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pews. But he just stood and stared at them blankly, almost like he was looking right through them. For a second, I was worried he would break down in tears in front of everyone. I nudged him, but he barely even moved.
    I looked at Crystal, and without me having to speak a word, she knew instinctively what to do. She took Darnel gently by the arm and pulled him close to her. Istepped in front of my family to give our guests the bad news.
    “Good afternoon, everybody. I just want everyone to know that—” I stopped abruptly, realizing that I hadn’t given any thought to what I would tell them. Darnel and I hadn’t even discussed whether he wanted them to know the truth. Having everyone know that his fiancée cheated on him might be embarrassing to Darnel, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause that. I looked toward Darnel for some indication that it was okay for me to continue.
    He seemed to snap out of his daze. “Wait, Dad,” he said. “I’ll handle this.” Darnel stepped forward and spoke in a firm voice. I don’t know where it came from so suddenly, but he had regained the strength that seemed to have been knocked out of him before. “I just want everyone to know there’s not going to be a wedding today. The wedding is off—for good.”
    With that, Darnel stepped to the side atrium of the church. There was not even a moment of confused silence from the people in the pews. Sounds of shock and confusion escaped their mouths in an instant. Their questions echoed throughout the church, and though many of them were whispering to one another, the combination of so many voices was like a wave that could have knocked us over.
    A few people looked at Darnel sympathetically, but I was surprised by the number of people who actually looked angry. Like this was all his fault.
    “Where’s Keisha?” someone from the bride’s side shouted.
    “This is bull!” another man shouted. “Why didn’t somebody tell me this before I drove fourteen hours from North Carolina?”
    “Fine time to tell me now. I just spent all this money on the wedding gift.”
    I felt like yelling at these fools, to tell them that their inconvenience was nothing compared to the pain my son was feeling, but then a loud, shrill voice from one of the side doors rose above the din, and all chatter ceased.
    I turned to face Gloria Nichols, Keisha’s mother, who had shouted, “Where is my daughter?” She did not look happy, to say the least. Behind her, her husband, LeRoi, looked equally irate.
    I stepped forward when I saw Gloria, whose usual sophisticated façade had disappeared, heading for Darnel like she was ready to attack him. Her fists were raised. “Where’s my baby? What have you done with my daughter?” she sputtered. Her husband was right on her heels.
    “I didn’t do anything to her, Mrs. Nichols,” Darnel replied. “I swear.”
    I stepped between him and Gloria. She leaned in so close that I could feel the heat of her breath on my face.
    “Where is my child, James Black?” Gloria bellowed.
    I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know, Gloria. And neither does my son.”
    She threw an angry glare in Darnel’s direction. “I always knew you’d break her heart. What did you do to her, you bastard?”
    Gloria’s accusations shocked me, because she and her husband had always seemed to love Darnel. I think the stress of the wedding had gotten to all of us, and now with its cancellation, Gloria had reached her breaking point. Crystal, on the other hand, didn’t share my sympathetic view of Gloria.
    “Wait a minute, Miss Muckety-Muck. Who the hellare you callin’ a bastard?” Crystal had left Darnel’s side and was stomping her way toward us. She grabbed Gloria by the shoulder and spun her around so they were facing each other. The movement made Gloria’s hat fall to the floor, and Crystal just kicked it out of her way. She got up in Gloria’s face and pointed her finger inches from her nose. Then she started in on her