She flung the door open wide. “Well, look who’s finally come to see about me,” she told him. The wide smile on her face betrayed the annoyance she feigned.
A short time later, over homemade chicken noodle soup and tuna sandwiches, they ran out of church business to discuss. It was she who finally mentioned Freddie by name.
“I understand some of the men,” she began, while putting away the dishes, “including Freddie, are preparing for a fall concert to raise monies for the prison ministry. How is he doing with it? I hope he’s taking better care of himself. He has high blood pressure, you know.” Without waiting to see if what she’d said made Leotis uncomfortable, she patted him on his shoulder. Then she quickly added with a sigh, “I know that you already know that he and I haven’t seen each other or spoken much to one another in the past few weeks.”
She left the conversation open for him to jump right in and fill in the blanks.
Leotis didn’t answer right away. Instead, he placed his fingers together, forming a steeple. He thought about what he and Sharvon had discussed the past Sunday evening. Neither of them had figured out a way to ease the old couple back together. Sharvon still feared Sister Betty would be livid if she discovered that it was she, Sharvon, who had caused Sasha to head off in the wrong direction, one which sent Freddie off the rails and to the wrong conclusion.
“Well, I’m still waiting for the final proposal,” Leotis finally said. “Elder Batty is working with the trustee on getting permission from the prison to hold a concert there.”
“But that’s not leaving too much time,” she told him. “It’s already the middle of August. Both of them and the entire men’s team should’ve had that done months ago. Why are you men so hardheaded?”
Leotis laughed and nodded. “I’m afraid I don’t have an answer. Perhaps God just made us that way.” He said nothing more for a moment and simply looked at his watch, something he’d been doing for the past few minutes. “But maybe at the next prayer and testimony meeting, I can mention it again and put some fire under them,” he mused, breaking his silence. “By the way, folks have been asking why you haven’t been to prayer meeting in a while. I guess that’s partially my fault. I haven’t really been able to take you.”
“It’s not your fault. If I’d really wanted to go, I wouldn’t have waited on you. But since you say folks have been commenting, next time tell them I’ve been praying at home,” she said slowly. “I’m just trying to spend time alone with the good Lord.” She would’ve said more, but she saw he was still checking his watch, without really appearing to listen. Looking at her wall clock, she asked, “Am I keeping you from something?” That time she didn’t try to hide her disappointment.
“Of course you aren’t.” Leotis forced a laugh. “You know I’m a healthy eater, except when it comes to your baking, but I can’t cook. I need to pick up something before I head off to a meeting. A man can’t live on soup and sandwiches, you know.”
Sister Betty still wouldn’t smile. She might not have seen him in a while, but she knew her pastor. Something wasn’t right. But she’d told God that she would not interfere in anyone’s business, unless God wanted her to. She didn’t feel a pain in her knees or anything akin to a spirit telling her to butt in, and so she would not.
“It’s nearly two thirty,” he announced. Leotis stood up, his way of indicating that he was about to leave.
Sister Betty was about to say something, but her telephone rang. “I don’t know who this could be.” She looked at it and raised her brow. “But the number does look familiar.”
“You’ll probably need to get that,” Leotis told her. “I’ll let myself out. But like the Terminator, I’ll be back,” he said in his deep voice. He then laughed and headed through her foyer toward the front door. Leotis knew who was calling, and it’d happened just in time. “Your idea better work, Sharvon,” he whispered.
It’d been Sharvon’s idea to get more involved when neither she nor Leotis could come up with a plan to get her cousin Betty and Freddie back together, or at least on speaking terms. Since there wasn’t much time, Sharvon had called on the only gun-toting, preaching ex-convict deacon in her family—Sister Betty’s first cousin and Sharvon’s second cousin, Deacon Thurgood Pillar. Thurgood, a skinny man who had worn a hardened and greasy forties-style conk for most of his life and had the worst sense of style since Adam wore fig leaves, had become the go-to man for all things romantic and spiritual.
Thurgood and his wife, Delilah, were experts when it came to elderly love. The two were always happy and were known to make their bedsprings surrender. They had remarried after forty years of estrangement. It’d taken the sudden death of their son Jessie’s wife to make them see how foolish they’d been to part in the first place. They’d parlayed their experiences into a successful counseling career.
“You have a blessed day,” Sister Betty called out to Leotis before she heard her front door shut, and picked up her telephone.
“Hello. Praise God.”
“Hey, gal,” a male voice said, laughing. “It’s your New York City slicker cousin, Thurgood. I’m calling to check up on you. Me and Dee Dee been getting things together for your big day next month. Ain’t been no easy task getting you married. I’m prouder than an old rooster with an extra comb to walk you down that aisle.”
Sister Betty heard Delilah, her cousin Thurgood’s beautiful Lena Horne look-alike, acid-tongued deaconess wife, whom he always lovingly called Dee Dee, chime in. “That’s right. We seniors in love gotta stick together. As your matron of honor, chile, I can’t wait to put you in the hands of a good stylist. You gonna look much better than anything bought from Beyoncé’s House of Deréon. Not quite certain how it’s pronounced.” Delilah took a breath and added, “Whatever the name is of the gal married to that rapper, the one using two letters from the alphabet for his name. You know the gal I’m talking about.”
As happy as Sister Betty was to hear from a couple who were the same age as she and Freddie, Thurgood and Delilah were the last ones she’d expected to call. And she certainly didn’t want to talk about Freddie or tell them that there might not be a wedding.
“This is such a surprise,” Sister Betty said, meaning every word. “I hadn’t expected to hear from you two this soon, since you seem to travel so much.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Delilah remarked. “You know me and my Thurgood still traveling around the country, giving safe-sex and relationship seminars to seniors.”
“That’s right,” Thurgood added. “Whole lot of old folks getting HIV and AIDs, instead of getting the regular stuff, like high blood pressure and dementia.”
“Oh, stop it,” Delilah snapped. “Your cousin Betty fixing to get married. You and I know she ain’t raised nothing but praise to the Lord, and not her legs. She don’t need to be hearing about no STDs and such.”
“Yeah,” Thurgood replied. “You’re right, Dee Dee. But I don’t know too much about the man she’s marrying. If he’s like most, then she still needs to know what’s happening, because I’m sure he ain’t heard from everyone he’s touched.”
“We’re here in Greenville, getting ready to hold a seminar this weekend,” Delilah said.
“That’s right,” Thurgood added. “We weren’t supposed to get in till this Thursday, but it was cheaper to fly in a day or so early.”
“So,” Delilah said, “you know there ain’t no way in this world that we’re this close to you and don’t drop by. Ain’t that right, Thurgood?”
Sister Betty slowly sat, with the phone still attached to her ear. As they always did, Thurgood and Delilah had started a conversation with her, only to end up talking to each other. All she could do was listen as they talked about her and wait until they talked to her.
Leotis was almost fifteen minutes late in picking up Freddie from his latest oncology visit. He’d learned last week that Freddie’s participation in the cancer trial would soon end and Freddie would not need a stem cell transplant. Freddie
had gone through all the testing and had fared much better than some of the other participants, who would need donors. He’d already endured a two-day procedure involving harvesting stem cells from his own blood, which would be available should he ever need them. After getting the news, Leotis and Freddie had been overjoyed as they sat at the kitchen table, praising God that day that Freddie would not need a stem cell transplant, after all.
“Looks like you’re beginning to get your old color back,” Leotis told him as they pulled out of the hospital’s parking lot.
“That’s right,” Freddie said. “The folks at the hospital told me that it shouldn’t take long before I won’t look like I’ve been sleeping on and off in an Easy-Bake Oven.” He reached up and tapped the top of his head. “Don’t know when this little peach fuzz I got will grow out, but I don’t think I’m gonna be mad if I don’t get that one-piece I’ve been pulling on for years. But I said I’d leave all this up to the Lord, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”
“Just claim your healing, Trustee. God has the final say, because all man can do, whether it’s cancer or something just as bad, is give a diagnosis. God’s in charge of the prognosis.”
“Amen,” Freddie replied. “Amen.”
As they neared Leotis’s house, Freddie decided to share some other news with Leotis. “Reverend Tom,” Freddie began. “I’m so grateful for all the hospitality you’ve given me over these past weeks, but I think it’s time I get back to my own home. I sorta miss it, and I don’t want to keep on intruding.”
“You are no bother,” Leotis said. “I’ve enjoyed your company.”
“I gotta tell you something else, too,” Freddie said as he began laughing. “I had an ulterior motive or two.”
“Well, those motives must be a hoot. I haven’t seen you laughing the way you are now in quite some time.”
“Don’t know if you will think it’s funny, but I stayed partially so I could be closer to my Honey Bee. Around the corner would’ve been too far away, should the Lord give me a sign to see her.”
“I’m glad that you are still waiting on the Lord and haven’t completely written her off.” Leotis smiled. “And what’s your other motive or motives?”
“I had hoped that Ima or that big mouth, Sasha, would come around.” Freddie laughed harder. “I’m still waiting on God to ease my heart on them two. But so far every time I think about them, my fists ball up.” Freddie’s tone then turned serious. “And I definitely wanted to block whatever sexy pitch Ima threw your way.”
“That’s okay,” Leotis replied. “I haven’t seen or heard from her since she came to the altar and asked to join the church.”
“Maybe it’s because new members’ class won’t begin again for a few weeks. Don’t be surprised if that she-devil don’t try to follow through with joining the church and having you two joined together. Hope you getting my drift.”
Leotis knew that what Freddie had said was possible. Ima wasn’t off his mind, just out of sight. Even lately, having a couple of dinners with Sharvon hadn’t completely taken Ima out of the picture. Although his thoughts of comparing a kiss from Sharvon to ones from Ima had increased, he knew that if Freddie saw the two women as a problem, then others might, too, and that truly was a big problem.
Once they arrived back at Leotis’s house, Freddie quickly decided he wanted to go home that very same day. They gathered his things together, and no sooner had they headed out the door than they saw Sister Betty coming out of her house. She had her arms filled with several small boxes. They watched her stumble slightly when she looked over and saw them. Leotis also saw the look of relief on Freddie’s face when she didn’t fall.
Not waiting for the apparently stubborn pair to acknowledge each other, Leotis called out to her. “Good afternoon again, Sister Betty.”
Sister Betty heard Leotis, but her eyes remained on Freddie. “I guess it’s either I don’t see you much at all or it’s more than once in the same day,” she teased without smiling. She realized she’d just revised what Leotis had said, but it was the best she could do at that moment.
Leotis leaned over to take one of the duffel bags from the trustee. “Aren’t you going to at least acknowledge that she’s standing there?”
“I didn’t hear her say nothing to me, and I don’t wanna be too pushy. I didn’t leave a good impression the last time I hollered at her.”
It didn’t appear that Freddie would speak to her, after all. Rather than risk further embarrassment, Sister Betty dropped the boxes into her garbage can and quickly walked around to the other side of her house.
Leotis shook his head and shoved one of the duffel bags into the backseat of his car. He looked at Freddie, who had remained standing and had watched Sister Betty turn and walk away. Shutting the door to the backseat brought Freddie out of his trance.
“Well, coward,” he told Freddie, “that was one opportunity you quickly tossed away.”
“So how did it go?” Sharvon’s call had caught Leotis just as he was returning from taking Freddie home. “I got your text.”
“Can we talk in person?” Sharvon asked.
“I hadn’t expected that he’d want to go home right away,” Leotis told Sharvon when she arrived at his house moments later. “At least if he were still here, there’d be an easier way for them to run into each other.”
“Well, perhaps it was time,” Sharvon said. “I have never seen anyone stay away from his own home for this long because he was heartbroken or had high blood pressure.”
“Everyone reacts to situations differently.”
“I know,” she told him. “But if having high blood pressure is going to make me lose my hair and to cause my complexion and skin to look like the back of an elephant’s behind, then I might wanna reconsider this heavy caseload I’m overseeing.”
Leotis listened carefully as Sharvon laid out her observations. She’d seen just about everything that would normally make someone question whether Freddie’s behavior was all due to high blood pressure. She didn’t mention that she thought otherwise, and he had to keep his word and not tell her the truth about Freddie.
“And now that my second cousin Thurgood and his wife, Delilah, are going to stay nearby for a few days,” she told him, “perhaps they can counsel Cousin Betty and put her mind at ease until things calm down and she and Freddie get their act together.”
Leotis quickly removed a smile that’d begun to spread across his face before he asked, “I just remembered something. Aren’t they the elderly sex therapists?”
“That’s one of the descriptions you might label them with. But they are a bit over the top with their presentations. However, according to them, they’re saved, sanctified, and Holy Ghost filled, and they believe they’re on a mission from God.”
“That seems to run in your family,” Leotis told her, smiling before adding a wink.
“Whatever,” Sharvon replied, pretending to be offended. “They’re very serious about senior citizens getting the right information regarding their sexuality. Seniors are losing their husbands and wives all the time. When they eventually jump back into the dating game, they’re now sleeping with everyone that the other person has slept with. These days, men are taking Viagra and other sex stimulants, thinking they have permission to sleep around. Most don’t realize or care that sex can kill you and your partner.”
“So I guess you told them Sister Betty might not want to have that type of conversation since you unintentionally implied to Mother Pray Onn that the wedding wasn’t happening.” Shaking his head, Leotis added, “If you haven’t, then that’s the conversation you need to have with them quickly.”
“Not quite.” Sharvon took a deep breath and began twirling strands of hair that’d fallen over her shoulder as her eyes darted between Leotis and a huge picture of the Crucifixion hanging on his wall. “They were so excited about the upcoming wedding and how happy they were to be involved in the counseling, I couldn’t get another word in edgewise.”
“Sharvon, let go of the excuses and get in touch with your cousins.”
“I know you’re right, but rather than over the telephone, I want to sit down with Thurgood and Delilah. And I will before they see Cousin Betty in person.”
“Well, you better hope they don’t speak to her about wild honeymoon bedroom antics before you speak to them.”
“Why would you think that could happen?”
“I’m guessing that it might’ve been their phone call that Sister Betty took when I was leaving.”
“If it was them, they probably called just to let Cousin Betty know that they were in town. They won’t say anything to her over the telephone about sexual matters, so I’ve got time to explain the messy situation I created. As far as I know, they don’t arrive here in Pelzer until Thursday morning. In the meantime, I promise you I am going through with it and will tell Cousin Betty that in my frustration I foolishly mouthed off to Sasha that the wedding was off. That way Thurgood and Delilah may not need to get involved. You can take my word for it.”
Chapter 15
Sister Betty had completed her current daily prayer ritual of trying to prod the Lord into having pity on her. Sharvon had come in late last night and had gone straight to bed, and it’d meant that Sister Betty had had no one to talk to.
Around the corner, Freddie had gotten up and done the same. Both had piddled around their homes since the day before, doing mundane chores, trying to avoid thinking about each other.
Although Freddie had a car, he still didn’t feel confident enough to drive it any long distances. So he decided he’d just take a walk around the area, exercising, as the doctor had suggested, not too far but far enough to make it worth his while. The thought crossed his mind that he might run into Sister Betty, but then he knew she rarely walked anywhere. With the warm sun kissing the top of his bald head and a walking cane in his hand case the weakness came, he walked out of his front yard.
Sister Betty Says I Do Page 16
