him a cupcake on his birthday.”
“What happened when Lena broke it off with the reverend?”
“He cried,” she said. “He put his head on my shoulder and cried like a child.”
“Was he angry?”
“He knew that they’d have to stop one day. He knew it was wrong what he did. But you know sometimes a man is weak.”
“Do you know Cedric Boughman?”
“Sure I do. He brought Etheline to Medgar’s attention.”
“Do you think that Cedric might have harmed Etheline?”
“Why would he?”
“Because she left him for your boss.”
“But she left Medgar to go back with Cedric.”
“What?”
“Didn’t the minister tell you?” She was really surprised. “Etheline left him a note Sunday after services. She said that she was going away with Cedric, back up to the Bay Area where she was from.”
“Then why did Winters keep paying Cedric?”
“He did that before Etheline left him, and he would have done it for any of his inner circle. He’s a good man.”
“Are you in love with Reverend Winters?” I asked.
She could have been a wild night creature frozen in my headlights.
“Are you?” I insisted.
“What does a question like that have to do with anything?”
“I don’t know. If you were in love with him, you might wanna protect him, you might be mad that he was with another woman. I mean if he needed love, why not come to you?”
“I’m a married woman, Mr. Rawlins.”
“He’s a married man. Maybe that’s why your husband gets so mad when a man calls you. Mad ’cause he feel another man nearby.”
“I would never cheat on my husband,” Lena said. “The minister is the whole world to me, but I’d never cross that line.”
“And what about him? How did you feel about him crossin’ over into sin?”
“Men are weak, Mr. Rawlins. They’re strong of arm but frail in their hearts. They need forgiveness more than women do.”
“How about Etheline?” I asked. “She’s a woman. Did you forgive her?”
“Etheline was just a child. People had been usin’ her all her life. She didn’t know any better. Is there anything else?”
I shook my head.
Lena got up from her chair gracefully but she stumbled at the door.
WHEN I WAS HALFWAY through the pews, Bumpy and Fatso picked up my trail. They followed me across the wide church and into the side parking lot. The lot was full when I got there, so my car was parked in the alley.
They followed me back there.
I wasn’t worried. When I got to my car, I bent down to tie my shoe. I also got the .25-caliber pistol out of the elastic band of my sock. The deacons were twenty feet away from me. I could see that the hollow-chested one had found himself a lead pipe.
I palmed the pistol, stood up, and smiled. That smirk stopped them dead in their tracks. If they had been hyenas or wild dogs, they would have had their noses in the air, sniffing for danger. Something was different. The prey had gained confidence. The rules of the game had suddenly changed.
I unlocked my car door and opened it, but I didn’t climb in. I just stood there, daring the deacons to approach. They watched me, waiting for a sign. When I finally got in, Bumpy took a tentative step forward. I pointed my pistol at him, and he took two steps and one skip back.
After that they let me drive off unmolested.
IT WAS ABOUT FIVE when I got back home. The phone was ringing when I got to the front door, but whoever it was, they’d hung up before I got to the receiver. Feather and Jesus were in the backyard. I sat in my reading chair thinking about the last week.
Whorehouses and sinful ministers were nothing new to me. Even murder was an old friend, like Mouse. But for years I had been getting up and going to work, putting my paycheck into the bank. Paying my bills by check instead of cash. I was a member of the PTA. I had slept in my own bed every single night from Christmas to Christmas.
I followed the same routes every day, but all of a sudden I seemed to be lost. It was like I was a young man again, every morning leading me to someplace I never would have suspected. I wasn’t enjoying myself, though. I didn’t want to lose my way. But I had to find out about Mouse. I had to be sure whether he was dead or alive.
* * *
