Praise Him Anyhow - Volume 1

by Vanessa Miller

  “Some more of that redemption, Dad?”

  “Yeah.” Nelson shook his keys and then said, “Now, let’s go get you some redemption.”

  Dontae had seen the gas station numerous times as he drove down this street, but he’d never pulled in. It was one of those mom and pop service stations that also did car repairs. He got out of the car, looked back and noticed that his dad was still in the driver’s seat. He started to say something, but then Nelson lowered the passenger window and said, “Go on. I’ll be right here when you get back.”

  Squaring his shoulders, Dontae pulled up his big-boy britches and walked into the gas station to handle his business. No customers were inside and no one was behind the counter. There was a note taped to the counter that encouraged customers to tap on a small bell for service. Dontae figured that they probably didn’t have a lot of customers, so they were able to run the shop with one clerk at a time. He tapped the bell and waited.

  “I’m coming.”

  Dontae heard the deep baritone voice and immediately recognized it from back in the day when Stevie had the ball in his hand and was headed down the field shouting, “check him, check him” or “I got this” and then, “touchdown”.

  Stevie stepped into the business area of the gas station. He was wearing overalls and wiping some black substance from his hands that Dontae assumed was oil. He hadn’t seen Stevie since high school, so he still remembered him as the touchdown-kid. But Stevie wasn’t just a scorer, he had an uncanny ability to read his opponents. He could spot their weaknesses and their strengths and he’d use them to get inside their heads.

  “What can I do for you?” Stevie asked without looking up.

  Dontae waited. He wanted to gauge Stevie’s reaction once he realized who was standing in his place of business. Dontae didn’t have to wait long. Stevie put the rag down and glanced up. He did a double take. His face went through several different emotions and then he held out his hand. “Dontae Marshall, how’ve you been?”

  “Some days good.” Dontae shrugged. “Others, not so good.”

  Stevie acknowledged that he understood how Dontae was feeling with a head nod. “I watched the game that night. I felt like it was me they were pulling off the field.”

  “I got through it,” Dontae said as he held his chin up like a boy who’d been told, after scraping his knee, that a man has to be strong.

  “So what brings you here?” Stevie asked.

  Now that he was there looking Stevie in the face, Dontae was struggling with how to best approach the topic. He tossed a couple conversation starters around in his head and then finally landed on, “I just wanted you to know that I’m going to be testifying against Coach Linden when his case comes up.”

  “Good for you,” Stevie said as if he couldn’t care less. He picked the rag he’d been wiping his hands with back up and said, “I need to get back to work.”

  Dontae tried another approach. “Look, if you don’t want me to mention your name, I won’t.”

  He averted his eyes as he said, “Why would you mention my name in association with Coach Linden?”

  Dontae was taken aback by the way Stevie was playing this. He never expected Stevie to deny that anything ever happened. “Stevie, I was there, remember? Coach Linden tried to attack me first.”

  “It was nice seeing you, Dontae.” Stevie started walking away.

  Dontae reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card. “Take this.” He handed Stevie the card. “I’m in Charlotte now, so if you ever want to talk, I will make myself available to you.”

  Stevie nodded as he put the card in his pocket and then headed back to work.

  “How did it go?” Marshall asked when Dontae got back in the car.

  Dontae shrugged. “Not really sure. He pretended like nothing happened. I got the impression real quick that he wanted to be anywhere but in that small space with me, so I gave him my business card and told him to get in touch if he ever wanted to talk.”

  “Well, that’s all you can do then. Now, hopefully, you can put everything about Linden out of your mind,” Nelson said as he drove his son down the street.

  “That’s one thing that I can’t do.” Dontae pointed at his head. “As hard as I try, I just can’t get it out of my mind.”

  10

  While Dontae was trying to figure out how to get things out of his mind that never should have been there in the first place, Joy was on the phone with Jewel trying to get her to accept Dontae just the way he was. “You know, when you love someone, you sometimes have to put up with things you wouldn’t normally put up with,” Joy said as she watched Lance stroll into the kitchen and pour himself a cup of coffee.

  “I know, Joy. And I truly do love Dontae, but I don’t want to help him get into something that he might later regret getting into.”

  “Dontae would never regret marrying you. And I promise that I will stop butting into his business if you will just take that ring back.” Joy prayed that Dontae would never find out that she made this call. But even though they were both grown, she was still his big sister and felt an obligation to look out for him.

  Joy had no idea what had been tormenting Dontae all these years. She thought all of his issues stemmed from their parents divorcing after twenty-three years of marriage. But clearly, Dontae had been battling a different demon altogether. Joy had been the one to invite Jewel to her mother’s house on Mother’s Day, so if the fallout from that day caused Dontae and Jewel to drift further apart, she’d never forgive herself.

  “I am here for Dontae. He knows that. I just don’t think we should be making wedding plans at a time when he needs to be dealing with other issues.”

  Lance was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping his coffee and staring at her. Joy conceded. “Okay, I’ll give you that. But as long as I know that you’re still in Dontae’s corner, then I’m satisfied with that. And I’ll get out of your business.”

  “I know that you’re just looking out for your brother, so I’m not offended or anything. You can call me any time,” Jewel told her.

  Joy thanked her for understanding and then hung up.

  “It really does mean a lot to you, doesn’t it, babe?” Lance asked as he set his mug down and approached his wife.

  “What means a lot to me?” Joy had been trying her level best to do as her mother instructed her. But having just hung up with the love of Dontae’s life and accepting the fact that the wedding was, at best, postponed, she really didn’t know if she could do this stand-by-your-man stuff right now... especially if he was about to start up another conversation about that case.

  “That we be supportive of Dontae.” He was only a whisper’s distance from her now.

  How should she take his question? Was he finally hearing her or was he just going to start another debate? She didn’t have the energy to try to figure her husband out, so she just decided to go with the truth. “Dontae is important to me. So, yeah, it’s also important that I support him, especially in light of what he went through, and what so many others had to endure at the hand of Coach Linden.”

  Lance put his wife’s hand in his. “I’ve done a lot of soul searching this week.”

  “Oh yeah?” was all she said to that.

  “I had to ask myself if my ambitions were more important to me than my family. And do you know what I decided?”

  She couldn’t get the lump out of her throat so she could speak. Joy was terrified of the answer, because in that moment she would discover if her husband loved her enough to do something that would cost him dearly, career-wise. She well knew that the exposure that this court case would receive alone, would give Lance more notoriety than he’d ever had on any case before. Could he walk away from that for her?

  “When I married you,” Lance began, “I knew that I would have to give up certain cases because you’re a prosecutor and I couldn’t agree to defend anyone who you were prosecuting. But it never entered m
y mind that I might also have to give up cases that our family members might be involved in.”

  She leaned in and touched her forehead to his. “I never thought we’d have to face a situation like this either. I’m sorry if I’ve been difficult to deal with these past few weeks.”

  “Thank you for saying that.” He kissed her forehead. “But you were right. The superintendent wasn’t all that excited about me until he realized that Ramsey was my father-in-law and Dontae my brother-in-law. I don’t even think they knew about what Coach Linden had done to Dontae, because they wanted me to get Dontae to be a character witness for Linden. I laughed in their faces at that.”

  “No honey, you didn’t laugh in their faces. That’s not professional at all,” Joy said, but she was thrilled that Lance had too much integrity to approach Dontae with something like that.

  “I didn’t have to worry about being professional with them, because I told them that I couldn’t take the case.”

  She screamed. “I am so happy right now. Thank you, Lance. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

  “I hope it means a whole lot, because my earning potential just got a bit lighter.”

  “Oh ye of little faith. The God I serve knows how to reward us for unselfish acts of kindness,” Joy told him before wrapping her arms around him and thoroughly kissing him.

  ***

  Dontae was in his office reviewing some contracts when he received a call from Ronny. “What’s up?” Dontae asked when he picked up the phone.

  “I know you’re busy so I’m not going to hold you, but I was just wondering if you’d noticed that we didn’t receive a Praise Alert from Mama Carmella last week or this week either.”

  Dontae had noticed, but he didn’t want to say anything, because his mom was probably still upset over his confession and needed a little break. The Thomas men hadn’t been around when Carmella Marshall had fallen apart after his father asked for a divorce. But Dontae had. And he’d witnessed his mother lean on God for the strength to pick herself back up. She would be all right. “Do you think we should head to Raleigh to check on her this weekend?”

  “I’m going to call Dad and see what’s going on. We might need to ride out though. Ramsey’s been tripping over it, too. We need those inspirational stories. Mama Carmella can’t just quit on us.”

  “I hear you.”

  “Well, get back to work. I’ll let you know what I find out after I talk to Dad.”

  “All right. I’ll be home late tonight. Jewel wants me to take her to that new Tyler Perry movie.”

  “Why don’t you call Dawn? I wouldn’t mind double dating.”

  Dontae laughed. “Thanks anyway, bro. But I got this.” They hung up and Dontae continued reviewing the contracts for his clients.

  Around three in the afternoon, his assistant buzzed him. “A Mr. Steven Wallace is here to see you. He doesn’t have an appointment, but he assured me that you will see him.”

  Dontae jumped out of his seat. “Send him in.”

  It had been a couple of weeks since Dontae saw Stevie, but as he walked into his office, Dontae noticed that he had on the same greasy overalls he’d had on the day Dontae visited him. “Good to see you, Stevie. What brings you on this side of town?”

  Stevie plopped down in the chair in front of Dontae’s desk. “I got fired today. Business is slow, so as usual, I had to go.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  Stevie waved Dontae’s concern away. “I’ll find another job. Might even start my own lawn care business or something.”

  Dontae was reminded of his father saying that Stevie had a hard time holding onto a job due to the felony on his record. Dontae found himself thinking, But for the grace of God, there go I.

  “I sat in my car for about an hour having a real pity party about my lot in life. I felt awful about losing another job and didn’t know how I was going to tell my wife. But then I thought about a time when I felt worse... much worse and I suddenly knew that I had to speak with you.”

  Intrigued, Dontae leaned forward. Put his elbows on the desk and asked, “Just tell me how I can help. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.” Unlike the time that I just wussed out on you.

  “Five years ago when I was in prison, a prison ministry team preached one Sunday. I didn’t have anything else to do so I went and I listened.” Stevie touched his heart as he continued. “I felt something that day, but I had so much anger built up in me that I rejected it. I remember praying in my seat while tears rolled down my face. I told the Lord that day, that if He could tell me why Linden picked me rather than you, then I would serve him.”

  Dontae felt some kind of way about Stevie’s confession, because he had wasted so much time when all the while, this man had been waiting on an answer that only he or Coach Linden could have given him. But Dontae had been too busy avoiding the truth to be of help to anyone. Time to stop avoiding and just tell it like it was.

  “He came after me first, Stevie. But I was so drunk and scared when he came into my room that I threw up all over myself. He had the audacity to leave my room looking as if he was disgusted by all the vomit on me and the floor.”

  Shaking his head, Stevie said, “I kept thinking that even though I knew that I liked women, I must be gay deep down or he never would have come at me like that.”

  “I wondered the same thing about myself. How a man could even approach another man like that... but a very smart and beautiful woman recently told me that I am not what was done to me. Linden didn’t care what either one of us wanted. He is a selfish and sick man and that’s why I have decided to testify against him. It’s my way of apologizing for not being there for you that night.”

  “Look man, we were both drunk that night. I probably wouldn’t have been able to help you either. All I remembered was going to that room and stripping down. Back then I always slept in the nude. But I haven’t done that since that snake snuck in my room. Even with my wife, I have to put on my pajamas before I go to sleep.”

  “When I travel, and I’m in hotel rooms, I sleep with the television on. Just can’t deal with the darkness like that when I’m in a strange place.”

  “I should testify, too. My family has always wondered what happened to all my potential. I think it’s high time that I told them.” Stevie looked as if three tons of steel had been lifted off of him. After ten years of torture, he was finally coming alive again.

  “With both of us standing behind the other accuser, Linden won’t be able to walk away from his crimes. He’s going down.”

  “I’m trying not to wish for the worst of the worst for Linden, especially since I’m getting ready to call my wife and tell her that I’ll be attending church with her this Sunday.”

  “I think I’ll attend with my—” he almost called Jewel his fiancée but then he remembered that she’d given back the ring, “girlfriend.”

  “All right man.” Stevie stood. “Don’t be a stranger; I don’t live far from Charlotte, so we’re practically neighbors.”

  Dontae stood and walked around his desk. He hesitated for a second, but only a second. “What kind of work are you looking for?”

  Stevie smiled, “I’m a jack of all trades. I do whatever puts the food on the table.”

  “I might have a job for you,” Dontae said.

  “Hey, I’m not looking for a handout. You don’t owe me anything. I reached up and grabbed that room key and I drunk my own self into a stupor. It wasn’t your fault, so you don’t owe me anything.”

  “I’m not offering you a handout. I remember how good you used to be at spotting winners and losers. I’m looking for a scout to help me grow my business. Does that seem like something you’d be interested in?”

  Stevie got excited. Then he caught himself, like someone who had been told over and over again not to expect anything good out of life. “You for real?”

  “As real as real gets.”

  “I’ve been watchi
ng high school and colleges games for the longest, picking out the players that I thought could go the distance. I could do that job in my sleep.” Stevie held out a hand to Dontae. “You got a deal, man. Thanks.”

  “See you on Monday,” Dontae said, after giving him the location of his office. When Stevie walked out the door, Dontae sat down and exhaled... redemption sure felt good.

  11

  Ramsey had been praying for her, her children had been praying and Carmella had also spent much of her time in prayer, asking God why bad things happen to good people. She’d been tempted to just lie in bed for a month to protest this horrible thing that her family now had to endure. But Carmella had committed her life to God a long time ago, so she knew she couldn’t continue moping around as if Jesus had come down from the cross and refused to die for the sins of the world.

  Her son had been violated, that was a fact. But so many other things in Dontae’s life were beautiful and blessed of God. Her son had been drafted into the NFL, and even though he’d hurt his knee the first year in, Dontae had still been able to keep his signing bonus, which enabled him to start his own business. Dontae was now a millionaire in his own right. If Carmella didn’t know nothing else, she knew that God was in the work-it-out business. Some things might take a little longer to get worked out, but in God’s good time, it would all be sorted out.

  Like the problem Dontae was having with trusting God for a lifelong marriage. Carmella had prayed that Dontae would soon come to realize that love only lasts when two people are willing to work together, and defend their love against the whole world. Dontae was so stuck on how things had ended with her and Nelson that he had totally missed the fact that he was not his daddy and that through the power of Jesus Christ he could break the curse of divorce off of his life. She prayed that for Dontae and for the day that he would be able to remove from his memory even the thought of Coach Linden.

  Since Carmella believed that God was a prayer-answering God, she forced herself to stop crying and to praise God even though things didn’t turn out the way she’d expected. Sitting in front of her computer, Carmella turned on her radio. Fred Hammond was singing Running Back to You. She cranked it up as she began her first Praise Alert since Dontae’s awful news.