Praise Him Anyhow - Volume 1

by Vanessa Miller

  “I hope this guy you’re moving in with understands that you and I are going to be business partners, and that we will need to stay in touch with each other.”

  “Oh, he knows. And believe me, he understands about business, so he won’t get in our way.”

  It seemed strange to Joy that she and Jasmine never said her boyfriend’s name. The one time that Joy had demanded that Jasmine tell her who she was going out with, just in case the guy was a serial killer or something, Jasmine had claimed that his name was Charles Riley. But Joy didn’t believe that. The name had sounded fake to her, and anyway, if his name were Charles, Jasmine would have referred to it every once in a while. But she had kept him strictly in the second-person category. The lawyer in Joy understood that Jasmine was trying not to slip up and say something she wasn’t supposed to, but what?

  After they'd packed all of Jasmine’s bedroom furniture in the U-Haul truck, Jasmine jumped behind the wheel and Joy got in on the passenger’s side. As they drove down the highway toward Jasmine’s new home, Joy said, “Troy and I would like to take you and your man out to dinner next week. Do you think he would be willing to go somewhere with your friends?”

  “You act like I’m moving in with Shrek. I promise you, Joy, my man is not an ogre.”

  “That’s good to know, girl. I just want you to be happy,” Joy said, and then leaned back in her seat.

  “I am,” Jasmine said. She exited off the highway. “He makes me so happy… I honestly can’t believe that he chose me. I really think you’ll be happy for us once you see how good we are together.”

  Joy hoped that Jasmine was right. She had worried about her friend getting too wrapped up in a guy who wouldn’t even pick her up for dates, but made Jasmine meet him, as if he were too busy to drive a few blocks out of his way. Joy wouldn’t have been able to put up with a man like that. She thanked God every day that her fiancé, Troy, was just like her father: considerate, responsible and loving.

  “We’re here.” Jasmine pulled the U-Haul truck into the driveway of a spacious two-story home.

  Joy’s eyes widened as she looked at the house. From the looks of the outer structure, Joy figured the house had to be at least four thousand square feet. “Are you sharing this place with another couple or something?”

  Jasmine laughed. She then shook her head. “No, he likes to entertain, so we needed enough room to be able to host parties.”

  “You sound like my mother. She’s always hosting one party or another for my dad. You need to go take some cooking lessons from her so you can really do your parties up right,” Joy suggested.

  “Girl, please, I don’t plan to do any cooking. That’s what caterers are for,” Jasmine opened the truck door and got out. Joy opened her door and followed Jasmine into the house.

  Standing in the foyer, Joy was once again struck by the expansiveness of the house. The white marble floors, spiral staircase and the upstairs balcony that overlooked the foyer—all gave the house a feel of importance, as if someone with stature and influence lived there. “How can your guy afford to rent a house like this?” She knew it was rude to ask, but the question was out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

  “Girl, just help me get those boxes out of the truck and stop being so nosey,” Jasmine said with a good-natured grin on her face.

  “I just can’t believe this place, Jasmine. Troy and I sure can’t afford anything like this.”

  They headed back out to the truck. “Once the two of you put your money together," Jasmine said, "I’m sure you’ll be able to afford something nice, so don’t sweat it, Joy.”

  “Please. After we get married, we’ll probably spend the next five to ten years paying off our student loans. After that, we’ll be able to start saving for a house like this.”

  Jasmine pulled a box out of the back of the truck. “I’m trying not to think about my student loans. At least your parents paid most of your tuition. But what I didn’t get in financial aid, I had to cover in student loans.”

  Joy grabbed a box, and as they walked back to the house, she said, “Yeah, just when I started feeling grateful about not having so much debt to pay back after college, I met Troy and it seems like his middle name is debt.”

  “See, if you would have listened to me, you would have hooked up with an older guy who'd already paid off his debt. That way he would be able to take care of you in style.”

  They set the boxes down in the foyer and as they turned to go get more, Joy said, “I’m happy with Troy. Besides, my father had a lot of school debt when he married my mom, but they worked together and paid everything off. They’re living pretty well now.”

  Jasmine didn’t respond. She grabbed the next box and took it into the house. They followed that same process until all the boxes were unloaded.

  Exhausted, they sat down on the floor next to the boxes. Joy said, “I don’t think I want to be your friend anymore.”

  “I understand. I’m so tired; I don’t want to move from this spot.”

  The two women sat on the floor, exhausted and breathing hard for a few minutes, and then Jasmine said, “You’re right, he should have helped me move this stuff. But don’t worry; I’m going to make him pay for our labor.”

  “Now you’re talking like the Jasmine I know.” Joy rubbed her hands together in sweet anticipation. “I wish I could be a fly on the wall when he gets what’s coming to him.”

  Jasmine stood up. She held out her hand to help Joy up. “Come on,” Jasmine said. “Let’s order a pizza and watch Lifetime. I’ll get my mystery man to take you home when he gets here.”

  “That’s the least he can do,” Joy said, as she stood up and headed toward the family room with Jasmine.

  After Jasmine called the pizza in, they sat down and started watching a stalker movie on Lifetime. Halfway through it, the doorbell rang. Jasmine and Joy looked at each other; neither wanted to move now that they had found a comfortable spot on the sofa.

  Jasmine finally got up. “All right,” she said. “It’s my house, so I’ve got to start doing the work around here.”

  When Jasmine came back with the pizza, Joy grabbed a slice and then leaned back against the sofa again. She took a bite. “This is good.”

  Jasmine savored the ham, sausage, pepperoni and cheese. She swallowed and agreed, “Sure is. It tastes just like that three-meat pizza we used to order during freshman year.”

  “You mean it tastes like the three-meat pizza I used to order. And you and our other roommate used to beg me for a slice.”

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Joy wanted to take them back. Jasmine hated when anyone referred to how impoverished she had been during their first few years of college. Things were going pretty well for her now, so Joy thought she had gotten over her issues with growing up in a single-parent household, with food stamps and government cheese. But the look of embarrassment that she saw in her friend's eyes made Joy want to put the pizza down and eat her words instead.

  “I’m sorry, Jasmine; I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Jasmine waved off Joy’s apology. “Stephanie and I made our way through college on scholarships, financial aid, and work programs that helped pay for those expensive books. We didn’t always have extra money for pizza.”

  Joy grabbed another slice and lifted it in the air in a toast, and then said, “But you do now.”

  “Oh, I intend to have a lot more than pizza money, believe that,” Jasmine said with a self-assured grin on her face.

  “I have no doubt. I’ve always believed that you would succeed. I certainly wouldn’t be thinking about starting a law firm with someone I thought didn’t know what they were doing.”

  “I forgot to get something to drink. We have lemonade and iced tea in the fridge.”

  “I’ll take the lemonade.”

  Jasmine stood. “I’ll be right back. Do you need anything else?”

  “A pillow. I’m about to crash.” Joy pulled out her cell phone. “I’m going to h
ave Troy come pick me up. Your man is taking too long.”

  “Suit yourself, but he should be here any minute.” As if on cue, the doorbell rang. “Can you get that for me, Joy? I’m going to go get our drinks.”

  “Sure,” Joy said. She got up and headed toward the front door. Before she could get to it, the doorbell rang again, and then the person on the outside started pounding on the door. Joy was walking as fast as she could, so whoever was so anxious would have to wait. She was too tired to move any faster.

  By the time she got to the door, the doorbell rang for the third time. Joy was tempted to stand there a little longer and let the person on the other side of the door suffer a while longer. But when she looked through the peephole and saw her father, she immediately swung the door open.

  As Nelson Marshall stepped into the house, he said, “I lost my key again.”

  Joy didn’t hear him because as he was talking, she asked, “What are you doing here, Dad? Did Mom send you after me or something?”

  Nelson swung around to face his daughter. His eyes widened. He stuttered, “Wh-what are y-you doing h-here?”

  “I’m helping Jasmine move into her new house,” Joy told her father. Then with a look of confusion on her face, she asked, “If you didn’t know I was here, why did you come to Jasmine’s house?”

  Before Nelson could respond, Jasmine walked into the room carrying two glasses of lemonade. She handed one to Joy and then walked over to Nelson, kissed him, and then handed him the other glass. “You’re late. What took you so long to get home?”

  Nelson stepped back and turned toward his daughter. “I-I can explain.”

  But Joy was figuring things out all on her own. Jasmine’s mystery man was her father, and the two of them had been sneaking around for over a year. “The person you need to explain something to is my mother,” Joy declared, storming into the family room and grabbing her purse.

  This was too much for Joy. Her father wasn’t a cheater. He was a good man who went to work every day and attended church on Sundays with his family. But as she walked back into the entryway and saw the smirk on Jasmine’s face, Joy began to believe what her eyes were telling her.

  “You did this on purpose,” Joy accused Jasmine. “You wanted me to know that my father was cheating on my mother.”

  Jasmine put her arm around Nelson and said, “It’s time you knew the truth.”

  Nelson stepped away from Jasmine again. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell her, Jasmine. You had no right bringing Joy here without letting me know.”

  Tearfully, Joy said, “What are you doing, Dad? This is going to break Mother’s heart.”

  Nelson tried to put his arm around Joy. She pulled away. “Your mother already knows that I want a divorce. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you.”

  Joy asked, “Why didn’t you tell me? I spoke to you last night, but I don’t recall you saying anything about divorcing my mother, so you could move in with someone young enough to be your daughter.”

  “I’m a grown woman," Jasmine said, "and Nelson and I are happy, despite our age difference.”

  Joy turned her back to Jasmine and held up her hand. “Don’t speak to me ever again. I am not interested in anything you have to say.” With that, Joy headed for the door.

  “Don’t go like this, baby-girl," her father said. "I really want to help you understand why I decided to leave your mother.”

  Joy opened the door and then shot back at her father, “Oh, I know exactly what was on your mind.” She walked through the door and slammed it behind her. Joy was so angry that she wanted to hit something. She had looked up to her father almost to the point of worship for as long as she could remember. Nelson Marshall had been a man of integrity… someone she, her brother and her mother could count on.

  Tears rolled down Joy’s face as she walked away from her father’s new home. She heard the door open behind her, but didn’t stop or turn around to see who was coming after her. She wanted nothing to do with her so-called best friend or her dishonorable father.

  “Baby-girl, wait! Jasmine said that you need a ride home. Don’t walk off like this.”

  She kept walking.

  Nelson caught up with his daughter and grabbed her arm. “Let me explain.”

  “Get away from me.”

  “Don’t act like a child, Joy. You know how life works.”

  Joy wiped the tears from her eyes as she swung around to face her father. “I sure do know how life works. Men who claim to love their wives turn around and cheat on them every day. But I never expected you to be one of those men.” She was disgusted by her father. At that moment she was ashamed to call this man her father and the tears flowed again.

  “Don’t cry, baby-girl. Come on, let me take you home.”

  Joy backed away from her father. “No, I don’t need you to take me home. You need to go home to your wife.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Then leave me alone.”

  “I can’t just leave you out here like this, Joy. I’m your father. It’s my job to protect you.”

  She laughed at that. The man standing in front of her had just destroyed her belief in humanity, but he was talking about protecting her. “I’ll call Troy. He can come get me.”

  She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and dialed her fiancé. When he answered, she explained that she needed a ride, and Troy promised to come and pick her up. She hung up the phone and turned back to her father. “There, I don’t need you, so you can go back to your little girlfriend and continue tearing our family apart.”

  3

  In the kitchen with her radio tuned to 92.7, her praise station, Carmella was busy baking cakes for her neighbors. Her way of saying thanks for the things they’d done for her in the past month: like mowing the law, trimming the bushes, coming by to check on her and just being kind to her. Dontae was still away at football camp, but would be home in two days. So, this was Carmella’s way of letting her neighbors know that she appreciated them.

  Cooking was a love of Carmella’s; she could get in her kitchen and lose herself amongst the pots and pans and flour and sugar. She also loved listening to her praise music while she cooked or baked. Smokie Norful was lifting her spirit by telling her that God saw what was going on in her life and He understood when she felt like giving up. Then Smokie began encouraging her to keep moving forward, one more day, one more step.

  Carmella was feeling it and was about to break out into a praise dance right in her kitchen, but then Joy walked in and killed the mood.

  “Mama, why didn’t you tell me that Daddy left you?”

  Carmella had hoped not to have that discussion at all. She had prayed that Nelson would come to his senses and move back home where he belonged, before the children found out about his mid-life crisis. She’d thought he’d get the message when she didn’t sign the divorce papers, but mailed the shredded document back to him. But Nelson had just sent her the document again. “Joy, this doesn’t mean anything. Your Dad is just going through a mid-life crisis. He’ll be back home soon enough.”

  Joy’s eyebrow went up and she sat down at one of the counter seats. “You’d take him back after he moved Jasmine into his new house?”

  Carmella took two lemon pound cakes out of the oven, closed the oven door with her foot and placed the cakes on her prep table. “What did you say, dear?”

  Joy got up, walked further into the kitchen and stood next to her mother as she looked her in the face and said, “Daddy is living with my best friend, Jasmine.”

  She dumped the cakes out of the baking pans. “Don’t say things like that, Joy. Where in the world would you get an idea like that?”

  Joy put her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Mother. It’s true. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Your father wouldn’t do anything like that to us. He’s a God-fearing man and he loves us.” Carmella hadn’t been feeling much love from her husband lately, but she didn’t want to discuss any of th
at with Joy. Her daughter was a daddy’s girl through and through. She hadn’t even wanted Carmella to tuck her in at night when she was a child. Joy always asked for Nelson, to the point of hurting Carmella’s feelings at times.

  “Mom, come sit down with me in the family room.” They walked out of the kitchen and made their way to the family room. Joy waited until her mother sat down on the sectional. Joy sat next to her and took her mom’s hand in hers. “I helped Jasmine move today. She told me that her boyfriend had gotten a place for them. By the time we finished with moving things around in the house, Daddy showed up. I thought you had sent him to get me because I was taking too long, since I had called and told you that I would be coming over for dinner. But that wasn’t why he was there.”

  Carmella was silent as she listened to her daughter. This doesn’t seem like my life, she thought. Certainly doesn’t sound like my husband, the man I married and promised to spend the rest of my life with. Nelson had been so sure that he would become a success in life and Carmella had just been grateful that he’d wanted her to be a part of what he was destined to create. They had spent a lot of nights praying for Nelson’s career, his judgment and their finances. And just as Nelson had expected, their life had turned out great, with all the trimmings: a beautiful home, exotic vacations, college and mutual funds, the works.

  “Dad admitted it to me, Mom. He said that you two were getting a divorce and that he was now with Jasmine.”

  “But that doesn’t sound like Nelson,” was all Carmella could fix her mouth to say. And then she thought, maybe it wasn’t Nelson. Maybe some demon had come out of the pits of hell and climbed into her husband’s body and was doing the slimy things that Nelson Marshall never would have dreamed of doing, if he wasn’t under demonic possession.

  “Mom… Mom. Where did you go?”