Church Whore 3 (12 page)

“Yes.” The doctor opened up a file and read over it. “She’s four weeks, according to this ultrasound.”

“My God! She just had a baby! Really, Mud!” Mama Eloise fussed.

Mud looked back at her and shrugged with a smile on his face.

His mother couldn’t help but laugh. “My child, my child!” She shook her head and smiled back at him.

“Are you sure the baby is okay?”  Junior asked.

“Her levels haven’t changed, so it looks good. Of course I would suggest she follow up with her OB/GYN this week.”

“Can I see her now?” Mud asked, rubbing his hands together.

“You sure can. Follow me.”

Mud followed the doctor, and the rest of the Blanks made jokes about Mud and busting out in laughter.

“I swear, our family is singlehandedly supporting the GPD!” Officer Hudson said, walking into the waiting room.

“Oh!” Eddie said, greeting him.

“Who did y’all piss off this time?” he joked, and then kissed Mama Eloise on the cheek.

“Son, the devil keeps on messing, but God keeps on blessing.”

“You sound like my grandmother, Mama Eloise,” Officer Hudson said, and sat down with the family.  “Where’s Mud? I need him to give a statement.”

“He just went back to see Tricia,” Junior answered.

“So did
anybody
see anything?”

“No, we were all inside of the church,” Edem said.

Officer Hudson got up and said, “Well, I need to talk to Mud while it’s still fresh in his mind.”

“We forgot to ask what room she was in,” Eddie realized.

“Lord!” Officer Hudson looked down at his note pad.  “She’s in 183.”

“A’ight O. hit me up later,” Eddie said to Officer Hudson.

He gave him a head nod and asked, “Can you
try
to stay out of trouble?” Then he left, shaking his head at his friends.

“You know he thinks we’re crazy, right?” Eddie laughed.

“Well, he might have a point!” Junior laughed.

“I’m not crazy, and I’m going home. Come on, Lizzie. Let’s go.”

“Mama you’re the craziest of us all!” Edem teased.

Mama Eloise shot him a look, and he threw his hands up to let her know that he was sorry.

________

Mud helped Tricia get comfortable in the downstairs guest room so she didn’t have to tackle the stairs.

“Thanks, baby,” she said, and sat up as he fluffed her pillow. “Oh, Elisea brought the bassinet in here. That was thoughtful. Junior comes home tomorrow, right? I miss my baby boy.”

“Yes, baby. E just wanted you to get some rest tonight,” Mud said, lying across the foot of the bed just staring at her.

“What? Why are you staring at me, Mud?”

“No reason. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Can you believe we’re pregnant again?”  Tricia was excited although her ankle was throbbing.

“I know, right? Yeah, I’m big daddy!” Mud gloated.

“Oh hush! Come here, Big Daddy,” Tricia beckoned him with her finger.

Mud scooted to the top of the bed and cuddled with his wife. Tricia fell asleep in his arms, and Mud laid there watching her sleep while thinking about what he would do to Jezebel if he ever saw her again.

Chapter 11

The Harlot sisters had all been acting weird lately. Delilah didn’t know what was going on with her sisters, but she had awakened many times with one or both sisters missing. She thought they were stupid, because if they got caught it would be a wrap. Tamar seemed to be becoming unhinged again, and Jezebel was always gone doing God knows what.

Jezebel burst into the room and shouted, “Get up! We gotta go!”

“Why?” Delilah questioned.

“Because!” Jezebel replied and started packing her bag.

“That’s not an answer. And where is Tamar? We can’t leave without her.”

“Ugh! Y’all are killing me!”

“It’s all about you, isn’t it?” Delilah said and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t start that shit, Dee! I never wanted to come back here anyway!”

“Whatever!” Delilah tuned her out and attempted to reach Tamar, to no avail. Next she called Poe, but he didn’t pick up. Frustrated, she grabbed her cigarettes and lighter to go smoke.

________

Officer Hudson was at his desk when another officer approached him and said, “Hudson, an anonymous tip came in about Lilith Harlot.”

“I’m listening.”

“The tipster said she and the car we have a BOLO out on can be found at this hotel,” the officer said and handed him a piece of paper with a hotel’s name and location.

“I’m on it!” Officer Hudson called in a few officers to fill them in, and they all headed out.

Thirty minutes later, three police cars pulled into the hotel parking lot. Officer Hudson spoke with the hotel manager, and when he showed him a picture of Lilith and Damien, the manager confirmed that they were staying there and gave them the room number.

With guns drawn the officers surrounded the room and kicked the door in. The hotel room was completely ransacked. It was obvious that a struggle had taken place, but Lilith was nowhere in the room.

Damien’s car was located a few spots down from the room they were saying in. The waited around for over an hour before they were able to get a warrant to search the car. The officers surrounded the car and meticulously went through it. When they popped the trunk, the body of Lilith Harlot lay inside. She had a bullet in her head.

“Damn!” Officer Hudson said, shaking his head.

“Hey, over here! We found something!” one of the officers called out.

The officers surrounded the hotel dumpster where the body of Damien was dumped amongst the trash. He too had a bullet in his head.

“What do you think? Murder suicide?”

“If it was a murder suicide, then who put this body in the dumpster? I doubt he jumped in here and then shot himself,” Officer Hudson said to the rookie cop.

________

The news coverage about the bodies found in the hotel parking lot was late breaking news. Although the names of the victims were not being released, the manager of the hotel was interviewed:

“…They usually kept to themselves, but there were a few complaints of arguing or large banging going on in the room,”
he was telling the reporter.

“Did you have any contact with the victims at all?”

“Only in passing.”
The hotel manager wiped his brow as sweat beads formed.

“What was your impression of them?”

“The guy was rather cold. He never spoke, but the lady would wave if I saw her going or coming from the dumpster or something.”

As the reporter pulled her microphone away, the hotel manager grabbed the microphone back and said,
“Oh, yeah I do remember one time when the lady came in to pay. I asked her if she was okay because she acted very irritable, and she said she was tired of being cooped up in that room with her son, and he was getting on her nerves. I suggested that she take a walk.”

“
Are you sure the victim referred to him as her son?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Well, you heard it here first. Reporting live with the late breaking news of two bodies found in the parking lot area of a hotel on the outskirts of Greensboro. Back to you, Sam…”

Delilah, Tamar and Jezebel sat in front of the TV in their hotel room, staring at the screen.

Delilah looked over at her sisters and said, “That looks like Damien’s car.”

“I told y’all that we need to get the hell out of here,” Jezebel blurted out.

“Nobody told you to try to run over your baby daddy and his wife!” Delilah fussed.

“You did what? When?” Tamar asked with her eyes all wild.

“Oh shut up, Tamar!”

“How did you know?” Jezebel asked, shocked that Delilah knew what she had done.

“Are you stupid? It was on the news!”

“Did they say it was me? Did they named me as a suspect?” Jezebel started to perspire.

“No, but it doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together. I’m not stupid.” Delilah said and rolled her eyes.

“Look, we need to get out of here, like right now!” Jezebel demanded.

“Did you not just see the news? You know like I do that Mother and Damien are probably dead. They’re dead! And still all you can think about is yourself. Typical! They’re dead!” Delilah screamed at the top of her lungs, and then broke down crying uncontrollably.

Tamar put her hands over Delilah’s mouth to silence her. “Will you be quiet before someone comes to the door?”

Delilah could not be consoled. She knew in her heart that the news coverage was about her mother and brother. She felt it with everything inside of her.

“Well, I’m going! Y’all can stay here if you want to,” Jezebel said, and went into the closet to grab her duffel bag.

“Not with my car you’re not!” Tamar yanked the keys out of her hand.

“Are you insane?”

Jezebel and Tamar began tussling over the keys. Tamar was physically the strongest of the three. It was evident that she was in the midst of a manic episode.

Jezebel didn’t stand a chance, and she knew it. “Fine! Take your damn keys! I’m gone!” she yelled. She rushed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

A wild eyed Tamar turned to Delilah, who was still crying. “Would you shut up!” she screamed at her in a voice that sent chills up Delilah’s spine.

Chapter 12

The Blanks brothers stood at the front of the church. Mud took the lead.

“I feel like going on, I feel like going on.

Though trials come from every hand,

I feel like going on—

”Brothers, help me sing!”

The Blanks brothers joined in the next verse with their brother, and Once again they had mesmerized the congregation with their harmonies. And when the choir stood to their feet and joined in on the chorus, church became swept up in the spirit.

Edem took to the podium to preach the word of God:

“Good Morning, Church. I want to talk to you today about walking in your anointing. Turn your Bibles to 1John 2:27.”

“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

“When you make the choice to start walking in your anointing, you have chosen your enemy. Did you hear me, Church? Let me say that again. ‘When you start walking in your anointing, you have chosen your enemy.’ Why is that relevant? You are designed by God, and each of us has been blessed with an anointing. See, you won’t get on the enemy’s radar just doing your own thing. But when you tap into the power of God and you become clear with what you are called to do; be prepared for attacks coming from all sides. It is all a part of the process. The enemy will use anybody and any situation to distract you. That’s when you have to get a made up mind. When you have a made up mind, you understand the bigger the problem, the bigger the blessing. You don’t focus on how big the problem is, but
how
big our God is
!”

“You betta preach!” Madear hollered out.

“Church, you cannot tap into someone else’s anointing. The word says to write the vision and make it plain. He’s not going to give someone your anointing. You cannot walk in someone else’s anointing. No one can be better at being you then you can. Your anointing is a part of who you are. It’s that special gift that the Almighty has put inside of you. So Church, I challenge you to do what God already told you to do. In the spirit realm, I see doors opening up that no man can close. I see this church full of women pregnant with possibilities. God is about to do something big, and I came to tell you to get ready. Put on the whole armor of God so that you can not only walk in your anointing, but in authority.”

The Blanks brothers appeared at Edem’s side. “Those of you who want to be anointed today, come. Come tap into what God has already placed in you.”

Church members came and stood in line for the Blanks brothers to anoint their heads with oil.

________

Elisea stood in front of the young ladies of the Queen I am. She picked up her iPad and took her seat in the circle. “Queens, today we are going to talk about ‘soul ties’. When you open yourself up to sexual sin, you just don’t violate your body; you violate your heart. After the sexual act is done, your heart has to deal with the consequences of your actions. So, you have to protect your body and your heart. Which brings me to soul ties. In Genesis 34:1-3:”

“And Dinah the, daughter of Leah which she bare unto Jacob went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.”

“See, when you have sex with someone it creates a soul tie. The word tells us that Shechem did not love Dinah, he just lusted for her after he had raped her. Also, notice it said he ‘spake kindly unto her’. Sexual sin can be confusing.  Everything that feels good isn’t good for you.”

“In Genesis 34:8:”

“And Hamor communed with them, saying the soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.”

“Notice he said ‘the soul’
.
This scripture confirms that when you have sexual interactions with someone, the entangling of the souls take place. And, this can make it hard to end a relationship that you have no business being in, because you are tied to the wrong soul.”

“Queens, please be mindful that there are natural and spiritual laws designed by God. Now these laws can bring us freedom when these laws are obeyed. However, God has given us free will, and when we violate these laws destruction and bondage occurs. That is why if you want to knit your soul to another, it should be to your husband. Who else better to join your soul to? That is why the wedding bed cannot be defiled. Two partners becoming one flesh before God. God’s design is perfect.”

“So, when we operate outside the realms of the law, and we have premarital sex, we tie our souls to the wrong people. Remember, God’s law doesn’t change, and when the law is broken, we subject ourselves to bondage.  First Corinthians 6:16-18 says:”

“Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.”

“That’s deep!” one of the girls said. “I never thought of it like that before.”

“That’s just it; not many of us do. That’s why we have to be mindful of all aspects of it. Can you imagine what the average woman would look like if you could see through her? She would have different pieces of multiple spirits in her.”

“That’s scary,” another girl said.

“It really is. Like I said, everything that looks good isn’t good for you. That’s why I wanted to start this group so if I can get you to just prepare yourself mentally to think first, and then maybe you can make an informed decision.”

“Did you feel guilty afterwards?” one of the older girls asked.

“I did actually, at first. I didn’t feel guilty enough to stop. See, that’s the thing. The more you do something, the more comfortable you become in sin. After a while the guilt falls away, and you only focus on the pleasure.”

After the group meeting and as everyone snacked on the buffet of goodies that were on the table, Elisea was setting up the gift bags on another table.

“Miss Elisea?”

“Hey, Taylor!  You were awfully quiet today. Are you okay?”

Taylor stepped closer to Elisea and whispered, “I found out I’m pregnant. So what you said today about that soul tie stuff really made me think.”

“Aw, Taylor!” Elisea hugged her. “What are you going to do?”

Taylor shrugged her shoulders.

“What did your mother say? What about the father?”

“I haven’t told her. I’m too scared, and he broke up with me.” Taylor dropped her head.

“Taylor, baby, look at me. You don’t have to drop your head in shame. Been there done that, and you just made a bad judgment call. You are not the first and you won’t be the last. No one is perfect. Maybe the father will come around. But even if he doesn’t, you will be okay. But you know you have to tell your mother. It’s going to be scary, but she needs to know.”

“Will you tell her for me?” Taylor looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“If you want me there with you I will. And no matter what your decision is, I’m here for you. We are all here for you.”

“You mean I don’t have to leave the group?”

“Girl!” Elisea put her hand on her hips. “You’re still a Queen. Baby, that’s your birthright. Everything will be fine. I’ll call you so we can we can sit down with your mom.”

A smile formed on Taylors lips and she gave Elisea a big hug. “Thank you so much!”

________

At the P.U.S.H service, Mama Eloise listened intently to Eddie as he led the church in prayer, when she saw Denard helping Bernice into her signature seat. She was so happy to see her friend. Although she moved slower, she was making great strides. After she had gotten her to eat, she made sure the kitchen ministry added her to the church’s sick and shut-in meal plan where dinner were delivered to them.

Mama Eloise got up from her seat in the first pew and took the microphone from Eddie. “I just want to give thanks to my Lord and Savior who is the head of my life, my comforter, my doctor, my father and my friend. He put a song in my heart, and I want to dedicate it to Mother Bernice Watkins. We are all so happy to see you back where you belong!”

“We’ve come this far by faith,

Leaning on the Lord,

Trusting in His holy word,

He’s never failed me yet.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

Can’t turn around,

We’ve come this far by faith
…”

The members at the P.U.S.H. service sang along with her, and Bernice clapped her hands and mouthed the words of the song.

“Mud, baby would you sing ‘My Soul Has Been Anchored in the Lord’?” Mama Eloise asked him because she knew that was on of Bernice’s favorite songs.

Mud stepped to the mic and looked over at the musicians.

“Though the storms keep on raging in my life,

 And sometimes it’s hard to tell my night from day,

 Still that hope that lies within is reassured,

 As I keep my eyes upon the distant shore;

 I know He’ll lead me safely to that blessed place He has prepared.

But if the storms don’t cease,

And if the wind keeps on blowing,

My soul has been anchored in the Lord…”

Although Bernice’s speech wasn’t back to normal, the Holy Spirit hit her and she began to shout and speak in tongues. The church was in an uproar because they were all watching a miracle happen right in front of their eyes.