It was as Elaine collected the hymnals from the ends of the pews after Mass on a dreary Sunday morning that she saw the young woman for the first time.
She was sitting near the back, dark-skinned and striking, slender like a big predator cat. Her head was bowed slightly, so that Elaine could see her metallic gold eye shadow. She had black hair, braided thin and fetched with colorful beads at the ends. The shirt she wore was a light pastel pink, simple enough for the outside yet a little understated for church.
Then those eyes opened, a deep aquamarine that made Elaine still for a moment. She'd never seen eyes quite that striking. Looking into them made her think of water and the ocean... and of what lurked beneath.
Their eyes met, and Elaine hurriedly went back to what she was doing. Perhaps the young woman was a newcomer, hesitant at first to hear the word of the Lord. Or maybe she simply wished to remain at the back because that's what she was comfortable with. Either way, it was none of her business.
Elaine gathered one full stack, set them on the table in the back of the sacristy, then moved to collect the hymnals from the other half of the pews. After she was done she would go out to socialize for a bit before heading home. She tutted softly. Maybe she'd socialize for a bit more than usual. Ever since their argument a few weeks prior things had grown rather testy between her and Vincent.
She reached the back pew where the young woman sat, and coughed demurely. "Excuse me, but I need that book," she said.
The young woman looked up at her. Up close those eyes were even more entrancing, accented by the glittering gold makeup brushed around them. "Don't let me stop you," she said. Her voice was level and strong, full of confidence and grace.
"I've never seen you here before," Elaine said as she reached for the hymnal by the young woman's leg.
"I haven't been here in a long time," she said as Elaine added the book to her stack. "My name is Nala. And you are?"
"Elaine," she answered as she walked to the shelf at the back to put away the rest of the hymn books. "You have a wonderful name, Nala."
"Oh, you don't need to butter me up like that," Nala snickered. "My mom is from Egypt and my dad suggested the name after the character in The Lion King as a joke. To his utter horror my mother actually liked it."
Elaine smiled as she slid the last of the books into place. "Your parents sound... interesting."
"You have no idea. That's where they are right now, actually. They took a trip overseas for a few months and asked me to watch the house." Nala got up from the pew. "I've been at college the past few years. We used to come here every once in a while."
"Oh. Did you go to another church on the weeks you didn't come here?"
Nala shook her head. "Nope! We just didn't go to church at all those weeks."
Elaine frowned. "It's good for families to get into the habit of going every week."
"Eh, the occasional trip worked for us," Nala said with a shrug. "And I think we turned out just fine."
Elaine's first instinct was to press onward and insist that she was right. But there was a pride in the young woman, she could see already. She'd have to work her way up to that. Nala was young, there was plenty of time to bring her into the fold. So instead of pressing forward, Elaine changed topics. "Where do you live?"
Nala inclined her head to the side, the motion making her beaded braids click together. "North of here on Cherrywood Circle."
"All by yourself?"
Nala arched a razor-sharp eyebrow. "Miss Elaine, with all due respect, I'm twenty-two. I can handle myself."
"I never said you couldn't."
Rather than hostility, she got a cocky grin in response. "No worries. Will I see you next week? I've got someplace to be but I'd love to talk to you more."
Elaine reached behind her and flattened her palm against the wall. "I'm here most days of the week if you'd like to stop by. I pre-school little ones during the weekdays."
"Ah, cool! I might just swing on by." Then, to Elaine's shock, Nala actually winked at her. The flirtatious gesture made the older woman blink and her face grow a little red. "LIke I said - got nothing better to do." Nala straightened up and walked down the pew away from her, giving her a little farewell wave. "Nice meeting you!" she called as she left.
Elaine stood there for a few moments, trying to parse what had just occurred. Was Nala...? No, definitely not. The young woman was slender, elegant and well-spoken, nowhere near the typical uncouthness of a sinful lesbian harlot. But then what had that wink been? Was she just being humorous? If she was, Elaine didn't find the joke funny.
Her work finished inside the church, Elaine bowed to the altar one last time before turning and walking outside to the courtyard out in front of the church. The parishioners had gathered there post-Mass to chat, plan social events, and gossip.
Ms. Brinny waved to Elaine, breaking away from her small group to meet with her halfway. "Hello, darling!" she said, wrapping Elaine in a tight hug, her small handbag thumping the small of Elaine's back. "Good to see you this week. Is Vincent okay? Have you two made peace yet?"
"No, not yet," Elaine sighed. "I'm certain he'll come around. I have faith that he'll find his way back to the Lord eventually."
"Amen," Ms. Brinny echoed.
"What about you? How goes the search?"
Ms. Brinny made a clicking noise with her teeth. "It's stressful to say the least. The last man I took on a date thinks that the homosexuals need further legal protections! The absolute nerve!"
Elaine let out a nervous laugh. "Indeed." She had told no one else that her son Tobias was gay. Such an admission would be an immediate deathblow to her reputation within the church.
Ms. Brinny touched her arm. "Did you get a look at the young woman sitting in the back? Who was she?"
"She and I talked a little as I was picking up the hymnals. Her name is Nala, apparently she's a recent college graduate that's here for a while to watch her family's home."
"Oh, what a dear! We should send her something." Ms. Brinny looked past her, then patted her shoulder. "Hold that thought, darling." She swept past Elaine in a swirl of teal Sunday dress. "Harold! Come here and let me look at you!"
Elaine watched her friend go, then was distracted by further conversation with another group of single church ladies. Most of them were mothers with chicks who had flown the coop, like her, and she felt an easy camaraderie with them as they lamented the silly things their husbands did and what their children were accomplishing. Elaine at least was able to talk about Tobias's academic achievements, and avoid any references to his sinful behavior. Her husband, though, was a more delicate subject, and she did her best to steer the conversation away from Vincent with vague answers.
Eventually, the crowd began to disperse, and Elaine drove home with the A/C on full blast. It was a brutal August, and even though she wore a light cream colored dress to church there was only so much she could do to combat the heat. As she drove, her mind went back to Nala, delving further into the past to see if she could remember the young woman from before. She had vague recollections of a mixed-race family with a young, dark-skinned girl, but wasn't sure if that was the right image.
Vincent's bike was gone when she got home, which meant that he himself was gone. As she parked and got out of her little sedan, her eyes wandered across the street to their neighbor's house. She wondered if Dante was home. Vincent had been spending a lot of time with him lately, the two of them whittling away long hours in the garage on his motorcycle. She'd wondered initially if her husband just missed their son and was using the neighbor's boy as a substitute to assuage his need for male companionship, but why spend time with Dante when his father Mister Jefferson, who was Vincent's age, was available? It didn't make any sense.
Elaine tidied up around the house that afternoon, fixing a dinner of roast chicken and vegetables and eating by herself as she indulged with a Hallmark movie. She left a plate in the microwave for Vincent, got ready for bed, and knelt down for her evening prayer just before ten P.M.
"Lord I beseech you for health, for strength, and to guide my husband and son back onto the path of righteousness and away from sin. Amen." The words were simple and easy, given to her by her pastor to say every night before bed. So far, they had yet to bear fruit, but Elaine had faith, and through faith she would be successful. The prayer said, she got up and slid under the covers, tucking it under her chin. The familiar position allowed her body to relax, and she was asleep in moments.
That night, Elaine dreamed for the first time in a very long time.
She walked along a tile floor, the smooth surface cool under her feet despite the warm wind blowing against her side. Her clothing was almost nonexistent, a simple white shift draping over her that concealed absolutely nothing. Despite this, she was not ashamed of her near nakedness. Her body was no different than it was in the waking world, but here she did not see the imperfections, only the positives - her figure was still slender despite some stretch marks, her hips wide and maternal, her breasts still perky despite some natural sag. Overall, she was easily a maternal demigoddess, desirable still.
To her sides were voids of white light, but she didn't pay attention to those. Her gaze was focused on the end of the hallway, where a step pyramid of white marble, topaz, and gleaming gold rose up into the air. Behind the pyramid were statues of great beings - a man with the head of a jackal and a man with the head of a falcon. This was an old place - the Christian God held no power here.
Atop the pyramid, sitting on a throne of gold, was Nala. The young woman wore no proper clothing, only pieces of gold jewelry designed to accent her naked form. Filigrees of gold snaked across her chest like ivy, wrapping around and holding up her bare, full breasts. A band of black leather wrapped around her waist, draping her upper thighs in a transparent silk skirt that did nothing to hide the delicious expanse of her thighs and the snarled thatch of black pubic hair between her legs.
Elaine reached up and undid the catch on her shift, letting it flutter to the ground as she ascended towards Nala. When she stood on the same tier of the pyramid as her, Elaine knelt, her head resting against the arches of the younger woman's feet. "Does my body please you?" she asked.
A hand, soft as a cool breeze in the desert, reached down and cupped her chin. Nala raised Elaine's head. "It pleases me greatly," she murmured. Those nebulous blue eyes looked down, and Elaine saw the color flow and roil like the ocean on a breezy day. Nala dipped her head, and Elaine raised hers to meet it...
...and then she jerked awake in bed, breathing heavily. The room was dark, and beside her, Vincent snored, his back turned to her.
