Church Folk - Michele Andrea Bowen [49]
"I'm ready," Essie said. "I would like the small order of baby-back barbecued ribs, with potato salad and collard greens."
"And for your bread, ma'am? We have cornbread muffins, rolls, biscuits, and the evening's house special, which is red-hot bread."
"What's red-hot bread?"
"It's cornbread muffins cooked with onions, fresh-roasted bell peppers, and dried hot peppers. It's hot, but most people say that it is very good."
"Then I'll try it. And I'd like some iced tea with lots of ice and lemons."
The waiter turned to Theophilus. "And you, Reverend?" "What's the special?"
"Pot roast cooked with carrots, pearl onions, and small red potatoes, with turnip greens and buttered squash."
"That sounds pretty good. I'll have that with the red-hot bread and iced tea, a little ice and no lemons."
When the waiter left them Essie said, "Theophilus, everything about this restaurant is so formal. Why did you bring me to such a fancy place?"
"Because I thought it would be fun. In case you haven't noticed, I can be fun to be with. A lot of women can't imagine a preacher laughing and having a good time, unless of course he is involved in some kind of church activity."
"A lot of women?" Essie said. "Women like that the hipjigglin' woman in the pink dress back at church?"
"Why are you so interested in her?" Theophilus asked with irritation creeping into his voice.
"Because she is one of your old girlfriends."
He was spared from answering by a young woman carrying a gold tray, who left them with two glasses of iced tea, long-handled gold teaspoons, and a crystal bowl full of sliced lemons.
Essie continued, "Theophilus, I timed it—her walk, you know. It took that woman five minutes to walk down the aisle and to her seat. A woman don't sashay through church like that unless she got a reason to. The way you're acting about all this, Theophilus, I think that reason is you. Don't you think you should tell me about her?"
"Essie, I really don't know where to begin," he said, frowning.
"Maybe you should begin where all of this mess first got started."
"Well, I met Glodean Benson when I was in college, before I entered the seminary. Everything between us was just fine until I accepted a dinner invitation at her apartment."
Essie just looked at Theophilus. How "fine" could everything be, if a young woman was bold enough to ask a single man over to her apartment for dinner? Theophilus must have shown some kind of interest in her. But Glodean had given Essie the impression that she was very calculating. Her walk through church this afternoon certainly looked like a well-planned maneuver.
He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "You know something, baby, we need to put this to rest. Why would you want to know the gory details of that old relationship?"
Essie cut her eyes at him. "Theophilus, why wouldn't I want to know the 'gory details' of y'all's relationship? This thing you had with her was serious—so serious, she made a big to-do in order to get your attention in church this afternoon. She even made the Bishop wait, holding up the processional while we all had to sit there watching her swish herself down the aisle to her seat."
Theophilus tried to stifle Essie with one of the stern looks he gave members of his congregation when he felt they were out of line. Annoyingly, it didn't seem to ruffle her in the least.
"Theophilus, I don't care about you having girlfriends before me," she said. "I've known from the start that women want your attention. Just look at how Saphronia McComb acted with you"—she didn't know the half of it, Theophilus thought—"and she's color-struck. You're a preacher, and I haven't heard of a preacher who didn't have at least a dozen women chasing him down. And Theophilus, I never thought you were some kind of an angel just because you are a preacher. I would never expect or want you to be perfect, either. I know you are a man, subject to the same