He were a religious man. Pious and pure like. A kindly typa caring. My pastor was my savior. He’d tryta git the Devil outa my eyes, outa my soul. My old man gits the Devil in ‘im. He turned men black ‘n blue fer just a quick peek at one a his girls. Bad news was I’s his girl. Damn near peed my pants when that Demon gots a holda him. Ain’t no one able to fix his kinda Devil magic. Not even a savior could cure ‘im. His soul were tainted.


I didn’t really care for ‘im. My old man were one of the good fer nothings who ain’t got a speck a love in ‘em. But my pastor could love. Specially when he was doin his preachin fer Jesus and such. I ain’t never loved no man like I did the pastor, and he ain’t never loved no woman like me. But dang, I’d love just about any man who could exercise a Devil outa a body. He must use the equipment outa the Lord’s weight room er somethin’. Only, he ain’t a big man like most exercisers. Kinda small on account of all his suffrin’ fer Jesus. But he still wanted to love me real good despite his scrawniness. In a Godly way of course. My old man wouldn’t never let me and him be together though. I didn’t even have to ask ‘im. He’d give a whoopin’ to the Lord Jesus hisself if he’d laid a blessed hand on my being. So’s my pastor and me had to avoid his Devil lynchins. Had ta trick ‘im and such. The pastor figured his Devil would be seduced by the earthly prizes of God’s glory. So’s my pastor told my old man there’s a Godly church filled with all kindsa riches and such which would give a man all he wished fer.


Weren’t long before my old man was gittin’ his belongings together. Not that he had many ter take with him on account of his being out of a job and such. I told him goin was the right thing to do. I spose the Devil gotta holda me fer a while, cause I’s despisin’ him and such fer his ways. I didn’t want to see no more of his sorry behind. I knew that once my old man left, my pastor could come do some savin’ fer me. My soul weren’t as filthy as my old man’s so’s I figured Jesus could forgive a little hatred if I repented later. My pastor would fix me up real good.


I spose God and Jesus didn’t feel like doin’ much forgivin that day like I’d prayed fer. My old man came across Ma’am as she was fixin up her vegetables and such out side. I spose they figured the Devil needed ta do some teachin to me fer disrespectin’ one a their children. She sure told him a wopper. My pastor said many a time that she needs to stop her tale tellin’, but aint many women can resist that demon.


“How comes yous leavin’ boy?” Ma’am said to my old man.


“I’s gotta Church ta go to Ma’am,” he said back,”The pastor and my girl sayed that I’d find my riches from God there!”



But she weren’t gonna let no body have no savin that day. No sir. She’d put it in
her mind that we was doin things that good ladies aren’t never sposed to talk about. But all her yappin weren’t true. My pastor was lovin’ and savin’ me real good like. You know. All gentlemanly. I ain’t never heard no man speak of anything the way the pastor spoke a Jesus. The only thing my old man loved like Jesus was his bacon. Ain’t no man in the world like the pastor in my eyes.
Ma’am had woken up the Devil in his soul agin. Woken it up real good too. I ain’t never in my life seen my old man fly the way he did down that road home. I figured he had some more a that Devil magic helpin’ him. The Devil had to stop my savin’ time with the pastor.
I opened that door fer ‘im. I knew that there weren’t no way to stop his demons now. They had ‘im real good this time. Stoppin’ him wouldn’t do nothin to save my pastor. He were a dead man.
Only Jesus could save my pastor. He knewed it too. As my old man gripped his thinness and licked ‘im like he were a lump a dough, my pastor prayed. He prayed real quiet like. Begged, wimpered fer his soul. But God wasn’t answerin’ him. I stood there like a corn stalk in the wind. Let him be beaten’. Cause you see, God nor Jesus were bent on helpin’ my pastor, so’s there weren’t nothin that I could do. He weren’t a religious man no more.