Friday Night at Honeybee's by Andrea Smith

Author:Andrea Smith [Smith, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-48513-7
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2008-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

Viola walked into New Pilgrim with Miss Rosalee by her side. Eyes that usually met hers with warmth now filled with judgment and pity. Everyone knew what she'd done, there was no mistake about that. Senior Brother Clark nodded to Miss Rosalee but glanced away when he saw Viola. In the choir box, Cynthie Nettles' expression held no sympathy at all. Mrs. Baker didn't bother to wave Viola up to sit with the choir. Miss Rosalee thought it wise that they sit in the back of the church, anyway. At least until things got back to normal.

Donald was on the amen bench, just left of the pulpit, staring straight ahead. Viola could only see Nell from the back. Her mother looked down into her lap, a navy hat deliberately tilted over her face. Viola didn't see the Reverend at all, but knew it would just be a moment before he stepped onto the pulpit.

Viola bit her thumbnail. Surely her father would lash out at her in front of the entire congregation. She would accept it. She knew she deserved it. After talking and praying with Miss Rosalee half the night, Viola understood that her actions were wrong, even if she did need Amos's touch. Her stomach tightened. Only Miss Rosalee's firm grip on her hand stopped the full-fledged panic. Viola could hear whispering around her but she had expected that. There'd be talk, isolation, and lots of lectures. Donald would be cold, and Nell simply wouldn't speak to her at all. Eventually, though, her life would come back.

Miss Rosalee squeezed her hand when Reverend Bembrey entered the church from the small back room. The congregation quieted as he calmly took his place on the pulpit. Viola braced herself to receive her father's wrath.

“Cherished friends …” The Reverend's deep voice resonated through the church. “I say to you all, that Satan can corrupt even the most devout households.” He leaned on the side of the dais. “The weakest link in the chain,” he continued. “We have to try to strengthen that link, make it equal with the rest, let it pull its own weight. However, if we can't make it strong, I say … cast it out,” he said calmly. “Cast it out!! Lest we all get pulled down into that big ole black hole. Cast out the scorner and contention shall go out, yea, strife and reproach shall cease.”

The congregation was silent this morning. Viola noticed Sister Harper crying into her handkerchief.

“Forgiveness,” he began again. Miss Rosalee offered Viola an encouraging smile. “How much can one really forgive, and where do you draw the line, dear Lord.” His voice rose slightly. “We'd all like to believe that we can forgive just about anything.”

“Amen,” Brother Clark called.

Sister Harper glanced in Viola's direction and winked.

“But comes a time, when in order to save a crate of fresh apples from being infected with rot and decay, we must cast out the one bad apple. ‘And the great dragon was cast out, that old

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.