Drama in the Church Saga (6 page)

“You thought what?”

“I thought you left me. Maybe the problems we've been having was too much for you to bear.” Her heart crumpled. She hated to hear him talk like that.

“You have no reason to think that way. I told you I'd never leave you.”

“I panicked. I couldn't reach you and I thought the worst.”

“I love you!” She leaned over and kissed her husband on the lips. “Can you help me up the stairs? I need to take a shower.”

The hands on the clock approached the eleven o'clock hour. Sunday school teachers were bringing their lessons to a close while members of the congregation arrived for Sunday morning service.

“Can someone volunteer to close us out in prayer?” Tressie asked her Sunday school class.

A group of seven-year-olds waved their hands, begging to be picked. Tressie looked out among them and chose Dontonio, who was hiding behind his sister. “Dontonio, why don't you close us out in prayer?” she asked.

“Awwwwwman, why you pick me?”

“'Cause you were trying to hide from me, that's why. I'm sure the Lord would love to hear from you. Please close us out in prayer.” The children gathered around, held hands, and formed a circle.

“Dear Lord, I want to thank you for waking me up this morning,” the boy said. “Bless my mother, my father, and my sister. Amen. Oh! And bless Ms. Tressie, too.”

Tressie looked up and smiled at Dontonio. “Thank you for including me. I'll see you next week, all right?”

“Yes, Ms. Tressie.”

Tressie straightened up the church pews as the children gathered their things to go home. She grabbed a stack of Bibles and returned them to their place on the back of the church pews.

“Ms. Tressie?” Ta'Lena, one of her Sunday School students, called out her name. “This man was outside looking for you.” Ta'Lena pulled a man by his hand into the sanctuary.

Tressie turned around and looked straight into those eyes. Those captivating eyes that held her completely hypnotized before; long, perfectly curled eyelashes above almond-shaped eyes. It was him. He was here. A wave of heat suddenly passed through her body like a storm. Except this storm held her like a hurricane that kept circling around inside of her.

“Hello,” Tressie greeted him.

“Hi,” Payce responded. Ta'Lena instinctively let go of his hand and ran back outside with the other children.

“Nice to see you again. What brings you here this morning?” Tressie asked.

“I came here to see you,” Payce answered.

Before she could respond, Reverend Kane, the associate pastor, came up to her with the morning service program. “Tressie, I need for you to make a few announcements at the start of the morning service, and I want to change the scripture reading.”

Tressie stood and listened to the adjustments Reverend Kane wanted for the program. Before the pastor had a chance to walk away, Tressie stopped her.

“Reverend Kane, this is a friend of mine, Payce.”

The minister turned and reached for Payce's hand. “Hello, Payce.” She greeted him with a huge smile and shook his hand. “I'm glad you came to worship with us this morning.” She turned back to Tressie. “Thanks again for those changes, Tressie.”

The organist began to play the opening hymn, giving the signal that service was about to begin. Tressie excused herself and took her seat in the pulpit next to Reverend Simms, the senior pastor. After the opening hymn concluded, Tressie led the church in prayer. As she bowed her head, she glanced over in Payce's direction. He winked his eye at her and she replied with a smile.
He is so cute
, she thought to herself.

Reverend Simms stood before the congregation and delivered a soul-wrenching sermon. “Church!” Reverend Simms screamed. “Beware of wolves that disguise themselves in sheep's clothing. Everything ain't what it seems. I Peter 5:8 tells us to be careful and watch out for attacks from the devil; for the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for victims to devour.” Tressie absorbed the words of wisdom spoken by Reverend Simms.

After church, Payce waited around to speak with Tressie.

“I was so surprised to see you today,” she said to him.

“I remember seeing you in Harrisburg, and my brother mentioned that you lived in Philly. Finally, after a lot of harassment and putting myself in debt by promising to get his car washed every week for the next three months, he told me your name and what church you attended.”

“I'm flattered that you went through so much trouble.”

“On my way over here I hoped that you would be worth all this fuss. Now that I'm here, I can see that you are.”

Payce's compliments left Tressie speechless. She silently thanked the Lord for answering her prayers. He was what she had prayed for. She asked the Lord to send her a man who knew the Lord, but also knew the streets. She didn't want an uptight church boy who always followed the rules. She needed a man who broke at least some of the rules and created his own. It looked like Payce was that man.

“Would you like to go get something to eat?” he asked.

“Sure. There's a diner around the corner we could walk to.”

They arrived at the diner and were immediately seated. Tressie had been to the diner at least one hundred times before, so she already knew what she wanted to order.

“Pastor Kane looks very familiar to me. Has she been with your church very long?” Payce asked.

“She's been a part of our church for probably five or six years now.”

“She looks so familiar. I've probably seen her at one of the conferences or meetings that my father has, but I don't want to talk about the church. I want to find out more about Montrese Cox.”

Tressie looked over at him. He was casually dressed in a blue-striped button up Sean John shirt with a pair of matching blue khakis. She loved his style. She could definitely fall for him.

“There's not much to tell. I'm a full time student at Temple University. I'm majoring in psychology. I lead a boring life.”

“Well, it can't be that boring if they voted you in to hold a position with the church state conference, along with my brother.”

“Oh yes, your brother. I had no idea your brother had a twin.”

“Well, he wouldn't tell anybody. I'm the bad boy of the family.”

Luckily I like bad boys,
Tressie thought.

“I heard that you were away for a little while,” she replied.

“Yeah, I did some stupid things that got me locked up, but I'm home now and I'm determined to do better. I just need a good woman by my side to keep me out of trouble.”

“I'll say a prayer that you'll find that woman.”

He looked into her eyes. “I think I already have.”

 

 

“I did it! I prayed without ceasing! I took my troubles to the Lord and he answered my prayers!” Tressie screamed as she danced her way into the church.

Everyone was gathered together going over their current Bible Study lesson when Tressie burst in with her testimony.

“Did everyone see my man in church Sunday?” Tressie asked.

Olivia was glad to see Tressie so happy. It had been a long time since she had smiled so much. She had seen Tressie and Payce together in church and thought they looked like a cute couple.

“I was surprised to see him here!” Elise replied.

“So was I, but he tracked me down and he came there specifically to see me,” Tressie rejoiced. She sat down in the pew smiling. She was obviously in a cheerful mood.

“I just want to testify that God does answer prayer. When Elise told us to increase our prayer time, I did. I began praying in the morning before my first class and in the afternoon. Plus, I prayed on the train after my final class ended. Elise said that we could pray for anything we wanted, so I prayed for a man, and I was very specific about the man I prayed for. I did ask God not to send me anyone who would remind me of Payne Boyd.”

“But, isn't that exactly what he sent you?” Elise asked.

Tressie started laughing. “Yes. Payne's twin brother, but he is the total opposite of his brother. They may look alike, but that is where the similarities end.”

“Wait a minute, you're dating Bishop Boyd's son?” Olivia asked.

Tressie nodded. “Let me finish telling you about my blessing. I began praying to the Lord telling him I wanted a man who believed in God, but I didn't want a corny church guy. I told God that I wanted him to be fine and respect me, and Payce is all those things. He's different from the kinds of guys I've dated in the past, I wanted a change.”

Tressie's past boyfriends were at one time all residents of the county jail. Everyone attracted to her had a criminal record, cornrows in their hair, and Timberlands on their feet. It was hard not to confuse them with one another because their matching tan khaki outfits made them look like they were still imprisoned in the penitentiary prison yard. This stereotype included her former, longtime boyfriend, Jabril. Jabril was currently serving a fifteen-year sentence for drug trafficking.

Tressie had plenty of life-threatening stories involving Jabril. They had been stuck up, shot at, and even car-jacked together, but none of this stopped her from standing by her man.

Jabril was a big time drug dealer from Camden, New Jersey who made a lot of money and bought Tressie whatever she wanted. A drug deal gone bad made him a fugitive. He was apprehended by the police on Christmas Day, and his arrest was televised on the eleven o'clock nightly news. Before he was transported to the county jail from the police station, he stopped to give a statement to the press.

“I'd like to thank each and every one of you for coming here tonight to report on my arrest and the pending charges against me. First I want to declare my innocence. I have done nothing wrong. Secondly, I'd like to give a message to my girlfriend, Tressie.” Jabril abruptly snatched the microphone from the reporter. “Tressie, I love you, and if you ever leave me or if I catch you with another nigga, I'll kill you.”

The police pushed him into the waiting police transport and closed the door. Tressie watched the local affiliate stations air that statement for two days straight. Tressie feared for her life. She knew what Jabril could do to her, even from behind prison walls. During his trial, television stations replayed the threat against her life. Jabril was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen years, plus an additional eighteen months was added to his time for the televised threat he made on Tressie's life. Some time had passed before Tressie felt safe enough to date again.

“When I first laid eyes on Payce, I knew he was the one,” Tressie continued. “I just wanted to share my story with everyone here so that you would continue to pray.”

“Thank you,” Elise said to Tressie. “It is important to pray without ceasing. Pray to the Lord about the things you want and continue to pray for them until he answers your prayer. But keep in mind that the things you pray for must be in accordance with the will of God. Don't ask the Lord to give you someone else's husband because that is not going to happen. Don't ask the Lord to successfully see you through on robbing a bank because it's not going to happen. God is not going to give you or put things in your life that are going to harm you, so if you're praying about something, and he doesn't answer, then perhaps the Lord doesn't want you to have it. Some things were not meant to be.”

Olivia thought about herself and Bryant. She had prayed to the Lord every day about them getting married, but she was beginning to think it was useless. She had brought up the subject of marriage to him the other day, and he quickly changed the subject. Perhaps Elise was right. Maybe some things were not meant to be.

 

 

 

Val hung up the telephone as Julian walked into the kitchen.

“Olivia said to tell you hello.”

“How is she doing?” he asked.

“She's doing well. She said she's getting bigger and bigger every day.”

“I bet she looks funny with her big belly and skinny body,” Julian replied.

Val smiled at the thought of her cousin being pregnant. “Julian, where are you going?” Val asked as he kissed her and grabbed his keys.

“Oh, I have a meeting with the general manager.”

“What time will you be back?” she asked.

“I'm not sure, but don't wait up.”

“Julian, you have gone out every night this week. You said you were going to take me out last night and you couldn't because practice ran late. When are you going to be able to spend some time with me? I sit in this house night after night, alone.”

“Valencia, please don't complain. I try the best I can to get home to you at a decent hour. I'm sorry I couldn't take you out last night, but you know how important it is for me to grow with this team. I have to learn everything I can in order to adapt to this new environment. I have to learn new plays, get accustomed to how the other players make advances on the court, and on top of all that, the general manager has asked me to attend a few important meetings concerning the team's future. That's a lot of responsibility for the rookie of the team.” Julian took her hand in his. “I promise you that when things settle down I'll spend all my extra time with you. All right?”

Val watched through the living room window as Julian pulled out of their driveway. She was not looking forward to sitting in that big house by herself, again. Is this what she had to look forward to once they got married? Val and Julian had moved to Seattle the first week in September. Julian bought a large house in an exclusive section of suburban Seattle. The five-bedroom house had everything: a swimming pool, two car garage, home theater room, and state-of-the-art kitchen, but even with all those luxuries, she was still lonely.

Before their move out west, Val had been accepted to the University of Washington. She planned on continuing her education so she could graduate on time, but Julian suggested she take a year off. He thought it would be good for her to begin their wedding plans. She reluctantly agreed, but lately every time she mentioned the wedding to Julian, he changed the subject or insisted that they talk about it later.