He's Saved... But is He FOR REAL?
*Sequel to, He's Fine...But is He Saved?

315 pages
ISBN 0-373-83123-4

Chapter 1 - Oh, No, He Didn't!

 
"Are you for real?" I asked Sandy while on my cell as I lay sprawled out on my brown couch in my one-bedroom apartment in downtown Detroit.
     "Yes, girl," Sandy replied while lying upright in her white canopy bed with pink sheets, adjacent to her grandmother Madear's bedroom.
     "You mean to tell me Pierre called off the wedding?" I asked.
     I could not believe it. I couldn't believe that the first saved man I dated for eight months, fell in love with, then was dumped by so he could be with the wonderful "Miss Erika" called off the wedding. Erika Richmond, Minister Richmond's daughter, was supposedly the most virtuous prize in the church.
     "Uh-huh," Sandy said as a matter of fact.
     "Who told you?"
     I had to ask. Knowing Sandy, this could be just some rumor. Or maybe a nightmare I needed to be awakened from.
     "Madear's hairdresser's cousin's best friend, Lajaneequa, told me," Sandy assured me.
     I held the phone in utter shock as I thought about how I'd fallen in love with this man and couldn't understand why he left me that day almost two years ago seemingly out of the blue, until I found out that he had already started going out with Erika around the same time he was going out with me. I thought he broke up with me because I refused to give him some but the later found out that it was because he'd already had his sights set elsewhere.
     Man.
     I was looking forward to the day I finally got Pierre's two-timing, wanting-to-have-his-cake-and-eat-it-too self out of my thoughts and life forever. I was looking forward to the day he pledged his "till death do us part" to Erika and I even thought about attending the wedding. Erika, whom I used to serve with in the youth department at our church some years ago, did send me an invitation in the mail. I was looking forward to their wedding as the final closure that I needed to finally get my mind totally off Mr. Pierre Dupree. Oh, well, I guess that won't be happening anytime soon.

Random Excerpts from Random Chapters

Michelle
Pierre used his free hand to shush my lips. "Shhh," he said, "Don't say another word, Michelle Williamson."
     I couldn't do anything but just stare at him. It was like he had me in a trance. With that, he added, "I'm willing to fight for you, girl."

Liz
. . . Liz noticed that all of the patient prayer seekers were women - women who knew very well that Minister Matthew Long was an unmarried minister.

Sandy
"I'd rather burn in hell with my man than go through the rest of my life all alone!"

Michelle
I was waiting to hear something - anything ; I needed a Word from God.

Madear
"Sandy, chile, if you walk out of that door right now, don't plan on coming back!"

Liz
"You got so many people going around saying they're saved just because it's the, quote-unquote,  'in-thing' to be right now. You gotta be careful out here."

Liz
". . . I can't take any more of this foolishness. Michelle, girl, let's go! I'm about to lose my religion up in here, these folks is driving me crazy!"

He's Fine... But is He SAVED?
*Black Expressions' Bestseller
360 pages
ISBN 373-83061-0

Chapter 1 - Flirting!

"He fiiiiiiine," Sandy sang across the restaurant table and ran her tiny, cream-colored hand through her short black tresses. She was referring to some stranger seated at the bar.
     Sandy, Liz, and I were enjoying Sunday brunch on a chilly afternoon in April at one of Detroit's finest restaurants downtown. The soothing jazz sounds coming from the black baby grand increased my enjoyment as I swayed with the music. We single ladies are celebrating the fact that we're "big girls now." We're all in our early-to-late twenties, graduated from different colleges, and have fairly decent jobs. We can afford to splurge once in a while. I snapped back into the reality of Sandy's comment and looked around to make sure no one else heard her remark. "Who fine?" I asked and then looked back down at my jambalaya.
     I tell you.
     Sandy can be so obvious at times. One day I'm going to teach her young, twenty-three-year-old self how to do things with class, or at least learn how to use codes so that the whole restaurant doesn't know we're checking a brotha out.
    "What man are you talking about now?" retorted Liz. Liz is twenty-seven, two years older than I am. She has never approved of Sandy's flirtatious ways. I watched Liz play with her house salad. Her meal selection is a result of her trying to lose weight. In the past three months, Liz went from a size ten to a size sixteen. I believe a lot of her weight gain has to do with having to put up with her single mother's wild antics at home. Next to praying, Liz's favorite thing to do when something is bothering her is eat. However, she still looks good with her flawless caramel-colored skin and shoulder length, black micro-zillions that are half braided, half loose. Liz and I have always had lunch together after church. Then four months ago, the Lord reunited Sandy and me, former high school classmates, one day at the grocery store. We exchanged numbers, and I invited her to church. That following Sunday, dressed in four inch heels and a short and tight jean dress with rhinestones, Sandy responded to the altar call. I walked down the aisle with her and she, in tears, got saved. I haven't been able to get rid of Sandy since that day. Now the Lord has given me a spiritual assignment to be her spiritual guide and friend. I don't mind too much, I guess, even though sometimes I do have to remind Liz, my best friend of five years now, that Sandy is still young in the Lord. Sandy's behavior can be quite unpredictable at times, especially when it comes to her interactions with the opposite sex. "Him, at the bar," Sandy whispered loudly while pointing toward the bar with her fork. I peeked at the bar section and saw an older white gentleman wearing a hideous toupee, an older black woman wearing a tight red dress holding a glass of mimosa, and a black man who looked to be in his late twenties. He was dark-skinned with a bald head, had thick juicy lips, and enough muscles to make Tyrese look bad. The black muscle shirt he wore proved he was built, and his tan pants hugged his thighs. I must admit, the brotha was fine. As Sandy kept flirting with him with her dark brown eyes, the man responded by looking over at her with hungry eyes of his own and a sexy smile.
     "Give me a break," Liz said after sneaking a glance at the man and then snapping her neck. "You just got out of church not even an hour ago, and here you are flirting with some man. Ghetto."

Non-Fiction:

The Little Black Survival Book for Single Saints

Chapter 1 - Loneliness -

"Lord, everybody is 'booed' up but me!" !

 
Feelings of loneliness, for a lot of single Christians, come in spurts. When you're out with friends and family, you're cool. When you're at church in deep worship, you receive enough strength to go on and feel that Jesus is all the Man you need. Then you get home, and by the end of the night, you may feel lonely.

     You may turn on the T.V. and watch a romantic comedy and find yourself crying so hard because you wish what happened to the main character happened to you. You may go shopping or to a concert and see so many couples holding hands and being "booed up" that you feel alone. It may be the holiday season, and you find yourself quickly turning the radio dial as soon as "What Do the Lonely Do at Christmas," or "Christmas Just Ain't Christmas Without the One You Love," comes on. Or it may be Valentine's Day, and you wish someone would buy you one of those huge pink and white teddy bears on the store shelf. Instead, you settle for looking forward to the box of chocolates from your father, or the Valentine's Day card from your mother or grandmother, if that.

     It is not a sin to feel lonely. The key is to seek God about your feelings, and allow Him to remind you that with Him, you are never alone.

     Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, NOR FORSAKE THEE. (Hebrews 13:5) . . .

*Break bondage feelings of loneliness, impatience, insecurity, sexual temptations, jealousy, and lack of forgiveness with this Little Black Survival Book for Single Saints...