“I don’t know,” Joy said with a look of hope in her eyes. “Lately, I’ve been thinking about taking myself off the shelf and giving love another chance.”
“Oh my goodness… you’ve met someone.” Raven was so elated, that she hugged her stepsister.
Joy could hardly believe that she was telling her business to anyone other than her mother and her praise journal, but she also felt like letting her guard down and learning to trust people again. “You remember Lance Bryant? He was at the football game with my dad.”
In the cafeteria, they picked up trays and began grabbing salads and sandwiches. Raven responded to Joy’s comment about Lance, “How could I miss him? The man is hot.”
“I hope Renee didn’t notice,” Joy joked.
“Girl please, my sister was too busy trying to get hooked up with a pro-baller.”
Joy and Raven ate their food and sat in the cafeteria laughing and joking with each other. As they got up to put their trays over the trash can and head back up to be with the group, Nelson appeared.
He stood to the side of the room, looking Joy’s way as if unsure of how to approach her. It was in that moment that her father seemed most vulnerable to her. Despite what he’d done to her mother, Joy knew that her father loved her, but she had denied him her love in order to make him pay for his decisions. Joy was thankful that God hadn’t denied her His love because of all the bad decisions she had made.
Joy turned to Raven. “I’ll meet you back upstairs in a little while. I need to talk to my dad.”
Raven put her hand on Joy’s shoulder. “Okay girl, I’ll see you in a bit.”
Joy silently prayed as she slow walked over to her Dad. She hadn’t had a normal conversation with him in so long, that she honestly didn’t know how to talk to him anymore. Lord, be my guide. “Hey,” was her great conversation starter once she was standing in front of the man responsible for her being born and being a Marshall.
He pointed to one of the tables. “Would you like to have a seat with me for a moment?”
His voice was shaky as he asked, as if he wasn’t so sure if she would agree to give her own father a few minutes of her time. And since she had denied him on other occasions, she understood his trepidation. “I think it’s way past time for us to sit down and talk, don’t you?”
Nelson nodded and then guided her over to a table in the back of the room. When they were seated, Nelson said, “First let me tell you how sorry I am for everything that I did. When I saw that picture of you with your face in the commode, throwing up, I just wanted to run to you… to save you.”
“You wouldn’t have been able to save me from any of the things I had to go through, Daddy. I couldn’t even save myself. But I don’t blame you for any of the things that I did to myself anymore.”
When Joy said those words, her father exhaled like a weight too heavy to carry had just been removed from his shoulders. She was overcome with compassion for her father. Joy put her hand over his. “I’m so sorry for the way I’ve treated you.”
Humbled and with his head low, Nelson said, “I deserved it.”
Joy shook her head. “No, you didn’t deserve what I did to you. I am your daughter and I should have been able to treat you respectfully. It took me a while but I finally figured out why I couldn’t.”
“Was it because I cheated with Jasmine? Someone who was supposed to be your best friend?”
“That’s what I kept telling myself, but the truth of the matter is, I had made you my hero. When you fell down from the pedestal I’d put you on, it devastated me. But I found a new hero, and his name is Jesus Christ. So, now I can just let you be my dad and love you no matter what comes.”
As Joy finished her statement, tears were brimming in Nelson’s eyes. He reached over and grabbed hold of his daughter. After hugging her tightly, he said, “I’ve missed you so much.”
She hadn’t hugged her father in over five years. Joy had to admit that she had missed his touch… missed knowing that her father cared about what concerned her. Things would probably never be the same between them, but at least they would be better. “I’ve missed you, too, Daddy.”
Nelson wiped his eyes and tried to get himself together. He cleared his throat and then told Joy. “I wanted to talk to you about what Lance told you this morning.”
Joy cringed inwardly. She prayed that her father wasn’t going to ask her to do anything illegal to help him out of the mess he’d gotten into by getting involved with Jasmine in the first place.
“Lance’s theory might be right, but I don’t want to get you involved.”
She breathed a little easier and then asked, “Were you involved? I really need to know, Dad.”
Nelson shook his head. “I wasn’t. If Jasmine is the one who took those bribes on some of my cases, she never told me that she was doing it. I do recall that she began taking an interest in my cases a few years back.”
“Jasmine is poison, Dad. I just don’t know how you could have left Mom for someone like her.”
Sadness shaded Nelson’s eyes as he admitted, “I have a lot of regrets. But there are some decisions that you have to live with, no matter how much you wish you could turn back time and get a redo.”
11
Psalm 30:4-5
Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
For his anger endureth but for a moment; in his favour is life; weeping may endure for a night, but JOY cometh in the morning.
Three months later…
“All rise. The case of Nelson Marshall and the state of North Carolina will come to order,” said the bailiff.
The case against her father had begun and Joy had come full circle. She’d once declared that she would never be a character witness for her dad because he had no character. But there she was seated in the courtroom as she waited to be called on to testify about what she knew about her father’s business practices. She could only testify about events that took place five years ago when she clerked for him. But Joy now counted it a privilege to be able to tell others about the good man her father had once been. She only wished that she had the opportunity to tell the court about the good man her father had become in the last few months.
Forgiveness goes along way, and when Joy opened her heart to forgive her father, Nelson found the strength to repent of his sins and return to the God he had once served. He was in court, prepared to deal with whatever judgment he received.
As promised, Lance went to work tearing apart the testimonies like a prize fighter. Each person who accused her father of taking a bribe from them, left the stand looking as if they were either confused or the biggest liars on God’s green earth.
Then it was her turn. Joy put her right hand on the Bible and swore to tell the truth and nothing but the truth and then she sat down on the witness stand.
Lance looked down at his notes as Joy situated herself in her seat. He put his notepad down and sauntered over to the box where Joy sat watching him move toward her. Joy prayed that she would be able to concentrate with Lance standing in front of her. She could hardly believe that she’d told this man that she wasn’t interested in dating him. What was she thinking?
“Ms. Nelson. Is it okay if I call you Joy?”
Call me anything you want, just as long as you call me tomorrow, was what Joy wanted to say, but this was no joking matter. Her father’s life and career were at stake, so she needed to quit drooling over Lance and get serious. “Yes, you can call me Joy.”
“Thank you,” Lance said as he hesitated for a moment, looked toward the jury and then back at Joy. “Joy, can you please tell the jury who Nelson Marshall is to you?”
Joy glanced in Nelson’s direction. He smiled at her and it warmed her heart. “He's my father.”
"You work for the district attorney’s office, right?"
She leaned forward, speaking into the microphone. "Yes I do."
"And when your father was arrest
ed, you asked to sit second chair in order to help convict him, correct?"
Joy glanced at Markus. He looked as if he was about ready to pounce out of his chair and object to Lance’s line of questioning. But he kept his seat, so Joy said, "Yes, I did."
"And why did you do such a thing, Ms. Nelson?"
She wanted to remind Lance that he had just asked for permission to call her Joy. But she knew exactly why he had decided to use her last name at that moment...to remind the jury that this was Nelson’s daughter speaking. She refused to lie for her father or anyone else, so she answered truthfully. "I wanted the case because I believed that he was guilty."
Sounds of disbelief escaped the mouths of members of the jury and others in the courtroom.
Joy didn’t know why Lance would ask her a question like that. If a man’s own child believed he was guilty, then why shouldn’t they.
But Lance didn’t seem bothered by the reactions in the courtroom. He trodded on. "Do you still believe that your father is guilty of the crime he has been charged with?"
"No," was her simple answer while she prayed that he’d have some serious follow-up questions.
"No, huh," Lance repeated, and then took his time looking at each jury member, making sure they were paying attention. "And let me ask you something else, if I may. You used to work for your father. Can you tell the court how long ago you worked for him?"
"Five years ago."
"During the time that you worked in his office, had you ever seen anything that would cause you to believe that Judge Marshall was taking bribes?"
"Objection." Markus pointed towards Joy. "She was a law student at the time, so she only worked part-time as a clerk for her father. She couldn’t possibly know everything that went on in that office."
"Your Honor, I’m only asking the defendant to testify to what she saw with her own two eyes. I have other witnesses that will also testify concerning the work environment in Judge Nelson’s office," Lance said.
"Very well, the objection is overruled. Carry on."
Lance thanked the judge and then turned back to Joy. “You may answer the question.”
Joy answered the question. Nothing out of the ordinary went on in her father’s office during the time she clerked there. When prompted she also admitted that the reason she decided to become a lawyer was because at one time in her life, she hadn’t known a more honorable man that Nelson Marshall and she desired to follow in his footsteps.
Joy didn’t know if her testimony was helping or hurting her father, but saying nice things about Nelson Marshall felt mmm good to her soul.
True to his word, Lance called on numerous current and ex-employees who all verified that Nelson ran a good and honest office. Lance also introduced the theory that Jasmine had been the one who tried to profit from the cases that came through Nelson’s courtroom.
When she took the stand, Jasmine tried to be as aloof as possible, but when Lance said, “It burned you up that Nelson’s ex-wife was taking half of his money, didn’t it?”
Jasmine couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. She shot angry darts at Lance as she said, “How would you feel? One day you’re living in a half-million dollar house and able to shop and purchase anything you want. Then the next day you’re told that the ex-wife is entitled to retain her standard of living, so somebody’s standard of living is about to go down. And guess whose that was?” Jasmine angrily pointed at her chest. “My standard of living what cut in half all because,” she pointed at Nelson, “his wife was being so greedy. I had to move into a condo and be put on a strict allowance, like I was a child or something.” She swung her long curly weave around and then just sat there, waiting for the next question.
Joy couldn’t believe that Jasmine was that clueless. That she had no understanding or even care for the family that Nelson left behind. But her arrogance helped the jury to see her motive for going behind Nelson’s back and arranging those bribes. Jasmine didn’t admit to any wrong doing while on the stand, but no one was deceived.
On the last day of the case, Dontae and Carmella came to court to be with Nelson and Joy when the verdict was read. Dontae was walking with the aid of a cane. His knee was getting better, but it hadn’t totally healed as of yet.
Carmella hugged and kissed her daughter. “Ramsey sends his love.”
Joy would always be grateful to Ramsey for coming into their lives just when they needed him most. He’d been a father to her and Dontae when their own father had deserted them. As far as Joy was concerned, she now had two fathers.
The court came to order as the jury filed back in. Joy noticed that the members of the jury weren’t trying to make eye contact with her father, which was always a bad sign.
The judge turned to the jury and asked, “Has the jury reached a decision?”
“We have, Your Honor,” the head juror said.
The decision was handed to the judge; Nelson and Lance stood. Nelson had been charged with five counts of bribery and one count of accessory to commit bribery. The judge informed them that Nelson had been cleared on all five counts of bribery, then everyone held their breath as the judge read the verdict on the last count. “On the count of accessory to commit, the jury finds the defendant… guilty.”
Carmella put an arm around both her children and squeezed them tightly. “He’ll survive this, so you all need to be strong for your daddy.”
“What just happened, Mama?” Joy was shaking her head. She could hardly believe that her father had eluded the bribery charges, but then had been snared by a conspiracy charge. She concluded that, in the final analysis, the jury just couldn’t believe that Nelson could live with a woman like Jasmine and not have a clue as to what she had been up to. The time he would get for the accessory charge would be minimal, but Nelson would more than likely lose his license to practice law and that would be devastating. But her mother believed that he would get through it, so Joy would keep the faith as well.
Carmella stayed in her seat as Dontae and Joy went up to the front to hug their father before he was taken away by the guards. It was a sad sight to see, but Nelson Marshall’s downfall had been put in motion the day he left his praying wife for someone as selfish as Jasmine Walker.
They hadn’t received the total acquittal they had hoped for, but as they left the courtroom the Marshall family, nonetheless, lifted their voices and praised God for His mercy. Because they knew that things could have turned out a lot worse.
Lance approached just as they were leaving the building. He put his hand on Joy’s arm and asked, “Can I speak to you for a second?”
“We’ll see you back at the house,” Carmella told her daughter as she and Dontae walked away.
Lance put his hand in Joy’s and began walking with her toward the garage. “I’m sorry that we didn’t get a full acquittal, but I promise you that I won’t let this go until we can get him acquitted on this accessory count as well.”
“You did your best, Lance. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything more for him than what you did.”
“You know what this means, don’t you?” Lance asked with a big grin splattered across his face.
Those dimples of his drove her crazy. She wanted to run her hand down his beautiful face, just so she could touch one of those dimples. “What are you talking about?”
They made it to her car and then he said, “I’m talking about the fact that we don’t have any more conflicts of interest between us. So, I’d like to pick you up tonight and take you out to dinner.”
“It’s about time,” Joy just about screamed. “I was beginning to wonder if you were slow or something. I’ve wanted to go out with you for months.” She pulled his head down toward her and kissed him like she’d been loving him for all of her life and had just found a way to show him.
“Whew,” Lance said when they broke apart. “If I had known you’d act like this just because of a dinner date, I would have asked you out a lot sooner.”
Shoving his shoulder, she said,
“Shut up, slow boy. Just make sure you pick me up on time.” Joy got in her car and drove off. Life hadn’t turned out the way she had expected, but she was amazed at how God was able to break through the cloud of darkness in her life and enable her to enter into a wonderful new day. God was good and she would praise Him for a lifetime.
---
A Forever Kind of Love
THE PRAISE HIM ANYHOW SERIES
Prologue
Looking like a GQ model in his black Armani suit and his yellow tie with tiny black dots, with dimples on both sides of his handsome face, Dontae Marshall put the two-carat Princess cut diamond ring in his pocket. Dontae would have gladly purchased a five-carat ring if need be, but the woman he had fallen in love with didn’t hunger and thirst for displays of wealth as the first woman he’d fallen for had.
Dontae was so thankful that his sister, Joy had admonished him to pray about his decision to marry Tory Michaels. He hadn’t appreciated the way Joy butted into his business at the time. But after he took that hit on the football field and then had to deal with rehabilitation for his knee, while worrying over his doctor’s recommendation that he give up his football career, Dontae discovered that Tory was not the woman for him. She hadn’t been in it for the right reasons.
Tory didn’t love Dontae Marshall the man; she loved Dontae Marshall the football star. And the day he decided to follow doctor’s orders and hang up his helmet, was the day that Tory started bringing him all kinds of drama. In the end, Dontae cut his losses by letting Tory keep that big rock he’d given her and then they both decided to go their separate ways. Soon after Dontae put his full concentration towards building the new career he had mapped out for himself.
Praise Him Anyhow - Volume 1 Page 18
