The Preacher’s Son Read online

  “Oh, that’s because you’re a model and can’t get any scratches on that pretty face of yours, huh?” another unidentified cousin responded. “I hear that you models know how to bend over real good.”

  More snickers went around the room, but Jeremy refused to take the bait.

  “That’s enough, Bobby Lee,” Aura said. “You mind your manners.”

  “You need your woman to talk for you, model boy?” Bobby Lee responded.

  “Well at least I’ve got one,” Jeremy replied coolly.

  More snickers went around the room as Jeremy and Bobby Lee stared each other down.

  “He got you on that one, Bobby Lee. You don’t have no woman,” Barbie reminded her brother.

  She turned to Jeremy, snickering. “Don’t mind my brother.”

  Bobby Lee glared at his sister and did not reply.

  “Come on out back,” Barbie said, leading them to the backyard.

  They walked out back where the grill was smoking and the music was blasting. Aura’s uncle Howard was back on the grill, laughing and talking as he turned the food.

  “Barbie, I didn’t come to stay,” Aura was saying to her cousin. “I thought you needed some help on your taxes.”

  “I do, Cuz,” Barbie said, grinning at them. “But you can’t just come in and leave. You know my mama would have a fit! Have a seat.” She quickly handed Jeremy a beer from the cooler.

  “Is that you, Aura?” an older man yelled from across the yard.

  “Hey, Mr. Freeman. It’s me!” Aura yelled back.

  “Your family is something else,” Jeremy said, taking a sip of the beer Barbie had given him.

  Several girls walked by in tight shorts that barely covered their behinds.

  “I tried to warn you,” Aura said, drinking a bottle of water she’d removed from the cooler.

  “You wait until they get all liquored up. They can be totally gangster,” she whispered to him.

  “Hopefully we will be leaving by then,” he replied dryly.

  “Most definitely,” she agreed.

  Before long, the yard was filled with people. Howard offered Jeremy a plate of ribs, and he happily began eating them.

  “These are really good!” he said to Aura as he ate. “I haven’t had ribs in quite a while!”

  “You’re going to have to go the gym and work out for hours after eating all this food,” she said, shaking her head at him. “Chaz will not be pleased if you put on weight!”

  “It’s all your fault!” he said. “It’s not often I get to eat like this. I’ll work it off.”

  “Do you think you’ll be okay? I’m going to find Barbie and look at those tax papers before it gets dark.”

  “Sure,” he replied, still eating.

  As soon as Aura left, two young women came over and sat at the table with him.

  “So you’re Aura’s man, huh?” one of them said. Her hair was a bright burgundy and hung over one of her eyes. She had extremely long nails, and she was snapping gum.

  “Yes, I am,” he said, still eating the ribs and glancing at them.

  “I never did a white boy before,” she said to the other woman looking down at Jeremy’s lap. “I hear they don’t have much going on below the waist, you know.”

  The other woman giggled. “Yeah, but I hear that they do know how to use their lips. Look at how he’s sucking on that rib bone.”

  Jeremy almost choked on the rib he had in his mouth and quickly took a sip of the beer.

  The first girl with the burgundy hair crossed her legs. She was wearing an extremely short skirt. “You girls are mighty funny,” Jeremy replied, finally clearing his throat. They were staring at him like a piece of meat, making him uncomfortable.

  “Look, Aura’s busy right now. What ya say we sneak off for a few minutes. I can rock your world,” the girl with the burgundy hair offered, batting her eyes at him and licking her shiny, glossed lips.

  “Uh, I don’t think so,” Jeremy said, surprised at her audacity.

  “Aura got you whipped or something?” the other girl challenged.

  “Yup. I’m totally whipped,” Jeremy said, returning to his ribs, hoping that they’d go away.

  Burgundy looked him up and down. “Oh, whatever,” she said, standing. “Come on, Chi Chi.”

  Jeremy was glad that they got up and left. He wished Aura would hurry. He was ready to leave. He took back what he said; her family was just as bad as his.

  He wiped his hands on a napkin and threw the plate in the trash.

  He looked up to see Barbie’s father approaching him.

  “So, what’s going on between you and my niece?” he asked harshly, eying Jeremy.

  “We’re in a relationship,” Jeremy responded, walking back to the table.

  “Has she met your folks?” he asked, sitting down across from Jeremy.

  “Yes, a little while ago.”

  “And they like her?”

  “They just met her.”

  “Meaning that they didn’t like their son bringing no black girl home.” He smirked.

  Jeremy stared at the older man hard. “It doesn’t matter. I make my own choices.”

  Barbie’s father scoffed in disbelief. “Yeah right. This shit is nothing but a train wreck waiting to happen.”

  He got up and walked off before Jeremy could reply.

  “Electric slide time!” Barbie yelled from the second-floor window. She quickly replaced the speaker she had removed, and the music began to blast.

  Several people ran to the middle of the yard to line up, and Jeremy felt someone grab his arm. He was relieved to see that it was Barbie’s’ mom and not the two burgundy-haired girls.

  “Come on, you’re safe with me,” she said, winking at him.

  Jeremy laughed, and they quickly fell in line with the others doing the electric slide.

  When the song ended, Barbie’s mom turned to him.

  “You do pretty good for a white boy,” she said, showing her teeth. “I like you. I think Aura has found herself a winner!”

  “Why, thank you, ma’am,” he said, laughing. “Though I don’t think your husband would agree.”

  “This is 2009. Eugene better get with the program,” Aura’s aunt said while still dancing.

  “You trying to steal my man, Auntie?” Aura said, walking up to them after the song ended.

  “Oh no, baby. I’m an old woman. It’s enough for me just to look at his pretty face!” she said, winking at Jeremy again.

  Aura laughed. “You ready to go?” she asked Jeremy.

  “Sure,” he replied.

  Aura said her good-byes to her family and promised to stop by again before she and Jeremy returned home.

  “So what did you think?” she asked as they pulled out into traffic.

  “You were right. You have some crazy people in your family too,” he admitted. “Funny… but crazy!”

  “Told you so,” she said. “They are a crazy bunch of people, but they’re harmless.”

  “I got propositioned while you were gone,” he said, eying her.

  “By who?”

  “One of your relatives with the burgundy hair that hung over her eye,” Jeremy replied.

  “Oh her. She’s not family. That’s my cousin’s girlfriend,” Aura said, rolling her eyes.

  Jeremy smirked at her. “She wanted to take me off somewhere and rock my world.”

  “Oh really?” Aura said, sounding jealous.

  “Yep! And when I refused, she told me that you had me whipped.”

  Aura laughed. “And what did you say?”

  “I told her that she was right. I’m totally whipped,” he said, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.

  He then whispered in her ear, “Imagine what I’d be if I really did get some extra goo
d loving from you.”

  “You’d be a married man,” she replied, laughing.

  CHAPTER 3

  JEREMY AND AURA

  Jeremy had rented an oceanfront room at the Radisson Hotel for Aura while he’d planned to stay at his parents’ home. Now he decided to rent his own room after the blowup with his father. He was unsure what his next move would be since they had argued. He knew that if he didn’t attend his sister’s birthday party, she would be disappointed. Even though they talked regularly by phone, he had looked forward to spending time with his family since he hadn’t been home in two years.

  “You know that you really don’t want to stay here,” Aura said soothingly. “Why don’t you just go home? It’ll only be for a couple of days. I can stay here like we first planned.”

  “I don’t feel like dealing with my father right now, Aura. You don’t understand how he can be,” Jeremy replied, still hurting from his father’s continued rejection.

  Aura put her arms around him. “I don’t like seeing you like this,” she said “You look so unhappy.”

  “I’m with you, and I’m happy. I’d hoped to talk to you under better circumstances,” he said, reaching in his pocket, “but it is what it is.”

  He sat down on the bed, pulling her down beside him. “I love you, Aura. You are the most stable thing in my life. I know the Lord sent you to me, and I want you to be my wife.”

  He took the ring out and slipped it on her finger. “Marry me.”

  Aura stared at the ring a moment. “You know I love you, Jeremy.”

  “I hear a ‘but’ in there somewhere,” he said, chuckling nervously.

  “No buts… my answer is yes, but it is conditional. I know you are a Christian too, so I want you to make an effort to make up with your father. I want to go into marriage right. Family is important.”

  “Aura, I can’t make him accept you or accept me,” Jeremy replied.

  “Just make the effort,” she said, smiling.

  Jeremy sighed. Aura was a sweet, forgiving person, which was what he loved about her. She didn’t know his father or how much he’d rejected him in the past. His reaction to Aura hadn’t been a surprise to Jeremy, though he’d hoped for a better outcome. His father had been rejecting his choices all of his life. He still remembered the conversation from eight years ago . . .

  “Jeremy, now that you have finished two years of community college, I want you to go to Bible college,” Reverend Ferguson said to his son. “There are great ministry opportunities right here.”

  “Pop, I don’t want to go to Bible College,” Jeremy said. “I was down at the beach, and I’ve entered the King of Myrtle Beach modeling contest. You know that I’ve been studying to be a model for over a year now. I’m one of the finalists in the contest, and I could win $10,000 plus I’ll get a chance to travel to New York with an opportunity to become a pro. It’ll be on Beach TV and on Channel 8!”

  “That’s a ridiculous pipe dream!” his father said. “Why in the world would you want to do such a thing? Christian men do not model!”

  “Dad, they were really impressed with me. I’ll know tomorrow if I’ve won. I don’t feel that God is calling me to preach. I don’t want to do ministry. I can’t memorize scriptures, and I’m not that great with figures, but this is something that I can do, and I do it well,” Jeremy reasoned. “The modeling agency thinks that I have a real chance to win this!”

  “Parading around almost naked? Give me a break, Jeremy! You’re a fine-looking young man, don’t get me wrong, but you can’t compete with professionals!”

  Jeremy now reclined on the hotel bed, remembering that his father never supported him, never believed in him. Even after he won the $10,000, he could not be happy for him. Even after all this time, it still hurt. He closed his eyes, remembering the look on his father’s face when he’d told him that he’d won the contest.

  “Well, Pop, I won. I get to travel to New York. The agency says that they feel that I have real good shot at being picked by some big brands!” Jeremy said happily, waving the check in his hand.

  “I forbid you from doing this, Jeremy. You need to forget about this modeling business and come on and work here in the ministry,” his father insisted angrily.

  “No, Pop, I’m going to New York. I’ve already signed the contract. Why can’t you be happy for me?” Jeremy pleaded.

  “You will probably go up there, and some pervert will turn you out. You’re my only son. I want a man for a son! No decent man goes around swishing his butt and parading his body for money.”

  “I am a man, Pop. Modeling does not change that!” Jeremy snapped resentfully.

  “Well you go on then. You’re an adult, and I can’t stop you. Just know that you do not have my or your mother’s blessing on this venture,” he said, turning away.

  “I plan on paying my tithes with the money, Pop. I want to do what’s right,” Jeremy pleaded, following him as he walked off.

  “I don’t want your sin money!” his father snapped angrily.

  Jeremy felt as if he had been slapped. He had always tried to do the right thing, and now his father was making him feel as if he was some sort of pervert.

  “It was honest money, Pop. There is nothing sinful about it. I will pay it, and it’s between you and God what you do with it,” Jeremy insisted.

  He then stormed out of the house, not wanting his father to see the tears of frustration that were threatening to fall from his eyes.

  Jeremy’s thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He opened it and saw that the call was coming from his parents’ house. He doubted his father was the one on the other end.

  “Hello?”

  “Jeremy, son, are you all right?” his mother asked, sounding worried. “I am sorry that you feel that you need to stay at a hotel. I was looking forward to you being here at the house.”

  “Mom, I’ll be back over tomorrow. I just needed to get away for a while. Why doesn’t Pop accept me? I haven’t done anything wrong. Modeling is not a sin!” Jeremy insisted, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

  “Son, you know how your father is. He just hoped that you would work in the ministry… that maybe one day you would take things over,” she replied sadly.

  “God hasn’t called me to preach, Ma.”

  “Maybe he has, and you just don’t realize it,” she said.

  “Well, until he makes me realize it, my answer is no,” Jeremy said.

  “Son, I’ve been thinking about what you said… you know, about your girlfriend. I guess it was just such a shock. I mean you hardly dated while you were in high school or when you attended community college. Even after you signed up with that modeling school, girls were after you, but you never brought one home. I was just floored, that’s all. I guess I expected you to bring home some model from New York as your girlfriend.”

  “Ma, I’m twenty-eight years old. Don’t tell me that you’re thinking like Pop now. I wasn’t going to bring a girl home unless I was serious about her. I’m serious about Aura. She’s the one.”

  “All right, son. I believe you,” his mother replied, trying to sound upbeat. “Opposites attract, they say—right?”

  “I guess. But it’s more than that. I know she’s the one the Lord has sent to me to be my wife,” Jeremy insisted.

  “How do you know that? How can you be sure?”

  “When the Lord tells you something, you just know.”

  “Well, if she’s the one, then you have my blessing. I don’t care as long as you are happy,” his mother replied.

  “Thanks, Ma. What about Pop? Do you think he’ll ever accept my choices?”

  “Give him time, Jeremy. He’ll come around.”

  “Yeah, right. He didn’t even look at her after he recovered from the shock, and then he didn’t even say good-bye to Aura either,” Jeremy remind
ed her.

  “Bring her to Tara’s party tomorrow. If she’s going to be your wife, then she needs to meet the rest of the family.

  “Are you sure? I asked her to marry me,” Jeremy replied.

  “What did she say?”

  “She said yes,” Jeremy responded. “So now it’s official. She’s my fiancée.”

  “All the more reason to bring her around,” his mother replied. “Once your father sees that you’ve made up your mind, he has no choice but to accept her.”

  “All right, Ma. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “The party’s at three. Come early and help me set up. It’ll be like old times!”

  “Will do. Love you, Ma,” Jeremy replied, feeling a lot better.

  “Love you too, son.”

  Jeremy hung up the phone and closed his eyes. It seemed that his mother had decided to try to accept Aura, but he knew that his father would not be so easily persuaded. Aura wasn’t just any girl. She was the girl he had prayed for. His life had changed for the better because of her, and while he wanted his parent’s approval, his mind was already made up.

  Two years earlier . . .

  Jeremy walked into his apartment alone. He had just signed the biggest contract of his life. He was now making more money than he had ever dreamed of, yet he was miserable and lonely.

  He picked up his Bible and thumbed through it. He had avoided the fast lane of drugs, and he had let more men than he could count know that he was not the slightest bit interested in their advances.

  He had dated a few women, and they were more than willing to take him to their beds; in fact, they approached him. He did not even have to ask. All of it, however, left a bitter taste in his mouth. The sex was just that, sex. While it satisfied his primal urges, it left him feeling empty and alone.

  The women all had their own fantasies in their minds, and he could not meet their expectations. There were some things he just did not want to do with women he had no emotional attachment to, some things he wanted to reserve for marriage, and he always used protection when he had sex. Jeremy knew that he was quickly labeled a prude because of his personal convictions, and word traveled fast. It slowed down offers from his admirers, but he still had no problem getting women.