Unbroken by Jackie Chanel

Author:Jackie Chanel [Chanel, Jackie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pink Neon Publishing
Published: 2016-10-15T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18: What is This

RISING STAR BAPTIST CHURCH intimidated me before I even stepped foot through the door. The dark red brick building wasn’t a mega church that were everywhere in Atlanta. It was small and looked liked such a staple in the neighborhood that perhaps the neighborhood had been built around the church. Sunny told me once that this was the church she attended every Sunday and Bible study every Wednesday. It’s been decades since I’ve set foot inside a church. I’m pretty sure that the things I’ve done won’t allow me to without some sort of repercussion. My stomach rumbled uneasily as if the concept of being struck down as soon as I crossed the threshold was a very real thing.

I sat on the hood of my Firebird staring at the church and waiting for Sunny to pull up in her mother’s Cadillac. Peaches said her pastor was meeting us at eight and it was 7:50. A slick black Toyota Avalon parked next to me on the gravel parking lot. A tall dark-skinned man with a bald head and gray goatee got out of the driver’s seat and walked over to me. He didn’t look anything like a pastor. He was dressed like a high school football coach.

“Aiden?” he spoke. His voice was deep and authoritative. Maybe he was the pastor. I nodded. He held out his hand to shake.

“Pastor James Hodges. Pleased to meet you.”

I shook his hand and hopped down off the hood. “Nice to meet you too,” I mumbled.

For some reason, I wasn’t sure if I should look directly into the man’s eyes. This was a man of God. I mean, God spoke to him. I was sure he probably heard quite a few things about me, probably all the bad things too.

“Come on in to my office. We can talk in there while we wait for Sunny.”

Thankfully, Pastor Hodges’ office had a separate entrance meaning we didn’t have to walk through the sanctuary. Why did I even agree to this? Marriage counseling from a pastor? I think Sunny and I need a certified therapist to get to the root of her problem.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Pastor Hodges stated after he unlocked the door and turned on the lights.

To my surprise, the Pastor’s office was modest and smaller than I’d imagined. There was a wooden L-shaped desk and one wall was lined with bookcases. A brown comfortable looking sofa sat along another wall. There were two simple chairs at the desk and a brown leather desk chair on the other side. Pictures of his family sat on the cluttered desk. A mini-fridge with a coffee maker on top sat in the corner.

I sat on the sofa and waited. I tried to avoid looking as anxious and nervous as I felt but obviously, I was failing because Pastor Hodges chuckled and told me to relax. A few minutes later, there was a soft tap on the door. Pastor Hodges opened it and let Sunny in. She was carrying a box of Krispy Kreme donuts and a carrier holding three Starbucks cups.

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