Nobody’s Child (New Life Tabernacle Series Book 1) Read online

  Nobody’s Child

  New Life Tabernacle Series: Book 1

  LaShonda Bowman

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  The New Life Tabernacle Series Continues With…

  Restoration Song

  A Message From LaShonda

  Book Club Discussion Questions

  Also by LaShonda Bowman

  Copyright © 2016 by LaShonda Bowman

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  For Sarah King

  Your kindness was a life raft...

  Chapter 1

  The morning sky was gray and overcast, the perfect complement to Makayla Dawson’s mood and the day’s mission.

  As the tightly packed city bus carried her to her destination, Makayla stared at the name scrawled across the torn piece of paper in her hand.

  Robin Caroline Jones

  Makayla still had to get used to the “Robin” part. All her life, she’d only known her birth mother as Carrie. It was the name she'd given Ms. Baptiste when she showed up on the older woman’s front porch close to twenty years ago. It was also one of the two names engraved on the singular possession she left behind when she walked out on her newborn daughter. A gold heart pendant with the inscription, Carrie + Junior.

  Makayla crumpled the paper in her fist and stuffed it in the side pocket of her messenger bag.

  Two more hours.

  Just two more hours and it would all be over. This time tomorrow, she’d be on a bus to Denver and on her way to a fresh start. All she had to do was get through the next two hours.

  She’d mentally rehearsed her plan every night since she'd arrived. All that was left was execution. Only, she hadn’t anticipated being so anxious. She tightened her shaking hands into fists and took in a slow, deep breath.

  She needed to calm down or man up or do whatever else it took to get the job done. Every cell in her body was telling her to get off the bus and run in the opposite direction, but she refused to give in.

  She’d come to Texas to get revenge and she was determined to see it through.

  Reaching in her bag, Makayla took out the compact she'd bought from the Dollar Store. She didn't know if it was nerves or anticipation, but she found herself checking her reflection every five minutes. Normally, she didn't give her appearance a second thought. But today was different. She needed to look good. She needed her mother to see she’d turned out all right without her.

  In addition to buying a new dress, she’d went to a hair salon the day before. She'd never been to one and had no idea how expensive they could be. After she’d recovered from the sticker shock, the receptionist practically had to pry the money out of Makayla's hand. And not because the stylist hadn't done a good job. She had. Makayla just wasn’t used to spending so much money in one place.

  But when it was all said and done, she was glad she’d splurged. When she walked into New Life Tabernacle, instead of looking like a hand-me-down welfare kid, she was going in looking Grand Prize. The confidence alone was worth the money she’d spent. And confidence was what she’d need to get up in front of a church full of people and expose Robin Jones for the hypocrite she was.

  Makayla was pulled from her thoughts as the bus screeched to a stop. A few people got on, but afterward, the bus continued to idle. Moments later, she realized it was because of an older woman struggling to get up the steps.

  Makayla craned her neck to watch and could hardly believe what she saw. Not even one of the able-bodied men sitting by the door offered a hand to help.

  As the woman made her way down the aisle, person after person remained seated, suddenly too interested in the view outside their window or the screen of their smart phone to look at the old woman or offer up their seat.

  Makayla stared down the three young men sitting across from her. The three that had paid particularly close attention to her rear when she boarded a few stops earlier. One of them saw her staring and quickly looked away.

  Unbelievable.

  In a voice loud enough for everyone on the bus to hear, she said, "Trifling." She stood up, waved at the woman and motioned toward her seat. "You can sit here, ma'am."

  The woman looked so grateful and relieved, it broke Makayla's heart.

  The bus started moving again, so Makayla made her way to the woman and helped her to the back. She had to be in her eighties, at least, but her ebony skin was still smooth over her high cheekbones.

  Like Makayla, she was dressed to the nines.

  "Oh, I sure do thank God for you, baby," she said, putting her hand on Makayla's arm to steady herself.

  Her skin felt thinner than it looked and was incredibly soft. It reminded Makayla of the woman who raised her. The woman she’d called grandma and the one person she knew loved her.

  At the memory of Nadine Baptiste, Makayla felt a flicker of shame. If her grandmother were still alive to see how she’d turned out, if she knew what Makayla was about to do…

  She couldn’t help but wonder how different things would've been had her grandmother lived long enough for Makayla to be out on her own. Maybe she wouldn’t be in Dallas or on that bus, about to do what she was going to do. Not for the first time in her life, Makayla’s heart burned with regret and missed opportunity. Had her grandmother lived—

  No. Don't whine over things that can't be changed. It's a waste of time. This is what you were left with. This is what you've got. Deal with it.

  Makayla needed to think about something else. Anything else. She couldn't let the memory of her grandmother deter her now. Not when she was so close.

  Besides, whatever happened to Robin Caroline Jones was what she had coming. Isn't that what the so-called, Good Book, declared? You reap what you sow?

  The older woman dropped down on the seat at the back of the bus and looked up at Makayla with a dazzling smile.

  "You on your way to church, baby?"
<
br />   "Yes, ma'am.”

  The woman nodded, causing the little flowers gathered at the top of her pillbox hat to tremble.

  "Does my heart good to see young people making their way to church."

  They talked for a few minutes until the bus came to another stop.

  "Well, this is me," the woman said, struggling to get up. Makayla couldn't bear to see her stumble down the aisle alone again, so she helped her to the front of the bus and down the steps.

  "You catching another one here?"

  "No, baby. I'm just a few steps away." She pointed in the opposite direction.

  Makayla grimaced. A few steps? It was more like a block to the tiny church on the corner. Along the way, the sidewalk was made up of cracked and buckled concrete.

  Makayla leaned her head in the doorway of the bus and told the driver, "I'm going to walk her to the door. I'll be right back."

  The woman didn't turn to acknowledge Makayla. She just popped her gum and replied, "This ain't a taxi service. I got a schedule to keep. You in or you out."

  The little old woman patted Makayla's arm. "Don't worry about me, baby. Go on and get to church."

  Makayla gave a pleading look to the driver and the driver cocked an eyebrow.

  “In or out.”

  Forget in or out. What Makayla really wanted to do was kick of her heels and jump the woman where she sat. Instead, she said, "Go on. I'll take the next one."

  The driver shrugged and the bus roared away as Makayla helped the older woman to her destination. Just before she left, the woman squeezed her hand and said, "God bless you, baby. God bless you!"

  Makayla knew there was no such thing as God. At least, not the kind the older woman believed in, but she smiled and nodded politely. She waited until the woman was through the church doors before walking back to the bus stop.

  Not sixty seconds later, the cloudy sky that had threatened downpour since she’d gotten up that morning, finally made good on its promise.

  The rain came down in sheets. Within minutes, Makayla’s dress was saturated and her hair was soaked to her scalp.

  To make matters worse, there was nothing she could do to stop it. The free newspaper boxes on the sidewalk were mostly empty. She snatched out the few job flyers that were left and held them over her head, but they offered little cover and soon became too drenched to make a difference.

  Makayla looked down the street at the quiet Sunday morning traffic. There wouldn't be another bus for at least ten minutes. She already looked like she’d jumped in a pool, no telling what she’d look like by then. A wet rat, most likely.

  She couldn't meet her mother for the first time looking like that.

  Makayla walked to the corner and pushed the tiny button on the stoplight post.

  Robin Jones had been out of town since Makayla had arrived. And from what she understood, she was gone often. There was no telling how long she’d be in Dallas before she left again. Which meant there was no telling how long Makayla would have to stay before she got another chance.

  Denver would have to wait. Again. The thought created a heaviness in her chest and made a lump in her throat.

  But then another thought occurred to her.

  Her plan had been to out Mommy Dearest in front of the whole congregation. That obviously wouldn’t happen today, with Makayla looking the way she did. But that didn’t mean she had to go home. She could still go to the church, just to get a peek. Her mother wouldn't even have to know she was there. No, it wasn’t what she’d come for, but it was something…

  The sign flashed WALK in green digital letters, but Makayla didn't move.

  She'd waited so long.

  Too long.

  Makayla walked back to the bus stop.

  She'd waited long enough.

  Chapter 2

  "Girl, you're soaking wet! Get on in here! Why ain't you wearing a jacket?" Sister Ealy, the head usher at New Life Tabernacle’s front doors, pulled Makayla in from the pouring rain.

  She was shivering so hard, her teeth chattered as she spoke. "I don't have one. Can’t afford it."

  It had been a choice between that or the new dress and hair appointment. Talk about buyer’s remorse… Now she’d have to wait till her next check to get a coat.

  Sister Ealy sucked her teeth and led Makayla into the ladies lounge, all the while shaking her head. "Not even an umbrella?" The way she put the emphasis on the first syllable of the word made Makayla smile.

  "No, ma'am."

  Another bad decision.

  Sister Ealy reached into a cabinet and yanked out one of the folded sheets used to cover women when they “got happy” while wearing shorter skirts and attempted to dry Makayla’s clothes.

  "Awww, baby, you soaked right on through to your undergarments. Turn around here and let me get your back."

  Although they never said it to her face, Makayla had heard some people in the church refer to Sister Ealy as "cantankerous.” Makayla didn’t agree. Gruff? Maybe. But she was one of the first people to talk to her when she came to New Life. Seeing how upset she was as she tried to dry her off and keep her warm reminded Makayla of her grandmother.

  Was that going to keep happening all day?

  "And I mean straight through! Lord, have mercy. What did you do? Just stand out in the rain and stare at the sky?"

  "Not on purpose. I have two bus transfers to get here. Nothing I could do but wait till they showed up."

  Sister Ealy got a fresh sheet and continued to dry Makayla off, steady shaking her head and fussing under her breath.

  "Riding the bus in this sort of weather. My Lord. Ain't got the sense God gave a duck… Well, bless your heart. At least you’re here.”

  When she realized there was no way she'd ever get Makayla completely dry, she gave up trying. "Now listen, I'm on the door at the end of service, so I'm gonna find someone to give you a ride, you hear? Don't you even think about trying to catch no bus."

  Makayla grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you, Sister Ealy."

  The woman pursed her lips as she folded the wet sheets and, without looking up, replied, "Mmm, hmm. Now go somewhere and sit your behind down."

  Makayla sat on the very last pew on the right side of the church and waited. Despite having to catch another bus, she'd arrived before service began.

  Every time someone entered the sanctuary, she nearly gave herself whiplash trying to see who it was. Although she did her best to look cool and collected, she was anything but.

  She didn't have a watch or a phone, so she had no way of knowing how much time passed, but each minute felt like an hour. She tried to distract herself by reading the church program, but would stare at a sentence for several minutes before realizing she hadn’t read anything at all.

  It was too hard to concentrate with all the thoughts racing through her mind. Would her mother be arriving with just her husband or her entire family? How many kids did she have? How old were they? Did they look anything like Makayla? She didn't have to wonder whether the husband or kids knew she existed. She was sure they didn't. Of course, that was all about to change.

  But the question that kept coming up over and over again, the one Makayla found herself embarrassed to even ask was, will she recognize me?

  It was a stupid question. Of course, she wouldn't recognize her. How could she? But a part of Makayla, a very small part, hoped she would. She knew it was wishful thinking, the kind of thing she’d sworn off years ago, but still…

  Singers began to fill the choir stand and the musicians geared up for praise and worship. As the trickle of arriving congregants turned into a steady flow, Makayla wished she had a photo of Robin Jones.

  There were hundreds of members at New Life that attended over two morning sessions. Pinpointing her mother among them would be near impossible. Before now, she hadn't really thought about that. But as more and more people poured into the sanctuary for Sunday morning service, Makayla realized she might never find her without help.

 
; She stood and searched the pews for Sister Caren Turner. She was the talkative member that had provided Makayla with most of her information about Robin when she’d first arrived. Surely she’d be willing to point out Robin Jones for her now.

  But locating Sister Turner proved to be as difficult as finding Robin. Makayla returned to her seat, disappointed. Realizing the whole day was a bust, she picked up her messenger bag and made for the door.

  It was then, as she approached the back of the church, a woman walked through the double doors. Upon seeing her, Makayla’s heart nearly stopped.

  Chapter 3

  Makayla knew it was her the moment she saw her. She didn’t know how or why, she just did.

  Throughout worship and into the next part of the service, Makayla couldn't concentrate on anything else. She moved up twelve pews for a better view and tried not to stare. Though she would've hated to admit it, she was in complete awe.

  Robin’s skin was the color of toffee and perfectly smooth. The garnet-red suit she wore had to be tailor-made because it fit her like she was a mannequin in the window of a high-priced boutique. Her hair cascaded like a black waterfall around her shoulders and looked good enough to be a weave. Makayla knew it wasn't though, because hers looked just the same.

  After a scripture passage was read and a long-winded prayer recited, the organist began playing a song that signaled what Makayla thought of as the "meet and greet" portion of the service. Basically, everyone got up and hugged and kissed and shook hands with everyone else. It was not her favorite part of the morning.

  This time, however, was different. This time it would give her an excuse to get an up-close and personal look at the woman she’d only seen in her imagination.

  Makayla was up, out of her seat and moving toward Robin before she could stop herself. The closer she came to the woman's pew, the more she felt her knees would give out.

  For years, she thought she'd have to restrain herself from cussing her mother out the second she saw her. So she wasn’t prepared for being speechless. And that was just the result of being within a few feet of the woman. No telling what would happen if Robin looked at her.