He rented a car, drove to the church, and pulled into the parking lot. People were going in, and some were leaving after Sunday school.
He looked around as he got out of the car, and the first people he saw were Deacon Jennings and his family coming up the walk to the church. He was immediately filled with anger but tried to keep his temper in check. After all, his beef was with the son and not Deacon Jennings himself.
“Jeremy, so good to see you,” Deacon Jennings said, shaking his hand.
“Hello,” Jeremy said, looking at his wife and daughter. “Where’s your son?”
“Oh, Aaron?” Deacon Jennings said. “He should be inside. He came early to attend Sunday school. I know he likes your sister Jessica. He probably came to Sunday School hoping to catch her.”
“Perhaps so,” he said, walking into the church.
He looked in the sanctuary and did not see his family. It was still about fifteen minutes before the beginning of service, so he went downstairs, where the Sunday school classes were.
He greeted several people and then spotted Jessica looking uncomfortable and talking to a tall, redheaded young man. He knew that it was Aaron. He walked over to them trying to remain in control.
“Jeremy,” Jessica said, surprised when she looked up to see her brother.
“Is everything all right, Jess?” he asked, his voice clipped and hard. “Do I need to handle something here?”
He stared at Aaron, who was unable to meet his eyes, and then turned back to his sister.
“Uh, no that’s all right,” Jessica replied. “We were just talking.”
“You know, Aaron,” Jeremy said, grabbing Aaron’s arm, “I think you and I need to have a little talk.”
Aaron looked as if he was going to faint. “I… I don’t have anything to talk to you about,” he said, trying to pull away.
“Oh, but you do,” Jeremy said, dragging him by the arm to an empty classroom. “Sit down.” He shoved him toward a chair and then shut the door.
Aaron quickly looked around, but seeing no escape, he complied with Jeremy’s request.
“Why are you bothering my sister?” Jeremy asked, hovering over Aaron.
“I wasn’t bothering her. I was just talking—”
“After what you did, you have the nerve trying to talk to my sister?” Jeremy snapped, interrupting him.
“What I did? I didn’t force her—”
“Shut up!” Jeremy hissed angrily. “If we weren’t in church, there’s no telling what I’d do to you!”
“Please… I’m sorry,” Aaron stammered, clearly afraid.
“You stay away from her. If you don’t, then I’m going to go to the deacon board about it. Your father will find out how you took advantage of my sister.”
“I—I didn’t do anything. I mean, she agreed to it. It’s not my fault!” Aaron said, standing up on shaky legs, trying to face him. He was just as tall as Jeremy, but he was no match for him.
“You just leave her alone. You’ve done enough damage,” Jeremy demanded, stabbing him in the chest with his pointer finger. “You’re no man, Aaron. No decent man would have done what you did!” Jeremy snapped, quickly shoving him back in his seat.
“But I love her,” Aaron said remorsefully, looking at Jeremy with sorrowful eyes.
“You don’t love her!” Jeremy hissed “If you did, you wouldn’t have rushed her. You would have waited. When she told you she wasn’t ready, you would have backed off.” He leaned in closer, bringing his voice to a whisper. “If you loved her, then you wouldn’t have penetrated her when you knew she wasn’t aroused. You would have put her feelings first before the demands of your hard dick!”
Aaron swallowed, unable to speak or look at Jeremy.
“You are a disgusting little maggot. You stay away from my sister. She needs a man who will love her, not a selfish maggot that only wants to use her,” Jeremy declared.
Jeremy gave Aaron a final angry glare and then walked out of the classroom, not looking back.
Jeremy knew that he had to calm down before the service began. He hoped that he’d made his point with Aaron and that he’d stay away from Jessica. He walked back to the sanctuary and sat on the pew with his family.
His father smiled from the pulpit and nodded his head. He looked over at Jessica, who looked worried, and gave her a smile. Tara slid close to him and squeezed his hand.
He noticed Aaron come back into the church with his head down. He didn’t feel the least bit sorry for what he’d said, and Jeremy hoped that Aaron would leave Jessica alone. He wanted to expose the maggot to the church and tell his father who had violated his sister, but he had given Jess his word.
He turned his attention back to the service. When the altar call was made, Jeremy was shocked when Aaron got up. Everyone looked at him inquisitively as he went to the front of the church and fell on his knees sobbing, his hands covering his face.
Jessica looked at Aaron and then to Jeremy. Aaron’s father came over to him, but he would not get up.
“Lord, forgive me!” Aaron sobbed. People in the church began to murmur among themselves.
“Deacon Jennings,” Reverend Ferguson said from the pulpit, “obviously this is between your son and God. He is seeking forgiveness. We don’t have to know what it’s all about. Everyone, bow your heads, and we will go to God in prayer.”
Jeremy looked away. He didn’t want to pray for Aaron after what he did to his sister. He felt someone touch his hand. It was Jessica reaching over Tara. “We’ve got to pray for him,” she whispered. “And for me too.”
Tara looked at both of them. “Is Aaron mad at you, Jessica? I know you broke up.”
“Shh!” their mother said, giving them disapproving looks.
Jeremy took their hands in his. He would be obedient and pray as his father asked.
CHAPTER 10
REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS
Aubrey Vanderleigh came into the house and knew instantly something was up. First thing he noticed was that the house was too quiet. Young Aubrey usually had music blasting, and his wife normally had Oprah on.
He walked into the kitchen and saw his wife standing over the stove. She did not look happy.
“Hey, Beanie,” he said, using her childhood pet name.
“Hello, Aubrey,” she said, not looking up
Uh-oh. She never called him Aubrey unless—
“Son, you’re home!”
He looked down the hallway and saw his mother emerging from the spare bedroom. Yep! Trouble for sure.
“Hi, Mom,” he said, kissing her. “What brings you here?”
“What are you talking about, Aubrey? I heard about Aura’s engagement, and I decided to come and help her with her wedding,” she said.
“Well I am sure Beanie and Aura have everything under control,” he replied, hoping that his mother wasn’t causing trouble.
“Humph! I may be seventy-five years old, but I know how to put on a classy wedding,” his mother snapped.
He looked at Beanie, who slammed the top on the pot she had just finished stirring. He looked at his mother, who was smiling as if the cat had just eaten the canary. Enough already!
“Look, Mom, I’m glad to see you, but I don’t want any problems between you and Beanie,” he said sternly.
“What problems?” she asked innocently. “I just wanted to see my only child.”
“Mom, I love you, you know that. However, I’ve worked hard today, and I want some peace!” He looked at her, frowning.
“Well you can forget that.” his wife said. “Aura is pissed right now.”
“Where is she?” he asked.
“In the room with Bree.”
Aubrey looked at his mother and then walked past her and knocked on the door. He opened it to find Bree sitting on the floor playing video games, and Aura
sitting on his bed talking on the phone.
She finished her conversation and then snapped it shut. “Hi, Daddy.”
“So, your mother said that you’re upset. What’s going on? Problems with Jeremy?” he asked, ruffling his son’s hair.
“No, problems with Grandma. She was saying all kinds of crazy things because Jeremy is white,” Aura complained.
“You know how your grandmother is,” her father said. “Just ignore her.”
“She’s a little hard to ignore, Dad. I just got off the phone with Jeremy. He’ll be back on Wednesday. She wants to meet him,” Aura said, sounding exasperated.
“So let her.”
“What? She actually said that since he’s from South Carolina, he must drive a pickup with a gun rack and drink moonshine!” Aura grumbled.
Aubrey burst out laughing and then quickly stopped when he saw Aura’s angry face.
“Look, honey, your grandmother is completely harmless. I don’t think Jeremy has a thin skin.”
“Well he wouldn’t tolerate his family disrespecting me, and I am going to do the same here. I won’t have her putting him down just because he’s white,” Aura replied firmly.
Aura’s mother opened the door. “Dinner’s ready!”
“Well, all right!” Aubrey Jr. said, dropping the remote and cutting off the game.
“Come on, Aura. You know I’ve got your back,” her father said, putting his arm around her.
“Thanks, Daddy,” she said, smiling.
They sat around the table, and Aura said the blessing.
Gracie Vanderleigh sat at the end of the table where Aura’s mother usually sat. This irritated Aura to no end. She didn’t know why her grandmother had to be so bitchy or why she did things to deliberately upset her mother.
“Well, Aubrey, what do you think about this white man your daughter is talking about marrying?” his mother said, starting round one.
“Mom, Aura is an adult. Jeremy is a nice guy. I am happy for them,” he replied patiently, looking from Aura to his mother.
“He looks gay to me,” she said, looking at Aura. “However, he could be bisexual. As her father, you should have checked him out thoroughly before giving your blessing. I mean, what could he possibly want with a black girl anyway?”
“Mom, no one is gay by the way they look,” Aubrey said patiently “He looks fine to me.”
“I can pick ’em out right away. I told Aura I wanted to meet him myself,” Gracie said. “I’ll know whether or not he’s in the closet!”
“Grandma, remember what I said,” Aura replied sternly.
“How’s your sister? Have you heard from her lately?” her grandmother asked, changing the subject.
“Anissa is fine,” Aubrey said. “She has finals this week. College will be out soon, and she will be home for the summer.”
“What about the wedding, son? How can she be home when school will be going on?” She looked at Aura. “You should have considered your sister when you set that date.”
“Jeremy wanted to get married right away. The date was good for the church. Anissa can come home on the weekend. She normally doesn’t take Friday classes anyway.”
“Why is he in such a rush?” her grandmother asked. “Sounds mighty suspicious to me.”
“He loves me. He doesn’t want to wait a year,” she said.
“Have you met his family?” she asked.
“Yes, Grandma, I have,” Aura replied.
“Look, child, I know you think I’m old and all that. But you have got to be careful! Now he’s a model. I’m sure he’s got money. He ain’t bad looking for a white boy. So why the rush? I’d think you’d have to drag him to the altar. Why is he in such a hurry? That question never crossed your mind?”
Aura continued eating and didn’t respond. She didn’t want to tell her grandmother the reason why Jeremy didn’t want to wait longer than three months to get married.
“Gracie, they are in love. I can tell they are, and you will be able to tell too once you meet Jeremy,” her mother said, coming to Aura’s defense.
“Oh, I am sure you think so,” Gracie said tartly. “You are probably one of those sellouts who think that it is a good idea because their babies will be light and won’t have kinky hair. You probably wanted Aura to marry someone light or white just for that reason!”
Aura’s mother gasped. “Now just a minute—”
“Mom, that’s enough. You are in my house, and you will respect my wife,” Aubrey said.
“Aubrey, where’s your sense? I think you lost it once you got married. The power of the poonanny strikes again!”
Aura had never seen her father so angry. He jumped up from the table.
“Mom, that’s enough. One more comment like that, and you will leave my house! I mean it!”
“AC, don’t,” his wife said, touching his arm.
“No, Beanie, I mean it. Mom, I love you, but don’t make me chose between my wife and you. You will lose.”
“But I’m your mother!” his mother protested, feigning hurt.
“A man leaves his mother and father and cleaves to his wife,” he said. “I love her, Mom. I’ve always loved her. I know you can’t accept that. She’s given me three wonderful children, your grandchildren. It’s been almost thirty years. Don’t do this.”
His mother looked at her plate and didn’t reply.
He leaned across the table, kissing his wife. “Love you, Beanie,” he said, winking.
Aura grinned, knowing that her father was the only one who could tame the shrew. She was glad that she had decided to stay for dinner after all.
Jeremy walked out of church unsure of what was going to happen next.
After service, Jessie ran over to comfort Aaron. Jeremy saw his father watching the two of them from the pulpit, and he realized that he put two and two together, that Aaron was the one Jessie had slept with.
His father quickly ushered Aaron and Jessie as well as Deacon Jennings into his study. Jeremy felt that there was nothing more for him to do but to wait by the car. He didn’t want to hear people in the church talking and speculating about the situation.
He looked up and saw his mother and Tara coming out of the church as he texted Aura and leaned against the passenger door of the car.
“Your father should be out momentarily,” his mother said, as if reading his mind.
She eyed Tara, and Jeremy knew that she did not want to discuss the matter in front of her.
“Have you talked to Aura?” she asked instead.
“Yeah, she’s got family issues of her own,” he replied. “We’ve been texting back and forth.”
Charlotte looked puzzled. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, Mom.” He looked up and saw his father coming out of the church with Jessica.
They rode home, and no one said anything. Jessica stared out of the window and would not look at him.
Tara jumped out of the car and ran up to her room as soon as they unlocked the door.
“Come into the den,” Reverend Ferguson said to Jeremy and Charlotte, who quickly followed him.
“I had a talk with Aaron and got the whole story out of him,” Daniel began.
He looked at Jessica. “You can go to your room if you’d like.”
“Thanks,” she said and practically ran up the steps.
“Well tell me,” Charlotte demanded. “What’s going on?”
“Well he was the one, of course. I didn’t realize it was that serious. I mean I thought that she liked that other guy—what’s his name in the choir?”
“You mean Jonathan?” his wife asked.
“Yeah, him. Anyway, it seems that Jonathan was just a friend, and she and Aaron have been an item for the last year.”
“I told him that I wanted him to stay away from Jessie,�
�� Jeremy said.
“Yeah, I know, son. You’ve scared him to death. You’ve gotten your point across if that’s what you wanted to do. Anyway, he came and asked for forgiveness for what happened between him and Jessie.”
“Pop! He practically raped her! I mean he has no consideration for her feelings or any integrity. He doesn’t love Jessie. I don’t care if he did come down bawling at the altar!” Jeremy snapped.
“Son, I am angry too. However, I’ve got to be realistic. They are in love. Jessie says she still loves him, and he says he loves her. Right now, she is grounded, but I can’t ground her forever. His father has grounded him too.”
“Jessie was a virgin, Pop. He took advantage of her,” Jeremy insisted.
“He was a virgin too, Jeremy. Things got out of hand. He told me, and I quote, ‘that it didn’t turn out like it did in those movies.’ It seems that his cousin convinced him that since he and Jessie had been going together for a year that he still shouldn’t be a virgin. He told him that they should have sex or he’d look like a punk.” He looked at Jeremy, pausing a moment. “Sound familiar?”
Jeremy looked stunned and didn’t reply.
“Anyway, this cousin showed him some porn videos to help him know what to do, so to speak. Obviously he didn’t know that the stuff you see in those movies is not realistic, and what we ended up with was a big mess. He thought that since they were both virgins that he didn’t need a condom because there was no chance of disease. When I asked him about pregnancy, he told me that he heard you couldn’t get pregnant the first time you had sex.”
Jeremy shook his head in disbelief.
“So now what?” Charlotte asked.
“Now, I told them that he could not see Jessie unsupervised. Their next date will be their senior prom if the relationship lasts that long. After she comes off being grounded, he can come here and court her in the presence of me or her mother only. He has agreed to my terms.”
“I can’t believe you are letting him see her,” Jeremy snapped.
“What do you want me to do, Jeremy? She wants to see him. Do you think that if I forbid it, she will stop? I don’t think so. I had to meet them halfway. They both agreed to my terms.”
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