They Called Me Delilah

They called me Delilah.

It was late afternoon on a warm Wednesday in September when the two head pastors of the last church I’ll ever be part of scheduled back to back massage appointments with my partner to corner him and force a conversation. Alone. Without me present. First the man (husband) had his massage, then the woman (the wife). I call her Luella.

Partner and I both anticipated this but the level of deceit still caught me off guard. Luella had no idea he recorded this conversation and played it for me.

I recognized her voice but not the way she spoke.

“Son, you know I love you, right?” she said in a seemingly gentle tone.