To Begin Again

By Christine Pauls

Church life is cramping her style and Celeste wants out, stepping right into the path of the pastor's son, Jordon Jackson.What happens, will alter her life forever, proving teen love can cause adult results.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Silver Pen Publication
• Release date: Jul 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781735351551

Christine Pauls

Christine Pauls, an author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Suspense is a native of Delaware, born and raised in the city of Wilmington. She penned her first novel in 2012. The mother of two and grandmother of three is an accountant by day in the banking industry. She is a beta reader and a member of NK Tribe Called Success. Her website is www.christinepauls.com

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Sunday Morning Blues

It was a hot Sunday morning and Ruby was in the kitchen preparing dinner. The sound of gospel music echoed throughout as she sang along and the aroma of fried chicken engulfed the entire house.

Celeste tossed from side to side, inhaling the scent, pulling the covers over her head thinking she should just stay there and take whatever punishment her aunt inflicted upon her, but she heard her name, this time, louder than before.

Celeste, you hear me calling you girl, get up out that bed right now!

Okay! Celeste yelled back.

She couldn’t understand why she had to get up so early because service didn’t start until eleven and it was only six-thirty in the morning.

She makes me sick! Celeste said under her breath. At fifteen, she’d had quite enough of going to church all the time. They went twice on Sundays, Tuesday, and Wednesday for bible study and again on Friday night. She wondered just how many times you had to go to church to get to heaven.

Celeste threw the covers off her body and stretched. The sun was shining brightly through her open bedroom window and her fan blew the warm air of Alabama’s summer heat. She looked around her room. It was her favorite place, adorned with purple bedding and accessories to match, she kept her room neat and organized. The walls were painted a vanilla cream and posters of her favorite singing group, The Jackson Five were taped on her wall. It made living with her aunt’s strict upbringing and religious ways a lot more bearable. The room was her escape. She would stay in there for hours writing and listening to music, anything to get away from that woman’s constant nagging and preaching, sending her straight to hell every chance she’d get.

Celeste’s thoughts wandered to the pastor’s son, At least I get to see Jordon, plus it’s Youth Day and that’s good enough reason to get up and make sure I look my best. She thought. Jordon played the piano for the Youth Choir. His caramel skin, hazel eyes and curly brown hair was just what the doctor ordered. All the girls wanted to be his, including Celeste.

She sat up in bed and drifted off into a daydream. Suddenly she felt a sting on the back of her head. Ouch! she yelled. There was her aunt Ruby standing there looking down on her with her hands on her hips. She stood four feet, ten inches and weighed well over two hundred pounds. Her skin was a deep dark brown and she’d always pull her shoulder-length salt and pepper hair back, pin it up and tie a scarf around her head. Those brown eyes were like daggers when she was mad, and this morning, she was mad at Celeste.

Didn’t I tell you to get yourself up out that bed and get ready for church? Plus I got things for you to do in that kitchen! She yelled.

Without a word, Celeste raced to the bathroom to get herself ready for a long excruciating day.

CHAPTER 2

Ruby

Ruby lived in Birmingham, Alabama. Celeste had been with her since her mother Leona, Ruby’s youngest sister, died in childbirth. Ruby never married nor had any children so having Celeste was the daughter she never had. The two lived together in a house that sat at the end of a short country road called Montclair. It was small, only two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room and kitchen, but Ruby kept everything spotlessly clean, and even though not the best of furnishings, she made it home.

Every morning Ruby was outside sweeping, picking up trash and keeping their surroundings clean and neat. She had a small patch of land on which she grew a vegetable garden of tomatoes, string beans, cabbage and collard greens. She also planted an assortment of flowers in the front of the house and in the small fenced backyard there were two red rose bushes and the grass was always neatly cut.

It hadn’t been an easy road raising the child she named Celeste Marie Stanton, and now at the age of sixty, she just wanted to be around to see her niece grown and on her own before God called her home. Ruby sat down on her bed. Her thoughts went to her baby sister Leona. She was a woman before her time and lived life on her terms. She wanted children, but not marriage. She wanted to work and not stay home cooking and cleaning. Her children were conceived not from love, but lust and the men that fathered these babies would never know because she never told. Ruby reminisced of the time she brought the little bundle, born seven months premature, home from the hospital. It was bittersweet. Her sister Leona was gone and left two little girls motherless. Deandra, the oldest, was five years old at the time. She went to live with Ruby’s middle sister Cecilia who was a widow. Her husband Sam died two years after they were married. He was killed in a car accident on his way home from a construction job in Mobile.

It made sense for each of them to take one of the little girls to care for since neither had children of their own. Cecilia would always bring Dee, as she called her, to visit her baby sister so they would always be close to one another.

Ruby sighed as she snapped out of her thoughts and began getting ready for church. Today she’d be standing at her post as head usher and she took the job very seriously, but most of all she’d have a bird’s eye view of that child of hers.

CHAPTER 3

Voice of an Angel

Kingdom of Heaven Pentecostal was a small church in the neighborhood. The building used to be a community center some years back. The pastor, Reverend Joel Jackson Jr. purchased the building with some of the money that his father, the late Bishop Joel Jackson Sr. left him after he passed away two years ago and it needed a lot of work. Over the past six months, the small congregation painted the walls a royal gold, laid new dark blue carpet, installed wooden pews, made necessary repairs and in the end, it turned out to be a pretty nice sanctuary and this Sunday’s Youth Day Service would be the first major event. It wasn’t a big place, only able to hold about two hundred people, but the congregation was eighty-five people for now, and that included men, women, and children.

This Sunday morning, the church was filled to capacity. The windows were opened and fans did their best to circulate a breeze as the people fanned themselves and wiped sweat from their brows. Pastor Benjamin Butcher from Higher Ground Pentecostal located in Mobile, and his small congregation was there and the guest speaker would be his son Minister Gary Butcher. He was new to the ministry and was only twenty-one. This would be his trial sermon.

Celeste was happy to know it wouldn’t be the same stuffy service where she would nod off to sleep from boredom and her aunt would come smack the back of the head, embarrassing her. They were in the new building, plus she would be singing the solo she’d been practicing for weeks, Oh How I Love Jesus. That song always stirred the congregation up, especially the older members. Even though Celeste was only fifteen, her voice was strong and mighty, a gift from God, her aunt would tell her and she should use it only for his glory.

Ruby was standing in the back of the church scoping the crowd, making sure everyone, especially the young folks, stayed in line. Celeste was always on her radar and it didn’t surprise her when she turned around only to find her aunt staring at her looking stark faced as usual.

What’s wrong now? Celeste thought. "I haven’t done anything so why is she looking at me like that? She’s always trying to catch me wrong." She sat up straighter in her seat, smoothed her black skirt to cover her knees and smiled in her aunt’s direction. Ruby rolled her eyes. Celeste loved to get under her skin.

The service was full of praise and worship. Celeste was even feeling good enough to shout, but wouldn’t. She always felt she would be too embarrassed, but her aunt would say if the spirit moves, you shouldn’t hold back.

As everything started to simmer down, it was time for Celeste to sing her solo. She was feeling a little nervous, but she knew she was ready.

Let the church say amen! Pastor Jackson shouted.

AMEN! The congregation responded.

This has been an awesome, spirit-filled service thus far, am I right?

AMEN Pastor! Ruby and others in the congregation exclaimed.

We will now have a selection. We just love to hear this young sister sing. She has the voice of an angel. Celeste come on up and sing to the glory of God. Welcome her as she comes.

Celeste rose to her feet and walked to the front. She could feel the eyes of the congregation watching her as they applauded. Jordon was sitting at the piano He looked at her and smiled. Suddenly there were voices in the air saying, Sing child! Praise God! Give God the Glory!

She greeted the congregation and closed her eyes. The music played and as she began to sing, the crowd screamed with praise. Celeste sang until she could no longer contain herself and began to scream, shout and dance, she just couldn’t control it. The church erupted in glorious praise. Her aunt was right, when the spirit moves, you can’t hold back.

After service, Ruby and Celeste sat at the dinner table eating and talking about the service.

Girl, you sang that song today. I bet you didn’t think you was gonna be touched did you? Trying to be all cute and got knocked down by the spirit of God and I’m glad about it, now you better walk that straight and narrow! Ruby said.

What does straight and narrow mean Aunt Ruby? Celeste asked.

It means none of that sinning you got in that worldly mind of yours. Especially those boys! Find yourself pregnant and I’m not helping with that, wouldn’t be able to show my face in church again because of it, too!

Oh, Aunt Ruby, I’m not thinking about boys, Celeste said her head bowed.

Celeste I wasn’t born last night. I see how you and that Jordon sneak looks at each other smiling from ear to ear. You two better cut that mess out in the house of the Lord! Ruby scowled.

Celeste laughed to herself. She thought about Jordon coming up to her after service complimenting her on the solo she sang. They talked for a while and he said he liked her. They’d always been friends, but she didn’t think he liked her in that way.

Ruby went upstairs, leaving Celeste the chore of clearing off the dining room table and washing the dishes a job she hated with a passion. I think she just messes up everything extra just so I can be out here all night. Celeste thought as she put dishes in the sink and turned on the radio. With the volume down, she listened to the music of Stevie Wonder, the Spinners, and Earth, Wind & Fire. She sang to the music as she did her cleaning, thinking about Jordon.

After everything was clean, Celeste locked up the house, turned off the lights and went upstairs. She heard her aunt in her bedroom singing Mahalia Jackson’s The Upper Room. She loved that song.

Celeste went into her room and shut the door. She turned her radio on low, pulled out her journal, and started to write about the events of the day and Jordon of course.

CHAPTER 4

Too Close for Comfort

Jordon and Celeste were becoming closer since the Youth Day Service a month ago. You would always find them together after services away from the crowd. Some of the senior church members would frown as they passed by shaking their heads and Ruby didn’t like it at all, but the more she reprimanded her niece about it, the more Celeste rebelled.

They couldn’t see each other like they wanted to, only at church functions or choir rehearsal. They weren’t allowed to date or even talk on the phone, but when Ruby left the house and Jordon’s parents weren’t home, they would break that rule

This one Saturday afternoon, Jordon and Celeste were having one of their secret phone conversations. They needed to talk about what they’d been discussing for the past couple of weeks. It was time to put their plan into action.

I don’t have a lot of time. My parents will be back in an hour, so did you think about what we talked about?

I did and I’m not feeling comfortable with it Jordon. I mean I never thought about having sex, not now anyway. I just don’t know if I can.

Come on Celeste, we talked about it and you was all for it. Now you’re changing? I thought you loved me?

I do love you Jordon, but sex? I don’t understand why this is so important for us to do. I mean my aunt says a woman should save herself until marriage.

So she says, but we love each other and we’re going to be together forever anyway, so why wait? Nothing can go wrong. I have protection.

Protection, really, where did you get it?

It’s a technique a friend told me about and I trust him. He’s done it and it worked, all you need to know is you won’t have to worry about anything bad happening, like getting pregnant.

Pregnant? I didn’t think of that. I don’t know Jordon.

Celeste began to have second thoughts. It didn’t sound like a good plan after all, but if she didn’t go through with it, Jordon would find someone who would and she didn’t want that to happen.

All right I’ll do it, so when? Celeste asked.

And where? Jordon replied.

There was silence on the line for a while. They both were thinking where something like this could take place without being caught. Then Celeste remembered.

Next Saturday my aunt will be gone for the entire day. She’s going on a shopping bus trip with her sister. I forget where, but they’re leaving around seven in the morning. She won’t be back until evening time.

"Perfect, I’ll be at the church doing yard work while my dad is having an important meeting with some other preachers for at least three hours. I can slip away and he won’t even know I’m