The next morning
Drew got up early as usual and ended up waking me up before I had intended. By the time he was fully dressed and ready to walk out the door it was only 8:30.
"Alright I'll see you later beautiful." He said as he walked over to my side and gave me quick kiss before leaving out of our bedroom.
"Alright I love you." I called out as he left.
"I love you too." Was the last thing I heard before I heard the front door opening and closing.
I softly sighed to myself and laid in bed for a few more minutes because I wasn't ready to get up yet. I hadn't laid in silence for two minutes before my phone started ringing. I sighed as I reached over to my nightstand. I grabbed my phone and hooked it from the charger before looking at the caller id. Dorinda was adding me to a call with her and Jacky.
I sat up as I answered the phone and a few seconds later their faces had popped up.
"Girl you still in the bed?" Jacky frowned from her end.
"Yes I am still in the bed. I was about to get up before y'all called me." I said as I propped my phone up and fixed my scarf.
"Well get up girl we was about to be on our way there." Dorinda chimed in.
"I am I am. I'm not sure if Victoria is up yet though." I said as I pushed the covers back and got out of bed.
"Well go see so we can come over there." Jacky said in a 'duh' like tone. I rolled my eyes and sighed before answering her.
"She hasn't been to sleep in days. Just come over and we'll talk to her when she wakes up. Y'all know where the extra key is." I said as I walked over to my closet to find something to wear.
"Okay we'll be there in 20 minutes with some coffee. Bye." Dorinda said before abruptly hanging up.
"Bye girl." Jacky said before hanging up as well ending our call.
I just shook my head and continued to look through my closet for something to wear before deciding on a white ruffly blouse and some black dress pants. I laid my clothes out on the bed and went over to my vanity getting my hair and makeup products out.
I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth and all that good stuff before getting dressed and sitting down in my vanity chair. As I started doing my hair I heard the front door unlock and open.
"Karen!" It was Jacky and Dorinda. They got here fastttt.
"In my room!" I called out hoping we weren't too loud and waking Victoria up.
Not long after my response I heard their heels clicking against the steps and the hardwood floor in the hallway. My door way halfway open but Dorinda dramatic self pushed it and made it bang up against the wall causing me to turn around quickly.
"I have arrived." She said as she did a dramatic pose in the center of my room. Jacky and I both looked at her shaking our heads. She got a screw loose somewhere.
"And you're also very loud." I replied with an eye roll. Before I could turn back around I saw one of the bedroom doors open and Victoria walked out looking confused and tired.
"Mrs. Karen what was that?" She asked as she looked over into my room. She was rubbing one of her eyes and had a blue blanket wrapped around her.
"I'm sorry sweetie. That was Dorinda being loud and obnoxious." I apologized as I glared at Dorinda.
"What time is it?" She asked as she walked a little closer to my room not coming in completely though.
"It's about 9:15." Jacky answered as she looked down at her watch.
"Are you guys going somewhere?" She asked once she noticed that I was doing my hair and makeup.
"Not yet. We were waiting for you to get up so we can go out and shop a little." I told her as I looked at her through my vanity mirror.
"Shopping for what?" She asked curiously as she wrapped her blanket around her a little more.
"To get you some stuff. Here I got you some coffee. I didn't know what to get you so I just got you one of them caramel thangs Nikki be getting." Dorinda said as she walked over to Victoria. She took the drink out of the carrier and handed it to her along with a straw.
"A caramel thing?" Victoria's eyebrows scrunched up a little as she looked at the drink before opening the straw and taking a sip. She made a weird face before taking another sip.
"That's really sweet. And bitter at the same time." She said as she twirled the straw around trying to mix the drink. After she did that she took another sip but immediately shook her head.
"Nope that didn't make it better." Her reaction caused us to laugh and Dorinda took the drink from her.
"Okay so now we know you don't like coffee. Go and start getting ready though, we got alot we wanna do with you today." Dorinda said as she set the drinks down on the bench in front of my bed.
"Yes ma'am. Mrs Karen do you have a blow dryer and a flat iron that I can use so I can do my hair?"
"There's a blow dryer in the bathroom closet that you're using. And you can take these." I said as I finished curling my last piece of hair.
I unplugged the flat irons while waving her into my room. She stepped in slowly and came over to where I was sitting. I wrapped the cord around the flat irons a few times before handing them to her along with a comb and some heat protectant so she wouldn't damage her pretty curls.
"Thank you. I'll be ready soon." She said to us as she walked out of my room and went to go get ready.
I stood up from my chair and put all my things away before grabbing my shoes and my phone. I headed out of my room and down the stairs with Jacky and Dorinda following me. I set my shoes down on the floor and stepped into them before walking into the kitchen and grabbing the broom.
"Be careful guys. There might be glass on the floor, one of the cups broke last night." I said as I swept the kitchen floor trying to make sure there was no glass.
"How did that happen?" Jacky asked as she sat in one of the stools along the kitchen island.
"Victoria dropped a cup last night trying to get some iced tea. Thankfully she didn't cut herself when she was trying to pick it up." I said as I swept everything into the dustpan before walking over to the garbage can and dumping it.
"Thank God for that. Oh, while we're waiting for her we need to practice for next Sunday. Come on, gon get 'round that piano." Dorinda said as she set her purse down on the counter to clap.
"Alright alright we coming. You go head and play since you rushing us." Jacky said as she got up to walk into the living room.
"Uhn uhn the Lord ain't call me to do that. He called me to preach, sing and to shop amen." She shot back with a small laugh at the end. I just shook my head at them and made my way into the living room to sit down at the piano.
We had quickly rehearsed Praying Spirit as well as Blessed and Highly Favored before Victoria came down the stairs. I looked over once I heard her coming and stopped playing for a second. She had her hair up in the front and down in the back with some loose curls and she had on a strapless sundress with some black sandals.
"Wow you look beautiful sweetheart! Look at her y'all." I said to Jacky and Dorinda as we all turned to look at her.
"Ouu look at all that hair!"
"You wearing that dress ain't cha girl!"
She stood there with a shy smile before looking down at her clothes and back up at us again.
"Is this really okay? I didn't really have anything else to wear."
"You look beautiful. We're practicing a song for next Sunday so give us a few minutes and we'll be ready to go." I said as I turned back around to the piano.
"Yes ma'am. Is there any more fruit left in the refrigerator?" She asked as she started walking towards the kitchen.
"Mhm there's a few more cups second shelf. Make sure you look at them though, I think one has peaches." I heard a soft okay in response and went right back into playing the piano.
We practiced the end of Blessed and Highly Favored again before quickly running through the harmonies for Praying Spirit. As we were finishing up Victoria walked back in and stopped to listen to us sing.
"I know that song." She said as she walked over to us.
"You do?" I asked as she stood next to me.
"Yeah. My granny use to sing it while she cleaned up on Sunday's. That one and this one." She replied as she lightly pressed some keys on the piano. I moved my hands and watched as she messed around with the keys.
She pressed each key as if she was trying to find the right note. Once she found the one she wanted she played a little melody slowly as she recalled the correct notes. She cleared her throat a little before singing,
"Though the darkness hideth thee
Sinful man, thy glory not see
But holy, thou art holy
There is none like thee."
Once she was done she took her hand off the piano and smiled softly before stepping back.
"That's the only part I really remember. I haven't heard those songs in forever." She said quietly.
"Karen sings that song. She can teach the rest to you." Dorinda said nudging me slightly.
"Oh, you sing it at church?" Victoria asked innocently as she looked over at me.
"Yes but-"
"She sing sings it. It's on one of her albums." Dorinda interrupted causing me turning around and glare at her.
"Stop interrupting me." I lightly snapped.
"Talk faster." She shot back as she folded her arms over her chest.
"Stop it both of you!" Jacky cut in lightly popping both of us causing us to turn and frown at her.
Victoria looked at us amused at our bickering but it was evident that she was still trying to figure out what Dorinda meant. She looked at each of us and almost instantly its like the dots connected and she gasped.
"Oh God I feel so dumb." She said as she covered her mouth while looking at us in awe. We all looked over at her before playfully introducing ourselves like we would during an interview.
"Hello I'm Jacky."
"I'm Dorinda."
"And I'm Karen. And we're,"
"The Clark Sisters."
~~~~~
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