I Eat Oreos

5

Kayla

After talking to Gavin I called Sister Waters, Pastor Calvin's wife. Sister Waters was the sweetest lady and she could convince Pastor Calvin to do anything; although, she didn't really need to because he was just as kind.

"Hi, Sister Waters," I greeted over the phone once she answered. "How are you, Kayla?"

"I'm good. Just helping out with the house as usual."

"That's good. You and your family will continue to be blessed mightily through your giving."

"Thank you, Sister Waters. I wanted to ask if you could speak to Pastor Calvin for me." I stated. "Sure, what about?"

I began to explain to her about Gavin's situation and how he hadn't found a place for his uncle's funeral yet.

"Oh, I'd be glad to ask Calvin. I'll get back to you on that."

Hanging up the phone, I left my room and went upstairs to the D wing to see Mrs. Rosenburg. I always knocked on her door three times with a pause and then three more times to let her know it was me.

"Kay Kay!" She said smiling when she opened her door. "Hi, Mrs. Rosenburg."

"You want to take a ride with me?" she asked instantly. Mrs. Rosenburg knew that if I was at her door with nothing in my hand, that meant I was free and looking for something to do.

Getting into her red Convertible, we drove off. Every time Mrs. Rosenburg came into town, we always drove around and got ice cream, matching souvenirs, and sat down at Carla's diner and chatted. Sometimes not in that order.

"How about we get those matching crosses we saw last time I was here?" she suggested. I agreed to it immediately. We chose the tiny glass slippers the last time since they were going out of stock. They were so cute, we couldn't just leave them.

After getting our crosses and ice cream, we headed to Carla's. We sat at our usual table by the window and we ordered our usual: chicken strips for me and soup for her.

"So tell me about Gavin," she said folding her hands on the table. I looked at her confused wondering what she wanted to know.

"Uh, well you know he's from South Carolina," I stated. She sighed dramatically. "What?" I asked.

"Kay Kay, you know I'm asking what's going on between you two." I looked at her incredulously. "Literally, nothing. We barely talk."

"That's not what I heard the first night he was here and y'all were talkin' out on the porch..." she droned off sipping her drink. My mouth dropped at the realization she was eavesdropping.

"I know everything," she smiled and winked at me.

"Well, to be honest, he just interest me. I just want to know why he's so apprehensive about people," I stated. She raised an eyebrow at me and looked at me as if I should know already.

"It's apparent that people like that have trust issues. Probably got it from dealing with people he knows."

It was clear that whatever he dealt with left a lasting impression on him. I was guessing it maybe had something to do with friendships. I knew for sure he didn't do homeless people. It was odd in some ways. They already had so little what could they possibly do to you? I knew I'd have to change his perspective.

"Ooo, you got that look on your face," Mrs. Rosenburg said shaking her head.

"What look?" I asked curiously. "The one that says you're going to try to fix things."

I opened my mouth to protest, but what was I going to say? That I wanted to show him what nice, caring people could be like so that his heart would soften. That just sounded like I was trying to fix him.

Christians have a bad reputation for many reasons. Some people think we're judgmental, others think we hate people and condemn them to hell, and then others think we're trying to fix them and make them perfect. I didn't want to honor that reputation by seeming that way. I just wanted to show him that people weren't all that bad. To be completely honest, I knew I could just let him be and see for himself while he's at our house. Plenty of good people walked through.

"Just don't force anything, okay?" Mrs. Rosenburg warned. "Yes ma'am." My phone buzzed then. It was a text from Sister Waters

Calvin's good for the funeral.

I grinned at the text. I knew it was a perfect way to help Gavin see that people were kind. There was no one better to show that than the Waters.