Up Pops the Devil Read online

  Preacher had explained his decisions to Loretta, but she wasn’t about to share those details with Tanya. The woman was so self-absorbed she would never understand the brother-sister bond she and Preacher shared. “I ask the questions, Tanya. What’s between me and Preacher is none of your concern. You do what I tell you and you’ll be okay. You don’t and you’ll pay.”

  “So now we’re back to threats, huh?”

  “Not threats, promises. And I always keep my promises. Now get off your behind and get down to that prison. And make sure you take those two kids with you. You know Preacher’s gonna want to see them.”

  Tanya stomped her foot like a little girl about to embark on a major tantrum. “Aww, Loretta, I’m not taking those kids down there. I can’t put up with their yakking for two whole hours. You can’t expect me to do that.”

  Loretta folded her arms across her chest. “If nothing else gets Preacher off that God kick he’s on, you will.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Please, girl. How can anyone think a loving God would be so cruel as to make you a mother? The Man can’t exist and you’re the only proof Preacher needs. Let him hang around you for a while and he’ll be back to his old self in no time. Now enough talking. It’s time for you to get up and hit the road. You’re done here.”

  Serena Jenkins pounded around the track at the local women’s gym and spa that she co-owned with her sister-in-law, trying unsuccessfully to pound the unwelcome thoughts of Preacher Winters’s letter from her mind. Why had he bothered to write to her? Why couldn’t he have pretended the past never happened? Using the white towel around her neck, she wiped the sweat from her face, forcing her almost numb legs to make it around one more time.

  She should have told Barnard about her past with Preacher a long time ago. He may have understood then. After all, at some level, the only thing between her and Preacher was a youthful indiscretion. Yes, Barnard may have understood then, but she wasn’t sure he would understand now. Why had she waited so long to tell him? A part of her knew the reason: guilt and shame. Guilt at what she had done almost fifteen years ago and shame that she’d turned her back on her faith for the so-called love of a no-good man. She knew the Lord had forgiven her, the Bible told her that clearly, but she couldn’t seem to forgive herself.

  “Hey, girl,” a familiar voice called to her.

  Serena turned in the direction of her sister-in-law, business partner, and closest friend, Natalie Jenkins. Forcing her thoughts to the back of her mind, she trotted over to her friend. “Hey, yourself. I didn’t know you were here.”

  “I know you didn’t. You’ve been running around this track so long and so hard you’re making me tired. You’re working out like you’re trying to catch a man, but I know that can’t be the case because you dragged my brother to the altar five years ago.” She patted the space on the bench next to her. “Sit down here and tell me what’s up.”

  Serena used the towel to wipe her face again. “I’m fine, girl,” she told Natalie. “Just needed a workout before I closed up and headed home.”

  Natalie leaned into Serena’s shoulder. “This is your sister-in-law and prayer partner talking to you, Rena. You may be able to sell that story to someone who doesn’t know you as well as I do, but I’m not buying it. What’s on your mind, Sis? I only want to help.”

  Serena’s guilt grew anew as she suffered Natalie’s scrutiny. The two women had met seven years ago at a local gym and become fast friends. Soon, Natalie began to sing her brother’s praises to Serena, capping it off with a proclamation that Serena and Barnard were perfect for each other. Her friend had been right. Natalie had proven then and many times since how well she knew Serena. She wondered what her friend would think if she knew Serena’s troubles. Now was not the time to find out. “No, really I’m fine,” she said. “Just have a lot on my mind these days.”

  Natalie nodded. “Adoption?”

  “That, too,” Serena said, referring to the ongoing disagreement she and Barnard had about whether to adopt a child. He wanted to but she wasn’t sure. It was causing a strain between them, which was another reason she didn’t want to drop the news about Preacher on him. “But I don’t want to discuss it now. It seems to be all Barnard and I talk about, and I need a break. Why don’t you tell me what’s up with you and this new guy you’ve been seeing?”

  Natalie’s eyes gleamed with excitement. While Serena was happy to see joy again in her sister-in-law’s eyes, she worried about the cause. Natalie had suffered a deep scar and public embarrassment when she’d learned Benjamin, her fiancé of two years, had fathered a child with another woman during the course of their engagement. When she’d learned the news, Natalie had broken off the engagement and ended the relationship. At one point, Serena had worried that Natalie might not fully recover from the pain of it all. For one thing, Natalie had stopped going to church activities as regularly as she had when she and Benjamin had been dating. She still went to Sunday service and she volunteered at the Children’s Center during the week, but that was about it. No more Singles group, no more Missions group, no more anything. Serena understood that it was difficult for Natalie to attend the church where everybody knew the sordid details of her history with Benjamin. It had to be doubly hard now that Benjamin, his son, and his baby’s momma regularly attended the church and rumor had it that a marriage was in the works.

  Barnard didn’t seem to worry about Natalie as much as Serena did, but then Barnard never worried much. He was much better able to take his cares to the Lord and leave them there. He accepted what Natalie was going through as normal, given what had happened to her, and he knew that her faith and her love for God would eventually heal the hurt in her heart.

  “You’re sure you don’t have something you want to talk about?” Natalie asked, practically bubbling over with the obvious need to share her news.

  Serena smiled, trying to take on some of Barnard’s optimism. “I’m sure. Now tell me about this relationship.”

  “Oh, Serena,” Natalie began. “He’s wonderful. He’s so different from any man I’ve ever met. He’s kind, he’s courteous, he’s generous.” She looked away shyly. “Listen to me,” she said, “thirty-five years old and going on like some teenager. If anybody should know better than to pin all her hopes on a man, I should.”

  Serena tucked her hand under her friend’s chin and turned her face to her. “You’re happy. There’s nothing wrong with that. Have you been praying about this guy?”

  “I’ve been praying a lot,” Natalie said. “You know, I really didn’t expect this, Serena, not after Benjamin. I wasn’t even sure I could ever trust a man again. I went into that dealership to buy a new car, not to fall in love with one of the owners. Finding a man was the last thing on my mind. God really does have his own timing.”

  “So you believe God brought you and this man together.”

  “Dante,” Natalie said. “His name’s Dante.”

  “Okay, so you believe God brought you and Dante together.”

  Natalie nodded. “I know it. I can already see how the Lord has used me in Dante’s life and Dante’s definitely enriched mine. You don’t think so?”

  Serena shrugged her shoulders. “I just want you to be careful. You’ve been seeing this guy for a while now and neither Barnard nor I have met him. That’s not like you at all.” Natalie looked away instead of giving an explanation. “Is he a Christian, Natalie?” she asked.

  “He believes in God.”

  Oh no, Serena thought, she sounds the way I did when I first started seeing the Bible-toting Preacher. “Believes in God? What does that mean? Does he go to church?”

  “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, Serena,” Natalie said. “Please. You know that.”

  Serena didn’t bother to respond; she gave her friend a stern glance.

  “Okay,” Natalie admitted. “Dante was struggling with some issues about walking with the Lord, but he’s changing, Serena. I see it in him. I see
the desire for God.”

  “Are you sure you see it or do you just want to see it?”

  “What do you mean? Just come out and say it.”

  Serena rested her hand on Natalie’s arm and spoke from her own experience. “I want you to be careful. I know how emotions can make you see situations and people the way you want to see them. I want you to be sure you’re hearing God’s voice and not your own voice telling you what you want to hear.”

  “I don’t think I am,” Natalie said. “Dante is good to me and I believe he’s good for me. I know he’s a better man than Benjamin was. Benjamin had all the outside trappings of a Christian but when it came down to it, he didn’t behave in a very Christian way. A man can say a lot of things, but it’s what he does and how he treats you that counts. Dante treats me better than Benjamin ever did and I know he won’t hurt me or lie to me the way Benjamin did.”

  Serena forced herself not to flinch at the bitterness in Natalie’s voice when she mentioned Benjamin’s lying. Maybe Natalie and Barnard could have forgiven Benjamin for cheating if he’d come clean about the baby as soon as he found out, but keeping it a secret from Natalie for two years was too much for brother or sister to understand. They’d both cut Benjamin off completely. Serena couldn’t help but wonder if they’d do the same to her if they knew her secret. “But is he the man you prayed for?” she asked Natalie, forcing her thoughts back to the subject at hand. She didn’t want Natalie in a dead-end relationship with a guy who wasn’t a Christian. She’d been there and she wanted better for her sister-in-law. “Does he have the attributes that you asked the Lord for in a mate?”

  “Well—”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” Serena said. “Just think about it. You told me that you wanted a man you could trust to be the head of your household, a man you could follow in all areas, including your faith.”

  “Maybe what I was asking for was unrealistic. Maybe that’s what the whole mess with Benjamin was supposed to teach me. You know what Sister Reynolds said in the last Singles meeting I attended?” Not waiting for an answer, Natalie continued. “She said that in her family, and in most families she knew, the woman was the spiritual leader. She said if she didn’t call for family Bible study, there wouldn’t be any at her house.”

  “Is that what you want?”

  “Everybody can’t have what you have with Barnard. There aren’t a lot of men like my brother, Serena. Believe me, I know and I have the scars to prove it. Those like him are already taken. Besides, I’m not talking about marrying Dante tomorrow. We both have a lot of growing and getting to know each other to do before we can even start talking about marriage.”

  “But you have been thinking about Dante in marriage terms, haven’t you?”

  “Let’s just say that I can imagine him in my future. Don’t get too worried though, because I’m not going to do anything stupid. I’m going to enjoy where we are and listen to the Lord for where the relationship should go. How’s that?”

  “It’s great,” Serena said, knowing it was the best she could hope for at this point. She’d have to pray the Lord opened Natalie’s eyes to what she was doing. “Barnard and I still want to meet him.”

  “I’ve asked him about signing up with the prison ministry jobs program. He’s thinking about it.”

  “Great!” Serena said. “But I want to meet him, too. Why don’t you invite him to church on Sunday and we’ll have you both over for dinner after?”

  “I’ll ask him,” Natalie said, but Serena wasn’t too encouraged by her sister-in-law’s lukewarm response.

  “You know I love you, don’t you, Nat? You’re the sister I never had but always wanted.”

  Natalie leaned over and hugged her. “I love you, too, and you are my sister.”

  Serena smiled as she moved out of Natalie’s embrace, but her heart was heavy. She didn’t want Natalie to end up the way she had after her involvement with Preacher. “Now we’d better hit the showers because one of us is a bit smelly.”

  Natalie laughed. “Gotta be you ’cos I exercise like a girl while you exercise like a machine.”

  Tanya had better not be leaving me sitting here in this jail, Preacher Winters thought as he turned his six foot eleven, two-hundred-sixty-pound athletic frame from the prison library’s barred windows. He knew his girlfriend, soon-to-be-wife, had issues with him being incarcerated and all, but she didn’t have the nerve to leave him here. Or did she?

  “Are you sure she’s coming, man?” Barnard Jenkins, the director of Faith Community Church’s Prison Outreach Program and Preacher’s mentor and friend, asked from his seat at the metal table in the middle of the sparsely furnished room. He pumped his brawny arms in mini bicep curls while he sat, a habit of his. “I can give you a ride home.”

  Preacher sat in a metal chair across the table from Barnard and stretched out his long legs. “No way will she stand me up. She may be angry but the woman’s not crazy.” At least, I hope not.

  “Things have changed, Preacher,” Barnard said.

  “I know,” Preacher said. “I’m now a jailbird.”

  Barnard stopped pumping his arms and caught Preacher’s eye. “No, you’re now a child of God.”

  “I know that, man,” Preacher said. “My faith in God is what’s kept me sane for the two years I’ve been in here. I’d never have made it otherwise.”

  “It’s more than that.”

  “I know, man,” Preacher said. “Things are gonna be different on the outside because I’m different.”

  “And not everybody in your old life is going to like you being different.”

  Preacher knew that, too. He was already feeling the pain. Tanya was acting like his newfound faith was something akin to leprosy. But he firmly believed that God would change Tanya’s heart. He’d get out of here, go back home, and they’d get married; provide a real family for their two boys. God had saved him for a reason and he knew a part of that reason was for him to get his family together. Even though Tanya was acting crazy right now, he had faith in God to make things right. Preacher knew He would. “It’s gonna work out, man,” he told Barnard. “I’m believing God that it will.”

  Barnard shook his head. “Preacher, you’ve got to face facts. Neither your sister nor Tanya is very happy with your decision to follow Christ.”

  “Loretta’s my blood, my sister. Tanya’s the mother of my two boys. They’re family. God didn’t save me so I’d lose my family. I don’t believe that.” At least, Preacher didn’t believe it about Tanya. Loretta was another matter altogether. His younger sister held “church folks,” as she called them, in disdain because of the abuse she’d suffered as a child at the hands of one of her churchgoing, Bible-thumping foster mothers. “Every day I’ve spent with Him, my hunger for my family has grown,” Preacher added.

  “Just because you become a Christian, Preacher, doesn’t mean that everything works out for you. God only promises that He’ll be with you through the hard times. He never promised there wouldn’t be hard times.”

  Preacher waved his friend off. He stood and walked to the window again, looking out but not really seeing. He knew Barnard had the best of intentions, but sometimes the brother needed to know when to leave well enough alone. “I know that scripture,” Preacher told him. “And I also know the one that says God will give you the desires of your heart. And I believe He gave me this desire for a family.”

  Barnard sighed deeply.

  Preacher knew his friend wanted to say more, but was glad when he didn’t. He walked over and clapped Barnard on the back. “It’s going to be all right. Wait and see. I’m going to be testifying about how far God brought my family within the next year. I believe it.”

  Barnard leaned his chair back on its two rear legs, and Preacher waited, as he often did, for the chair to buckle under his friend’s weight. Barnard had to be about thirty pounds heavier than Preacher, even though he was a good three inches shorter. “I want you to be prepared for what you’re going to face when
you get out of here,” Barnard said.

  Preacher patted the leather Bible that was the last remnant he had of the elderly grandmother who represented the only stable family life he’d ever had. She’d died when he was twelve and Loretta was nine, leaving them to the non-care of the foster care system. Her Bible had been the lifeline he’d held on to as he made his way through the system after her death. In fact, his ever-close Bible had led to his Preacher moniker. It was a name he liked, much better than the Wilford on his birth certificate, so he kept it. As he thought about the road that had led him to this day, he thought the name was fitting.

  Since being in prison, he’d gone from leaning on his grandmother via the Book to leaning on the man behind the Book. Maybe one day the Lord would lead him to preach, but for now he was happy to be saved. He knew his grandmother would be proud that he’d found Jesus while under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Department of Corrections. Well, she’d probably be more proud without that Department of Corrections tag, but she’d be proud nonetheless. “I’m prepared, man,” he told Barnard. “You’ve got a new career lined up for me. I’ve got a place to live. And I’ve got two sons, a sister, and a fiancée waiting for me. I’m blessed.”

  Barnard rested his chair back down on all fours. “I still think you’ll be better off staying with your sister instead of in the house with Tanya and the kids. No need to set yourself up for temptation.”

  Preacher shrugged off his friend’s concern. “Don’t worry about it, man. I’ve got it covered. Nothing’s happening between Tanya and me until we get married.”

  “Get real, Preacher,” Barnard said. “You and Tanya have two children. You’ve been living together and sleeping together for more than six years. Not sleeping with her when you’re used to doing so is going to be more than hard. Don’t fool yourself.”

  “I’m not going to be living with her,” Preacher reminded his friend. When Barnard lifted a brow, he added, “I’m living in the apartment above the garage.”