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Authors: E. N. Joy

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BOOK: And You Call Yourself A Christian

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Chapter Three

“Ladies, I thank you all for coming out this evening,” Unique said to the group of seven women who sat around the kitchen table of one of her Mary Kay clients. “And thank you for allowing me to introduce some of you to my products.” Unique pointed to the items she had displayed on the table. She then looked at the woman who had hosted the Mary Kay party. “And a special thanks to Brooklyn for opening up her home and allowing me to present my products.” All of the women clapped their hands.

Once the applause had ceased, the host looked to Unique. “Thank you for coming out, Unique. I appreciate you, girl. You the bestest.” She then looked at her guests. “Now, order up, ladies, so I can earn me some free products for having you tramps over here eating up my food and drinking up my wine.” Once again, the ladies giggled.

Unique simply smiled at her host's comment. Once one to cuss and drink herself, she was not about to judge these women. But there was something that she could do. “Brooklyn, I'm so blessed to be here, that if you don't mind, I'd really just like to say a quick prayer.”

The room went dead silent as Brooklyn, not a churchgoer or a practicing Christian, thought about it. “Well, uh, sure ... I guess,” she concluded. “Pray that these B's buy enough products so that I earn my Satin Hands set for free ... the big one.” There were only a couple laughs this time as several of the women had prepared themselves to go into prayer.

Unique stood, closing her eyes. “Father God,” she started, as the seven women followed suit by standing and closing their eyes, “I thank you so much for these beautiful sisters who stand before me. I thank you that each and every one of them got here safe, sound, and free from harm. I thank you in advance that they return to their dwellings, families, and mates safe as well. God, you must love me so much to allow me to be in the presence of such strong, honorable women. I wish nothing but blessings and favor in their lives for whatever their endeavors, dreams, and goals are.”

“Thank you, Jesus,” one woman whispered.

A couple of eyes shot open in the direction of the woman. She'd been the one cursing the most all evening and telling dirty jokes. Some of the things that had come out of this woman's mouth Unique knew a sailor, not even a construction worker, would say. But now she was calling on the name of Jesus.

“Thank you, God, for making these women the head and not the tail. The lender and not the borrower. Thank you, God, for making these women beautiful already, in the image of you, Father God. But I thank you, God, for sending me here tonight to remind them just how beautiful they are. No, God, they don't need makeup to be beautiful; they already are. But Father, we should maintain and upkeep what you have blessed us with, so I thank you for using me to help them do so. God, I rebuke any word curses dating back to their youth in which anyone told them they were anything but beautiful.”

“Yes, God,” another woman said, wiping a tear from her eye. “I'm beautiful.”

The woman standing next to her grabbed her hand and squeezed it for comfort.

“That's right, sister, you claim it. Say it again!” Unique ordered.

“I'm beautiful,” the woman sniffled.

“Like you mean it. Like you believe it,” Unique shouted.

“I'm beautiful,” the woman repeated. “I'm beautiful!” This time she said it even louder.

A few seconds later, every woman in the room was declaring that they were beautiful. Once the declarations died down, Unique closed out the prayer. “So, God, again, I humbly thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.”

“Amen,” the women said, wiping tears and hugging each other.

Unique felt so good that the Holy Spirit had used her instantaneously and without planning ahead to speak life into those women's lives; to remind them that they were women; beautiful women. After an hour or so of skin care and makeup applications, Unique was certain that a transformation had taken place. It was a transformation other than a makeover. It had been a spiritual transformation for some of these women. And all Unique could do was give God the glory.

“It's getting late, so I guess I better go ahead and take you ladies' orders,” Unique said, sitting back down after applying makeup to the last woman's face. “So what's it going to be, ladies?”

The women, some still hugging, looked at each other. Next they looked at Unique and almost simultaneously replied, “We'll take one of everything,” before they all burst out laughing.

It took Unique an hour to get all of the women's orders in. Selling over eight hundred dollars worth of products, she couldn't do anything but thank God as she packed all of her things away and prepared to leave the house.

“Thank you again for hosting the party,” Unique told Brooklyn. “It truly was a blessing.”

“Girl, you the one who blessed us,” Brooklyn stated, looking at the remaining two guests in her home that were also preparing to leave.

“You sure did, sista girlfriend,” one of them cosigned. “I think I'm gonna call my uncle and take him up on his offer to come visit his church this Sunday. He's only been asking me for ten years,” she chuckled, “ever since he became senior pastor.”

“I'll meet you there,” the other woman said.

“To God be the glory,” was all Unique could fix her lips to say, because that's exactly what He'd done; shined His glory on her beyond measure. “When I follow-up with you guys about your products, let me know how service was, okay?”

“Will do,” one of the women said, grabbing her purse. “Come on, chick,” she said to the other woman.

The other woman grabbed her purse and said to the driver, “I know we said that we were going to go by The Lobby for a minute after we left here, but I think I'ma pass tonight.”

“Me too,” the woman driving agreed after digging her keys out of her purse. “Smooches, Brook.” She gave Brooklyn a kiss on her cheek, and then headed out of the door with her passenger in tow.

“Okay, Miss Brooklyn, I'll talk to you soon. And thanks again for everything,” Unique said, double-checking that she had everything before walking out of the house.

“No problem, girly. Take care.” Brooklyn closed the door after watching the last three women to leave her home step down the walkway.

Unique was carrying two cases of products. Thank goodness the women had practically bought her out. At least they weren't as heavy going as they had been coming. Having to catch two city buses to get from her house to Brooklyn's, Unique had broken a sweat hauling the cases. Even though it was nine o'clock at night now, the summer heat had not tucked itself in for the night. It was live and active. With the bus stop only being four blocks away, Unique prayed she wouldn't break a sweat.

It was times like this when she wanted to dig into her stash of money and buy a car, but that money was for a house for her and her boys. Besides, she didn't want to waste her money on some hooptie that would break down on the side of the road every other month. She had plans; buy a house, earn a car. She believed it could be done, so she was going to stick to the plan at all costs.

“Where are you parked?” Unique heard someone call out to her.

She looked back over her shoulder to see a woman standing up at the driver's side of her car with the door open. It was one of the women from the Mary Kay party; the one who said she was going to take her uncle up on his invitation for her to visit his church.

“Oh, I'm, uh, just headed to the bus stop down the street,” Unique replied.

“Do you need a ride? It doesn't seem safe being out here this late at night,” the woman said.

“Oh, I'll be fine,” Unique assured her. “I'm a child of the King.” She looked up and pointed upward. “He's got me covered. He's not going to let anything happen to me.”

“Where do you live?” the woman asked, as if she was going to offer Unique a ride anyway.

“I live in Malvonia,” Unique replied. The woman's face dropped, and Unique understood why. Here they were on the north side of Columbus. Unique's house was about a forty-minute drive in the car; the city bus, with all those stops, not to mention its scenic route, was another story. “So don't worry about it, I'm good,” she smiled, letting the woman off the hook. “But thanks anyway, and God bless you.” Unique continued her trek to the bus stop.

A few seconds later Unique could hear a car coming up behind her. It was the two women from the party in the car. As they passed her they smiled awkwardly, then proceeded to the stop sign a few feet away from Unique.

“I guess God ain't been that good to her. He got her walking down the street at night with no car,” Unique heard the woman in the passenger seat say.

“Child of the King, my foot,” the driver spat. “Christian folks kill me, always talking about they are a child of the King; an heir to throne.”

“Okayyy,” the passenger said. “You mean to tell me that this great God you serve can't even hook you up with a car? Then you ain't no better off than me,” she chuckled, and the driver joined in as they pulled off and their rear end lights soon faded, but not before Unique heard one say, “Girl, let's go on to The Lobby. I need a drink.”

Unique felt like a big joke as she fought like mad to keep the tears that filled her eyes from falling. Just a moment ago her insides were doing backflips for the Lord, but in just a few seconds, the devil had used those two women to try to steal her joy.

“Get thee behind me, Satan,” Unique spat as she continued her walk to the bus stop. “There is nothing you can say, there is nothing you can do to keep me from loving my God, from giving Him all the honor, all the glory, and all the praise. So He hasn't blessed me with a car yet or a place of my own; so what, devil! He will. I know He will. The God I serve is going to provide me above and beyond anything I could have ever hoped, dreamed, or prayed for.”

Unique stomped down that street like she was stepping on the devil. She ranted and spat off at the devil, not caring what the cars driving past her thought. Once she arrived at the bus stop, she began to praise God like never before. When the bus finally arrived about ten minutes later, she sat on the bus more excited and pumped up than she had been in a long time.

She was a child of the King. She was an heir to His throne, and she was going to get every single blessing God had for her. But she knew in order to do so, she couldn't just sit around and wait on God. She had to do her part in it as well. She was going to make a way for her children and herself at all costs, and she wasn't going to do it alone. Yes, she had the Lord by her side. But there were some other people that played a role in this thing as well; her children's fathers.

Unique had let them get away long enough with her just getting by on whatever money they could throw her way whenever they could to help her support her kids. Heck, her oldest son's father hadn't shot anything her way in a good while. She'd been trying to get in touch with him for the past week, but that sucker had the nerve to not take her calls. She could see him now just sitting there allowing her calls to go to voice mail. Well, he was going to be the first one she hit up on her list of deadbeat dads. He and those other two baby daddies should prepare themselves for the wrath of Unique Emerald Gray. Tomorrow would be the first day of the rest of her life.

Unfortunately, though, it would be the last day for the people who mattered most to her in life.

Chapter Four

“Oooh, flowers,” the temp serving as the office receptionist said to Lorain as she stood at the receptionist desk sniffing the colorful array of mixed flowers. “What's the occasion? Birthday? Anniversary? âI'm sorry,'” the young brunette probed.

“Nope,” Lorain smiled, walking away, still sniffing the flowers. “Just because it's Monday.”

Back when she and Nicholas had first met, he'd told her all the things he wanted to do for her. He'd told her all the things he wanted to be for her; her husband was one of them, and a man who sends her flowers just because it's Monday was another. Well, at least he'd been one out of the two. By now, he could have been two out of two if it weren't for Lorain rejecting his marriage proposals. She'd stared at that three-point-five carat diamond he'd purchased for her for so long now that a vision of it was embedded in her head. She would often imagine what it looked like on her finger. Unfortunately, the little ring had never made it out of the box and onto her finger. She had possession of the ring, per Nicholas's request, but she just didn't wear the ring.

“Here, you keep it and just think about it,” Nicholas had told her the last time he proposed and she declined. “When you're finally ready, I'll know.”

“How will you know?” Lorain had asked.

“Because I'll look down at your finger one day and you'll be wearing it,” he replied, staring into her eyes and tucking the box in her hand. “But don't let that day be too far off, Lorain.”

For Lorain, his last comment sounded more like a warning; like a threat. But like Unique had even asked her, how much longer did she think Nicholas was going to hang around if her intentions didn't eventually line up with his?

Throwing out last Monday's flowers and replacing them with this morning's, Lorain sat down in her chair as thoughts fluttered through her mind. One thought was how she could possibly turn down a marriage proposal from a man like Nicholas. He was truly every woman's dream. Well, maybe not every woman's, but hers and more than likely, a handful of others anyway. She just never imagined in a million years that that dream would come true; that God would really do it for her.

“But why wouldn't He?” Lorain mumbled to herself. “Why wouldn't God give me a man like Nicholas?” A huge grin stretched across her lips. “A doctor; an attentive, kind, loving man who is exactly who he says he is,” she questioned.

But if he was from God,
her subconscious mind interrupted her personal conversation with herself,
wouldn't he have been a Christian? Why would God give me someone who I have to invite to church, or who goes to church whenever he feels like it? And on top of that, someone who smokes cigarettes?

Nicholas wasn't a chain-smoker or anything. He just smoked after a long surgery or something. He said it helped to calm his nerves. He never smoked around Lorain, and he never smoked in a closed-in place like a car, lounge, or his apartment. He always smoked outside in the open air. As a matter of fact, Lorain never even knew he smoked until three months into their relationship. They'd gone into a gas station. While she strolled the snack aisle, he paid for gas and asked the attendant for a pack of cigarettes. She was surprised, to say the least. She'd been so concerned about his purchasing a pack of smokes, that over dinner, she picked at her food. It wasn't until Nicholas detected that something was bothering her and called her on it that she mentioned him purchasing cigarettes. He explained his use of them, and though she wasn't keen on being in a relationship with a smoker, she really liked this man and wasn't going to let a pack of Newports come between them.

But Nicholas, being a smoker, played no part in her decision not to marry him just yet. It was that subconscious mind of hers that kept rearing its ugly head that did. It kept reminding her of her past; all the ugly things she'd done when it came to men, and all the ugly things they had done to her. She thought about all the other women's husbands she'd slept with and feared that God couldn't wait to pay her back by allowing another woman to sleep with hers. She wouldn't be able to stand the heartache.

Then there was the fact that perhaps Nicholas was just too good to be true. What if it turned out that he wasn't all that he seemed? What if he wasn't this cool, calm, and collected gentleman that he'd been displaying himself as all of this time? How could she be so sure? What signs could be there that she could have overlooked?

She thought about her church sister, Paige. She thought about Sister Nita as well. Both women had married men who turned out to be abusers. Each of them thought they were marrying the perfect man, but they'd missed the signs. What if Lorain, too, was missing the signs?

Lorain buried her head in her hands and shook her head. She was trying to shake all those crazy thoughts out. They wouldn't go away though. She had to do something, and she had to do something fast about all these feelings and fears she was having regarding Nicholas.

Sometimes Lorain's thoughts and fears got so bad to the point where she'd actually called Nicholas's voice mail, left him a breakup message, but then deleted the message before it could be delivered. That's just how serious this thing had become.

Now, leaned back in her chair feeling mentally exhausted, Lorain decided that today would be the day she confronted her fears. She couldn't keep them bottled up inside any longer. There was someone who could perhaps help her overcome this thing, because if she didn't, she felt that in her heart of hearts, she'd lose Nicholas.

Lorain pulled her chair in front of her computer and clicked onto the Internet. After going to the New Day Temple of Faith Web site, and then clicking on the church member e-mail directory, she was one step closer to conquering her fears.

“Thank you for replying to my e-mail so quickly,” Lorain said through the phone receiver. “And thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me on the phone.”

“Well, if you don't mind me saying, your e-mail came across pretty desperate,” Paige chuckled.

“I guess it did,” Lorain agreed. She had to admit, though, she was desperate.

“So, the man you were talking about in your e-mail, Nicholas, he's the one who visits church with you sometimes?”

“Yes, that's him,” Lorain blushed. “He's the man that I, like every other single woman in the church feels when she meets a man, believes God sent me.”

Paige let out a laugh. “Girl, you ain't never lied there. I've heard that a million times from some of the women I speak with when I go to different places and give my testimony. That's exactly how I felt when I met my ex. Nobody could tell me that man wasn't missing a rib and I was, in fact, that rib.”

Lorain sighed. “That's exactly how I feel.” She thought for a minute. “Well, kinda. I mean, like I said in my e-mail, he's not a practicing Christian. He even smokes. But on the flip side, Sister Paige, he is such a wonderful man. He works hard. He works hard at his profession, which is a doctor. He works hard at being attentive toward me, even though we don't have lots of time together due to him always being on call. He even works hard at being a good role model to my grandsons. And with their deadbeat daddies, you know that's priceless. And Unique likes him. My mom likes him ...”

“What about you?” Paige asked. “How do you feel about him?”

Without even hesitating Lorain replied, “I love him. I love everything about him. He is the man God has made him to be right now; that's how I feel in my heart. We as people always have room to grow. We are always changing. Yes, we get set in our ways, but God will always ultimately have His way. So if that means He has to change some things about us, then so be it.”

“I hear you, but what if Nicholas stays the same forever? What if God makes changes in you?”

“I ... I ... don't understand.” Lorain was confused.

“Listen, Sister Lorain, I know what it is you want me to do,” Paige said. “You want me to tell you how I went from thinking I was married to the man of my dreams to trying to wake up from a nightmare. You want me to tell you what signs to look for in Nicholas that were there with Blake. I can't do that, Sister Lorain. I can give you some signs of what to look for in an abuser. As a matter of fact, there are pamphlets laid out in the church lobby that list some signs. Sister Nita is head of the Swatc Ministry, so you might even want to talk to her.”

“Sheltered Woman and Their Children, yeah, I remember attending the meeting that one time.”

“Yes, so you know some of the things we discussed regarding signs of an abuser. But that's not your real concern. You are not concerned with whether Nicholas is going to turn into a different person once you marry him. You are more so worried that
you
are going to turn into a different person once you marry
him
.”

That darn Sister Paige had hit it right on the money, Lorain had thought to herself. “You are absolutely right,” Lorain agreed. “When it really comes down to it, I'm so afraid that I'm not going to be the woman he desires now. What if I'm not everything he thinks I'm going to be as a wife? I'm not perfect, Sister Paige, but when I look at myself in his eyes ... Really, when I see the way he looks at me, it's as if I am perfect; that I'm everything he could ever want, and more, in a woman. How can I ever live up to that? And then once he realizes that I'm not really that woman, what if he just ups and leaves me? What if he's like Sister Tamarra's ex-husband? What if he has a baby by another woman while we're married? What if he's like how Sister Deborah's baby's father was? Or Mother Doreen's late husband or ...” Lorain stopped her thoughts.

“Or like Blake, my ex-husband?” Paige finished for her. “Go ahead, you can say it. After all, out of all the folks listed in the church directory, you picked me to contact because my marriage woes were the most recently public. I get it, Sister Lorain, but sister, if you don't get it, you just might lose a man who really loves you. Now I might not be telling you what you want to hear. Who knows; after you hang up with me, you might have another list of women from church you are going to call up. Let me tell you something; don't let the church have you end up being a single, lonely woman for the rest of your life. Because if you are going to base your life, your relationship with your man on what other women in the church have gone through, then that's exactly how you are going to end up.”

Lorain remained silent as a tear fell from her eye. It wasn't a tear of sadness, nor could it really be deemed as a tear of joy. It was a tear of revelation, of confirmation that Lorain needed to start living her life ... her life ... not fearing she'd end up living the life of other women. “Thank you, Sister Paige. Thank you so much. You have no idea of the release I just received from your words. I thank you for letting God use you.”

“No need to thank me. All God did was use me to confirm what He's already told you ... or what He's been trying to tell you anyway. You just wouldn't listen until now.”

“And you are so right about that,” Lorain agreed. “Thanks, again, Sister Paige. See you in church Sunday.”

“Bye-bye,” Paige said before the women ended the call.

“Yes!” Lorain shouted out, nearly scaring to death one of her coworkers that was walking by.

“Lorain, are you okay?” the woman asked.

“Yes!” Lorain stood up and grabbed the woman by the shoulders with excitement. “Yes, I'm okay, and yes . . . I'm going to marry him!”

BOOK: And You Call Yourself A Christian

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