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Authors: Nikita Lynnette Nichols

BOOK: Lady Elect
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“Miranda, I know you feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now. And I understand that, at fifteen years old, you don't want the responsibility of having to care for a baby. But have you considered adoption as an alternative? There are so many people who'd love to adopt your baby and give it a good life.”
“We've talked about that,” Gladys said. “But Miranda doesn't want to go through the embarrassment of carrying a baby to term at fifteen years old.”
Arykah looked at Miranda. “Do you think of yourself as an embarrassment?”
“No.”
“Then you shouldn't think of your baby as an embarrassment either. All babies are miracles, no matter how they get here.”
Miranda wiped more tears from her face. “But folks will talk about me. What do I do when people walk up to me and say bad things?”
You tell them to kiss your
—Arykah immediately apologized to the Lord for her thought. She leaned forward and placed her elbows on top of her desk and folded her hands. “Sweetheart, you can't control what folks will and will not say about you. But remember this one thing; you don't owe anything to anybody. I want you to repeat after me. Ain't nobody got a heaven or hell to put me in.”
Miranda slowly said the words. “Ain't nobody got a heaven or hell to put me in.”
“Say it louder,” Arykah encouraged.
“Ain't nobody got a heaven or hell to put me in.”
“Whatever decision you make, Miranda, I want you to make it because it's something that
you
want to do. Please don't base your decision on what other folks might say about you. I can't tell you what to do, but I do want to put something in your mind. In your womb may be a future president of our country. You really won't know what your child could be unless you afford it a chance at life. So, I want you to think about that and talk it over with your mom. She doesn't want you to have an abortion and, truth be told, I don't either, but the decision is yours.”
“I don't want an abortion anymore,” Miranda mumbled.
Gladys looked at her daughter. “What did you say?”
Miranda spoke with conviction in her voice. “I don't want to have an abortion. I wanna keep my baby.”
Gladys reached over and hugged Miranda. “I'm so happy to hear that. We're gonna get through this.”
Arykah was pleased with the outcome of the meeting, and she was happy that Gladys and Miranda came to her for help and guidance.
Miranda let go of the embrace from her mother and looked at Arykah. “Thank you, Lady Arykah. I'm so happy my mother made me talk to you.”
Arykah smiled. “You're welcome. My door is always open to you. You have a long, difficult road ahead of you, but if you ever get discouraged, come see me. And don't forget to send me an invitation to the baby shower.”
“Oh no. There won't be a baby shower,” Gladys said.
Arykah frowned. “I don't understand.”
“The mothers of the church don't condone unwed pregnant girls to have baby showers. They feel that throwing a baby shower for an unwed mother is an abomination against the Lord. Mother Pansie says that by giving Miranda a baby shower is approving of the sin she committed. She says that a baby shower is thrown to celebrate a new life that's conceived by married folks.”
“Mother Pansie told me that my baby will be a bastard and bastards aren't to be recognized or celebrated,” Miranda said.
Arykah sat behind her desk with her chin in her lap. Her mouth was open so wide, Miranda and Gladys could probably have seen what her last meal consisted of. “Never in all of my life have I heard such foolishness,” Arykah chuckled. By no means did Arykah think what Mother Pansie said to Miranda was humorous. The chuckle was a reaction to how much gall Mother Pansie had for uttering such evil and hateful words to a fifteen-year-old girl. It was quite sad at how low the mothers of the church would stoop to keep control over the women. “Miranda, listen to me. Being the pastor's wife, I have to step in and take action when I am made aware of wrongdoing in this church. I apologize for what Mother Pansie said to you about your baby, and I want you to let it roll off your back.” Arykah turned her attention to Gladys. “Now about the baby shower. How do you feel about it?”
“To be quite honest with you, Lady Arykah, I want Miranda to have a shower because I'm already struggling to support just the two of us. I know that I can't afford to purchase a stroller, a crib, a high chair, a swing, and everything else a baby needs.”
“Well, Gladys, if you feel that way, why would you let the mothers influence what you do for your own daughter and grandbaby?”
Gladys shrugged her shoulders. “I'm just trying to follow the wishes of the mothers of the church. They're full of wisdom.”
“They're full of something, but it ain't wisdom.” As soon as the words were out of Arykah's mouth, she regretted saying them. She had verbally expressed her private thoughts, which was something Lance had told her that she should never do when counseling people. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. But if you want to throw Miranda a baby shower, Gladys, then you should do it. She's
your
daughter, that's
your
grandbaby, and it'll be
your
finances that will suffer if you try to do this on your own. That's what baby showers are for. Miranda certainly can't sleep in a crib. She can't sit in a high chair nor can she fit in a bassinette. The gifts will be for your grandbaby, not Miranda.”
“I hear you, Lady Arykah. And thanks so much. Now we got one more hurdle to jump over,” Gladys said.
“What's that?”
“Mother Pansie told me that I have to stand before the church today and confess my sin. She said that I have to ask the church for forgiveness,” Miranda said.
“That's Mother Pansie's rule,” Gladys added. “Whenever a single woman or young girl becomes pregnant, Mother Pansie makes them stand before the church.”
It took every ounce of self-control and every fiber of Arykah's being to remain calm.
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it because the devil was writing on her tongue. The three of them sat in silence. Gladys and Miranda saw Arykah fighting with herself to force her own lips to stay sealed.
Finally, Arykah balled up her lips, opened her desk drawer, and withdrew a yellow sticky pad and a pen. On the pad she wrote,
“I'm trying to stay saved right now. Give me a minute to collect myself.”
She slid the note across the desk.
Gladys and Miranda read Arykah's note and laughed out loud.
“Okay,” Arykah said after she was able to dismiss what the devil wanted her to say.
She gained control of her own tongue. She had almost lost the battle, but she was able to remain in first-lady mode. “First of all, Miranda. That ain't happening. Not on
my
watch. You don't have to stand before the church and confess anything. The only one you owe an apology to is God. And only
He
can forgive your sins, not Mother Pansie, not Bishop Lance, and not me.”
Lance knocked on Arykah's door and looked inside. “It's time to make our way down to the sanctuary.”
Arykah smiled at her husband. She couldn't wait to tell him how disrespectful and out of control the mothers were. But right then wasn't the time to do so. She would save that conversation for pillow talk. “Okay. We're done here,” Arykah responded to Lance.
She looked at Gladys. “Are we good?”
Gladys stood and walked around to Arykah and hugged her. “Yep, we're good.”
Arykah let go of the embrace and looked at Miranda. “Are we good?”
Miranda stepped to Arykah and hugged her. “Yeah, Lady Arykah. We're real good now. Thank you so much. And I'll personally bring you an invitation to my baby shower.”
“Good. I already know what the Bishop and I will buy.”
 
 
Arykah was on her feet singing along with the choir when an usher came to her pew and extended his hand in Arykah's direction. Arykah looked down the center aisle and saw Myrtle Cortland slowly coming her way. Arykah smiled so brightly that it matched the sun. She didn't wait for Myrtle to reach the front pew. Arykah walked down the center aisle and met Myrtle halfway with open arms.
Everyone in the sanctuary saw Arykah meet and greet the elderly woman and wondered who she was.
Myrtle embraced Arykah and whispered, “It's all right now, Sugar Plum. Your help is here.”
Arykah allowed her emotions to take over, and she wept in Myrtle's arms. Lance was seated in the pulpit watching. He knew Myrtle was coming to visit Freedom Temple that morning. Monique called to inform him shortly after she had left Myrtle's house on Monday evening. Myrtle didn't want Arykah to know about her visit; she wanted to surprise her.
Arykah broke the embrace and looked in Myrtle's eyes. “I'm so happy you're here, Momma Cortland.”
Being the best friend of Myrtle's daughter-in-law certainly had its privileges. Not only was Monique the apple of Myrtle's eye, but so was Arykah. As far as Myrtle was concerned, Arykah wasn't just Monique's best friend, but Myrtle considered Arykah her daughter as well. The two of them had captured Myrtle's heart the moment Boris had introduced them to her years ago.
Myrtle grabbed Arykah by the hand, and the two of them walked to the front pew and sat down next to Monique. Mother Gussie and Mother Pansie were seated behind Arykah, Myrtle, and Monique.
“Welcome to Freedom Temple, Gravy,” Monique said.
Myrtle leaned into Monique. “Where are they?”
“Right behind us.”
Myrtle turned all the way around to face Mother Gussie and Mother Pansie. She addressed them both. “The two of you can get ready to make room for me on that pew.” She turned back around and patted Arykah on her knee. “It's gonna be all right now, Sugar Plum. Mother Cortland is here.” Myrtle didn't see nor would she have cared about the mothers' raised eyebrows.
Mother Gussie and Mother Pansie didn't say a word, but they certainly wondered who Myrtle was and why they needed to make room on the pew for her. They got their answer when Lance opened the doors to the church. That was when Myrtle stood and went to the altar.
After the benediction, Arykah stood next to Lance at the sanctuary door. She told Lance that she would stand with him after church and greet the members, and she kept her word. They both shook hands with the members as they exited the church.
“Lady Arykah, I love those heels,” Chelsea said.
“Thanks, Chelsea. I saw you strutting in those boots this morning. Those are too cute.”
Chelsea lifted up her long skirt so that Arykah could get a better look at how the boots fit her calves. “I am so happy that you hooked me up. If there is anything that I can do for you, Lady Arykah, please let me know.” Chelsea meant those words wholeheartedly.
“As a matter of fact, Chelsea, I'm putting something together that I want you to be a part of. How can I reach you?”
Chelsea reached in her purse for scratch paper and a pen. She jotted her cellular number down and gave the paper to Arykah.
Arykah took the piece of paper from Chelsea, folded it, and slid it in her bra. “Thanks, I'll be in touch.”
Chelsea hugged Arykah, shook Lance's hand, and then left the church.
When Arykah and Lance shook the last hand, they ascended the stairs to their offices.
Arykah opened her door and saw Myrtle and Monique sitting on the sofa inside.
Besides Lance, Monique was the only other person with a key to the new lock on Arykah's office door.
“Momma Cortland, you don't know what it meant for me to see you walking down that aisle. And you joined the church. That was totally unexpected.”
“That was the plan,” Myrtle said.
Arykah took off her hat and stepped out of the stilettos. “What plan?”
Myrtle looked at Monique and smiled.
Arykah looked at Monique. “What is she talking about? Did you know Momma Cortland was coming to join the church?”
“I knew she was coming, but I assumed it was to just visit. I was shocked when she stood and joined the church. But what really made my eyes pop out of my head was when she told the mothers to make room on that pew. I had no idea what that meant. Now I do.”
“Oh my goodness, I heard what you said to the mothers,” Arykah said to Myrtle. “I wanted to turn around and look at the expressions on their faces so bad.”
Before another word could be said, Arykah's office door opened and Mother Pansie stormed in and approached her. “Did you tell Miranda that she didn't have to stand before the church and ask for forgiveness for getting pregnant?”

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