Tessie D

The weather was nice this afternoon, so most of us at work sat outside under the big tree in the backyard during lunch.

“Did you hear about the youth pastor at Hilltop Baptist Church? The real big one on the outskirts of town?” one of the dairy hands, Jimmy, asked in between bites of his sandwich.

There is the stereotype that women are the ones who gossip, but from working on the dairy, I’ve learned that men will talk just as much as anyone else. Gossip is a currency that does not know gender.

Jimmy swallowed, “Ronald Shiller hooked up with one of the girls from his youth group. Left town with a girl he’d been secretly dating, supposedly after she graduated high school. That’s what they say now. But, he got that girl knocked up and they’ve run off to get married.”

There was a chorus of surprises and admonishments from everyone at the picnic table.

Elvira, a dark-haired woman sitting next to Jimmy, chimed in, “I went to that church until a while back. That guy is a bastard. Always talking to the kids like he was their best friend. Giving the girls extra attention. He even would go up to the school during lunch and hang out with them. What kind of grown adult wants to spend their lunch hours with a bunch of high school kids? Unless he was a gross, disgusting pervert.”

“Did anyone report him before all this? I’d think someone would be bothered by hearing something like that?” Angel asked.

“They didn’t care over at Six Flags Over Jesus. He got kids to come to church and bring their parents. And, their parents put money in the collection plate. That’s all they saw and cared about,” Elvira said.

Daniel, a stock, middle-aged man with thick brown hair, chimed in from the end of the table, “I don’t know. It’s weird that he’s hanging out with the kids like that at lunch, but it’s school. And, what if they’re really in love, the youth pastor and the girl? She did go off with him, and she’s an adult.”

Elvira seemed to be getting angrier as the conversation continued, “That’s what he says. Real convenient that they only started dating after she graduated from high school and not before.”

Daniel wasn’t backing down, “What makes you think that it couldn’t have happened that way? He’s a pastor, a man of God. He wouldn’t do something like that. Besides, he’s making it right, isn’t he? Marrying the girl and all that.”

“That doesn’t make it right at all. He should be in jail. He’s probably not even sorry,” Elvira said.

“What makes you think he’s not sorry? Isn’t making amends. It’s called forgiveness,” Daniel retorted. “You ever heard of it?”

The table went quiet, and I looked at my watch. Everyone else seemed to feel the tension, too, and people started picking up their lunch sacks and mumbling about getting back to work.

I stood up and went back inside, leaving everyone, including Angel, behind.