The Preacher’s Other Woman
By
Denora M. Boone
Dedication
This book, like the last few, is dedicated to my later grandparents, Dorothy and Fred Jefferson. It’s because of them I am the woman that I am today. I love you, and I hope I’m continuing to make you both proud.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, all praise and glory goes to God up above. If it wasn’t for You sending Your precious Son to die on that cross for me I wouldn’t be able to pen these stories that You give to me. Thank You for the gift of ministry through stories, and I pray that You continue to use me for Your Kingdom.
To my amazing husband, Byron, I don’t know what I did for God to bless me with you, but I sure am glad that you made me your wife. You are my protector and confidant, and no matter how I feel, you continue to love me and support me on this journey, and I’m so grateful to you. I love you, my King!
My babies; Jalen, Elijah, Mekiyah, and Isaiah, y’all four push me to no end!! Lol!! You really do give Mommy a run for my money, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I do this so you won’t have to face the struggle Daddy and I have gone through. I want you to succeed long after we are gone, and I’m going to do everything while we are here to make sure you all do! I love you!!
To my publisher, David Weaver, you are definitely on my side. You have been holding me down from the beginning, and I thank you so much for going above and beyond to help me reach the success that God has for me. It’s because of you that I am now a business owner and able to reach the goals that I have set for myself. I love and appreciate you because you are really family to me.
Boy, this crew here knows that until I take my last breath I’m always here for them, and that’s my Anointed Inspirations Publishing family. You all make being your publisher a breeze, and we have created such a strong bond because we all have the same vision, and that’s a Kingdom vision! Jenica Johnson and her husband, Charles, Tabeitha Pollard Mann, my assistant, Deedy Smith and my new family members; Andre Ray, Allison Randall Berewa and Kathleen Richardson, thank you all so much for taking this journey with me. I can’t wait to see all of the things that God has in store for you all through the gift of writing.
There are so many people that I would like to thank, but God knows it’s too many of y’all, but if you are in my life now, I thank you. If you have ever been in my life, I thank you. And for whoever is coming into my life in the future, I thank you in advance! Now, let’s see what shenanigans this Pastor is up to! Enjoy!!!
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Chapter One
Drew
I put the last of my underwear in my suitcase and zipped it up on the bed before walking over to get my toiletries off of my dresser. As I passed by the floor length mirror in my bedroom, I couldn’t help but to admire the man that was looking back at me.
I stood a cool 6’3” with blemish free, milk chocolate skin that covered my solid build. I made sure to keep my hair cut low and tapered on the sides. The waves in my hair would cause anyone to get seasick if they stared at them a second too long. I had been lucky enough to inherit my grandmother’s hazel green eyes that seemed to change with my mood. One day GQ Magazine would find me and I would grace their cover and pages, but until then, I would just grace the lives of the women who loved me.
Modeling should have been my career choice, but instead, I was the lead pastor of my wife’s family church. Her grandfather had left it to her and her brother, Chris, but he was far from trying to be a man of the cloth. Once we got married, her father thought it would be a good idea for me to take over that position. And who was I to not walk in the calling that was on my life.
The calling on my life. That was still a joke to me, but the joke was about to be on everybody else soon. In less than three weeks, the day after my ten year anniversary of being in ministry, I would be on a plane to the islands with a bank account full of money. It tripped me out how every Sunday I could deliver such a powerful word on behalf of the Lord and have people falling all out on the floor. I heard the voice of God warning me on the regular. He often used my best friend, Bryce, to warn me and even a few of the elders in the church, but I wasn’t there for that. I was there to get what I had owed to me, and I wasn’t leaving without it. Ten years had been a long time for me to walk away with nothing. Nah, I was about to have it all, and I couldn’t wait.
“You got everything, babe?” My wife, Jewel, asked me as she came up behind me, putting her arms around my waist.
I’m glad that from the angle she stood behind me she wasn’t able see when I rolled my eyes. The tone of my voice surely didn’t match the expression I had on my face at the time.
“Yep. I’m all ready to go forth on God’s behalf and speak to His people,” I said.
It amazed me that I knew the word of God like I did, but hey, the devil knew the word too. He was once an angel of light before he got kicked out of Heaven.
“I wish me and the girls were going with you this time.”
“Mmm hmmm, me too, babe,” I said, lying once again through my straight, pearly white teeth.
“I’m going to check on the girls before Bryce gets here,” I said, removing her chunky arms from my body.
Don’t get me wrong, my wife, Jewel, had a pretty face, but I just wasn’t into the pleasantly plump ladies. Jewel wasn’t short, but she wasn’t tall, and the weight that her body carried was in all of the wrong places. But she did have a beautiful face; a deep caramel complexion, long brown hair that she kept in flowing curls, no weave for her. Her eyes were so big and bright and held an innocence in them that I admired. It just wasn’t enough to make me interested or faithful. I had one mission being married to her, and it wasn’t love. The only reason we had two daughters was because I had to make this marriage seem legit to so many people, and I was still a man. When the lights went out it was all the same to me anyway.
I walked out on Jewel as she just stood there looking crazy and headed down the hall. My oldest daughter, Avery, wasn’t in her room so I headed to my baby girl’s room. Had my heart been set up to be a family man for real this would have been the ideal environment for me. I couldn’t get with it though.
“Hey baby girl, what you doing?’ I asked my youngest daughter, Kammy, as I walked into her room.
I was about to head out of town for the next two weeks, and I wanted to make sure that I spent as much time with her as I could. I was headed to Atlanta to be a guest speaker at Living Word Tabernacle.
Well, at least that was what I told my wife, Jewel, and our two daughters. I was actually going to be speaking for one night, and the rest of the time I was spending with my little side piece. So this time, my family wouldn’t be coming with me on assignment.
Sure, I was a preacher, but I was still a man that loved women. I didn’t care how well my wife took care of home or how sweet my daughters were, it wasn’t enough. It amazed me how I had a woman, sometimes two, in almost every state, and my wife was oblivious to the fact. From my understanding, women were supposed to have some kind of intuition about things like this, but I guess Jewel lacked that ability like she lacked self-esteem.
Jewel was far from a bad mother and wife, but I wasn’t attracted to her, never have been too much, now that I think about it. I met her when we were in college. I attended Clark Atlanta, and she was at Spellman. We had bumped into one another at a campus party one night, and me already knowing who she was, I ended up asking her out on a date.
She was on the heavy side and dressed in big clothes that did not
hing for the shape she didn’t have. It was just a mess, but never the less, I had a mission to complete.
“Daddy, did you hear me?” My six year old said, getting my attention, looking up from her doll that she was pretending to feed.
I’m sure if I gave it some effort, I could love everything about this little girl, from her long black hair, to her honey colored eyes and right down to her toothless smile.
“I’m sorry, baby. I was thinking to make sure I had everything I needed. I’m about to leave for the airport, Stink,” I told her, calling her by the nickname that I gave her as a baby.
I saw the sadness wash over her before she said, “Aww Daddy, do you have to go?”
“Yes sweetie. I thought you understood when we had our little talk the other night,” I said, walking over to her and sitting down on the floor.
No sooner than I had gotten comfortable, she hopped in my lap and put her head on my shoulder.
“I did, but I prayed to God for you not to go,” she said with water beginning to form in her eyes.
This was the hard part about living this life. Although I wasn’t really the fatherly type like I should have been, I put on a good front, and I did hate to see her get like this.
“Well baby, I’m going so that I can go talk to God’s people. He has a message that He wants me to give them,” I explained to her.
“Well, can’t you call them and tell them?” She pouted.
“That would be a lot of people to call, baby,” I answered her with a laugh.
“I’ll help. I can use Mommy’s phone to call them with you,” Kammy said with hope displaying on her beautiful brown face.
She was just not letting this go.
“Mom said Uncle Bryce is here to take you to the airport,” my daughter, Avery, said, coming into the room before I could respond to Kam.
“Let her know I’ll be right there,” I said as she turned and walked away without another word.
“How about this,” I started, turning back around to give my baby my full attention again. “When I get back we can take a trip somewhere nice.”
“Disney World!” She asked, jumping up and down in my lap.
“Sounds good to me, but you have to be on your best behavior for Mommy while I’m gone. Deal?” I asked, holding out my hand for her to shake it.
I almost felt bad that she wouldn’t be going on this trip to see Mickey and the crew. Oh well, her mother would dry her tears.
Instead of her answering me right away, she put her pointer finger up to her lips and looked to the ceiling as if she was in deep thought and finally said, “Deal!”
I kissed her on her forehead before getting up to go get my bags and head downstairs.
“Ugh, I can’t stand him!” I heard Avery say as I walked past her room.
I wasn’t even going to entertain her today, but the feeling was definitely mutual. It seemed like ever since that child came into this world we have not gotten along. Every time I got close to her or tried to pick her up, she would scream and holler like someone was killing her.
The older she got, the worse it got, to where I just stopped trying. Avery wouldn’t listen to anything I said, and if her mother wasn’t around, we would not have a conversation. From the rolling of the eyes, to the stomping of her feet, whenever I addressed her, we just did not get along. I often heard the old people when they would say that a baby or a small child could tell if a person had a good spirit or not. The way Avery responded to me was like she had known all along what I had done, and one day I was going to pay severely for that.
Chapter Two
Drew
I got my bags and headed downstairs to meet up with my boy, Bryce, who was also my personal assistant and minister at my father-in-law’s church. Bryce and I had been friends since the second grade when he moved from Philly to Charlotte. He was a little rough around the edges, and as soon as he walked into Mrs. Patterson’s class I knew we would get along well.
“What’s good, bro?” He asked as I entered the kitchen.
“Why is it every time you come over here, man, you end up eating up all of my food?” I ignored his question and asked one of my own while I laughed.
“Man listen. Sis offers, and it would be rude to decline. Besides, you know I’m a single man and don’t have the luxury of a beautiful wife cooking for me every night,” he said, looking over at Jewel and winking at her.
She didn’t respond, but I could have sworn she was blushing when she looked away. Not sure what that was about, but I was going to leave it alone for now. Trust and believe, the truth always came out.
Bryce wasn’t a bad looking guy. He was the exact opposite. This cat had the women beating down his door since the day I met him. Sometimes he would have to beat them off with a stick. He was the star football player throughout his high school career, and the girls loved a jock, but that wasn’t his dream. I never understood how he did the things we did together but had a dream of one day becoming a minister. That was so backwards to me.
The women loved his six foot frame with broad shoulders and dark skin. He put you in the mind of that actor, Lance Gross, but he was just a little bigger. Lance needed to come by the house and let Jewel get down one time for him in the kitchen, and he and Bryce could have been twins. Bryce didn’t keep his hair low like I did. Instead, he kept it close on the sides and naturally curly on the top.
When Jewel and I were talking about marriage and taking over the church I asked him to come with me to help me run it, and he jumped at the chance. I also needed him there with me to help cover up what I was doing. I trusted Bryce with everything, but he didn’t know the real reason as to why I was in this marriage, and he would never find out. I was glad that he didn’t have a wife or kids to tend to because if I needed him to intercept something I was doing he was available. That was my boy through and through, and I knew that although he constantly told me to leave the women alone, he wouldn’t say a word. His loyalty was to me and to me only.
“Come on man, before I miss my flight,” I said, picking up my carryon and walking over to my wife.
“Here are all of your reservations for the flight, hotel and car, baby. Be careful and make sure you call me as soon as you land, ok,” she said to me as she handed me everything.
This was one of the reasons that I put up with Jewel as a person. She took care of any and everything that I needed without me even asking her to do it. If it wasn’t for her I don’t know where I would be right now. It was because of her that I was finally able to be in the position that I am now.
“Thank you, baby. What would I do without you in my life?” I asked her, pulling her close to me.
I held her so close that I could feel the pulse of her beating heart through her blouse.
“You would probably crash and burn,” she said as a look I had never seen on her beautiful brown face appeared and disappeared just as fast.
Bryce cleared his throat as I turned to look at him. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me, and I already knew what that was about. It wasn’t something we were going to discuss right now, but on the way to the airport, I was sure we would have the same conversation we often had.
“You better hurry up before you miss your flight. I love you, baby, and be careful.” Jewel said, giving me a long deep kiss.
“Keep this up, First Lady, and I’m not going anywhere but upstairs,” I said, gassing her up.
I couldn’t wait to get out of this house.
“Boy bye!” She giggled like a little school girl.
“Let’s go, bro. Kingdom business awaits,” I said, grabbing my things and walking out.
“Wait!” Jewel called out behind us before we were able to get out of the door.
I didn’t know why it felt like my heart had dropped to my knees.
“Yea bae?” I asked, giving her my full attention.
“Bryce, do you have everything you need for this trip this time? I am not going to be running around trying to overnight you anythin
g this go round,” she laughed, but Bryce didn’t.
He looked nervous to even respond, but I guess the heat coming from my stare made him realize that he better say something and fast.
“Now sis, you know I’m prepared unlike this one here,” he tried to play it off while nudging me with his elbow.
“Mmm hmm. Y’all be safe,” was her reply as she ushered us out the door and kissed me one last time.
I didn’t know what was going on, but something was off, and it now had my spirit unsettled.
******
“Hey man, what was that all about?” I turned to my best friend and asked as we got on the highway heading to Charlotte Douglas International Airport to catch my flight.
“What?” He asked me with a shrug of his shoulders.
“You know what I’m talking about. All of those little slick comments and eye movements,” I asked finding myself getting angry on the inside, and I didn’t know why.
“Whoa! I know you not thinking I’m trying to get at J,” he said, getting defensive with a look of hurt on his face.
“Nah, man. My bad. It’s just so much going on these days,” I apologized.
“Yea. I bet,” was all he said before turning up the radio as K Camp rapped about turning up for a check.
Don’t get it twisted, we both loved the Lord and could quote the word of God forwards and backwards, but we were still as real as they came. Being saved didn’t mean we had to walk around listening to gospel or constantly quoting scriptures all day long. There had to be a balance.
“Hey man,” Bryce said, turning the music back down as he made his way down the highway.
“What’s up?” I asked, already sensing where this conversation was headed.
“When you gonna stop this? I know it has to be draining you,” he asked, glancing at me then back at the road.
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