Free Reverend Cash: Let Us Prey by Sa'id Salaam

her up in his arms. “I’m here mama.”
    “My baby gurl don’ kilt herself cuz of me!” Lady wailed.
    “No Mama! Don’t blame yo’self. It’s not yo fault,” Billy said rocking her in his arms. Lady pulled back to make eye contact before she spoke.
    “Shol’ is. I kept pressing her ‘bout who her baby daddy was gone be! She couldn’t take it. I lost my baby gurl and my grandbaby!” she moaned and broke down once more.
    Pastor fought back a tear as he watched the sorrow before him. Even for a man who only cared about himself this was hard to watch. His mind searched for a way to incorporate it into his next sermon. Misery was always good for the collection plate. Maybe he would send another plate around for the family. He would split it three ways of course.
    “Preliminary results are in,” the doctor announced as he barged in the room. There wasn’t a shred of empathy in his tone as he relayed the bad news. Bad news that made the bad situation even worse. “The girl drunk some turpentine. That’s what killed her!”
    “Turpentine! Why in the world would she drink turpentine?” Pastor Paul shrieked in horror.
    “She was pregnant. Sometimes girls drink it to get rid of the baby,” the doctor explained.
    Billy’s heart died right there on the spot. It turned completely black as his last fuck to give escaped in a solitary tear. He’d killed his sister, it made him a monster in his eyes.

Chapter 16
    Billy was already pretty fucked up but his now black heart only made him worse. You can’t live a good life with a black heart. Lady’s heart, on the other hand, was completely broken and it’s hard to live a good life with a broken heart as well. Lady was so distraught that she didn’t leave her room for days after Mary’s death. A pickle jar served as an outhouse since she wouldn’t leave.
    It wasn’t until the day of the funeral that she picked up a little. The thought of being in church propelled her from her sweaty sheets. She smelled a little pickled herself, but she still slipped on one of her Sunday’s best dresses, hat, and shoes.
    Mrs. Paul came to give the family a ride to church to say their final goodbyes. She winced from the foul odor that filled the car as Lady climbed in beside her. She almost lit the reefer just to change the fragrance in the air but held out. They would blaze up after she put her daughter in the dirt.
    Most of the congregation nodded their condolences to Lady and Billy as he led her to the front pew. However, there were some salty sisters in the church who still turned their noses up at the woman who took money out of their purses by fucking their husbands. Lady’s motto was ‘if your husband wanted his dick suck you should suck it’ and if you didn’t she would and she’d get paid for it too. And she did.
    Pastor Paul looked dapper in a somber black suit and black glasses. The choir hummed an ol’ Negro spiritual, like backup singers, as the preacher began to preach. He paced to and fro with his deacon/hype-man only a step behind ready to co-sign like a good hype-man is supposed to. Every now and again he would run over and wipe the sweat from Pastor’s brow.
    “Pastor shol’ got a mouth on him,” Lady admired bringing her word count to ten for the day.
    “Yeah, he do,” Billy replied. His mother squeezed his hand not knowing he was referring to the pastor’s head game. He almost got an erection from watching the man’s lips moving.
    It didn’t matter which chapter or verse Pastor Paul quoted, because it was just some bullshit as far as Billy was concerned. It was all just game to fill up the collection plates that were constantly in motion.
    “Take yo’ time!” Lady’s friend yelled amongst the Amens. It was purely for attention in hopes that Lady would open her legs for business later.
    No one really gave a fuck about the girl in the box. Even her friends had ulterior motives for being there. They all stared at Billy hoping to spend a little