Try a Little Tenderness

by Isaiah David Paul

  “That’s all right,” Mateo replied as Sonic picked up the juice and made room for him to take a seat. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “I’m sorry I kept you worried,” Sonic apologized and offered Mateo the two blueberry muffins. “I took the last two, and Hammer already said we didn’t have any more until tomorrow.”

  “Thanks.” Mateo unwrapped the muffin and stuffed it in his mouth, wiping the excess crumbs off his face. “You’re like my little brother now. I always got to watch out for you.”

  “Just for a while.” Sonic finished his bagel and continued drinking his juice. “You’ll eye me like a hawk until some fine lady comes around and steals your heart. Then you’ll be following her around like a puppy.”

  “No, I won’t.” Mateo unwrapped his second muffin and gave it the same treatment as the first one. “I haven’t been with a woman in over seven months. Ever since my crazy uncle tried to put some hot lead in my butt for messing with his second wife.”

  “Wait—” Sonic looked confused as he pulled his drink away from his mouth. “Tell me that story again.”

  “I told you about how my mother’s sister’s ex-husband had left her for some younger chick. Well, back when I was younger, my ex-uncle’s wife caught me relieving myself on the side of the house and been jumping my bones ever since. He didn’t like that so much, so one day, he caught me in the bed with her. I was doing my thing, and he hit me in my back with a frying pan. Then he went to cursing out his old lady, and when I came to, I beat the breaks off of him.” Mateo took the package of mixed nuts and ate some.

  “I wasn’t saved then, and I gave him the whooping Madre should’ve given him for raping my sister when I was younger. After that,” Mateo continued, “I ran as far as I could, but that old fart was quick. I got to the bowling alley off of Kenilworth Road before you get to Tunnel Road, and this fool started shooting at me. I knew Hammer’s motel wasn’t too far from where they lived and if I could make it there, I’d be safe. I ran into the motel, and Hammer saved me just like I thought he would.”

  Mateo hated talking about the woman, his ex-uncle, or any of his twisted family secrets, but Sonic was as close to Mateo as his brother, and eventually, he’d tell the man everything. If nothing else, he did it so Sonic wouldn’t feel like a freak.

  “Sounds like your family is equally as twisted as mine,” Sonic confided as he continued to nurse his juice. They looked ahead and saw that the breakfast line was going down. The two of them decided to raid the place for some more food.

  Mateo looked around to see if Hammer was in the vicinity. He was about to grab his first plate after sampling Sonic’s. Seeing that Hammer was nowhere in sight, Mateo added a few extra eggs and an extra carton of juice for his daily supplement.

  “Man, look,” Mateo started as they returned to their seats. “All you gotta do is continue walking the path you are on. We pray together when we can, but you’re taking trips to the mountains to be one with God and to have your own prayer time. You are doing a lot more than most people are doing right now. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were the next Moses.”

  Sonic chuckled, and Mateo felt good seeing his best friend laugh a little. The plate of food went down like the breakfast snacks that Sonic had shared, and the two men relaxed for a while. Upon finishing, Sonic gathered their trash and put it in the trash bin.

  At that moment, Hammer rounded the corner. He grinned when he saw Mateo and Sonic together.

  “I didn’t know you were coming with us.” Hammer addressed Sonic as he took a seat on the loveseat next to Mateo.

  “Us where?” Mateo looked at him like he was crazy.

  “I see not only do I have to work with you on your personal skills, but I gotta help you develop a strong memory as well.” Hammer sounded disappointed. “We got a meeting with Pastor Cummings in the next hour about what we are going to do for the house we’re building for Habitat for Humanity next month. Then you gotta clock in after a while too.”

  The meeting had slipped Mateo’s mind. He looked at Sonic and then looked away.

  “I’ll be there. What time do we need to leave?” Sonic offered.

  “Now, gentlemen.” Hammer got up and motioned for Mateo and Sonic to do the same. “Time waits for no man, and we have too much work to do to be procrastinating.”

  Mateo and Sonic got up and followed Hammer out of the motel. Mateo hadn’t expected ministry to involve so many meetings about what they were going to do. He thought people just got up and did it. He started to ask Hammer about that, but Hammer’s phone rang. He immediately began discussing a meeting with a minister from Winston-Salem who wanted to start a street-based ministry in Asheville.

  From hearing Hammer’s part of the conversation, the minister piqued Mateo’s interest. During his stint in prison, he’d heard of several guys ministering to other inmates and offering an encouraging word, but the message never seemed to reach him. Now that he was saved, Mateo wanted to meet other men who’d been locked up and given their hearts and souls to Jesus.

  Mateo was more interested in the meeting that Hammer was talking about than going to another boring church meeting, but he also knew that Hammer was selective about which people he connected. At the moment, Mateo was stuck going to the meeting at the church. He knew to pocket his questions about the minister for another time.

  Chapter Four

  Worship Warrior

  Mateo followed the older, well-built man inside a humble, frail storefront. “Madre used to go to these huge, castle-like cathedrals that always felt cold and stuffy. Some of them had dragons on the outside of them and stuff.”

  Mateo continued talking to Hammer and Sonic about his past experiences with the Virgin Mary, wearing crucifixes, hearing mass in Latin, and other prominent fixtures of the Roman Catholic churches. For a while, Mateo didn’t mind the fact that he seemed to be talking to himself, until he didn’t feel the older man’s presence in front of him. He could see Sonic out of the corner of his eye.

  “Yo, old man, where are you at?” Mateo was disrespectfully loud enough to be heard outside. Suddenly, he felt a powerful grip on his neck, turning his stocky, compact, action figure–like frame a hundred and eighty degrees. Sonic gasped, and for a moment, Mateo thought Hammer had laid hands on him too. When Mateo faced the older man, he realized two things: one, the older man didn’t have as much gray hair on his face as Mateo thought he’d have, and two, Hammer was still in good enough shape to whoop his tail if he needed to.

  “Son, I’m old enough to be your father. You will show me some respect.” Hammer was firm and blunt. It reminded Mateo too much of Abuelo, and in the back of his mind, he figured Hammer and Abuelo had met somewhere in their past. “Remember, I’m Hammer. Please don’t make me lay hands on you in my house of worship, son. You understand where I’m coming from?”

  Mateo looked Hammer over again and quickly straightened up his act. “Sí, Señor.”

  “Bueno,” Hammer escorted Mateo and Sonic into his office. “You said you wanted to be in ministry and that you needed to be around people that would keep you outta the streets, right?”

  “Yeah,” Mateo mumbled. “Something like that.”

  “Well that something is a group very near and dear to me, and the man who’s traveled two and a half hours from Winston-Salem to help you and some of the other hotheads be a part of this ministry is like a little brother to me. I adopted him when we both were serving time in prison, and he’s made me proud. You will not give him or me a hard time, or you and I will be taking a trip back to the sixties, you understand?”

  “Comprendo.” Again, Mateo was obedient as he nodded his head to indicate that he understood. “How’d you change into a suit so fast?” he asked. “Just five minutes ago you were in an oversized shirt and a baggy pair of jeans.”

  “We came here so I could change clothes, since I’ll be speaking at another event later tonight, and so I can keep an eye on you. Let me remind you: where I come f
rom, we move fast and don’t waste time.” Hammer shook his head. “Also we speak when we’re spoken to and show our elders some respect.”

  Mateo was surprised at how quiet Sonic had been. Normally, Sonic had a few comments of his own to share. Mateo continued to listen to Hammer talk about being a man of God. Hammer had Mateo’s attention at first, until he noticed one of the framed pictures of hands praying had a light reflection. Being vain, Mateo stopped and checked his reflection. His naturally curly hair made him appear to have Jheri curls, due to the excessive amount of mousse he’d applied to his hair.

  “And we act like men.” Hammer finished his statement.

  “I am a man, dawg. You just don’t know.”

  “Son,” Hammer gritted, “I’m gonna tell you one more time. I’m not your dawg, your homie, your man. You are staying in the motel I own out of the kindness of my heart because I like to see young men like you turn yourselves around and get your act together. I’ve taken time to mentor you so you can develop into a man all of us can be proud of.” Hammer exhaled. “But you are really testing my ability to be meek, kind, and gentle. I declare that must be the sole purpose of why God put you in my life.”

  “No, I told you God led me to you because He knew you’d show me how to be a better man.” Mateo restated the very statement he’d told Hammer well over seven months ago, when he needed Hammer to save him from his uncle who was trying to gun him down after accusing him of impregnating his wife. Mateo wasn’t the only man his uncle’s wife was messing around with, and for Mateo’s benefit, a paternity test ruled him out from being the father. Still, the rumors followed and continued to be spread all over Asheville.

  “Thanks for reminding me.” Hammer led Mateo out of his office and down a short hallway that led to a classroom filled with other men around Mateo’s age, from all walks of life. From the ones wearing suits and ties to a few who had mohawks, multiple earrings in each ear, and leather vests and pants, they were all standing around or talking amongst each other.

  Before Hammer could get another word in, he heard a gavel bang on a podium three times, and then the room was silent. Rahliem Victor, leader of the Street Disciples Ministry, was standing before them. Shockingly, he had on a red-and-white Winston-Salem State University basketball jersey that exposed all of the tattoos from the base of his jawline to the tip of his wrists. The only tattoo on his left hand resembled a wedding band.

  “Welcome to the first Street Disciples Ministry of Asheville meeting.” Rahliem addressed the men in front of him. “I’m glad to finally see this ministry expand to Western North Carolina.”

  Mateo looked around and noticed that the group of men clapped. While he wasn’t skeptical, he was concerned with how Rahliem was going to turn what appeared to be a group of misfits into a well-oiled ministry that served God.

  “There are about fifteen of you in here. The first group in Winston-Salem had about nine when we first started.” Rahliem continued. “And we worked with all kinds of people. We have former adult video stars, drug dealers, and murders.”

  “Well, in Asheville you’ll be working with ex-cons and weirdos,” Mateo blurted out, and the whole room chuckled.

  “And if they’re willing to follow Jesus, then we can make use of every one of them,” Rahliem replied confidently.

  Rahliem continued telling the history of the group and the expectation that the new members be hearers and doers of the Word. Once Rahliem was done, everyone was handed a plastic bag that contained a miniature Bible, a travel-size flashlight, a pack of black ballpoint pens, and a couple of business cards. The business card that stood out to Mateo the most was the one for His-Love.com. It read: Created by God’s people to encourage the spreading of God’s word and the fellowship of men and women in Christ. A Christ-centered networking and relationship site.

  The words grabbed a hold of his spirit and piqued his interest. Mateo pulled out his Samsung Galaxy and added the site to his favorites. He quickly registered, using the name SenorCristoAmor and answered a few personal questions about himself. He held the phone in the air and took a picture of himself. Satisfied with the way he looked, he uploaded his picture on the Web site.

  “Ay, man.”

  Mateo turned toward the husky Southern drawl that had gathered his attention. He had to look up to see the blue-eyed, orange-and-purple-mohawk-wearing young man standing before him. “’Sup,” Mateo replied and then returned his attention to his phone.

  “You nervous about getting out into the streets and spreading the word of God?” the man asked.

  “Naw, what I got to be nervous for? I stay in the streets.” Mateo was cocky, and the last thing he wanted to admit was that he had a slight concern about not knowing what he was doing.

  “I’m just saying, after we do this training, we gotta step out of these four walls and represent God. By the way, my name is Marvel. What’s yours?”

  “Mateo,” Mateo quickly answered as he looked for Hammer. He was ready to leave, and he had no intention of staying around to get acquainted with Marvel or anyone else.

  “You looking for love?” Marvel peered over and took a peek at his phone.

  “Marvel is it?” Mateo tried to wave the young man off, to let him know he was overstaying his welcome. “I’m about to leave and meet up with some people. I’ll have to catch you another time.”

  “No problem, brother. Let me get your number so we can stay in touch. Maybe we can study the Bible together.”

  “A’ight cool,” Mateo replied and spit some numbers real fast to get the young man out of the way. Mateo thought about the question Marvel had asked him. He wasn’t sure if he was looking for love. Mateo loved the idea of being on another social networking site that seemed Christ-centered. He went back to His-Love.com and downloaded the app for the site on his phone. He figured if he saw the app on his phone, he’d keep up with it and remember to read a scripture a day, since they advertised sending a verse and devotional daily to their members.

  “So how do you feel about the ministry?” Rahliem asked as he approached Mateo. Mateo had been so caught up on checking out the Web site that he hadn’t even seen Rahliem coming. He knew he was slippin’ and had been out of prison too long if he couldn’t tell when someone else was approaching him. That was the second time in less than ten minutes.

  “Man, I think this is a good thing and something that will keep me out of trouble.”

  “How long you been saved?” Rahliem asked.

  “About seven months or so. I’m still getting used to being out of the joint and rocking with the Lord. I got a church home, but I’m still looking for myself.”

  “Well, it’s a ride worth taking if you’re willing to stay the course. And our ministry is not limited to the members of Guiding Light Ministry Center. We welcome members of all churches.”

  “I’m willing.”

  “Well, we’ll be meeting again on Tuesday. And Mateo?”

  How did he know my name? Mateo wondered. “Yeah.”

  “Bring a copy of your Bible too. We’ll spend some time going over the Word we will be spreading.”

  Mateo nodded his head. “I’ll be there.”

  Just like that, Rahliem had moved on to the other attendees. Mateo got a buzz on his phone. The His-Love. com app was working, and already he had a woman who was interested in getting to know him. He was tempted to take her for what she was worth, but he knew in his heart of hearts he couldn’t just jump out and get into anything. Jesus wouldn’t like that—and he hadn’t finished creating his profile yet. He glanced at the profile and decided to deal with it and the potential date another time.

  Chapter Five

  Sick of the Sorries

  “Amirah, I hope you are hearing me,” Mrs. Ingle pleaded.

  Even though they were in Mrs. Ingle’s spacious mini-suite that served as her office as principal of Shiloh Christian Academy, Amirah felt claustrophobic. Normally, Mr. Maddison, the Assistant Principal of Instruction and Amirah’s direct supervisor,
would be in attendance at any disciplinary meeting, but he was out of town. That meant Amirah had to deal with Mrs. Ingle all by herself.

  Mrs. Ingle wasn’t imposing; at least her five foot two frame didn’t incite fear upon first sight. Her choice of earth-toned eye shadows, foundation, and lipstick only highlighted the features that enhanced her natural beauty. The short, lightly tinted Afro emphasized the sharp cheekbones and her almond-shaped eyes. With those features, one could easily to assume that Mrs. Ingle was in her early-to-mid forties. Aside from a prior conversation with Amirah, Mrs. Ingle rarely told anyone she was closer to sixty.

  Mrs. Ingle was the first to remind anyone that she wasn’t always a saint. Mrs. Ingle had five children by three different men, none of which were by her third husband, Pastor Ingle. In fairness to her, her first husband died when he fell from a ladder cleaning the Jackson Building in downtown Asheville, and her second marriage was annulled when she later learned that the man was still legally married to his wife in Colorado. She didn’t know who her third baby daddy was, nor was she interested in tracking down one of the fourteen men it could be.

  “You are wasting your talents with that television show, and you have been called to preach the Word of God. That’s why you got the show in the first place. When are you going to feature Jesus on your show?”

  Pastor and Mrs. Ingle had been trying to get Amirah to head her own church since she walked through the doors of Shiloh Christian Academy three years ago. They’d leave brochures for seminary schools in her mailbox and introduce her to influential seminary educators in the area.

  “Mrs. Ingle, that is not fair. God is always welcomed at my show. I’d never turn Him away.” Amirah defended her show. “What happened last Friday is not a representation of who I am and what I’m about. I thought you knew me better than that.”

  “I know that.” Mrs. Ingle relaxed a little. “But I want you to look at the number of messages on my phone system.”