Practice should have been over an hour ago. Kenneth shifted his weight from one foot to the other to garnish what little relief he could for his feet. He, along with three dozen other choir members, had been standing more than four hours singing and swaying to the same three songs over and over again. And Kenneth was nearing his limit.
The inner child in him wanted to whine and throw a temper tantrum. But he focused. Getting through these practices was like an initiation. It was Hell week and he wanted in the choir, bad.
Whenever a good number of new people joined the choir of any church, the choir director always made practice long and hard. And the director, Isaiah Smith, was not only new but young. He was trying to figure out who could survive and who was dedicated. His budding reputation was on the line. Kenneth had been through the process before and he was determined to last.
Practice droned on and on. For a moment Kenneth thought he was being paranoid but it seemed like the director was looking in his direction more and more. Under the director's gaze, Kenneth sang louder and with more feigned emotion. He swayed to the song with more passion. Still, director Smith had the same sullen look on his face.
That's when Kenneth realized that the director wasn't staring at him. He glanced to his right at Micah, the director's little brother. Kenneth shook his head disapprovingly. The boy was barely standing. His eyes lazily sagged, hopelessly fighting his tiredness. Micah looked like he was about to fall over.
Kenneth was new to the church but he could imagine the whispers of scandal because the choir director's little brother fell asleep and wasn't cut. There was already grumbling about how Micah was really just a mediocre singer and didn't deserve to be in the choir anyways. The Smith bothers did not need any more fire added to the flame.
Discretely, Kenneth reached over and palmed Micah's hand and squeezed hard enough for the dozing director's sibling to snap awake. Micah's eyes shot open and he violently snatched his hand away. Kenneth shrunk back as Micah shot him an evil look.
If they hadn't been in church Kenneth was sure Micah would have swung on him. There was little doubt with the look in his eye. A wave of relief overcame Kenneth as Micah shifted his gaze. Now he was looking at his brother.
All the fury Micah had felt drained from the young man's face. Kenneth watched as the director gave Micah a number of mean stares all while still directing the choir. It was almost like watching someone curse someone out with their eyes. Micah looked back at Kenneth. His face softened, slightly, almost as if he were saying 'thank you.'
Kenneth regained his composure and put the whole incident from his mind. He swayed and sang his heart out to the end of the song. He was determined to remain focused. Not even the son of a deacon and brother of the choir director could make Kenneth fall from grace.
The director brought his hands down to close out the song. Kenneth took a deep breath to prepare for the next song as the rest of the choir took a collective sigh. Everyone was drained.
"Alright people, that should be enough for tonight." The director clasped his hands as he spoke. "That was an okay practice. Altos, some of you are still having pitch issues. We need to work on that." His young, sharp brown eyes lingered on that section of the choir for a moment before he continued speaking. "And senior members, we have a quick meeting, shouldn't take more than thirty minutes. Everyone else, have a good night and get home safely. See you all at service tomorrow."
Kenneth filed out the practice room behind the small eager herd of people ready to get home. He noticed the director's little brother slouched, with his eyes down, sitting in a chair near the exit. He looked half asleep. Kenneth looked at him, puzzled at how different he was from his brother.
No two people were exactly alike but Kenneth wondered how the same household could produce two totally different people like the director and his brother.
New Hope Revival Baptist church was Kenneth's first choice as far as churches to join when he moved to Charlotte. The church was known for its theologically grounded sermons and its choir. It wasn't a shuck and jive ministry.
Last year, the choir director had passed and a lengthy process to replace him begun. After months of interviews, Isaiah Smith, the eldest son of Deacon Williams, was chosen but not with much fanfare. He was only twenty-five.
Kenneth had done his research. Many in the church felt like other, more senior church members had paid their dues and had deserved the position. But the reverend and his advisors had felt differently.
Aside from his youth, Isaiah was definitely qualified. He'd majored in music while attending college and could play just about any instrument put in his hand. Kenneth had viewed some of the videos on the church website of Isaiah singing. He had the voice of an angel. And although not a requirement to be a choir director, the man was beautiful. That at least ran in the Smith family.
Then there was his brother, Micah. Most of the information Kenneth had on him had been gained through casual observation and eavesdropping on folks gossiping about him. And there was tons of gossiping about the young man.
Rumors about Micah ranged from him having as many as three kids out of wedlock to him being kicked out of college for punching a professor. No one ever could say the name of any of the females Micah had allegedly had these kids with but many of the folks who went to high school with him testified to him being a ladies' man. And while no one could offer anything more than gossip on him getting kicked out of school it was fairly obvious to anyone who met Micah that he had a hot temper.
Whether or not the rumors were true Kenneth felt bad for Micah. His life was under a microscope because of his brother's success. Kenneth was no stranger to living under the shadow of someone else.
Kenneth was the last to reach the door. Just as he was about to cross the threshold he felt someone grab his arm. It was Micah. Micah's firm hands felt like fire on Kenneth's skin. Kenneth struggled to gain his composure. He looked down at Micah, perplexed.
"Give me a ride home. I got some gas money."
Micah had never said more than hello to him and now he was asking for a ride. Kenneth felt stuck. He turned and searched the room for Micah's brother.
Sure enough, the director was looking right at the two of them disapprovingly. It was an odd moment for Kenneth. He wasn't sure if the look was for him, Micah or the two of them. Kenneth felt Micah's firm grip tighten around his wrist.
"You going to give me a ride or what? Don't feel like sitting here waiting for this meeting shit."
Micah's soft brown eyes had caught Kenneth in a web. For the first time since Kenneth had known him, Micah seemed innocent. Nice even. Reluctantly, Kenneth nodded his head.
"Yea, I got you. Come on."
Kenneth almost bolted from the choir practice room as soon as Micah released his arm. He wanted to get from under the visual assault of the director and get to his car as quickly as possible.
Once they made it to the car, Micah hopped in and reclined the passenger seat all the way back. Kenneth glanced over at Micah as he pulled out of the church parking lot. He searched in his mind for a word to describe Micah and the only adequate one he could think of was ruffneck. But even that wasn't completely accurate.
Micah was very attractive. His hair was curly and his eyebrows were thick like a number of models Kenneth had seen in ads. His pouty red lips and light brown eyes screamed pretty boy. But the way he carried himself, his swag, had ruffneck written all over him.
Kenneth cringed as he watched Micah casually pulled out a blunt and lit it up. He took two puffs and offered it to Kenneth. Kenneth waved it away and rolled down his window. He wasn't a smoker and he wasn't a big fan of weed.
Kenneth watched Micah with a sidelong glance. The sexy ruffneck was leaning back puffing on his blunt with his head thrown back as if he was in his own world. Kenneth wouldn't have minded Micah relaxing if he'd known where he was going. Twice he'd turned down the music to hear Micah's sporadic directions. Kenneth was sure Micah spoke softer each time he turned it down. Finally he just turned the thing off.
Aside from the lack of conversation and horrible directions, Kenneth surprisingly found himself enjoying the ride. For some reason he enjoyed being with Micah. Being close to him felt exhilarating. There was a titillating danger that drew Kenneth like a moth to a flame. He just didn't want to get burned like the last time.
Kenneth had no qualms about his sexuality or his faith. All of his boyfriends had been members of his church. That was one of the reasons he moved. He and the choir director from his last church had been going together for a year and a half before their nasty break up.
After the whole thing went down, Kenneth had an opportunity to move because of a job offer. He took it without hesitation and promised himself to steer clear of trouble. And even though his gut told him that Micah was nothing but trouble, Kenneth still entertained all the naughty thoughts about the man. Micah sat up and turned to Kenneth as he came up on a light.
"Go head and get in the turning lane. We almost there."
Just as the car came to a stop, Micah leaned over Kenneth, placing his hand right in between Kenneth's legs on his seat. He did it so smooth and quick, Kenneth didn't know how to react. His body went rigid. His heart pumped hard. His blood seemed to boil under his skin. And his manhood stirred.
Kenneth's mind raced. Should he just sit there? Should he lean his crotch forward a little to rub against Micah's arm? He didn't want to seem like a slut but Kenneth couldn't deny how horny he was. Micah had Kenneth on edge the moment he grabbed him at the church. But Kenneth wasn't sure if he was ready to throw caution to the wind. Messing with the choir director's little brother might not be the best idea and he wasn't even sure Micah was game for all the dirty things Kenneth was thinking of doing to him.
Kenneth quickly got his bearings and looked up at Micah. He was taking his last puffs from his blunt right before he threw the roach out the window. Kenneth was rocked with disappointment. He remembered that his window was the only one still working in the car. Maybe Micah wasn't flirting. Maybe he was just getting rid of his roach. A little disappointment settled on Kenneth's face.
Micah turned to Kenneth, still only inches from his face. "You alright?" Micah grinned, looking Kenneth up and down, sizing him up. "All tense and shit."
Kenneth only nodded, scared he'd say something stupid.
"Good. You got to relax. Let that good choir boy shit out the window."
Kenneth frowned, motioning towards the light.
"Uh, green light."
Micah licked his lips and held Kenneth's gaze before he sat back in his seat. Now, there was no doubt the boy was flirting. But Kenneth wondered if he was just being fucked with. Some straight guys got off on being a tease and getting attention. Micah seemed just the type to pull that routine. After a handful of turns Kenneth pulled up in front of a beautiful colonial home.
"Thanks for the ride, choir boy."
Micah reached over and dapped Kenneth up. He left a five dollar bill in Kenneth's hand and jumped out the car. Kenneth sat waiting, watching Micah walk up to the house. He didn't know why sat there. He wasn't worried that Micah wouldn't make across the fifty feet of lawn. Kenneth just had the urge to watch him, to keep his eyes on the fine ass bad boy.
