Sweet Thang [COMPLETE]

Just Be A Man About It

Winston

"Winston! It's good to see you, Doc! How have you been?" Reverend Wright extended the warmest welcome as he opened up his home to me. I shook his hand as I stepped inside. "I'm alright, how are you? Thanks for havin' me over."

"I'm good, Winston. I was surprised to hear from you. You don't drop by much anymore. What's going on?"

"Straight up what's goin' on, huh?"

He laughed. "You called me two minutes ago and now you're knocking at my door. Something got to be wrong. Come on, you want something to drink?" I followed him to the kitchen and he pulled a steaming teapot off the stove. "I'll have a cup. Thanks," I told him as I took a seat at the counter.

"You wanna tell me what's got you showing up at my house unannounced or I gotta pray it out?" I chuckled and watched him turn to get another cup and teabag. But I was so deep in thought I forgot to respond.

"Well?"

I sighed. "I hurt Jen."

"And then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Boy..." he poured both cups and set the pot back on the stove. "You hurt Jen. Then what did you do?"

"Lied."

"Kinda sense that make? I was at your wedding."

"I know. I was there," I responded and the Rev's hand sounded like a gavel as it came down on the countertop. "Boy will you shut up?" He asked as he rolled his eyes.

"My bad."

"Can I continue? Or did you come over here looking for pity?"

"Sorry Rev."

He shook his head as he dipped his teabag in his cup.

"That day you decided to pray and you promised God and Jen that the two of you would hold this thing together by putting your marriage in God's hand always. I've told you before and I'll tell you again, both of you have broken that vow to God over and over and over again. Dancin' all over His grace. Tell me what you thought what you been doin' was gone get you?"

"I ain't think—," he cut me off, "Yeah, you ain't think."

"I ain't think she'd leave unc," I said while shaking my head.

"Why'd you do it in the first place?"

"She kept accusing me! Acting like she couldn't trust me to be around Superintendent Renaud in private! Acting like I'd ever given her a reason not to trust me!"

"Let's cut the mess Winston. You've given Jennifer plenty of reasons not to trust you. Don't act like I ain't told you that before."

"But that was before, Rev. Since we made that vow to stop doing it together I never had the urge to look at another woman until Jen started pushing my buttons."

"She's a woman. It always pushed her buttons. She just loved you more than it pushed her buttons. I've loved you like the son I always wanted since you came in this world boy. So I won't do a whole lot of preachin' at you cuz you know how I feel. But when you tell God you're going to give Him something and then snatch it back out of His hand the moment you do you're showing Him just how much you trust your own judgment over His. And God will let you 'handle' things on your own because you think you can. But what you do once you realize you can't... that's entirely up to you. You know what you did and you know what you got to do. Don't be the man she married. Let him rest, he's had his run. Be better," my spiritual father said before sliding the hot cup across the table and then adding some sugar to his own. "I don't get no sugar for my tea, unc?"