A Good Man (45 page)

“I think I do.” John paced in front of the screen. “Gentlemen, this is quite a predicament.”

“You’re telling me,” Gary said. “As long as she keeps us on the show, we can’t be where we want to be. We can’t be where we need to be.”

Justin nodded and set his jaw. “I’m walking Monday night. Yep. I gotta go.”

“Hold on, now, fellas,” John said. “We only had one date. Yes, it was an amazing, romantic date, but in the morning, she might change her mind.”

Gary stared him down. “Will she?”

John smiled. “No. I won’t let her.” He shook his head. “But you can’t just … leave.”

“Dude, I have to,” Justin said. “I’ve never felt this way before. Brandy is my soul mate, I know it. I mean, we met in church. There’s something holy about that. Whenever I close my eyes, I see her. Y’all, whenever I used to close my eyes, I only saw food. This is serious. Brandy is better than food to me.”

“You got it bad,” Gary said.

“Yeah.” Justin fumbled with his fingers. “I don’t even have the appetite for food like I used to have. I’m only hungry for her, you get me?”

John nodded. My stomach is growling right now for some more Sonya.

“I have to go, too,” Gary said. “My youngest daughter has a birthday this coming Friday, her second. I can’t miss it. I missed her first one cuz I was fussing with her mama.”

Tony stood in front of John. “And if they leave, Artie, that would leave just the two of us. You get Jazz, I get Shani.”

“Are you sure that Shani, um, wants you?” John asked.

“I think she wants me,” Tony said. “I don’t know for sure. But we, um, we held hands.”

“Uh-huh,” Justin said. “What else?”

“A few kisses,” Tony said. “The girl can kiss.”

“And what else?” Gary said. “I had to leave the pool cuz of y’all messing with each other.”

“She has a great body,” Tony said. “We were like … teenagers. I had trouble breathing.”

John sighed. “But you don’t really know how she feels about you.”

“No.” Tony returned to his seat. “I don’t know anything for sure about her, but that’s what I like about her. The variety, the random nature of everything about her. And I want the chance to try to figure her out. I can’t be winning this thing, Artie. That would be so twisted, you know? He wins the older sister and dumps her for the younger sister the first chance he gets. I want to do right by both of them.”

John faced three men. Three friends. “Y’all would just … give up like that?”

“Jazz only looks at you, dog,” Justin said.

“Yeah, man,” Tony said. “She only has eyes for you.”

“I never seen a woman smile so much at somebody,” Gary said.

John looked at the floor. “She kisses good, too.”

Justin jumped out of his chair. “Ah! I knew you had game. You been kissin’ on the princess.”

John nodded. “Almost as much as she’s been kissin’ on me.”

“Yes!” Tony shouted. “This is serious, then.”

“Yeah,” John said. “As serious as a walk down the aisle.”

Justin dropped back into his chair. “That serious?”

“Yes,” John said. “That serious. I came on this show to find a wife, fellas, and I’ve found her. The next logical step is to be stepping down the aisle.”

Gary looked at Justin and then at Tony. “You came … to find a wife.”

“Yes,” John said. “I know it sounds crazy.”

Justin laughed. “Man, I came on this show for something fun to do. Wow.”

“I’m happy for you, man,” Gary said. “I’m goin’ down the aisle when I get home, too.” He stared a hole in Justin’s head. “Ain’t that what you’re planning, too?”

“What?” Justin looked away and sighed. “I’m working on that. Man, I haven’t even gotten the chance to kiss Brandy yet with y’all around.”

“You a lie,” Gary said.

Justin smiled. “Yeah, I mean, I haven’t been able to kiss her as much as I want to with y’all around. And the rest of the choir. And her mama. Nosy thing. Always checking.”

“We’ll block for you tomorrow, man,” Tony said.

After a short silence, John smiled at the ground. “You guys are, um, …” Man, I am going to miss these guys. “Um, thank you.”

“You and Jazz have been tight from the second you took off your shoes, Artie,” Justin said. “I’m still not sure exactly why, but whatever you got, she wants, and she wants it bad.”

“I think it was the foot rub,” Tony said.

“Nah, it was when he gave her the swimming lesson,” Gary said.

“Shoot,” Justin said. “You’re both wrong. It was the fried chicken.”

“What’s your secret, man?” Gary asked.

“No real secret,” John said. “I’ve just been completely honest with her from the moment I met her. And I haven’t exactly been honest with you. Fellas, I’m not thirty by a long shot.”

Tony laughed loudly. “We know you’re older, man. Old Spice? C’mon. Only old dudes use that stuff.”

“I’m forty,” John said. “Wait. I had a birthday last month. In all this excitement, I forgot. I’m forty-one now.”

Gary blinked. “No kiddin’? You don’t look it.”

“And,” John said, “I’m not a film editor.”

“Cuz you’re a preacher,” Justin said. “All them verses you been spittin’.”

John nodded. “Used to be. I just need a wife. My church believes that a pastor must be married to be a pastor.”

“And I think you’ll be preaching again real soon,” Justin said. “Dag, I want to start packin’ now instead of Monday afternoon.”

Gary nodded. “One last Sunday service. And we’re gonna make it a great one.”

“What are y’all up to?” John asked.

“When y’all disappeared,” Gary said, “we knew something was up, so Justin and I have been workin’ on a song. Kind of a farewell song.”

“Yes, sir, service gonna be jumpin’ tomorrow,” Justin said.

“This might sound strange,” John said, “but I think WB should film it, don’t you?” He shrugged. “Let’s get the country jumpin’. What do you think?”

“We takin’ America to church, yo,” Justin said.

John looked up at the ceiling. “You get all that, Larry, Bob? Have a crew ready to go with us to Bethel tomorrow morning.”

“There aren’t any cameras in here,” Tony said. “We checked.”

“Don’t be so sure,” John said.

A little before 4 AM, John did his best to sneak out of his and Justin’s room.

“You don’t have to sneak, Artie,” Justin said.

“Um, I’m gonna go finish our date,” John said. “We’re just going to watch some TV.”

“Uh-huh,” Justin said. “Right. Give her a kiss for me.”

When John entered the great room, Sonya already had popcorn and two bottled waters on the coffee table in front of a couch, the remote in her hand, SpongeBob’s eyes staring at him from between her breasts, a blanket around her shoulders.

“What do you want to watch?” Sonya asked.

“You.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“I like the sound of you,” John said. He slid behind her on the couch and rubbed her back. “I like the feel of you.”

“I won’t be able to concentrate on the show,” Sonya said.

“I don’t want you to.”

Sonya tuned the TV to Forensic Files, turned down the sound, settled the blanket around them, and wormed her booty into John as they both sat facing the TV.

“What are you thinking about?” John asked.

“You.”

“In a good or a bad way?”

“Both.”

“The feeling is mutual.” He ran his hands down her arms. “Such sexy lingerie.”

“Yes. The sexiest.”

He rubbed her shoulders briefly before sliding his hands down her back to her hips. “These pajamas don’t leave much to the imagination, Miss Sonya. You’re not wearing drawers.”

“Nope.”

“My hands want to explore.”

Sonya took his hands and brought them all the way to SpongeBob’s eyes. Such small, hard nipples! “I like reverse hugs, don’t you?” She wiggled her booty into his lap.

“Especially when there’s a frisky booty in the mix,” John said.

She moved his hands slowly to her stomach, moving them in circles.

“I love your one-pack,” John whispered.

“You can go lower if you want to,” Sonya whispered.

“I want to.”

He walked his fingers down to her waistband, found she was pulling it up to allow him to continue, and felt his way through a downy tuft of hair to—

“Right there,” she whispered.

He made small circles, slow circles, firm circles, and teasing circles as Sonya arched her back.

“Faster,” Sonya whispered.

He completed three fast circles when Sonya bucked back into him, her pajama bottoms sliding down as she did to reveal the most perfect booty ever created.

And this is where fifteen years of waiting—

He thrust up.

Man, I have to do some laundry. This was my last clean pair of sweats.

She turned around to straddle him. “Did you just …”

John nodded. “I’m a mess.”

“We both are.” She kissed him tenderly.

“I want to hold you until the sunrise, Sonya.”

“Then hold me,” Sonya said, burying her head into his chest. “Hold me and never let go.”

Lord, I don’t know if I can wait much longer. I mean, we almost just got seriously busy. It wouldn’t have taken but a quick pull of my drawstring. I know we have to wait longer to do that, but … I want to be one flesh with her in the best way. I mean, Sheila and I had a reasonable engagement even though it was the longest three months of my life. I don’t want to wait any longer than I absolutely have to for this woman. I know, I know, it’s not about what I want. It’s what You want. But I need this woman now in every sense. Help me … know what to say and do when the time comes, and help me remember to keep my drawstrings and belts tight.

“What are you thinking about?” Sonya whispered.

“The future.”

“Me too. Is it a happy one?”

“The happiest.”

“Does it involve a lot of this?”

“For the first few months,” John said, “this is all we’re gonna do.”

Sonya burrowed her head deeper into his chest. “Amen.”

“Are we going to run any of this scene, Bob?”

“Um, this scene? Uh, no.”

“We’re not? Isn’t this blazing-hot stuff? We may have to censor a few things, but I think we can swing it. The blanket slipping away there at the end was kind of revealing, but we can fuzz that out.”

“It’s, um, yeah, it’s hot all right, but, no, we’re not running any of this.”

“May I ask why?”

“This is … this is far too … too …”

“Real?”

“Yes, Larry.” Bob wiped the tear. “It’s too real for me. You mind, um, taking over the show for a while? You’ve been running it more than I have anyway.”

“I don’t mind. Where will you be if I need you?”

“I’ll, um, I’ll be home with my wife and daughter. Where I should be, you know?”

“I know, Bob. I’ll keep things running.”

“The show won’t last much longer anyway.”

“So we don’t run what the Team was discussing in the theater either?”

“No. A surprise ending before the … the only logical ending works for me. We can’t give anything away in the promos, though. Just a tiny tease this time.”

“A tiny tease. I’ll see to it.” Larry sighed. “We could never have scripted anything like this.”

“No.” Bob sighed. “Not that we didn’t try.”

“You can’t script love, Bob.”

“No. No, you can’t. They’re truly in love, aren’t they, Larry?”

“Yes. They haven’t said the actual words to each other yet, but, yes, they’re deeply, passionately in love.”

“It’s, um, it’s kind of beautiful, Larry.”

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

“Why is a camera crew following us today?” Sonya asked Sunday morning.

“Today is going to be extra special,” John said.

“What’s going to happen?” Sonya said.

“It’s a surprise, Jazz,” Justin said.

“Do the folks at Bethel know a camera crew is coming?” Sonya asked.

John shrugged. “I hope so.”

Before the service, delayed for fifteen minutes to allow the camera crew to set up, Sonya watched Justin flirting again with the singer. They are so right for each other. She looked down the pew. And there’s Kim flirting her skirt off with Tony. They’re not exactly compatible with each other, but I want them to develop since Tony has some depth. She smiled at Gary but only got a nod. Gary’s especially quiet, probably because he’s missing home, the home he wants to reestablish. She looked at her man sitting next to her and her hand holding his under his Bible. This is so thrilling, and I’m not ashamed. I don’t even care if the whole world notices.

“To begin our service,” Reverend Cox said, “we have a special musical selection from our television guests, Justin and Gary.”

Sonya turned to John. “They’re going to sing?”

John nodded. “Yep.”

Gary and Justin went to two microphone stands as the choir rose.

Justin took a microphone from the stand. “If you know the Lord is good, let me hear you say my, my, my, my, my, my, my God is good!”

Oh my! Sonya thought. “God is good!” she yelled.

“All the time!” Gary shouted.

Kim slid down the pew to Sonya. “Did you know they were singing?”

“No,” Sonya said. She took Kim’s hand. “Get Tony down here.”

Kim beckoned to Tony, Tony slid down and took Kim’s hand, and then they all stood along with the rest of the congregation.

And as Justin and Gary kilt that Fred Hammond song, Sonya connected the lyrics to the man holding her hand beside her. I’ll never find anyone like Him … or the man holding my hand. And my daughter is squeezing the life out of my hand, too. God surely loves me. Does Kim love me? She seems to be working on it. Does John love me? I think he does. I don’t want to bust out and ask him. I’m sure, but I’m afraid.

And that makes me surely afraid.

They waved their hands above their heads.

Yes, Lord, Your love never fails, and God, I know that John’s love would never fail me either.

“Do you love Him?” Justin shouted.

Yes!

“Do you know He’s good?” Gary shouted.

Yes!

“All the time God is good!” Justin sang.

After their song ended and the choir began another, Sonya hugged Gary and Justin to death. “That was great!”

“God is good, Jazz,” Justin said.

“All the time, Justin, all the time.”