Playing Hard To Get

“Ladies!”

Kyle’s head was spinning and he was praying Saptosa would step into the office and say someone else, someplace else was in need of his pastorial services pronto. But even if there was another emergency, Saptosa wouldn’t be at her desk to answer the call. She was too busy at the door listening and texting all of the dirty details of the argument to her mother, grandmother, and godmother—all mothers at the church.

“Can we come to a compromise, ladies?” Kyle asked, standing up and holding his hands out to both women. Troy jumped up too and tried to stand closer to Kyle than Myrtle. “Isn’t there something that could work for both of you?” Both women looked off in opposite directions to show their disinterest.

“She could leave the church,” Myrtle murmured inaudibly.

“What?” Troy puffed out her chest.

“Ladies, please!” Kyle repeated and the force in his voice was so hard it surprised and excited his company. “Can’t you both find some way to get along?”

“Well,” Myrtle started, peeking over at Troy, “if she’d just let me back into the organization, maybe I could help her again…and—”

“What?” Troy shouted.

“And I wouldn’t be a bother,” Myrtle went on. “It would be like I wasn’t even there. I’d let her take the lead and I’d just help. I only want to serve the women of Christ.”

“Wonderful,” Kyle said, relieved. “That sounds perfectly reasonable to me. What do you think, Troy?”

He turned to Troy and her mouth was wide open. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Why couldn’t Kyle, in all of his wisdom, see past Myrtle’s drama? She wanted to continue to probe and then protest, but she could see the irritation in her husband’s face and learned, as any good wife should, that he had limitations, and there was no sense arguing with him once they were exceeded.

“Fine,” Troy muttered, crossing her arms tighter over her chest. Quick as a cat, Myrtle jumped into Troy’s arms like she’d been reunited with her long-lost best friend.

“I am so happy,” Myrtle said excitedly. “Praise God!”

She hugged Troy tightly, her right hand cradling the back of Troy’s head as she rocked back and forth.

“I am so happy,” she repeated so Kyle could hear, but then, in Troy’s ear, she whispered, “Watch your back. I’m coming for you.”

?

Troy and Kiona hadn’t been friends long enough for Kiona to ask if she’d had a fight with her husband, but as the pair left First Baptist on the way to a hot yoga class Troy had invited her to, it was clear that something had gone wrong in Kyle’s office. Troy was silent most of the way to the studio. And as Kiona suffered in the steam that even the instructor agreed was too high, Troy hardly broke a sweat and kept a Jedi-like focus on each pose.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Kiona said, dabbing her chest with a towel to sop up the pools of sweat soaking her clothes as they walked out of the class. “I’ve never done anything like this. Me and my friends mostly spend the afternoon in front of the TV.” She laughed. “I didn’t expect to sweat quite so much, but I guess that’s the point.”

“You get used to the heat after a while,” Troy said.

They walked into the locker room and Kiona saw that her once curled hair was now a little Afro.

“I’m sure you do,” Kiona said, “but until then, I think I’ll stick with doing yoga in my living room. I can’t afford the hair upkeep.”

“Do whatever you want,” Troy snapped.

“Ooookaaay…”

“I’m sorry,” Troy said, noticing the confused look on Kiona’s face. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just a little stressed right now.”

“Why?”

“The Virtuous Women again…one in particular.”

“First Lady—”

“Troy,” Troy stopped Kiona. “We’re friends. Just call me Troy.”

“Troy, you’re doing a fine job. Everyone is so excited about the changes you’ve been making,” Kiona said.

“Really?”