Cecily leaned back and gave me a gangsta look — at least as much of a gangsta look as she could wearing those red, diamond-studded glasses. “Who says she should say something to her husband?”

I didn’t even have a comeback for her because I couldn’t make sense out of her nonsense. This woman had just received photos and she wasn’t supposed to say anything?

It must have been the look on my face that made Sonya take over. “Rena, sweetheart, I know these pictures are painful.”

“Yes, they are,” one of the First Ladies shouted out.

Sonya continued, “Only you can decide what you want to do. Only you know your heart and you have to follow that.”

Rena nodded and a tear dripped onto her hand.

“I know you,” Sonya kept on. “You're not going to be able to be comfortable keeping this secret.”

“That’s exactly what she needs to do,” Cecily said and her Amen chorus joined her, singing the same tune.

I wanted to ask Cecily why did she want Rena to not say anything? So that she could be the one to tell the world?

Sonya held up her hand and that stopped all the chatter. The First Ladies Council was loose when it came to officers; we all just jumped in and participated in the programs. But if there had been a president, it would have been Sonya.

When the room was completely silent again, Sonya said, “So, you're going to have to confront Reverend Bradley and you two decide where you go from here."

Cecily nodded. "And when you’re deciding, you need to remember that what God has brought together let no man put asunder."

“Amen!”

First Lady Sonya turned back to Rena. "A true marriage is tested and this is a test that, when you and Reverend come through it, you'll have your testimony."

“Amen,” they all seemed to say this time.

My eyes darted from one woman to another. “Come through it? So what you’re saying is that whether her husband is having an affair with a boy...or a man...you’re all advocating that she stay with him?"

Cecily looked at me like I was some pitiful newbie who didn’t possess a single clue. "Sweetheart," Cecily said in a tone as if she were talking to one of my children. “For most of us in this room, our calling is greater than our marriages."

“That’s right,” someone shouted out.

“And so the call on our lives means that our vows aren’t sacred?”

Cecily waved her hand. “Our calling is greater than all of that. You just don’t understand.”

I folded my arms. “Then explain it to me.”

“All right.” Cecily took a step closer to me. “Let me break it down for you like you’re a two year old.”

My eyes narrowed and I felt the blood draining from my lips with as hard as I pressed them together. My mind went back to my middle school bully.

But Sonya stepped between us before Cecily could say another word. “No, Cecily, I’ll explain.” Facing me, Sonya said, “There is a lot to be considered.”