation and that I hear and follow no other voice but His, that's all I'm saying. Because I know Pastor Davidson is a man of God, but even a man of God's flesh can get in the way of his spirit man if there's something he wants badly enough.” She shot her sister a peculiar look. “You know what I mean?” Bethany fidgeted with her pen and went back to her crossword puzzle. Mother Doreen took that as a âyes,' then made her way up the stairs to get her prayer on.
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“Reen . . . Wallace?” Bethany's tone was laced with a bit of anger. “What are you two doing here? Together?” Bethany did everything but fold her arms and tap her foot while she waited for a response. Her lips were pouted. Yep, the folded arms and tapping foot were the only things missing from her visible temper tantrum.
“Why, uh, Sister Bethany, it's mighty fine to see you up and out of the house enjoying your evening.” Pastor Frey looked over Bethany's shoulder at Uriah, who was standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders. “And uh, you too, Brother Uriah.” Behind Uriah stood the couple's children. Pastor Frey nodded them his hello.
“It's good to see you too, Pastor Frey.” Uriah walked around his wife and shook Pastor Frey's hand. “It's funny we ran into you. I was just telling my wife on the drive here how I had to call the church and thank them for looking out for my family. And I want to thank you especially, Pastor Frey. Beth tells me how you have been taking real good care of her.”
Pastor Frey swallowed hard.
“Checking on her regularly while she was at the hospital and praying for her and all.” Uriah was specific.
Pastor Frey appeared to exhale. “Oh, yeah. Well, uh, it was no problem at all. It's always an honor to be doing God's work. I'm just blessed that He chose me.”
“Well, my wife and I are blessed that God chose you too,” Uriah told him. He then looked to Mother Doreen. “Looks like I'm gonna get to have dinner with my sister-in-law after all. Why don't we all have dinner together?”
“Oh, no,” Mother Doreen was quick to say, holding up her hand in refusal. “You and your wife spend this priceless time together with your children.”
“Are you sure?” Uriah asked. “Beth, the kids, and I would love for you two to join us. Right, honey?” He looked to his wife, who was still standing there waiting on a response to the question she'd posed moments ago.
“Doreen, you said you were having dinner with Pastor Davidson,” Bethany said in an almost scolding manner. “This don't look like no Pastor Davidson.”
Mother Doreen felt like a child being caught after curfew by her parents. Being caught by her parents after curfew with a boy. Being caught by her parents after curfew with a boy on her front porch smooching. The flesh inside of her wanted to stand up, point her finger in her little sister's face, and tell her that she wasn't the boss of her and that she could have dinner with anybody she wanted. But thank goodness she'd prayed herself up and that the spirit man prevailed.
In a nice, kind, and gentle voice, and with a smile plastered on her face, Mother Doreen looked to Pastor Frey and said, “Will you excuse me for a moment, Pastor Frey? I need to go to the ladies room.”
“Oh, by all means.” Pastor Frey stood while Mother Doreen stood to her feet.
“Bethany, can you come with me?” Mother Doreen, with the smile still resting on her face, looked back and forth between the two gentlemen. “I guess it never seems to matter what age a woman gets, we always have to go to the bathroom in pairs.” After letting out a chuckle, and the men returning a chuckle of understanding, Mother Doreen took Bethany by the arm and led her into the women's bathroom.
“Have you lost your God given sense?” Mother Doreen said to her sister once they were behind the closed bathroom door. “If I didn't think there was some funny business going on between you and that Pastor Frey before, well your actions sure did confirm it just now.”
“Puhleeze! I don't know what you're talking about.” Bethany's arms were now folded, and she was tapping her foot. She was in full temper tantrum mode.
“The heck if you don't, and I'm not gonna stand here and let you force me to even spill the words out of my mouth. For starters, since when do congregation members call their pastors by their first names? That's a sign of disrespect.” Bethany didn't respond. “Huh?” Mother Doreen questioned, adding enough bass in her tone to make Bethany jump. “Out there was my second time hearing you call that man Wallace. Sounds a bit too personal for me.”
Bethany thought for a minute. “It must have just slipped, I mean, after all, that was the man who came to see about me dang near every day and prayed for me every day. I can't help it if I feel a sense of closeness toward the man, enough to call him by his first name . . . outside of church.”
“Keep on lying to yourself, you hear? But child, you the only one you're lying to. Heck, if I noticed how foolish you were acting out there, like a jealous girlfriend catching her beau with another gal, then you best believe your husband did too.”
With her arms still folded, Bethany turned up her nose. “I still don't know what you're talking about. And if you are trying to insinuate what I think you are, that's nonsense. WallâI mean, Pastor Frey is fifteen years my senior.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, they make little blue pills to fix that problem.”
Bethany turned her nose up in the air. “You should be ashamed of yourself, allowing such filthy talk to come out of your mouth.”
Realizing that she wasn't going to get her sister to confess anything, not now anyway, Mother Doreen decided to end their conversation before things got real ugly. That prayer and holy oil she'd anointed herself with before leaving the house could only get her so far, and she could feel her flesh battling on the inside. “Like I said, I'm not going to stand here and let the truth, as I'm starting to see it, spill from my lips. It's your sin to confess, not mine.” On that note, Mother Doreen went into a bathroom stall, then heard Bethany exit the bathroom in a huff.
“Everything happens for a reason and in divine order,” Mother Doreen mumbled to herself. “None of this that transpired tonight was a coincidence. God, you wanted to show me something, which is why you made it so that Pastor Davidson had to cancel his dinner with me and have Pastor Frey meet with me instead. My sister's actions are just confirmation to what you are trying to show me.”
Mother Doreen had been just as shocked as Bethany had been to see Pastor Frey at the restaurant when she showed up. For a moment she was going to cancel altogether, telling Pastor Frey she preferred to meet with Pastor Davidson when he could fit her into his schedule. But then Pastor Frey mentioned that the reason why he'd asked him to fill in was because his schedule was quite full, and he didn't know when he'd be able to meet with her again. It was almost as if Pastor Davidson had covered every reason as to why Mother Doreen should go ahead and meet with Pastor Frey.
If she were being honest, Mother Doreen had to admit that the last person she wanted to be keeping company with was Pastor Frey. But figuring she could turn a bad situation into good, she decided to relent, hoping to find herself in a position to have a little talk with Pastor Frey regarding her sister. So she looked at the entire situation as a divine set up.