Who You Say I Am (A Jai Courtney Fanfic)

Chapter 16-Jai

Jai

I wake in the morning and attempt to get ready quickly in my little shower.  I decide to dress up a bit since it looked like Megan had a nice outfit hanging in her closet.  I put on a black short sleeve dress shirt and some dark grey daks. I slip on the one pair of black dress shoes I brought here, the rest I left at the resort. I style my hair before I grab my keys and wallet. I don't know why I do it but I open my drawer and check to see if I have a Bible in my dresser. I didn't even think about it last night since I was so absorbed in the conversation with my mum. I grin that she's already dying to meet Megan. I find it in there. It's actually a different color from hers. She had a dark, olive green one in there. This one is black. I grasp it and it open it up. This Bible actually says it's the New King James translation. I carry it with me over to her door. I knock with no answer. I notice Pastor Ben step out of the room beside mine. I didn't realize he's next door.
"Oh, Megan is already down at the church. I walked her there earlier," he tells me.
"Oh, that's right. She's practicing, isn't she?" I recall.
"Yeah.  You want to join me for breakfast?" he asks.
"Sure," I easily agree.
"You look good. I think what you're wearing is nicer than my suit," he jokes laughing.
I chuckle.  "Thanks.  You look pretty sick, too," I tell him about his navy blue suit. We walk down the hall to the cafeteria.
"I brought Megan here earlier. We had some of that cornmeal porridge they make and some fruit but I'm curious to see what else they made. They usually have the best spread here," he tells me.
I am looking forward to this Jamaican home cooking. We get in line and it seems like most everyone is here. I grab a bowl of that porridge he was telling me about. I also get a plate of what I think is their national dish—the ackee and salt fish—or at least I'm hoping that's what this is. I get some sort of fritters or dumplings, some bread, and a scoop of that tropical fruit he was telling me about. I see Pastor Ben behind me and he's heaping up a plate but I think we're the last ones here.
I grab a cup of something already poured out and I see a couple seats open by Javier—the guy I sat beside at the bonfire. I decide to sit with him and Ben joins me.
"How'd everything go last night?" Javier asks me.
"Fine," I shrug taking a sip of the beverage. It's like some sort of cocoa and tea. It's interesting.
"That's all?" he asks me.
"I talked with her a little and we both called our mums," I tell him. The dumpling things are good.
"Ah, a good guy," he nods. I grin.
"This is a church trip, Javier," Ben says to him in a warning tone.
"Yeah, yeah, old habits...," he mumbles going back to his food.
"So, what'd you talk about?" Ben asks me as I try the ackee dish. It's incredible.
"We talked about church today," I admit. "I asked her a little about Spencer. We talked about her previous job and her volunteering at church... I think that's about it." I try the porridge and it's fantastic. I wasn't expecting much.
"What'd she tell you about Spencer?" he asks intrigued, but quietly—just between the two of us. "Gale mentioned the phone call last night to me since she's worried about her. She also said he called earlier in the afternoon yesterday."
"Well... from his behavior, I was concerned about her. I asked if he had ever hurt her. She said no. It sounded like he's just a bit of a control freak in my opinion," I explain. I figure he's her pastor, like her counselor or the person she goes to for help. He's only looking out for her best interests.
"That's good to know. What he's been doing lately has been concerning. I was actually going to talk to her again about blocking his calls," he divulges.
"What else has he done besides cheating and screaming at her?" I question.
"Gale noticed it first and mentioned it to her mom," he starts. "Gale is always on social media and knows that Megan never is. It would appear that he hacked her account. According to her mom, he was the one to set it up so he probably could figure out the password. He was saying some terrible things, replacing the pictures of them together with weird photoshopped ones, and just making a scene on her page. Her mom found her password book, took everything down, blocked him out of the account, and reported him. Megan doesn't know any of this, though. Her mom wanted to tell her after she got back since she knew she wouldn't even notice and Megan may freak out."
I nod in understanding. I'd be furious if one of my ex's hacked my accounts and picked a fight publicly. What kind of bloke does that?  It's like he's out for revenge or something. 
"I shouldn't be gossiping," Ben says shaking his head. "I'm just really worried about her. We're a family. It hits close when someone messes with a part of the family, you know."
"You care about her. So do I. I don't think that's gossiping. It keeps me informed so I know what he's capable of. I can't figure out why he would do all of this and then keep calling. It's like he's grasping at straws... he just refuses to let her go," I say.
"Yeah," he nods. "I'm from the hood—born and raised. This guy—Spencer—his family owns and runs the local newspaper and a big part of the city. He's rich and spoiled. He's been given everything. I guess he throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way and unlike his parents, Megan won't cave when he gets angry. Maybe he doesn't know what to do since he's never experienced that before."
"My mum was a teacher, my dad worked for the electric company—so I had a somewhat normal childhood. I guess I'm grateful for what I have, what I've worked for. Everything wasn't always handed to me," I say.
"A hard worker," he nods. "I like that. She needs some space though to sort things out. Give her time—as long as she needs."
I realize he's onto me... and he doesn't see it as a problem. "I'll be here for her for whatever she needs," I tell him. "I'm not expecting anything in return, just a friendship really. We're both going through the same thing so I figure I can understand how she feels right now—probably more than most could, except my ex isn't harassing me."
"Yeah, that's definitely an unusual circumstance she's dealing with. A girl like her... she's so shy and sweet, it's a shame she's experiencing this. She probably doesn't even know how to react," he says.
We continue eating, making small talk. Javier says a few decent things to me—complimenting my look, talking about food, talking about the weather. I realize he was formerly in a gang and has really cleaned up. I ask him what he does for a living and he says he's working on getting hired at Luis's company, that this trip is kind of a trial.  He's doing some of the muscle-work.  I assume I'll probably be with him, especially since I'm not a little old lady.  Izaak joins us and then Gale.  I realize Ben got up and is making his rounds talking through the group.  Izaak makes jokes but I see Gale eating quickly. 
"Did you sleep in?" I ask grinning. 
"Yeah," she nods.  "I'm a heavy sleeper... always running late," she tells me between bites. 
"Five minute warning," Ben announces. 
"You better speed up," I warn Izaak. 
He nods and picks up the pace.  I sip my cocoa-tea and finish up my plate.  We rise and I see Izaak shove the last mouthful into his mouth before a woman takes his plate from him. 
We all walk together.  I follow the group and they seem incredibly upbeat.  We step out of the reception and head straight to a road I haven't been down before.  We walk along on the footpath.  There is a block-long two story building with a patio and pillars holding it up on the first road we walk down.  It looks to house people, or maybe it's another hotel... I'm not sure. There are various other buildings on either side of the road further down—in shades of mint green, light blue, yellow, orange, white...  Colorful homes and shops are everywhere with trees filling the space between them. We turn onto a dirt road and I'm surprised that there's no bitumen where we're going.  I see a few groups of people dressed nicely walking out of homes and flocking in the same direction as our massive group.  I notice a few couples in our group holding hands and realize they must be the married couples I've heard about.  I smile at how happy they must be. 
"Okay, okay, I've got one," I hear Izaak say grasping my attention.  "What did pirates call Noah's boat?"
"I don't know.  What?" Gale says. 
"The arrrrrk," he responds and I chuckle.  Several others do, too.  "What kind of car would Jesus drive?"
Valentina laughs next to me, "What kind?"
"A Christler," he says and I laugh.  "Which nursery song did Jesus hear the most?"  He doesn't wait for anyone and responds, "Mary had a little lamb."
I look around and everyone is smiling.  He's definitely entertaining. 
"Which book of the major prophets is the easiest to understand?" he asks. 
"Which one?" Jamal questions. 
"EZekiel," he laughs.  "What did Adam say to Eve when handing her something to wear?"
"What?" Javier asks. 
"Take it or leaf it," he laughs. 
Javier guffaws.  I feel like I actually understand some of these and I don't feel overwhelmed about coming here.  I thought I'd actually be nervous or out of place.  I'm actually pretty comfortable around everyone.  I guess I'd always seen church people as people I just never understood but they're not that different from me—especially Megan. 
We arrive at what I'm assuming is the church by the line of people entering the two doors.  I'm actually getting antsy to see her.  I wonder if she looks as nice as everyone in the group.  Everybody slowly makes their way in and as I enter, I search the room for her.  I smile the moment my eyes find hers.  She smiles back and waves at me.  Someone taps her shoulder and she looks away.  I see her walk over to what appears to be an area with instruments and she grasps my guitar, tuning it, and looking over to a man standing at the front of the church.  I can't keep my eyes off of her—she's absolutely gorgeous.  A few people greet me kindly and even a little older lady who I can't understand very well talks to me.  Another woman approaches us and I realize she's the woman I saw hugging Megan at the airport. 
"Welcome," she says.  "I'm Sister Ini and this is Sister Abigay."
"It's nice to meet you," I respond reaching my hand out to shake hers but she hugs me instead.  I find myself laughing in surprise.  The little woman does the same and I have to bend down to reach her.  She hugs me and mumbles something unintelligible.  I rise and look to the woman I can understand.  She bends down and converses with the older lady for a moment who points at me.  Sister Ini, I think it was, faces me with a confused expression on her face. 
"She's saying something I find surprising..." she tells me and looks back to the older woman in confirmation.  She points at me again and encourages her to speak.  "Sister Megan received a prophecy from her yesterday morning, that something was going to happen to her.  She's insisting that it was about you.  She says she saw you."
"Well... we did meet yesterday," I reply not knowing what else to say. 
"Perhaps that's it," she smiles. 
I hear someone talking up front and I'm quickly ushered to a seat.  A man begins speaking at a podium, introducing himself as Pastor Khenan. He's wearing a suit with a robe over it.  He requests us all to bow our heads. I realize I'm between Javier and Gale. I follow their actions in respect of their customs. I listen to his prayer and it actually sounds nice—extremely pleasant and kind, loving even.  I hear my guitar being played and I can't help but sneak a peek at Megan.  She's incredible.  I recognize part of what she played yesterday but altogether it sounds much better.  The pastor stops praying and asks us all to rise.  We do so.  I hear Megan playing a much more upbeat song and she begins to sing.  I'm floored at how wonderful she is.  The other musicians present join her with piano and percussion accompaniments.  The female also sings background for her.  The sound is modern mixed with a Jamaican flair like the steel drums I heard at the resort but church-like now, I guess.  It's a very unique sound and quite impressive.  I still can't get over how amazing her voice is. 
I notice there's an old-style overhead projector with the song lyrics being enlarged and cast onto the wall at the front of the room, to the side of the cross. Everyone is singing along. Megan was right. I see hands raised and some people are sort of dancing. She said this is in worship of her God. It's different than everything I've ever seen in a church setting. It has more of a concert sort of vibe to it but everyone is dressed nicely and the object of this is vastly different.
As the songs change, I just can't keep my eyes off of her. She's so beautiful and talented. I'm just in awe at how wonderful she is. She continues with fast songs and moves onto some slower ones. At one point, I actually see Javier go up to the front of the church, along with several others. Some are on their knees but he bows down completely prostrate on the ground. I know she said it but to see it in action is still a surprise—especially based on his past. Others continue singing. A few people do cry out and there are utterances of incoherent languages. I do find this culture to be... different from anything I've ever experienced—even with the warning. I just focus on the familiar and comforting—Megan. She's wearing a dark grey shirt with black daks—kind of the opposite of me. Her shirt is ornate with a high collar lined with a minuscule lace along the edge, gathered short sleeves with the same slight lace, and a loose cascading ruffle down the front. It's conservative and quite elegant. The more I see of what she's been wearing, I realize I really like her style. She's classy and dignified in her choices. She looks pretty and not overdone. I notice her hair as well. She seems to have it pulled back and to the side in a kind of messy or curly bun of sorts. She really does look unique and sophisticated. The music lasts for a while and I'm glad I got to hear her play so much. Her voice is unparalleled and her vocal range is surprising. I think she was singing soprano and alto parts—a mezzo soprano.  Her abilities keep continually impressing me.
I'm actually a little sad when I see her nod to someone as she continues to play. She said prayer, I think, after the music which means her time is about up.  Pastor Khenan starts to pray while she accompanies him on the same song once more.  I find it difficult to focus on what he's saying because I can't keep my thoughts off of her.  I try to focus in on him and hear a bit of what he says.  When he finishes, Megan sets my guitar down and walks over towards us.  Gale actually stands up and has me change seats with her and I'm grateful since the empty seat beside her is where Megan eventually sits.  I smile and nod at Gale in thanks.  Megan smiles at me and gets her Bible and a notebook out.  I watch her paying close attention and constantly taking notes.  She flips to some pages in her Bible but with the black bound volume in my hand, I have no idea where to look.  I open it up but she sets her phone on top of my pages.  I look to her gratefully and she meets my eyes smiling again.  She has the place opened on the Bible on her phone. I close the bound volume and use her phone, following along. I use the scrolling ability at the top for the next verse the pastor calls out and I'm actually able to find it fairly quickly. I listen in to all of the readings and messages. I find it incredibly relatable to life circumstances and actually agree quite a bit with the logic he's presenting, the scripture as well. I'm quite shocked at this. He speaks on worldly society and I realize that's outside of the church—the other side. The more I think about it, I do like their moral laws—even my mum finds them respectable and holds them in high esteem. As I ponder over what Pastor Khenan was saying, I realize I do somewhat agree with what I've heard. I definitely think Megan as well as everyone else here are trying to better themselves and be good people. Some have slipped up but they attempt to be honorable and moral. Megan is definitely more so than any other sheilas I've known or dated for that matter. I glance to her as she's making notations. She looks up to me and smiles again. I smile back and sigh at how this isn't so bad.