Can I Get an Amen

by Janice Sims

  The church was dedicated in 2000, the year when some folks feared the world was getting ready to change for the worse. The congregation of Red Oaks Christian Fellowship Church begged to differ. They put their faith in God and built a house for Him that would hold more than two thousand worshipers, a tweak to the year, in direct defiance of the doomsayers. They had been going strong ever since.

  This Sunday morning in May, for the first time in her life, Alex felt apprehensive pulling into the big parking lot and alighting from the SUV with Sam at her side. They began walking toward the church’s entrance. She didn’t want to think too much about Jared Kyles. It wouldn’t do to place her hopes in him actually showing up.

  She’d dressed with care anyway, wearing a linen cream-colored skirt suit with a silk bronze shell underneath. The bronze tones accentuated the golden hue of her skin. On her feet were strappy bronze sandals with three-inch heels. She wore hose with them, because her mother had always said that a lady wasn’t fully dressed for church unless she wore stockings. Her black, wavy hair was combed away from her face and fell to her shoulders in a glorious cascade.

  “If it’s possible, you’re even more beautiful in your Sunday best,” a baritone voice said from behind her.

  Alex spun on her heels and a smile automatically came to her lips. Jared looked so handsome in his dark blue summer suit, replete with a white silk shirt, gold cuff links, and a silk, striped navy blue tie. His black wingtips were shined to a high gloss. She thought he’d been sexy in his blue jeans yesterday, but the man cleaned up very nicely!

  “Sam,” she said to her brother, who was watching his sister’s reaction to this guy who was obviously trying to make time with her. “Meet Jared Kyles.”

  The two men shook hands, but Jared could not take his eyes off of Alex.

  “I’m over here,” Sam joked.

  Jared smiled at him. “I guess I’m a little distracted.”

  “No, man, you’re a lot distracted,” Sam corrected him, totally delighted by the turn of events.

  When he and Jared finished shaking hands, he took a step backwards and said, “Uh, Alex, I see some fellas I need to get with before services begin. I’ll catch up with you inside.” He trotted off in the direction of a group of boys his age.

  Alex and Jared gazed into each other’s eyes as folks walked around them.

  “I just knew I’d seen the last of you,” Alex admitted.

  “I would have whupped the devil’s butt to see you again, Alexandra,” Jared told her, a twinkle in his eyes. “Going to church should be a cakewalk.”

  He gently placed his hand beneath her elbow, and they entered the vestibule.

  Three

  “Alex, there you are!” an exasperated Gayle Jackson said as she thrust her six-month-old son, Tyler, into Alex’s arms. “The twins are missing in action, as usual. Would you take care of Tyler while I go hunt them down?” Alex happily agreed, holding the chubby baby close to her chest and breathing in the sweet scent of him. “This boy sure is getting big. What are you feeding him? Collard greens and fatback?”

  Gayle laughed. “Now you know Ruben would be feeding him just that if I’d let him!” She placed Tyler’s baby bag onto Alex’s right shoulder.

  “Before you take off, meet a newcomer to Red Oaks, Jared Kyles. Jared, this is my best friend, Gayle Jackson. You met her husband, Ruben, yesterday.”

  Gayle, a petite redhead with warm, golden brown skin and rich, dark brown eyes, smiled up at Jared. “A pleasure,” she said. “Ruben told me about meeting you. Welcome to Red Oaks. I hope you like it here.”

  Jared returned her smile. “Thanks, Mrs. Jackson. I already like it here.”

  Gayle really grinned then. “Mrs. Jackson? That’s my mother-in-law. Just call me Gayle. And I’m gonna call you Jared, whether you want me to or not. That’s how we do things around here.” She laughed again before turning to go in search of her four-year-olds and her husband, an even bigger kid. “I’ll be right back.”

  Alone with Jared, and with Tyler held firmly in her arms, Alex looked around for a place to sit. The stadium-style seats were already filling up. From the looks of things, there would be a nearly full house today. Although the church could seat two thousand, it was a very rare occasion when all of the seats were taken.

  “She won’t be right back, I assure you,” Alex said with a short laugh. “The twins always keep her busy on Sunday morning.”

  They were walking down the aisle as they talked. The buzz of human voices was all around them, soothing violin music was being played over the sound system, and every few steps some friend of Alex’s would call her name, and she’d stop and chat for a minute or two after introducing Jared.

  “The twins?” Jared asked when he could get a word in without interruption from a parishioner who was happy to see Alex.

  “Oh, her oldest is Ruben, Junior. Everybody started calling Ruben, Junior and Ruben ‘The Twins’ because Ruben, Junior is the spitting image of his daddy.”

  Alex spotted three consecutive seats in the fifth row. They sat beside each other, and Alex saved a place for Sam by putting her purse and Tyler’s baby bag in the extra seat on her right. She settled Tyler onto her lap. He smiled up at her. He had the sweetest temperament, and, since his parents had been bringing him to church since birth, the many sounds tended to soothe him.

  Jared watched her with the baby. This was one weird date, if you could call it a date. Not only was he in church, but the woman he’d come to see was cuddling a handsome male, and it wasn’t him!

  She looked perfectly content to do so, too.

  “He seems to like you,” he commented.

  “Oh, he’s a charmer all right,” Alex said. “He’s had me wrapped around his little finger since I first laid eyes on him.” She raised her gaze to Jared’s. “Sort of like you.”

  Jared smiled, dimples showing in both cheeks. “That’s good to know. I thought the little diaper-wearer was beating my time.”

  Alex laughed softly, her eyes still on his face. “No. You had me when you actually showed up today.”

  “Why is that? You’ve invited other men to church and they never showed up?”

  “Yes, and yes again. They ran for the hills.”

  “Satan’s spawn!” Jared joked.

  “No, they just thought I was playing mind games with them. You see, some men believe that a woman thinks if she can get a man to come to church with her, then his intentions must be honorable.”

  “It’s not as if a dishonorable man is going to burst into flames like a vampire upon entering a church,” Jared said. If it were so, he’d be burning right now.

  “I’ve met some men who I wished would burst into flame. But, no, I suppose there’s no risk of that happening.”

  “You naughty girl, you actually admit to evil thoughts in God’s house?”

  “God knew what I was going to say before I said it.”

  “You sound like you have no doubts whatsoever that God exists,” Jared said.

  Tyler started wiggling impatiently, and Alex stood him on her lap. He grinned happily as he bounced up and down. “No, I have no doubts now,” Alex answered.

  “What do you mean by ‘now’?”

  Alex smiled at him. “Our dad died from cancer when I was fourteen, and our mom was killed by a drunk driver when I was seventeen. Things like that can test a person’s faith.”

  Jared was quiet. He hadn’t expected a revelation of this sort. To tell the truth, he was only looking for a good time here with Alex. Perhaps some rousing spirituals sung by what was sure to be a great choir, a generic sermon from the pastor, and some firm handshaking from congregation members at the end, when he’d undoubtedly be the subject of some curiosity. Then, one day next week, he would have phoned her and asked her out on a real date. A date that didn’t include a baby and hundreds of other people.

  He must have been silent for too long, because Alex said, “Sorry. That’s not a good topic of conversation for a first date, is
it?”

  Jared smiled gently at her. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. You told me something very personal and I sat here like a bump on a log without responding. The fact is, I didn’t know what to say.” His autumn sunrise–colored eyes had a contemplative expression in them. “I would have been a total mess if I’d lost my parents that young.”

  “You would have survived,” Alex said quietly.

  “What happened to you and your brother and sister after your mother was killed?” Jared asked. Alex had put Tyler back in the crook of her arm, and he’d closed his eyes. Jared watched Alex’s reaction to the little charmer. She fairly glowed, and a lovely smile curved her full, red lips. She looked up at Jared.

  He blushed because she’d caught him watching her so intently.

  Alex’s smile never wavered. “We perpetrated a fraud on the state of Georgia.”

  Jared’s eyebrows rose with interest. “How?”

  “Since we were minors and had no relatives, the state had the right to put us in foster homes. I was in my senior year in high school. Sam was nine, and Vicky was twelve. After Mom’s funeral, Sam, Vicky and I sat down and had a discussion. We knew the house was paid for. It seemed to us that if we could earn enough money to pay for food, electricity, and certain other incidentals, there should be no reason why we couldn’t stay in the house.”

  Jared shook his head. He knew instinctively what she was going to say: After their mother’s death, she’d taken on the responsibility of raising her brother and sister alone.

  “It was just a matter of avoiding the social workers who came knocking on the door,” Alex confirmed. “That went on for four years. After I graduated, I started up the family lawn business again. All three of us worked on weekends, but during the week, it was just me out there digging, and planting, and mowing.”

  Jared couldn’t believe his ears. His respect for her grew tenfold. “That must have been hard on you.”

  “I was young and fit and motivated. It was fun! Sticking it to the establishment while keeping our family together. When I turned twenty-one, I became Sam and Vicky’s legal guardian.”

  Jared shook his head at the wonder of this woman. He wished he were worthy of a woman who showed that kind of courage. But he knew he was not. No matter how much he wanted to get to know her better, today would have to be the last time he saw her. He might be incapable of being faithful to one woman, but he wasn’t a complete dog.

  The notion of never tasting her lips or holding her in his arms was a mighty big incentive to ignore his higher morals. However, adding to the pain she’d already experienced in life was an ugly prospect. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt her. Not even to satisfy his curiosity about how her lips would feel under the onslaught of his.

  By the time Sam joined them and the service began, he resolved to have a good time in the present and get out of there as soon as the closing prayer was said.

  During the opening prayer, while everybody’s heads were bowed, Jared glanced over at Tyler, lying so comfortably in Alex’s arms. The baby smiled at him, and he smiled back. He’d never given much thought to having children since he’d decided never to marry, but this little fellow made him entertain thoughts of fatherhood. What would it be like to raise a child, and would he be a better father to his children than his father had been to him and his sister?

  The one hundred-plus member choir sang three rousing gospel songs that, he had to admit, made him want to get up and shout. Some of the parishioners were not as reticent as he was. They were dancing in the aisles with abandon. He expected someone to do a back flip before they were done. One young sista in a killer dress got “caught up by the spirit” and fainted dead away. A muscle-bound usher easily lifted her in his arms and carried her from the room. Jared supposed, as huge as the church was, they had a nurse on the premises to help the afflicted at times like these.

  The rest of the congregation went on praising God as if succumbing to the spirit was a common occurrence. He felt like a visitor in a foreign country. A place where he was unfamiliar with the language and the customs of the natives.

  Shortly after the choir sang their third selection, a deacon went to the pulpit and began making the announcements for the week. He informed them who was ill or hospitalized and needed prayers and visits from their brothers and sisters. He reminded them of the upcoming Mother’s Day program. There were still plenty of spots left for children who wanted to recite a poem or an uplifting story about their mothers.

  “We call it Hat Day,” Alex whispered to Jared.

  “Why is that?” he whispered back.

  “Because every female from great-granny to infant wears a hat.”

  He smiled at her. “Of course.”

  After the announcements, the youth choir took the stage and did a spirited rendition of a Kirk Franklin song. The gangly boy who led them strutted up and down the stage, just like his role model. Jared had always considered Kirk Franklin the James Brown of gospel music. The two men even moved alike when the spirit hit them, doing splits and wild gyrations which left their audiences shouting for more.

  Finally, the pastor, Reverend Terrance Paul Avery, went to the pulpit and cleared his throat. He was a tall caramel-colored gent with broad shoulders, a completely bald head, a bushy black mustache, and dark penetrating eyes. Jared put his age at around forty, but he knew from experience that it was difficult to tell the age of a bald black man. Black skin aged slower, and, without the hair, which could be completely white for all he knew, there were few other indicators to go by.

  “Good morning, brothers and sisters,” Reverend Avery said in a deep bass voice.

  “Good morning, Brother Avery!” the church said in unison.

  Quiet descended on the gathering. A sense of expectancy could be felt. Jared felt it, too. He looked around at some of the faces of those closest to him. Joy. Peace. Complete confidence in their pastor. These people are brainwashed, he thought acerbically.

  Then Reverend Avery began to speak: “Beloved, I want to give to you today a gift. A gift that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave you all over two thousand years ago. It’s a recycled gift, but still valuable. It’s the gift of life. You see, loved ones, nobody forced Him to offer His life as a propitiatory sacrifice for you. God didn’t tell him: ‘Son, you do this or I’ll punish you.’ As a matter of fact, He was His Father’s firstborn heavenly Son, and His favorite. Yet He said, ‘I’ll go! Send me!’”

  “Amen!” an attractive senior citizen with silver curls sitting two rows ahead of them passionately shouted. She threw both hands in the air as if to emphasize her support. Then she closed her eyes, shook her head, lowered her arms, and fell silent.

  “That’s Mother Maybelle,” Alex whispered.

  Jared remembered she’d mentioned the lady yesterday.

  “We’re going to talk about sacrifice today, brothers and sisters, beginning with Jesus’ sacrifice of His life for you. We’re beginning with a heavenly being, but we’re going to end with an earthly being, His mother, Mary. Now, not much is said about Mary after she gave birth to our Lord and Savior. But I’m going to give you scripture and verse about how she continued to love and support her Son all the way to His death on the cross. I ask you, how many mothers would have followed her son’s lead to that ignoble end? I dare say, not many!”

  Hooked. That’s how Jared felt. Not only was Reverend Avery presenting him with a challenging theory, that Mary had had a bigger role in Jesus’ life than just giving birth to him, but it was a theory he’d never been taught in Sunday school. All he’d been taught was that God had impregnated a virgin called Mary. She’d been engaged to a guy named Joseph, and, after being convinced that her pregnancy was really miraculous in nature and she hadn’t been tipping out on him, Joseph married her. That was his father’s version. James Kyles had had a way of reducing anything to its lowest denominator. He hadn’t been much of a churchgoer.

  Something struck Jared as he was sitting there listening to Reverend A
very: Could it be that he was letting his father’s behavior dictate his own actions? His father hadn’t gone to church, except on very special occasions; therefore, he didn’t, either. His father had been a womanizer; therefore, he was one, too. Wasn’t it possible to break the cycle of negative behavior?

  He looked at Alex’s profile. Fine hair grew on the side of her face. It only made her more beautiful in his eyes. He wanted to kiss her there, and linger, inhaling her sweet essence. What was wrong with him? Thinking carnal thoughts while sitting in the Lord’s house?

  He’d gotten more than he’d bargained for when he’d accepted her invitation. Now here he was thinking about fatherhood and overhauling his character! There was nothing wrong with his character, thank you! He was a good guy. He just didn’t want to get married. Ever! He continued to look at Alex. And no pretty country woman was going to change his mind.

  He lowered his gaze to Tyler. Wouldn’t you know it, the kid smiled at him again. Lord save him from pretty women and charming babies!

  Mother Maybelle Carmichael couldn’t get past those in her row fast enough to run interference for Alex. Freda Hodges was making a beeline for that handsome man who’d come with her this morning. No sooner had Alex given Tyler back to his mother, and Sam departed, than Freda zeroed in on the new guy and pointed her bosom in his direction. How many scarves and shawls must she give her before she got the hint? Hint was the operative word. Mother Maybelle would never dream of telling Freda she was showing way too much cleavage in a place of worship. For one thing, she knew Freda only did it to make her husband, George, jealous. George, God bless his thick-headed soul, paid no attention to the woman. She was literally starving for it. So she got it vicariously through the admiring glances of other ogling males.

  Mother Maybelle smiled as she walked toward the threesome. To his credit, Alex’s gentleman friend’s gaze did not lower one smidgen to the ravishing Freda’s chest area.

  “…Construction business. I would never have guessed,” Freda gushed in a low, husky voice. “What with those broad shoulders and…,” she boldly encircled his upper arm with both hands, “…rock-hard biceps!”