Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody Page B

same church with Miss Pearl them. When they argued about it she would say, “You think I’m gonna join church with them
hypocrites
jus’ because
you
belong over there? Shit, they don’t even
speak
to me. Why should I go over there and give ’em sumptin’ to talk about? Be sittin’ up there lookin’ at me, rollin’ their eyes and hunchin’ and whisperin’ to each other, make me so mad I can’t even think ’bout what the preacher’s sayin’.” Raymond had no defense against what Mama said about Miss Pearl them so he’d just say, “You go on, you join church where you wanna join, go on, if you will be happier out there at Mount Pleasant then go back out there!”
    Even though Mama kept hinting that she was going back to Mount Pleasant, months and months passed and she still didn’t go. I understood her feelings about Miss Pearl them, but I still wanted her to join Centreville Baptist. Since we
were
living in Centreville and Adline, Junior, and I were going tochurch and Sunday school there, I thought it was crazy for Mama to go all the way back to the country to attend church. She should have gone back to Centreville Baptist
in spite
of Miss Pearl them, instead of running to Mount Pleasant and letting them know that they were getting next to her. Besides, I had gotten to the place I was really enjoying Centreville Baptist, for there, at Darlene’s own church, I was outdoing her.
    Sometimes I would come in from Sunday school raving about how well I had explained the lesson and Mama wouldn’t say anything. She would just look at me. I got the feeling that she wanted me to outdo Darlene, but she still didn’t want me to enjoy Centreville Baptist too much. From the way she was acting I could tell that she wanted Adline, Junior, and me to go back to Mount Pleasant with her. So whenever I said something nice about Centreville Baptist she would say something nicer about Mount Pleasant.
    Finally, that August, Mama resumed her church activities at Mount Pleasant. By this time I was so involved in Centreville Baptist that I had made up my mind that I definitely would not join her church no matter what. So when Mama told us to get ready to go to Mount Pleasant one Sunday morning, I didn’t say a word. Since she had told me that we’d go out to Aunt Cindy’s after church, and had got me thinking of all the fun we had always had playing in the woods out there, I figured it would be worth it even if I had to sit up in church half the day. “Besides,” I thought, “she can’t
make
me join church out there.”
    As Raymond drove up to Mount Pleasant, I saw that just as I expected things hadn’t changed much. It was a gloomy day and the graveyard looked just like it did when I used to sit up in school and count the tombstones. Automatically my eyes were drawn from the tombstones to that little raggly school building. The cracks in the wood seemed even larger now and the whole school looked like it was about to collapse. I was sure it was no longer used, but as Raymond parked the car in front of the church, I saw through the open door thatthey still had Sunday school for the smaller children there. Mama, Adline, Junior, and I got out of the car. As I watched Raymond drive off with Jennie Ann in his lap and James on the seat beside him, I was more aware than ever that we were two families living under the same roof.
    We went inside the church and sat on the back seats. Sunday school classes for teen-agers and adults were being conducted up front. I watched the teen-ager class for a while and noticed that none of them said anything. Their minds seemed to be far away. The old lady who was teaching them kept mumbling the lesson as if she was talking to herself. “And Mama want me to come to Sunday school out here!” I thought, remembering our lively discussions at Centreville Baptist.
    In a little while, Sunday school ended, and the church began to fill up with adults. Mama knew nearly everybody who walked in. She smiled