“Well, on the first picture is my mom and Dad. They have passed on. In the second picture are my two brothers and my three sisters. They stay in different parts of the U.S. I haven’t spoken with them in a while. And the last one is my daughter, Sheila.”
“So, you do have a daughter? Where is your wife?”
“I have no wife, dear.”
“Did she die?”
“No, I never had a wife. I’m not saying my daughter was a mistake. The relationship was.”
“Oh, I see,” I answered, thinking how could he preach to others about sin when he had committed quite a few of his own. Fornication. Having a child out of wedlock. Indulging in alcohol.
“Where is your daughter?”
“She’s with her Mom. I send them money every month with the funds collected on Sundays.”
“You mean to tell me that the money doesn’t go to the church? It goes towards your own personal gains?”
“I wouldn’t see it in that way. God has called upon me to take care of my responsibility. The church is the vessel that is helping me do that.”
“I’m sorry, Reverend Jamison, but I don’t think it’s fair of you to do that. In fact, it is selfish! I’m disgusted at what I have heard this evening! I think I better go.”
I rose to get up, but Reverend Jamison quickly followed me and turned me around.
“Please don’t leave.”
“You call yourself a man of God, yet you do all these unholy things! How can anyone trust your word when you are doing as much sin as anyone else?”
“No one said that this path was easy-”
“But you are not even trying to repent from your evil ways! I don’t call repentance allowing some gay man to give you a blowjob!” Reverend Jamison’s eyes gleamed in anger. I hadn’t meant to say anything about it at that moment, but my anger had gotten the better of me.
“So you saw me?”
“Yes, I did. If that is your way of repentance-”
“What were you doing there, Natasha?”
“I was there to pick up my boyfriend.”
“That’s right. Derrick does work there. Didn’t you use to work there, too?”
“That’s besides the point!”
“What did you do to those men while you worked there? Strip for them? Tease them with your rhythmic grinds? Or did you service them, like that young man serviced me?” I raised my hand to slap him. How dare he say this to me? But he grabbed my hand and forced my arm behind my back. Then, he stole a desire filled kiss from my lips. “Show me what you can do, Natasha!”
“I left that life behind when I gave myself to God. I will not allow you to degrade me in this way!”
“It’s not degradation. I want you in the worst way, and you want me, too. You even dressed for seduction. The hint of Rapture on your skin. Wearing red, a whore’s color. You are temptation, and I am weak. Therefore, I must take of you-”
“How DARE you! I don’t have to stand here and listen to this! Take me home right now!”
“I will do no such thing.”
“Very well, Reverend Jamison. I will walk back. Don’t say that it has been a pleasure because it hasn’t! In fact, it’s been a nightmare!”
As I ran out of the door, I could hear him chuckle before saying, “God bless you, Natasha! I will see you on Sunday.”
When I finally got to the apartment, Derrick was there. “How was your study session with Reverend Jamison?”
I started to tell Derrick what had happened, but I knew he wouldn’t believe me. “It went quite well. I am looking forward to attending church this coming Sunday.”
“What did the two of you talk about?”
“Sweetie, I am really tired. I think I will go to bed now.”
“Well, okay, then. Good night!”
As I changed into my nightgown, I made my decision to expose Reverend Jamison for the fraud that he was during church Sunday. I prayed that at least one person would believe me.
SUNDAY
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” Derrick asked as I put on my makeup and smoothed my light blue church dress.
“I’m positive. You need your sleep. You did overtime last night at the club.”
“Okay. Tell Reverend Jamison, I said hello.”
“I will, sweetie. Bye now!”
I strolled down the road to Reverend Jamison’s church. I was a little nervous about what I was going to do, but in my heart, I felt it was the right thing. When I arrived there, they had already started and I could hear the choir singing.
“♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♫ O’er the hills and everywhere ♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♫ That Jesus Christ is born… ♪”
“Sing it again, y’all!” exclaimed Reverend Jamison, moved by their words.
“♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♫ O’er the hills and everywhere ♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♫ That Jesus Christ is born… ♪”
The congregation applauded.
“Let the church say, ‘Amen’.”
“Amen!”
“Let the church say, ‘Amen’.”
“AMEN!”
“I am going to begin a little differently this morning. I am going to start off with a verse, and I would like to get someone’s interpretation of what that means. Are all of you ready?”
“YES, REVEREND!!!”
“Behold, I send you out as sheep amidst the wolves-”
“Well, I don’t know about being a sheep, but I know a holy man in wolves’ clothing when I see one!”
Everyone stopped to look at me.
“Why, Sister Luckett, glad you could join us this morning!”
“You stand here, telling us to follow God’s word when you’re out doing the Devil’s work!”
“Whatever do you mean, child?”
“You are going to stand here in God’s temple and say that you did not fornicate? That you did not have a child out of wedlock? That you were not at the Hot Spot last Sunday night engaging in sinful pleasure?”
The congregation gasps in horror and disbelief.
“You ungrateful little trollop! How dare you come and say such lies about the Reverend?!”
one elderly man replied.
“Let him answer the question!”
Reverend Jamison took a breath before finally speaking, “Yes, I was at the Hot Spot. The Lord called me there to save a young man from his evil ways. That was why I was there. The question we all should be asking is what Sister Luckett was doing there.”
“Yeah, what were you doing there?” another lady asked.
“I was there to pick up my boyfriend.”
“Well, you use to work there, didn’t you? Maybe you’ve gone back to hooking and tricking.” The lady decided.
“That’s not true! That’s not true at all!” I cried.
“Well, Sister Luckett stopped by my house. I invited her to teach her about the word of God. She saw a picture of Sheila, one of the underprivileged kids I’ve tried to help. I send Sheila and her mother funds overseas to assist with her education and other needs.”
“You came on to me that Wednesday night. You asked me to have sex with you!”
“Sister Luckett, you must be having delusions of your previous lifestyle,” crooned Reverend Jamison. “The dress you wore was quite revealing, and red does look good on you. You attempted to charm me with your feminine wiles, but God told me to steer clear of temptation. I’m sorry you are upset that I refused you.”
I look around at the faces of the congregation. Their eyes were filled with anger. Anger that I had said those things about Reverend Jamison.
“But I’m telling the truth!”
“Get out of here, you two-faced whore!” The lady yelled and threw her purse at me.
I heard yells and screams of rage as I made my way out of the church, feeling items stinging my arms, my back, and my legs.
After that day, I lost my job at the diner, and my boyfriend was expelled from college. Because of what I
had done. I had turned against Reverend Jamison, the small town favorite. I was harassed endlessly until I had no choice but to leave town.
Now I only abide by two rules my mom told me- to believe in myself and to believe in God. To this day, I have never gone to church again.
THE END
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Other works by Queen of Spades:
Reflections of Soul
Eclectic: Skin Edition & Beyond the Skin
Spaded Truths: Themes and Proclamations
Also featured in:
Words of Fire and Ice
(published by Durham Editing and Ebooks)
Upcoming Features:
MJ Holman: The Sea of Conscience
Summer Shorts II by Durham Editing and Ebooks
Contiuous Drips (short story collective)
Taint on Religion Page 2
