Sister Betty Says I Do

by Pat G'Orge-Walker

  “Well, isn’t this something!” Bea exclaimed, acting as though she and Sister Betty were the best of friends. “I’m surprised but happy to see you over here in the Promised Land.”

  “Why?” Sister Betty sat her basket on the counter and began taking out the items. She wanted to say something more but wouldn’t chance undoing all her fasting and praying.

  “Well, with the trustee only out of the hospital again, and just a short time before you two trip down the aisle, I figured you’d be doctoring him so he could make it. Ain’t neither one of y’all getting any younger, so ya might as well stop the delay.”

  Sister Betty slammed the basket down on the counter. “Bea Blister, what in the world is you talking about now?”

  “I’ll answer that.” Sasha began to grin; it was slow at first, and then her entire face broke out into a sneer. “You must be falling away from grace,” Sasha told her. “It looks like neither the good Lord nor the trustee letting you in on much these days. That’ll happen when you being disobedient to God’s will.”

  “That’s right,” Bea agreed. “It’s a good thing you have me and Sasha around to keep you informed about things.” She put her hands on her hips and added, “Although I don’t know why our dear pastor didn’t say nothing, since he was the one who picked up the trustee from the hospital.”

  Sister Betty said nothing. There was nothing she could say. Either she believed Bea and Sasha or she didn’t. “Are you two running your mouths about something you’ve heard or something you’ve seen with your own eyes?”

  “Oh, we definitely saw your fiance in the hospital,” Sasha replied. “He was in there the same time as yours and ours dear friend Cheyenne.”

  “I know I ain’t making up nothing, and I’m still a bit upset with him, but I’m willing to let bygones go because y’all getting married.” Bea straightened her wig and added, “But you need to know it’s only because I’m saved. That man of yourn thoroughly got me pissed off that day.”

  Chapter 20

  Sister Betty had called the same car service that had brought her to the Promised Land to take her back home. She’d been relieved earlier, when Cheyenne had begun to doze off during the visit. The unsettling news from Bea and Sasha about Freddie’s recent hospitalization had made her too angry and confused to hold a decent conversation. She couldn’t wrap her mind around why Leotis hadn’t said anything, although with the way things stood with her and Freddie, she could see why he hadn’t.

  As soon as the car service neared her home, Sister Betty saw Thurgood’s rental car in her driveway. She remembered today was the last day of Sharvon’s short vacation and figured they were probably inside having a visit. She didn’t feel up to company at that moment, but they were her family, and the way things were going, they would be her only family.

  Sister Betty had planned on quietly entering her home and heading straight for her bedroom and putting away the things in her bags later. She still didn’t feel up to chatting. When she neared her living room, she heard Thurgood praying.

  “Father God, you said whatever is bound on earth shall be bound in heaven. I bind chaos, ill will, and bad health in this here home. Cancel the Devil’s assignment, Father.”

  Drawn by the prayer, Sister Betty peered inside the living room. She saw Thurgood, Delilah, and Sharvon. They were holding hands while Thurgood prayed.

  “And, Father God,” Thurgood continued, “you said further in your Word that whatever is loose on earth is loose in heaven. I loose peace, wisdom, and understanding. Amen.”

  It appeared she’d come in at the end of the prayer, so Sister Betty wasn’t certain what had been said before. Any prayer asking God’s peace in her home was welcomed, so she couldn’t help but add an “Amen.”

  Sister Betty had surprised them, but it was Sharvon who reacted first. She dropped Delilah’s hand. “I never heard you come in.” She took the bags from Sister Betty’s hands. “As you can see, we were just praying.”

  “Have a seat, cousin,” Thurgood told Sister Betty. “Me and Delilah don’t have a lot of time, but there’s some things that need saying.”

  Delilah walked over and stood between Sharvon and Thurgood. In her no-nonsense way, she came to the point. “Sharvon’s got a confession, and you just need to hear her out.”

  “Cousin Delilah!” Sharvon’s eyes narrowed. “We just prayed for God to lead us, and you go ahead and do it your way?”

  “How do you know God didn’t tell me to do it this way?” Delilah refused to back down. “I’m really getting tired of folks asking God to make a way and then expecting Him to do the shoving.”

  “My Dee Dee is right,” Thurgood chimed in. “God needs you to know and believe that He’s there for support and guidance. God already did the only heavy lifting when he sent His son to the cross.”

  “What is y’all talking about now?” Sister Betty moved away from the others and sat down. Her body and her mind seemed to have aged that day. Between Bea and Sasha and now her family, she wanted to scream, wondering when God would give her the peace they’d just prayed for.

  Sharvon took a deep breath. “In a nutshell,” she began, “I was so angry with Mother Pray Onn when she was here that day that when I tried to hit her with that magazine, I might’ve given her the idea that you and Freddie wouldn’t be getting married.”

  “You ain’t in a court of law, Sharvon,” Thurgood blurted. Pointing at Sister Betty, he ordered, “Tell her straight out what you said, and stop trying to skirt around the facts.”

  Sharvon looked at Delilah with a sad expression. She sought help, but Delilah turned away.

  “I told Mother Pray Onn that there’d be no wedding, just to get rid of her that day.” Sharvon sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  Sister Betty’s response was a surprise to them all. “What’s there to be sorry about? Sasha only wanted to plan a stupid reception. She wasn’t engaged to Freddie. I was. He’d hardly know what you’d told Sasha when he decided he didn’t want to get married. He’s just full of secrets and lies, and I’m glad the Lord is showing me who’s for me and who ain’t!” Sister Betty’s hands twitched in her lap. She fought to hold back tears.

  “Betty, please pull yourself together,” Thurgood said. His tone was sharp, angry, because half-truths had stolen the peace he’d just prayed for. He then turned to Sharvon. “You still determined not to tell it all?” Thurgood asked Sharvon. “God has an eternity. The rest of us ain’t got all day.”

  “I’m about tired of this,” Delilah told Sharvon. “You got all that book learning and not an ounce of common sense.”

  Sharvon folded her arms in defiance. She felt cornered, but it was her own doing. “Freddie overheard Mother Pray Onn telling Bea and Leotis that your wedding was off.”

  Sister Betty leapt off the sofa. “What do you mean, she told Freddie and Leotis? Are you saying that Leotis and Freddie both knew and neither of them said a word to me? The three of you let me sulk around this house for the past several weeks, and none of you had the decency or the courage to tell me that it was something Sasha said and that you started?”

  Thurgood decided he’d try to explain things a bit better than Sharvon, who, he felt, had just made a mess. “Betty,” he said calmly, “look at it this way. Freddie believed what he heard, and he’s been heartbroken and praying to God that you’d change your mind and want to get married.”

  “What do you mean, Thurgood?” Sister Betty’s eyes grew wild, and she seemed to turn into someone none of them recognized. “You knew that Freddie wanted to marry me, and you didn’t say a word?”

  In case Sister Betty had thoroughly lost her mind, Delilah quickly stepped in front of her husband, ready to protect Thurgood if she had to. “In all fairness, you never said a word about believing your wedding was called off. You let me and Thurgood go on and on about how we were so happy to be a part of your wedding—”

  “All of you, get out of my home!” Sister Betty ordered. She sounded as though a demon had possessed her.
“I don’t need this!” She began walking in a circle, slapping her hands together, before waving them about. “I want my peace of mind back! I want my peace back.” She kept repeating the phrase before rushing out of her living room and into her bedroom.

  The wailing sounds from Sister Betty shocked the others into silence.

  Chapter 21

  Sharvon, Thurgood, and Delilah each gave a questioning look and wondered if they’d been transported to some strange reality show without their permission. None of them wanted to follow Sister Betty’s orders to leave until they no longer heard the sound of her crying.

  “I’m not going anywhere and leaving her like this,” Sharvon told Delilah and Thurgood. “She’s in no condition to deal with all this drama.”

  “With all of us out of her sight,” Delilah told Sharvon, “it will give her a chance to regroup.”

  “You go and we’ll stay here quietly a little while longer,” Thurgood added. “Dee Dee and I gonna hold hands and quietly pray before we go.”

  A short time later, carrying a small Louis Vuitton overnight bag, Sharvon waved good-bye to Thurgood and Delilah before she got in her car and drove away.

  Thurgood and Delilah said a quick prayer and left without checking in on Sister Betty one last time.

  “The Betty we saw back there was not the Betty I’ve known all my life,” Thurgood told Delilah as they drove away. “I’ve a mind to turn around and go back there. I’m not feeling right about leaving her alone in that condition.”

  “She’ll be all right,” Delilah replied. “She needs time.”

  “I hope you’re right, because if I didn’t know any better,” Thurgood said, “I believe she wanted to cuss us out. And I ain’t never in all my years of knowing she was under the Lord’s direction heard an uncivil word come out of her sanctified mouth.”

  “She’s in love, Thurgood,” Delilah said as she looked out the passenger-side window. “Love in the hands of the inexperienced will make them say and do some crazy things.”

  “Speaking of crazy,” Thurgood replied, “I’m wondering if we should’ve gone ahead and told her about Freddie’s health.”

  “I’m not sure if we should’ve or not told Betty that Freddie has cancer. I think we’ve gone as far as we can with meddling at the moment.”

  “As usual,” Thurgood said, “you’re right.”

  “I know,” Delilah replied before turning around to face him. “But you’re gonna tell her, anyway, aren’t you?”

  “Only if Freddie doesn’t tell her about it first. And it’d better be real soon,” Thurgood answered.

  “Thurgood,” Delilah sighed, “you know who I really feel sorry for?”

  “Who, Dee Dee?”

  “Reverend Leotis Tom.”

  “I almost forgot about him and his part.”

  “Thurgood, Betty feels as close to him as a real mother would. She may forgive us. I’m not certain if she’ll forgive him.”

  Thurgood grimaced. “It looks like Betty’s walk with the Lord is under attack from all sides, and from the way she went off back there, I’m not certain how she’ll handle him not telling her that he knew Freddie held her responsible for calling off their wedding.”

  “That may be the least of her problems where Leotis is concerned,” Delilah replied.

  “What else would she be mad about?”

  “She’s bound to find out sooner or later that we knew about Freddie having cancer and kept that from her, too. After all, from what we already know, Leotis knew about it before we did.”

  “Damn!” Thurgood made a U-turn and headed back to Sister Betty’s.

  Chapter 22

  “Don’t you think you ought to straighten out things with Sister Betty before you wear grooves in your face from smiling so much? She may not want to hear anything about a wedding until you do.”

  “You just keep driving, Reverend. It’s my face, and I’ll smile till it cracks if I want to.” Freddie pulled down the car’s visor and slid its cover so he could see his reflection in the mirror. “God just gave me a new lease on life.”

  “Amen to that.” Leotis broke out into a grin. “I don’t know what you told God, but He’s certainly shown you favor.”

  Freddie closed the cover to the visor. He adjusted his seat belt against his bony frame and began to laugh. “Yes, He has.”

  “You’re completely finished with the multiple myeloma trial, and you don’t need the stem cell transplant.”

  “I sho’ am, and I sho’ don’t.”

  “And for the foreseeable future you’ll have to see the oncologist only every three months.”

  “I sho’ do.”

  “Well, Trustee Noel,” Leotis said, “it’s almost six o’clock, and I haven’t eaten since we started out this afternoon. Would you care to share a meal with me?”

  “I sho’ don’t,” Freddie replied. “You can eat after we stop at the florist.”

  “Why are we stopping at a florist?”

  Freddie looked at Leotis and laughed. “You don’t need to have dinner with me. You need to hook up with Thurgood Pillar. Right now I think I got more playa tendencies than you.”

  Leotis waited in his car, smiling as he watched a jubilant Freddie point the florist toward several flower boxes. After Freddie purchased what looked like one huge handheld garden, they were on their way again.

  “You do realize that if you start bringing her flowers like this after you’re married, she’ll think you’ve done something wrong, don’t you?” Leotis began laughing. “You’ll be in for a world of hurt behind some flowers.”

  “At least I’ll have a wife to get mad,” Freddie said as he returned Leotis’s laugh. “You, on the other hand . . . ” He stopped speaking as the smile slid from his face.

  Leotis saw it, too, as he turned the corner completely onto his block. It was Thurgood’s rental car parked far from the curb in the front of Sister Betty’s house. “Hold on, Freddie.” He pressed on the accelerator, and within a couple of minutes he’d parked the car in front of her house.

  No sooner had Leotis and Freddie still holding the bouquet of flowers raced out of the car and onto the porch than they ran into Thurgood, who’d just stepped outside. His face was expressionless, but he kept wringing his hands.

  Freddie tried pushing Thurgood aside so he could enter the house. “What’s going on?”

  “She’ll be fine,” Thurgood said as he gently pushed Freddie back, keeping him from getting past.

  “Why are you blocking us from going inside?” Leotis stood with both hands on his hips, as though it made him look more like an adult. “You can’t keep us outside. Why can’t we go inside?”

  Thurgood continued to block the door. “Delilah has already spoken with her.”

  “What in the world was Delilah doing with her that we can’t do?” Freddie asked. He paced back and forth several times before trying to dodge under Thurgood’s outstretched arms, which were still blocking the doorway.

  “They had a woman talk, and since ain’t none of us laying claim to being such, we can’t go in until Betty asks us to.”

  “Who says so?” Freddie asked.

  “I say so.” Sharvon had walked up the steps to the porch, carrying the same bag she’d left with earlier. “You two need to just go on about your business. We can take care of our cousin without your help.” Sharvon didn’t wait for a reply before turning to Thurgood. “I got here as fast as I could.”

  “You go on inside. She’s in there by herself for now,” Thurgood said. “Delilah was in there a little while ago and tried to calm her, and when she couldn’t, she told me to keep the car. She’s called a cab and gone off somewhere, telling me it wasn’t none of my business and to just sit tight until she gets back.” Thurgood cocked his head toward the house. “I come out here because inside, things aren’t getting any better.”

  Sharvon began glaring at Freddie. But the scowl appeared tame compared to the eye stabs she then sent toward Leotis. Without saying another w
ord, she went inside and slammed the door, almost decapitating one of Thurgood’s fingers.

  “Don’t take it personal,” Thurgood told Leotis. “She’s a bit on edge today. Although, it seems she’s extra mad at you.”

  “I seem to have that effect lately.” Leotis turned to say something to Freddie, but he’d suddenly disappeared. “What in the world? Where is the trustee?”

  “Oh, he sneaked around the side of the house while you were jawing about the aggravating nature you seem to have with women.”

  “Why didn’t you stop him? Sharvon told us to stay out, and you told us, too.”

  “Reverend, please, that man is in love and is fighting cancer. What’s he got to lose by ignoring me and Sharvon?”

  Freddie found Sister Betty’s side door ajar. He stood outside for a moment to determine if he could hear any voices and from which room they came.

  He didn’t have to wait long. He could hear the exhaustion in Sister Betty’s voice, and he knew her well enough to know that she’d been crying. Freddie inched the door open farther. He heard her voice coming from the direction of her bedroom. He crept down the hallway until he came within a few feet of the hallway bathroom that separated her bedroom from one of the others.

  “He should’ve been the one to tell me, instead of Delilah and Thurgood,” Freddie heard Sister Betty say. “What kind of woman did he think I was that I couldn’t handle something like that?”

  “Who’s she talking to?” Freddie murmured as he leaned against the wall for strength. He still carried the bouquet of flowers in his hands, and already some petals had begun falling to the floor. “Is she talking to herself now?”

  Inside her bedroom, Sister Betty glanced quickly into her mirror. Her jaw was set, despite the motion of one hand tracing the creases that outlined her jowls. Her face remained expressionless as she bent her neck forward, as if to get a closer look at the dark bags under her eyes. She smiled bitterly, noticing the bags seemed even darker against her brown skin, as though some blind person had given her a make-up job.