Free Let the Church Say Amen by Reshonda Tate Billingsley

just, my brother is back in town. And, I think, maybe I can hit him up for even more money.” David would say anything to get Tawny to leave.
    The thought of even more money brightened Tawny’s expression. “Damn, that would be right on time,” Tawny exclaimed.
    “Okay, so you go on and I’ll catch up with you this evening.”
    Tawny smiled, then reached over and hugged David, sticking her tongue in his ear. Any other time, that would’ve seriously turned him on. But right now, it only repulsed him.
    “Later, baby. Don’t be too long, okay. I don’t want to have to smoke up all the stuff on my own,” Tawny said.
    She giggled and walked off. David imagined that at one time, Tawny was probably very pretty. She had turned to drugs after dating a drug dealer named Raymond. Raymond almost killed her once he discovered she was sneaking his stash. But by that point, she was well beyond hooked.
    David and Tawny had hooked up after he noticed her picking someone’s pocket at the bus stop. He had just started using heroin every now and then to escape the pain in his life—the disappointment from losing his football career before it even really got started. Once he got with Tawny, heroin was upgraded, or downgraded rather, to crack cocaine. And his usage had gone from every-now-and-then to almost daily. The worst he had ever sunk was when he went to his father’s church with the sole purpose of getting money off the collection plate. His father had banned him from the church after that. And he hadn’t set foot in Zion Hill since.
    But today, something had come over him. David didn’t know if it was seeing his brother, or just seeing the family being a family. Either way, he longed to be a part of that again.
    He made his way to the steps of the church just as the last person was filing out. Loretta spotted him first.
    “David!” She called out, extending her arms to embrace him.
    David reached in and hugged his mother. As usual, it felt so good being in her arms. He wished he could go back to being a little boy, when Loretta used to hold him, rocking him and singing his favorite songs. She kissed him on the cheek and pulled back. “Were you in the service?”
    “No, I didn’t quite make it to the service,” he said. “But I was in the area and wanted to say hello.”
    Jonathan had moved in closer and was standing behind Loretta. “What’s up, big brother?”
    “Nothing much, little brother.” David reached out to shake Jonathan’s hand. He hadn’t seen Jon since the last time his family tried to put him in rehab. He knew Jon was disappointed in him as well.
    Jonathan took David’s hand, then pulled him into an embrace. “Man, you better give me a hug.” David smiled and patted his brother’s back as they hugged. He pulled back and stared at his father, who was standing at the top of the steps.
    “Hey,” David said.
    “David.” Simon looked like he was sizing up his son. “I hope you’re not here to cause any problems.”
    “Simon, don’t be like that,” Loretta snapped. “We haven’t seen David in almost two months.”
    Simon crossed his arms. David couldn’t make out the look on his face.
    “Did you come to the house of the Lord to be cleansed?”
    Suddenly, David didn’t feel like coming over here was such a great idea. “I just wanted to say hi, that’s all. I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”
    David looked helplessly at Loretta, who had tears forming in her eyes. She reached out and rubbed his chin.
    “Baby, you don’t look so good. Come home and eat dinner with us. I made your favorite, oxtails and rice and green bean casserole. When’s the last time you had a decent meal?” Loretta said.
    David glanced back at his father. “I’m straight, Ma. I know Daddy doesn’t want me around and I want to respect his wishes.”
    Loretta kept her gaze on David, adjusting his shirt that was drooping off one shoulder. “You know how your father is. It’ll be okay. It’s just dinner.