“So you're the one who they call Mr. Clean?” Pastor Robinson asks me.
“People can call me whatever they want. I go by Nic or Minister Dungy if I'm feeling ecclesiastical.”
Pastor Robinson lets out a chuckle. Her laugh resembles a squeal and she covers her mouth out of embarrassment. It takes Pastor Robinson a moment to gather herself. “I just want you to know that when Minister Blackwell presented me with this idea I was opposed to it.”
Now I feel like I am in a motel and it is time for me to get down to business. “Most pastors do and I understand if you want to resolve this issue on your own.”
That is what I love about this job. I agreed to help the church and as a result the church had to put up half the money. If Pastor Robinson decides that she no longer wants my services, well, then I just got $75,000 richer without breaking a sweat. But Pastor Robinson will not back out; she just wants to air her reservations in order to save face.
“Well, it would be a waste to bring you out here for nothing, so how does this work?” Pastor Robinson says.
I sink my hands into my pockets and walk over to Pastor Robinson. I make sure that my shoulders are up and that I do not give the slightest hint of insecurity. “I need full disclosure. I need to know everything, before I can do anything.”
Pastor Robinson uncrosses her legs and folds her hands. “What do you want to know?”
“The last night you saw your husband.”
“Two weeks ago we had an argument. He thought that I had been neglecting him and I guess the rumors started to get to him. He wanted me to take some time away from ministry to work on our marriage.”
“I guess you said no; otherwise, I wouldn't be here.”
Pastor Robinson did not respond. I have seen too many occasions where ambition has robbed marriages and blinded leaders. Pastor Robinson is no exception.
“Were the rumors true?”
“No,” Pastor Robinson says.
“Don't lie to me. Don't ever lie to me. If the rumors are true then let me know and I will still help, but don't lie to me or I walk.” I walk up toward Pastor Robinson so that she can know that I'm not playing. “Now I'm going to ask one more time, are the rumors true?”
“No! They're not. They are evil lies made up by my detractors,” Robinson says with a look of discontent.
“So why would your husband give into the rumors? It has to be more than your husband feeling neglected. Most pastors neglect their spouses; it's in the bylaws.”
“Jeremy is not only a promising basketball player, but he is a skilled musician. I have bragged about him to the point where it started to arouse suspicion and no man can handle their wife talking about another man more than them. So what should we do?” Pastor Robinson asks.
“I suggest that Pastor continues to do as she's been doing. She continues to preach the Gospel while you locate her husband and talk some sense into him,” Minister Blackwell says.
“Really? That's funny. I was about to suggest the opposite. In fact we're going to do the exact opposite,” I reply.
“I don't want to draw attention to his absence,” Minister says.
“There is already attention being paid to her husband's absence. I'm not just a Mr. Fix-it; I am a minister and when I step into a situation I look to resolve it. I neither take nor do I have repeat customers. There's your way of doing things and then there is my way of doing things, which is the right way.”
So after I put Minister Blackwell back in his place, I then turn my sights to Pastor Robinson, who is eager to hear my suggestions. “Once I find your husband I can guarantee you that there is nothing I could say that will repair things. You'll have to do that on your own. So I want you to still preach the special events that you made commitments for, but I want you to turn over your weekday and weekend services to some of your other ministers.”
I can tell that Pastor Robinson really takes heed to my words. I pray that I will be successful in my endeavor. I hate to lose more than anything, especially in the arena of ministry.
“So what happens now?” Pastor Robinson asks.
“First Minister Blackwell is going to drive me back to my hotel so I can get some sleep. Then I am going to return in the morning to the church and start to do my work. I will need for you to pull any information you have on your husband. Check stubs, identification, articles, you name it.”
“Okay,” Pastor Robinson says.
“Great! See you tomorrow.” I head toward the door knowing that this meeting provided new information that has my head spinning with the possibilities of what could've happened to the first gentleman.
“Wait!” Pastor Robinson says before I reached the door.
My back is still turned. I look back to see Pastor Robinson still on the bed.
“What are we supposed to say when the congregation starts to see you around a lot?”
“The truth. That I'm a visiting minister who's here to serve Jubilee Temple.”
And that is not a lie. I am a minister who is here to serve both the church and my own interests.
Chapter Nine
I wake up the next morning around 7:30
A.M.
I forgot to close the curtains in my hotel room, so the sun makes its presence known in my room and I cannot afford to sleep in. I have to do my job so I get up and stretch. My shirt, tie, and sports coat are draped over the chair. Last night I slept in my slacks and my white undershirt. Since I am half dressed I grab my watch, wallet, and room key off the table, slip on my shoes, and head out door. I'll brush my teeth and wash my face later. I hate the aftertaste of eating right after I have brushed my teeth.
I take the stairs instead of the elevator and that will be my exercise for today. The weather is sunny and brisk and since we are in the middle of November, I know that the good weather won't last. By noon the weather will be overcast and I can tell by the way the clouds are gathering in the sky that there might even be rain.
I walk across the street to Lane's Diner. I have not eaten since yesterday afternoon so I need some type of food in my system. It's real easy for me to forget to do simple things like eat, shave, or sleep when I'm on a job.
“Hello, welcome to Lane's. Is this a party of one?” The hostess has already grabbed a menu.
“Actually, I know what I want and I need it to go.”
“Okay,” the girl says, somewhat surprised.
It is not often, I assume, she encounters a man who knows what he wants.
“Go ahead to the counter and they'll place your order there.”
I walk over to the counter, but I don't take a seat. I get the attention of the waitress and she comes over right away.
“What can I get for you, sir?”
“Two eggs over easy, hash, bacon, and sourdough toast.” I go into my wallet and place a twenty on the counter.
“Okay, let me get two eggs over easy, hash, bacon, and sourdough toast coming up and you can pay up front with cashier.”
“That's for you.” I point to the twenty dollar bill.
“Thank you, sir. A girl could use it.”
I consider myself a part of the same industry as the waitress. We both are in the service industry, but while she serves patrons, I serve the church. I pay the bill on the way out and I walk across the street to the gas station on the corner. I need a pack of cigarettes. I crave a cigarette and I am low on my pack I bought yesterday.
“Let me get a pack of Newports,” I tell the attendant.
The gas attendant grabs a pack of Newports and sets them on the counter. I slide a twenty dollar bill under the window and the attendant slides back my change and my cigarettes.
I walk back over to Lane's restaurant and I pick up my breakfast. I also order a cup of coffee to go. With breakfast, coffee, and a pack of smokes in hand, I'm ready to start my day. So I walk back to my hotel room. Back at my hotel room, minutes from the meeting at last night's roadside motel play on repeat in my mind.
I can see both the appeal and controversy that surrounds Pastor Robinson. She has an edge to her ministry that can spark admiration from her followers and scorn from her critics. I can tell that her disposition is that she doesn't care either way. Pastor Robinson is a woman of purpose and not even her husband, Tony Robinson, can derail her purpose.
I want to go by the church and get a feel for how the church works. Sundays are not a good measuring stick for a ministry. The staff is usually on their best behavior when visitors are around. It is during the week when I can get a good feel for how a ministry operates. If the right people are in place then a ministry can weather any storm, but the wrong people serving in ministry is a cancer to a church.
Too many relatives, too many well-meaning but incompetent people are millstones around the necks of a ministry. I have seen it happen too often and the worst part is that these internal issues will leave the church defenseless against the enemy.
I am not here to restructure a ministry, but I have no problems leaving notes for how a ministry can clean house when I am gone. I finish my breakfast and get dressed. My next stop is Jubilee Temple.
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I arrive at Jubilee Temple and am greeted by Anita, the church secretary. Anita is a heavyset girl with thick glasses.
“Good morning and God bless.” Anita's words are tailored with warmness. Anita's spirit leaves little doubt as to why she is employed in her current capacity as church secretary.
“Minister Nicodemus Dungy to see Pastor Robinson.”
It is awkward to mention my title with my name. I almost forget that I am an ordained minister who graduated from one of the top Bible colleges in the country. My days at seminary seem like a lifetime ago. My vigor is gone and my purpose grows cloudier with age and experience and I grow weary.
“Minister Dungy, thank you for coming.” Pastor Robinson comes out in a cherry red pantsuit. Her aura conveys power without a hint of weakness.
“God bless you, Pastor,” I say as Pastor Robinson signals for me to follow her to her office. Once I enter Pastor Robinson's office, I become lightheaded by all of the accolades on the wall.
A woman in ministry is always under scrutiny and Pastor Robinson always has to prove herself. Pastor Robinson's office speaks more about her insecurities than it speaks about her anointing. Secure pastors are purpose driven, while insecure pastors are accomplishment driven.
I examine all of the pictures that Pastor Robinson has with influential people and then call my attention to a picture on her desk of her husband. I notice that there are no children in the picture and that this picture was taken when the love was still new and the young girl in the picture was not a prominent pastor.
I pick up the picture and Pastor Robinson shoots me a look as if I have caused a great offense. I have an idea of the kind of love she and her husband once had and how far the two have grown apart.
“So what do you need from me, Minister Dungy?”
“That was something else last night. I've heard of women ministers who minister to women on the track, but I'd never seen it until last night.”
“There's nothing that I hate more than a pastor who talks about going out to the lost and preaching the Gospel, but they never do it. Wouldn't you agree, Minister Dungy?”
“Nic.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nic, call me Nic. I'm only a minister in title. What you do is ministry.” I sit down in the chair positioned in front of Pastor Robinson.
“I would beg to differ.”
“So what did Tony think about your ministry?”
“He didn't think anything,” Pastor Robinson replies.
“He did; otherwise, I wouldn't be here.”
“Are snap judgments a part of your method?” Pastor Robinson looks up from her paperwork.
“Pretty much, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. You have an intense ministry and I can imagine that a loving husband would be concerned about his wife being out all hours of the night evangelizing in some unsafe areas.”
“That's the kind of answer I expect from a male minister. But it's okay for you to be out all hours of the night?” Pastor Robinson says.
“I'm not here to engage in a debate with you. You don't like my opinions; well, that's fine, but your husband has left and something tells me that it's not just the rumors of an affair, but your overall involvement in ministry.”
“I know you're not married because there's no ring on your finger, but the question is why?” Pastor Robinson asks.
“I'm too smart to get married.”
“That's not a biblical perspective on marriage.”
“Hey, the Apostle Paul was also smart enough not to get married and he wrote the majority of the New Testament. Paul understood that the preaching of the Gospel requires full dedication.”
“Whatever; a husband should be supportive of his wife.”
Pastor Robinson resumes her paperwork. The absence of emotion is what bothers me the most about Pastor Robinson. Her husband has disappeared for two weeks and she chooses to hire me as opposed to filing a missing person report.
“Let me ask you something.” I put my hands in my pocket.
She responds to me by breaking away from her papers to make eye contact.
“When was the last time you and your husband were intimate?”
“Excuse me?”
“Sex! When was the last time you and your husband had sex?”
“That's none of your business.” Pastor Robinson tosses her papers on the table.
“It is when I'm looking for your husband. When a marriage waxes cold, the sex life is one of the first things to break down along with communication.”
“You don't beat around the bush now do you?”
“No, I prefer to pull it out by its roots.” I shrug my shoulders.
“I couldn't begin to tell you how many months it has been.”
“Months?” I shake my head in disbelief. ”What happened?”
Pastor Robinson leans back in her chair as if it is too much for her to pinpoint. “It started off as a small space, a missed date night here and there; then it grew into working late until it grew into something that neither one of us wanted to address.”
I know Pastor Robinson's speech word for word. I've heard this speech so many times over the years and the saddest thing is that every one of those times I've heard that speech it was sincere. There was no difference in this day and age between a Christian marriage and a secular marriage.
“So what about you, Minister Dungy?”
“What about me?”
“You're a minister of the Gospel and you're single, so how do you resist temptation?”
No one has ever questioned me like Pastor Robinson. Her question was not birthed out of her curiosity about my sex life, no; she asked the question to put me on defense. “I'm a man of God, but I have had moments of weakness where the flesh has won out.”
Pastor Robinson is taken aback by my honesty. I'm too old and too tired to play dress-up. My life is not squeaky clean and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
“How do you handle it?”
“I stay busy with work. Speaking of which, I'm going to need the address and phone number to your husband's job.”
“He hasn't been to work.”
That is the most alarming detail of Tony Robinson's disappearance. I don't know too many men who would miss work on account of their marriage or relationship.
“I'll go anyway and see what's what.”
“Okay,” the pastor says.
For someone who claims to be innocent of any extramarital affairs, she sure does not seem innocent. Even more alarming is that the pastor seems unconcerned about her husband's whereabouts.