Center Thy Church Girl

1.

Special thanks goes to khadijahsflavor for being there every step of the way for my first collaboration story!

Enjoy ~ xoloviexo

July 2022

Dorinda's POV

"Ma, do you think you and the sisters should say something about this Church Girl stuff?" My daughter asked me. I looked up from my phone and rolled my eyes.

We were in the car headed to church and I needed to clear my thoughts from all the drama surrounding my group because this is what I didn't need to deal with right now.

"I'm not sure Nik. So many people want us to talk about it and we never make public statements. Even when Wendy Williams went at us, we joked about it here and there but the fans had our backs which led to Wendy backtracking." I said.

"But this is Beyoncé, mama. She's the biggest star out here and decided to sample y'all song and specifically use the part where you're singing. The church ain't happy and they're coming heavy at Auntie Twink for giving permission." She said.

"I get what you're saying and I'll have to think about it." I said. She knew to leave the conversation alone as the driver pulled into the parking lot.

We're currently in Atlanta for a preaching engagement I have. My daughter travels the road with me and it has been the best thing for me. She's honestly the best thing to happen to me and I'm so glad we've repaired our relationship. We've had some rocky moments when I divorced her father because she blamed my ministry and career for the cause of the split. Now that she travels with me, she understands my passion for serving God's people and that if a relationship isn't solid and rooted in trust, it didn't stand a chance to last anyways.

We made our way into the church and were greeted by the welcome committee. I didn't have time to refresh myself and soon made my way to the pulpit. The crowd was a great size and the music was incredible.

I usually give a treat to the congregation by singing a few medleys of my solo songs but decided to sing a Clark Sister throwback. I first sang Pure Gold but the range was too high for me. I shifted to singing HIYA which ironically Jay-Z sampled on his album a few years ago which featured Beyoncé singing along to our vocals. The Carters singing that song gave us some controversy back then but not as bad as what's happening for Church Girl.

The more I sang HIYA and could hear the congregation singing along, I felt my heart prick at me. I felt compelled to finally speak on this whole Beyoncé issue. I looked at my daughter briefly and glanced back at the crowd before speaking from the heart.

"Alright, now y'all leave Beyoncé alone. Leave her alone. As long as she's got something in there, that's alright. It's all about being in the center of HIS will, Amen." I told the congregation. I felt relieved getting that off my chest because I was so sick and tired of people bashing Beyoncé for sampling our music. Personally, I like the song. It took me a few listens and the help of my daughter and niece Kierra to break down what she was saying in her lyrics but once I understood it, it hit home for me.

I quickly broke into a line of Looking For A Miracle to get on track with my message.

~~~

One week later

For once, I have a little downtime with my schedule so I can relax at home. Detroit is home to me, born and raised and couldn't see myself living anywhere else.

At 64, I feel like it's too late to try to move anywhere else and plus my church and family are based here. I was in the kitchen fixing a cup of tea when I heard the doorbell ring. I checked my security cam to see a guy with a beautiful bouquet of red roses. I headed to the door to open.