Reverend Feelgood Read Online Free

God’s will. Much as her mother had when Naomi was Katherine’s age, Naomi taught her daughter that what was wrong for other people was okay for them, because they were doing the Lord’s work. After she put down the Bible, Naomi continued Katherine’s education in being special, and how to please God’s man.
    It was another two years before Reverend Thicke’s penis replaced the finger that had penetrated Katherine’s innocence. By then she had become well versed in her role as a daughter of his flock. True to her mother’s predictions, others became jealous, especially Nettie. Later, Nettie would have reason to hate Katherine, and that she didn’t, even to this day, was why Katherine respected her more than any other woman. Their unlikely friendship had lasted for more than four decades.
    Also true to her mother’s prediction, Katherine became the topic of gossip and the object of scorn for most females in their small town. More than once, she was accosted by a church mother after coming out of the pastor’s parsonage, especially when Thomas’s wife, Mrs. Nancy Thicke, wasn’t there.
    “You ain’t got no business in there when the Missus ain’t home,” one would say.
    “She asked me to come over,” Katherine would reply.
    “Well, just what in God’s name would she ask you to do while she ain’t there?” another would demand to know.
    Katherine would respond as her mother had taught her: “Something noble.”
     
    Katherine pulled into her parking space in the church lot and walked through the side door that led to the executive offices. The issue with Destiny was pressing, but her personal affairs couldn’t interfere with church business. The pastor’s anniversary was coming up in six months, and as always, Katherine intended to make sure it was the grandest one in the district. This year was especially important because representatives from a new, forward-thinking organization called Total Truth would be in attendance. Katherine hoped to align their ministry with these megachurch entities, in hopes of pushing Nate’s star higher, faster.
    Katherine had to focus on the anniversary for another reason—Jennifer Stevens. This new member had been at the church a little over a year and was already trying to act as if she ran things. The fact that she was from a big megachurch, Mount Zion Progressive, didn’t impress or intimidate Katherine one bit. Jennifer wasn’t the first twit who’d “heard from God” and changed her zip code to Palestine, Texas, in hopes of changing her last name as well. She’d seen many Jennifers come and go.
    Katherine wasn’t intimidated, but she was astute. She was paying close attention to how Jennifer was trying to weasel herself into Nate’s inner circle, with her knowledge of the national church landscape, connections to the Total Truth board members, and tight skirts highlighting her big, juicy booty. The trysts Nate had with other church members were harmless. After all, old members knew the rules and, more importantly, knew that the Nobles ruled. But this Jennifer chick, I’m going to have to slow her roll. Katherine’s brow knitted as she pondered how to make sure nothing and no one came between Nate and her Destiny.

4
Praying for Mercy
    Nettie Thicke Johnson had already been praying for hours when the phone rang. I need to get that. She rose from her kneeled position at a chair in the living room and headed for the cordless phone in the kitchen. The phone had rung several times during her conversation with God, but since this was the first time she’d thought to interrupt their dialogue, the others had obviously not warranted her immediate attention.
    Most speculated that the prophetic anointing that was on Nate’s life came from the prestigious line of ministers on his father’s side. That was only one of several mistakes one made where Nate’s attributes were concerned. Nettie, his mother, was the one in the family with “the eye,” the ability to