A Rose Witnesses a Thorn

Lady In Pink… an innocent victim

Ms Rose must have had special plans that day. She was in a very good mood, Yvette remarked. The suit was particularly fitted and the nylon extra glossy. Way too sheer for Yvette’s taste. These were the types of ultra sheer super shiny nylon her late husband had enjoyed too much. Especially considering she never wore them for him.

To add insult to the two-toned white top black bottom suit, Ms Rose had on her signature rose broach and perfume going. Her lips had a light pink hue to them from the lipstick she had applied flawlessly, to the chagrin of many married women.

The group of unhappy wives, who had yet to take Yvette’s course, were cursing themselves for not having taken the class. All of their husband’s attention was riveted on the curves of Ms Rose. Many an elbow had been thrown into ribs that day.

While everyone one knew Ms Rose do could the impossible in heels, this day was unlike any other. Those heels made all the other tall heels anyone had dared wear to church look like child’s play.

Yvette, who used to be very fashion savvy in her day, immediately recognized these pink gems. They were scalloped-curved pumps in the area of 130mm–140mm no platform pumps (much like the modern day Hot Chicks by Louboutin). Pink pumps at that to go with the pink accent on her black purse.

How anyone managed to stand in those was near miraculous. One of the usher board leader, out of spite, asked Ms Rose to perform usher duties. Just to teach the young lass a lesson about coming to church too over sexed.

To everyone’s bewilderment, Ms Rose had pulled off the duties without complaint or hitch. While everyone had kicked off their heels after service, Ms Rose had not. She was moving about and socializing as if in flats. Yvette noticed how Mrs Edward seemed to be seething quietly inside. Her friend was doing something special and it appeared that Mrs Edward did not want that to happen in front of her husband or children.

Yvette found a story to give that would cause Ms Rose to have a chat with Mrs Edward. As the two of them chatted, Yvette slowly made her way over to check in on the chat.

The two had not taken the bait. They were chatting like old friends do. Yvette did notice the periodic side eye Mrs Edward was giving towards the heels. On one occasion, Mrs Edward implored her friend to release her pain and kick off her heels. The young lady laughed it off and did not.

That was when the window of good fortuned opened. Mrs Edward was keen on keeping her children close by after church. They were not allowed to run about with friends and make noise like all the other “savage brats” of the church. Today, was different.

Mrs Edward was so engrossed in her chat that she had not noticed that all her children, save Andrew, had dispersed. Sure, they were not that far away, but they were not in the same row of seats.

Andrew was busy playing with a toy of some kind. This was most unusual, as Mrs Edward never allowed her children to play with toys in the sanctuary.

Yvette drew near. The boy was lost in his thoughts with the truck. You could see his innocence playing joyfully. With a small whisper, Yvette enticed the boy to play on the floor instead of on the seat next to his mother.

If Yvette was to successfully gossip and create problems about the behavior of the other children, she would do so with the boy out of earshot of her gossip. He did not need to be a part of this plan.

To Mrs Edward credit, the woman was not moved by the efforts of Yvette. The conversation soon shifted and the trio started sharing stories about their ministries. Laughter soon broke out. Mrs Edward could be quite the charming woman.

Yvette’s attention shifted. Andrew was looking for something. His toy had gotten away from him and was below Ms Rose’s legs. While that was not of consequence, the way the boy was going after the toy was not conventional.

Instead of slipping below his mother’s legs to crawl to the toy, or more intelligently, crawling under the seat to get the toy, Andrew started to slowly and very meticulously step over cat-burglar-style his mom’s legs.

Yvette took advantage in the change of chat to observe. There had to be a reason why this boy was being extremely cautious. Yvette noticed the intense focus in the boy’s face, especially whenever the conversation slowed and appeared to sound like it was coming to an end.

Peculiar.

was the boy afraid of his mom? If so, why?

Yvette almost lost interest until she picked up on Ms Rose’s effort to get out of Andrew’s way. The motion could have been very effortless. However, the extreme slowness of motion made Yvette realize that Ms Rose was trying to protect Andrew from his mother’s attention as she tried to move herself from the boy’s way. However, the way he was “spider-man” straddled over both sets of legs, it would not be easy for her to move without drawing too much attention.

It was clear that the only way to really move, as far as Yvette was concerned, was for Ms Rose to slip out of her shoes. The heel was too tall for her to pull back without disrupting the meticulous Andrew. Mrs Edward had already flashed a warning glance that the boy had missed.

Mrs Edward slipped off her shoes and nudged the boy as Ms Rose said something funny that made all three of them laugh very hard.

As the trio regained their composure, Yvette noticed that Andrew had succeeded at moving his toy back and was in the process of trying to back pedal to his place. There was a sense of serious urgency in his very calculated moves. His focus was way more intense than a child his age should know how to utilize.

When the boy looked up at Yvette, something in her stirred. A pain of regret so to speak. Something about the look communicated a plea of mercy. The boy almost looked like he knew what was about to happen to him. As if he knew Yvette was about to ruin his life.

Puzzled, Yvette re-assessed the situation. The light bulb clicked. This opportunity was too tempting to pass up. Yvette didn’t think, she opened her mouth and spoke… and instantly regretted it.