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to greet Deb.  All kinds of people – old, chubby men;  beautiful girls; young men; long-hairs, Orientals, Indians, Mexicans – even people who were obviously quite well to do.  It was amazing to Tasha that the rich were sitting among the poor, Chinese among Chicanos.  And they all greeted Tasha with smiles and warm hugs (despite her obvious chilliness), and they said the oddest things to her, offering her the blessings of God.  It was clear that they wanted to welcome her.
         It was the strangest menagerie of people Tasha had ever seen in her life.  She was absolutely sure these weird people were all insane!  Gary watched Tasha’s introduction to the church with ill-concealed mirth.  It was hilarious to watch her reactions.  She was growing more incredulous by the minute.
         A young man with long hair, wearing slacks and a knit sport shirt went to the podium, and smiled at the people before him.  “G’morning.” he said brightly.  He tossed his straight, black bangs away from his eyes, and opened a song book.  Tasha rolled her eyes and thought she’d die from the boredom of it.
         She wasn’t bored for very long.  She had never heard such singing, in all her life.  There was something almost intimidating about it.  It was like there was an underlying tide of some kind of strong force, pulling her along.  It was becoming frightening.  She wasn’t used to intensity in others. 
         Even Debora was different, here.  As she sang, she began to look somehow transformed, in Tasha’s eyes.  Her soft, peachy skin was glowing, her eyes were closed.  She looked simply blissful.  Tasha had never known Deb could sing, but her voice was lovely. 
         Tasha looked around her cautiously.  At last, her eyes fell on Gary.  He was standing behind the piano, facing her.  Singing like the rest of them, deep into it, like the rest of them.  She watched his lips as he sang, but couldn’t figure out what he was singing ... it didn’t seem to be what everyone else was singing.  A curious feeling invaded her breast as she realized that Gary was taking it all very seriously.  She thought he was praying!
         “ My God.”  she mumbled.  “Is this for real?”
         They sang song after song; not just hymns, but songs that were strong and determined, jubilant and powerful.  Tasha hadn’t heard any of them before.  Finally, the church erupted into a familiar hymn, and sang that with even more gusto than the songs that had gone before.
         As they went on, excitement seemed to build, until the roof threatened to burst.  Voices rose to a great, thundering crescendo, and then burst into shouts and applause; a mighty wall of sound.
         Tasha blinked, and looked around her frantically.  She began to realize that everyone was singing, but each their own song.  Debora, next to her, was simply singing without words, letting her soft voice blend in harmony with everyone else's.  
          And it was, strangely, very harmonious.  It was amazing that so many voices could blend to make a song so complete and unified.  It was scary as hell.
         Her eyes wandered back to the podium; and she found that Gary was standing with his eyes closed, but not singing.  It’s like he was drinking in the music with every pore, just listening and drawing. 
         As the overall sound softened and gentled, it became almost a whisper, and Tasha saw Gary’s face relax.  He almost smiled, as if in relief, and began to sing softly.  Tasha couldn’t hear him, to make any of it out.  She became more intrigued with every passing moment.
         The excitement flared again spontaneously, and the voices raised almost to a shout.  The musicians followed in a free form, but their song was wild, and so beautiful that it caused Tasha’s heart to pound strangely.
         Just when she thought the flow of music would overpower her, it dropped to a whisper and went to