Free Silver Lining by Wanda B. Campbell

about pleasing. Naturally, he downplayed her possessiveness as motherly love, but last night’s revelation was sobering. His mother didn’t have any intentions of allowing Kevin to navigate his own path.
    When Pastor Jennings finished greeting her congregants, Kevin was waiting in her office for her and her sidekick.
    Pastor Jennings greeted her son as usual, with a smile and a big hug. “Hey, baby. The presence of the Lord was surely in this place today.” She didn’t notice that Kevin didn’t return her embrace.
    â€œMother, where’s Reyna?”
    â€œRight here,” Reyna answered. Like a genie, Reyna appeared next to Kevin.
    A wide, satisfied grin creased Pastor Jennings’s face. “I hear y’all have been spending time together.”
    Ignoring her zeal, Kevin stepped away from them both and walked over to the other side of the room.
    â€œReyna,” he began. “Before last week, when was the last time you saw Marlissa?” He didn’t allow Reyna time to answer. He turned to his mother. “Mother, when was the last time you saw Marlissa?”
    Kevin folded his arms and watched the two women. He’d have bet his annual salary that they tried to transmit telepathic answers to one another.
    â€œI hadn’t seen Marlissa since the last time she came to church,” Reyna answered honestly.
    Kevin tilted his head. “Really? Then why did you tell Tyson to look for her at the insurance office?”
    Reyna lowered her head, suddenly finding her shoes interesting. Pastor Jennings spoke in an unknown tongue.
    Kevin pressed past the dramatics. “Mother, I’ll repeat the question. When was the last time you saw Marlissa?”
    â€œWell, I . . . I can’t remember the exact date,” Pastor Jennings struggled.
    Kevin took a step forward. “Pastor Jennings, let me help you out, so you can practice what you’ve just finished preaching. You saw Marlissa in December at the insurance office, then had Reyna feed the information to Tyson.”
    â€œI . . . I, well—”
    â€œSave it, Mother!”
    Rosalie gasped at Kevin’s forceful tone.
    â€œI’m a grown man. I don’t need you or Reyna manipulating my relationship with Marlissa. You had no right keeping her whereabouts away from me”
    â€œBaby, I—”
    â€œMother, that’s the problem. I’m not a baby. I can make my own decisions.”
    â€œNo, you can’t!” Pastor Jennings screamed. “That’s how you ended up married to a drunk in the first place!”
    Seeing Pastor Jennings rattled was enough to make Reyna retreat quietly into a corner.
    For the first time Kevin verbally questioned his mother’s integrity. “Mother, tell me what’s worse, a drunken wife or a manipulating preacher. Sin is sin. Your manipulation is just as bad as Marlissa’s drinking. At least she admits her sins. You hide behind a collar and a robe.”
    Reyna gasped as Pastor Jennings raised her right hand to strike Kevin’s face. He knew it was coming, but he didn’t dodge the blow. Once the sting wore off his face, Kevin slowly backed toward the door.
    Pastor Jennings glared at him, trembling. “How can you . . . How can you stand here . . . After all I’ve done for you . . . How can you disrespect me?”
    â€œMother, I told the truth, now deal with it. I love you, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re wrong.” Kevin then faced Reyna. “You should listen to what my mother said today. Stop trying to fit into her mold, and be the person God created you to be.”
    Just before Kevin closed the door, Pastor Jennings yelled, “Are you trying to tell me that you still want that drunken heathen?”
    â€œI’m asking you to let me live my life.” The words spoken in simplicity went right over Pastor Jennings’s head. She stood glued in place with a confused