Listen to it, for it is the Lord. Trust your feelings. Trust other people. Above all else, trust in the Lord. Allow the Lord to be a force for good in your life.” The pastor continued on with his sermon.
Jalisa felt as though he was speaking directly to her. She needed to put her trust into other people if she was going to make it through her hardships. The larger woman squeezed her younger sister to her body in a seated hug. Nikita clutched at her shirt and hid her face. Soon, the telltale feeling of wetness sinking through her shirt and the soft shakes of Nikita’s body indicated that she was sobbing.
“Lord, bless this girl.” A woman from a pew behind the sister rested a hand upon Nikita’s shaking back and began to pray. Thick trails of tears began to leak from Jalisa. This sense of belonging and acceptance and care was what she missed most about her old church.
More people laid hands on the sisters, and they eventually got the attention of the pastor. Jalisa told him that their father had recently passed and he led the group in prayer. Jalisa felt a weight lift off of her.
After the sermon, the two stayed to mingle. The mixed boy turned out to be the pastor’s son, and Jalisa pushed Nikita into talking to him. They chatted as kids would and discovered that both of them followed Major League baseball. Jalisa watched the two with a smile. This would be the end of the crush on Stone.
The fellowship dinner in the basement was just like the ones at Jalisa’s old church. The women of the church went all out, cooking and baking enough to feed the city. Pots and pans filled with any food you could want lined a buffet table. Plates passed back and forth between as everyone sampled everything. Laughter rose to the ceiling. Children ran around.
Nikita joined the kids in playing tag while Jalisa found some older women and asked about the church. They had a children’s choir and some sports, though there was no softball. By the time Jalisa and Nikita were ready to head home, they had signed up for choir and enrolled in Sunday school. They were offered leftovers to take home but declined. Stone and Marie’s beer took up most of the fridge.
“Did you have fun?” Jalisa asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes! Andre is cute!” Nikita bounced her leg up and down excitedly.
“Did you make any other friends?” Jalisa casually flipped through a brochure about the church.
“I met a couple girls. One said her birthday was coming up and if I’m still coming to that church by then, I’m invited!” Nikita clapped her hands. It was such a blessing to see her being carefree.
“I think we found our church.” Jalisa reached over and pinched Nikita’s cheek right where her dimples where.
”I think we did, too!” Nikita beamed. “I want to go back!”
It was twilight by the time the cab driver pulled up at The Semya. A cluster of cars in the adjacent parking lot told Jalisa that she was most likely late for her shift. Once again, she had to throw money at the driver and run.
The two entered through the front door. They were technically supposed to use the side door, but Nikita was terrified of that alley. Marie was mostly the only person downstairs, and she promised not to tell. If Stone was downstairs, the girls would just say that they were ready to get to work immediately.
Marie wasn’t downstairs tonight, and there was a whole line of people waiting to get drinks. There was no way of telling how long she had been gone, what she was doing, or if anyone had stolen drinks. Jalisa made her way through the horde of sweaty bodies in the way while holding Nikita’s hand. She hopped behind the bar and started slinging alcohol as fast as possible.
The smell of alcohol hung in the air like a fog. It tickled her nose and made her want to sneeze. Jalisa desperately tried to remember what went in what drink and in what order. She had a cheat sheet behind the bar, but the orders were coming in so fast that she could barely look at it, and when she did, the drink was often not even listed.
Nikita, though she was not supposed to be going near the bar, helped out by grabbing beer out of the cooler for people who just wanted a glass. The two girls were a flurry of hands for about ten minutes. Eventually, the bar calmed down as people settled in with their drinks. Where in the world was Marie? She picked a Saturday night to disappear.
Jalisa told Nikita to only hand out beer and not to even try to mix drinks. She told her exactly where she was going, and to come get her if anything bad happened. Jalisa went up the stairs and was about to open the door when a loud crash came from the other side. She recoiled from the doorknob and leaned down to listen from under the crack.
“Give me what I want. The longer I stay up here, the more money you lose. I bet those drunks have hopped the bar and are emptying the register as we speak.” Marie’s voice was cold as death and twice as mean.
“Bi*ch, you know I can replace what you lose ten times over,” Stone said, and there was another big crash.
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“I brought you two!” Marie screeched. “I brought you two so you could let one go!”
“I don’t want to let one go!” Stone screamed. “Get it through your fu*king head!”
“You said I could leave!” The unmistakable sound of Marie’s heels on the tiles echoed.
“I was high! I was just saying whatever the hell popped into my mind. You’re mine!” Stone was getting louder, and Jalisa worried for Marie’s safety.
“I’m done being your prostitute! I hate fu*king strangers! That’s why I brought you two new ones!” Marie screamed, and Jalisa’s hand flew to her mouth. This couldn’t be real.