Reverend Feelgood (5 page)

Nate and Destiny relaxed and waited for dessert. They were enjoying the luxury of a private chef and a dining experience in the palatial estate of one of Nate’s supporters. Destiny’s flutters had been replaced with a warm, fuzzy feeling at the pit of her stomach. Nate had finally regrouped from the stunning image of beauty that had left him speechless when, after changing for dinner, Destiny had descended down the home’s spiral staircase. He’d known he looked dapper at the bottom of the stairs, having gone all out and sporting a casual but tailored Ralph Lauren suit. But he felt his handsome countenance was completely overshadowed as soon as Destiny placed a graceful, Christian Louboutin-clad foot on the first stair. She wore a form-fitting, designer original that hugged her young curves and emphasized the large pair of breasts she’d inherited from her mother. Her bare legs were free of spot or blemish, as was a face almost totally devoid of makeup. She wore her long hair swept up on top of her head, while wispy tendrils that begged Nate’s touch danced around her face. She’d looked at him shyly, then quickly away, when she took his hand and followed him into the dining room. For the first time Nate could remember, his hand became clammy, and he suddenly wondered if he could even properly converse with, let alone get a commitment from the woman on his arm.

But all of this discomfort was an hour ago, before the first course of creamy chowder, followed by the arugula and strawberry salad that preceded the perfectly prepared lump crab cake, which set the stage for their main course, thinly sliced Chateaubriand paired with a heavenly potato and carrot soufflé. It was before conversation of Nate’s background, his time as a Palestine basketball standout, his stint at Morehouse College, and the time he experienced his first kiss, with a fast and frisky schoolmate when both were just seven years old. In turn, there wasn’t much Destiny felt she could share that Nate didn’t already know, or was so boring it didn’t matter. Still, at his insistence, she talked about her favorite subjects in school, her passion for music, especially classical, and then the conversation shifted to things they both enjoyed: movies, certain hip-hop and R&B artists, sports-oriented Xbox games, and barbequed ribs. Finally, Destiny shared a secret: a desire to do something special with her life.

“I think I’m named Destiny for a reason,” she finished softly, boring into Nate’s dark-brown eyes with her fiery green ones. “And I intend to make a mark in this world. I don’t know how, and I don’t know doing what, but I know it’s going to happen.”

Nate simply nodded, and fiddled with his fork. It was hard to believe this girl was just seventeen. She had a poise that women twice her age should envy and a calm disposition that belied her years. They’d talked several times over the past two months, and even met a couple times—either at Katherine’s house or sometimes in his office at church. But since marrying Simone was not going to happen, Nate had honored the one request by her that he could fulfill: he’d waited until Destiny turned seventeen to cover her. She now wore the necklace of yellow diamonds that had accompanied the three-dozen perfect orchids delivered to her house on her birthday three months ago.

The conversation stopped as the chef delivered their fiery bananas foster dessert. They oohed and aahed over its deliciousness and for a moment were content to quietly enjoy the chef’s superb culinary skills. After several moments, Destiny giggled unexpectedly, her eyes twinkling as she looked at him.

“What?” Whatever it was didn’t really matter. Destiny’s joy was contagious and Nate found himself smiling broadly, “cheesing,” his old-school friends would label it.

“When did you know?” Destiny lowered her head and batted her eyes coyly, unconscious of the effect the act had on Nate.

“Know what?”

“That you were in love with me?”

“Who says I am?”

Destiny laughed again, this time low and throaty. It was the sound of a woman steeped in the art of seduction, though with Destiny, it came naturally. “C’mon, Nate…when?” she asked again, more playful this time. “You know you’re in love with me. C’mon!” She leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand, watching Nate as if he were her favorite movie. Her eyes sparkled with mirth and unabashed adoration.

Nate leaned back in his chair and stared at the woman he couldn’t wait to make his. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, even as he almost felt like a kid again, like he was back in high school “macking” on a schoolmate. “November twenty-third, around four o’clock, in the church’s activity center.”

Destiny’s mind raced back to November. It had been a busy time for her: studying tests given before the holiday break, Christmas shopping, and helping Miss Nettie prepare hundreds of Thanksgiving baskets that Gospel Truth gave to the less fortunate. But she couldn’t fathom what had happened on the day Nate mentioned to warrant his love. Her brows knit in concentrated effort to recall the day.

Nate smiled at her determination. He would need a determined woman, who was also strong, smart, and savvy. Her age had been a concern initially, but with every passing day, each passing moment he talked to her or spent with her, that concern steadily disappeared. Now more than ever he was sure of what he’d felt that November afternoon: Destiny Noble would become Destiny Thicke.

“You wouldn’t remember,” he said, still smiling. “It was probably just another incident to you, another brothah trying to get with you, get your goodies.”

“My…” Now a delicious, light shade of red crept from Destiny’s neck to her cheeks.

“Ah, you’re blushing…that’s nice,” Nate said. “It was just before Thanksgiving and you were at the church, helping Mama prepare the baskets. You walked outside to set a couple of them in the van. Adam’s friend, the tall dude—”

“Butch?”

“Yeah, he followed you down the hall and asked you out. After your initial refusal, he asked how much it would take to get a date with you. Remember what you said?”

Indeed Destiny remembered. “I quoted Proverbs,” Destiny said quietly, once again shyly diverting her eyes.

“You told him your worth was far above rubies,” Nate said. “You looked him dead in the eye and told him the truth: that you were not only valuable, but priceless. I knew then that no one else could have you—I mean, could cover you first—except me. That you needed somebody who could not only protect you, but give you everything you so obviously deserve.”

Destiny was quiet, a myriad of emotions roiling within her: excitement, anxiety, both joy and fear of what was to come.

“When did you know?” Nate asked, after a prolonged silence.

“Know what?” Destiny asked honestly.

“That you’d fallen in love with me.”

“Who says I have?” Destiny said, throwing Nate’s words back at him, but with a smile. “I was twelve years old,” she answered truthfully.

Nate’s brows raised in surprise. “Twelve?”

Destiny nodded. “I, um, accidentally saw your…your butt one night when you were walking down the hall to Mom’s room. It was late, and I’m sure you didn’t think I’d be up. But I’d used the bathroom and then gone in the kitchen to get some water.”

Nate felt embarrassed that he may have sullied Destiny’s innocence at such a young age. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.

“Something happened when I got back to my room,” Destiny continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “I got these…feelings.” She fixed her green eyes firmly on him now. “Where I had never felt stuff before. From that night, I wanted to know what love was, and I wanted to find out with you. So don’t apologize, Nate,” Destiny nearly whispered. “I’m glad I saw your, uh, that I saw you that night.” Destiny licked her lips subtly, and continued to stare at him.

Nate’s sword hardened at the sight of Destiny’s darting tongue. “Well,” he asked in a voice deeply seductive, “are you ready to see it again?”

Nate was everything Destiny’s Kiki said he would be: kind, gentle, patient, and much, much more. Due to his size and her innocence, their intimate encounter had been largely yet thoroughly oral, with Nate playing Destiny’s body as if it were an instrument: giving her previously untouched body orgasm after orgasm. For all her naiveté, Destiny’s natural instincts were incredibly astute. She lavished love on Nate’s manhood as if it were a piece of candy or succulent fruit. He quietly instructed, she studiously obeyed. Late the following morning, after a long bubble bath in the over-sized Jacuzzi, Nate once again took Destiny to bed. He knew he had to make her initiation into this exclusive, some might say taboo, circle complete. After much foreplay and even more lubrication, he opened her wide and began a slow, gentle journey, inch by inch, until he was all the way inside her. After she’d expanded to accommodate him, he plunged deep, to the hilt. Destiny muffled her cries, even as long nail marks followed her fingers down Nate’s back. The tradition continued, even as a new dance began.

When the two arrived back at the meeting point near Palestine on Saturday night, they were absolutely and completely in love with each other. Nate had made this declaration, even as he told her of his plans to give their liaison a more permanent status.

“I know you’re young,” he’d said casually, as they enjoyed a picnic dinner by the sea. “So I’ll wait awhile to do the grand proposal, and for us to make the official announcement. But I want you to know my plans right now, so you feel that, well, so that you know you’re spoken for. I’m the only one for you now.”

“‘Spoken for,’ what’s that mean?” Destiny had asked.

“It means you’re mine,” Nate answered.

Destiny’s heart had skipped a beat. “But how?” she pressed. She wanted so badly to hear the words she’d imagined. “Is that like being engaged?”

Nate shrugged.

“Nate,” Destiny persisted, in the delicate, slightly whiny voice that she also used in the throes of passion, a voice for which Nate was already so whipped that if she used it and asked him to cut off his arm, maybe even his, well…he’d definitely cut off his arm if Destiny asked him to in that voice.

“Nate, please? What does ‘spoken for’ mean?”

Nate smiled, enjoying the cat-and-mouse game. “I’m sure Miss Straight-A student knows what that phrase means.”

Destiny smiled. “Nate…I want to hear you say it.”

“Say what?”

“That being spoken for is like being engaged.”

“It’s…something like that.”

“We’re going to get married?” Destiny asked. After a pause, Nate nodded again. “We’re going to get married!” Destiny exclaimed. Then she had reacted like the woman-child she was: she whooped, jumped up from her seat, and threw her arms around Nate. She’d run to the water’s edge and then along the shore, shouting with happiness: “I’m getting married. Nate and I are getting married!”

“Well, not next week!” Nate yelled, after he’d risen from his chair and ran after her. Once again, her joy was contagious. They ended up making love right on the beach.

Destiny smiled at the memories, and at the sight of her grandmother’s purple Cadillac that waited near the private airstrip. Getting in Kiki’s car marked the end of the best weekend she’d had in her life. But it didn’t matter. The weekend confirmed what Destiny had always known: Nate was the only one for her. But while fastening her seat belt, she frowned with the next thought:
I won’t be the only one for him. There’s Mama and Kiki and God knows who else.
Then Katherine’s words overshadowed her own:
It is not for us to question the activities of the man of God.
Destiny knew that in time she’d have to give strong consideration to exactly what Katherine’s statement meant.

In the immediate future, however, Destiny and Nate would have something else to consider, something that would overshadow who Nate was covering or who was covering Nate, for that matter. Because when they parted, Nate unashamedly admitted that he’d left his heart with Destiny. But he’d left something else as well. A baby.

March had come in like a lion, but it was not the only thing that roared. Destiny’s pregnancy dominated the thoughts and spirited conversations of all who knew about it. A home pregnancy test had confirmed what Destiny suspected from a missed period, and what Nettie had believed after having a dream.

“The man of God has a need,” Katherine said somberly. “He has covered us, and now we must cover him.”

Silence filled the elegantly appointed dining room in which Katherine, Simone, Destiny, and Nettie sat. Within those present discomfort was thick, anger was apparent, fear battled faith, and yet love conquered all. Nate was noticeably absent but had wanted to be there. He was out of town, and had asked his mother to wait until he got back to have this meeting. But both she and Katherine had agreed that the discussion couldn’t wait. After all, everyone knew where he stood on the matter. And almost everyone agreed.

“I still can’t believe we’re having this discussion,” Simone said, her anger boiling over. She turned to her daughter. “Destiny, I know I didn’t have
the talk
with you, but if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times about protecting yourself! And Nate knows better. As many women as he—”

“I don’t think anger or blame is going to get us anywhere,” Nettie interrupted. “Destiny has already told us what happened, that they used protection, except for one time.”

“Well, now we know for sure that once was enough,” Simone said, trying without success to lose the anger and keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

“I’m sorry, Mama,” Destiny said sincerely. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Nettie reached over and covered Destiny’s hand with her own. “Don’t worry, child. There are a lot of ‘didn’t mean to’ babies born every day. There’s no way you could have known this would happen, but God knew. Before the foundation of the world was laid, God knew.”

Katherine remained silent, for the moment having nothing to add to the conversation. Destiny’s pregnancy news had thrown her for a loop as much as Nate’s marriage plans had thrown Simone. Sharing Nate’s bed was one thing. But for Destiny to have his child, that was something else. This was new Noble-Thicke territory. A baby had never been a part of their tradition. Katherine wondered how this addition would alter the rules.

“What are our options?” Simone asked quietly, looking from Katherine to Nettie.

“Options?” both Katherine and Nettie asked.

“None,” Destiny said before either woman could speak. “I’m having this baby.”

Destiny lifted her chin and sat up straighter, trying to quell the fear that mixed with excitement inside her. She was having Nate’s baby! His first! Yes, there had been many women before her, but she was the first one to carry his child. And she was determined to deliver it. “I’m having it,” she firmly declared.

“This isn’t just your decision, Destiny,” Simone responded. “Because this isn’t just your problem. This affects not only a man but a ministry, an entire congregation.” She took a deep breath to calm the nerves that had been bundled ever since she’d received the shocking news a month ago. “We do have other alternatives, and I think we need to examine them fully. One is abortion.”

“Thou shall not kill,” Nettie quickly countered. “Nobody should take a life that can’t give one.”

“That same Bible also says ‘an eye for an eye.’ It’s the same one that talks about Saul killing his thousands and David killing his tens of thousands. And David was a man after God’s own heart. There are times God ordered whole towns destroyed, and everybody in them. So sometimes God killed.”

“But you ain’t God!”

“Look, Miss Nettie, I don’t want to argue the sin of abortion,” Simone continued. “I just want us to look at this problem from every angle. There is also the possibility of adoption. I’m sure there are many families, many childless couples, decent, successful Christian couples who would love to raise this baby as their own.” Simone turned to Destiny. “You’re young, just seventeen, and there’s no way you can understand the enormity of this situation. There’s plenty of time for you to have a child, once you and Nate are mar—” Simone still couldn’t get herself to say the word. “You can have a baby later, when you’re older. Don’t you want to go to college?”

“I can still go to college!” Destiny had heard about all she could take on the subject of being separated from the baby that she already loved more than life itself, even as her stomach was still as flat as a pancake.

“I can’t see giving the baby away,” Katherine finally spoke. “The Nobles have always stuck together. I can’t see something bearing my blood being raised in somebody else’s household without me having anything to do with it.”

“I’m with you on that, Katherine. Blood is thicker than water and this baby’s blood is Thicke.”

“So why make this difficult?” Simone argued softly. “An abortion—no matter what anybody thinks of it morally—solves this problem quickly and quietly. We can go to another city, another state. In less than twenty-four hours it will be over and done with.

“The timing is just not right for a baby,” Simone continued. “Too much is at stake. This is a critical time in Nate’s ministerial career. He’s poised to join the Total Truth Association, which will give him a powerful national platform. He’s about to publish his first book, and the publisher is already talking to him about a second one. The church is growing bigger every day. We’ll be building our first new sanctuary in less than two years. Down the road, a child might be a beneficial addition to Nate’s life, but right now? It would be the worst thing that could happen.”

“Would you be saying this if it were your baby?” Destiny asked her mother.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Would you be so willing to kill it if it were you carrying his child?” Destiny pushed back her chair and stood abruptly. “I don’t care what any of y’all say, because nothing will change my mind. I love Nate, this is his baby, and I’m having it.” She looked at her grandmother. “Kiki, you’re always saying that a man of God has needs. Well, this baby of God has needs too. And I’m going to be the mother who takes care of them!”

Simone stood and faced her daughter. “You will do what’s best. This isn’t just about you!”

“No, it isn’t!” Destiny shouted. “It’s about my baby. And the best thing for it is to be born!” With that, Destiny turned and ran up the stairs.

“Destiny!” Simone started after her.

“Let her be, Simone,” Katherine said, even as the sound of a slamming door added to the tension. Then, for a moment, all was silent.

“She has a right to be upset,” Nettie finally said. “And I’m not just saying this from a Christian point of view,” she told Simone. “I’m saying it as the mother of the man you’re so determined to protect, and as the grandmother of the baby you’re so ready to get rid of. We need to get out of the way and seek God on this matter. Let His will be done. Man looks at what’s on the outside, but God looks at the heart. He knows the heart of both Nate and Destiny. If we listen to God and follow His instructions, we’ll be a lot better off. Because sitting around this table, we’ve all got ideas on who should do what. But we’re human. We may get it wrong. But God? Hmph. God never misses the mark. He never fails.”