Excerpt from Loving Me For Me by Naleighna Kai
Excerpt from Loving Me For Me by Naleighna Kai
Fourteen-year-old Reign was forced to get up in front of the church and apologize for shaming her mother by getting pregnant . She complied , but was angry the entire time . Especially since she was fully aware of things going on behind the scenes . While she still held the microphone , she paused and then ended her apology with , “ But I have a question , though . Is it only the girls you want to apologize just because you can see what we ’ ve done ?” She rubbed her hand over her extended belly as the question drew murmurs of discontent . “ Dawn got pregnant . No one asked Mason to come up here and apologize . Alexa got knocked up . No one made Eric say he was sorry . My brothers weren ’ t made to get up here either .”
The congregation roared with disapproval aimed directly at her . Some of them stood , raising their voices in contempt .
“ Now , I know it does not excuse what I did ,” Reign continued , holding up a hand to signal they should quiet down because she wasn ’ t done . “ But I ’ m just saying Brother Harold ’ s been sleeping with Sister Odessa ’ s husband for the past two years . Everybody knows it .” She focused on the golden man whose face turned a magnificent red . “ Oh , and I don ’ t see Sister Justine and Brother Martin up here apologizing for getting busy in the choir room during rehearsal when the pastor ’ s wife caught ’ em a few months ago .”
“ Now , wait a minute ,” Brother Martin stood , shaking his fist at Reign . His wife yanked him back down in the pew , then slapped her purse on top of his head nearly knocking him unconscious . Sister Justine left her husband ’ s side and tried to run from the church . Her exit was blocked by the ushers who seemed to be having a grand old time with all of the skeletons dancing a jig on their way out of the closet and running up the church aisle as if the devil was on their heels . One of them , Sister Dorothy , even managed to give Reign the thumbs up sign , so she ’ d keep the party going .
“ I ’ m just saying let ’ s keep it fair ,” she said and dodged out of the reach of Deacon Jones who was making an attempt to snatch the microphone from her . “ A sin ’ s a sin . I think everybody should take a turn up here .” She gestured toward Deacon Byrne as she slid up the aisle , managing to still be heard over all the chaos . “ That is a whole bottle of Dr . Tichenor ’ s in your pocket ‘ cause you need a little nip of that eighty-proof every now . Nobody needs fresh breath that bad .” She winked at him , and even his wife laughed . “ My mama told me that one .”
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