6. Rain
Chapter 6
Rain
T he ugly ass floral dress stared back at me. It was the single most hideous item I owned and it would do for church with my mother. She’d been begging me and my entire family to come with her for weeks. Finally, Nora and I had agreed, while my brothers had held fast and decided not to.
“Huh?” I had my phone up to my ear.
“Are you listening to me?” Nora asked from the other end of the speakerphone.
“Sorry, I was looking for a dress for church,” I said.
“You found one?”
I sighed. “I did.”
“Good, 'cause you know mom would be pissed if you decided not to make it today.”
Another sigh. “I know. But I’m only going because you’re going to be there with me today. Church isn’t my thing.”
Nora giggled at the other end and then stopped. “Mine either.”
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Mason,” she replied shyly and I knew he was probably kissing at some part of her.
“The two of you are so gross,” I laughed.
She giggled again. “He says hi.”
My sister and her lover couldn’t get enough of each other. I’d never had a romance like that, where I was actually in love with someone. Even watching them at Noir a few nights ago, they’d just come back from a trip where they were constantly with each other, and yet…they still seemed so happy.
It would’ve turned out to be a lovely evening if Mason’s big brother hadn’t been there. At the end of the night though, I think he’d finally gotten the hint because I’d watched him leave with some big-titted brunette.
“So Mason’s brother Carmine is having a whole thing at his house later on this evening….big bonfire or something like that,” Nora volunteered.
“And?”
“Well, he wanted me to invite you over…”
My brain was already thinking about how I had shit to do at my shop in the morning. I had a contractor coming by to inspect some water damage. My calendar also had me showing a few women clients coming in to get their hair styled.
“Maybe,” I replied finally. “Look, I need to shower if I’m going to be the traffic. I’ll see you in a bit. Love you.”
“Love you Rain,” my sister ended the call.
Plugging my cell phone up, I padded into my bathroom. The fresh white towels were folded up on a higher shelf. Grabbing one, I dropped it on the sink and turned on the shower. Undressing, I made sure that the temperature was perfect before stepping in.
The body wash container was half empty and I made a mental note upon drizzling the soap as if it were syrup over my lime green loofah, to buy more. Scrubbing my body, I thought about Nora’s mentioning the other brother having a get together.
I didn’t know much about the family but when my sister had been kidnapped, a fact the rest of my family was still clueless about, these fuckers had shown up. One thing was for sure, the Zacharra’s had an interesting relationship with what side of the law they were on.
I wasn’t one to judge.
My bestie was the daughter of a rumored Yakuza boss. Partying with Cassie had brought me into contact with all sorts of seedy-ass people, and I’d even dated a few. It had never worked out for me.
My sister though, she was the smartest person in the room.
I was sure Nora was always aware of what was going on with her man and his family. I was super sure she knew to keep her mouth shut.
After the shower and fixing my hair, I didn’t even bother with putting on lipstick. I was going to church, not trying to catch a man. The last thing I wanted to do was attract attention in the Lord’s house, hence the ugly dress.
The hairs on my arms were raised like tiny spikes the entire drive to Mt. Ezra Baptist Church. Occasionally, I’d drag my hands over them as if to soothe away any worry.
Finding a parking spot was the worst and once I did, I noted the time and hurried to the front.
Nora was standing there on her phone waiting for me. Her simple black dress dropped well below the knee and she had on a pair of black suede heels similar to the nude ones that I’d chosen to compliment the monstrosity that I was wearing.
“Sis!” I spoke.
She stopped staring at her phone long enough to embrace me before we hurried inside the already packed church.
“Is it always this packed?” I asked once we were through the wooden doors.
That familiar church scent filled my nostrils, making me wonder why all churches seemed to smell the same. It didn’t matter which one you visited or whether in Los Angeles or Seattle, it was the same thick, wafting plume of waxed pews, bible pages and some holy cleanser that gripped you.
“Mom said something about a visiting preacher,” Nora shrugged.
We were kind of in the back and I had to peer around heads here and there. The service wasn’t due to start for another five minutes, so I’d made it in the nick of time.
Our mother and the rest of her gang, also known as the Morning Clouds of Glory Women Choir were up behind the empty preacher’s chair cackling. From where I could see, Miss Grace, my mother’s friend for as long as I’d been alive needed her roots touched up.
Making a mental note, I was going to text her about coming in.
All my mother’s friends got heavy discounts and I considered that my part in doing the Lord’s work since I didn’t come in this place enough to save my soul.
“What’s with the dress,” Nora pinched at the fabric.
Laughing, I slapped her hands. A giggle erupted loud and clear, causing a few people to look back at me from the pew in front of us.
“Don’t play me,” I whispered through gritted teeth.
Nora covered her mouth, laughing even harder.
“It’s hideous,” she bumped her shoulder with my own.
The organist began to play, as the preacher finally decided to join his flock, coming out of his office that was off to the left.
“Thank you for coming this morning to Mount Ezra,” his voice boomed, oddly comforting. “Let the congregation say Amen and then we will begin our Sunday…”
The church seemed to be lit on fire after that, the air buzzing like electricity moving through the particle of air. My pulse began to race with every single word, my body had grown tense and sweaty.
“And our Father, God, he had seen fit to bring back a face we haven’t seen in a mighty long time,” the aging preacher smiled out over us from his place in the pulpit.
My stomach was pulled tighter than a sailor knot, watching as he turned to a man who had come to stand next to him.
The fucking devil had come back to church.
He was dressed up in his Sunday best, looking slicker than a can of oil. The suit he wore screamed Armani, and tailor. A hush hit the churchgoers.
“We welcome back Pastor Justin Jefferson…”
His beady fucking eyes seemed to find me. The same ones that had leered at my young body when I’d just been a scared young girl. Instantly, I became her again in that crowded church, fourteen and fucking terrified. Remember his filthy fucking words, letting them echo around in my head like a tin can being kicked along a street.
“Pretty things like you are born to bring me like me heaven…”
My throat felt tight and constricted. I couldn’t swallow and I couldn’t breathe.
It was that way the entire service. Relief didn’t flood my tense body until I was standing up, ready to shove through the crowd of people.
Nora was tight on my heels calling my name.
“Rain! Rain, wait up! What’s the hurry?”
My hand clutched at my chest, feeling the tightness starting to fade.
Taking a second, I pasted a smile on my face. Spinning to meet my sister’s face as some of the churchgoers went past, I found concern in her features.
“I’m…I’m fine,” I murmured.
She bit at her lip. “You seemed tense the entire sermon. Like you were about to come out of your skin or something.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
Before we could say another word to each other, my mother was calling to us both.
He was there with her, my mother, and he had a grin on his face as he approached.
“Rain and Nora, the two you remember Pastor Justin, don’t you?” She was blissfully unaware of the monster beside her, her voice clear as a bell.
Bile wrenched itself loose into my mouth, which had started to water. There was a storm inside of my stomach as it churned. Fighting back the urge to vomit, I stepped back pulling air into my chest.
If my sister noticed she never said a thing, a smile carving itself on her face to match my mother’s.
“I could never forget these two,” the charming snake that had been in the Garden of Eden smiled at both of us. His voice was smoother than a river rock worn down by the current. “You’ve both grown up.”
The need to get away overwhelmed me.
I just wanted to escape from this nightmare.