Part 6 (1/2)

”A little. I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary. I don't know why my stomach started hurting like that.”

”I do,” she said.

”Come on now,” he glanced at her, ”don't start that again.”

Shari looked at her husband of twenty years. They were the same age, but the stress of losing half of his income was beginning to have an effect on him. Multiple strands of gray hair had begun to reveal themselves around the temple of his hairline and in his goatee. The darkness under his eyes was the same shade of brown as the freckles that decorated his fair skin, and it made him look older than his forty-five years.

She looked at her husband lovingly. The intense look of concentration on his face made her decide to postpone telling him about the utility disconnection notice they had received in the mail.

Chapter Eleven.

Tia's heart was beating fiercely as she turned the corner with a screech. She slowed the car down as she steered it into the church parking lot and remained seated in the car, giving herself time to settle down.

A few minutes later, she entered the huge foyer of the First Temple Church and walked through the multicolored arched doorway that led to the sanctuary.

Bibles, coats, and hats took up much of the s.p.a.ce on the wooden pews, and Tia continued down the carpeted aisle until she found a seat just a few rows from the pulpit.

”Today,” Pastor Worthy said as the melodic tenor of his voice resonated throughout the small church, ”I want to preach about the temptations of the flesh. Turn your Bibles to 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 26,” he commanded.

Of all things to preach about, why this topic at this time? Tia thought as she sat down on a wooden pew in the middle row. She listened to the rustling sound of Bible pages turning simultaneously as the pastor spoke.

”I want to talk about captivity,” the pastor said. And then he read verse 26.

”and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

”Satan,” the pastor shouted out, ”has so many different snares that he uses to hold a soul captive. Bullets,” he hollered. ”Let's call them bullets. Now, the first bullet only grazes you by finding your weakness, and if you're not saved, let me tell you there are many.” He paused to wipe the moisture from his forehead with the white cloth he always had with him.

”The second bullet,” he continued, ”is just a flesh wound, but it draws you in nonetheless by enticing you with whatever your weakness-or weaknesses-may be. Now, in the beginning it's pleasurable.”

Tia tugged at the collar on her s.h.i.+rt. It was hot in the sanctuary-or was it just her?

”Uh-huh,” the pastor continued. ”Oh yeah. The enemy's going to see to that. But after awhile,” he slammed his fist down onto the podium, ”after awhile, you're going to find that it holds less and less pleasure!” He let out a little moan, and then he wiped his forehead again.

Tia caught the attention of one of the ushers and asked for a fan. Moments later, he returned with a small hand held fan. She gripped the thin wooden handle and began waving the round piece of paper connected to it back and forth in front of her face.

”You're gonna want to walk away from it,” the pastor said, ”but now your flesh-” he was interrupted by the congregation's stomping of feet and clapping of hands, ”-your flesh, having been wounded, is too weak to do so!”

”This,” he pointed his finger out into the congregation. Tia glanced around at the other members. Had he only been pointing at her? ”This,” he continued, ”is the point when the third and final bullet gets embedded deep into your flesh.” He swayed backward as he emphasized the word deep.

”And you are now being held captive by the enemy.” He stopped to catch his breath. ”He ends up enslaving you with the l.u.s.tful desires of your own heart! And the Bible says, '. . . sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.'”

The man sitting next to Tia jumped up from his seat and began clapping his hands as he yelled, ”Preach!”

Various members of the congregation shouted out, ”Yes, Lord!” ”Amen!” and ”Have mercy!”

Tia remained stoic and showed no outward signs of the turmoil going on within her.

Pastor Worthy concluded his sermon by asking, ”Brothers and sisters, do you see how that old devil works? He's doing the same old thing, the same old way. This ain't nothing new!” His eyes roamed across the congregation. ”Just look in your Bible,” he said. ”There are countless stories in there about individuals who got caught up by the l.u.s.t of their flesh: Samson, David and Bathsheba, and more.”

The pastor lowered his voice. ”Remember what 1 Corinthians, Chapter 6, Verses 9 through 10 tells us about the consequences of unrepented sin.” He began to read.

”Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of G.o.d? Do not be deceived: Neither the s.e.xually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have s.e.x with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of G.o.d.”

Tia stopped fanning.

”Now, folks,” he said, ”this is G.o.d's Word, not mine so don't get mad at me.” He extended his arms out to the congregation. ”If anyone is here tonight and you've fallen into one of those categories . . . or maybe you fell into another category that I didn't mention, but you want to know Jesus-you want a new life-you want to be changed . . .” He stepped down from the pulpit. ”You don't want to do the things you used to do, say the things you used to say, act the way you used to act . . . Come to Jesus. Come now.”

The choir started singing ”Just As I Am.” Tia remained seated as several men, women, and teenagers got up from their seat and made their way down to the front of the pulpit. Her eyes became watery. One more blink and the clear liquid would start rolling down her cheeks. She hadn't planned to commit adultery, but what was she supposed to do if her husband ignored her desires?

She clenched her teeth. Surely G.o.d didn't want her to live with such depravity-but then again, what had G.o.d said about adultery? She picked up the fan and began fanning herself again as the tears began rolling unevenly down her face. The strong voices of the choir softened as the service came to an end.

Tia wiped her eyes and prepared to leave. What had Pastor Worthy said about sin? He'd said it felt good, and Tia convinced herself that she deserved to feel good for a change. Right now, she felt like a woman. She felt alive. But with a twinge of guilt she had to admit that it had been another man, not G.o.d, who had resuscitated her.

She grabbed her Bible and stood up. Yes, Pastor Worthy had said sin felt good, but what he'd also said-and what Tia had tried to ignore-was that the end result of sin was death.

Serenity entered the house through the kitchen door, which allowed her to bypa.s.s the living room-and her father-who she thought would be pa.s.sed out on the couch like he almost always was. She headed for her bedroom upstairs when he called her name.

”Serenity!” he yelled.

He startled her, and she stood still, trying to decide if she should go into the living room or run upstairs like she wanted to.

She heard his footsteps coming toward the kitchen and decided to meet him halfway.

He loomed over the entryway of the kitchen. ”Where you been?” His question sounded more like an accusation.

”At Cookie's house,” she said defensively.

”Your mama was looking for you. Ain't this church night?”

”I had to study.” She looked up at him. His eyes were filled with what she thought was disapproval, and she was immediately sorry she had looked into them. He brushed past her and headed for the refrigerator.

Serenity went upstairs to her bedroom and sat by the window facing the fenced in backyard. She tried to visualize the landscaping below that had been made invisible by a sheet of crystallized snow. Fallen acorns from the ominous-looking oak tree formed a haphazard pattern on top of the frozen snow and the trees' branches hung low from the weight of the thick ice that encased them.

Bushes struggled to maintain an upright position under the weight of the icy burden, and a mound of snow covered the bench that sat in the center of the yard. Serenity noticed a display of small animal prints decorating the surface of the snow-covered bench.

Suddenly, several squirrels began ducking in and out of the many nooks and crannies of the timeworn trunk. As cold as it was, they didn't seem to be affected by the single-digit temperatures at all as they continued their fast-paced game of hide-and-seek. After a few minutes, all but one of the squirrels had disappeared.

The last squirrel continued darting in and out of one of the trunk's crevices until Serenity tapped on the window; then it crawled down to the bottom of the tree and stopped.

She thought about how she'd almost knocked over the lamp at Cookie's house, and the comment Cookie had made. Her mind pictured the look of disgust her mother gave her every time she knocked something over and it broke. Another sting. And lately, she'd noticed that same look on her father's face, even when she hadn't stumbled over anything, even when nothing had shattered to pieces.

Serenity realized she was squeezing the fas.h.i.+on magazine she'd gotten from Cookie in her hand. She turned from the window, smoothed out the wrinkled pages, and opened the magazine to the page that had captured her attention earlier.

She discovered that a modeling agency was looking for girls between the ages of thirteen and eighteen years old to model the upcoming fas.h.i.+ons for spring. Local auditions were going to be held at the Brookridge Mall on the first Sunday in March.