Page 47 of You Make Me Feel

Rev. Adolph did his best to smother it so he could preach, but after ten minutes, he gave up and started shouting with everyone else. Eventually, things died down, and he could give a rough outline of his sermon. As I listened, it was like I kept feeling eyes on me. I glanced up at Oliver, who was tuned in to the pastor. I began scanning the crowd, and the culprit revealed himself. It was Satan himself: Jarod Speights.

I didn’t know why he was staring at me like I was the one who had rejected him and done him wrong. He repeatedly nodded his head as I turned away from him. I’d been having too good of a time to be worried about his ass. I slightly rolled my eyes and leaned more into Oliver just to be petty. His bitch ass didn’t want me. How dare he get jealous that somebody else did? He could kiss my big ass.

Just that fast, he had my mind on fucking him up with every move I made instead of focusing on the sermon. I shifted in my seat again, and Oliver draped his arm around me, leaned over to my ear, and asked, “You okay, baby?”

“Yes. My tailbone is just a little sore.”

That wasn’t a lie. It had been sore since yesterday. However, my pettiness had come out to play. I was doing extra shit to make Jarod jealous. This could have been his, but he wasn’t half the man Oliver was. He would never reach Oliver’s level of manhood, not even if he repented of all his sins, got rebaptized, and anointed with oil daily. He was rotten all the way to his core and was no good for anyone.

I noticed his woman was sitting next to him. She’d picked up on how distracted he was. I was dying inside. He couldn’t focus on his fiancée because he was too focused on what I was doing, shit that wasn’t even his business. Oliver leaned over and kissed my forehead, then tuned back in to Rev. Adolph. As I stared at him, he glanced over at Jarod. He’d seen him staring at me too.Shit.Hopefully, things wouldn’t get heated at church. Shit, it was already heated, but it was only simmering. I had to somehow keep it from getting to a full boil.

I slid my hand to Oliver’s other hand and held it throughout the rest of the service, doing my best not to give Jarod a slight glance, although I could see in my peripheral vision that his eyes were on me. Apparently, his woman got tired of that shit because she walked out of church. A minute later, he stood and went out after her. When he left, Oliver seemed to exhale and relax a bit more. He leaned over to me. “He’s walking a fine line.”

I nodded repeatedly. Oliver was gearing up to defend and protect me at all costs, even here at church. I could appreciate that. While I did my best to respect God’s house, I would fight Satan. The devil went to church too, and he was here in the body of Jarod Speights.

Once the benediction was given, I noticed Mr. Taylor and his wife heading our way. I smiled big as they greeted us. “Are y’all going to Anise’s house for dinner?” Mr. Taylor asked.

“Yep. We’re about to head that way now. I’m starving.”

“Good. Me too. And Shannon said Anise was cooking a roast today. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. My family is gonna be there because Anise wants to get to know everybody. So y’all will meet my brothers.”

“Aww, Lawd. I get to hear Shannon’s mouth again about us not starting on my house.”

Devin chuckled as I smiled at Oliver. Apparently, Shannon gave him a hard time all the time. “Well, I can’t wait to meet everyone,” I added.

As we headed outside, I saw Jarod and his fiancée standing at the corner of the building, and they looked to be arguing.That’s what his bitch ass gets.If he hadn’t been so evil and shady, maybe he would have reaped a better harvest. When we got to Oliver’s car, he opened the door and helped me inside. I was ready to go to his cousin’s house to eat too. The nausea had died down, and now I just wanted to eat everything.

After getting inside, closing the door, and starting the engine, Oliver turned to me. “I promise that man will get what he’s asking for. I want to know if he ever says anything out of pocket to you. He gon’ get what’s coming to him on sight. Wherever he fucks up, he gon’ get fucked up.” He glanced toward the sky. “Sorry, Lord.”

He took off from the parking lot, and I grabbed his hand. It was trembling. He had hidden his anger well. It was shining through like a shiny piece of metal now, though.

“Relax, baby. We’re gone now. Hopefully, he’ll get over himself by next Sunday.”

He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I’ll pray for that, baby.”

I got nervous when we got to his cousin’s house and noticed all the cars. However, if Mr. Taylor’s family was anything like him and Shannon, I knew we would be in for a crazy time. As Oliver helped me from the vehicle, I noticed a couple of men talking at the back of the house. Mr. Taylor walked over to them and slapped their hands. One of them he hugged tightly.

I held Oliver’s hand as he led me toward where the men were. Mr. Taylor turned around and said, “WJ, you already met Oliver, but this is his lady and my employee, Kinisha Jordan. Kinisha, this is my brother WJ, and this is my other brother, Shawn.”

We all shook hands. His brothers were light complexioned but had colored eyes just like him. Until I worked for Mr. Taylor, I had never seen a dark-complexioned man with gray eyes. He was fine, for sure, and his brothers were just as fine. They were all old enough to be my father, but damn . . . They definitely kept themselves up. “Nice to meet you, Kinisha. My brother isn’t giving you a hard time, is he?” Shawn asked.

“No, sir. He’s extremely nice and laid-back.”

He nodded. “I’m the older brother, and I can still handle his ass if you need me to.”

Mr. Taylor rolled his eyes as I said, “No, Mr. Taylor’s cool.”

“Okay. Chill on the Mr. Taylor stuff. Away from the job, I’m Devin.”

I giggled and said, “Okay. I just don’t wanna slip up at work and say it.”

“And if you do, so what? It’s just weird hearing you say it here.”

A lady poked her head out the door and said, “Shawn, do you want the potatoes in the meat since we have sweet potatoes too?”

“Naw, I better chill on that, baby. I’m coming in to help.”

Oliver pulled me toward the house. When we walked in, there were only three women I had never seen before, although one looked really familiar. They all smiled at me. Shannon and Sidney came to me and offered hugs, and then Oliver introduced me to his cousin. “Baby, this is my cousin, Anise.”

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