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Frank could hardly see over the steering wheel, and it made me snicker. “Be careful driving, little man,” I said. “We need to get there in one piece.” He sat up straight, started the car, and we rolled out smoothly.
When we arrived at church, my sisters Dianne, Annie, and Caroline were outside waiting. They knew Frank was coming today and that he would bring his father’s car. Momma was in the church with everyone else. Dianne walked over to the car. Annie ran toward us like she was running a race. Frank was hardly out of the car before Annie ran up to him and gave him a big hug. “Golly, Frankie, you look pretty!” she said, looking at him with those big-as-the-moon eyes of hers.
“I don’t look pretty, I’m just dressed up. This is my Sunday-go-to-meeting suit. Do you like it?” Frank replied.
“Yes, siree,” Annie said. “Momma is going to like it too!”
Dianne looked over at me and smiled. Then she admired Frank and said, “You sure do look good, Mr. Pollard!”
Frank grinned, nodded his head, and walked over to open my car door. I let him do it without a word.
I hoped Caroline would also approve, but she rarely had anything nice to say.
“What are you trying to prove? That you are rich and better than us?” Caroline sneered at Frank and me like I had broken her favorite keepsake.
Dianne was the oldest and she acted like she was the mom when we were away from the house. She set Caroline straight by saying, “Caroline, there is nothing to prove. Frank and Ethel are just trying to make a good impression. This is the first time Frank has come to our church.” And using words that Momma used on all of us, she added, “If you can’t think of anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Caroline turned her face to the sky and stomped off to the church.
Frank reached for my hand and Annie grabbed his other one. Then we all walked into the church together. I smiled at the picture of us. I was ready to show him off, no matter what people said.
As always, I walked up to the family pew. Momma slid way down the bench to fit in the four sisters and Frank. She grinned at me like she does when I’ve made her proud.
I remember the sermon word for word. It was an important day.
Preacher Thomas spoke about sin, as he always did. Every week he would spin sin into a story. Today he talked about how hard work—on the farms, in the fields, or in a business—was one way to fight the temptations of sinful behavior. “A man who stays busy raising food from the earth to feed the community is closer to God. He is using God’s land for sustenance and to share,” Preacher said. “The man who goes to work in an office, whose work helps others, is also close to God. The woman who supports her man is close to God. This is the way family works. Proverbs 18:22 says, ‘He who finds a wife that is good receives favor from the Lord.’ ”
I could tell Frank was listening because he pushed his shoulder closer to mine when Preacher Thomas said that.
When Preacher Thomas begins to talk his face is kind but serious. His voice is loving and sweet. I knew Annie believed his words, and she would trust whatever he said. We had talked about religion lots of times. She would say, “Preacher Thomas is preaching the word of God. He knows what he is talking about.”
About ten minutes into his sermon, Preacher Thomas began to raise his voice, grip the edges of the pulpit, and lean toward the parishioners. “But do not forget—in the Bible we are also reminded what can happen if a wife is tempted by sin.” Preacher Thomas was shouting by now, and I began squirming in my seat. Preacher Thomas went on, “Proverbs 12:4 says a wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones!”
I leaned to Annie and whispered, “Is he talking to you or me?”
Annie whispered back, “You and me are not married yet. I think it is Mrs. Tyler. And you know how much Mrs. Tyler yells at Mr. Tyler—all the time. And I heard she threw a jar of pickles at him for coming home late one time.” Momma gave us the hush-your-mouth look.
That day was the nicest day. The crabapple trees were beginning to show their fruit and the leaves in the trees were large, making shade where they could. It was warm. Just the kind of day Frank would like a picnic.
I kept thinking, Hurry up, Preacher Thomas. I think I even said it out loud once. I looked at Momma and my sisters to make sure they didn’t hear. Annie and Dianne’s eyes were pointed at the pulpit, like dogs waiting for you to drop a crumb from the table. Caroline was drawing pictures on the church bulletin. Momma was looking down at her hands folded in her lap, deep in thought. She would have smacked me for saying that out loud, so she must not have heard me. But Frank did and grinned at me like he agreed.
I remember wondering what Frank was taking away from this sermon. We had talked about preachers who told a lot of stories just to scare you. We both agreed that there was no point in having a God that said you were evil all the time. We believed in Jesus who was good to all, no matter what.
People would describe the Pollards as snooty, rich, God-fearing people. Well, the snooty part wasn’t true about Frank, and he had to save his pennies just like us. He worked hard on their farm. He read a lot and knew about things I didn’t, but he never made me feel stupid.
One time when we were down by the creek on a hot summer day, I asked him how he knew so much. He said, “I read a lot. I know about things in books. You know more than I do about real life.”
I’ll never forget that. I liked that he thought being different could also mean being equal. He was right. Back then I knew a lot about farming tobacco, managing a house while Momma went to work, and growing a garden.
The other thing Frank liked was school. Frank wanted to learn as much as he could at school. He figured he would learn even more by reading books and watching other people make things with their hands. Frank called school a “path to understanding.” I learned a lot in school, but for me it was a path to getting a good job someday.
When the service ended, all the people rose to sing the doxology. This was the song Caroline called the creature song. She knew it by heart. Caroline sang loud and off key.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heav’nly host;
