15. On Fire For the Lord
Fifteen
On Fire For the Lord
brICK
“You sure we gotta do this?” I looked over at Destiny, hoping she would change her mind at the last minute.
She just sat there in that passenger seat smiling like a damn fool as I pulled into the parking lot of Endless Bullshit Church of God and Fraud Ass Niggas.
It had been four weeks since our wedding, and I hadn’t been able to tell her ass no since then. Today should have been the day.
“Yes!” she beamed, hopping out the car before I could even get her door. She led the way excitedly, picking two seats in the front of the sanctuary.
I hadn’t even hit yet, and she had me sitting on the front pews of a damn church, looking at her fake ass daddy.
From the expression on his face, he felt the same way about me being there that I did.
I knew he wasn’t gon’ do shit, though. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peep’s homegirl Stasha slink over, sitting down next to her before she leaned over and cleared her throat.
“Hey… Des… Can I talk to you in the back for a second?” she whispered loudly. She may as well have been using her regular voice.
“What’s wrong?” Destiny asked, still sporting that same unsuspecting smile.
“Just… Come to the back for me, please,” she said with a serious expression on her face.
Destiny got up and followed her from the back just before Coop rose from his throne—yes, the nigga had a whole ass throne in the pulpit.
He dramatically strolled up to the podium in that ugly ass suit.
If my mama wasn’t right about shit else, she hit the nail on the head when she talked about how tacky his punk ass was.
That loud ass, burnt orange abomination was a fall color and had both my eyes and my stomach hurting every time I looked up at him.
I shouldn’t have even been there. I should have been working.
Dream’s was fine, and I knew my manager could handle anything important, but I had three more of my business partners get hit over the last month, and the losses were starting to get dangerously close to the millions.
We had too much security at our warehouses, and I suspected that was why we hadn’t taken a hit, but it was still a bad look.
“Good morning, everyone. Now, I’m not gon’ keep y’all long.” Coop started his sermon and I visibly cringed, hearing the fake ass act he put on. The worst part was that his loyal churchgoers were none the wiser and eating it up.
“Today, I want to talk to y’all about Revelations 21:8. Please turn with me in your Bibles, family.” He paused, waiting for the sound of rustling pages to die down before speaking again.
“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars.”
Is this muhfucka’ talking to ME?
I could only assume so, because he looked directly at me between each word.
“They will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur! This is the second death!” He wiped the sweat from his brow as he continued to condemn me to hell.
“Family, we must repent! If you want to make it to those pearly gates, you must confess with your mouth and give your life up to the Good Lord! If you don’t want to be eternally damned into that lake of fire, you got to live on fire for him and his word!
Gon’ head and give your life up to him now!
Let me hear an Amen if you on fire for the Lord!
I said let me get an Amen, if you are on fire for the Lord!
” I watched in disbelief as people fell out all around me, shouting and catching the Holy Ghost to this man’s bullshit.
I said a quick prayer for all their souls because I knew for a fact that serving false prophets was a sin, and that orange clad muhfucka was as false as they came.
Ain’t no way this was the same nigga who lied, cheated, and stole his way through life.
I stared him right in his eyes as he looked at me, letting him know that I saw straight through him.
Our stare-down was interrupted when Peep came rushing back to me.
She didn’t take her seat, standing there awkwardly.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said softly. “Let’s just go.
“Fuck you mea–” I stopped in my tracks when she sent me a death glare. “Sorry, what you mean let's go? You been begging me to come here with you, now I'm here and you wanna leave?”
“Brick, please,” she begged. The look in her eyes made my trigger finger itch, so I decided to get my ass up before I aired that whole shit out.
“You good?” I asked as I led her to the truck. She gave me a silent nod, but kept her mouth shut tight. I looked at her and sighed before walking over to my side and climbing in.
“Peep, I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cuss. Just talk to me,” I said, starting up the car. She refused to answer, staring ahead. The moment we were out of the parking lot, she broke, crying so hard that it startled me.
“Yo, I need you to start talkin’ right now before I turn the safety off. What happened?”
“I guess somebody saw me at the strip club, and they asked me not to come back, indefinitely.” She could barely get her words out through her sobs, and while I should have been disgusted at the tears, snot, and overall emotion, I felt…
bad. I immediately pulled over, stopped the car, and pulled her over to me.
I was mad as fuck. They got me up early on a Sunday, had my baby all cute and shit in her little church dress, and now she was out here crying and snotting all over both of us over some bullshit.
“That shit don’t even make sense! If they ass saw you, they were in my shit too!” I said. When I found out who was responsible for this shit I swore they were gettin’ they ass whooped.
“That’s what I said, but it doesn’t matter because it’s ‘unbecoming’ of the daughter of a reverend… Brick, I gave my whole life to that church! I’ve been there since I was a baby. I gave up my college savings. I don't even know who I am without that place.”
I started to tell her that we could find another church home but realized that wasn’t the move. That was her church. Shit, by that point she should have been a co-owner.
“Then we find you some new shit to do. You like baking, right? What if I buy you a bakery or sum'?” I asked. Was it extreme? Yes. It didn't matter though. I would have given her anything to make her stop crying.
She didn’t though.
A few hours later, and she had been in the bed crying the whole fuckin’ time.
I thought that freeing herself from her dad would release the hold that place had on her, but I didn’t realize how deep that shit was.
I had gone as far as looking up therapists and hypnotists because she was gonna have to snap the fuck out of it, soon.
My front door flying open pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked up just in time to see Kalida West stroll in. I knew her demonic ass hadn’t stepped foot inside a church, but she was still dressed to the nines in a pink, floral suit. That lady’s suit closet put Steve Harvey to shame.
“Ma, what are you doing here?” I asked. Dealing with her was the last thing I wanted to do after the day I had. She walked right in and took a seat like she paid the mortgage in that bitch.
“Why did you increase the orders for next month?” she asked, getting right to the point. I flinched. I thought I had a bit more time before I had to deal with this shit.
“I thought we agreed to let me handle the logistics?” I asked.
“We also agreed that I would be kept in the loop, Brick. I feel pretty out of the muhfuckin’ loop right now, nigga!”
“Listen, I had to move some shit around. Some of our people are losing product, and needed to re-up sooner, so I had to make some arrangements.”
“Fuck you mean, losing product?” she asked.
“Their storage facilities have been getting hit. It has to be the same people, but I haven’t turned up a lead so far.”
“How many?” she asked. I started pretending to count silently, knowing damn well the number was at the forefront of my mind.
“Seven,” I answered honestly. I could have lied, but she would have found out anyway.
“You know how that looks, right? Everybody around getting hit but us?” Her expression didn’t change, but I could tell she was pissed.
“I know, Mama.” I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face.
“I just hired some extra help to look into it. I didn’t want to bring it to you until I had a solution.
Zion put me in contact with an investigator from his side of town that specializes in this type of shit.
He said he needed a few weeks, but he would get to the bottom of it. ”
“You got four weeks before I get involved,” she said simply before standing and grabbing her purse. I cussed under my breath because I was planning on surprising Peep with a trip the next weekend. I knew that shit would have to wait now. I was never gon’ get to have relations with that woman.
“That a problem?” she asked turning, around and eyeing me like that damn Ike Turner meme. “I felt like I was being generous.”
“Nah, nah. You were. I was just trying to plan something for Des… I can move it around though.”
“Where is she?” Her eyes drifted around the room, looking for a sign of life.
“In bed. She… isn’t feeling too good,” I answered.
“Brick Ismael West! I know the fuck you ain’t got that girl pregnant already!” I stepped back because she looked like her hands were about to start flying.
“No, Ma. Just some shit with her pops.”
“What did Coop’s bitch ass do now?” she questioned with an eye roll.
“He put her out the church. Said she can’t come back because somebody saw her in the club. She’s real tight about it. Been upset all day,” I said reluctantly.
“And what are you doing to fix it?”
“I’m working on that, too.” I felt like a failure admitting out loud that my wife was upset and I hadn’t done shit about it.
“She’s an extension of you and a member of our family. You gon’ let that nigga get away with doing that to a West?”
“You want me to kill a fuckin’ pastor, Ma?” I turned and gave her a crazy look.
“Shit, I would.” She shrugged like she was the moral compass I should follow.
“Yeah, I know. That’s how we got here in the first place. Nah, she’d be mad… I’ll handle it, though.” I couldn’t dare say out loud that I wouldn’t do that because I feared Destiny would leave me. The whole reason she married me was to save him, so what sense did it make for me to kill the nigga?
“You do that. Make it clear that she’s one of us, and fucking with us won’t be tolerated. Clearly niggas been forgetting.” She walked to the door, stopped, then turned around. “And don’t forget, you have four weeks, Brick.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
She walked out the door, and I stomped around the living room mad enough to knock all my own shit over. A while later, once Des still hadn’t got out of bed, I put my pride to the side, stepping out on the back patio to make a call.
“Reverend Isaac William Cooper II speaking. How can I help you?”
“Coop,” I said flatly. I could tell by the shift in his tone that he knew exactly who was calling.
“How can I help you?” He sucked his teeth as if I was inconveniencing him. I took a deep breath to keep my anger at bay.
“I need you to let Destiny back in the church.” I didn’t have time for any fake shit with him. My baby had been crying all day, and I was dangerously close to snappin’ on someone if the shit didn’t get fixed soon.
“People in hell need ice water. I won’t have that in my sanctuary.”
“Nigga, she did everything you told her for thirty-one years, and the first time she does something you don’t agree with, you just write her off?”
“You know what? Let’s make a deal. She can come up to the pulpit next Sunday and confess her sins in front of the congregation.”
“What?” I barked.
“If she’s willing to do that, we can work something out,” he hissed like the serpent he was.
“I’ll do it,” I choked out. “I’ll come up to the front and confess my shit,” I offered.
“Nah, nah, nah… It has to be her. She wants to be out here living like a whore out loud. Let her come repent on her knees out loud.” Something about the way that bitch ass nigga talked about my wife being on her knees for him made me flash out.
“You don’t give a fuck about her soul, bitch ass nigga! You want to humiliate her! You got me fucked up if you think I’ma let you play with her like that.”
“Wow,” he scoffed. “You halfway sound like someone who gives a damn about her.”
“I feel like because of this whole wedding situation, you may have forgotten who the fuck I am. What’s my name, Coop?”
“W-What?” He stuttered, all that bite gone from his voice.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it. You gon’ see soon enough, fuck nigga!”
“Wait, wh—” I hung up, fire coursing through my veins. That nigga had gotten away with way too much shit hiding behind that church, but pretty soon he wouldn’t have shit to hide behind.
* * *
Later that night, I stood in front of Endless Prosperity Church of God in Christ with the only fool I knew who would join me in such a dummy mission with no questions asked.
“What the fuck kind of name is this for a church? It sounds like a muhfuckin’ pyramid scheme!” Kilo said, taking a hit of his blunt.
“Same shit I said.” I flared my nostrils.
“What this nigga do to you? I ain’t seen you turn up like this in a minute,” he said as he glanced back at me. He wasn’t wrong. I hadn't done no shit like this since I was a lil’ nigga, but the feel of it gave me an adrenaline rush like no other. I needed to get back to my ways.
“He fucked with Peep,” I said simply.
“That’s why we didn’t get dinner today? Oh, hell yeah. You know I’m willing to slide for sis, no questions asked,” he said. I rolled my eyes at his goofy ass.
“She ain’t your sister, nigga,” I snapped.
“She is… but you sure you wanna do this?” Kilo asked one final time. “You know I'm down for whatever, but I'm almost positive this is gon’ send us to hell.”
I nodded at him before looking at the huge dimly lit building.
Destiny's tears may just as well have been accelerant because that building was doomed the moment I saw her crying over the shit hole.
I was really doing the community a favor.
That nigga had the newest cars and clothes, and the building was completely upgraded, yet not one member of his congregation looked like they were doing half as good as he was.
The nigga stole money and did absolutely nothing to better the lives of his people.
My family may have been sent by the devil himself, but we would never have our people struggling like his.
“Fuck it,” I said dropping the lighter into the fluid and watching with pride as the building quickly went up in flames.
I stayed there until the entire thing was fully engulfed, and I knew they wouldn’t even be able to salvage a hymn book out that muhfucka.
If my wife couldn't go to church, nobody was going in that bitch.
“Amen,” I muttered as my brother and I walked off, disappearing into the night while the flames swelled.