—an excerpt—
Mary is certain, from the moment Delilah walks in, that she must win the new hire’s soul for Jesus.
She is relieved to find a new purpose here at the thrift store. Mary is nineteen, and the job is a placeholder until the rest of her life begins, but she doesn’t know when that will be. Doesn’t know what that will be. Mom wants her to go to bible college, but it’s a five hour drive away. Dad says she’s too young, it’s too far for her to be from home. He doesn’t say that she can get married without leaving town, and for a lot cheaper. But he hasn’t flat out said no yet, so maybe Mary is going to college.
Meanwhile, she’s working at the thrift store for Mr. Miller- Clint, he keeps telling her to call him Clint- who goes to their church. Mary’s dad asked Clint to hire her. Mary was informed. She showed up.
She doesn’t hate it here, she’s used to hard work. Clint ducks in and out of the store, overwhelmed, thinning hair askew, his shirt always wrinkled. Distracted as he is, he always makes time to greet Mary, and he’s a good Christian man. It’s safe here. Familiar. It’s just the wondering, what will come next, and when, that makes her skin too tight, like it’s time to tear it off and emerge pink and stinging and new.
When Delilah walks in, the itching soothes away, replaced by sweet purpose. Here is a thing she can do. She can introduce this young, troubled woman to the Lord. Can save her.
Clint told Mary that Delilah would be starting today, and that he wanted Mary to train her. She’s never trained anyone new before, but he said he knew he could trust her with this job. And now, seeing Delilah, Mary understands why Clint had looked so earnestly at her when he gave her the task.
Delilah is what Mary’s dad would call worldly. Which is to say, unsaved. Everything Mary has been protected from. Delilah’s clothes, skinny jeans and a tshirt for a band Mary has never heard of, smell of cigarette smoke. Her eyes are rimmed with dark makeup, there’s a flash of silver in her lip, and her hair is a washed-out blue.
At youth group, Pastor Dave has given them tips on how to save souls. “Watch for the hurt in the person’s life,” he told them. “If they ain’t right with Jesus, it’s there. And that’s your in. You find where their life is falling apart, and you let them know there’s a better way. And they’ll come running.”
So Mary knows what to do even though she’s never done it before, and she understands now why she’s been waiting around, pricing and hanging stained shirts for a year.
