Read Online Somewhat Saved by Pat G'Orge-Walker - Free Book Online Page A

didn’t know how long Sasha had tried to get her attention and she didn’t care. There was something disturbing about that young woman seated against the wall. She clicked her false teeth as she tried to recall why.
    â€œIt’s your turn to pay for the meal,” Sasha announced.
    â€œI’m not paying twenty dollars for some dry bread and veggies and a hamburger with enough grease to fry a bucket of chicken.” She flicked the tiny speck of slimy okra back at Sasha. “I’ve got something else on my mind. . . .”
    But when Bea turned around the young woman was gone.

10
    The National Missionaries and Mothers Board Convention started late the next morning but it didn’t matter. Most of the five hundred attendees were well past the age of worrying about showing up on time. They were happy just to show up at all.
    Outside, the morning air was muggy with a rare thunderstorm threatening to kiss the arid Las Vegas atmosphere with much needed moisture. Inside one of the Edna Jaeger Hotel and Conference Center’s banquet rooms the ongoing praise service was hot.
    The Edna Jaeger was a new facility built less than five years ago and named for one of Las Vegas’s leading Afro-American female entrepreneurs. There were four floors of opulence with two of its floors completely enclosed in glass. The Jaeger, as it was called for short, also had a top-of-the-line sound system and a grand stage for small performances or events. It had the added attraction of having its own casino and first-class first aid center. The latter two features explained why the Jaeger was chosen for the Mothers Board Convention. Gambling and the acceptance of Medicaid were a plus for most of the seniors.
    Bea and Sasha stood beaming behind the podium. All the attendees were dressed in white from head to toe. Bea and Sasha looked well-rested despite their action-packed afternoon and their constant bickering. Sasha had even managed to forgive Bea for suggesting that her room number, 666, was prophetic. They’d managed to take a break by going to their respective hotel rooms to regroup for the election battle.
    â€œThis is lovely,” Bea whispered as she waved to several of the women she knew. She let her dark, weathered-skin hand drop and rise, as though the audience would receive an anointing by her action.
    â€œWe can’t lose with this much love in the room,” Sasha added with a low chuckle.
    As if on cue the other attendees started clapping and then one by one they stood.
    â€œOh my.” Sasha blushed as she pretended to be embarrassed by all the applause.
    Bea was about to go into her humility routine when someone from the crowd hollered, “Praise the Lord, Sister Betty’s here.”
    Bea’s wig slid off to the side as her head quickly twisted toward the door.
    Sasha’s jaw dropped and so did her false teeth. If the crowd wasn’t so involved in greeting Sister Betty, they’d have heard the partials clang when they hit the floor.
    All the attention caught Sister Betty by surprise. It was her intention to arrive and just sit in the back until the nominations and other festivities were over.
    While the other mothers and missionaries flocked toward Sister Betty, Bea and Sasha fought the urge to rush over and tackle the woman, the sanctified thorn in their sides. But they stood and smiled using the correct amount of decorum because they were there to represent their church. And, more so, they wanted the reelection.
    Bea and Sasha gave one another a quick glance. The sneers hidden behind the false smiles silently conveyed their collective plans to get rid of Sister Betty.
    â€œThat old heifer has got to go,” Bea hissed.
    â€œI agree.” Sasha had raised her cane out of habit but quickly let it drop. “Let’s get together after we go to the casino and pray about it.”
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    It was much too hot, even for a Las Vegas morning. But for Zipporah, weather