The Atonement (23 page)

“
I will admit that you’re a
good debater, Mr. Bynum, however I’m still not quite persuaded,”
said Allyson, however, she could not help but to consider the words
he spoke and where they came from. They were very powerful indeed,
and she had to admit that she had exhausted her arguments, but
Allyson could be as stubborn as her brother at times. She hated to
admit that she was wrong even when it was proven to her, simply
because she didn’t like the fact that someone else could be
right.

“
I kind of figured, but I’ll
keep praying that one day God works through someone or something to
change your mind,” said the Pastor.

“I don’t see why you keep browbeating her. I
think we should respect her beliefs and leave her alone, rather
than badger her into believing something that’s more acceptable to
you,” said Callie.

“No one is trying to badger her. Just like
for her to see things from a point of truth,” said the Pastor.

“
Exactly. How can he know
the way of life and not share it with her? He wants to help her.
That’s what the preaching of the gospel is about, Callie,” said
Lena.

“How can you be so sure your way is the right
way?” said Callie.

“Because the Bible says so!” said Mother
Rose.

“Who says the Bible is right?” said
Callie.

“God does! He’s the One that wrote it!”
replied Mother rose angrily.

“That’s what you think! Where’s your
proof?!”

“Let me tell you something…” began Mother
Rose.

“Now, Rose, just calm down. You can’t get
through to someone that way,” said the Pastor.

“Honestly, how can you all be so
hypocritical! You jumped down her throat when you felt she
disrespected your beliefs, now you’re disrespecting hers?!” said
Callie who was becoming more and more emotional by the minute.

“You need to check your girl, Al,” whispered
Riley to Allen who just ignored her.

“Callie, that was not my intention,” said the
Pastor.

“I certainly wasn’t offended,” offered
Allyson. She had no idea why this woman was getting so upset. It’s
not like they were all arguing and the dude was yelling at her.

“Exactly. Pastor Bynum wasn’t disrespecting
her. He was just explaining…” began Tim.

“So why did he express the fact that he wants
her to change? As if she even needs to change? No one has the right
to tell another person what they should or shouldn’t believe,” said
Callie.

“Al, you better check her before Uncle Vern
does it, southern style,” warned Riley again, motioning to Allen’s
dad who was looking more irritated by the minute.

“Callie, calm down,” said Allen taking hold
of Callie’s arm.

“No!” she said snatching away from his grasp,
her eyes fixed on the Pastor. “You’re supposed to be a man of God
and yet you’re being so mean spirited and narrow-minded!”

“Now hold on! I got to get up in this right
now. There’s a way to disagree without being disrespectful and you
done crossed the line,” said Vernon.

“I can’t believe this! So expressing an
opposing view is disrespectful?” said Callie.

“When you start calling people names and
fixin’ your mouth to tell somebody off it is. You don’t ever have a
right to get up in the face of your elders, especially if he’s a
man of God and he’s in my house!” said Vernon.

“Vernon, it’s all right, she’s just…” began
Pastor Bynum.

“
I’m sorry pastor, but I
don’t think it is. Now, If you don’t like what the pastor got to
say, you can go to him on your own time and discuss it rational
like you got some sense, but you sho’ ain’t gonna sit in my house
and sass the Pastor like you his momma! And if you don’t like what
I’m puttin’ down you can leave right now!” said Vernon.

“It would be my pleasure,” said Callie before
she stormed out of the dining room.

“Callie!” said Allen following her.

“Let her go, Allen! Let her go,” warned
Vernon. “I got a feelin’ she come back in here, I’ma have to take
my belt off! Some of these young folk today just don’t have any
manners.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,
Vern. I can’t believe the gall of that young woman!” said Mother
Rose.

“You know what the Word say
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of
this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places,” said
Lena.
⁵

“Amen,” said Mother Rose, “And that’s a devil
if I’ve ever seen one.”

“I wouldn’t say that. She’s just a lost and
confused soul. Vernon, I was gonna try to talk to her,” said the
Pastor.

“Uhn-uh, some people don’t
want to talk, they just want to fight. I felt the zeal of Phineas
welling up in me.
⁶
Wasn’t no way I was gonna let that nonsense slide.
Sometimes you just got to rebuke the devil.”

“Pop Vernon’s right, Daddy. That’s just the
way she is. I just feel sorry for her,” said Tamiko.

“I am truly sorry for you, Lena. I have no
idea what Allen could possibly see in her!” said Mother Rose.

“You and me both. Now I know
how Isaac and Rebekah felt when Esau married those two Ishmaelite
girls,” said Lena.
⁷

Now that the conflict had subsided, Allyson
felt it was her cue to leave. She’d had enough excitement with
these people for today. It was now almost 6:00 and there were
things she needed to do for school. But at least they were
interesting, especially the afro-girl, and Allen’s dad who seemed
to be the reincarnation of her beloved Poppa.

“I hate to interrupt, but it is getting
rather late and I have school work I have to finish,” said
Allyson.

“Oh, but you haven’t had dessert yet. Do you
want me to fix you a serving to take home?” asked Lena.

“That won’t be necessary. I think I’m quite
full.”

“Are you sure? I noticed you didn’t have much
to eat. I hate to have people walk away from my house hungry if I
can help it.”

It seemed as if Mrs. Sharpe was actually
trying to show some type of motherly concern for her. While her
manner seemed quite inviting, Allyson was wary if she should trust
it.

“No, thank you, Mrs. Sharpe. I’ll be
fine.”

“I’ll walk you to your car,” said Tim.

“Okay, then. Goodnight dear and God bless
you,” said Lena giving her a hug – a real hug. Not the stand
off-ish pats her mother gave. Allyson was startled by such an
endearing gesture from someone she’d only known for a few
hours.

“Goodnight, Mrs. Sharpe.”

All of the others bid her farewell and Mrs.
Sharpe made her promise to have dinner with them again before
Allyson and Tim left.

“Your friend, Callie, has issues.”

“Tell me about it. Nothing like you were
expecting, was it?”

“No. They’re not as big a freak show as I’d
hoped. Still strange none the less.”

“Will we be seeing you next Sunday?”

“If my investigation warrants it. I feel I’ve
seen a lot already.”

“Remember it’s to your advantage to extend
your research. I’m sure our mother can afford it.”

“Like I said. We’ll see.”

“Allyson.”

“What?” she asked peevishly.

“I’m glad you came.”

Allyson closed her car door, put the car in
drive and drove off. She didn’t care how Tim felt one way or the
other. The only thing that mattered to Allyson was her own agenda.
So far, there seemed to be nothing really dubious about the people
that her brother was hanging around. Honestly, they didn’t seem to
be a cult, either. Most cult churches were members only and did not
appreciate visits from outsiders unless they had been halfway
convinced before they showed up. The fact that they tolerated
Allen’s agnostic girlfriend, and even her own views were
indications that the church was just what it was – a church.
Overall, they just seemed like as bunch of folksy, superstitious,
people who were really enthusiastic about worshipping their god. It
all left Allyson puzzled. What would Tim want with these people?
Did he also think Mr. Sharpe was like Poppa? He was a very country
version of Poppa though. Maybe Tim was attracted to these people
because they were like a real family. Even she had to admit that
although they were a bit strange, they were not as bad as the mess
of loosely connected people that she had to call family. The only
way she was going to find out what Tim was doing here would be to
spend more time with him and the rest of them. So far things hadn’t
turned out so bad. They weren’t obnoxious people. Allyson didn’t
mind the prospect of being around them just so long as she didn’t
have to become one of them.

Twenty-Two

Callie walked quickly down
153
^rd
and Broadway in the area known to most as the polo grounds.
After working a double-shift at the emergency, Callie was able to
get off work early and decided to take advantage of this
opportunity to continue her investigation. After that dinner
fiasco, Callie was determined to try to get Allen away from as many
bad influences as possible, but she had to be patient and deal with
one thing at a time. First, she had to work on breaking his
connection with Jim. She’d worry about his domineering family of
religious zealots later.

It had been a long time since she’d lived in
the projects around here with her mother. It had been dangerous
back then during the height of the crack wars, and had only become
marginally less so after the Giuliani reign of terror of the late
90’s. But Callie was known in these parts; she had connections and
she felt this afforded her some protection in such a dicey
neighborhood. She had partied with a lot of different people from
these parts during her high school years, and remained on good
terms with them, no matter what happened to them. Some of the cool
guys ended up becoming drug dealers, and some of the ‘fly girls’
ended up on welfare with a couple of kids. There were some that
ended up strung out, but she never allowed her own marginal success
in life to cause her to look down on them. Callie knew that in
America, any success a black person enjoyed was tenuous at best and
a job loss or health crisis could throw her into the same kind of
situation – just like the friend she was looking for right now.

It hadn’t been that long
since she’d seen Valerie, though nowadays most people called her
‘Spade’, which was shortened from “the Queen of Spades”, because
she used to know how to hustle at the epynonymous card game.
Sometimes Callie would see Spade when she took the subway home from
work instead of driving. The last time she saw her was a couple of
weeks ago in the train station at 125
^th
Street and Broadway where the
1 train ran. Spade was standing at the far end of the platform,
looking dazed and confused, and holding a box full of raffle candy.
She had on a dirty, short cut, brown wig, and a cheap-looking,
revealing outfit that was stained. When Callie stopped to say hi,
she found Spade was trying to sell the candy. She was probably
trying to make some money on the side, since her pimp was probably
taking most of the money she made as a prostitute. Callie bought
several bars. Although it was very likely that Spade was going to
use the money to get high, Callie still wanted to show her old
acquaintance some support.

No matter how many times she’d seen her it
was hard for Callie to believe she was looking at the same Valerie
Taylor: the girl that every girl in the Essex Houses wanted to be.
She was beautiful, popular, and she had a little after school job
at a trendy retail chain, which helped her to be able to afford
nice clothes. Finally, she had every boy on the block wanting to be
her boyfriend. She went to a different high school than Callie, but
they knew each other because they had been neighbors in the same
building. Valerie and her mom were always having a party and Callie
was always invited. When Valerie wasn’t partying, she was at the
club, and she usually invited Callie to go along with her. At the
clubs, guys always flocked to her, but then would pretend that
Callie was invisible. When Valerie saw how they were treating
Callie, she would check them and let them know that guys who
disrespected her friends would not be getting any attention from
her. “What happened to you, Val?” Callie wondered about her
friend.

It might have begun that day when she knocked
on Callie’s door asking to use the phone to call a cab because her
mother had just put her out. It was strange because up until that
point, Val and her mom had always been the best of friends. Val had
told Callie she was going to stay with her father, but it wasn’t a
few months later that she saw her going into a park restroom with
some shady looking dude.

Callie shuddered, and she couldn’t tell if it
was the cold wind or the memory. She buttoned the front of her
jacket and tied the belt tight to keep the cold out and picked up
her pace. Callie had to move quickly. She only had a short window
of time before she had to pick up Darius from daycare. Callie
slowed her walk when she got to the area where she knew the local
drug spot was in. She stopped at the block before it and kept an
eye out. She didn’t know if there were cops watching, and she
didn’t want to be mistaken for a regular customer. Since there was
a bus station nearby, Callie thought it prudent to continue her
stake out from there, so as not to arouse anyone’s suspicions about
what she was doing. There would be three buses that came and went
before she spotted the object of her interest.

As suspected, Spade was
leaving the spot and heading down the street. Callie got up from
her perch and followed her until she was near a run down shelter on
151
^st
Street. Callie tried to make it seem like a chance encounter,
by bumping into her from behind.