The Sweet by and By

A
NOV E L

TODD JOHN SON

f

I
.
I

I
'

•

the

S
weet

B
y
and
B
y

todd johnson

To Mabel Barnes Langdon and Mozelle Woodall Johnson,

my grandmothers

H

e who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy;

But he who kisses the joy as it f lies Lives in eternity’s sun rise.

—william blake,
Eternity

Contents

Epigraph
iii

Chapter One

Lorraine 1

Chapter Two

Margaret 7

Chapter Three

Rhonda 21

Chapter Four

Margaret 31

Chapter Five

Lorraine 43

Chapter Six

Margaret 51

Chapter Seven

April 57

Chapter Eight

Rhonda 65

Chapter Nine

Margaret 71

Chapter Ten

Rhonda 83

Chapter Eleven

Lorraine 93

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lorraine 225

Chapter Twenty-Six

April 229

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Margaret 241

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lorraine 245

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Margaret 249

Chapter Thirty

Lorraine 253

Chapter Thirty-One

Margaret 259

Chapter Thirty-Two

April 261

Chapter Thirty-Three

Rhonda 267

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lorraine 271

Chapter Thirty-Five

April 277

Chapter Thirty-Six

Rhonda 285

Chapter Thirty-Seven

April 289

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Lorraine 293

Acknowledgments About the Author Credits

Cover Copyright

About the Publisher

ch a p t e r on e

Lorraine

I

barely have got in the door good and it’s already three thirty in the afternoon. Church seemed like it lasted too long this morning and I didn’t come straight home like I usually do. Althea was determined to take me over to her house cause she had fixed collards and was bound for me to have some with her cornbread and dumplings, so now I’m ’bout to pop wide-open. She said she might not go to church so much if it wasn’t for me, it takes so much time out of a Sunday. I told her, “Don’t be puttin the burden of your soul on me, girl. You’re too hardheaded to

change, and I’m too smart to try and make you.”

Althea used to decorate cakes for a livin out of her own kitchen ’til it ’bout killed her it got to be so much work. She did birthdays, anniversaries, weddings of course, retirements, and a couple times she even made a cake for a funeral, but I don’t think there was much decoration on those. Now she works in an insur- ance office, mostly houses and cars is what they do. She picks me up on Sunday mornings for church sometimes, I think she likes to have some company ridin, and there ain’t no way her husband is gon go unless a meal is bein served. She is one drivin woman, I tell you that. Wants to go, go, go every minute. This morning we had time to drink a cup of coffee cause she got to my house so fast. I pulled out the cups and put four big spoons of sugar in hers or else she woulda asked me if I was tryin to put her on a diet.

“Well,” Althea said, raising her eyebrows when she took the hot coffee from me. “Lorraine, I’ve had a revelation.”

“Was it the Ten Commandments?” I asked. “Cause I ain’t so sure you got em the first time around.”

She ignored me. “I had a dream last night. I woke up sweatin to death, and I remember every bit of it. There was a circle of candles and me sittin in the middle of em.”

“Is this voodoo, Althea, cause if it is . . . ?”

“You’re bad for interruptin somebody, you know that?” “I’ll hush.” I took too big a sip and burned my tongue.