The Perfect Christian

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Authors: E. N. Joy

BOOK: The Perfect Christian
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The Perfect Christian
Still Divas Series Book Two
E.N. Joy
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Other Books by This Author
Dedication
Acknowledgment
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
About the Author
Readers' Group Guide Questions
UC HIS GLORY BOOK CLUB!
WHAT WE BELIEVE:
Copyright Page
Other Books by This Author
Me, Myself and Him
She Who Finds a Husband
Been There, Prayed That
Love, Honor or Stray
Trying to Stay Saved
I Can Do Better All By Myself
And You Call Yourself a Christian
Ordained by the Streets
Even Sinners Have Souls
(Edited by E.N. Joy)
Even Sinners Have Souls Too
(Edited by E.N .Joy)
Even Sinners Still Have Souls
(Edited by E.N. Joy)
The Secret Olivia Told Me
(E.N. Joy)
Dedication
 
This book is dedicated to the best mother-in-law in the entire universe: Gwendolyn Marsh of Toledo, Ohio. I know Mother Doreen was your favorite character in all the Divas books. I hope I did her justice for you in this book. And also, allow me to take this opportunity to thank you for being so supportive in what I do, which includes scheduling your vacation days around my tour dates so that you can look after the kids. And with that goes a thank you for being the best grandmother I could ever ask for my children. I love you!
Acknowledgment
I'd like to acknowledge my ghost writer. You gave me the title and the subject matter for
The Perfect Christian
. But when it was time for me to sit down and write it, my mind was blank. I had no idea in which direction the story was going to go. But there you were to just take over things and begin to tell me exactly how the story would play out. All I had to do was sit at the computer and take dictation. I can honestly say that this book would not exist if it was not for you. So I acknowledge you and thank you, ghost writer a.k.a the Holy Ghost.
Chapter One
“Mother Doreen, if you aren't just the most beautiful bride I've seen in all my life . . .” Paige's words trailed off as she choked back tears. She had never seen her church mother look so happy and so content in all the years she'd known her. It touched her heart knowing that the joy of the day was because of the Lord. The joy of the Lord, since it was not given by man, could not be taken by man. Eternal joy is what Mother Doreen would have. How could that not have brought tears to anyone's eyes?
“Oh, for Pete's sake! Are you about to start back up that crying mess?” Unique asked Paige as she stormed in between her and Mother Doreen with pressed powder in hand. “You'll get her started again too.” She nodded toward Mother Doreen. “And no way is that gonna happen; not after I've been here since eight o'clock this morning . . .” She looked down at her watch. “. . . over an hour ago . . . applying this Mary Kay makeup to her face.” Unique pointed the powder puff at Mother Doreen's made-up face. She then looked at a weeping Paige. “You, on the other hand, Sister Paige, get all your crying out now. Because just as soon as I'm finished touching Mother Doreen up, you're next.”
“Okay, I'm sorry. I always cry at weddings.” Paige wiped away her falling tears, tears that had been contagious since she arrived. Whenever she cried, for some reason, everybody else got to crying too. Unique had already touched up Mother Doreen's makeup twice thanks to Paige's domino effect.
“I know every time I start crying, Mother Doreen does too—everybody does, so I'll cut it out.” Everyone gave Paige a doubting look. “I will. I promise.”
Although Paige had made the statement with such conviction, it meant nothing as she stared at Unique touching up Mother Doreen's makeup. The older woman looked angelically glamorous. The beauty of the Lord is what Paige thought of the vision before her. And, of course, that thought brought back the waterworks as she burst out crying again.
Every head in the church dressing room turned to Paige. Every eye shot her a look that said, “You better stop crying now, or else.”
“Okay, okay. I'm sorry,” Paige apologized again. “I just can't help it. Mother Doreen has been like a mother to all of us at New Day Temple of Faith. I'm just so ha-ha-happy for her,” Paige cried out.
“That's it. Somebody get her out of here now,” Unique ordered, pointing to the door.
“I'm so on it,” Deborah offered, who had been standing in the mirror admiring the wonderful job Unique had already done on her makeup. “'Cause she's about to ruin my makeup too.” Deborah ushered an emotionally torn-up Paige out of the dressing room. On any other day, the room served as the dressing room for both the dance ministry and the changing room for baptism candidates. But today, it was reserved for Mother Doreen and her female bridal party of three, all who were in attendance except for her sister, Bethany, who had yet to arrive at the church.
“Oh, leave my bridesmaid alone.” Mother Doreen smiled at Unique. “The child can't help it. I spent all night and this morning doing the same thing; crying my eyes out. Ain't nothing wrong with a few tears to express one's happiness.” Mother Doreen closed her eyes while Unique pulled out her eye shadow case and touched up Mother Doreen's eyes. “And if you didn't have my face all done up, I'd still probably be crying.”
“And I get all that,” Unique said, “and you can go back to all that sniffing and snorting just as soon as you make it down that aisle—but not a minute sooner. I need folks to see all this hard work I've done.” Unique paused to hammer in her point. “Do you know how many referrals I got after the last wedding I did? Humph. Don't call me conceited. Call me convinced. I know I've been on my J-O-B today beatin' y'all's faces.” She continued the touch-up.
“And a wonderful job you've done indeed, Sister Unique. And thanks again for agreeing to do the makeup for my entire bridal party for free. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect gift from you.”
“Trust me,” Unique said with her lips tightened, perfecting Mother Doreen's eye makeup, “I'm going to end up booking more weddings and Mary Kay parties as a result of my work here today. Folks are going to see all of you and be so wowed, they'll be hunting me down at the reception,” Unique laughed.
“And I'm sure they will. I thanked you in the program and even added your business Web site,” Mother Doreen winked.
“You didn't?” Unique said in shock.
“I sure did,” Mother Doreen confirmed. “I mean, that's the least I can do with you doing it for no charge and all. And with the huge discount you and Sister Tamarra gave me on catering the reception, why I even listed the Web site for the catering business too.”
“You're too much, woman of God. Just an angel is what you are.” After making that statement, a serious look crossed Unique's face. “Speaking of Sister Tamarra, how awkward do you think it's going to be with Sister Paige and Sister Tamarra seeing each other during the reception?”
Paige and Tamarra, once the best of friends, hadn't seen each other since the day Paige handed Tamarra divorce papers—divorcing her as a best friend. Paige had been devastated to learn that Tamarra had slept with her husband on the morning Paige married him. Paige thought she'd never be able to forgive Tamarra. She forgave her, though, but made it clear that because the bond of trust had been severed, so had their friendship.
Mother Doreen thought for a moment. “I'm sure all will go well. Besides, Tamarra will pretty much just be in the kitchen. Her and Paige more than likely won't even cross each other's paths. Before I even asked you guys to cater the event, I talked to Sister Paige about it. She was honored that I even came to her for her input, considering it was my big day. She said it was my wedding day and that it wasn't about her, not one iota. She wanted me to be happy. Well, having the best cooks in Malvonia, Ohio, prepare my wedding day feast is exactly what's going to make me happy.”
“Thanks, Mother Doreen. Like I said, you're an angel.”
Just then, the dressing room door opened. “Okay, I got rid of crybaby,” Deborah told them, closing the door behind her. “She's in that little bathroom off the kitchen waiting for you to come do her makeup, Sister Unique.” Deborah looked down and patted her lilac dress. As the maid of honor, she was dressed in a gown identical in color to Sister Paige's bride's maid dress and Sister Bethany's matron of honor gown. Although the gowns were the same color, they each were of a different style and fit in order to complement the women's figures. When Deborah looked up, both Mother Doreen and Unique were staring at her with horrified looks on their faces. Deborah shrugged. “What?”
“What?” Unique said mockingly. “What do you mean
what?
Uh,
hello . . .
Sister Tamarra is catering. She's running back and forth in and out of the kitchen.”
“And?” Once again, Deborah shrugged, still not understanding the dilemma.
“Oh my,” was all Mother Doreen said as sweat beads started to form on her forehead.
Deborah started to sense the seriousness of the matter after noticing Mother Doreen sweating. “I still don't understand what the big deal is. So Sister Paige is in the bathroom off the kitchen, and Sister Tamarra is in the ki . . .” Both Mother Doreen and Sister Unique could see the lightbulb go off in Deborah's head. “Oh my is right, Mother Doreen,” Deborah said.
“It's okay, just calm down,” Unique said. “You two stay in here, and I'll go get Sister Paige and bring her back in here to do her makeup.” Unique headed to the door and mumbled under her breath, “Hopefully without incident, 'cause Lord knows I don't want to get caught up in nothing and end up back in jail.” Unique thought of those dreadful months she'd once spent in jail. Being charged with the death of her three children and for being a drug dealer had been devastating. Even though she was released and her name ultimately cleared of all charges, the stench of jail still rested within.
“What did you say?” Mother Doreen asked Unique with a worried look on her face.
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,” Unique replied with a fake smile. She then looked at Deborah and swallowed hard. “Uh, Sister Deborah, do you mind coming with me?”
“Why?” Deborah asked, already feeling guilty for setting up the situation.
With a stone-cold serious look on her face, Unique replied, “Just in case I need backup.”

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