“I’m going to be celibate,” Delilah said over dinner the following week at Keisha’s place.
Keisha burst out laughing. “Please. I would love to see that day.”
“I’m serious. If I can’t have Samson, I would rather be celibate.” It had been a week since Samson’s wedding. Delilah imagined him and his new bride having the time of their lives on their Bahamian honeymoon. She happened to overhear Elaine and Michelle talking about where they were going last night after Bible Study.
“So what’s up with the guy you met at the reception?” Keisha asked.
“He’s been calling, but I don’t have time for games.”
“Girl, you’re going to have me choking. You’re a natural comedian tonight.”
Keisha poured them both some more soda.
“This lasagna is good,” Delilah said.
“Don’t be trying to butter me up. You know I’m going to tell you the truth whether you like it or not.”
“A best friend would be supportive.” Delilah played around with the food on her plate.
“Let’s see. We’re not having anything special going on at my church tomorrow, so I’ll go to church with you tomorrow so I can give you moral support on the couple’s first Sunday back as husband and wife.”
Delilah hadn’t thought about them returning tomorrow. Yes, she would need to be around at least one friendly person. “Good. Now make sure you wear something cute. You’ll be representing me.”
“Hold up, sister. You got it twisted. I always look good.”
Delilah disagreed. Keisha was her friend, but she seemed to dress more flashy than stylish. She would keep her comments to herself though. One wrong word from her could set Keisha off on a tangent, and from her experience, it could be days before they spoke again. She needed Keisha to be there for her.
Delilah went home and picked out an outfit for the next day. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow but tossed and turned the entire night with nightmare after nightmare. She remembered none of them the next morning as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.
“I feel like I just got hit by a freight train,” Delilah said as she popped a couple of ibuprofen into her mouth. She washed the pills down with water.
It took her longer than usual to get dressed due to the tension that filled her head. She called Keisha to let her know she was running late. An hour later, she and Keisha were sitting on a pew in the middle of the church where she could get a good view of everyone entering and leaving the sanctuary.
“Girl, I might have to move because I can’t see nothing with that big old birds’ nest on that woman’s head,” Keisha said. She shifted in her seat in an attempt to get a better view.
“That’s Ms. Dorothy. She’s the head of Pastor’s Aide. She hates my guts,” Delilah informed Keisha.
“Interesting.”
Delilah went on to identify several other people, mainly women, in the congregation who didn’t like her for whatever reason. “Girl, I don’t even see why you want to come to this church if nobody likes you,” Keisha said.
“Because I’m not here for the people. I’m here to get the Word, and Samson brings it like no other pastor I know.”
“That’s because you haven’t branched out and been to other churches.”
“I visit other churches all the time,” Delilah said.
“Only when Samson’s not preaching.”
Music began to fill the sanctuary. One of the ushers tapped Delilah on the shoulder. “Excuse me,” she said. “I’ll need for you ladies to hold it down. Church is about to start.”
Keisha mimicked the usher. Instead of getting upset, Delilah laughed. “So where’s the happy couple?” Keisha asked.
“That’s what I want to know.”
After one of the associate pastors said a prayer, everybody stood up as the choir marched in singing, “Shake…shake…shake. Shake the devil off. In the name of Jesus, shake the devil off.”
Delilah turned to face the front of the church as the choir made their way into the choir stand. Delilah tapped Keisha on the arm. “There they are.”
Julia, wearing a knee-length, peach-colored suit, walked in front of Samson. Both had smiles on their faces. Julia walked and stood near the front pew. Samson greeted the other ministers as he made his way into the pulpit. He lowered his hand to indicate everyone could be seated.
Delilah’s mind should have been on worshipping God; instead, her heart filled with envy the moment she saw how happy Julia appeared. The choir rocked the sanctuary. Everyone, including Keisha, seemed to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Delilah and a few children remained in their seats as the choir sang, “Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.”
Delilah felt like a captive and could not relate to the lyrics of the song at the time. Delilah’s headache subsided, but she wasn’t enjoying the service. Keisha, on the other hand, seemed to be having a good time.
“Girl, Peaceful Rest’s choir is off the hook. I need to see about getting y’all for our next musical,” Keisha said.
“Oh, okay.” Delilah halfway listened.
Forty minutes later, Samson made his way to the podium. “My lovely bride and I would like to thank each and every one of you for the gifts, cards and well wishes. We wanted to also thank Calvin and Michelle and everyone who worked with them to move Julia’s stuff to my house while we were gone. We just got back late last night and, yes, we did miss our church family.” Samson looked in Julia’s direction. “Honey, did you want to say anything?”
Delilah couldn’t hear Julia’s response over the noise from the congregation, but it must have been no since Julia remained seated. “I know some of you came to hear me preach, but I decided to let Associate Minister Michael Monroe bring today’s message since technically I’m still on my honeymoon.” A few laughs were heard throughout the congregation. Samson continued to say, “Well, after the choir gives us an A and B selection, the next voice you hear will be Minister Monroe.”
After the choir sang a couple of selections, Minister Monroe stood behind the podium and sang “Precious Lord” along with the congregation. A few minutes later, he began reciting a couple of verses from the sixth chapter of Matthew, taken from the New King James Version. “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven…. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
“Amen,” several people around Delilah said.
“Today, I’ll be talking about charity.” He stopped talking and looked at one of the ushers. “Ushers, you can be seated.”
He faced the congregation. “Some of us are doing stuff for the wrong reasons. We want our sisters and brothers to pat us on the back for things we should be doing for our fellow man anyway.” He paced back and forth in front of the podium. “Some of us only do stuff for people who can do something for us.”
“Preach,” someone yelled.
“When was the last time you did something for someone and didn’t expect anything in return?” he asked.
Thirty minutes later, as the sermon ended, Keisha said, “Minister Monroe was good, but I’ll have to come back so I can hear your pastor.”
“Yes, Minister Monroe is good, but he’s no Samson.”
They got out of their seats. Delilah started to head to the front of the church instead of going toward the front door. Keisha grabbed Delilah’s arm. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to stand in line to greet the happy couple like everybody else.”
“Ugh. Come on. Let’s go,” Keisha said. She kept her hold on Delilah’s arm.
Delilah attempted to pull away, but Keisha had a strong grip. “You win,” Delilah said.
She followed Keisha toward the door. Delilah turned around and caught Samson looking in her direction. She waved, but he didn’t wave back. Maybe there was no more hope after all.