All Mrs. Peele’s borders were sitting around the table the next Friday evening when the doorbell rang. Mrs. Peele went to the door and when she returned she said it was for Father Daniel and Pastor David. The two went to the door and greeted two men on the porch. One was Pedro, they remembered him from the incident at Tyson’s orchard.
“Pastor Davy, Padre Danny, it would be our honor if you would come with us.”
Davy pulled Danny to the side. “Didn’t you tell them to forget who we are?”
“I told every man when I gave them their money to enjoy the money and forget how it came about.”
“Obviously the message didn’t sink in. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t think we have a choice. We’ll go with them now, see what they want and maybe that will be the end of it.”
“You think so?” asked Davy.
“I don’t know, I don’t see that we have any choice but to give it a try.”
“Where you want to go, Pedro?” inquired Davy.
“We have a small thank you supper at our camp we would like to share with you.”
“See, no big deal,” said Danny. “A little dinner. It sounds nice. We’ll go, eat, say our thank you’s and that will be it.”
Davy smiled and nodded.
“Pedro, we told you we expected nothing. I believe Padre Danny told every man to forget it.”
“Si, this is true, but just a little supper for all you have done seems so little.”
Davy looked at Danny and lifted his eyebrows. What would a supper hurt?
As they pulled into the camp, they saw what these people called a small supper. There were hundreds of people, three Mariachi bands wandering through the crowd and tables of food everywhere.
“Yea, a small supper,” said Danny.
Davy and Danny pulled Pedro to the side. “Pedro, what is all this?” asked Danny. “Didn’t I tell each of your men we expected nothing?”
“Si Padre Danny, and I promise you that outside of these people your names will never be mentioned, but inside our group, you two are saints.”
Danny leaned over and whispered into Davy’s ear. “I guess, Saint Davy, we may as well enjoy it.”
“Do we have a choice?” whispered Davy.
Pedro guided the two through the sea of smiling faces and outstretched hands every one wanting to greet them and say thank you. There were tears, smiles and laughter. Repeatedly, the two ministers looked at each other. They couldn’t believe the outpouring. Eventually, Pedro inched the two to seats at the center of a long table and motioned for them to be seated.
For the next half hour, food of every description was placed in front of them. The two were overwhelmed. Then, seemingly from an unheard signal, the bands stopped playing and everyone became silent. A small Latino man with a thick moustache stood and held his glass up to Davy and Danny. He spoke in Spanish, so Davy interpreted for Danny.
“Gentlemen, Padres, tonight we say thank you and bless you. The people who sit before you cannot tell you of their appreciation for what you have done. We, those of us before you, have much in common. We came to this strange place, with its strange language for one reason, to give the families we love a better life. We took the jobs your people did not want because even though they may have been below your people, the jobs meant the money to buy things for our people. We were spit on, we were disrespected we were hated, but it did not matter because it was a small price to pay to give our families a better life.”
Once more, the man lifted his glass to the two, then continued. “Then one day, God sent two men our way. Two men who did not despise us for what we are, but respected us as fellow human beings. They gave us much then quietly went on their way. They gave us a miracle and asked we tell no one. What kind of men are these? We do not know, but we do know they are truly gifts from God. Please accept this evening and these gifts from a truly grateful people.”
The man again stood and lifted his glass. Davy and Danny followed his lead, but a lead made difficult by the tears that were blinding their eyes.
One of the mariachi bands began playing a soft, but reverent tune. Pedro stood beside them. “There is one more thing,” he said.
“Thank you, Pedro, but I couldn’t eat another thing,” grinned Davy.
“Me neither,” said Danny. “This night has been–“
”No, this is not food, would you come with us?”
Two young ladies stepped up behind Davy and Danny and placed blindfolds on their eyes and gently tied them behind their heads. Neither man knew what to say, and only smiled.
Pastor Davy an Father Danny were taken by the hand and led a short distance. Unseen by them, the hundreds of people present that night followed silently. In time, everyone stopped and Pedro asked, “Are you ready?”
The two had no idea what Pedro was talking about but smiled and said “Yes.”
When their blindfolds were lifted, they stood in the door of a small but gloriously decorated church. Candlelight flooded the sanctuary. In front of them was a beautifully carved sign, “Saint David and Saint Daniel Baptist Episcopal Church”. In the front was an altar with a small sign “Padre Danny” and to the right was an ornately carved pulpit with a simple “Pastor Davy” sign attached. Pedro looked at the two and said, “Padres, this church is yours with our gratitude.”
Danny uttered an almost Jewish “oy” and Davy fell backwards into a pew. Neither had the least concept of what to say. The cheers of the crowd filled the church and once again the people filed past them shaking hands and kissing their cheeks.
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