Page 17 of At Her Will

“You don’t read well, do you?”

“I didn’t have a lot of book learning, but I can read. And do the math a man needs to take care of himself.”

“Did you have problems in school?”

“No ma’am.”

She was reminded of what Mavis had said, about how he’d politely dismissed her concerns and firmly moved off the topic. “Honesty and trust are vital to determining where you and I can go together, Rev. If you aren’t ready to tell me the full story about it, that’s an acceptable answer. But at some point, I’ll need to know.”

“It not that I can’t tell you. People don’t understand. They judge, based on what the world is.” His mouth tightened and hesighed. “I don’t want to know you going to judge me like that, and I know that’s the wrong reason not to tell you. I’m enjoying this right now, where we are together.”

“Me too.” She took a breath. “I can’t promise I’ll react the way you wish, but I will try to understand.”

“Okay.” They started walking again. “When I was little, my momma would read to me, like I say. The day after she died, that was the first time I sung. Teena Joy was listening to a hymn on the radio, and I started to sing with it. She said I sang as good as the singer, got every word right, but also gave the song a power that told her my voice came from God. Told me my momma had sent me a gift to comfort me, to help me get by without her.”

He’d tucked her arm further under his, so instead of her holding onto his elbow, he could hold her hand, fingers interlaced. His grip was light, cognizant of her rings, though his thumb was worrying the onyx stone on one of them.

“Teena Joy took up the reading to me, like my momma did. When she thought I old enough, she started to teach me my letters. I did well enough on that, but then…I started to zone out for a couple minutes at a time. Usually when I was trying to read stuff back to her.”

Childhood epilepsy, she thought, and Rev confirmed it.

“The family doctor said he thought it was seizures, but he wanted her to take me to a specialist. There weren’t no money for that, so he gave us some medicine and said it usually worked itself out with age. But every time I did much more than basic reading and figures, it’d get worse.

“Since I loved being read to, she did that to help me learn what was in books that I needed to know. I liked fixing and building things, too. Beau says I have mechanical aptitude.”

He was measuring her reaction so far. She wasn’t sure what to think, since the story wasn’t done, so she kept her expression neutral.

They’d reached her car. He opened her door so she could sit in the driver’s seat while he leaned against the side. “First day of kindergarten, when I woke up, I had really bad laryngitis, even though I was fine the day before. Teena Joy said God had decided I shouldn’t go to school, so she taught me at home. One of our neighbors was homeschooling her kids, so I joined them sometimes, but mostly it was Teena Joy.”

The discomfort from him hit a different note. Because hewasan honest man. “She made sure my schooling was considered enough for anyone checking. I wasn’t sure she was truthful with them about it, which never sat quite right with me, but it over and done with, and back then I wouldn’t disrespect her by going against her on it.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, rubbing at his chin with his thumb. “So that’s it.”

The story was one of a poor family trying to take care of a special child, the best way they knew how. But it only added to the mystery of the man before her.

“Do you believe your voice came from God, and that it’s dependent on you not being formally educated?”

“I think Teena Joy thought that. I just serve God, and respect the people in my life I love. I don’t go against them unless they put something in my path I know ain’t right.”

An intriguing response. He wanted to talk about something else, she could tell, and truthfully, she needed to think about what he’d told her. She decided to take them out of those waters for now. “Did you have friends your age growing up?”

That appealing boyish smile crossed his face. “Plenty. I have more relatives than corn on a cob, plus there was the kids in Sunday school.”

He touched her hand, resting on the window frame. “You got a furrow in your pretty forehead, but it don’t need to be there. I never lacked for the things that mattered growing up, and I getalong fine now. I have people who watch after me, same as I watch after them. That what a family do.”

I have people who watch after me.Her mind returned to his aunt and cousin. Whether it was good or bad depended a lot on why they were watching.

She gazed at their fingers, resting together, and then withdrew her hand and put her keys in the ignition. “Want a ride back?”

He shook his head and shut her door once she’d tucked her legs back in. “I’ll be staying here a while. But I see you Thursday.”

“Okay.” But she didn’t turn over the engine. She looked up at him through the open window and he met her gaze for one of those prolonged pauses. She thought about kissing him, giving him that option, but it was too soon.

“Veracity.” When he touched her face, she saw resolve. “I not an educated man. But I not a stupid one. You mind me?”

It was an old turn of phrase, with a variety of meanings, but this one was clear enough.Respect what I’m telling you.

She’d asked him not to second guess her as a woman and as a Mistress. The same was required in return.

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