Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Jean Skirt: Tales of Block E, #3
    Jean Skirt: Tales of Block E, #3
    Jean Skirt: Tales of Block E, #3
    Ebook74 pages1 hour

    Jean Skirt: Tales of Block E, #3

    By William E Burleson

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Sister Sarah is a damaged young woman who is sure Brother Jed has the answers. Every evening he stands on a box on the worst corner in town bringing the Good Word to all the lost people walking by, while she and her fellow sisters hand out pamphlets. Sister Sarah has found a safe community to which to belong; she believes in what she is doing, and she likes her fellow sisters. But when she witnesses a tragedy, it’s too much for her to fit into her neat little worldview. She must know more, and the more she knows, the more she needs to do something to help. In the end, that help may cause Sister Sarah—and the people of Block E—more harm than it does good.

    It’s 1979 on Block E, a woebegone Times Square-type district filled with characters of all stripes—hookers and the homeless, addicts and drug dealers. But the streets also belong to the hopeful—the many people wanting so much more. These are the Tales of Block E, three stories of people in a place and a time long gone but not forgotten.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilliam E Burleson
    Release dateJan 1, 2018
    ISBN9781386386896
    Jean Skirt: Tales of Block E, #3

    Read more from William E Burleson

    Related to Jean Skirt

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Short Stories For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      First Laugh

      Aug 17, 2017

      First Laugh
      17 min read

    • Article

      When Bubba Met God

      Sep 25, 2018

      When Bubba Met God
      5 min read

    • Article

      One Percent

      Jul 26, 2023

      One Percent
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Love That Forgives

      Jul 25, 2023

      A Love That Forgives
      7 min read

    • Article

      Final Determination

      May 10, 2023

      Living people get a lot wrong about the After Life. It isn’t binary Heaven or Hell but a spectrum where most people end up somewhere better than their Earthly life. There’s also a state of Abeyance where you stay if you have unfinished business. For

      12 min read

    • Article

      FALLING FOR love

      Nov 9, 2022

      FALLING FOR love
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      May 19, 2023

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Truth Be Told

      Mar 26, 2022

      Truth Be Told
      5 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Nov 19, 2021

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      8 min read

    • Article

      I Never

      Jul 10, 2022

      “What’d you do now?” he hollered. Sheriff Thorn’s words struck my heart. Without thinking, I grasped the knife to pull it from her chest. “Shit, you crazy coot, drop it,” he snarled, then grabbed me up and slammed me against the side of the cruiser.

      13 min read

    • Article

      Wild At Heart

      Aug 15, 2019

      Wild At Heart
      7 min read

    • Article

      Testify Jesus Is Alive!

      Oct 2, 2020

      Does it sometimes seem like there are a thousand voices in the world, all screaming for your attention? Loud voices cry out in outrage at the terrible things happening in the world at any moment. We have more access to information than any other peop

      4 min read

    • Article

      Why Hope Restores in Every Situation

      Jan 1, 2021

      Every one of us goes through dark valleys and troubled times. But in Christ Jesus we have hope. And hope restores in every situation—no matter how dark it may seem. To say the last year has been challenging would be an understatement for most of the

      4 min read

    • Article

      The After

      Jun 10, 2023

      He is sitting opposite me, staring blankly like a dead fish. Stone eyes. Cobalt and lifeless. Pale gray skin, dripping scales. I imagine him hauled out of the water and dumped on the riverbank, gasping for breath. Just as he deserves. I only agreed t

      13 min read

    • Article

      Angel’s Epiphany

      Jul 21, 2020

      WHEN OUR SESSION BEGINS, even through our computer screens I can see Angel’s excitement. She’s grinning, anxious to get through the therapeutic preliminaries. “I’ve had an epiphany!” she announces. The religious cast of the word gives me pause. A mon

      2 min read

    • Article

      Blinded By Gunfire, Healed By Jesus

      Sep 23, 2022

      Through the eyewitness testimonies we find in the Bible – written by people who lived and travelled with Jesus – we see exactly who Jesus is. Not who He was – but who He is! He hasn’t changed at all. His interaction with us is just the same as it was

      3 min read

    • Article

      Friends, Once

      Aug 25, 2020

      Friends, Once
      6 min read

    • Article

      Afraid of Living

      Sep 10, 2021

      Afraid of Living
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Multiplication Has Begun!

      Nov 27, 2020

      The final stage of CfaN’s Evangelism Bootcamp this year was the graduates’ Initiation Trip to Tanzania, where they spent a minimum of 3 weeks in constant ministry, doing outreaches in every possible location. They also joined in the efforts of our ca

      3 min read

    • Article

      Heroes

      Nov 10, 2023

      When we hear the first shots, we are standing in the living room of Fallingwater, the Frank-Lloyd-Wright-designed home in Pennsylvania, listening to our guide’s description of the furniture. My husband and I wonder aloud about who would set off firew

      11 min read

    • Article

      To the Rescue

      May 26, 2023

      To the Rescue
      6 min read

    • Article

      Music To My Ears

      Sep 3, 2019

      Music To My Ears
      3 min read

    • Article

      To the Rescue

      May 26, 2023

      To the Rescue
      6 min read

    • Article

      Tell No One

      Aug 27, 2019

      Tell No One
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Way She Was

      Nov 17, 2023

      The Way She Was
      15 min read

    • Article

      Swisher Sweets

      May 1, 2022

      Swisher Sweets
      17 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Jean Skirt

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Jean Skirt - William E Burleson

      ONE

      WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD?"

      I held out a pamphlet, and the teenager in platform shoes bumped past my hand as if I were not even there. It is not that people who ignore us cannot see us, Brother Jed says, but that they are blinded by the devil. Their ignoring us gives us all the more reason to be out there on the corner where the devil does his work.

      Excuse me, ma’am, would you like to hear the Word of the Lord? I handed the woman a pamphlet. She said nothing, but at least she took it. She struggled with a toddler—a little boy with a big afro—who wanted to go the other direction. She dragged him wailing down the sidewalk.

      Brother Jed stood on his stool, pleading with passersby to stop and hear the Good Word. I would like to have stood and listened because I never tired of Brother Jed’s preaching, but my three sisters and I had to do our part as well.

      A dirty man with long hair, in jeans and a sweat shirt with holes in the elbows, turned the corner, walking away down Seventh Street. Jed told us not to chase people, but I hurried anyway and caught him and held out a pamphlet. Have you heard the Word of the Lord? He looked sick but smiled just a bit and kept stumbling along in the direction of the Venice Café. I had seen him many times, and it was always the same. I thought, someday, someday soon, I am going to reach that man.

      A man in a green leisure suit came out of the Venice, stumbling badly. He nearly bumped into the dirty man. The Venice man seemed confused, but weirdly happy, too. He slowly turned in circles, looking up. Two young men said something to him, laughed, and walked on.  The World Theater door opened, and a line of people flooded out, chatting and laughing, surrounding the leisure suit man, who seemed confused or maybe even panicky. He turned away and walked into the alley.

      So many lost souls. Standing on that corner most nights had made me painfully aware of the damage the devil can do, and this man was especially damaged.

      I continued to spread the Good News, but I could not stop thinking about the man in the leisure suit. He had looked like he needed help—not only spiritual help but also physical help right then. I had a duty to perform on the corner for our church and Brother Jed, but was it not also important to be of service, just as Jesus was to the downtrodden?

      I went down the street to just before the Venice Café. At the alley, I peered in. It was very dark, but I could see someone lying on the pavement, face up, arms out like Jesus on the cross. Sir? I said, carefully approaching. No one else was around that I could see, but I felt frightened. I knelt down next to him. His eyes were open but, I thought, not seeing. I touched his shoulder. Sir? Are you okay? He looked past me as if looking straight to heaven. He mumbled something. I leaned closer. What did you say?

      Forgive me.

      I began to cry and sat down on the damp pavement. I lifted his head into my lap and put my hand on his forehead. Jesus forgives you. Jesus forgives us all.

      He looked at me. My head shaded him from the light above. You are so beautiful, he said.

      *

      Brother Jed, I tried to save him. I really did. I wiped my nose with a tissue. The poor man. He just lay there, staring up at me. He had this peaceful smile.

      We sat on the stage of the tabernacle on metal folding chairs, Sisters Olive, Mary, and Elizabeth at my side with Brother Jed in front of me, knees almost touching. Sister Mary got up and walked quietly away.

      Did you pray for him? Brother Jed asked.

      Oh, yes! Yes! I leaned forward and grabbed his hand. I needed to hold his hand. I prayed as hard as I could. Believe me, Brother Jed. Do you believe me?

      Of course, Sister Sarah. Of course, I believe you. You did everything you could. Jesus must have wanted him home.

      My tears kept coming. I understand, Brother Jed. I do. As I held Mr. Finnegan—

      Mr. Finnegan?

      The police call him Mr. Finnegan. I blew my nose with a honk, something Grams used to say not to do. As I held Mr. Finnegan and prayed, he closed his eyes and was gone. Just like that. It must have been Jesus’s will, I understand. But the poor man. Dying in a dirty, smelly alley.

      Now Sister Sarah—

      I blew my nose again, only more discreetly. You should have seen him, Brother Jed. You should have seen him. Sister Mary came back just as quietly as she had left, putting a mug of hot chocolate in my free hand before sitting back down.

      Brother Jed caressed the back of my

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1