Chapter 5

"Are you sure this dress is okay for church?" I asked Zechariah.

We"d just walked into Abundant Blessing Church. Zechariah had invited me a few weeks ago to go with him to the church"s one-hundredth anniversary service. I stayed up half the night trying to figure out what to wear. I was in my head about meeting his family. I knew I was ready to meet them, but I was nervous at the same time.

I"d chosen a purple long-sleeved midi-length dress. I felt comfortable in it until I walked into the church building. Now, I wasn"t sure.

"It"s perfect. You"re fully covered. I mean, you can"t hide that donk even if you tried…"

"Zechariah!"

He laughed.

"You look beautiful because you are beautiful. This dress is perfect, and so are you."

I smiled.

"Thank you."

"I can"t help but tell the truth," Zechariah replied.

People smiled and greeted us as we navigated through the crowd in the foyer and headed to the doors of the main auditorium.

"I"ve driven past this church a million times and have never thought about coming in here," I said while looking around and admiring the architecture of the old building.

"My family has been going here a long time. I told you my brother is the pastor, but my family was attending here before he became the pastor," Zechariah explained.

"Oh wow. Did your ancestors attend this church, too?"

I"d really been on an ancestor kick since finding out my building was located in the very spot where my family owned a business. I was still blown away by that.

"I don"t think so, but that"s a good question. When my family first moved back to Sable, we didn"t attend this church. We were at another church. My parents didn"t like something the pastor did, so they came to ABC."

"Oh, okay."

"Good morning, Zechariah," one of the ushers greeted.

"Good morning, Ms. Millie," Zechariah responded.

"Your family is sitting on the first few rows. Would you like for me to walk you to them?"

"Yes, please," Zechariah answered.

We followed Ms. Millie down the aisle. Some of Zechariah"s family had arrived but Queenie and Kemuel weren"t there yet. He introduced me to the ones who were there: Ashrita, his youngest sister, Titus, and Teddy, his twin cousins. Teddy"s girlfriend, Kali, was also there.

Everyone seemed nice.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Zechariah asked Ashrita.

"They"re over there talking to the Banks"." Ashrita nodded across the aisle.

Zechariah took my hand and started to walk towards them. Realizing I was about to meet his mother, I held his hand tighter.

Zechariah turned and looked at me. "What"s wrong?"

"I"m nervous," I admitted.

"She"s going to love you," Zechariah assured me.

I looked around him at his parents and then back at him. "You don"t know that."

"Yes, I do. We can wait until after service if you want," Zechariah responded. "I want you to be comfortable."

His calm demeanor helped me calm down.

I took a deep breath. "No, I"m good. Let"s just do it. Rip the band-aid off."

Zechariah chuckled.

We walked a short distance to his parents.

"Mom, Dad," Zechariah said. "This is Wilhelmina. Billye, these are my parents."

Mrs. Aldaine smiled and opened her arms to hug me. I leaned in and hugged her back, accepting the warm greeting.

"Hi, Wilhelmina. I"m Gracen. It"s so nice to meet you. You"re so tall and beautiful."

I smiled and said, "Thank you. Please call me Billye, and it"s nice to meet you, too. I"m a little nervous, but it"s still nice."

"Oh, please. You don"t have to be nervous. If I get to meet you, then you"ve passed through all the hard people like Queenie and Leona," Mrs. Aldaine said.

"I"m Leon. It"s nice to meet you," Mr. Aldaine said and extended his hand.

Geeze! Mr. Leon was fine as hell! The silver beard that adorned his handsome face was meticulously groomed. He was dressed in a tailored suit; the grey fabric was accented by the subtle check pattern. His tie, a rich mixture of reds and blues, hung neatly against his chest.

Zechariah looked a lot like him, but Mr. Leon had a look and swag all his own. I"m sure the women were after him back in the day. Hell, he was probably still beating them off.

We shook. "I"m Billye. Nice to meet you."

"You"re coming to dinner after church, correct?" Mr. Aldaine asked.

"Yes, sir. I"m bringing a dessert."

"Good, then we can talk more later," Mr. Aldaine responded.

I followed Zechariah to our row, sat down and said, "Why did I tell your dad I was bringing dessert?"

"I have no idea!" Zechariah responded.

"Like, why was that the thing I decided to say?"

We quietly chuckled.

Zechariah and I sat behind his parents. When Queenie and Kemuel arrived, Queenie sat next to me, which made me feel a little more comfortable.

"Do you attend church regularly?" Queenie asked.

"No, I don"t."

"Me either. This church is cool, and I think Israel is a phenomenal preacher, but I don"t do this often," Queenie responded.

"Good. I didn"t want to be the only non-regular in here."

"Girl, even some of the regulars are going to hell with gasoline-soaked underwear on, so you"re fine," Queenie answered.

We both chuckled.

The church service began with singing. The band was top-notch, and the singers could really sing. It had been years since I"d attended church, and a lot had changed. A few of the singers had on ripped denim pants and t-shirts. When I went to church with my friend we had to be dressed in our best. It wasn"t a bad idea, though, to allow people to be comfortable while attending the long services.

A young woman led a song that said something about the King of Glory filling the place. I remembered that part because the audience sang the words with her.

"Her voice is beautiful," I said to Zechariah.

"That"s my cousin, Sunni."

"Oh…" I replied.

Sunni"s voice was angelic. I could see why Zechariah was so excited about Sunni releasing her first album. I wasn"t one for Gospel music, but I"d listen to her album. Her voice had a calming quality that everyone, including me, felt.

After the singers finished, Israel and Leona walked onto the stage, hand in hand. I recognized them from the pictures Zechariah had shared on Instagram. Israel"s dark-rimmed glasses made him look distinguished. Leona looked a lot like her mother; both women were beautiful. Israel and Leona were an attractive couple.

"Good morning, Church," Israel said.

The church responded.

"Leona and I are so happy you"ve joined us for this joyous occasion. I would like to say a very special thank you to the past pastors of ABC who are here and the families of the pastors who"ve gone on to glory," Israel said and smiled.

Leona began, "One hundred years ago, thirteen men and women started this church. Today, we have about fifteen hundred members worldwide thanks to our online campus."

"Yes, I am so proud to pastor a church of such wonderful and loving people. We just wanted to welcome you before we continue on with the service," Israel finished.

Someone read the history of the church and honored the distinguished guests and families. One of the previous pastors in attendance was one hundred and one years old. He pastored the church in the nineteen seventies and eighties before moving to Florida. He looked great for over a hundred years old.

After all the pomp and circumstance, Israel came back to deliver the message.

"When I was in elementary school, there was a kid named Tyrone Jenkins who was the school bully. Kids knew to stay out of Tyrone"s way because he would beat you up if you didn"t. I had a friend in school, Dennis, who was the smallest kid in the class. Somehow, he"d gotten on Tyrone"s bad side, and Tyrone told Dennis he was going to beat him up after school.

"For the rest of the day, Dennis and I were trying to figure out what he could do to get out of this fight with Tyrone. We brainstormed him forcing himself to throw up so he could go to the nurse, to him just telling the teacher so someone would protect him. Ultimately, Dennis decided he didn't have a way out. He would just have to take whatever would come to him.

"The bell rang, and all the kids gathered on the playground, waiting for Dennis to arrive. Tyrone had been talking all day about the beating he was going to give Dennis. Dennis bravely stepped to the center of the crowd. He was ready to just get it over when all of a sudden, Darnell, Dennis' older brother, stepped in front of Dennis.

"Darnell said, "I heard you"ve been talking a lot of stuff about beating up my little brother, who is half your size."

"Now, let me frame this by saying that we didn"t have a clue about how Darnell found out about the fight. Darnell went to the middle school across the street. However, somehow, he found out and he was there standing in front of Dennis. Everyone knew Darnell could fight, and Tyrone did, too.

"Tyrone threw his hands up like, naw, I ain"t realize that was your brother. He"s cool with me.

"Darnell said, "Yeah, I figured you were mistaken. I knew you wouldn"t put your hands on my brother."

"From that day on, Tyrone stayed away from Dennis.

"I thought about that story because Isaiah 59:19 says so shall they fear the name of the Lord.

"Not his actions… His name.

"It goes on to say when the enemy comes like a raging flood, the Lord will drive him back. The King James version says, when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of theLordshall lift up a standard against him.

"That means that God will protect you. God will fight for you. I think about the old song, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus," and the part that says oh, what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

"Dennis would"ve gone through so much needless pain if Darnell hadn"t stepped in."

The audience laughed.

"But God does us the same way. He will step in even when we think we have it all figured out. He will step in when we didn"t ask for help and have messed everything up. God is always there.

"You think about the children of Israel who were fleeing the Egyptian army. They saw a body of water in front of them and an army behind them. They could"ve just stopped, threw up their hands and said, "Welp, y"all caught us!" Instead, they depended on God and guess what? He made a way.

"Job lost almost everything he had, but he said, "My trust is in you, God." God delivered him.

"I believe Dennis prayed, and God sent Darnell."

The audience laughed again.

"I can"t confirm that, but it makes sense, right? Whenever you are facing the Tyrones of life- sickness, lack, disappointment, grief, or whatever else you can add to that list- remember the story of Dennis, Tyrone and Darnell. Remember, God will show up for you," Israel said.

It was interesting how Israel used everyday examples to deliver points about the Bible. I thought the Bible was a lot of old English that no one could really understand, but he used different translations and paraphrased, helping me understand his point. I was thoroughly impressed.