Don't Blame the Devil (23 page)

And of course, the choirs and the nurses units weren't the only shows. Any true spirit-filled Family and Friends Day march had to have a knockout finale. It happened when someone in the musicians' pit hollered, “Give them mothers some.” So of course they knew they could always count on the mothers board to be ready and available to pass out the hallelujahs at a moment's notice. And when Mother Johnson got up and led those old gals they didn't disappoint.

At the end of the march and other spectacles, the ushers always received a nice collection to divide among themselves. The church affectionately called it the usher board combat pay. Those gatekeepers earned every dollar.

Zipporah was no stranger to a boisterous church. She immediately felt at home and acted like she was about to lose all her professional cool. From the first note Tamara sang until the last, Zipporah was secretly overjoyed. Of course, she couldn't let the others know because business was still business and she knew she'd have to negotiate for Tamara's awesome talent. Yet there were still other parts of the service to shout about. So Zipporah went about getting her praise on and loving it.

Jessie wasn't too far behind Zipporah. Just like any proud papa would, he, too, leapt for joy with every solo Tamara led. The only time he kept quiet was when he thought of how proud Cindy would've been had she seen their daughter on that day.

And as for Deacon Pillar—well, he sat peacock proud on another pew with the rest of the deacons. No one would've known he had a jacked-up conk hidden beneath his purple Royal Priesthood cap. But then he got caught up in the spirit and then caught out there, in embarrassment. Without thinking he jumped up and threw out one too many hallelujahs, so his cap jumped off, too.

And when that happened, that's when Delilah almost fell out.

She started whooping and doubling over from trying not to laugh harder than she already was, until she caught the attention of some of the ushers. They thought she wanted to shout, but was confined by space. So a few of the ushers raced to her pew and snatched her into the aisle to let her get loose for the Lord.

At first Delilah was doing what she always did. She was giving her audience all she had. She bucked, jerked, and nearly danced the electric slide before something got a hold of her.

And if Delilah had to describe what that something was, she couldn't. At first she felt a warm feeling spread throughout her body. In her mind she heard the words
Thank you, Jesus
repeatedly, but couldn't figure out who was saying it.

With her eyes shut tight and her body shaking, Delilah suddenly remembered sitting in her car outside of New Hope those many years ago, and she cried out, “Thank you, Jesus.”

And then she remembered that less than a few months ago, she'd thought it next to impossible to get close to her granddaughter and her son. Even the thought of Thurgood not mentioning a divorce, and that he was safe from the young man who wanted to kill him caused her to cry out again, “Thank you, Lord.”

The floodgates opened in her mind and she recalled everything—from the time her mother, Claudia, left her without even looking back, until the day Thurgood found her in the church's parking lot. And she remembered God had allowed her to see her son again, and she wept, “Oh, Jesus, I thank you, Jehovah-shammah.”

“Call on him,” one of the ushers coached Delilah. “Let Jesus in.”

“He's waiting on you, my sister.” It was Mother Johnson, who raced over and tried to encourage Delilah to continue praising God.

But then the prayer posse members got into the act and the First Lady came down from the pulpit. She ripped off her giant, white, three-layer church hat and went to work. She grabbed hold of Delilah and whispered into her ear, “Wade in the blessing pool, Delilah.” The First Lady placed her wide palm against Delilah's small forehead and pushed her backwards. “There's deliverance in that water.”

Delilah sprang forward.

“There's precious healing in that water.” The First Lady cradled Delilah's head and rocked her back and forth, fast.

Delilah passed out completely…and it was for real this time.

And when it was all over Jessie and the deacon, along with Sister Marty and especially Tamara, didn't care at all that they'd not sung a song together. For on that night they rejoiced because Delilah's Jehovah had brought his prodigal daughter home.

Outside in New Hope Assembly's parking lot, it'd taken Jessie, the deacon, and two other female ushers to get Delilah, who hadn't stopped praising God, into Jessie's car. Although the pastor had volunteered to bring Delilah to Jessie's after he and his wife prayed further with her, Jessie had said, “That's okay. She's my mother.”

He wanted to drive his mother and was glad when Zipporah said she'd ride back with the deacon instead.

All the way home Delilah kept repeating, “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jehovah God.” Jessie wasn't sure what to make of it all, but every time she said it, he and Tamara would join in and say, “Thank you, Jesus,” too.

Once inside the house, Delilah still hadn't stopped praising God. Not even by the time Tamara had helped her to take off her clothes for bed. So for the first time in her life, Delilah wasn't the star. She was well on her way to becoming a servant of the Most High and she'd never be able to tell anyone why or how.

A
month had gone by since the Family and Friends Day at New Hope Assembly, yet the joy had continued inside Jessie's home.

This morning Delilah, Tamara, and Marty had decided to have a brunch. So they were in the kitchen chattering, cooking, tasting, signifying, and just having a grand time.

They were making too much noise for Jessie, so he decided he'd give them room to work. He was glad Cindy had insisted on having a large kitchen. He looked up and laughed. “She'd have loved to see this.”

Though his hand had healed and he'd returned to limited duty on the night shift, with not much else to do he decided to give the deacon another chance. He enjoyed the peace that was present since the Family and Friends Day, but he was still finding it hard to let his need for the total truth go, even though he'd promised himself that he would after Marty had finally told all she knew. He'd made her promise, against her better judgment, to keep their conversation private. He believed she had.

 

“C'mon in, Brother Jessie.” The deacon came to the door with a jar of goop in his hand. He still hadn't found time to touch up his conk since the Family and Friends Day.

Jessie stepped inside and it was almost like he'd never been there before. The deacon's apartment looked a lot less masculine than it'd been a few weeks ago.

“What's happened to your apartment? What's with all the frills and lace scattered about?”

“Your mama happened to it.”

Jessie laughed. “Enough said.”

After Jessie sat down, he and the deacon discussed everything from church politics after the past Family and Friends Day to Delilah finally coming to the Lord.

“I'm telling you, Brother Jessie, when your mama was not downstairs shouting and praising God while she's quoting Bible scriptures, and then off collaborating with Marty, no doubt, about some mysterious women's stuff, she was up here ordering stuff off that QVC channel to redecorate my home. And then, just that quick, as soon as she'd marked the place so no other female could mistake me for a single fella, she stopped coming up here so much.”

“Better you than me,” Jessie said as he continued to laugh.

“You mean to tell me she's not upped your blood pressure with her newfound religion and ‘just-gotta-do-good' attitude?”

“Not as much as she's trying to turn Tamara into a singing diva who'll make Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey beg to sing backup for her. And when I left, I overheard them say something about getting their hair done.”

The deacon's laughter took on a hint of pain when he said, “Ain't zeal without knowledge a dangerous thing?”

The two men continued to evaluate Delilah's state of grace and the growth they'd witnessed over the past month or so.

From out of nowhere Jessie suddenly changed the subject. “You know, Cindy's been gone almost a year.”

“I know,” the deacon replied. “I think about her a lot these days.”

“I often wonder what she'd think about Delilah's sudden appearance. How she'd take knowing that I had to shoot Sister Green's son; not that I wouldn't do it again to save a life….”

“I believe Sister Cindy would've told you to stop wondering about things. Lord knows, I ain't mad at you for keeping me above ground. But look how everything turned out since Delilah's returned into your life. I believe Cindy would've loved it.”

“I'd still like to know why I couldn't have them both, Delilah and Cindy.”

“Maybe Cindy's season was over.” The deacon hadn't planned on putting it out there like that, but it was too late. He knew by the pained look on Jessie's face that his son was still mourning.

The deacon didn't give it much thought as he instinctively reached over and lifted his guitar. He began to strum a melody.

We'll understand it better by and by…

 

While the deacon and Jessie had their man-to-man chat upstairs, Delilah and Tamara arrived home. They'd taken Sister Marty to the hairdresser. It was Delilah's idea. She always believed that a new hairstyle or a wig was one way to keep a woman's feminine side ignited.

“Grandmama Delilah, why in the world would you have that lady give Sister Marty a flip?”

“Tamara, I've so much to teach you. Now listen. When a lady wears her hair flipped it means she's ready to take things up or tear things down.”

Tamara started laughing and that started Delilah's laughter, too.

“You're only twenty-one,” Delilah teased, “so you ain't flipping nothing until you're my age.”

“And why is that?”

“'Cause I'm gonna pray on you that you stay innocent or at least don't get any guiltier.”

“What makes you think that'll work on me? I have had a boyfriend or two. I'm just not ready to get involved until things calm down for Daddy and me.”

“Sweetie, listen. I know what you're trying to say. Right now, me and Jehovah are real thick. Lately, it seems that just about anything I ask Him to show me or fix, God does it. I know you don't want to date and bring up memories for your father. I get that. But Jessie is never going to forget your mother. You need to live your own life. But while I'm still on Jehovah's good side, I'm gonna have Him keep a close eye on you until you're about seventy.”

“I don't know how well you did in math, but if God keeps me chaste until I'm about your age, He's gonna stop blocking about ten years earlier than you'd like. You must've forgotten you're only sixty-three.”

God had brought both grandmother and granddaughter to a place where they could continue their teasing as though they'd been at it for years.

D
elilah sang and pranced about Jessie's kitchen as she prepared the food. She'd finally come to a place where she and Jessie were a little more comfortable together. He'd broken her down and had her move out of her Garden City rental—” What sense does it make for you to use your entire social security on a place you visit every other week or so?” he'd asked. He'd made a good point. And though neither of them easily hugged or kissed yet, the laughter was never forced. It just seemed to happen naturally.

“Has the deacon returned yet?” Jessie had just returned home from working his night shift. “It looks like the record label is going to sign Tamara.”

“No,” Delilah quickly replied.

“Well, I need to talk to him since he was the one that set it up with Mrs. Lamb.”

Jessie went on to explain that Zipporah Lamb had called two days ago and said she needed to chat with him and Tamara. She'd convinced her label to sign Tamara, but wanted to go over some details in person. Again, she would stay with Sister Marty, and that still didn't sit as well with Delilah as it should've. Delilah did claim that God had entered her heart, bringing with Him love, compassion, and forgiveness.

“I wouldn't know,” Delilah said slowly. “Haven't heard from him since he said he was picking her up at the airport.”

“Why don't you like this woman? She is the goddaughter-in-law of one of the deacon's cousins.” Jessie decided he might as well find out what was on his mother's mind, whether it was jealousy of a younger woman or something more.

“I do like her better now than before,” Delilah admitted, “but I get a strange feeling when I hear her name or see her. I cannot tell you why.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Should I be?”

“I know you and Sister Marty have become joined at the hips and I thought you might've felt a little left out since those two got along so quickly.”

Delilah stopped and laid down the string beans she was preparing for supper later on. “Jessie, I honestly don't know. I spoke to Mother Johnson about how I feel and she says I'm experiencing some kind of 'cernment.”

“You mean discernment?”

“Yes, discernment. She also said that God sends warnings, but not every warning is a bad one. She said we hafta watch and pray.” Delilah picked up the bowl of string beans and went back to preparing for supper.

“We definitely need to do that.” Jessie turned and left the room, wondering why he didn't get that same strange feeling when he spoke to Mrs. Lamb. But he was too tired to deal with it. He needed to rest up for Tamara's back-to-college spending spree later.

 

Meanwhile, the deacon was unusually quiet as he drove Zipporah back to Brooklyn from the JFK airport.

“So, Deacon, you're very quiet. What are you thinking? I hope you're not gonna let the devil steal your joy because your cap came off in service the last time I was here.” Zipporah thought that incident might've embarrassed him, but she wanted to hear whatever the problem was from him.

“I've been naked and worn a hospital robe backwards by mistake, and that didn't embarrass me. I did last month, but I don't care about my conk right now.”

“I'm glad to hear that. So what's bothering you?”

“If I wasn't confused before, I am now. Can you explain to me what happened at the church? Delilah's got me twisted since she's found Jesus. One minute she's redecorating my place and the next thing she's moved downstairs, with Jessie. It's like she's trying to keep an eye on me or put the bad eye on me. I don't know which.”

“For someone who's so deep into God's Word, I don't understand how you can ask that question about your wife with a straight face.”

“Well, I'd laugh about it, but right now a straight face is about all I got.”

“God happened, that's what happened.” Zipporah laughed and added her own hallelujah.

“I know God happened,” the deacon conceded. “Lord knows I've known Delilah long enough to know when she's acting, and she wasn't acting that night.”

“Of course she wasn't acting. Do you really believe that there wasn't a time during all these years that Delilah hasn't wanted what she's seen others have with God?”

“How do you know so much about that woman and you haven't known her long enough to spell her name correctly?”

“I don't have to know her. God knows her, and He gives knowledge to those He chooses.” She let out another laugh. “Have you ever heard the saying that a prophet is never honored in his own home?”

“I sure have. I read my Bible.”

“That's good, so now you know why God didn't use you or even Jessie to get to Delilah. Delilah knew the two of you too well. She probably felt judged every time she was in your presence. Since you've confided your true relationship I guess I'd have to call you and your
son
a couple of Delilah's spiritual blockers.”

“How did you get to be so smart in the ways of the Lord?”

Zipporah smiled and it set the deacon at ease. She kept smiling even as she said, “I was lost just like Delilah, and even more so like Jessie. I'm a little bit of both of them.”

She'd opened the conversation to discuss Jessie. They were almost off the Belt Parkway, so if they were gonna discuss him they needed to get to it.

Zipporah explained to the deacon the conversation she'd had with Jessie the day of the Family and Friends event as they drove to the church. She told the deacon that she felt she'd touched a nerve with Jessie when she talked about God's season and reason for taking folks in and out of His people's lives. “He'd opened the door when he spoke about his wife and how awful it was to have her snatched away. Then he mentioned Delilah and how she only represented one part of him. So I told him about my mother, Areal, placing me for adoption without laying eyes on me, and then me, many years later, finding my father, Jasper, after I'd been living in a homeless shelter. I told him to give his hurt over to the Lord and when it was right, it'd be alright. I truly believe I got through to him. You just let God show you when to deliver the news. And when God does it, don't you rebel.”

 

Deacon Pillar dropped Zipporah off at Sister Marty's house. He and Marty had come to an understanding of sorts. They'd never really broken anything off because after all she'd given him a deadline and he didn't meet it, so what was there to say? He didn't fight the quasi breakup because she'd begun to push his buttons. He already had an estranged and strange wife who did that. So from the night of the Family and Friends Day they'd been, more or less, friends.

Back home, he came through the door and immediately heard Delilah and Tamara inside. He didn't bother to knock or see what was happening, deciding he'd rather just go upstairs and relax.

The deacon went over in his mind the conversation he'd had with Zipporah. There was a lot of wisdom in the young woman. Her father was like that to some degree.
Who'd have thought old Jasper and I would be in the same fix?
the deacon thought. He was glad Jasper had found Zipporah and managed to make things as right as he could before he died.

Thinking of Jasper and the old times they had playing with different groups up and down and in and out of the Bible Belt, caused the deacon to smile. He reached over and picked up his guitar. Perhaps if he strummed softly he could get his thoughts together.

“Deacon Pillar, can I come up?” Jessie called out just as the deacon picked the first note.

The deacon wanted to say no, but he was sure Jessie had already heard him come in. He hadn't shut the door behind him.
Jessie probably wants to chat about what went on with Zipporah when I picked her up.
“Come on, Jessie.”

Jessie came through the door, winded like he was an eighty-year-old man who'd just learned to climb stairs. “How are you? I'm sorry to bother you, but I worked the night shift and I still cannot relax.” He stopped and pointed his finger to the floor. “Do you hear Delilah and Tamara downstairs? They seem to be having a good time. They're probably on pins and needles waiting for Zipporah to stop by and talk more business. I hope it's soon. Tamara still has Juilliard in a few weeks.” Jessie winked at the deacon. “Ha! Listen. Who would've thought it?”

The deacon laid his guitar to the side. He rose and went over to the floor vent to hear clearer.

“I knew their voices were coming in from somewhere,” Jessie said as he rose to join him. “I'd almost forgotten about the floor vent.”

“Don't worry,” Deacon Pillar replied, “I never listened in until your mama came around. And even then, whoever's talking has to stand almost directly under it.”

“It sounds like they're starting to chat about something fiercely funny or serious. I guess we really shouldn't listen in. It ain't the Christian thing to do.”

Jessie said all the right words, but he didn't move from his spot.

“Well, I'm going to let those chatterboxes chat on. Can I get you something to drink from the kitchen? I'm parched.”

That seemed like as good a time to discuss with the deacon what he'd wanted to say all along. His talk with Zipporah really stirred him, and in a good way. “I'll have whatever you've got that is cold. I don't drink anything with ice, so even if it's room temperature, that's okay.”

“Anything else you need?” The deacon asked the question because Jessie still hadn't said anything about what Zipporah had mentioned.

“Yes, I do need something. But it can wait until you come back from the kitchen.”

Jessie watched the deacon leave the room. He was about to move away from the vent when he heard Delilah and Tamara again. But they weren't laughing. He could've sworn that they were arguing instead. He wondered,
What could've gone wrong in just a few minutes?