By the time I got to New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, the choir was already singing. Brandon and I took a seat in the middle pews facing the front of the altar as we joined in on the praise and worship.
Moments later, the voice of the choir began to fade as Bishop Eddie Long appeared at the podium.
“Amen…amen,” he shouted as he looked over the congregation.
It wasn’t until he was about to get into his sermon that I realized I had walked off and forgotten my Bible. I looked around to see if there were extra ones in the pockets on the pew in front of me but there weren’t any. Bishop Long began reading from the Book of John as I continued to search. When I looked over to my left, there was an older lady next to me with a fairly large Bible sitting open on her lap.
I leaned forward, narrowing my eyes to get a peek at the passage, when she looked over at me with a frown before shifting her body, placing her Bible out of my view. You low-down old biddy, I thought as I rolled my eyes at her. Seconds later, I felt a light tap on my right shoulder. When I turned toward the touch there was a slim gentleman sitting next to me with his Bible placed in between us, his finger pointing at the words being read by Bishop Long. I looked up and politely smiled before following his finger across the words.
As the service continued, the gentleman next to me managed to shift his body closer to me. I felt awkward at first but I focused my attention on the words and blocked him out. Shortly afterward, the service had ended and we were about to disperse. Brandon was asleep under my arm as I got up, carrying him against my shoulder. As I followed the crowd and made my way outside, I stopped and talked to a few of the members I knew.
“Excuse me, sister,” a voice sounded.
I turned where I stood, facing the gentleman who had shared his Bible with me. “Hi,” I replied. “Thank you for sharing your Bible with me today. I was rushing out this morning and completely forgot mine.”
“Not a problem. I’ve seen you in and around church a few times and just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Reggie Gaines—nice to meet you.” He extended his hand. I smiled and we shook hands. “I’m Stephanie Hall, Reggie—nice to meet you.”
“Good to meet you, and feel free to share the word with me at any time, sister. Are you a member?”
“Well, not exactly. I’m looking for a church home and I think this is it.”
“Is this your son?” He looked over at Brandon in my arms. “How old is he?”
I smiled. “This is Brandon, he’s two.”
“Two…Has he been baptized yet?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Oh sister, you must get him baptized as soon as possible. His soul depends on it.”
I looked down, slightly embarrassed. “Uh, okay—what do I need to do?”
“Tell you what. Here’s my card. I work at the church. Give me a call so I can talk to the bishop and make sure he gets baptized as soon as possible.”
I was in a state of shock because I was so busy trying to get a feel for the church that I forgot to get my son baptized.
“I would also recommend coming to Bible study. We meet here every Wednesday at six o’clock. In the meantime, I’ll make sure we get Brandon’s paperwork together,” Reggie continued.
“Thank you so much, Reggie. I’ll do that.” I put his card in my pocket.
Reggie smiled. “Okay, see you Wednesday.”
“Have a good day,” I said, walking off.
I got in my car, immediately upset at myself. I have time to go out and party but forgot to get my son baptized. What kind of mother am I to forget something as important as this? I took Reggie’s card from my pocket and placed it in my cup holder to remind me to call later in the week.
When Curtis got home he smelled of alcohol again. He walked through the door and kissed me on my cheek before heading toward the kitchen. “Hey, baby? Guess what. I made seven hundred dollars today. Things are starting to look up for us.”
“Curtis, we need to talk,” I said firmly.
“Talk about what?” He took off his shirt.
“Do you know that Brandon hasn’t been baptized and he’s almost three?”
“Huh, so what? I didn’t get baptized until I was five or six. It’s no big deal.”
“That’s bullshit. It is a big deal, a big deal to me. I want my son to get baptized right away.”
“Okay, then make the arrangements.”
“I need to know that you’re going to support me with this,” I snapped.
“Sure, just set it up and let me know. What’s for dinner?”
“What? I’m talking about our son and all you can do is worry about your appetite?”
“Damn, baby, I said okay. Just set it up and I’ll be there. Now, are you going to fix me something to eat or not?”
I barely held my anger. “Yeah—go shower, Curtis, and I’ll fix your plate,” I replied, still annoyed.
Curtis came up behind me as I stood by the stove. “Baby, look. I’m sorry. Seriously, if you set it up, I’ll be there,” he replied, kissing the back of my neck. I felt relieved by the sound of his sincerity. My next move was to contact Reggie on Wednesday to get the information I needed.
CHAPTER 6
Mya
I had just gotten out of the shower and was about to do my nails when the phone rang. Still wrapped in a towel, I rushed to the phone on my nightstand.
“Hello.”
“Hey, girl, do you know A Mother’s Revenge is about to come on? Are you watching Lifetime?”
Lifetime was our little outing on Sundays. We would all sit on the phone for hours watching back-to-back movies. Tangie and I mostly argued during the commercials about how we would handle the situations in the movie, and Stephanie acted as the mediator. Seconds later, Tangie came back on the line. “Mya, hold on—that was Stephanie. I’m gonna three-way her in.”
Suddenly, I heard my cell phone ringing downstairs. “Hey, hold on. Someone is calling me on my cell.”
I ran downstairs, answering it on the third ring.
“Yes—Mya, please,” the deep voice sounded.
“This is Mya. Who is—”
“This is Darryl—I met you last night at the club.”
“Oh, hi, Darryl—yeah, I remember.”
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked.
“No, uh, I was just watching TV. What are you up to?”
“Not too much, I was about to throw some meat on the grill. In the meantime, I thought about you and decided to call.”
I blushed at the thought of being on his mind. “Can you grill, man?” I joked.
He chuckled. “Can I grill? Can I grill? I can’t see how you can fix your mouth to say that,” he joked.
“Well, I don’t know, so I thought I’d ask.”
“Oh, yeah, if I can’t do anything else, I can grill.”
“I hear you,” I replied.
“So how are you for getting together next weekend? I would really love to see you again. I’ll be out of town most of next week and was wondering