“Heidi? Wow. What are you doing here?” she questioned in the fakest tone.
I shifted my weight to my right side placing my hand on my hip. Velvet was the one that spread plenty rumors through the church walls. She was here for a reason. We weren’t anywhere near friends, so I was confused on what blew her this way. This wasn’t coincidental in the slightest.
“My name’s on the building Velvet. Where else would I be?” I responded.
“Is it? I must’ve not paid it no mind. So, how are you? How’ve you been? We rarely see you at church these days.”
Her nosiness was expected. She had nothing new to float around so she came to the source for details. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to know what was new with me because I’d taken a huge step back from the church. I used to be the first one there and last to leave.
Rolling my eyes, I stepped around her and headed for my desk that sat near the front door. There was a big glass window to the left of me giving the perfect view of those passing by. I was more than content here, but others tended to disrupt my peace from time to time. This moment was Velvet’s.
Sitting, I swirled in my chair and went to pecking on my keyboard. Velvet was ignored and she knew it. However, that didn’t stop her from following me and running her mouth still.
“You have a nice lil’ building. Do you get a lot of business? Maybe we should start doing bible study here,” she ranted.
“What can I do for you Velvet? I’m sure you didn’t seek me out to question me about my business or the new location for bible study,” I finally responded.
“Well,” she pulled up a seat from the nearest table and parked it right in front of my desk. She removed her mini iPad from her purse and went to tapping before she extended it in my direction. “I came to ask about this.”
Accepting her device, I scanned the screen and realized the app she had pulled up was the one First Lady spoke to me about. I quickly tossed it in her direction while scoffing. I’d already declined First Lady once and now she was sending someone to do her bid for her. I was lowkey disgusted by how far she was going to get me to change my mind.
“No,” I said plain and simple. There wasn’t an explanation needed. She knew what I went through as well because it spread like a wildfire being the talk of the town for that entire year. She was of the ones that didn’t show concern until I returned to church.
“You haven’t even given me a chance to say anything Heidi.”
“That’s because you’d be wasting your breath, Velvet. I already gave First Lady a no. What makes you think you can change my decision? Who are you supposed to be exactly?” I snapped.
Throwing her right hand across her chest, she expressed shock on her face. Whenever I approached anyone in church, I was always nice and respectful. I didn’t cross boundaries or play in their face. Somewhere, somehow, when it came to me, folks always wanted to know what I had going on and a simple response never sufficed.
“I didn’t come for trouble Heidi. All I came for was a small discussion. I really want to know why you haven’t rejoined the angels. We miss you,” she lied.
Her lies caused a smirk to grace my lips. She was a clown, and I was unimpressed. Fakeness was worn like a second cologne for her. This lady ain’t like nothing about me. She tended to forget that if it wasn’t for her, no one at Trinity Church would believe Royce and I were dating.
“Sure you do. I went through enough and you know it. Please don’t pester me with this again,” I said shooing her away.
“Will you at least give me a chance to show you how it works? After all, the dynamics of the program changed because of you. The angels are protected more than ever now.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Getting up, she rounded my desk with her iPad in tow. “Okay, well did you also hear how discreet it is. Heidi, the chats are blind. We don’t know the inmates, where they’re located, what they’ve done to get there, or what they look like for that matter. Both parties are addressed by our screen name and screen name alone. When I say everything is flagged, every single thing is flagged if it goes against the terms and conditions. You can unlink from a chat whenever you feel uncomfortable, and that chat will be as good as gone. Heidi, everything that went wrong last time, won’t ever happen again. You can go through my chats just to get a feel. I swear when they introduced the app, they had you in mind. I’m being so for real right now.” Velvet offered her iPad to me once again, and I gently pushed it back declining it.
“I’m cool on that Velvet. First Lady gave me a thorough rundown as well, and I just don’t want to fake like I’m interested cause I truly don’t give a fuck about that program anymore. Excuse my language, but I’m not joining that shit again.”
Nodding, she looked over toward Lincoln and smiled. She then briefly pointed at him and said, “He’s a great addition to your family, huh? He looks like he keeps you on your toes.”
A genuine smile surfaced whenever my child was mentioned. Lincoln was helping me love myself without realizing it. He looked at me as his savior, and I thanked God every day for him. He was too adorable to pass up. “Yes, and yes. That’s my lil’ baby.”
“I remember a time when you told everyone that would listen that you didn’t want to be a mother. Seems like those times have changed. I’m proud of you for overcoming that fear. Hopefully, you can do the same with another one. I won’t push anymore. Thank you for having me. I’ll mind my business and get going.”
Bitch please. You about to have a three-way call with them hoes that follow you around like a lost puppy and run your mouth. You ain’t fooling nobody.
Standing, I said, “I appreciate you stopping by. See you Sunday.” I refused to see her out and was back occupying my seat within seconds. Fishing for my cell out my desk drawer, I scrolled through the call log until I located my ride or die. Tapping the screen, I put it to my ear and waited patiently until it connected.
“Oouuu, I was just ‘bout to hit yo’ line boo. What you getting into?”
“Niyani, why must you lie to me? You know I don’t like that,” I teased.
“Unt un.Lying is what weak muthafuckas do. I’m the biggest, the largest?—”
