TO LIGHT MY FIRE

ONE

‘Our Father, who art in Heaven,’

Dad was standing behind the large podium which had the church’s name engraved on it. He was preparing the church for dismissal.

The congregation followed suite and repeated after him.

‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,’

Mom swiftly pulled the strap up on my dress assuming it was gonna fall and expose my boobs. In reality, my dress wasn’t even the one she should be worried about. It should be my cousin’s, Labyrinth.

She wore a short blue cocktail dress with black stilettos.

Everything underneath her neck screamed night club, but above she looked suitable for church. Her fiery orange ombre hair was in a tight bun and she only wore mascara. Everyone calls her Rinny except for her parents and mine.

Rinny turned around and winked at me as she nodded her head toward the new drummer Dad had hired. Our old one moved to Sand Fontuin with his band because they scored a record deal. Of course the rest of the Church was furious because the songs they performed weren’t particularly in line with God’s Word. To them it was ‘Devilish’ and ‘Obscene.’

Father found our new drummer at the airport - King Shaka - to be exact and offered him a paying gig on Sundays. He seemed nice. I think his name is Derrick. We made eye contact.

‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,’

I quickly averted my eyes before it got any more awkward than it was.

‘For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever and forever.

Amen.’

After service, Dad allowed me to go to the bookstore after promptly introducing me to Derrick. The confrontation was however weird and excruciating, and I couldn’t help but squirm under his glassy stare. Even though he was only three years older than me, it felt as if an elderly man was checking me out.

When Dad finally let me go, I couldn’t get out of the building fast enough.

He let me take his car since we live down the street and the bookstore was all the way across town. I parked in my usual spot and made my way into the tiny but homey store on a quiet block.

The smell of hot coffee and peppermints instantly made me feel at home. There were not that many customers, but they were scattered in different parts of the store. If you looked around you would see, a teenage girl laying under the stairs with her face tucked in a book. A college student struggling to find a word in the dictionary, and a middle - aged woman pouring herself a steaming cup of coffee while reading the papers.

‘Eve! Long-time no see,’ Jose came from the back with a box of plastic wrapped books.

I took a seat at the counter where he sat down the box and began unloading it.

‘You know my parents,’ I gave him a knowing look.

‘Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Jesus first,’ he put his hands together and looked up. ‘Shut up,’ I rolled my eyes. ‘Got anything new for me?’

‘I just put a new selection back there. Enjoy Mary Magdalene,’ he smirked and motioned his head toward the area. I stuck my tongue at him before I started walking to ‘My Spot.’ This area has a mixture of romance, mystery, and action.

Just the kind of excitement I need after a week of being looked down at as a disappointment.

When I was born, my parents expected me to come out with a Bible in hand and a cross tattooed along my chest. But no, God forbid I ever get tattoos.

In ‘My Spot’, I could be whoever I wanted to be. Anything from being in a messy love triangle to being chased down by the cops gives me the most exhilarating feeling in the world.

It makes me feel like there’s more to life than waking up, reading my Bible, and going to Church. It gives me hope that there’s more. So much more….

As my fingers lightly trace the binds of the books on the shelves, I felt like someone was watching me.

Instead of getting freaked out, I find a book and slide down the brick wall beside the shelf. I pulled my knees up to my chest and opened up the magical object made up of paper and ink.

‘I hate this idea that boys are thinking about sex non-stop and girls are thinking about - what? Stationery and Garden gnomes? No.’

I snickered at the bluntness of the main character and flip through a couple more pages.

‘You’ve never dated any guys?’

I shrug. ‘I haven’t even kissed one.’ And then I add, ‘Well, in recent years.’

‘Then how do you know you don’t like guys?’

‘I don’t know, Freddie,’ I say, trying to hide my irritation.

‘How many boys did you kiss before you realized you were straight?’

Now I giggled at that, but I couldn’t ignore my predator’s eyes any longer. I looked up from Ramona Blue and to say I was hot was an understatement. I was on fire.

Two dark coal eyes had me pinned in ‘My Spot’ against the brick wall. His dusty black boots were crossed as he leaned against the wall staring me down. I was too afraid to blink. This mysterious stranger squinted his eyes and moved closer to my frozen figure until he was able to crouch down in front of me.

His dusty black hair that could have been mistaken as brown fell over his gorgeous dark orbs.

Though something else was there. Is that eyeliner?

It took everything in me not to lift my hand and move those strands. He blew out a breath and when I tell you the smell of nicotine had never smelled so good.

He stared into my eyes and it was as if he was looking for something. Fear? Anxiety? What the heck is this guy on?

In the act of him smiling smugly, I noticed the deepest dimple in his right cheek which was covered by his scruffy beard.

He bit his lip and finally looked like he was about to say something. Maybe he’s looking for a book and I’m in his way.

Or he might need help finding one. Or he needed directions to the bathroom because I sure as heck needed one.

No matter what it was, I just knew that something amazing would come out of his mouth.

‘Cute Panties.’