Chronicles of
Janice B.
Life from the
“A” – No the Other “A” – Asheville
Dreams
One of my new
favorite quotes is “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of
your dreams” Oprah Winfrey. As all of
you know I moved to Asheville to do just that ~ become the great writer that I
know is inside of me!!! LOL. So I have
been working on my third novel called Angel’s War. I am going to provide you with a sneak
preview of the novel. I would like for
each of you to read it and provide a detailed analysis (just a fancy way of
saying what’s your opinion of the story J) Now it’s a
total rough draft so please don’t contact me about grammar errors! That’s why I pay an editor! LOL.
Now the first two people who email me back with a detailed opinion ~
meaning more than just “I like the story etc. (you need to at least tell me in
a couple of paragraphs why you like it or why you don’t like it) will get a
free copy of one of my other books. So
here goes:
Angel’s War
Prolog
“You fucking cu..”. The Bishop
yelled slowly rising from his massive desk.
“My my my, choice words for a
Bishop.”
“You think you can ruin
me? Huh you little bitch!”
“You
have a stellar vocabulary. I see your
fancy college education is paying off. If your congregation could see you now.”
The Bishop was fully erect now. He
reached under his desk and pulled out a silver plated nine millimeter, placing
it on top of the desk. He had all sorts
of thoughts running through his mind. He
just couldn’t go out like this. He’s
been on top far to long to let some little smartass bitch take him down like he
was nothing. Blinding rage clouded his vision.
He gripped his gun harder. His
hearing was muffled. The last thing he
heard was,
“Great
now the big bad Bishop needs to hide behind a gun? What you gonna do shoot me? Go ahead shoot me. You fucking coward….BANG. The gun went off, the smoke cleared…
Chapter 1
“Help
me!” Jamelah better known as Angel screamed as she woke up from her fitful
nap. Thank God no one noticed as usual,
the church was in a frenzy from some bullshit sermon the Bishop was preaching.
Angel couldn’t shake the dream she just had. It was creepy she thought. Still
fuzzy, all she could remember was some dark figure surrounding her taunting,
“so you think you’re the chosen one.” It
felt so real but I’m in church she thought.
Aren’t demons afraid of church? She asked herself. All though her father
was the bishop she tried not to get too much into religion. Religion was a farce.
Angel
closed her eyes trying to go back to sleep desperately trying to drown out her
father’s sermon. Although, fiery, she
just couldn’t take hearing him anymore.
She had no respect for the man who proclaimed he was appointed by God to
save this heathen world. She saw her
father commit some despicable acts growing up including bribing the registrar’s
office to get her into school. Angel intentionally got expelled.
That’s my
dad the great Bishop EL Tate, Angel thought sitting in the first pew at Greater
Missionary Vision church. The E L stands for Edward Lawrence but for some
reason the Bishop always says E.L. as if it gives him greater importance. “He’s
going to hell.” Angel whispered to
herself as she slumps down into her seat wishing she could disappear. She hated
this church and hated her father even more.
At
the age of nineteen Angel was a self-proclaimed atheist. She hated everything about organized
religion. She felt that Greater
Missionary Baptist was no more than a well ran mob and her father the biggest
gangster in the South.
The church
was the biggest mega church in the southeast.
It owned banks. It developed
housing communities. It owned several grocery stores and the church was
embarking on their biggest venture yet, a multimillion dollar shopping mall
outside the city of Atlanta.
“Call
me Poppa”, still rings in her ears. She was
dropped off on his doorstep at the tender age of two when the first lady’s
armor bearer realized the “Great Bishop E.L. Tate” was not under any
circumstances going to leave his wife for her. Some way he got rid of her but
wanted to keep his flesh and blood near him.
The rumor is he killed her. She
was never seen again. He didn’t do it with his own hands because of course the
“Great E. L. Tate couldn’t have blood on them.
He instructed his right hand man to do it. All his dirty works goes through him and I am
sure he was all too happy to oblige in this situation.
His
right hand man was Gregory Hobbs, Belinda Hobbs’ husband. Belinda was my slut of a mother who thought
she could seduce my dad away from Momma Sessilee of course I couldn’t just call
her momma. That would have been too
painful for her especially since she couldn’t have children of her own. I was a constant reminder of her husband’s
indiscretion and her bareness. I could
see her hatred of me in her eyes. I
can’t blame her though. Her husband
trying to pass me off has her child, while everyone in the church knew I was a
bastard and she so desperately trying to give him an heir to the so called Tate
religious empire.
Momma Sessilee basically bought
my father. Momma Sessilee’s family is the richest family in our community and
the most gangster. Her father the
honorable Bishop Telfalgar ran the city of Athens. He had the biggest Baptist church in the
area. His church had 8 thousand
members. That was unheard of in that
area especially with a population of 86 thousand people. He was the man in the area. Whatever he said went. Every politician was at his beck and call. They knew without his endorsement they were
nothing and without his say nothing would get accomplished.
With
all his power and influence Bishop Telfalgar was very unhappy. His wife was unable to give him an heir.
After ten years of marriage she was only able to produce a simple minded
daughter, Sessilee. He loved his
daughter so much but she was dumb as a box of rocks. All he could ever hope for was she married
well. He wanted her to marry a strong
man of god someone he could trust to take over his empire and expand it.
He prayed
for that day and night. As soon as she
graduated from high school he sent her to Atlanta to Spellman in hopes of
meeting a good man. Not just any man a Morehouse man. One who was trained and equipped to be
leaders and pillar’s of the community.
They both were happy she brought daddy home.
But really looking at it I think my Dad got the better end of the deal. He was a skinny black boy from Alabama. He came to the big city in hopes of making it
big. His dusty little church in Muscle
Shoals, AL wasn’t enough for him. He had
mega church dreams. Sessilee was the
first person he met fresh off the bus.
He was a Morehouse man. Sessilee
was a Spellman girl. They were
inseparable from their freshman year that is after Sessilee brought the daddy
to her father’s church and then to their home for dinner.
The good
bishop saw the extravagance of their home.
It was a 3 story brick Tudor home secluded off an expansive lake. The
house was patterned after Queen Elizabeth herself. It was nestled in a thicket of trees as if it
had its very own forest. No one could see it from the road. It was a mini castle nestled all by itself
and Jack Trefalgar was the king.
When you
stepped through the door you were in a grand foyer bejeweled with gold trim and
rich opulent red high back queen Ann chairs.
What got the bishop was the butler.
When he opened that door for the first time, and announced him, the
bishop was astounded. All the bishop had to see was the wealth and he was
hooked. I don’t even think he liked
Sessilee all that much. He was hungry
for the fame and fortune. Grandpa Jack,
Sessilee’s father was a well-respected pastor at that time. His ministry just went televised. He had more church investments and holdings
than any other church in the tri-state area.
He was looked at as one of the first televangelist pioneers.
The story
goes Grandpa Jack took an instant liking to Daddy. He said he reminded him of himself when he
was younger. He said Daddy had that eye
of the tiger look and Grandpa Jack knew instantly that he would take care of
Momma Sessilee and the family business.
He was worried about that because he knew his child well. She was beautiful but a simpleton. She would never be able to run his
empire. They couldn’t have any more
children so his only hope was for Sessilee to marry well.
They had a
world win courtship. It was more like
negotiated merger. After daddy’s third year in college, Grandpa Jack called him
to the mansion for a discussion without Momma Sessilee.
“Edward, I
called you here today because I want to discuss a very important matter. Bishop Talfalger said. He was sitting in his expansive office. He chair to his massive King Henry desk
looked as if he was sitting on a thrown.
He had this hard stare in his black beady eyes. He was a large man. He hands were the size of basketballs. He was 6’6”, dark as tar with a full beard,
and had a large scar over his left eye.
He claims he got the scar in a gang fight. He states that fight almost cost him his
life. He prayed that night in the hospital that if God spared his life he would
forever be his servant. Thirty years
later he was still serving the lord with as much gusto as he had the day he
left that hospital with his life.
“What’s on
your mind Bishop?” Daddy replied. He was anxious. He wanted the Bishop to mentor him. He wanted so badly to be the heir of this
empire. He worked so hard for the church.
Every time he could he was there when the doors opened and was the last
one to leave. He would come up on
weekends just to help clean the church.
He started the college version of this ministry and became quite the
charismatic minister. He felt that he
needed all the practice he could get. He
felt that he would be leading this great empire soon. He even courted the Bishops’ daughter
showering her with romance and love even though he was not in love with her. He needed a woman with a little more sass,
class and intelligence. Sessilee was beautiful but an airhead. He figured she
was a means to an end. He felt that she
was his golden ticket.
“Ump.” The
pastor cleared his throat. “You know I’m getting old and I can’t do the things
I use to. I’ve seen my ending.”
“No Bishop.
Don’t talk like that. You have many
years left in you.” Edward said.
The Bishop
raised his hands to halt Daddy from speaking. “I know when it’s my time. The lord and I have a deep connection. He’s told me to start grooming my
predecessor. I prayed and he led me to
you. I said Lord thank you because you
would be an excellent successor. I feel
you care about this ministry and what it stands for as much if not more than I
do. And I’ve never seen a man treat my
daughter with as much love and respect before.
That warms my heart. So I want you to take over my church. I feel that you will take this ministry to
the next level and bring us safely and godly into the new millennium.”
“Well Bishop
I’m speechless, honored but speechless.” He stammered out knowing he wanted to
shout for joy. This was the moment he
waited for all of his life. “I’m not
sure I can fill your shoes. I, I …”
“Son, I have
faith in you. God has faith in you. I will take you under my wings as soon as you
graduate your mentorship will start. The
only stipulation I have is that you marry my daughter and you love her and
respect her till the day she dies. She is my pride you know.”
“I know.
She’s my heart. I can’t do any of this
without her.” He said thinking silently how he could possibly get out of
marriage but not coming up with any immediate solutions. But that was a problem for another day. Today he thought I am on top of the
world. He was going to make this the
biggest ministry in the world.
Chapter
2
With the
clash of the drums Angel was brought back to the present, Sunday mornings at
Greater Missionary Baptist Church. The
drummer, Jeremiah at the end of a heated score would always end by pointing he
left drumstick at Angel as if to say that one was for you. Angel was secretly
in love with him; however she hated the fact that they called him Jesus
Kid. He lived and breathed the Holy
Ghost and she believed wouldn’t be caught dead with a self proclaimed atheist.
But to her surprise he always acknowledged her.
They had brunch every Sunday. Jeremiah was Gregory Hobbs’s son. No one really knew where he came from. About seven years ago, he showed up at church
with ten year old Gregory. He never gave
an explanation and Daddy never asked for one.
It was as if he granted automatic acceptance as if they were now in the
same fraternal order.
Brunch with
Jeremiah became special to Angel. He
shared with her his God. His God was
loving and kind. His God believed all
people were good and loved them unconditionally. People didn’t have to earn love unlike her
household. If she was a perfect Angel,
Momma Sessilee would shower her with love.
If she didn’t do things quite her way she would be severely
punished. She got punished more then she
got showered with love. In the beginning Angel tried hard to please Momma
Sessilee but now she hated her and didn’t give a damn what she did or
said. Now that she was older and could
fight back, Momma Sessilee just tried to stay out of her way. Angel was just fine with that.
Jeremiah
tried his best to do what his Dad and Bishop Tate wanted. They wanted him to persuade Angel into
accepting the Lord and get saved. He couldn’t understand. He liked Angel the way she was. She was just misguided.
“Angel now
that you’re not in school, what are your plans?” Jeremiah asked over bacon
pancakes and a cheese omelet.
“Jer, you
sound like my Daddy.” Angel replied over a bite of her own bacon pancakes they
shared at the Original Pancake House.
“No
seriously. I want to know. I could use
you, you know.”
“Use me
how?”
“As the co
youth minster.”
“You know I
ain’t into that shit” Angel replied harshly.
“Must you
use that language?” Jeremiah said softly as to defuse the situation. He didn’t want to upset Angel. She could go into a horrible rant about the
evils of the so called Christian society and the poor state of the black church
today. He didn’t want to hear that. He
just wanted to spend time with the girl he fell in love with.
“Hey if you
want to help me, teach me to play the drums.” Angel replied she wanted to ease
the hurt she just caused him so easily seen in his deep-set serious brown eyes.
“Drums” He
said slowly lifting his head meeting her gaze.
He was trying to buy some time.
He was old fashioned like his father.
He didn’t believe a woman should play the drums. But if he teaches her
he could spend more time with her. He
could keep her safe and near him. Ever
since he first laid eyes on her he felt this instinctive urge to keep her safe.
A smile
slowly crossed his face as he realized that he could keep his promise to Bishop
and his dad and spend time with Angel. “I would love to under two conditions.
One we practice at the church and two, you have to become the co-drummer with
me on Sundays.
Angel
wrinkled her brow ready to protest but she knew Jeremiah. He was as stubborn as a mule. He wouldn’t budge on this one and besides
church wasn’t so bad when no one was there.
She kind of liked it. It was
serene for her. She felt comfortable,
like she was at home or meant to be there. “Ok. No problem. When do we start?” She replied cheerfully.
“Immediately.”
Jeremiah said with a smile.
