Today, Hobert, MariBeth, and AD went to church with me. That was cool. When I walked into the church, Sis. Tony told me that the pastor wanted to see me. I was dreading that.

When I walked into Eld. Greedson's office he made a face at me. He said, "I am your pastor, and you didn't think to tell me about ole boy." I didn't even get to respond. He fussed at me for a little while. He asked, "When do I get to meet him?" I said, "Whenever you want to. He's out in the congregation." Eld. Greedson stood up and said, "Why didn't you bring him back here with you?" I said, "Sis. Tony said that you wanted to see me. She didn't say anything about anybody else." Eld. Greedson told me to go get Evg. Williams.

The meeting went fine, which was good.

After church, we went and got something to eat. After that, MariBeth and AD went to my place. I showed Hobert around Oxford.

I still can't believe that I showed him our family cemetery and the pecan tree. (That's another story for another time.) I have never taken anyone there, not even MariBeth. I must like him.

I showed him some of the family businesses. That was going good until we got to the grocery store that one of my cousins' is part owner of. Why was my cousin standing out there talking to my EX? They wouldn't have noticed us, but I have vanity license plates, so my car is easily recognized. My cousin flagged me down and made us stop. Hobert smiled and said that everything was going to be okay, but I didn't believe. I can't stand my EX. I use to hate him.

My cousin introduced Hobert to Parrish. Parrish had the nerve to ask me for a hug. I wouldn't hug his trifling behind for anything. Parrish said something evil to Hobert. Hobert politely answered him back. Parrish said something else. Hobert ended the whole conversation when he told Parrish that he was going to be around for a long time.

We left. Why did my cousin call everyone that he could think of and tell them what happened?

Hobert and I had been driving around for awhile before he asked me what happened with Parrish. I didn't even want to tell him about that. He told me that I could tell him whenever I felt like it. I love that about Hobert. He doesn't pressure or bug me about stuff. I can't stand it when people do that. Just leave me alone until I want to talk about things. When we got back to my apartment, I told Hobert about Parrish.

About Parrish

I met him my senior year in high school. His grandmother lives in Fontaine. He was visiting her for the summer before he went off to college. He was handsome, with long eyelashes, curly hair, and a million dollar smile. I fell head over heels in love with him the first time I met him. His voice was silky smooth, too. We dated that whole summer. It was fun. I am such an over achiever. I have to do everything better than everyone else, that included being in love. He went to school. He came back the next summer. We picked up where we left off, that next summer. My cousin was and is friends with Parrish. He had told me that Parrish had slept with a girl while he was at college. I asked Parrish. He told me that it wasn't true. My cousin had no proof, so I didn't believe my cousin. I still don't know if Parrish slept with someone else or not.

We dated the whole summer, again. We went to our separate schools, but vowed to be a couple while we were away at school. We came back to Fontaine that next summer. We dated again. This time things were getting serious. Parrish started talking about sex. In my family, you don't have sex until after your married. That's what we are taught. Some of us have not lived up to that. Knowing about the family motto on premarital sex didn't stop Parrish from bugging me about sex. He didn't do it the regular way, nope, he gave me flowers and gifts. I am not even into flowers. Never have been, but getting all that stuff from Parrish made me feel special.

During my junior year in college, when I was 20 years old, Parrish proposed to me without a ring. I said yes. He took me to a jewelry store and showed me the ring that he was going to buy me, when he got enough money. I never did get that ring. During the summer of 2000, let's just say that I gave into temptation. It was the most horrible experience I have ever had. Parrish was all talk. I gave into temptation again because Parrish asked for a second chance to show me that he wasn't as bad as he was the first time. The second time was even worst than the first time. Oddly enough, I never told anyone how bad Parrish was until like six months later.

Three months after the second encounter, Parrish told me that he didn't want to see me anymore. I was so heartbroken that I cried for like a week. My father and brothers wanted to go after Parrish, but I told them not to. It wasn't until three months later that I told them they could do whatever they wanted to with Parrish.

Parrish had been going around telling everyone that I was stalking him and calling him. Anyone that knows me knows when you tell me something is over, I get rid of every reminder of that person, place, or thing. I wasn't even thinking about his trifling behind. The stuff Parrish was saying kept on going and going. It got so bad that one of my mother's friends said something to her about it.

I am not sure what my father and brothers did to Parrish, but the rumors stopped and things quieted down.

I swore off men after that. I have only been on three or four dates since 2000. I went on those because MariBeth made me. I went and got some counseling to help me deal with how much I hated Parrish. I didn't want to project any of my issues stemming from dealing with him on anyone else.

****

Hobert didn't even trip when I told him the whole story about my EX. He didn't even trip on me when I cried. It felt good telling him about it, too. All Hobert said was, "All I ask is that you give me a chance to be me and not judge me based on what ole boy did to you. I am not him and I will never do anything like that to you."

We went on with our tour. I showed him the Bethel Street Baptist Church. That's the church that one of my ancestors started. The church has been around since the 1800s.

We went to dinner with AD and MariBeth. She almost fell out when she found out that I had told Hobert the whole story about Parrish and that I had cried.

Labels: 2006