Guilt

THE DAY JESUS LIT UP AGAIN

By Jessica Charnelle Crudup

“Deacon Chain I need to speak with you.” Sister Crawford rubbed on the deacons back when she said that. She had been having an affair with him for quite some time now and she began to worry that Deaconess Chain might have some high suspicions. He turned around gave her look then told her to wait at the front of the fellowship hall. Sister Crawford slowly sat down on the prayer bench. She massaged her forehead and looked up at the sky light. It was a beautiful sky light that the church had paid a lot for. Jesus was in the center of it and on sunny days you could see an elegantly bright light blaring from Him. Sister Crawford smiled but then frowned when she looked away and then at the many church awards that sat on the wall, most of them hers. “Mindy.” Deacon Chain had joined her on the bench.

“How are you?” He would always make their relationship seem normal in church.

“Tim I can’t do this.”

“You can’t do what?”

“I’m not going to keep doing this with you, I’m sick of falling short!” Deacon Chain stood up.

“Mindy I will not have this conversation here.”

“Well it doesn’t matter anyways, I’m just not going to meet up with you anymore.” Mindy Crawford looked down at her hands.

“Ha woman that tells me that you don’t mean that.” She opened her mouth to begin to say something but closed it back and he harshly turned and walked off. “Mindy Crawford you were raised better than that!” she shouted under her breath. She slumped down in the bench and thought that maybe she should have a little prayer of her own. “Dear Lord…” Mindy started weeping after that and even though she had not said it her prayer was answered just then. Her sister was coming down the fellowship hall and decided to lay her hand on her to be in agreement with the prayer.

“Oh Tisha!”

“Mindy what’s wrong?” Mindy looked in her sisters eyes and saw the concern her younger sister had.

“I’ve been sinning some kind of terrible Tish.”

“Oh no, no.”

“Yes.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“Yeah, can you come over to my house later tonight?”

“Of course. But um what will you be doing until then?”

“I’m just going to walk around a bit, maybe stop at the park…I need to be alone for a bit.” Tisha got up form the prayer bench and hugged her sister before hugging her again and making a sad face at her.

“I’ll be fine love.”

“Okay well I need to get home to Jerry.”

“Tonight”

“Yeah tonight” Mindy cried as she watched her sister run off. She looked back up at the sky light. It didn’t glow today or the past few Sundays. It had been either raining or cloudy for weeks but mostly rain. Mindy sighed. When she got outside she hopped in the car and floored the gas. Bishop laughed a big hearty chuckle. “Drive like that Sister Crawford and your little car will be wrecked!” Mindy smiled and waved at her pastor, she remembered when he helped her get that car a while back.