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  Mateo hated how just earlier Sonic had planted a seed that reminded him of the lust he used to have for women, and how he used to displease God with the women he led astray in his bedroom—the women who would worship him while they did their pretzel-bending exercises while forgetting about the Savior they had professed to love just hours before. Mateo loved the attention he got in the bedroom and felt that was the ultimate highlight of being a man.

  Back when his mother was active in the Catholic Church, Mateo used to go in his own mind, thinking that he was god and that he knew the way. After meeting with Hammer and taking his salvation seriously, Mateo was beginning to change not only how he felt about God, but how he saw himself being left out of His Kingdom. Mateo began to confess within himself that he did not have a heaven or a hell to put anyone in and started to take this visit with the Lord seriously.

  For the first time in his life, when Mateo heard Minister Harmon pray about escaping strongholds and dealing with the battle of spirit verses flesh, Mateo felt convicted. When he’d stray from the prayer to Amirah, he couldn’t get the tall, full-figured beauty out of his mind. Being that he was a few inches shorter than her five foot ten frame, she was definitely among one of the tallest women he’d ever pursued. He enjoyed the thought of what it would be like to take her down like Chris Brown. At the end of the prayer, his thoughts changed to how he could show her the godly man he had the potential to become.

  “But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” Amirah read Acts 16:25-26 aloud, and at that moment, Mateo felt convicted. He knew in his spirit that Amirah was serious about her work and mission to serve God. There he sat, lusting after her as if she were one of the women in his old collection of dirty magazines. He blinked his eyes for a minute, and when he opened them again, he no longer saw the pretty face that had a body stacked with thickness in the appropriate areas to his liking. He saw a woman of God that he wanted to get to know on a more spiritually intimate basis. The conviction continued when he realized that Amirah was worth more than the one night stand his flesh saw her as.

  The rest of the study was a blur. He didn’t remember what the rest of Acts 16 was about, but at that moment, he was dealing with a bigger, deeper purpose. Mateo heard a voice say, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” He thought that he was in the presence of a ghost when he saw Minister Harmon stretch out his hands and welcome sinners to the congregation.

  “You are never too young to give your life to Christ,” Minister Harmon continued. “If you don’t know today whether or not your name is in the Book of Life, then this is the chance of a lifetime. Come, give your life to Christ today, because you may not get another opportunity once you walk out of the door.”

  Mateo watched as two young men lifted their frames from the seats closest to him. Like Tyson Gay at the Olympics, they rushed to the stage as if they were doing the last lap of a relay. Mateo closed his eyes, and tears flowed from them like honey dripping from a hive. Mateo looked around and was surprised to see Sonic praising God and shouting “Hallelujah!” from his seat.

  “That’s the power of God right there. We got two souls around my age giving their lives to Christ and accepting the free gift of salvation.” Minister Harmon kneeled down to pray with the two men.

  Mateo turned to his left and didn’t see anyone, but on his right side was a woman he’d almost had an intimate encounter with shortly after his salvation. The initial walk with Christ was a challenge for Mateo and one that would tempt him to backslide. He recognized the woman, remembering that he’d met her at a charity event before the end of the prior school year. He didn’t remember her name, but he remembered all of the foul and cruel things he’d said to this woman.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. I pray she’ll forgive me, he thought as he reached out for a hug. He was surprised when the woman hugged him back.

  “God is so good!” Sonic could be heard yelling.

  Mateo felt good that while he may not have known the Bible nor could he quote scripture the way a few others at the study could, he was on his way to building a relationship with the One whom he could trust the most.

  “I forgive you,” he heard the lady say as they let go of their embrace.

  Minister Harmon walked around and gave Mateo and every other person without one a small Bible, and he encouraged them to come to Gospel United Christian Center to hear him preach the upcoming series. For the first time, Mateo made a promise he intended on keeping.

  Even though he was enjoying his work at Guiding Light Ministry Center, he saw himself visiting Gospel United Christian Center on a more frequent basis.

  Chapter Seven

  What To Do

  Amirah and Aja were shaking their heads as their green-and-white clown wigs bounced from side to side as they did their routine to André 3000’s “Hey Ya!” They had practiced the routine for a couple of hours prior to their performance at a young lady’s sixth birthday. The girl’s mother, Ms. Parker, attended Gospel United Christian Center with them on Sunday mornings, and it was their performance at the birthday party for the pastor’s daughter that got them the business they had today.

  When Amirah wasn’t teaching at the local high school, and her friend Aja wasn’t working as an accountant, they owned and operated the Stars & Glory Entertainment Company. They dressed as clowns and performed at different occasions, usually at birthday parties and other gatherings for children under the age of eleven. After their first year in business, they were considered for a local minority business award, and even though they didn’t win, they were happy to be recognized. They were well known and respected for their wholesome routines that usually were performed to hip gospel music, but every now and then, they’d do a routine for a secular song.

  They pulled out Polaroid pictures and encouraged the kids to get up and shake it like André told them to. Then they reverted back to the ’50s and ’60s style dancing, and they were doing a good job at keeping the younger kids engaged. Amirah and Aja looked around the backyard at the kids and smiled, as they could see that they were finishing another successful birthday routine.

  Something next door briefly caught Amirah’s eye. A girl with a pink top on was opening the window and holding back the white lace curtains. Amirah didn’t think much about what she was seeing at first, so she put her attention back on the kids. Once their routine was finished, they escorted the kids back to the picnic table, where they sang the Stevie Wonder version of “Happy Birthday” to the sweet little birthday girl, Maliyah.

  “And let’s thank Amirah and Aja for a wonderful performance,” Ms. Parker instructed before she cut the cake and began serving the children. The round of applause brought a smile to the girls’ faces. They picked up the props and materials that they used for the celebration and they began putting away their things.

  “That was a wonderful performance,” said Mrs. Gourdine, the jubilant wife of one of the deacons at the church.

  “Thank you,” Amirah replied as she looked at the older, plump lady in her bright orange business suit and matching hat that was accentuated by an orange-and-white lace ribbon tied into a bow at the top.

  “Do you have your calendars with you?” Mrs. Gourdine continued. “I would like to book you ladies in about a month for my sister’s daughter’s party. I know you don’t remember Renessa, but she’s the deaf child I bring with me to church every now and then.”

  “I’ll get that for you.” Aja handled her part of the business. She left Amirah with Mrs. Gourdine, who asked a few questions about the routines and the music and the costumes. Usually Amirah and Aja tried to accommodate whatever requests the parents asked for, because that was their secret to keeping satisfied customers and more referrals.

  Amirah was getting ready to respond to one of Mrs. Gourd
ine’s questions when she noticed a pair of Air Jordan’s hanging out of the window of the house next door. She also recognized the older gentleman, who bore a striking resemblance to the father of one of her students, turning his key in the front door.

  “Oh, gosh. I know that Xen is not hanging out of Rasheeda’s window,” Amirah thought out loud, shocked by what she saw at one of her student’s home.

  “Excuse me, what did you say?” Mrs. Gourdine brought her attention to her conversation.

  “I apologize, ma’am. I was distracted.” Amirah tried to bring her attention back to the business at hand. “Aja is on her way now, so we can work together to come up with some ideas for your niece’s party.”

  “Hey, Mrs. Gourdine, here’s the calendar.” Aja stopped in her tracks when the boy hanging out the window caught her attention. When her jaw dropped, Mrs. Gourdine noticed what was drawing Aja’s and Amirah’s attention away from their conversation.

  Xen’s loose-fitting light blue jeans were hanging off his butt, and he was struggling to pull them up as he was working his way out of Rasheeda’s window. All three of them could see the crack of Xen’s behind and his well-defined backside, as he was losing the battle to keep it all together. Xen dropped into the bushes, ripping his shirt on the way down. Amirah shook her head. Her students had embarrassed her yet again.

  “That boy ought to be ashamed of himself,” Mrs. Gourdine started. “If you come in the front door, you ought to leave out the same way.” All three of them noticed Rasheeda closing the window and fixing the curtains. “She didn’t even look down to see if the boy was okay.”

  They continued to watch as Xen jumped up and dusted himself off. He quickly fixed his pants, adjusted the belt, and bolted out of the yard. Rasheeda’s father exited the door and was running down the street not too far behind him.

  “Ha! Serves him right,” Mrs. Gourdine continued, the only one being entertained by the situation. “I hope he gets caught.”

  Under normal circumstances, Amirah would’ve gone along with that statement, but the last time she suspected that Xen and Rasheeda were playing “grown-up games” in the school bathroom, she got in trouble with Mrs. Ingle for not reporting it.

  Aja redirected the conversation back to the business at hand, and Mrs. Gourdine pulled out her cell phone and got her sister on the phone. Once they agreed on a date, they rejoined the birthday party.

  Amirah couldn’t help but wonder whether Xen made it home safely, or if he had to face the consequences of being in Rasheeda’s room. She knew she would find out the answer if Xen showed up to her class the next day. She said a quick prayer that he made it home safely and that she’d see him in one piece. Though she couldn’t praise him for his actions, Amirah couldn’t bear the thought of something bad happening to him.

  Chapter Eight

  Stackin’ Paper

  “Man, I didn’t think you were going to make it!” Sonic yelled out of the car window when he pulled up to Mateo’s room. Sonic’s room was only two doors down.

  Mateo took a step back and looked over at his boy. He had been waiting on Sonic to arrive for the last twenty minutes. He looked out the window periodically, then gathered his things and left his room once he saw Sonic pull up. Sonic sported a tapered-faded crew cut that showcased three different shades of blue going from dark to light. His dark blue sleeveless jacket hoodie blended in with his baggy blue jeans.

  “I decided to try something different,” Sonic suggested as he spoke over the upbeat 21:03 tune booming from his stereo.

  “Different . . .” Mateo opened the door and slid into the seat. “Right.” Mateo put on his seatbelt then turned around and looked at all of the clothes that Sonic had piled up in the backseat of the car. Grunge wear, leather vests and jackets, and ripped designer jeans floated on top of a sea of shoes and boots.

  “You should’ve let me try on some of this stuff before you threw it in the back seat.” Mateo turned around and watched as Sonic backed out of the space and got onto the road.

  “Man, please.” Sonic turned the radio up a few notches. “I tried to get you to try on some of this stuff, and you complained about how you didn’t want to look like a punk rocker.”

  “I don’t want to look like a punk rocker,” Mateo defended as he rolled the window down a little bit. “I’m just saying that some of this stuff would look fly in my closet, that’s all. Anyway, where are we going?”

  “I was on Craigslist and I found this little spot in Greensboro that said they would give me a few hundred dollars for all the pieces I have.” Sonic smiled as he backed out of the driveway.

  Mateo smiled too. He knew what time it was, and they needed to get that paper.

  “Will that be enough to remove the T from your back?” Mateo questioned as they got on I-240 East heading toward Swannanoa.

  At one point in time, Sonic had a tramp stamp with Turner’s name right above the formation of his rump. He also used to have nipple piercings and a slew of tats commemorating Turner’s gang, favorite quotes, and lifestyles. That was how Turner branded Sonic as his property.

  Since they had broken up for good almost eight months ago, Sonic had gone through the painstaking task of getting a total body transformation. First, he removed the set of nipple rings with spinners. Then he removed the navel ring and one of the tats with Turner’s name from his neck. Throughout the process, Sonic also started working out at the YWCA near his job, where he’d managed to add fifteen pounds of muscle to his still lanky frame.

  “Nah.” Sonic shook his head. “But it’s enough to get me that much-needed appointment with the urologist to make sure that Prince Albert I used to have healed the way it was supposed to.”

  Mateo squirmed in his seat as he remembered that Sonic did tell him he was pierced down there. Just the thought of it made his stomach turn.

  “I told you it didn’t hurt as—” Sonic started to make an excuse.

  Mateo cut him off. “Sonic, you have a high tolerance for pain. I only want to deal with the kind that comes with making babies with my wife.”

  “Speaking of wife, how are things going on His-Love. com?” Sonic asked as I-240 merged into I-40. Their destination was still about three hours away.

  “I’m good. Some women have hit me up. I haven’t found anyone that I want to spend a few minutes talking to. I did connect with some online book clubs, though.”

  “Really?”

  “I wish I’d brought a book with me. I found this book, Brother Word by Derek Jackson, that I meant to download on my Nook reader.” Mateo told him, “I wanted to get the paperback but couldn’t find it in the stores anywhere.”

  “Reach in my glove compartment and grab the Green Dot card.” Sonic grabbed a can of sparkling water that was sitting in the console. “Go ahead and load the book on your phone.”

  “Naw, man.” Mateo turned to him. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Mateo, if you don’t get that card.” Sonic started to reach into the glove compartment. “I appreciate you traveling all over North and South Carolina so we can dump all this stuff Turner gave me or I bought when I was with him. You take very little money, even when you have to look over your shoulder to make sure we are both squared away. Buy the book.”

  Mateo reached into the compartment and was surprised to see the card on top of the manual for the car and the registration.

  “I always keep the card in the car in case of emergencies,” Sonic reminded him.

  “I still think you should keep it in the room,” Mateo countered.

  “I change the location every so often. I only keep it—” Sonic started.

  “To get gas in the car, a motel room, and to buy some food if you need to,” Mateo finished for him. “I remember.”

  “I’m not going to lie to you—I used to think those cards were the devil, the way they take fee after fee and will put you in the negative to take their fees.” Sonic continued as Trin-i-Tee 5:7 could be heard in the background. “But I learned to save
money that way. I learned how to put aside money for tithes and offerings, my living expenses, and everything else.”

  “How?” Mateo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d heard all the horror stories about how the companies that issued prepaid cards charged so many fees that they wiped the users out.

  “Well, when I was with Turner—even before I was with him—I always had a job, so I always had access to credit cards.” Sonic continued as J. Moss followed his protégés with an upbeat track, “Turner would give me the money to pay them off, and I shopped like a king. Without Turner, I had no way to pay for the cards I was using, so I weaned myself off of them when I knew I was going to try to leave Turner the first time.

  “As I started buying the prepaid cards, I noticed that some of them didn’t charge as much to keep the cards as others. I also knew it would be a while before I came up with the money to pay Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BB&T and PNC all the money I owed them, so I called the banks one by one and started paying off the ones that had the lowest balances. Once one bank got paid off, I’d work on the next bank. BB&T was nice enough to let me keep my credit card with them provided I maintained my checking account. That’s when everything really picked up for me financially.

  “When I first got on with Burgers & Fries, they were still giving everyone paychecks every week. Then they went with this system where they would direct deposit to a company-issued prepaid card. As long as I worked at Burgers & Fries or a job where I get direct deposit, the company waives the monthly charge. When I get money for selling stuff, I deposit the money to my BB&T account, and then I transfer the money from the BB&T account to the prepaid card.

  “At the bank, I found that they would allow me to electronically pay the credit cards, so instead of paying by money order, I saved money making electronic deposits to the bank. I had a nice banker who talked me into putting five hundred dollars into a certificate of deposit. Once I got saved and joined Guiding Light Ministries, I found out that the church allowed people to pay their tithes and offerings via PayPal.