The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie Page B

ladies’ hats, aided by the hand-held paper fans with illustrated
bible stories and thin wooden handles that everyone was using to fan
themselves. As many times as his grandmother told him to stop slouching, Geo
had a hard time staying upright in his seat. The heavy air kept rounding his
shoulders and loosening the muscles of his thighs so that he slid down more and
more on the hard wooden bench. Watching Pastor Goode in the pulpit, looking debonair
despite the large beads of sweat that kept forming on his face, which he wiped
neatly away every few minutes with a simple white handkerchief, Geo wished the
man’s lips would stop moving, that the sermon would end and the music would
start again. The music was the only way he could stand church on a warm Sunday.
    He wasn’t
listening to the preacher’s words, only the cadence of his voice, and whenever
it seemed to build and then come down again, Geo hoped the sermon was ending.
But then Pastor Goode would take a breath, and wait for the applause and
hallelujahs and yes, Jesus es to quiet down, and he would go
on. Geo reached into his pocket and pulled out a butterscotch candy, hoping the
sugar rush would help, and looked over at Ava, who was seated beside him. She
was staring at Pastor Goode, unblinking, looking completely focused on the
sermon. At first, Geo thought she was daydreaming about something else, but the
way her head was tilted made him think she might actually be listening to what
the pastor was saying. Geo decided to listen, too, to hear what was so interesting
to his sister.
    “Devotion to the
Lord is key to our salvation. We got to follow the teachings of our savior, and
spread his word, every day of our lives. It aint always easy, living by the
word, because the devil tempts us every day. But to live any other way would
mean damnation. First Corinthians seven thirty-five: I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you
might live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. And devotion
to the Lord also means devotion to the church, because in here his word is
never forgotten. Out there, it’s easy to forget, to be led astray, but within
these walls you always face to face with your creator, and any child knows that
it’s harder to do wrong when you know your Father is watching.”
    The longer
Pastor Goode preached, the more the corners of Ava’s mouth turned down, until
she was frowning so openly that their mother, who was seated on Ava’s other
side, nudged her with an elbow and whispered, “Stop looking so evil.” Ava sat
back on the pew and folded her arms across her chest.

    When service was over, Mother Haley said she wanted to
meet the pastor, so they all went and stood in the line of people waiting to
thank Goode for his wonderful sermon. The Liddy’s were among them—Doris, her husband, Dexter, and their daughter, Sondra,
who was a year older than Ava and Geo. Doris fawned over the pastor so long
that Maddy said, loud enough so Doris could hear, “She see the man every day,
she can’t have that much new to say to him. Lord.”
    The pastor
greeted George and Regina warmly. In the last couple of years, since they had
moved to Radnor Street and joined Blessed Chapel, George and Regina had become favorites, it seemed, of Goode’s. He was always talking
about how smart and capable they both were and always asking them to help out
with one or another church event or activity, which they always did, happily.
    When George
introduced his mother to the preacher, Mother Haley smiled like a teenage girl.
“You a real gifted preacher.”
    Pastor Goode put
a hand on George’s shoulder. “Brother, you are truly blessed to have so many
beautiful girls in your life.”
    Mother Haley
giggled. Giggled .
    Pastor Goode
reached down and put his hand on both Sarah’s and Ava’s heads. “That means
y’all little ones, too,” he said.
    Sarah thanked
him disinterestedly.
    Ava, who always
reacted to the pastor the way she did to