The Last Jeskey - Chapter 38

 

The Last Jeskey

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 38

 

(Day 8 – Thursday)

 

Shantel

 

Just pullin’ up out front, I could see that this church was everything I could want it to be.  Not too big, not too small.  There was a sign out by the road that gave the name of the church and the name of the reverend, Reverend Manning.  That same sign also said gospel choir.  Hallelujah!

We all got out of the car, and they followed me to the door.  I approached it slowly.  I was anxious, but also afraid.  It had been a long time now since I had stepped foot inside a church.  I had left church and gone to hell instead.  Would they even let a sinner like me inside that holy place?  I stopped in front of the door.  My hand reached out and grabbed the handle, but I couldn’t open it.  I had done drugs.  I had an alcohol problem.  And I had been living with literal demons.  Demons who had nearly killed me in the end.  Forget worrying about what the drugs and the drink can do to you, demons came straight from hell, and they could be the worst.  Men were too strong, too wild, too angry all the time.  And they made sure I knew that I was living in hell…until the cops took me from the hospital and straight to the shelter, and I met Lisa.

I plucked up my courage and pulled on the door…and it opened for me.  Maybe, hopefully, God was going to let me back in.  Oh happy day if he did.

The sight that greeted my eyes was pure bliss.  The altar was simple with just a nice cross on top.  There was a simple stand in front of the alter for the preacher to stand and give his sermons.  My eyes were caught by a small piano off to one side, but my eyes lingered longer on what I saw on the other side.  Risers.  Risers for a choir.  They had music!  And I just knew it was my kind of music.  Gospel music.

“It’s very nice,” I heard Natalie whisper, but I ignored her and headed toward the altar, intent on kneeling before God and begging him to accept me back into his loving hands.  But before I could get there, a man came out from a door at the back corner.  A black man.  A rather handsome black man.  And he had a preacher’s collar around his neck.

“I thought I heard someone out here,” he said as he approached me.  “I’m Reverend Manning.  Is there something I can do for you?”

“I’m Shantel,” I told him, unable to take my eyes off his face.  “And I’m…I just wanted….”

His hand reached out and took one of my hands.  “Shantel,” he said.  “What do you need?”

I wanted to cry.  I was close to crying.  “I want back!” I cried.  “I want back in God’s good grace, but I’ve been a creature of hell for too long now.”

The Reverend pulled me over to one of the chairs and we sat.  He was holding both of my hands now.  “What do you mean you’re a creature of hell?”

“That’s where I’ve been livin’ for a long time now,” I told him.  “In hell!”  I looked back at the others near the back of the church.  “If it wasn’t for Lisa there, I think I’d be dead right now.”

He looked.  “Lisa?”

“She’s my friend,” I told him.  “We met at a women’s shelter the cops took me to.”

“Shelter?  What are you doing here?  I’m not aware of any shelters anywhere near here.”

“Huh!” I grunted.  “You wouldn’t believe it in a million years.”

“Try me,” he said softly.

“See that girl,” I said, looking back at Freaky.  “Believe it or not, Leese and me has got a job, teachin’ her.”

“Teaching her?”

“Yeah.  She’s the most messed up kid you ever did meet.  She’s been tortured and taught the most ridiculous things you can imagine.  If I thought I lived in hell, it ain’t nothin’ like how she’s been livin’…all her life.  And she’s been livin’ that way so long she thinks it normal.  So since we all became friends at that shelter, they offered Leese and me a job trying to teach her how things is supposed to be.  We’re just starting, but I can tell you, it ain’t going to be easy.”

“What’s her name?”

“Freaky,” if you can believe it.

“What’s freaky about it?” he asked, not understanding.

“No.  Freaky is her name.  The only name she has, except her last name which I think is Jeskey.”

“Jeskey!”

“Yeah.  She’s been living with this guy and his sons, but they were all killed recently, well, most of them.  Evidently there’s still one left, and he wants to kill my girl there.”

“I heard that someone had murdered Bo Jeskey and his sons,” the reverend said.  “But I didn’t know Bo had a daughter.”

“As I understand it, she ain’t exactly his daughter.  I think she’s a relative of his that he kidnapped when she was just little, and that’s why she’s so messed up.  She’s real nice though.  Just…very confused about everything.”

“Shantel, would you mind if I leave you here for just a moment so I can talk with her?  I promise, I’ll be right back.”

I nodded.  “Sure.  Like I said, she’s nice.  Lisa is even nicer.  And Miss Natalie is real nice too.  She found this church for me.”

He nodded.  “I’ll be right back,” he told me.  He got up and walked toward the back of the church.  My eyes went over to those risers for the choir.  I couldn’t seem to help myself.  I stood up and went over to them, and climbed up onto the middle riser and stood there.  I saw the Reverend talking softly with the others, but I didn’t care.  This was my spot in the choir, in the middle of all those glorious voices, singing and praising God!  I let my mouth open, and I let the song come out.  “Hallelujah, hallelujah,” my song started.  The sound of my voice in that chapel seemed to echo and make it sound better than ever, so I closed my eyes and kept singing, pouring my soul out and praising the lord, hoping against hope that he might take pity on a poor sinner like me and let me back into his fold.

And then I heard something that shook me, but it didn’t stop me from singing.  I opened my eyes and saw the reverend playing that piano and watching me while I sang.  So I kept singing, as loud and as joyously as I could.  And it was…joyous!  When I finished, I just stood there and the reverend looked up at me.  “Well!” he exclaimed.  “I hadn’t expected that.  Shantel, you can sing!”

“Right now,” I told him as I climbed down off that riser and headed toward his piano, “I just want to get back into a church somewhere.  I just want to get back where I belong, with God.”

He came out from behind the piano and hugged me.  “If you let me, I’d love to be the one to help you get there.”

We left the church a few minutes later.  Back in the car, I felt the tears coming to my eyes.  “Thanks,” I said softly to Natalie.  What Natalie replied wasn’t anything like I was expecting.

“Shantel, if we got you a guitar, would you mind if it was used?”

“Mind?  Why ever would I mind?  I’d just like to have one.”

“There’s a pawn shop on the edge of town.  It’s possible they might have one there.  Other than that, we would have to travel a while.”

“The guitar I used to have came from a pawn shop.”

“What happened to it?”

“It got broke right after I left home.  Along with me.  I got broke too.  It was the start of me living hell.”