Watch Over Me

Watch Over Me by Shelba Cole Robison New clothes needed to get the stiff beat out of them the way her momma whomped laundry before she poked it into the black iron washpot. But here Imogene was, dressed up for her retirement dinner, in an all new getup that hardly moved, even when she walked. Outfitted by her sisters, Leola and Katie Belle, the tag on Imogene's pink rayon step-ins vexed her waist, but even her simple self knew enough not to scratch in front of all these people. She'd promised Leola that she d behave. "Our last retiree is . . . Imogene, Imogene Rice." As he began clapping, Mr. Shumate, the plant foreman, motioned for Imogene to come forward. Imogene shuffled awkwardly to the podium, intensely embarrassed. The only other time she'd been stuck in front of an audience was when "Confess Your Sins and Accept the Lord" McBride came to town with his tent revival. Leola called him Rev. Con-fess but they all showed up because he put on a really good meeting. He was known for his beautiful voice. When he sang, his eyebrows would go up on the high notes and down on the low. That night Rev. Con-fess held his high note for such a long time his brows looked like they were reaching for heaven. In the meantime, his eyes searched low for sinners. They sunk down on Imogene. Imogene couldn't look away. As he maintained his high note she felt his song vibrate through her eye sockets and quaver down her throat all the way to her vitals. Then those vibrations folded back on themselves and got all tangled in her insides. To shake the kinks out, she had to stand up right where she was. Rev. Con-fess hadn't found a sinner yet that night and he thought she was volunteering. The minute she stood, he rushed over, put his arms around her, and pulled her all the way down front to the altar. Triumphant with his prey, Reverend Con-fess heralded his good news to the crowd in the hot tent. 4We have a sinner who needs the Lord-Hallelujah." Then, in case they didn't hear it the first time, "Here is a sinner who needs the Lordpraise be! Let's ask that her sins will be taken from her. Dear God-" As he Ïrayed his eyebrows started to climb acob's Ladder again. Imogene's knees buckled as she began to faint but the Reverend's tight grip jerked her shoulders up so quickly that she merely swayed a bit. Trapped in his tight fingers, she began to pray, too. "Please God, don't let him ask about my sins, cause I don't know what they are. I'll start giggling and Leola will have a hissy fit. This time she was saved. The Reverend began to have other sinners come forward, lots of them. In fact, it turned out to be a really good night for sinners. The preacher could hardly save them all by nine o'clock. Afterwards, folks came by to welcome Imogene to the arms of Jesus. But the only arms she wanted were big ones that would hide her still scarlet face from everybody, especially Reverend Confess . Leola said she'd disgraced the family. "All of Pickensville thinks we've neglected our Christian duty by you, Imogene . As long as you live with us you aren't going to sin, you hear?" Imogene guessed Leola was right. Besides being stupid, which she couldn't do nothing about, dipping White Rose snuff was Imogene's only fault. She wasn't exactly sure if snuff was a sinshe didn't remember any Bible stories about snuff, but Leola kept telling her that the Lord wasn't happy knowing Imogene dipped. It was hard to figure out. Snuff couldn't be too bad because lots of mill workers dipped-folks who were even baptized and went to church regular. After her talk with Leola, Imogene decided that sinning wasn't for the likes of her. It seemed to be more for smart people-like Leola and Brother McBride. Now, standing...