“Follow me.” The boy takes off, and I follow.
Finding myself in a familiar place, I shorten my stride. I’m in the hallway lined with framed photographs, one featuring the round-faced Miss Lucille, the reverend’s wife. She should’ve been a better woman. She should’ve looked out for me when her vile husband put his hands all over me. How come she never noticed? How come I never fought him off?
I guess I had no steel-standing ashtray to fight off the beast.
“Hey, boy. That’s the door over there, isn’t it?”
“See? You didn’t really need my help after all.”
“I suppose not,” I respond.
I knock on the rectory door, and a deep voice invites me inside.
Reverend Nathan sits behind the same long wooden desk, which is as large and pudgy as ever, though the crescent-shaped patch of hair that circles his head has turned completely white, and his eyes are red and watery.
“Othella! My girl, how I’ve missed you. Miss Lucille missed you, too.” He maneuvers around the desk and approaches me like boiling water, arms flailing and lips bubbling.
I turn my back and place my suitcase near the door. When I turn back, holding my bag tightly against my chest, I allow the hug to happen. If it weren’t for my circumstances, I’d never have returned to the AME Fellowship Church with the handsy reverend, his ignorant wife, and its basement orphanage. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For seeing me.”
“How could you think I wouldn’t want to see you?” His arms flap in my direction. Good Lord. He’s coming at me foranother hug. I move fast, a quick sidestep and a spin, and I successfully evade a second attempt. I plop down onto the chair across from his desk.
“I need your help. I might have hurt a man—after he hurt me.”
“A dangerous man, I assume.”
“No more dangerous than other men I’ve known.” I can’t conceal the accusation in my voice.
The reverend’s eyes flash. He knows who I’m referring to but shows no sign of shame on his black face. “So, you’re here only for money?”
“I need cash for a fresh start in a new city,” I say, expecting a quickokay, yes, dear, of course, baby girl, whatever you need, precious. But instead, my request lingers in the air like a bad penny as the reverend shifts around like ants crawling in his pants.
“Oh dear. I’d love to help you, Othella, but I can’t give you any money until Miss Lucille returns. You know how she keeps an eye on every nickel and dime, and she won’t be back until morning.”
“I need the money now. My train leaves at midnight, and I’ve got to be on it,” I exclaim. “Since when do you obey your wife’s wishes and whims? You were never that considerate when I was around.”
His eyes darken. “But you haven’t been around for three years, sugar. And things change, but I might reconsider if you’d give me the pleasure of having a meal with me before you get on that train.”
“So you ain’t gonna give me no money unless I hang around with you for a spell. Like in the old days?”
He shrugs, his bald head shiny with sweat. “Then you’ll have to wait until Miss Lucille comes home, first thing in the morning.”
I jump to my feet, kicking the chair and sending it tumbling to the ground. “I can’t wait until morning. I need tocatch the midnight train! And I don’t need to have a meal with you.”
“I’m sure there are plenty of men in town who’ll give you what you want.” The reverend rises. “Sorry I can’t help you.”
“So, just like that, you’re gonna say no?”
“You heard what I said. If you wanted to stay for a meal, I might scrounge up some change for you.”
“You ain’t nothin’ but an old bastard.” I think about the Smokador ashtray and wish to give Reverend Nathan some of the same medicine I gave to Perry.
Standing in the doorway and glaring at the old man, I feel the heat of hatred in my blood. I spot a lamp on a table by the door. I grab it and hurl it across the room. I don’t know if it struck him or not. Doesn’t matter—I don’t plan on seeing him again anyways.
On the street again, all I can think about is how much I want a cigarette.
