Delilah decided to sit in the back seat, staring out the window in silence and occasionally she felt his eyes on her, but she proceeded to ignore him completely.
He was taking over her entire life, suffocating her with his many rules and regulations — which apparently only applied to her.
The car came to a slow halt and Delilah knew that they had reached the apartment. With force, she opened the door in eager plans to dodge straight for her room once they entered the apartment, but suddenly her eyes caught sight of Mrs.Jones being escorted out of her vehicle.
Delilah's eyes then rolled to white at the very sight of the boujee woman. She was becoming equivalent to a bad itch that kept resurfacing on the body.
" Mr. Smith– Delilah, good evening." Her cherry red lips smiled towards them. Before her attention turned specifically towards Delilah. " How's your day Delilah? "
" Great..." The not so genuine smile appeared across Delilah's face. She was still battling the effects of the smoke session she had with Raheem, and as of right now all she craved for was food.
" That's good to know... I was just stopping by to say hello. You know my son has been in high spirits ever since Saturday night, that must've been some movie. He said he's never had that much fun in his life. "
Delilah nodded as she sucked her teeth in thought of Saturday night. Throughout the past two days, she tried to think not much about it especially because of ...Him. To her, it still felt as if she lost something great, for now, her life had gone back to that black and gray instead of vibrant ombrés.
" Yeah, we really...enjoyed ourselves."
" I've seen... anyone that makes him happy, makes me happy. I heard about the church hosting a big Easter celebration next week, is that true? I'll surely be looking forward to hear your lovely voice in the choir." She smiled Delilah's way, whose eyes then focused on her father. They eyed each other until they both spoke.
" Actually I'm –" " Actually we were just talking about that." Mr. Smith claimed over his daughter's voice with an assuring smile.
" Trust me you're going to hear a lot of her now that she's the choir's new lead." He smiled at her causing Delilah's heart to drop at an instant for singing lead was something she yearned to do since the choir came about, but he never let her.
In the back of her mind, she knew that this was just another way to kiss Mrs. Jones's rich behind but quite frankly she didn't care. Delilah planned to take full advantage of this opportunity. And she knew just how.
So when her father dismissed her off to the apartment Delilah headed straight for the phone to call her new forbidden friend. She hoped that he was home by now as the phone rang after a while until finally, the raspy voice answered.
" Hello?"
" Heem, about that song I told you about. I have an idea, but I can't discuss it right now. Tomorrow just make sure you round up majority of the choir and bring them up to the old music room on the top floor." Was all she said, leaving him to stare at his phone in confusion once she hung up.
He brushed it off once he entered the living room to see his father, popping open another one of his beers as he hung up something on the clothes rack. Raheem's eyebrows furrowed at the sight for his father hadn't designed anything ever since they lost the family's clothing store during December.
"You made that?" Raheem questioned causing his father to jump as if he didn't know his son was home.
" It was a request from Mr. Smith... Mrs.Jones wanted something simple but not too simple. What do you think?" His father revealed the white flowing dress to him and Raheem nodded approvingly with a broad smile.
This is the side of his dad he loved to see... the happy him. He was tired of seeing his father depressed and a drunken mess... and Raheem still felt shitty for disappointing him... but
maybe this is what could help distract his father from heartbreak... going back to doing what he loved to do.
" It's amazing you did great pops."
" Thanks... I worked all night on it." He smiled proudly before gazing towards his son. " You know what... I'll excuse you from your punishment just for the night... how about we go out somewhere?" He suggested earning another smile from Raheem... he finally got a sense of hope for his father's well being.
While Delilah remained trying to keep her well being intact as she laid in bed. She didn't know what possessed her to think of performing the song she wrote the night prior- but she kept thinking back to the conversation that she had with her music teacher Ms.Nancy Mcneill.
" What do you plan on doing with it?" Ms. Nancy's question replayed in her head, but the answer she had for it was much different this time around. She was going to prove to her father that Disco along with any other genre of music could be wholesome as well... he just needed an eye-opener for once.
The night came fast the more she went over it, she had a plan envisioned in her head. This was the best distraction to keep her mind off reality until her reality was what she dreamed.
Over the years she was accustomed to keeping her work confined in her book but she realized that today, faith was forcing her to chase her destiny.
...
Throughout the week Mr. Smith had been obliviously making Delilah's plans much easier for her to achieve, sending her and her siblings out on the streets to pass out flyers for the Easter celebration. And during that time Delilah used her moments of freedom to sneak with Raheem and practice with the choir... everything was going as planned until the day of – when a fence snagged her purple dress horribly, leaving a large rip in the back.
" Raheem I can't go up there like this." She whined hysterically as they remained in the storage room. Raheem rubbed his temples once he saw the rip which was far passed noticeable.
" Delilah just calm down okay. I can just go get something from the store."
" No! This was the perfect dress, I can't go out there in just anything... Everything was perfect, the choir, the song, wonder boy... why does something always have to happen to me?" She went on and on until Raheem thought about something, and as much as he told himself not to, he couldn't control himself once he glanced in Delilah's helpless eyes.
" I got you, Delilah, I promise... I'll be right back." He said before darting out the storage closet in plans of borrowing a certain dress that remained hanging in his living room without a single thought of the consequences. The things he'd do for her... the things he'd do.
The dress looked like it was made specifically for Delilah as she smiled in it, swinging side to side as she glanced in the restroom mirror.
" Heem this is perfect." She pounced on him as he snuck in the restroom with her choir robe.
" I know, you look great. Just be careful in it... you just don't know the risk I'm taking by doing this for you." Raheem eyed her nervously, he began to feel guilty for taking something his father worked long and hard for, but Delilah's happiness soon washed that guilt away.
As long as Raheem brought the dress back appearing to be untouched then everything would be fine.
The church was full of people in the neighborhood, conversing with one another as they filled the seats quickly. Mr.Smith was currently going through his opening lecture before the choir sang and Delilah stood there nervously as she eyed the back of her father's head, her mother and Junior in the crowd, Raheem who nodded at her from behind the piano, then towards Alyssa and Valentina who stood on each side of her.
They were only under the impression that the choir was singing 'Oh Happy Day' then' This Little Light Of Mine', but they'd soon find out what else Delilah had up her sleeve.
Oh happy day ( Oh happy day)
Oh happy day ( Oh happy day )
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)
The choir continued as Delilah then stepped forward.
"When Jesus Washed." Her whistling voice stunned the crowd... and everything suddenly became silent. Bobby became silent specifically as he removed his shades to get a good look at who produced that angel-like voice.
" This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." She proceeded, as her hands slowly began to remove her robe and the choir praised behind her.
" Let it shine ... Let it shine... Let it shine."
Valentina and Alyssa's eyes grew as they watched Delilah expose her dress to the crowd that gasped suddenly, which resulted in her father turning to her– his eyes wider than ever before as he removed his glasses.
But Delilah didn't stop at anything, especially once she let her hair down– shaking it to flow where she wanted before she smirked towards Raheem as a cue to play her song.