Remember Who You Are

Ch 32-34

Chapter Thirty-two


“You doing anything for fall break?”





Walking Cora to her car had become a weekly ritual for Wesley since the first day of class. Wesley took advantage of that time with Cora to better understand how this troubled, but very brave young woman, was handling life. Starting school and being disowned by one’s parents could devastate anyone; someone who had already attempted suicide twice would be particularly vulnerable. But Cora seemed to have found her equilibrium. Living with friends and working as a server for a local restaurant helped her manage her financial situation. Along with copious amounts of financial aid and smothering student loans, Cora’s finances were manageable as long as there were no emergencies – like car repair.


More worrisome for Wesley, was her mental health. Wesley saw Cora on Thursdays during class and afterwards when he walked her to her car; and on Sundays where she had become a steady and reliable member of Wesley’s youth group. Her experiences and her willingness to share them with the other members of the group had inspired others to share their fears – even if those fears had not been as devastating to them as Cora’s real life had been to her. Cora’s courage had resulted in the group bonding more quickly and into a more supportive and nurturing presence in the lives of the members than Wesley had ever dreamed possible. So far, being an all-girl group had worked in their favor. Wesley refused to consider how a guy would change things.





“I get the wonderful opportunity to work more hours since the other servers are going home or Florida or somewhere else wonderful.”


Wesley glanced at Cora while they walked to her car. He knew she needed the money, but he understood how hard it was for her not to be jealous when she saw the freedom the other students had.





“I’m sorry.”





She stopped walking. “Aren’t you supposed to tell me that I will be a stronger person because of this? I don’t know, somehow convince me that this is a good thing?”





“Maybe,” Wesley shrugged. “But it sucks. I wish every kid could live on campus and go to Florida for fall break and never have to work while they attended school.” Wesley stopped talking and caught Cora’s eyes with his own. “But that’s not the world we live in. And life sucks sometimes.”





“Don’t some countries have free college?”





“Yeah. But we don’t live in those countries. Maybe we can catch up to them one day. Until then…”





“Yeah. Until then, I get to work every day for the next ten days. Yay me.”





They walked silently for a few minutes until Cora asked Wesley, “You get to do anything special for fall break?”





“Yeah. I am going to Florida.”





“WHAT?”





Wesley’s laughter deflated Cora’s indignation and horror at hearing he would be taking a vacation.





“Cora, I still have a full-time job. But, you know, I have been thinking, I may take tomorrow off. We have this thing on Fridays called Pasta with the Pastor where we invite families in that I don’t know. It gives us a chance to talk and eat spaghetti. I still have to do that but I am,” Wesley pulled out his cell phone and started tapping and typing. “I am taking the day off.” Finishing, he slipped his cell phone back into his pocket and said, “I sent my secretary a text and let her know I would be in prayer all day.”


Cora looked puzzled. “In prayer? Really?”





“It’s our code for me taking a day off. You know what? I have been wanting to drop by Tressa’s? You ever been?”





“Never heard of it.”





“It’s not too far from the church and, supposedly, a great place to hear blues and jazz.”





“Never heard of it. I don’t listen to any of that.”





Wesley shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”





They had reached Cora’s car. “Are you inviting me to go?”





With any other young woman, Wesley would be afraid of impropriety or the appearance of impropriety, but since Cora was gay, he felt safe being alone with her. “I guess I am,” he said.





“Then I accept.” Cora then smiled her dazzling smile that Wesley had only seen a couple of times.





“You know, I think they even have a little food there. We can grab a bite to eat too.”





“Sounds good. I will follow you.”





*****


“The band was terrible. The lead singer had this dog bone looking thing through his nose and, I guess you could call it a reverse Mohawk haircut even though he looked like Larry. You know, from the Three Stooges?”





One a.m. Wesley was still awake, lying in bed with Lucky on his belly and they were discussing their day. After apologizing for not coming home immediately, Wesley could tell Lucky about class, Cora, and Tressa’s.





Wesley continued. “And the name of the band! ‘Raisin Face.’ Can you believe that name? They had a CD that featured the oldest human being alive on the cover. This person, I don’t know if it was a man or woman, had so many wrinkles that their wrinkles had wrinkles. Oh Lucky, just be glad you weren’t there. The music.” Wesley shook his head. Lucky licked Wesley’s chin. “If it can be called that. It was terrible. Sounded like two cats being run over by a lawnmower. Except out of tune.”





Wesley held Lucky as he rolled over, placing Lucky on his back while Wesley lay on his side. This position allowed Wesley to rub and tickle Lucky’s belly and make Lucky’s leg twitch. Which never failed to amuse Wesley.





“You know what I hate bud? I could just give Cora money, Hell, I could pay for her to take a trip to Florida for fall break but it would change things. And she wouldn’t take it anyway. Damn pride. Just like Thad. You know what was sad?” Wesley had stopped rubbing Lucky’s belly, not in the mood to be amused, and had started rubbing under Lucky’s neck, “that child,” Wesley continued, “inhaled her food. Lucky, that child was hungry.” Wesley’s voice dropped to a whisper, his voice reflecting his compassion for Cora. “You know what I think? I think she only eats on the days she works. That sucks dammit. That sucks. That just sucks.” Lucky allowed Wesley to rub his neck and belly until Wesley dozed off.














 


Chapter Thirty-three





Lucky breathed in clean crisp October air as he and Wesley took an early morning walk along the streets of their town. Tut had stopped running with Wesley at the end of September so Wesley and Lucky walked together several days every week. Wesley worried that with his school and work schedule he was not paying Lucky enough attention. Though Lucky never complained, Wesley worried that he was not getting enough exercise or attention. Wesley promised himself that he would do better. Somehow.





Mornings were cool and Wesley had slipped a gray hooded sweatshirt over his running shirt but he still wore running shorts. City Bakery smelled wonderful so the two friends stopped.





“Hey bud, split a sandwich?”





Lucky looked up at Wesley and wagged his tail. Wesley squatted down and asked, “What will it be today?”





Lucky licked Wesley’s nose.





“Let’s not. We did the Hawaiian last time. Let’s have the sausage and scrambled eggs this time. Besides, you don’t like avocado.”


Lucky placed one paw on Wesley’s knee and barked.





“Does he talk back?”





Wesley recognized that angelic voice and winked at Lucky. Without rising or turning his head, he said, “Like a teenager. Smart mouth and all.” Wesley scooped up Lucky and stood. Turning, he saw her. Standing on the sidewalk with false dawn creating a halo effect around her entire body, she was lovelier than Wesley remembered. She held her violin and her bow in one hand while the other combed back wind-tossed hair. Her green eyes demanded Wesley’s attention. Her smile made his knees weak.





“Product of neglectful parenting?” she teased.





“Probably,” Wesley smiled, appreciating her teasing. “But he adopted me about a month ago, so I can’t be blamed.” Wesley stopped a moment and thought, “Have you been playing this morning? I have not heard anything.”





“I haven’t started yet. Just dropped by here to grab a bite before I hit the streets.”





“I would love to buy you breakfast. But we have to eat outside. The barbarians that run this place discriminate against Lucky’s kind.”


She laughed. “You could always pretend to be blind.”





Wesley smiled and slowly shook his head. “You know, I really couldn’t. By the way, I’m Wesley.”





“Michelle,” she said as they shook hands.





“No way. Really?”





She looked puzzled. “Yep. I’ve had the name for a long time. Why?”





“You played the Beatles' song, Michelle, the first time I saw you.”





Michelle studied Wesley hard for a moment. “You remembered that?”





Blushing a little, Wesley said, “Let’s get breakfast before I embarrass myself further.”








As Michelle ate her Avogoddess sandwich, aptly named thought Wesley, with avocado, mozzarella, and tomato; Wesley and Lucky shared the Farmhouse sandwich that had sausage, egg, and cheese with some sort of apple butter spread.





“Only the one sandwich for the two of you?” asked Michelle as Wesley pinched off a bite and tossed it to Lucky who caught it in his mouth and seemingly swallowed it without chewing.





Wesley smiled. “The, uh, church secretary often provides breakfast on Fridays. We need to save room for that, just in case.”


“Church secretary? You work at a church?”





Since the shooting and the accompanying publicity, Wesley had come to hate this part. “I’m the minister of New Covenant Church.”


Michelle thought for a moment. “Over on Lexington?”





“Yeah.”





Michelle looked at Wesley, almost as if she was seeing him for the first time. The surprised expression on her face made Wesley regret what she was about to say. She pointed a perfect finger at him and said, “I know you. You’re that preacher that did the funeral for that gay firefighter.”





Wesley was relieved she did not mention the shooting. He nodded, “Yep. That’s me.”





Her perfect brow furrowed for a second. “Wait, didn’t you get shot too?”





Wesley closed his eyes, shook his head, and laughed. Lucky barked to remind Wesley that breakfast was getting cold.


 


Chapter Thirty-four





“Here, friend Lucky.” Matthew sat on the floor, his back to the door of Susie’s office, and offered a bite of grits to Lucky.





“No!” Susie’s near-shout startled everyone in the room. “Matthew, Lucky has his own food and doesn’t need yours.” Ever since that momentous day several weeks ago, when Matthew fed Lucky biscuits and gravy from his own fork, Susie had made it a point to prepare food specifically for Lucky. Today, Lucky had fried eggs and sausage while everyone else, to include Wesley and Charles Loftin, had the same thing with grits.





“It’s ok Susie. Grits won’t hurt Lucky,” added Wesley with a wink in the general direction of Charles Loftin.





“Absolutely not,” said Susie.





Matthew looked dejected but acceded to his mother’s wishes. Susie looked at Wesley and shook her spoon at him as a reprimand. Seeing the smirking Charles Loftin, she kicked his big foot with her little one and said, “Don’t encourage them.”





Loftin threw up his hands in mock surrender and said, “I never said a word.”





“Didn’t have to,” said Susie. For the next few minutes, the five of them ate in relative silence.





Wesley broke the silence. “Lucky and I met a busker violinist on our walk today. I will probably ask her to perform for Sunday service one day; but our meeting got me thinking. It is October. How do we handle holidays? Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas?”





Susie and Charles looked at each other before Charles Loftin spoke. “There are those parents who always want to start a church-sponsored ‘Trunk or Treat.’ But I oppose that on philosophical grounds that so we’ve never done it.”





“I am not a big fan of ‘Trunk or Treat,’” said Wesley. “Halloween is harmless. Besides, there are bigger battles for churches to fight than ghosts, goblins, and witches.” Charles Loftin nodded in agreement.





“We generally don’t do anything for Thanksgiving besides a sermon of thanksgiving, I guess. But the church doesn’t have a meal or anything; if that’s what you’re asking. Oh, since we are on the subject, both of you are invited to my house for Thanksgiving. Details to follow.”





Wesley smiled. “Which means she just thought about inviting us.”





Not me, thought Charles Loftin, who smiled.





Wesley continued, “Thank you Susie. That is very nice.”





“Can friend Lucky come?”





Susie just shook her head and looked heavenward for guidance.





“Lucky does like him some turkey. Just saying.”





Loftin’s booming laugh forestalled any retort from Susie but earned him a glare.





“Sorry, I couldn’t hold it in any longer.”





Wesley laughed at the fake contriteness in Loftin’s voice. This feels good, thought Wesley. Knowing that these people were like family, brought a sense of belonging to a man who had never felt like he belonged anywhere.





“What about Christmas?”





“Well, let me look,” Susie glanced at her wall calendar and said, “Christmas is on a Tuesday this year so we should be able to have a special program on Sunday night without disrupting too many schedules. I’m sure Casey can work up something musically. Wait, didn’t you say something about the new member class finishing up about that time? We can do the membership ceremony that night.”





“Yeah,” said Wesley.





“And if the Tutweiler’s baby is delivered on time, we can do a christening ceremony. And don’t forget Santa Claus. We can have parents bring a wrapped gift for their kids and let Santa give them out after the service. Punch…cookies…have a little party.” Loftin laced his fingers behind his head, a cocky grin on his face like he had just solved all of their problems.





Wesley looked at them with a smile. “Looks like you two have done this before.”





Susie smiled sweetly. “A few times.”





“Can friend Lucky come?”





Susie sat in her chair and buried her face in her hands.





Chuckling at Susie’s misery, Wesley said, “Matthew, I have a problem. Maybe you can help me. With my busy schedule, I am afraid that Lucky is not getting enough exercise. I think he is getting fat and lazy. Do you think you could come by and play with him some during the week?”





Matthew, his mouth full of half-chewed food, immediately shot up from the floor and stood at attention. Struggling with swallowing as quickly as possible, he nearly choked, which elicited a gasp from Susie and a snort from Charles that earned him a glare from Susie.





“Take it easy Matthew. Swallow first.”





Swallowing forcibly, still standing at attention, Matthew said, “You mean, Preacher Wes that I could visit friend Lucky when I wanted to?”





Wesley smiled, loving this man as much as he could love a brother, and softly said, “I do.”





“You mean, Preacher Wes, that friend Lucky and I could play outside in the sun?”





“I do. He has a blue ball he loves to chase. If you throw it, he will chase it and bring it back to you.”





Matthew started breathing hard through his nose his chest rose and fell with every breath, his mouth worked without sound, and his eyes blinked furiously. Wesley watched all of this in amazement.





“Friend Lucky is an amazing friend, Preacher Wes.”





“Yes he is Matthew. And so are you.”





Wesley heard Susie whisper, “Oh,” as Matthew launched himself towards Wesley and hugged him tightly. In the process, Matthew dropped his bowl of grits, which Lucky, dutifully and expeditiously, cleaned up.