I hope you all enjoy this next update.

Happy Reading!

Chapter Three

I'd been with the Jacksons for three days now, and one thing was crystal clear.

Jazmine and Cairo were not on the same wavelength.

At all.

"I thought we agreed you would come?" Jazmine slammed her fork down, her tone anything but pleasant despite the big, bright smile on her face. "The community was looking forward to seeing you in action today. They've been talking about it for weeks, Cairo."

"The community, or you?" Cairo smiled back at her, shutting her down with a passive aggressive tone. "You know how the congregation gets around this time of year. Things are always hectic, and they need my support."

"Well I'm sure if you tell them you need to support your wife for once, they'd understand." Jazmine gave him another chipper fake smile. It was so convincing, I was almost fooled by it. "Who knows, maybe some of them would even be interested in giving it a try?"

Caesar scoffed, shaking his head.

"In that nasty, vegan stuff you eat?" He glared. "Negative. You people eat like rabbits."

"It's really not as nasty as you think." I shrugged, pointing at his plate. "That mac and cheese you're eating, for instance, is vegan."

Cairo's eyes widened. "It is?"

"Yes." Jazmine frowned. "It is. That's why it's so light on your stomach. It's not real dairy."

"And this…" Cairo pointed at it, truly perplexed by what she was saying. "Is good for you."

"It's a healthier alternative." She shrugged. "Everything should be taken in moderation."

"You can never just say yes or no can you, woman?" He glared, the act of the good reverend fading quickly. "I can never get a straight answer out of you!"

Not that they could help it.

I was using my powers to instigate for the greater good.

And gooddddd bless, it was entertaining as heaven.

The most fun I'd had in years.

Literally.

"You're always doing this!" Jazmine hopped to her feet, pointing a finger at him. "You are always putting me down, putting everything I work for down!"

"I just don't know what you want!" Cairo shook his hands over his head, shouting back at her. "You're always running a mile a minute, and it's hard, Jazmine! It is so hard to understand you, and I'm trying! I am trying and you won't let me in! No matter what I say, what I do, or what I offer, it doesn't matter because you don't seem to care! And if you don't, why should I?!"

The room grew uncomfortably quiet for a moment with both of them staring at each other, cheeks flushed, chests heaving, and eyes wide from what he'd just said.

"Well I guess that it's then." Jazmine's voice trembled. "I guess I'm difficult and impossible to be with because I want my husband to see me in my element for a change. Just this once."

Cairo just shrugged his shoulders, immune to her waterworks.

"Have Huey go with you then." He shrugged. "Because I have something more important to do."

Jazmine blinked back tears, her eyes wandering to where I was sitting, still eating my food like I didn't notice them.

"Excuse me." She frowned at me, heading up the stairs. "I'll only be a moment and then we can go."

I nodded, trying to ignore the guilty feeling spreading through my bones.

"Take care of her, Huey." Cairo nodded, snatching his coat before rushing out the door. "I'll be home this evening."

No sooner had the door slammed shut, I heard it.

Loud and lovin' clear.

PING!

"We cannot use humans for our own entertainment, dearest angel."

The angel said, appearing in their living room out of nowhere."They could've had a more civilized conversation. We want our humans to experience harmonious relationships filled with love.""Then, why did you make this world and stick us on it?" I glared at her. "Seems a bit backwards to me."

"God created a wonderful, lovely planet." The angel responded. "It is man who destroyed it, man who wanted the choice to love and to choose between right and wrong. With that choice, they began to destroy it, to go along with capitalistic greed, murder, rape."

"So you acknowledge that these systems are wrong but do nothing to stop them." I nodded. "Interesting."

"Not anymore interesting than you enforcing your angelic powers for drama, dearest angel." The angel smiled, watching as her words washed over me, bringing my mood down.

Was that really what I'd done?

Used my heavenly powers to oppress the human race?

"Well…" The angel smiled brightly. "I'll leave you to it, then."

I heard Jazmine rush down from the tops of the steps.

And then, faster than I could turn my head, the angel and her light were gone.

"We really do have to go now if you're coming along." Jazmine nodded, her eyes slightly puffed, and her nose a bit red. "It's completely up to you. No pressure."

But I was curious to see where she worked, what she'd been up to.

So I stood to my feet, nodding.

"Let's go."

I was amazed at the quality of Jazmine's center in Chicago.

She'd purchased a small business building on the south side, spacious enough to hold about a hundred people, and the building was packed with people smiling from ear to ear.

Central Living wasn't just a health brand.

It was a lifestyle, a family.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Jacksonnnnnn! Heeeeeee!" A few men chorused out as soon as she walked in, causing the whole building to laugh aloud. "I ammmm for reeaalllll. Never meant to make yo daughter cry, I apologize a billion timesssss."

Jazmine laughed as well, removing her coat.

"Merry Christmas, guys." She motioned to me, hugging one of them gently. "Lenny, Xavier, Kenneth, this is Huey, a guest of my husband's who's also vegan. He'll be joining us on today, so make him feel welcome."

"You know we got you, girl!" One of the men grinned, extending his hand towards me. "I'm Xavier. Pleasure to meet you, brotha. Good to see another man taking the steps towards proper health, ya dig?"

I raised a brow but nodded, impressed with the options I was seeing.

Jazmine had information plastered on the walls about portion control, diets for individuals who already had blood pressure issues, diabetes, struggles with insulin resistance, and even women who suffered from hormonal imbalances.

There was a food kitchen in the back with a variety of expensive options someone wouldn't find at other food banks. There were even options for individuals who ate meat and had no desire to become vegan.

It was brilliant.

"Jazmine's been a huge help since she started five years ago." The other man, Kenneth nodded. "She's been through the ringer keeping it afloat. A lotta people doubted her, didn't think she had what it took to make this work for a year. Especially after the break-ins."

"Break-ins?" I rose a brow.

"Several." He nodded. "But word got out that she was good people, genuinely tryna give back, make some real change. She even partnered with some of the local officials to get us some tax benefits, free health coverage for attending classes at least once every two months."

Kenneth grinned, motioning to the crowd of men, women, and children chatting amongst one another.

"It ain't take long for us to adopt her as our little cousin." He smirked. "And let's just say…people know who to play with around here."

I liked the sound of that.

"Seems like you're just as passionate about this as she is." I smiled, trying to get used to how awkward it felt. "It's good to see something like this flourishing."

"Yeah." Kenneth nodded. "When you got the kids involved, you know you're onto something big."

"All male kids?" I shook my head, snorting. "You know they didn't come here to learn about health."

As if on cue, a few teenaged girls popped out of the back with Jazmine, grinning at her.

"Oh trust." Kenneth chuckled. "They definitely have their motives, but they stay because it's fun. Plus, Jazmine shows folks how to cook like we're at those fancy Korean restaurants."

He'd lost me there.

I just looked at him, confused.

"It's kinda like the Melting Pot." Lenny jumped in. "Mrs. Jackson brings out these burners and hosts a cooking class for a healthy dish or alternative comfort food. We get a vote, and she grabs what we need. Then we cook it."

I looked around, noticing a few young couples in their twenties, a few families, even older senior citizens.

All of them looked genuinely excited.

And now, so was I.

"Okay." Jazmine grinned, clapping her hands together. "Thank you so much for coming out right before the holidays! I know you all have a lot to do with your families and are busy with other things, so to see you here today means a lot to me, really!"

"Girl, you know we were coming!" A woman yelled, cupping her hand over her mouth.

Everyone laughed.

"Well regardless…." Jazmine smiled. "Thank you."

She grabbed an apron, rolling a huge cart to the center of the floor.

"Now I know I told you guys my husband would be here…." She trailed off, her hands wrenched tight together despite her bright smile. "But he had another engagement."

"Awwwwwwww…." The crowd pouted, with the exception of a couple of teenage boys and men, who smirked at each other, nodding like they had a chance.

And judging from what I'd seen, the grown ones just might.

"I need a volunteer to come and execute with me." Jazmine smiled sweetly, staring them down. "Anyone down?"

They all looked away, feet shuffling.

PING!

"Awwwww c'mon guys!" Jazmine chuckled. "Don't be shy!"

PING!

"I'll let you take extra home." Jazmine nodded. "And you'll get to see me make several options at once. You can take the meat product version to someone else in need. No biggie."

PING, PING, PINGGGGGG!

"I'll do it." I said, walking quickly to where she was standing so the blessed pinging could stop already.

"Thank you, Huey." She smiled, handing me an apron. "The rest of you can get into your groups and stand near your burners. I'll come around in a minute to double-check your supplies and then we can get started. If you haven't signed in with our volunteers at the front, make sure you have so they can send your gift in the mail, including free electricity for the next three months."

A large group of people gasped and dropped what they were doing instantly, heading to the front.

"Oh, you're good." I smirked, shaking my head at her.

"What?" She grinned innocently, her lip curling upwards. "Just a friendly reminder."

"Uh-huh." I chuckled. "Sure."

"Incentives keep them coming back." She shrugged, lowering her voice. "Besides, I'd rather them have access to it if they need it throughout the winter months. They can put that money aside for other things. Healthy habits are very expensive, and it's not easy to keep it up. Whatever I can do to help is worth every trick in the book."

"I don't disagree." I found myself smiling again, shaking my head as I glanced at the things on the cart. "Do you do this every year?"

"I started a couple years back." She nodded. "Before that, I was struggling to stay afloat, and since my husband doesn't know that, I'd rather it stay between us."

"Of course." I said, picking up some walnuts that had clearly been soaked in water, along with some mushrooms. "Are they…making vegan spaghetti?"

"Close." She laughed. "They voted on cheesy crotini, lasagna soup, and my world famous vegan black bean brownies."

My stomach grumbled immediately as I remembered tasting them before, right before things had gotten all messed up.

"That." I smiled. "Is something worth volunteering for."

"Thank you." She smiled, patting my arm good naturedly. "I'm gonna make my rounds. Be right back."

I watched her interact with everyone in the room, unable to take my eyes off her.

Despite knowing this was genuinely who she was, I was proud of her.

Jazmine was doing something amazing for her community.

And just looking at her, I could tell she didn't know how massive of an accomplishment this was.

Her connection to the community, to its people in my hometown, was something that made it feel worth it.

When I'd arrived back on Earth, I'd wondered if I'd ever truly made a difference.

But now, looking at her, I could see very clearly that I had.

And honestly?

I loved it.