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attendance that had just cause why the two should not be joined in holy matrimony, they almost didn’t hear the man in the back of the church stand up and say, “I do. I have a very good reason why no man in his right mind should marry that woman.”

Chapter Five
    Who was that man? Mother Doreen pondered. Now that Mother Doreen thought about it, she recalled that man’s face. The man who’d just stood up, interrupting her wedding ceremony with claims that he had just cause why Mother Doreen and Wallace shouldn’t be married—Mother Doreen recognized him. She didn’t recognize him from a previous encounter or from the grocery store or anything like that. She recognized his face from only minutes ago. Just minutes ago was the first time Mother Doreen had ever laid eyes on the man; of that she was sure.
    Out of all the hundred fifty or so guests in attendance, that man’s face had stood out to Mother Doreen. Ironically enough, the man stood out because Mother Doreen hadn’t recognized him at all. It was that and the fact that all the other hundred forty-nine guests were smiling, but this man wasn’t. Why hadn’t he been smiling? Mother Doreen had briefly wondered as she’d been making her way down the aisle. Was it because Mother Doreen had ruined her makeup with tears and now folks weren’t going to be able to get a decent picture of her coming down the aisle? Yes, that could have been it. After all, like many of the others, the man had had his cell phone out snapping pictures. Or had it been a digital camera? Or even a disposable one? At the moment, Mother Doreen couldn’t recall. And why was she worried about something so trivial anyway? What she needed to be concerned with was why had this man—this man who Mother Doreen knew to be a complete stranger—want to interrupt her wedding.
    Perhaps it was just all a joke. Perhaps the man was some crazy distant cousin of Wallace’s playing some kind of untimely joke. They’d probably played jokes on each other all the time as kids and this was the ultimate payback. It was possible. Wallace had cousins, lots of them; from all over. Mother Doreen’s mind was scrambling for answers. But it was Pastor Margie who had the good sense to quickly just come right out and ask the man just what everyone in the sanctuary wanted to know.
    â€œWho are you?” Pastor Margie asked. She tried not to sound so badgering, but she was somewhat upset. Who would have the audacity to try to ruin one of the best days of one of her best member’s life? And on top of that, Pastor Margie considered Mother Doreen a good friend. Why, the two had even been temporary roommates once upon a time. Why was this man doing this to her friend? Pastor Margie would ask that question too. “And why are you speaking out?”
    One could hear a church mouse go tinkle on a cotton ball it was so quiet. Everyone waited in anticipation for the man to respond.
    â€œRight now, who I am isn’t as important as why I’m speaking out.” The man, looking to be in his forties, sounded and looked like a very studious man. He stood about five feet ten. His light skin complexion was smooth as he glared over the rim of his dark framed eyeglasses. He had a tight haircut and was dressed in what looked to be a very snazzy suit. When he stepped out from the pew to the middle of the aisle, his shiny dress shoes twinkled like a star in a midnight sky. When he spoke those few little words, he annunciated every single sound of every single letter to perfection. He commanded attention, and not just because he’d spoken out during the middle of a wedding ceremony, but because he just had this certain aura about him.
    â€œThen why are you speaking out?” Pastor Margie asked again.
    â€œYou asked if there was anyone in attendance that had just cause why the two should not be joined in holy matrimony. Well, I have just cause; and that,