Taking Care of Moses by Barbara O'Connor Page A

Nathan.”
    â€œOkay.” Randall felt himself grin. This was good, he thought. This was the right thing.
    â€œI been watching him, you know,” she said.
    â€œI know.”
    â€œI seen how that church lady’s been taking care of him.”
    â€œMrs. Charlotte Jennings,” Randall said. “She’s Preacher Ron’s wife.”
    He wiped dirt off his Sunday school trousers. “She doesn’t have any kids,” he added.
    Lavonia’s face went soft; then she stood up and smoothed her skirt.
    â€œGoodbye, Randall.” She wiggled her fingers with all those rings. Then she turned and started off up the sidewalk away from him.
    â€œLavonia,” he called.
    She turned.
    â€œHow come you left Nathan at the Rock of Ages Baptist Church?”

    She shrugged. “First place I come to, that’s all,” she said.
    Randall watched her walk away, her long, skinny legs taking big, silent strides.
    Then he turned and ran back toward church, feeling good about his grits and gumption.

15
    â€œ W e have been blessed with a visitor today,” Preacher Ron said,”And we hope our visitor gets a blessing from us.”
    Most everyone tried to act like they weren’t staring at Lavonia Shirley, but most everyone was.
    Randall’s whole body felt like one big twitch. From the minute Lavonia had walked into church, he had felt like he was going to bust wide open. He tried to make his face look curious like everybody else’s, like he didn’t know why in the world Lavonia Shirley would be showing up out of nowhere like this.
    Every now and then he glanced back at her. She wore a long, flowing robe with layers and layers of silky cloth. A yellow-and-orange turban covered up her bushy hair. Randall had never seen anyone in Foley dress like that. She looked like someone right out of a storybook. Like an African queen, or something. It was
for certain she didn’t look like anybody else sitting there in the Rock of Ages Baptist Church.
    â€œWe’re just down-home folks,” Preacher Ron went on, “raised on corn bread and chicken. And we welcome ALL who choose to join us in this blessed place of brotherhood and worship.”
    A few people called out, “Amen.”
    Randall sat on his hands and thunked his heels against the pew until his mother squeezed his knee to make him stop. How was he ever going to sit still through the whole service? What was Lavonia going to do? Was she going to jump up and say she was the one who left Moses on the front steps of this church?
    Suddenly a thought popped into Randall’s head. What if Lavonia said “Hey” to him? What if she said, “Why, hey there, Randall Mackey”? Or worse yet, what if she told everybody about him chasing after her and all? What if she said, “Randall’s the one who saw me leave my baby on the steps of this church”?
    Randall couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of that before. Why hadn’t he told Lavonia that all this mess he’d gotten himself in with Moses was a secret? Why hadn’t he explained to her about Queenie and why he couldn’t tell anyone why he was outside the church that night?
    It was too late now. But at least the few times he had
glanced back there at Lavonia, she hadn’t even looked his way.
    Preacher Ron kept yelling out words:
    LOVE more!
    GIVE more!
    DO more!
    â€œDon’t just take up SPACE,” he hollered, pounding his fists on the pulpit. “Make IMPROVEMENTS in this world.”
    People held up their hands and nodded their heads and called out, “Yes, brother.”
    When the service was over, folks began wandering over to the Fellowship Hall. Randall watched Lavonia out of the corner of his eye. Her silky robe fluttered in the breeze as she walked along the sidewalk connecting the church to the Fellowship Hall. Her bracelets made tinkling noises with every step. She looked straight ahead, not stopping