Sundays are the most chill day of the week, at least we hope it to be. Every week I will dedicate a song to Sunday and give you a reason to kick back and feel good about the week ahead. Enjoy!

Esperanza Spalding graceful voice is a sin not to know. Here’s one of my favorites from her called “Precious.”

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Zaida knew that Pastor Hines was speaking to her this Sunday. Her mother always said that a good pastor can deliver a word that can speak to everyone in a room whether it’s 2 people or 2000 people.

“Get away from shallow pursuits and shallow people in order to receive true success and God’s glory,” Hines said.

This really made Zaida think. Her father always told her that no one remembers just a pretty face and to make sure she maintains a good character. He always wanted to make sure she had more to offer than her looks. Zaida had been used to getting attention from guys since high school, yet she felt like her own shallow pursuits were becoming less than enjoyable. She often found that just dating guys for their money, car, and looks was not getting her anywhere. It had been a year and a half since her last boyfriend and she has nothing to show for it but a phone book full of ridiculously uninteresting suitors.

But Zaida knew with Drew she had to bring her A game. He had everything going for him. Just being cute wouldn’t bring her home the prize.

1:00 pm came and church let out. Zaida and her mother walked to the entrance to find that it was a thunderstorm going on outside, and niether one of them had an umbrella. Zaida’s mother parked the car a block away and walking in the heavy rain was not an option.

“I guess we’ll wait till it passes,” Zaida’s mother says.

“No actually I have an umbrella for you Ms. Williams,” Drew says. Drew walked up behind and handed Zaida’s mother the umbrella.

“That umbrella is pretty small,” says Zaida. “How are we both gonna fit under there?”

“Well that’s a good question. I don’t have one for you,” says Drew.

Zaida frowns at the thought.

“But…you can walk with me under mine. C’mon I will walk both of you to the car,” Drew says.

Zaida blushes from the act of kindness. She usually doesn’t let guys see her blush but she couldn’t help it. Drew was different.

Zaida’s mom walked ahead of Drew and Zaida. For the first few steps, Zaida and Drew were silent, but Zaida couldn’t take it anymore. She had to say something.

“So how did you like church?,” Zaida asked.

“I enjoyed it. I was having a pretty rough morning so that mellowed out my day for the most part,” said Drew.

“Really? Yea I had a rough night, but now I feel way better. Pastor Hines really said some truth. It gave me some things to think really think about you know.”

“Yea. I feel you. So what are you going to do now?”

“Nothing really. I have work tomorrow so I’m just gonna take the rest of the evening to relax. Probably gonna help my mom cook.”

“Cool it sounds good. Same here. I work too. But you know we need to catch up outside of church. I always see you here with your mother, which is cool, but I’d like to see more of you.”

Zaida looks into Drew’s eye and thinks she might lose it. She couldn’t believe the words she just heard. Drew pulls out his phone and hands it to her to put her number in it. She quickly dials it to save his number on her phone.

“Blackberrys are nice but the iPhone is the only way,” Drew jokes.

“Haha Blackberry is for true bosses. iPhones are for the rest of the masses that wanna follow each other,” Zaida snaps back.

They finally get to the car.

“Thanks Drew for the umbrellas. We’d probably still be waiting there now,” Zaida’s mother said.

“No problem Ms Williams. Can’t have you both gettin wet out here. Well Zaida could’ve gotten wet but, she not that important. But of course not you Ms. Williams,” Drew says with a smirk.

Zaida rolls her eyes, “O wow Drew, you got jokes I see. I’ll remember that one.”

“Ya’ll are too cute,” Ms. Williams says.

Drew opens the door for both of them and Zaida and her mother step into the car.

“Get home safe,” Drew says.

“You too,” said Zaida.

As Zaida’s mother gets ready to pull off, Drew looks down into the car and winks at Zaida.

“This guys gonna be a problem. A ‘good’ problem,” she thinks to herself.

A man appeared at Drew’s bedroom door. Drew awakened to see the man he closely resembled, his father.

“Son, I’m proud of you,” his father said smiling.

Drew sat up in his bed and stared at his father.

“I’m doing my best to take care of the family, but things aren’t the same anymore. Sandra is cutting school now and the twins are always at war. Angela always feels jealous of Andrew because I’m always able to take him out but she doesn’t get that same attention. Sandra doesn’t make an effort to pay attention Angela, cus she’s always out with some dude. And everything’s on my shoulders…I don’t know what to do sometimes!” Drew said with tears in his eyes. “And mommy…mommy she doesn’t smile anymore. She talks about you all the time and she always talks about how much I look like you. Sometime I catch her staring at your wedding pictures and then after she just stares into space as if she has no life. I pray every night…but I don’t know.”

“Son I see your pain and your hurt, but I didn’t have a choice in leavin this earth. God called me and so I had to go. But I’m in a better place. But just know that everything will be alright just continue to pray and hang in there son. You have been strong and remember I love your mother, you and your brother and sisters. I’m always here. Remember I’m proud of you son,” Drew’s father said as he began walking towards the door.

“But WAIT…Dad wait! DAD DADDY!” Drew yelled.

Angela, Drew’s younger sister ran into his room. “Are you ok Drew. You were just yelling for Dad! Were you dreaming about him again? What did he say?” Angela said.

Drew picked Angela up and held her tight, “He said everything will be fine and that he loves us. Don’t worry about anything Ang, it’s going to be alright.” He then carried her back to her room and put the covers over her. “Good night Ang,” he said and kissed his little sister on the forehead. “Good night Drew.”

When he walked back to his room he couldn’t go back to sleep. It was already 6 A.m. and he was going to church in a few hours. He sat and stared out the window as the sun rose. All he could think about was his Dad, and how he missed him. But for some reason he knew that the dream was his way of just letting him know that things were going to get better for Drew and the family.

……………………………………………….

Drew got the family in the car and drove to church. Church was his only place of refuge and it was his only way of escaping the never ending pain that he watched his family go through since his father died. His father was the rock of the family and some how they had to figure out how to get back to that same stable ground hey had once before.

As he walked into church he saw Zaida and her mother pull up. He thought Zaida was beautiful but he did not have much luck with woman in the past. His last girlfriend cheated on him and after his father’s death he didn’t really have much time to dedicate to any woman. But it was something curious to him about Zaida, and he wanted to know what it was. She was indeed beautiful, yet peculiar compared to the other pretty faces. And after months of really no female contact but of his mothers and sisters, Zaida was the one who made Drew smile again. It wouldn’t be long until he made his move he thought, however he didn’t know how to get to her. “She must get any guy she wants,” Drew thought as Zaida stepped out the car with her mother.

During the service, Drew couldn’t stop looking at Zaida. “I wonder what she thinks about me.” Drew went back and forth in his mind about Zaida. She turned around and caught his eyes from a distance and Drew couldn’t help but smile. “Soon enough,” he thought. “Soon enough”.

End of Part 2

“Zaida Wake Up!!!,” says Zaida’s mother.

Zaida rolls over and looks at the time on her clock. It’s 6:00 am, and it’s another Sunday morning.

“Time for church. I’m making pancakes and eggs, so if you get up now you will have time to eat before we leave.”

It’s a hot 86 degree day in the city. The city is alive this hot morning like on most days, however Sundays always have a calming feel to it. Zaida peers outside her window as the summer sun bakes her face. The warmth of it all makes her feel good for the moment. She looks at the birds chirping lively in the tree right outside her window. Zaida notices a caterpillar struggling to make it’s way up the tree. She stares at the peculiar creature forgetting about the task at hand.

“Zaida you are always daydreaming…please get ready we don’t want to be late for church,” her mother yells.

“Yes mommy, I’m on it.”

Zaida looks in her closet and pulls out the new yellow dress she bought earlier in the week. The thing she loved most about church was the opportunity to dress up and look her best. Even though Zaida knew this was vain, she couldn’t help but love the compliments she received at church. At 20, Zaida was a natural beauty. She had rich coffee skin and her hair reached down her back due to much up keeping. Her mother was a hair stylist and owned her own salon, so she made sure Zaida’s hair was always on point. Thus, Zaida’s beauty was also her curse as she often used it as an advantage to provoke men.

So it was no wonder that Zaida also had other intentions at church. She was on the hunt-for a new love interest that is. Church was one place she could find men and Zaida already had her eye on one fine young man named Drew.

Drew was unlike the other guys she usually talked to. He was the oldest of his four brothers and took on the role as man of the household after his father died when he was 13. He was very active at church, volunteered his time as an usher, and was top of his class in high school. Drew had the ability to turn heads wherever he went and his presence and charm was magnetic. Yet Drew never took advantage of any woman. He was a born again Christian and was never known for being any type of hypocrite. Drew had been dating a young lady in the church but he caught her cheating on him with one of his friends and from there he hadn’t been tied to anyone else.

That’s when Zaida knew it was her turn to get some Drew. But she couldn’t seem to get his attention the way she wanted. He was too hard to get to. But Zaida loved the challenge and was going to stop at nothing to get her man.

“Zaida you look fine let’s go,” her mother said. Zaida stared into the mirror one last time to check her makeup, hair, and her clothes. “Today is the day I get him,” Zaida thought to herself.

Zaida had her mother’s face. She always looked up to her, for she had been through a lot with the divorce from her father. Zaida had two younger brothers, 10 and 12, which Zaida’s mother thought it be best that they be raised by their father so that they can have a father figure. Even though Zaida’s parents were no longer together, she still loved her father as he was always good to her. She missed her brothers and remembered the days when they were a family. But now it was just Zaida and her mother. Because pf this every fall, Zaida felt bad when she left her mother to go back to school, because she knew she her mother would be alone, but her mother never held her back.

Eventually Zaida and her mother finally made their way into the car and headed down Broadway.

“So how was the party last night Ms. Zaida…what time did you get in?” her mother asks curiously.

“It was fun, I got in at 4.”

“O you think you grown now, coming in at 4 in the mornin? No wonder you was so tired this morning. How did you get home?”

“Karima brought me home. And I do think I’m kinda grown, I’m about to be 21 soon ma, I think I can decide now what time I want to come home. When I’m at school I do this all the time.”

“Well you better watch your mouth…I don’t care how grown you are, I’m gonna always be your mother.”

“Sorry mommy,” Zaida, says and kisses her mother on the cheek. “You know I love you mom,” Zaida says with a grin on her face.

“Yes I know. Anyway did you meet any guys?”

“Maaaa. I don’t ask you about what guys you’re dating. Why do you always do that?”

“Okay, Okay. I’m sorry, it’s just that I don’t get to talk to my daughter that much now that you are away most of the year, and Sundays are really the only time I see you and talk to you. I just want to see how my daughter is doing.”

“Well I didn’t meet anyone worth talking about. These guys out here are so lame these days. I can’t seem to find any good ones.”

“Well what about Curtis’s son who lives across the street. He goes to Morehouse and he is doing that internship this summer working at the hospital. He’s making 20 dollars an hour. Boy is racking up. Plus Curtis was telling me he got a 3.8. He gonna be applying to Medical School this year. You can’t go wrong with a future doctor. Plus you gonna need someone who is gonna be able to support your shopping habits,”Zaida’s mother says with a laugh.

“Ummm. Curtis is not my type.”

“Why? What’s wrong with him? And what’s your type then?”

“See Curtis…he’s too nice. I need a guy with a little bit of edge to him. Plus he always seems so nervous when I talk to him like I’m gonna bite him or something. I need someone who has more confidence than that.”

Zaida’s mother laughs. “He probably got a little crush on you. Give him a chance.”

“Mommy I’m sorry but I’m not interested.”

“Well then who are you interested in?”

“No one right now.”

At this moment Zaida and her mother pulls up to church and parks the car. Right outside stands Drew looking handsome as ever. To Zaida, Drew was glowing. She thought he was sharp with not a wrinkle or piece of lint on his suit. As she stepped out the car Drew came over.

“Hello Ms. Williams, Zaida. How are you are doing today? You both look beautiful, as usual, glad to see both of you at church this morning.”

Zaida stopped and stared at Drew for a moment.

“Well, Thank You Drew. You look fine yourself. I’m doin well and so is Zaida. Aren’t we Zaida?” says her mother.

Zaida snapped out of her moment of fixation on Drew’s smile. “Ye…Yess. I’m doing fine.” Drew was the first guy Zaida met that made her stutter. She knew she had to get her self together before she gave away all the clues that she was crushing on him.

“How is your family and everything else?” asks Zaida’s mother.

“Everyone is doing great. They are all here this morning. What about you Zaida?”, Drew asks.

“Ummm. I’m doing well. Really really well. I’m just grateful to be here this mornin.”

“Well we are going to go in and get seated, and we will see you after church, Drew,” Zaida’s mother says.

“Ok see you both,” Drew says.

Zaida and her mother walk into church and sit down.

Zaida’s mother looks over and says to Zaida with suspicious grin, “It’s obvious who you like.”

Zaida looks at her mother as if she is going to die for her knowing her secret. “You better not say anything ma.”

“Ok I won’t…But he is handsome.”

“Maaaa.”

“Sorry. You got it.”

Zaida and her mother sit and enjoy the service. As the service goes on she can not help but think about what she will say to Drew after church. She glances over at Drew, and he looks up and catches her eye. He smiles at her and she smiles back then she looks away.

End of Part 1