Up at the College (38 page)

As soon as the door closed, Curtis turned to the team in a feeble effort to try and get something accomplished at this practice.
They had a game to play and win, and had not gone over one decent play. He took a deep breath and sighed, wondering how they
were going to work this out in the time they had left.

The door opened on the opposite side of the gym and Gran Gran, Miss Queen Esther, Miss Baby Doll, and several other members
of The Prayer Warriors came in carrying those big Sam’s Club–size bottles of oil. It wasn’t olive oil, either. They had real
anointing oil that could only have been special-ordered from Theresa Green’s store.

Doreatha Parker had been so busy interceding in prayer for her grandbaby that she hadn’t seen the boy in weeks. And that was
odd because they hated not seeing each other for too long. But the Lord had her sequestered in prayer, and didn’t release
her to see Curtis until this morning. Doreatha was a seasoned soldier of the Cross. And when the Lord gave her instructions,
she obeyed. Years ago she would have asked the Lord some questions. But now, when God told her to do something, she did it—no
questions asked.

“Gran Gran,” Curtis said and went over to hug her. He wanted to run but that was so uncool. Right now she was definitely a
sight for sore eyes. And she couldn’t have come at a better time.

Doreatha, who was tall for a woman her age, and a feminine version of her grandson, wrapped him up in her arms. Her baby had
been going through. But it had to be that way to get him to where he needed to be. And if he had to suffer, then so be it.
If that was the only thing to get his attention, then that is what he had to go through. But standing here, looking the baby
in his eyes, Doreatha realized that all of that had not been for naught. This Curtis was a new creature in Christ, and the
anointing was all over him.

“Baby, the Lord touched Baby Doll’s heart and led her to call us here to anoint the grounds around the Athletic Center, to
anoint this gym, and to pray over you, Maurice, and the team.”

“And,” Miss Baby Doll added, “the Lord has a Word for you and this team. It’s ‘chill.’”

“Chill?” Curtis asked. “The Lord told us to chill? Chill?”

“Uh, yeah,” Baby Doll said, looking perplexed. “If the Lord said ‘Chill,’ why you questioning that, boy?”

“It just don’t sound like a Word that God would use.”

“So God has sent you a Word list that He uses when giving a Word?”

Curtis sighed. He should have known better than to try and argue with Miss Baby Doll. She used to be homeless and knew how
to handle herself. She also used to be crazy and was now healed, delivered, and completely in her right mind. You didn’t mess
with people like that.

“Look, I didn’t question the Lord when He told me to tell you to chill. I just obeyed and brought you this Word. Now, do you
want to know the rest, or are you going to have a debate with me on the validness of
chill
?”

Curtis didn’t open his mouth.

“Umm, hmm, didn’t think so. Boy, the Lord wants you and these children to go and get some breakfast, then go home and get
some rest. Then, He wants y’all in church tomorrow, and after that to rest and stay in prayer and the Word. He wants y’all
to just chill. Trust Him because He has already given you this win. Now go and chill out so you will have the mental and physical
energy to really play that game. You all have been working hard for weeks. And now it’s time to chill.”

The Prayer Warriors gathered around Curtis, Maurice, and the team, and indicated that they were to get on their knees. They
poured oil in their hands and anointed everybody. Then Gran Gran started praying.

“Lord, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for bringing us this far. My grandbaby is now saved, sanctified, and filled with
the Holy Ghost.”

“Hallelujah” came from The Prayer Warriors.

“And, Lord, these children kneeled before You, the ones who are now saved and the ones who are hesitating on getting saved,
have hearts that keep turning, turning, turning, towards You.”

“Praise You,” Miss Queen Esther said.

“So, Lord, we thank You, we praise You, and we bless You in the name of Jesus. And, Lord, we praise and claim the victory
over Tuesday’s game. Give this team a sweet victory. Place Your angels all in the parking lot, at every door and window, and
all over this building to protect this team and these coaches. Lord, anoint them with abilities from Heaven to play like they
ain’t never played before. Lord, keep them safe, and we bind up all injuries in Jesus’s name.”

“In Jesus’s name, Lord,” Sherron said.

“And Lord, let folks see Your glory at this game. Let folks know that the Kingdom is far greater than a church building. Your
Kingdom is everywhere and extends to everything. For Your Word states that everything on the Earth belongs to You, and the
Earth is Yours. Lord, this game and this win is Yours. We dedicate this game to You and give praises to Your name for the
victory in Jesus’s name, amen.”

“Amen, amen, and amen,” Sherron said, followed by a series of amens from the coaches and the team.

They all got up and Kaylo said, “So, what do we do now, Coach?”

“Go over to Cashmere Estates and eat breakfast at the Senior Center. They prepared a meal for you all as a treat,” said Miss
Baby Doll, who headed Janitorial Services and Grounds Maintenance Services at Cashmere Estates.

“And don’t worry about transportation,” said an older man with a white cane with a red tip, through one of the side doors.
“We have the Senior Center vans outside for you young men.”

“Oooh, Lacy,” Miss Baby Doll said, grinning like she was a co-ed. “You so sweet, baby.”

“Heh, heh, heh” was all Mr. Lacy said as he got the team loaded up in the vans.

“How long is that honeymoon gone last, Doreatha?” Miss Queen Esther asked her best friend.

“Probably until Jesus cracks the sky,” was all Doreatha said, and then started laughing as they started blessing the gym and
finished anointing it with oil.

C
urtis and Maurice were glad they had left their cars at the school and opted to ride the bus with the team. It was Family
and Friends Day at Fayetteville Street Gospel United Church. This year’s guest church was none other than Jubilee Temple Holiness
Church II, pastored by Sherron’s dad, Apostle Grady Grey. Everybody was excited about them coming. Everybody was here, and
it appeared as if every single car in Durham County was in the church parking lot.

They hurried the team into the vestibule and signaled to Mr. Tommy, the head usher, that they were all in place and ready
to be seated. It took a few seconds to get Mr. Tommy’s attention—he was knee-deep in conversation with Miss Hattie Lee Booth.
Curtis had heard the rumors about some fireworks between those two but hadn’t given it much thought until now.

There was always some talk about Mr. Tommy, who was a widower, having a new girlfriend because Mr. Tommy loved women—and women
loved him back. He was one of the few single seniors at the church who didn’t have to worry about cooking because every able-bodied
senior sister at Cashmere Estates Seniors Apartment Building made sure that he always had something good and healthy to eat.

But judging from the way Miss Hattie Lee was giggling and blushing and “swashing’’ at him with her fan, Curtis surmised that
there was a whole lot of truth to that rumor.

“I think you better do more than signal to ol’ boy, Curtis, man,” Maurice whispered. “’Cause he’s not about to leave all of
that fine alone just to seat a bunch of basketball players.”

Maurice scratched at his chin. “How does she stay so fine, man?”

Curtis shrugged, and made a mental note to ask Mr. Tommy that very same question when he caught him on one of his walks around
Cashmere Estates.

Miss Hattie Lee saw them standing there. She poked at Mr. Tommy and pointed in their direction.

Mr. Tommy, who wasn’t very tall, looked up at all of those long-legged young men and said, “Lawd, what y’all been feeding
these children over at Eva T. You don’t have a child in front of me who is under six feet in height.”

“Five-ten, sir,” Kaylo said, raising his hand so that he could be seen over his fellow teammates.

“Well, you come on up to me, so I can sit you up front so you can see what’s going on over all of these trees.”

The team followed Mr. Tommy to a special spot off to the side, where they could all sit together and the rest of the folks
could see over their heads. Curtis looked around for Yvonne and her family, and then spotted his mother and grandmother sitting
with them on the pew to the left of where the team was seated. As soon as the two families discovered that he and Yvonne were
“going together,” they bonded and started making plans for Curtis and Yvonne’s future. And that included those two little
missies, who had given him the thumbs-up when Reverend Quincey asked them what they thought about Coach Parker. That little
Danesha told Obadiah, “We like him a lot. And now that he has made Jesus Lord of his life and shows that he has some decent
fruit to back it up with, he can hang with us.”

Then she looked around carefully and made sure no one was in earshot, and said, “You know, Reverend Quincey, that my little
play sister, June, wishes you’d talk to her step-grandfather, Mr. Rico. She said that he is mean and is not fair, and that
she is reporting him to Jesus, but just thought you’d like to know that she has taken this to a higher Person. You need to
jump in that, Reverend Quincey, okay?”

Obadiah nodded solemnly. He would do just that. June was his little sweetie and most likely a genius. If she said something
was wrong, something was wrong.

The folks at Fayetteville Street Church were very sociable. And on most Sunday mornings they were laughing and running their
mouths so, the ushers had to practically drag them into the sanctuary so service could begin on time. But that was not the
case this morning. This morning everybody was in their seat and waiting for the service to begin. Jubilee had one of the best
choirs in the area. Plus, a lot of folks were only able to see and hear Apostle Grady Grey on TV, and considered it a rare
treat to be able to hear what he had to say up close and personal. The ushers started closing the doors of the beautiful Caribbean
blue and cocoa-colored sanctuary, but had to swing them back open when the entourage from St. Joseph’s AME Church hurried
in and made a desperate appeal to the ushers to seat them.

Curtis could not believe the ushers had packed all of these dressed-up, cologned, and perfumed folk in this sanctuary. He
could not remember the last time he’d seen this many people at his church. But they were here—packed up tight and just as
happy as can be. He stood up so that he could get a better view of what his baby was wearing this morning.

“Umph, umph, umph” was all Curtis could say. Yvonne was wearing a creamy yellow form-fitting knit dress with a matching coat,
winter-white suede boots with gold stiletto heels, big gold hoops, and a yellow, peach, and gold heart-shaped pin on the lapel
of her jacket.

He pulled out his phone to turn it off and thought to text Yvonne before things got to jumping.

“Baby, baby … u make me wanna hollah.”

Yvonne stood up and gave Curtis a wave and then winked when she was sure he could see her face. He winked back and sat back
down. D’Relle rolled her eyes and texted Tiffany, who was sitting right next to her.

“T, this old people luv is a trip.”

“I know,” Tiffany texted her back. “They haven’t started playin’ Luther songs, have they?”

“NO, whew,” D’Relle texted back and then pretended she had stopped when she saw her grandmother giving her the eye.

“Your security guards r in your grille,” Trina texted Yvonne.

“Umm-hmm,” Yvonne texted her back.

“Curtis is sharp,” Rochelle texted them both.

“Yep, yo’ man sho is, homey,” Trina texted and they all started laughing.

Because Curtis was definitely no joke in that black silk-and-wool three-piece suit with silver pinstripes running through
it, and set off with a red shirt with thin black and silver stripes in it, and a black-and-silver striped tie and pocket kerchief
with tiny red dots on it.

“Stop & behave,” was the text message that Yvonne’s father sent to all of them.

“
The Lord is in His holy Temple. Let all the earth keep silent before Him
,” Reverend Quincey called out from the back of the church. Looking around this church filled to the brim with all of these
beautiful folk did his heart some good. And he couldn’t have asked for a better group to help him usher in this morning’s
service than the men and women who stood behind him—Reverend Sharon Simmons-Harris, Reverend Denzelle Flowers, Prophetess
Margarita Robinson, Reverend Philip R. Cousin Jr., who was the best pastor in the AME Church’s Second Episcopal District,
and on either side of him, the guest pastors, Apostle Grady Grey and his boy Elder Dotsy Hamilton. Everybody in this processional
was a G—stone-cold gangstas for Jesus.

The ministers walked all the way down to the altar and then waited for the musicians from Jubilee Temple to start playing.
They started off playing a smooth and jazzy version of “Near the Cross” to give the ministers time to get up into the pulpit
and take their seats. When the last one was seated, the band, which consisted of a keyboardist, pianist, organist, saxophone
player, guitarist, bass player, and percussionist, kicked the beat up a few notches, causing some of the folk in the audience
to get up out of their seats and get into that hot and anointed music.

The mass choir, dressed in their customary black tops and white bottoms, moved into place down the aisle and across the back
of the church. The choir director stood up in the choir loft and signaled to the musicians to get ready for the choir’s processional.
Just as they were preparing for the opening song, Mr. Tommy opened the sanctuary doors and let Marquita and Rico and their
grandbabies hurry into the church and take the first available seats.