The Choir Director by Carl Weber

glanced over at him, he had a neutral expression on his face. When he looked toward Aaron, his face took on an expression that I can only describe as prideful, like on the day his son graduated from law school. It was clear that he believed he’d found the best choir director—the only choir director—who could rescue our struggling church.
    “My, you really have a beautiful wife, Bishop,” Mackie commented. He turned to me. “You’re a beautiful woman.”
    Was he trying to embarrass me? Couldn’t he see I couldn’t stop blushing? This man certainly knew how to work with what he had.
    “Why, thank you, Mackie,” T. K. replied, walking around to the driver’s side. “I think she’s a pretty fine-looking woman myself.”
    When I finally got myself under control, I said, “Mackie, why don’t you sit up front with the bishop?”
    “Only if you don’t mind.” He flashed those pearly whites at me.
    “Don’t be silly. Could you open the door?” He opened the rear passenger door so I could get in.
    As I squeezed past him and bent over to get into the backseat, a shock went through my entire body.
    No, he didn’t,
I thought.
No, he didn’t just squeeze my ass.
    I stood up straight and turned to him. I couldn’t believe what he’d just done. Thank God T. K. hadn’t seen my reaction.
    “Oops, sorry about that,” he said sheepishly. “I tripped on the curb.”
    I gave him a skeptical glance. “Mmm-hmm. Lucky for you, you had something soft to break your fall.”
    “Yeah, well, it was an accident.”
    “What’s going on?” the bishop asked from the driver’s seat.
    I glanced at Mackie, who was giving me a look that begged me not to tell T. K. what he’d just done. If my husband weren’t so gung ho on this guy, I would have told, but I couldn’t burst T. K.’s bubble.
    “Nothing, honey. Mackie just tripped. I was making sure he was okay.” I scowled at Mackie and got into the backseat, promising myself that I would keep a close eye on him. He might not present the same problems that Jackie had, but it didn’t mean this new choir director didn’t come with his own set of challenges.

Aaron
9
    It was my first day of work, and I have to admit I was pretty excited as I walked from my new apartment to Merrick Boulevard. I still had a few more blocks to go before I reached First Jamaica Ministries, but I didn’t mind the twenty-minute walk since it was such a nice day. I wanted to get to know my surroundings on foot before I started driving around town. Besides, if everything went as planned, I wouldn’t be walking anywhere for too much longer. One of the first things I had on my agenda when I saw the bishop was to ask him when I was getting the car he’d promised me. The Escalade had been my dream car for as long as I could remember. I’d always loved SUVs, and the Cadillac Escalade was the top of the line, the ultimate in American car engineering.
    I had to laugh, because despite all the craziness with Reverend Jenkins pulling a gun on me the other day, it looked like my life was actually going in the right direction for a change. Here I was with a great new job, a fantastic new apartment, and about to get a new car. It all seemed so surreal. There was only one thing standing in my way, and I’d have to deal with that sometime next week. In the meantime, I was going to enjoy every moment of my recent turn of good fortune.
    When I arrived at the corner of 108th and Merrick Boulevard, I was awestruck by the sight of the church. As the choir director for Mount Olive in Virginia, I’d traveled around the country quite a bit, visiting and performing at different churches. I’d been to my share of megachurches, but I don’t know if you could call the structure before me a church. It looked more like one of those European cathedrals you see on TV. It was absolutely magnificent. I don’t think any black church I’d ever seen could compare to it. I couldn’t wait to take a tour inside.
    “Mr.