The Preacher’s Son

by B. D. Anderson

  “Nate!” he said. “How’s it going?”

  “I’m fine, Uncle David,” he said, smiling. “Come on in.”

  Reverend Ferguson walked in and saw that his brother and Rachel were at the kitchen table as well as Nathan’s wife, Janice. Matthew was standing, leaning against the wall, holding a cup of coffee.

  Matthew looked at him “Look, David… I don’t want to hear it,” his brother said. “I know you came over here to plead Eric’s case!”

  “They are beautiful babies, Matthew,” Reverend Ferguson replied. “They are obviously Eric’s. All you have to do is look at them to know that much.”

  His brother didn’t reply but sipped his coffee.

  Rachel looked at Daniel helplessly and then back at her husband, but she didn’t say anything. She had left the hospital before they had seen the babies, and now she wished that she had stayed with her sister.

  “Well if you won’t help them, I will,” Reverend Ferguson said. “You don’t have to be a grandpa if you don’t want to. After all, I’ve always taken to Eric. He looks just like Charlotte to me. He was upset about losing his father, but I told him that I’d be uncle and father and grandpa to those babies.”

  Matthew looked at him. “I know what you’re trying to do. It won’t work, David.”

  Daniel Ferguson shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself.” He looked at Matt. “What about you? Are you going to be an uncle or do you disown your brother also?”

  “I don’t want to be a part of his mixed-up marriage,” Matt replied. “You may have accepted it, but I haven’t. I mean, what will people say? I have friends. I know it sounds selfish, but I don’t want them looking down on me because of my brother’s stupid mistake.”

  “You are selfish, Matt. You are putting popularity over your family. You’re not going to be Mr. Popularity forever. I know you’re getting into politics and such. Black people vote too, you know,” Daniel pointed out.

  “Not Republican,” he snapped. “I’m not going to let Eric’s choices hurt my future.”

  “Right,” Reverend Ferguson said, rolling his eyes. “Well,” he said, looking from Nathan to Janice, “that leaves you two. Are you with Eric or not?”

  Janice looked at Nathan and then looked away. “Eric’s my brother, and I love him. Those babies are my nieces, and I am going over to the hospital to see them in a little bit. Janice, well she’s a little unsure,” Nathan replied.

  Reverend Ferguson looked at Janice. “I see.”

  “I thought we’d have a family of our own by now,” Janice said, sounding angry. “We’ve been married for over two years!”

  “What has that got to do with helping Eric?” Reverend Ferguson asked.

  “I think she doesn’t want to see the babies,” Nathan whispered.

  Reverend Ferguson nodded in understanding.

  “Look, Reverend,” his brother said, “don’t get holier than thou with me! You weren’t so happy at first about your son’s girlfriend either!”

  “No, I wasn’t,” his brother admitted. “I didn’t want him to marry a black girl. I was worried about him being gay, so worried that I prayed about it continuously. He was never gay. That was just my fear. When I saw that he loved her and was determined to marry her, what could I do but accept it? He’s my son. I love him. Do you want to know what he said to me that blew my mind and put this whole thing in perspective?”

  Daniel walked over to his brother and put his hand on his shoulder, looking him dead in the eye.

  “Jeremy said to me, ‘Pop, if our baby comes out looking like your mama, will you turn your back on him because of the color of his skin?’ That blew my mind, Matthew. He made me realize that whether I accept his marriage or not, their children are a part of me, a part of our mother and father and everybody in this room. How can you just turn your back on that? How can you hate a part of yourself?”

  Matthew jerked away from him and wouldn’t look at his brother.

  “Those babies… last night I looked at them, small and helpless,” Daniel said. “One of them opened her eyes, and the first thing I thought was that the baby looked like Charlotte… and Rachel. The baby has their eyes.”

  Rachel jumped up. “You saw that? You’re not just saying that, are you, Daniel?”

  “I’m not lying, Rachael,” he said “Go look for yourself.”

  He looked at his brother. “Are you going to turn your back on a part of your wife?”

  Matthew didn’t answer, and the room was quiet.

  “I’ve got to go. I’ve got to make another stop,” Reverend Ferguson said, heading for the door.

  He may not have realized it yet, but Reverend Daniel Ferguson had just made a major breakthrough.

  Jeremy and Aura were surprised to find that they had the house to themselves when they finally got up late that morning. They decided to get dressed and go out and get some breakfast.

  They found a note in the kitchen. His mother had gone to the hospital already, and his father had gone over to his uncle’s house and then to the hospital. Jessie and Tara were in school, this being their last week there.

  “Well, babe, we don’t have to face them and tell them about the bed,” Jeremy said, grinning.

  “Of course we have to tell them!” Aura snapped, putting the sheets in the washer. “We can’t just leave it like that.”

  “I’ll text Pop and tell him. I am sure he’ll never let me live this one down,” he said, pulling out his phone. “That way, you don’t have to face him, okay?”

  “Are you sure it can’t be fixed?” she asked.

  “Nope, the bed is split at the rail. Besides, it’s an old bed. I got it when I was fourteen. Maybe I’ll just pay for a queen size. The full bed was kinda tight,” he said as he was texting.

  “You can’t get a bigger bed in that room!” Aura insisted. “Besides, I like the full bed for when we decide to visit. It’s nice and cozy.”

  “I didn’t think you’d want to stay here in the future with my parents listening to the sounds of passionate sex,” he teased.

  “Well after last night and then the broken bed, what’s there to be embarrassed about anymore?” she said, laughing.

  Jeremy’s phone beeped, and he saw that his father had responded to the text.

  Jeremy read it and burst out laughing.

  “What did he say?” Aura asked.

  Jeremy handed her the phone, and Aura looked at the phone and then back at him, shocked.

  “Glory hallelujah! The two became one flesh!”

  Daniel Ferguson walked up to the James’s front door and knocked. He half-expected to be thrown out on his head or for a shotgun to poke out of the screen door.

  Mrs. James opened up the door. “May I help you?”

  Daniel realized that she did not recognize him and decided to get straight to the point.

  “Mrs. James, I’m Eric’s uncle, David Ferguson.”

  She looked surprised. “What do you want?”

  “Your daughter almost died last night,” he said calmly, looking for her reaction.

  “What?” she gasped. “What are you talking about? Is this some sort of trick?”

  “No, ma’am. Eric said he tried to call you,” Revered Ferguson said patiently. “Do we have to talk through this screen?”

  “I’m sorry. Come in,” she said, obviously shaken up by the news.

  She led him to the living room, and he sat down. She sat across from him, her hands in her lap.

  “What is going on? I didn’t talk to Eric last night!” she said, leaning toward him, staring into his eyes.

  “Nadine had the babies—”

  “Babies? You mean she had more than one?”

  “Yes, she had twin girls. Her uterus ruptured. She almost died. Eric was frantic, but she survived. He was distraught when he called here, and you
all wouldn’t come to the hospital,” David said.

  “I didn’t know anything about it,” she said, jumping up. She ran to the bottom of the stairs. “Jesse! Get down here!” she said.

  “Olivia, what’s all the yelling about?” Nadine’s father said, coming down the stairs. He stopped when he saw Reverend Ferguson.

  “What’s he doing here?” he said, looking at his wife.

  “Did Eric call here about Nadine last night?” she asked, her hands on her hips.

  “I didn’t listen to anything that boy had to say. I hung up the phone!” He walked over to Reverend Ferguson. “And I don’t have anything to say to any of you either!”

  “Our daughter almost died last night!” Olivia yelled.

  “What are you talking about? They’re lying. If anything was wrong, Max would have called us!”

  “Eric told Max he would call,” Reverend Ferguson said. “When you wouldn’t talk to Eric, Max said that she wasn’t going to try to talk to you either. She was really hurt that you turned your back on your daughter at a time when she needs you the most.”

  “She had twin girls, Jesse,” Olivia said.

  “She almost died,” Reverend Ferguson continued. “Her uterus ruptured, and she lost a lot of blood. They had to do surgery. There will be no more babies. Not that you care about her well-being.”

  “Now wait a minute! I didn’t know it was anything serious!” Jesse said.

  “No, all you could see was the fact that she’d had a white man’s baby. But they are your grandchildren also.”

  “I’m going to the hospital to see my baby!” Olivia declared, tears running down her cheeks. “I should have never listened to you, Jesse. The past is the past. We can’t change that!”

  “Olivia!” he called after her, but it was too late. She walked out the house, slamming the door, and they could hear a car starting up.

  “Why do you hate us so much? What did we do to you?” Reverend Ferguson asked.

  “What haven’t white folks done to black folks? You’ve stolen, you’ve cheated us, raped our women, and hung us, and we are supposed to love you?”

  Reverend Ferguson sat back down. “You are supposed to be a Christian man. Nadine told me that. I don’t know what has happened to cause so much bitterness in your heart. I didn’t do these things to you or your people. Nadine said something about a hanging that was done—”

  “That’s right, to my grandfather. My father watched them hang him. He told me never to trust white folks, and he has been so right. Now you come in here and take my baby from me! I see the looks I get… lily-white women grasping their purses when I come around, the look of fear in their eyes when they see a black man. You aren’t in love with us either. You fear us.”

  “There is ignorance on both sides,” Reverend Ferguson said. “Now you have a white son-in-law. Your grandchildren are half white. What will you tell them? Will you tell them to hate their white father and to hate their white family members? Will you tell them to hate the white part of themselves? How will you separate it?”

  Jesse James stared at Reverend Ferguson angrily.

  “If you will just look at your grandbabies… the only grandbabies that Nadine will be able to give you… will you see white or black?”

  Reverend Daniel Ferguson did not wait for his reply but got up and walked out the door.

  CHAPTER 19

  GRANDMA NELLIE SPILLS THE BEANS

  Jeremy decided to take Aura to a restaurant he liked in Myrtle Beach for breakfast.

  “I’d like to take you to meet my grandmother,” he said.

  Aura was surprised. “I thought your grandparents were dead.”

  “Well, actually it’s Pop’s grandmother. She raised him after his parents were killed in a car crash. She’s in an assisted-living facility in Surfside Beach. I got the word that she was upset when I was here before and didn’t come to see her.”

  “Well I guess you’d better do your duty then,” Aura said, sipping her juice.

  They left the restaurant and headed to Surfside, which wasn’t that far away.

  Jeremy gave his name at the gate and was directed where to park. The facility was large and clean, and he gave his name at the front desk. They got on the elevator and headed up to her apartment.

  “I know she’ll be surprised!” he said, holding the tulips he had brought.

  They came to her door and rang. “Just a minute!” a voice called out from inside.

  The door opened, and a tall woman with loose, gray hair opened the door.

  “Hi Grandma!” Jeremy said grinning.

  She looked at him a moment. “Don’t tell me… you’re not Matthew… he has brown eyes. Eric? . . . no Eric’s younger.”

  Her face then lit up. “Jeremy? Is this Jeremy?”

  “Yeah, Grandma!” he said, grinning.

  “Well, boy, come on in here. I ought to spank your tail! I heard you came down here last month and didn’t come and see me. Shame on you!” She looked at Aura.

  “Grandma, this is my wife, Aura.”

  Jeremy waited for some sort of outburst. After all, his grandmother was ninety-five years old. He had warned Aura because he didn’t know what to expect from her.

  “Well do!” she said, grinning. “You Ferguson men haven’t changed a bit!”

  Jeremy looked puzzled and shut the door behind him. Maybe his grandmother was getting senile. He sat the tulips on a nearby table.

  “Sit down,” she said, pointing to the sofa.

  “So what’s your colored wife’s name?” she asked, looking at Aura.

  “It’s Aura, Grandma,” he said.

  “Aura… how unusual.” She looked at Jeremy. “I expected this from your cousin Matt, but I didn’t realize it would be you,” she said, grinning.

  “Grandma, what are you talking about?” Jeremy asked and looked at Aura.

  “You Ferguson men have always chased after colored girls,” she said, laughing. “You’re just the first one to actually marry one.”

  Jeremy’s mouth fell open. “Grandma, everybody was all against my marriage to Aura! What do you mean? Are you saying Pop and Uncle Matthew had women on the side?”

  “Of course not, Jeremy!” she said, shaking her head. “It skipped their generation. It’s not something we talk about… but hell, you’ve married one now, so it’s not a family secret anymore.”

  “Grandma, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you feel all right? Should I call someone?” he asked.

  She cackled with glee. “Boy, I’m just fine. Let me start at the beginning. You Ferguson men have always had a thing for colored women. There are two types of Fergusons. We used to call them the focused Fergusons and the fast Fergusons.

  “Now my late William was a focused Ferguson. That’s your great-granddaddy. The focused Ferguson’s fall in love young and marry their sweethearts. They don’t look at another woman. They are faithful. Then there’s the fast Fergusons. They love women… lots of them. Most of the time, they do marry and just have other women on the side. Now, a lot of these women that were on the side were colored.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” Jeremy said.

  “Oh, no. Now my William told me that when his mama died, his daddy got real depressed. He was a focused Ferguson too. He was left with three young children to raise up by himself. So he bought in this colored woman to help with his children.”

  Mrs. Ferguson started laughing as she thought about it.

  “Seems though, later on, William told me that his daddy was back to being his old self! Later on, a year or two later, he saw them kissing, and then he knew what was really going on. She had a baby too, but everything was kept hush-hush. Anyway, he never married again. There was some talk because he was a handsome thing like my Jeremy here.”

  She got up. “Want something to drink?
”

  “No thanks,” Aura said.

  “Please, Grandma, finish telling me. What about Pop and Uncle Matthew?” Jeremy said.

  She sat back down. “Oh well, they are focused Fergusons, and so was their daddy, William Jr. But my other two sons, Charles and Wilbur, were wild as bucks. Them two have babies all over Horry County. Every colored Ferguson in Horry County is your kinfolk, but of course we didn’t talk about such things.” She snickered.

  “Uncle Charles and Wilbur were at Tara’s party. I thought Uncle Charles was a confirmed bachelor, and Uncle Wilbur’s wife was with him,” Jeremy said.

  “Your Uncle Charles and this colored woman… uh… Betty James… I think that was her name. They had a bunch of babies together.”

  “James? Eric’s wife’s family name is James! Her father’s name is Jesse, I think,” Jeremy said. “Are these the same people?”

  His grandmother paused for a moment as if thinking.

  “What’s this Jesse’s daddy’s name?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jeremy replied.

  “Well I know Betty James had a brother. I think his name was Drayton or something like that. If that’s Jesse’s daddy, then Betty is his aunt.”

  “You mean Eric and Nadine may be related?” Aura asked surprised.

  “No, child. Eric’s great-uncle and his wife’s great-aunt, if she is Betty James, have children together. I don’t think that makes Eric and her kin, but their children are related to both of them for sure.”

  “Sounds mighty close though,” Aura commented.

  Grandma Ferguson looked at Jeremy and patted his hand.

  “I don’t want you to think your father was like that. Now I raised him and Matthew and was prepared for the worse. But they both fell for those Mason girls with the big blue eyes. That’s when I knew they were okay. They never looked at another woman.”

  Jeremy laughed. “Eric has married a black girl now, and Matthew is all upset, and so is Uncle Matthew. Matt won’t even go to the hospital to see his brother or the babies.”

  His grandmother looked surprised. “Eric, you say? That boy just got out of school! Nobody tells me anything. So… he married a colored girl too and got babies already?” She laughed again. “Boy, you Ferguson men haven’t changed a bit.”