Freddie Owens - Then Like the Blind Man - Orbie's Story

The kerosene lamps stood like before — in the windowsills and off to the sides — only now they were all lit up. The little stage was there too with its preacher’s stand and the purple flag with its They Shall Take Up Serpents written in flowing gold letters across the front.

I stayed close to Granny.

“Howdy Miss Alma,” Granny said. “You lookin’ mighty fine this Fourth of July.”

Miss Alma walked up to us; her dress ballooned out big as a tent, orange with white flowers and a shiny black belt. “Good as can be!” she laughed. When she saw me, she put on a frown. “Your Granmammy done told on you. You know what she say?” Blobs of fat hung off her arms. “She say you ‘bout the sweetest thing she evah lay eyes on. Sweet as shuga she say. I bet you is too! Hmmm hmmm. I bet you is.” She laughed again, a big deep belly laugh like a man’s.

“I won’t never tell you another thing Miss Alma,” Granny said. “Come on Orbie. Let’s go find us a place to sit. I’ll tend to you later, girl.”

Miss Alma laughed.

Granny took me to one of the benches in back. “You and Willis can sit back here. Will you be all right?”

I wasn’t sure if I would be or not. “Where’s Granpaw?”

“Up front a praying. Stand up there, where you can see.”

I climbed up on the bench and stood, leaning against the plank back. Up front I could see a bunch of coloreds kneeling around the altar. I couldn’t see Granpaw anywhere.

“They’s all preachers up there,” Granny said. “Congregation will join in later.”

“Moses coming?” I asked.

“Won’t know till he’s here in the flesh,” Granny said.

Right then I felt a hard thump between my shoulder blades.

“I want you to stop poking people with that stick Bird,” Granny said.

Bird stood behind us, cane extended. She was looking right at me, hat-net bent up over her head. Purple smoke. “Spirit’s trapped, ain’t it?” She cackled so loud you could hear her all over the church house.

“What you talking about?” Granny said.

“Her! In ‘at box!” Bird looked at me again. “You best be on the lookout boy.”

What she said didn’t make any sense; the way she said it did.

“Look out for what Bird?” Granny said.

Bird hit the floor with her cane. “What I’m saying is what! You kind a ignorant, ain’t you?”

“I reckon I’m smart enough for the likes of you,” Granny said.

Bird hit the floor again, cackling. “Now I got her mad! Yes I did! Ah! Ha!”

Granny frowned.

“You mind what I’m a saying boy,” Bird said. She turned herself around and hobbled off toward the front. We watched her find a seat up there and sit down.

“Nobody will sit near her,” Granny said. “Walked all the way over here by herself. Nealy will throw him a fit and blame us. I wouldn’t lose no sleep over what she says.” Granny pointed back toward the church house doors. “Look over yonder Orbie. Look what’s arrived.” There stood Willis, smiling like usual. He walked himself over and climbed up the bench next to me.

“Moses here?” Granny said.

“Yessum. He outside.”

Granny looked at me. “You’ll get to see something tonight.” I got one of those feelings like I was way up high somewhere about to fall. “Willis, you stay here with Orbie,” Granny said.

“I’ll be right up front.”

Nobody dressed up much at Kingdom Church — not that I could see. Gray pants, coveralls, work shirts, suspenders and no neckties. Some people wore jeans. One man came in with dry mud splattered up his pant leg. There were a few church-i-fied, pretty smelling people too — some were white. Colored boys and colored girls came in, all smiley-eyed, and some mean looking — hateful. One tall boy — black as a blackboard and wearing an orange hat like an upside down bowl — stood by the door with his arms crossed. He kept rubbernecking over the crowd of people like he was counting heads or seeing in his own mind who and who wasn’t there. Willis pointed to the windows the white boys had busted out. Somebody had already covered them with pieces of cardboard.

“Think they’ll find out who done that?” I said.

“Already know,” Willis said. “Always know.”

Right then a quiet went over the church house. It started by the door and hushed its way all the way up to the front. The boy in the orange hat hurried out the door.

There was a whistle and a heavy down-clomp of boots out on the porch. Then, through the door came Moses, carrying a flat white box by a handle fixed to the top. It was about the size and shape of a soda pop crate. ‘In Jesus Name’ was printed on the side. Moses held the box out in front of him and walked up the aisle to the preacher’s stand. The boy in the orange hat came in carrying two more boxes, one with a screen over the end. Something inside buzzed and thumped fiercely against the screen.

“Rattlesnake,” Willis said. “Coppahead too.”

When the boy got up to the preacher’s stand, all the people went in around him and Moses. They all kneeled down around the altar there and started praying out loud, all of them at the same time, filling the hall of the little church with a sound like bees — hundreds and thousands of bees humming around a hive — humming, humming, humming. Miss Alma got up in the middle of it all, raised one outstretched hand toward the ceiling and hollered, “Lawd has done make a new creature out of me! Thank you Jesus!” A man shouted, “Amen, sister! Amen!” Granny got up then and wiped her eyes. Other people got up. Some people laughed. Some cried.

A colored boy held up a drum-thing with jingles fixed around it. He went on the stage with another man who had a guitar and a gold tooth. A little skinny woman was there too, holding up a big bass fiddle, bigger than she was. She started thumping the strings and everybody got quiet. The thumping went fast and had a beat you could dance to, like Elvis Presley only better, and then the boy with the drum jingles joined in and the guitar man too and everybody got to swinging back and clapping their hands, singing.

Willis grinned and clapped his hands to the music. People danced and turned themselves around in little circles.

Moses was up on the stage in back of the music players. He picked up one of the boxes. He held it out to the people while they were all singing.

When the singing stopped, a white boy jumped up in the middle of everybody. “I’m just fifteen but I believe in God’s signs, praise the Lord! I believe in God’s word! I believe in God!”

“Amen! Hallelujah!” the people shouted.

“Praise his holy name!” The white boy jumped up on the stage. “I believe in taking up serpents. I believe in drinking poison. I believe in whatever God puts on me to do! I believe in God! Say hallelujah!”

“Hallelujah! Praise his holy name!”

The white boy doubled over and frowned like he suddenly got a pain in his stomach. “And these signs shall foller them that believe in my name. You cain’t get around the name of Jesus! Let me hear Amen!”

“Amen!”

“I said let me hear Amen!” he shouted.

“Amen!”

“Praise God!” The white boy held his Bible open so everybody could see. “It says right here that there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind, and it filled up all the house. And there appeared cloven tongues like as of fire! And it sat upon them. And they were filled with the Holy Ghost! And they began a speaking in tongues!”