We followed the GPS towards Bubba’s, looking for a church on the way. We weren’t far from the Tate’s when Dee Dee yelled. “There! It looks like we’re just in time.” Dee Dee read the name, “Southern Church of Faith, Deliverance and Restoration.”
I swung a hard right and pulled into the gravel parking lot. There stood the classic Southern church building. An old wooden structure, painted white, with a steeple standing guard. A mountain of steps led to the double doors. I grabbed my camera from the car and took several shots.
As we climbed the steps, the strains of Rock of Ages drifted to greet us. I used the rail to pull myself up while Dee Dee assisted Nana. I opened the door to a sea of heads. The a cappella choir sounded like angels. If this was a rehearsal of heaven’s welcome, then I couldn’t wait.
A few heads turned as a young man ushered us midway up the aisle. A young couple scooted over to make room for us. We sang a few more songs before the preacher took his place behind the podium. About fifteen minutes into the sermon he nodded toward a couple of young men. They left only to return quickly with a long wooden box.
I nudged Dee Dee and whispered. “What is it?”
She shrugged. The preacher sprinted down front and opened the box. What was that rattling sound? Oh-my-goodness, recognition dawned like the morning sun. We’d walked in on a snake handling service. I looked at wide-eyed Dee Dee – she’d figured out what was in the box, too.
I grabbed her arm and squeezed. The pain in my chest felt like a hippopotamus jumping up and down. I looked around for an escape. I wondered if we could get out the door without making a commotion. I might just be going to heaven a little sooner than I thought.
The preacher held one of the snakes high overhead for the congregation to see. He continued preaching, something about having the faith to take up a snake, but I was faltering between planning my exit and keeping Dee Dee from moving more than an inch from me. Several people stood and headed down front. They each seized a snake from the box.
My heart beat faster than a jackhammer. Dee Dee tried to pry off my fingers from her forearm, but I wouldn’t let go, my deathly fear of snakes paralyzed me. When I was growing up our neighbor had lost one of his fingers to a copper-head bite. He never overlooked a chance to show me his missing finger and tell me the story – over and over again. Thanks to Mr. Beadle I would forever be frightened of the slithering reptiles, no matter the species.
The leader cajoled again, “Who else has the faith? I feel it. There are others with us today that have the faith to embrace this wonderful creation of God.” He held the wriggling reptile overhead and I swallowed, hard.
Events took a turn for the worse when I noticed Nana’s empty seat. Where was she? I looked behind us to see if she was high tailing it out the door. No Nana. Surely she wouldn’t do the unthinkable. Oh, yes, she would. I swiveled to face the front where the box was located. People, young and old alike, clapping and praising God, surrounded the wooden chest. The cluster of parishioners parted like the red sea and there in the center of the mass was Nana, grasping one of the snakes.
She shoved the serpent towards me as it wrapped a tail around her pink cast. “Here, Trixie, it’s not so bad.” I pushed Dee Dee aside, and held up my hands in protest. The last thing I remember was Nana’s goofy grin as she thrust the slimy thing toward me.
Death came quickly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Okay, I didn’t actually die, but I thought I had. If I’d really died and gone to heaven then Dee Dee went with me, because when I came to, her face was the first thing I saw. I pushed myself up to a sitting position. “What? What happened?” Full of cotton, my brain couldn’t grasp the situation.
“Uh, Nana decided to get the spirit and take up a snake.” Dee Dee warily eyed me and put her arm around my shoulder for support.
Memories flooded my mind. “Nana?” I looked around in hopes of seeing her alive.
She appeared beside me, and grabbed my hand in hers. “Here I am sweetie. You just passed out. Maybe the stress of being a murder suspect finally took its toll.” There was a gasp from the crowd. They backed away as a unit. Thanks Nana.
I sat there a few minutes to get my bearings. I was thankful Nana was all right, but the feelings I harbored toward her didn’t belong in church. As soon as I was able to stand I grabbed Dee Dee for support, and made my way out the door. Nana was still waving to her new friends as we walked to the parking lot. I couldn’t get to the car fast enough. I slammed the door and engaged the lock. Nana hopped in the seat, apparently unaware of my anger at her.
“Can you believe that, Trixie? Did you see me hold that rattler? I knew the spirit picked me to tame one of those snakes – I felt it in the pit of my stomach.”
“Probably gas,” I mumbled. I’d wanted to experience a peaceful time of worship, but instead I’d been thrust into one of the most uncomfortable situations I could have imagined.
“Did you say something Trix?”
“Uh, I said we are going to be late for our appointment if we don’t hurry.”
Dee Dee glanced over at me. “You okay?”
“I’m just glad we got out of there with our lives.”
“Now there you go again,” Nana fussed from the back seat. “Maybe snake handling isn’t how you want to spend your Sunday morning, but I see it as a sign from God that we can do all things.”
“Maybe you’re right, Nana,” I said, “but I would have preferred a couple of traditional hymns and a relaxing sermon.” I was beginning to see that perhaps Nana had a point.
“You sure looked confident up there,” Dee Dee said to Nana. “If I didn’t know better I would have thought you had experience with those things.”
“I’m used to tossing aside garden snakes all the time, they’re not so bad,” Nana said. “Beau says they’re good for the circle of life, dontcha know.”
At the mention of his name, I felt a genuine peace, and thought of how God had answered my prayers for a godly man who loved me. Even if Nana’s ways of worship didn’t match with my own, her faith had reminded me I could look to Him in times of need, and I took in a couple of lungs of air, and decided to focus on finding the last bits of evidence that would clear my name.
But it was going to be a game of hide and seek, because all afternoon, the GPS took us in circles and no matter what route we took we came to a dirt road with crevices large enough for my car to disappear into. “Oh-my-goodness, what are we going to do?” I looked at the perilous road that stretched before us and cringed.
“Aw, come on, Trixie. Don’t be a wimp. You can do it. Just go around the holes.” Easy for Nana to say; it wasn’t her car and she wasn’t driving. But if I wanted to get there I didn’t have a choice. Not according to the GPS anyway.
I inched forward precariously. At this rate it would take us an hour to reach our destination. I sped up a little and dodged to the right and then to the left. My stomach churned like a washing machine off balance. My nerves were stretched like rubber bands, and by the time we arrived at the end of the road Dee Dee had to pry my hands from the steering wheel.
We turned to pass between old tires, painted white. Half buried, they lined the driveway on either side. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw next. Reminding me of a showy bridesmaids dress, there stood a two-story, colonial, brick home boasting large columns across the front, and huge turrets at either end. I glanced over to see Dee Dee’s mouth hanging wide open.
Nana sat on the edge of her seat literally bouncing with excitement. “Oh, look at those beautiful statues.”
In the center of the front yard, sculptures of David and Venus, painted skin-toned and topped off with yellow hair, screamed tacky. A gazebo stood between them, decked out with hanging baskets filled with colorful plastic flowers.