| Nov 1, 2005 |
| 11/1/05, 9:00AM, 2,163 Words |
MaClandon took a deep breath and smelled the clean air. It wasn’t too hot. This would have been a great day to be at the park, but MaClandon didn’t want to be here for the reason that he was here.
MaClandon watched the butterfly fly by his head. He wondered how he had let his aunt talk him into coming to the picnic. It was the same every year at this time. MaClandon vowed to not let his aunt talk him into coming to her yearly picnic and every year, MaClandon ended up coming to the picnic. His twin brother MeClendon was no where in sight. Mec (as he is called) wasn’t going to come to the picnic. Mec made that clear to his aunt after the first picnic that By Example Ministries held in 1998.
Every year since 1998, By Example Ministries held a picnic in the summer to honor the young ladies who had accomplished the goals that they had set for themselves the previous year. By Example Ministries was a ministry that focused on young ladies and taught them to be better ladies through mentorship, love, and nurturing by older women. The ministry had grown over the year and each year, it seemed like more young ladies were joining.
MaClandon, better known as Mac, watched as each young lady walked across the front of the audience and received either a certificate or a trophy, some for maintaining their purity, some for graduating high school, some for getting straight A's. Mac had to admit that it was a beautiful sight to see so many young ladies basking in their accomplishments as their family and friends watched.
One of the young ladies receiving an award was Sabrina Norman, Mac’s current girlfriend. Mac knew that she wasn't receiving a trophy for maintaining her purity because she constantly tried to get him to go all the way with her. He was tired of it, too. Two nights earlier, he contemplated breaking up with Sabrina, but he thought it best to at least wait until after the picnic. Mac continued to watch the young ladies receive their awards.
Dianne stepped out of her 2004 Honda Accord. She smoothed out the wrinkles of her shorts. She hoped they weren’t too short. She had joined By Example Ministries six-months earlier. It was good for her, having her background. She wondered why she had met Dr. Adkins-Garnett in a lingerie shop. It was funny to her as she walked towards the place where the picnic was being held. Dr. Adkins-Garnett seemed to make it her life’s work to get Dianne to come to Christ. It had only taken a month of bugging. Dianne was glad that she had given her life to Christ.
By Example Ministries was a big help to Dianne. She was much older than most of the young ladies going through the program, but her mentor, Monica Caldwell, had been a big help as well as a nuisance. Monica called Dianne everyday. She prayed with Dianne everyday. Monica also made Dianne go to a Bible study with her. Dianne was glad that the 60 year-old woman had been there to help her. Dianne stopped reminiscing and hurried towards the picnic area. She was already an hour late.
Dianne reached the picnic area. The awards ceremony was already underway. She was hoping that she would miss the ceremony. She had no desire to walk in front of all of those people and receive her reward. Dr. Adkins-Garnett had tried to talk Dianne into accepting her award, but Dianne felt out of place since she was older than the other young ladies. Dr. Adkins-Garnett told Dianne, “Girl, reading the Bible in a full year isn’t an easy task. I haven’t even done that. You should accept your award in front of the people.” Dianne responded, “If they never know that I did what I did, does that diminish my accomplishment?” Dr. Adkins-Garnett shook her head at Dianne before she walked off.
Dr. Adkins-Garnett spotted Dianne as she walked over to a table and sat down. Dr. Adkins-Garnett smiled at Dianne and continued calling the young ladies names and their accomplishments. Dr. Adkins-Garnett contemplated calling Dianne’s name despite the request not to. Dr. Adkins-Garnett understood, though. She didn’t want to make Dianne feel self-conscious.
Mac looked up and saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had on a green short set that matched perfectly. Her sandals matched her outfit perfectly. Her gold jewelry shined as the sun hit it. Mac watched the woman walk over to a table and sit down. She sat down so elegantly that you would have thought she was a queen. Mac stared at the woman until her eyes met his. When she looked at him, Mac turned away.
Dianne sat down on the bench. She hated being in the park. She hated getting her clothes dirty. She wondered how she went from a tomboy to such a prissy girl. She knew how she had turned into who she was, but she refused to let that name enter her thoughts. Dianne looked around the picnic area to see who was there. She was really looking for Monica Caldwell, but Dianne didn’t see her. As Dianne looked around the area, she saw this young looking guy staring at her. When he noticed that she was looking at him, he turned his head away from her. She twisted her lips as she thought, “Young joker. Please.” She had to admit that he was cute though. She shook her head and turned her attention to Dr. Adkins-Garnett.
Mac looked quickly to see if the woman was still looking at him. He felt bad that she had caught him staring at her. He had a thing for older women who knew how to dress and were refined. He could tell that the woman in green was exactly that, even though he had yet to meet her. He studied her outfit. It was starched as if it had just come from the cleaners. The creases could cut bread. Her make-up was flawless, just the right amount for a day at the park. He bet that she smelled just as good as she looked. Mac tried to think about what kind of cologne she was wearing, probably something sweet and flowery. He knew it would probably be subtle, real women didn’t wear a lot of perfume; they wore just enough to be noticed as they walked by. You could not smell them a mile away. He hated when women did that, which was another thing he disliked about Sabrina. Mac wondered why he had even started dating Sabrina. She was much younger than he last girlfriend. Sabrina was his age. His last girlfriend had been 4 years older than him. His mother hated the idea of him dating older women; that’s probably why he had dated Sabrina.
Mac looked up at the young ladies standing behind his aunt, Dr. Adkins-Garnett. He spotted Sabrina. He smiled at her. She just stared at him with this blank look on her face. He smiled again, but Sabrina didn’t react. She turned her face away from him. Mac followed her eyes. Her eyes rested on a talk, skinny guy that was sitting with Sabrina’s mother. Mac hadn’t noticed him before. Sabrina smiled at the guy, then looked at Mac and grinned an evil grin. Mac looked back at the guy and then back at Sabrina. She twisted her lips and rolled her head at Mac. Mac knew something was up at that moment. He was mad, but he knew that he could not cause a scene at the picnic. Mac uttered an expletive filled phrase and looked at his aunt as she finished speaking.
Dianne almost wished she had been standing behind Dr. Adkins-Garnett as she talked about the young ladies. “These young ladies set a goal and accomplished them. They put in the hard work and commitment to complete the work set before them. I am very proud of them, as you should be. Hug them, kiss them, and let them know that you are proud of them,” Dr. Adkins-Garnett said. For a brief moment Dianne felt bad because she hadn’t told anyone about what she had done, not even her best friend, which was unusual. Dianne had no one to hug, kiss, or anything else. She had made her decision and she would have to live with it.
The girls walked back to their families showing off their awards. Dr. Adkins-Garnett walked over to Dianne. Dr. Adkins-Garnett hugged Dianne, “Glad that you could make it, even though you were late. I see that you were determined to miss the awards ceremony.” Dianne smiled, “I didn’t want to take a chance that you would call me up there.” Dr. Adkins-Garnett grimaced, “I said that I wouldn’t call you and I was not going to call you.” Dianne tilted her head, “I know you thought about calling me.” Dr. Adkins-Garnett laughed, “Yea, I did think about it.” Dr. Adkins-Garnett hugged Dianne again before she walked off.
Sabrina walked over to the table where her family and friends were sitting. Mac watched her closely. He wanted to see how she acted towards the tall skinny guy. Sabrina hugged her mother and then looked at Mac. Sabrina walked over to the tall skinny guy and hugged him much too tightly for Mac’s taste. Mac dropped his head. He didn’t matter if he dumped Sabrina or not, it looked like she had dumped him. He was sad for a moment, and then his sadness turned to madness. How dare she invite him to the awards ceremony only to be all hugged up with some other idiot?
Mac stood up and walked towards Sabrina. When he reached her, he hugged her mother, “Hello, Mrs. Norman. How are you?” Mrs. Norman responded, “I am fine sweetie. I didn’t know you were going to be here, since you and Sabrina had broken up.” Mac stared at Sabrina, who had her arms wrapped around the waist of the tall skinny guy, “My aunt invited me, so I came to be with her.” Mac could feel his face getting red. He wondered how long had he and Sabrina been broken up. They were together two nights ago. She was all up in his face kissing on him and rubbing on him. Mac turned and walked off. He had to get out of there before he went off.
Mac had no idea where he was going. He was just walking. He was so mad that he wanted to hit something, better yet someone. He had walked to a bench in the park. He sat down on the bench. He had is head in his hands. He was fighting the urge to cry. Who finds out that they have been dumped by hearing about it from their ex-girlfriend’s mother? This was the worst day of his life.
“Mac, I guess you aren’t going to say anything to me, huh.” Mac looked up and saw Sabrina standing in front of him.
“Girl, you need to walk off from me before I hit you.”
“You ain’t going to hit anyone.”
“Bree, you are shady. You didn’t even have the decency to say anything to me two days ago when you were slobbering all over me. What kind of crap is that? You shady.”
“Whatever MaClandon. You just won’t give me what I want. I ain’t got time to be fooling with a boy. I need a man.”
Mac stood up. Everything in him wanted to hit the girl standing before him. He stared at her, “I hope he gives you what you want, because you are right. I cannot give you what you want. I ain’t a whore, like some people.” He ran off before she could respond.
Mac ran to his aunt’s car. He still had her keys from when he had helped her unload it. He opened the door, sat down in the driver’s seat, laid his head on the steering wheel, and cried.
Dr. Adkins-Garnett had seen Mac walk off from Sabrina and then disappear. Dr. Adkins-Garnett wondered what had happened. She never liked Mac dating Sabrina. Something was not right about that girl. Sabrina was fast. Dr. Adkins-Garnett could tell, having worked with females for over 15 years. Dr. Adkins-Garnett never interfered with her nieces and nephews relationships. She felt that it was best. All she said to Mac was, “Make sure that this girl is the kind of girl you want to be with. Hold fast to the commitment you have made to the Lord.” Mac had smiled at her and said, “Auntie, you tell me that all the time. I ain’t going to let you down.” Dr. Adkins-Garnett wanted to go see about her nephew, but people were walking to her and trying to talk to her. She hoped that her nephew would be okay for awhile.
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