God Bless the Trappers

CHAPTER ONE-2

Odette pulled to another red stoplight and wiped her tearing eyes with the back of her fist. Looking back up, she allowed her mind to take her back to a time, a time when she had went seeking out the Lord for a favor.

Odette pulled up to the church and killed the engine of her Honda. She hopped out, slamming the door shut behind her and sliding on sunglasses. Now, it was hot that day, but that’s not why she’d opted to wear sunglasses. Nah, she’d chosen to wear them because they’d hide the black eye that her husband had given her. The extra makeup she applied masked the bruising on her face.

The beating she’d gotten was courtesy of that son of a b***h, Carlos. That nigga had gotten it into his head that she was creeping with their Mexican gardener, Felipe, because she’d allowed him inside of the house for a cold glass of lemonade and a sandwich. Her reason for doing this was because it was a scorching 93 degrees outside, and the poor bastard was sweating like he was a slave picking cotton. Odette didn’t want the man to pass out from the heat, so she decided to let him have a break, offering him something to eat and drink. She tried to explain this to her husband, but he wasn’t trying to hear that s**t. He swore on the life of him that they were up in there f*****g.

When Carlos saw a sweaty Felipe coming out of the house with his wife beater clinging to him, he parked his car on the front lawn and hopped out. He whipped Felipe’s ass and grabbed a rake from out of the flat bed of his pickup truck, breaking it over his back. He then kicked him in his ass, sending him crashing to the ground. The pained gardener slowly got to his feet, wincing. He then limped to his truck, holding his side. Once Felipe had driven off, Carlos grabbed Odette by her hair, dragging her inside of the house kicking and screaming. Now, normally, Odette would ball up on the floor until he’d finish beating her ass, but not this time. Nah, she had some fight in her that day and enough was a mothafucking enough.

Little momma wasn’t about to take an ass whipping lying down. f**k that! She threw hands with Carlos’ big ass, taking licks from him and giving him some back as well. This was her first time fighting him back and, once it was all over, the house was a mess of broken glass and toppled furniture. After the brawl, Carlos left the house for boot camp with a busted nose and a bleeding lip. The Uber he’d requested whisked him away to his destination, while Odette got dressed and took herself to church.

Odette hadn’t stepped foot in God’s domain since she was a young girl. Grandma and Grandpa Gladstone used to take her and her sister to the house of praise every Sunday. Grandma would part and comb the girls’ hair, putting it in barrettes. She’d then get them dressed and spray a little of her perfume on them. Once everyone was ready to go, the girls would climb into the backseat of Grandpa’s black on black ‘76 Cadillac DeVille. The backseat of the old Caddy looked as big as Yankee stadium to Odette and Shonda. It was spacious and clean. You couldn’t find a piece of lent inside of the vintage automobile. Grandpa loved that car, so he took damn good care of it.

The leather backseats of the classic vehicle would be hot during that time of the day. This was from the car sitting parked in the driveway beneath the blazing sun for so long, its warm rays heating up the interior of the automobile. When Odette and her sister slid into the backseat of the Cadillac, it would burn their thighs and legs. So, Grandma would have to lay Grandpa Gladstone’s overcoat down across the cushioning of the leather seats, so they wouldn’t get burned.

As a little girl, Odette didn’t care too much for church. It seemed like they would be there forever and, just when it seemed like it was time to go, the pastor would keep on going with his long ass sermon. That’s when she realized that the Holy Roller was just getting started. It wasn’t always bad though. After church, while the adults would busy themselves shooting the breeze inside of the parking lot, Odette and her sister would play with the other kids. Afterwards, Grandpa and Grandma Gladstone would take the girls to Denny’s. Odette adored Denny’s. She’d order a tall glass of milk and a big old stack of pancakes. She loved pancakes, especially with maple syrup on them. Grandpa Gladstone would sit back with his cup of coffee, watching her devour her flap jacks. He’d chuckle because it amused him that such a small child could eat so many pancakes.

Anyway, until Odette was about thirteen years old, this was her family’s Sunday ritual. It never changed, not even once. That was until Grandpa Gladstone passed away from natural causes. Grandma had found him on a Thursday night after dinner. He was inside of the garage, behind the wheel of his Cadillac DeVille, ‘Diamond in the back’ playing from the speakers, the exact same song he played every day on their way to church. His eyes stared blankly through the lenses of his prescription glasses and his mouth was partially open. Although he was deceased, the cigar wedged between his chubby fingers was still wafting with smoke. Winston Halbert Gladstone was buried one week later, on the same day of the week that he’d died on at Cedar Hills cemetery.

Odette came strolling through the tall double doors of the church, which had high ceilings. The Lord’s house was dimly lit with the sunlight shining through the opened doors and the colorful, stained-glass windows. The colorful windows had religious figures painted on them. The pews were oak wood with padded, burgundy cushioning on the seats and backrest. The carpet was flat and gray. A burgundy rug ran from the entrance of the church to the stage where the podium resided.

Odette had gotten about halfway down the aisle when she saw the live-in maintenance man had just finished vacuuming. He looked up at her, just as he’d begun wrapping the cord around the placements at the back of the vacuum. A smile stretched across his mole riddled, wrinkled face and expanded his thick, salt and pepper mustache across his top lip.

“Heyyyy, Odette, I ain’t seen you in a while,” the maintenance man said, walking up to hug her. This was Mr. Medgar. He’d been working at the church for as long as Odette could remember. “How have you been, baby girl?” he asked, embracing her.

“I’m fine. How are you?” she asked, mustering a halfhearted smile. Considering she’d just gotten her ass beat, she wasn’t really in the mood to talk to anyone. But out of love and respect for Mr. Medgar, she’d extend him that courtesy.

“Oh, I’m hanging in there. This bum leg of mine ain’t slowed me down yet,” he said as he smacked his weakest leg and smiled again, showcasing the gold crown on his front tooth as well as the rest of his grayish teeth. The old man had walked with a limp ever since he’d been struck by a speeding car on his way home from the supermarket one night. Ever since then, he’d been walking like he was wearing one boot.

Odette and Mr. Medgar chopped it up a little while longer before he asked was she there to see the pastor. He told her that if she was, he was in the back in his office counseling a couple that were members of the church, so she’d have to give him about an hour or so.

“Nah, I thought I’d come and get a few ticks with the Big Guy.” Odette and Mr. Medgar looked up at the statue of Jesus Christ hanging on a cross on the stage. It was enormous and sitting high up, making Odette and Mr. Medgar look like children standing below it.

“Oh well, let me give you some privacy. I’ve gotta take out the trash and sweep out back. We’re ‘pose to have a BBQ this Sunday. It was nice seeing you again, Odette,” he said, embracing her once again.

“Nice seeing you again too, Mr. Medgar.” She broke their hug and he went on about his business, pulling the vacuum cleaner along as he pushed the cart of cleaning items that was on the side of him.

Odette stared at Mr. Medgar’s back, as he walked away singing some old song that she was sure she’d heard Grandpa Gladstone play in his Cadillac a couple of times growing up. Once he’d disappeared and his crooning had grown softer until she didn’t hear it anymore, Odette took her purse from off her shoulder and walked up the small staircase upon the stage. Stopping before the enormous crucifix, she got down on her knees before it and put her hands together in prayer. Bowing her head, tears outlined her eyelashes and slid down her cheeks. She sniffled before she began her conversation with God’s son.

“Oh, Merciful Lord, I come before you today a woman that’s broken spiritually, emotionally, as well as physically. I don’t know how I allowed this monster known as Carlos into my life, but I have. This man has lied, cheated, abused me, and treated me like I was crap at the bottom of his shoe. And, yet, my dumb butt stayed with him. Not only that. I was stupid enough to give birth to his child. Now, I love my darling baby boy and I don’t regret having him. But, I do regret the man that I chose to have him by. I wish I’d chosen a man that loved me unquestionably and treated me like a jewel.”

She felt herself about to break down before she could finish. So, she took the time to gather herself before continuing. “Father, I came to you today to ask you to please bring me a man into my life that will honor, love, respect, and protect me. I’m not asking for this person to be perfect because I’m not, Father. I’m not asking for this person to be handsome nor rich,” her voice began to crackle, so she cleared her throat, “all I ask…” She sniffled and swallowed the lump of hurt that was in her throat. “All I ask, Father, is for someone to love me, someone that will look at me each and every day like I am the best thing that ever happened to them, someone that will accept me with my flaws and all. That is all that I ask. I’m not asking for me to meet this man today, not even in the next week or month. I just ask that when you send him to me, Father, that he’ll be for me and only me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen,” And with that, Odette fell apart, sobbing and crying while holding on to the bottom half of the crucifix. After a while, she quieted down and held her position there at the lower half of the statue. Next, she cleared her throat and wiped her eyes and nose with Kleenex from out of her purse. Getting up on her knees, she slipped her sunglasses back on and headed out of the church.

A week later, Odette linked back up with Donald, her high school sweetheart, rekindling the flame that they once shared as teenagers. They dated for a time, but she realized that he wasn’t the one for her. She knew that he was sleeping around with groupies on tour and he played her little mind, besides the times he hit her up when he was in town for s*x. She’d gotten tired of that and broke things off with him, refusing to be just one of his booty calls for the rest of her life. They still talked though, keeping in touch over social media and the occasional phone call. As of now, they were just platonic friends.

Odette stared ahead, thinking about the day that she’d visited the church. She appeared to be in a trance from the expression on her face. It wasn’t until the sound of a honking horn flooded her eardrums that she snapped out of it. Adjusting her crooked rearview mirror, she stole a glance through it and saw that there was a line of cars behind him.

“Well, damn, my bad,” she said to them, but there was no way that they could hear her. Beep! Beep! Beeeeeeep! “f**k y’all, s**t!” she said as she threw her middle finger up and out of the driver side window, mashing the gas pedal and taking off through the intersection.

Odette drove along, keeping her eyes on the road and rummaging through her purse. The stuff inside of her purse that she came across that she didn’t need, she sat aside and continued her probing. Finding the electric cigarette that she was looking for, she took a pull and blew out a gust of smoke.

“I need a drink,” Odette said to no one particular, scratching her forehead with her thumb. “Lemme see if sis can watch Mar Mar for a little while longer.” She picked up her cellular and hit her sister up. She asked her could she watch her baby boy so she could take a moment to clear her head, and she obliged her. Smiling, Odette said, “Thanks, sis. Love you, okey dokey then, bye.” Having disconnected the call, Odette tossed her cellphone onto the passenger seat and continued driving, occasionally taking a drag from her cigarette. She couldn’t wait until she was sitting at the bar and telling Nigel what she wanted to drink. The alcohol was well needed to calm her nerves.