Season 1, Episode 29

[Let’s get back to Suds: I always forget how relaxing a bath is until I spend way too much time taking quick showers. That’s what these weeks without Suds have been like for me: Ten minute showers, scrambling to get clothes on, and rushing out the door because chances are I’m late for something… again. But somehow a nice bubble bath sprinkled with chamomile bath salts in a Jacuzzi bath seems to make everything better. How sudsy is that?

Since we’re slowing things down, let’s indulge in another episode of Suds.]

~~
Darien plopped down on Leilah’s bare twin-sized bed after tossing the last box of her belongings onto the floor. She thought about poking fun at him, but her mind rambled from thoughts of providing for another child. Why did Zen have to go and get pregnant? She probably won’t finish high school now, and even if she does, she may not go to college. Leilah had been thinking about Xeniyah’s future for most of the drive back to campus. Her preoccupied mind didn’t register that Darien was also distant.
~~

Darien traced his fingers across his braids while staring up at the popcorn ceiling. Leilah should be cool now, he thought. He skipped class to help her move into her new dorm, two floors up in the same building. At least now I won’t have to worry about Shantel doing anything stupid, he thought.

There was only one thing troubling him. Darien had introduced Leilah to his father, and while the deacon laughed with Leilah and enjoyed conversing with her, he told Darien that he was ‘concerned.’

“Concerned about what?” Darien asked when Leilah was in the kitchen with his mother.
“Aren’t you supposed to be taking some time away from girls?” His dad asked shuffling down the stairs into the basement, his hideaway.
“I was, but there’s something about her. I feel a real connection to Leilah. Like this is the girl I’m going to marry.”

His father nodded and pressed his lips together as though trying to bite back words.
“This ain’t nothing like Shantel,” Darien reasoned, “I think I love her.”
Mr. Thompson loosened his tie, and stepped out of his church shoes. Darien followed him to the sofa of the dimly lit room.

Mr. Thompson sighed, “I’m not discrediting how you feel about Leilah, but you are getting into a close relationship with this girl…” He hesitated before turning to face his son, and then scratched his graying beard. “How are you going to avoid sleeping with her?”

“Oh, it’s cool,” Darien’s confidence beamed through as he sat back on the brown sofa. “She already knows about me and God.”
“Well let me ask you this. Do you know about her and God?”
Darien paused. “Not really, but she came to church. So there has to be something there.”
“See, that’s what I’m concerned about. It’s hard enough to follow God, especially when it comes to sex. You’ve been doing well and I’m proud of you because it takes a big man to follow God instead of his desires.”

Mr. Thompson clasped his hands together. Then squinted his eyes as he met his son’s gaze, “But what happens when you are weak spiritually? Is her relationship with God strong enough to keep you from sin? Or will you both get buried under the pressure of temptation?”

Darien rubbed his braids and looked away. His father nodded and reached for the remote control. He flicked on the television and allowed his son to consider his words of wisdom.

The entire drive back to campus, Darien thought about Leilah and God. He wondered if he could be a positive influence and teach her how to deepen her relationship with God. Another part of him feared that he would sink in his efforts to hold onto her. I’ll just have to be strong enough for the both of us, he thought. God wouldn’t send me the right girl if she was wrong for me. And he prayed for strength.

[Stay tuned: Another bubble is always about to burst on Suds]