“No, I mean in the case.”
“What aspect of the case?”
“Any aspect.”
Clarkson, “You understand this case that well do you?”
Pratt, “No, but–”
“I’m not sure you’re not involved somehow.”
“That’s not funny.”
“This is taking a while, I better go up and talk to him again. Make sure that light is hitting his mirror.”
“He’s got to know you’re not local police. Not in a town this small.”
“All I said was I’m an officer checking vehicles on this road, may I see, blah blah blah; he could be thinking anything.”
As Clarkson exits the vehicle, Pratt says, “Wait, wait, here it is.” He reads and scans down the page. “Nope, nothing as far back as both parents, no known associations, he’s good.” He hands him the kid’s license and registration.
Clarkson, “Okay.” He walks over and says to him, “Jeremy, it looks like you’re not who we’re looking for, thanks for your cooperation.”
Delivery boy, “You’re welcome, who are you looking for, an escaped convict or something?”
Clarkson puts him back on task by simply saying, “I hope your pizza didn’t get cold. Drive safe.”
• • •
The votes have been tallied and Hinton is asked to do the honors. “So you guys stand by these results?”
The Market men all answer, “Yep.”
Joanna and Lauren are in the kitchen preparing the salad. They are separated from the living room by the dining room, but they can see them through a set of folding louvered doors above the counter between kitchen and dining room. Chopping carrots, Lauren says, “You have a very nice, and nutty, family M– Joanna.”
Joanna, “Thank you. I think they’re pretty terrific, but it’s really nice to see someone else notice it. And Jimmy, once you get to know him, is a lot more than just an evangelist trying to save your mortal soul.”
Lauren, “Oh, I don’t doubt it. To hear him talk about you all, and his brother Joe so fondly … Wow, it’s really special.”
“He is a special big brother; and a very sensitive man; him coming here to be with me for instance–” Joanna thinks a moment of her son, and how vulnerable he could be to being hurt and says, “I know you’ve only met, but you’re very pretty, and Jimmy’s very– Well, he hasn’t dated much, and–”
Lauren, “Don’t do anything to hurt him?”
“Wow, am I that obvious and over protective?”
Lauren, smiling, “No, you’re exactly what I would have expected. Honestly, I’ve never met anyone quite like your son. He’s the oddest blend of forceful and gentle. I do like him, but no, I wouldn’t dream of doing anything to hurt him.” She begins to blush as she continues to say, “he is perhaps the nicest and most decent young man I’ve ever met.”
As if sensing her eyes, James looks up and sees them talking and looking in his direction. He smiles at Lauren and his mom. Then, suddenly concerned about what they might be saying, he shakes his head as if to say, “Uh-oh!”
Joanna notices that James’ gaze returns to Lauren, and the slightest hint of concern registers on her face, as she thinks, “Can he already be infatuated with this young lady?”
But before she can ponder further, Robert pipes up with, “Sweetheart—or should I say, Two-four-six-O-one—the verdict is about to be read!” His reference to the convicted felon from Les Miserables, makes them all laugh, even Hinton.
But Joanna says, “Let us finish the salad, we’ll be right there. Maybe you should call to see what’s taking the pizza.”
James says to Joseph, “Head’s up!” and tosses him his cell phone.
Lauren, who herself seems to be focused on James, snaps out of it. She knows first hand that even the best of families can have tragedy strike, and her face shows the seriousness she feels as she says, “Joanna, may I ask you a question?”
Joanna, “Sure, sweetie.”
Lauren, “You seem to have it all, family, nice home and all, but, how do you handle your husband, such a nice and successful man, to be away from you in the city so much?”
Joanna, “Lauren, do you mean why am I not afraid he might have a little dessert in town after dinner at home?”
Lauren laughs and says, “Um, well, in a manner of speaking. James told me that he sleeps in the city two or three times a week, and has an apartment there.”
Joanna stops tossing and says, “Lauren, I take your concern as a real gesture of caring. That’s really very sweet. You know I’m not so naïve as to think that women wouldn’t have designs on Robert. I don’t intentionally, how do they say it, leave quality lying around for others, but of all the things I love about Robert, and there are plenty—sure, some I could live without, I mean nobody’s perfect—but of all the things that I love, what I love most is his care and protection of me. He literally lays down his life for mine. I don’t mean like jumping in front of a bullet or an attacker, which I guess he’d do, I mean, if I asked him to, he would quit his brand new job for me!”
“Oh, my gosh, why don’t you ask him! Wouldn’t you rather have him here?”
“Yes, of course I would! I mean, Robert makes everything work, he’s …” she ponders a moment with a smile; the same school-girl joy in her heart, as love for her husband begins to overwhelm. But sobering up, she continues, “but there’s another side to our relationship that has to be factored in. In this household, Robert has the last word.”
“What? Wait,” says a confused Lauren. “I thought you said he did what you said.”
Joanna laughs, and her eyes glisten as she talks of this. “It’s a subtle difference, but I think you missed it.”
Lauren, “What?”
“I said that he will do what I ask, but I—we all—do what he says.”
Lauren’s face frowns with confusion. “I’m sorry, that just doesn’t even make any sense. How can he ever do what you say, I mean ask, when you have to do what he says?”
Joanna, who is enjoying talking to Lauren immensely, says, “Okay, let me see if I can make sense of this. You know, Robert really says this, much more clearly.”
“No, please,” asks Lauren with sincere interest, “I want to hear from you.”
“Okay dear.” She reaches out and touches her hand. “It’s like this, Robert is the head of our household, but I am his queen, and I grant him that headship by virtue of his dedicated and demonstrated heart for the well being of me and the boys.”
Lauren’s face begins to register some understanding.
Joanna, “He is singly focused on our safety, happiness and growth. We have no doubt that every decision is made out of love for us.”
“Wow.”
“See? So, when a decision needs to be made, we talk, and Robert dutifully listens and takes our concerns and requests extremely seriously. From there, he, carefully and prayerfully, makes a decision. And that’s the end of it.”
“Hmm.” Says Lauren, who is very impressed. She thinks a moment as she places the carrots and cucumbers in the salad. “But what if it’s something that you don’t like or agree with?”
Joanna smiles again. “Big difference those two. There are a lot of things that Robert decides that I don’t like, but it doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. For example, I don’t like the schedule he sets for prepping the yard each Fall, and cleaning it in the Spring, it’s too cold out, and we’re just exhausted for three or four days in a row, but I’m the one who’s the most blessed when I see how great it looks. So, I don’t like the plan, but I do agree that it’s the right thing to do. But Robert never does anything that I cannot agree to.”
“Really?”
“No, we never move in disagreement.”
“Really!”
“Never.”
“Well, what about him working in the city?”
“Oh, we agreed to that, it’s just a little harder than I expected. But he has a plan that I accept; he is the visionary in the fam
ily. And he’s gonna try this for one year, and if that works, we’ll go to three years, and if that goes, we’ll try for the full ten. But the plan is ten years and early retirement. You see, he desperately wants to go into full-time ministry. But he says, if I find that it’s just not working, his working in the city, we’ll try something else. So, it’s really up to me to see if it’s something I can handle; which I pray about each day.”
“Wow, you must be the luckiest woman in the world, I didn’t think families like yours, or men like that existed.”
“I can’t think of anyone more blessed than I am, but that’s just me,” says Joanna, winking at Lauren with a playful smile.
Lauren, “I’m nearly twenty-four, and I’ve never met anyone who thinks like your husband.”
Joanna hands Lauren sets of seven bowls and utensils and while picking up the large salad bowl she says, “Twenty-four! You’re so young, just take your time, and … I don’t know if you believe in praying, but I believe God can show you the right young man. Just pay attention.”
• • •
The ladies reenter the living room with the salad, bowls and utensils. Lauren’s eyes and heart can’t help but go to James. He is still under her skin, and not in a bad way as when she silently took over driving duties; she’s reestablished a fond place for him, and a willingness to try to get to know him better. But her duty, however, is to Joseph.
Robert then says, “Alright Mr. Hinton, if you would be so good as to read the verdict.”
With a sigh, Al Hinton stands up and gets in the mood of the trial. “In the matter of Market vs. Market–”
“Oh, I don’t like the sound of that,” says Robert!
“Me either,” adds Joanna.
Hinton, “What? What’d I do?”
Robert says, “That just doesn’t sound right. We never call it that.”
Hinton, “Alright, what do you want me to the call it? It’s your kangaroo court.”
Robert says firmly, “And it’s not a kangaroo court!”
Joanna, catching her husband’s tone, says, “How about the matter of Market misleading vs. Market full disclosure, Mr. Hinton.”
Hinton, “Okay, in the matter of what she just said, the court finds–”
“Wait a second,” Joanna cuts in. “What’s wrong with calling it kangaroo court?”
Lauren is prepared to answer, but Joseph beats her to it saying, “That’s when there’s no due process and the defendant is just rushed through, you know, without a chance to cross examine or call any witnesses and stuff. Your basic unfair trial.”
“Bright kid,” says Hinton. That’s why Robert took it so seriously; Hinton’s comment could be understood to mean that their family system was a sham. But before he could clarify, suddenly, or perhaps at long last, there’s a knock at the door.
It’s the pizza delivery from Pizza-Daddy-O. Robert, as is his routine, holds up his credit card and James swipes it from his hand. He then answers the knock and with the door wide open transacts business.
Hinton jumps up and says, “Uh, don’t forget the snow, it would be better to have him step in and close the door!” Though the Market front door faces north, and they believe the sniper has a vantage point from the south, Hinton figures there’s no need to take unnecessary chances. No sooner does he close the door than Joseph walks over to take the pizzas from the delivery boy’s hands.
That all settled, they begin to migrate towards the dining room. The dining room back window does face south, but with the blinds closed and only candlelight, there’s no chance of a shot through the window.
Hinton says, “Alright, I guess you want to hear how the votes turned out.”
Robert, “Let’s bless the food first, I don’t want it to get cold.”
Somewhat surprised, Hinton drops protocol for a moment and looks over to Lauren as if to say, “What’s with all this praying!” He’s never really been around anyone with this kind of commitment, certainly not a minister’s family.
But Lauren is too smitten with the Market family to see anything wrong in them at this point.
Robert, “Dear Lord, thank you for this meal and those with whom we get to share it. May it provide us health and nourishment, and enable us to have the physical strength to do your will. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
“Amen,” says everyone.
Robert, “So, let’s hear that verdict.”
A subdued Hinton says, “Okay. Um, the court, which forgive me is not a kangaroo court, I didn’t mean anything by that, in the matter of whatever Mrs. Market said a moment ago, finds three in favor and three opposed.”
“Oooooohs!” and, “Awwwwwws!” arise from everyone.
Lauren asks, “Who voted for whom?”
But James says, “Well, the way we normally do it, you can’t really tell ’cause all you do is add a check mark under in favor or against.”
Lauren, “That’s clever.”
But then, Hinton sends the whole process off its axis by saying, “I voted for Joanna.”
To which Lauren says, “I hate to say it, but I had to vote for Mr. Market, in my mind he made a clear difference between the two incidents.”
James, “Me two.”
Joanna, “So if you two voted for Robert that means Joey must have voted for me. You know I never had a favorite between you two until today.” They laugh. Then she adds, “But wait, I actually voted for Robert also!”
Then everyone gets a bit of a confused expression and they look to Robert who is stuffing pizza in his mouth. He looks up and sees them all looking at him and says, “What? I told you she was using feminine wiles! Feminine wiles! And I haven’t seen her for a week!”
The group gets another big laugh.
Hinton, “This sure is one strange family. And on that note, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go get George.”
While on his way, Hinton searches for a way to stay close to the Market family while still in his undercover role as an insurance claims adjuster. It is nearing 10:00 p.m., a time when he expects that they will soon be heading for bed; 22 hours before the prophecy is foretold to have come to it’s conclusion.
Answers
At the diner, it’s a different night; but the same people. Fire commander, Bruce Watson, and one of his firemen are having a mid-shift snack. Patrolman, Mark Anderson, is at the end of the counter; his shift is just beginning. Waitress Karen brings Officer Anderson some coffee to have with his donut. And, almost on cue, in walks the same nurse who came in last night at the end of her shift, only this time she is accompanied by two men, a doctor and a male nurse.
The conversation, predictably, works its way around to what happened the last time this group was all in the diner, namely, the fire at the Market house. Watson just can’t get over the fact that insurance adjuster, Al Hinton, just happened to be there at that time, and says, “I just believe that everything happens for … you know, for a reason.”
Karen agrees with him and adds, “It’s not the first time that good things have happened for that family”
But Mr. Briggs, the male nurse is incredulous, “Good things! You call a fire in the dead of winter a good thing, do ya? So you mean to tell me you think God, rather than stopping A FIRE brought this insurance adjuster to this diner so he could be there for the fire?”
“Yep. It was awfully good timing,” Says Watson.
“That’s just silly.” replies Briggs. “Timing! What difference did it make that he was there that night? Wouldn’t it be the same, if they’ve called their insurance company and seen someone in the morning?”
Dr. Holman, says, “He’s got a good point commander.”
Karen pipes in with, “Only ’cause he wasn’t here.”
Briggs, “What on earth does being here got to do with anything?” He points at the nurse and says, “Violet was here and she’s not buying into this being some sort of miracle!”
Violet goes to give her two cents, but before she can voice her opinion, from the end of the cou
nter comes Officer Anderson, “You know I don’t usually join in on these debates, but I’ll tell you this, you can’t discount what people feel or sense who experience something first hand.”
Dr. Holman, “Don’t tell me.”
Anderson continues, “Often when we have a crime scene, what people sense is as vital as what they can actually remember.”
Briggs, “So you’re saying, you’re agreeing that God placed an insurance adjuster in this diner for these people. He’s got nothing else going on in the world!”
“Well I can’t say that, but I can tell you this. When I left here I went to check for criminal intent at the Market house, remember I gave that cynical insurance guy a ride. But after I left I went over to route six; and, who do you think I pulled over, rushing to get home? Mr. Market. Coincidence? Perhaps. But what good did it do? It gave him the peace of mind knowing that someone who had just been at his home could tell him his family were all okay.”
“That’s a nice concept, but far from proof.”
Karen then says, “Are you married, Mr. Briggs?”
“No.”
“Seeing anyone regularly?”
“Why? What’s this?”
“Well, I’m just saying, sometimes, some things don’t need to be proved. When you love somebody, if they have to prove it all the time, it gets a little tiresome. Sooner or later you just gotta believe.”
“Oh my! This has gotten deep all of a sudden.”
Anderson then says, “Now, she’s got a point there. It does make me wonder what’s happened to you that you’re fighting this so hard.”
Briggs, “Cause I knew a girl like this before. She was Israeli, from the Negev region of Israel. Spent her whole life from as far back as she can remember arguing over land; believing in the least little thing as a sign from God that this or that was true.”
Karen asks, “So what happened to you two.”
Briggs, “It didn’t work out, I just can’t handle such illogical core concepts.”
Then, with a big smile, Bruce says, “Maybe she was just too Negev-tive.”
The Journal: A Prophecy, A President & Death Page 23
