Redeeming Waters

by Vanessa Davis Griggs

  He stood. “Our food is ready if you’d like to go in now. I must confess beforehand: it’s nothing elaborate. My regular people for everything are already in London awaiting my arrival. Everyone except for Chad, of course, and a few of the security people that are always around. So I kind of had to rent a chef for today’s meal.”

  “Oh, so you’re saying that you didn’t fix the meal yourself?” As soon as the words left Brianna’s mouth, she wished she could suck them right back in. That was flirtatious, even to her ears. And she certainly wasn’t meaning to do anything like that.

  He gave a quick smile, apparently opting not to verbally respond. She let out a slow and quiet sigh of relief, glad that he wasn’t taking things the wrong way. She certainly didn’t want to be sending out any mixed or wrong signals.

  “My husband works for you, sort of,” Brianna said. “He’s the stage manager for your concert tours. He works for the company you contracted to set up the stages.”

  “Yes. I’m very impressed with your husband’s work. As the stage manager, he appears to be dedicated in helping to bring me the best set, the best stage, the best of everything possible. In fact, I’d look for someone like him to move up rather quickly in the organization. I know I’ve expressed my great pleasure in all of this crew’s work.”

  “I wouldn’t think people like you would even notice what people like him do?”

  King d.Avid looked at her and grinned. “Why is that?” They’d finally reached the dining room. He stepped back and waved his hand to signal that she should go in first.

  When she stepped into the large, mahogany wood, red and gold dining room that clearly accommodated a minimum of thirty people, her mouth visibly dropped open.

  “We’re going to eat in here?” she said, before she had time to stop herself.

  “Unless you don’t wish to,” he said. “But I do hope you decide you’d like to. I rarely get to use this room these days. And I rather love it in here.” He scanned the room as though he himself were taking it all in. “It’s really a nice room. Don’t you think? A little big, but when you have family and friends over, it’s nice to be able to seat almost everyone at one table, whenever possible.”

  Brianna gave a quick laugh. “I’m sorry. I just had a flashback. You know, when we were younger, some people sat in the dining room, some at the kitchen table, and then there was—”

  “The kiddies’ table!” King d.Avid blurted out along with her.

  “Yes!” She laughed again. “I so hated having to sit at the kiddies’ table.”

  “What child doesn’t? You feel like an outcast or something.”

  “Actually, it could be fun if the people you liked were at the table,” Brianna said.

  “Yeah, but most of the time it really was the little children, and you were the oldest—”

  “And it was your job to take care of the little ones at the table,” Brianna said.

  “Absolutely. I couldn’t wait to get old enough to graduate from that table, at least to the kitchen table. I remember some of us older children would beg to make a pallet on the floor and eat in a room with the television,” King d.Avid said.

  “Us, too,” Brianna said.

  “So, you can understand why I made sure, if nothing else, I had a table large enough to accommodate a lot of people, when I became able to.”

  “Oh, I understand perfectly. And far be it from me to be a party pooper and insist we eat at a smaller table.” Brianna strolled over to the table. “That might traumatize you, and then you’d have a bad concert performance, and it would be all my fault.”

  He pulled out the chair for her. “Oh, I can assure you. You would never be the cause of me being traumatized. You might inspire me to put on the best concert I’ve ever done before. But anything negative”—he shook his head—“no way.” He made sure she was comfortable, then took his seat at the head of the table, right next to her.

  Brianna took the stainless-steel warming top off her plate. “This is a lot of food,” Brianna said as she surveyed the food that was there.

  “I wasn’t sure what you might like. If you don’t want something, don’t feel bad about leaving it. And if there’s something you want more of, just let me know, and I’ll get it here in a snap.”

  “I could get used to this,” she said, then visibly rolled her eyes at her words.

  King d.Avid smiled. “I wish you’d quit doing that. Stop beating yourself up and just go on and be you. It’s okay. I’m not taking anything too seriously here. Okay?”

  She smiled back and nodded. “I just don’t want to say something and give you the wrong impression.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about that with me. I’ve been married four times, if you count my first marriage that was actually annulled within months of our vows. I’m almost divorced from my present wife. In fact, things should be final in the next two weeks. I’ve been engaged to two other women that never made it to the altar; thank God for those divine interventions. And then there’s this woman now who believes we’re engaged because that’s her ‘spiritual confession.’ Forget that I’ve not asked and don’t plan on asking. She has decided because we dated twice, years ago, and I’m about to be divorced, that means she and I are headed for the altar, completely her faith on this now.”

  “You certainly have lived, and do live, a colorful life,” Brianna said.

  “I have”—he looked at Brianna, then winked—“and do. May we say grace?” She nodded. He took hold of her hand and blessed the food. After releasing her hand, he pointed toward a small towel in a white bowl. “You can use that wet wash towel to wipe your hands.” He picked up his towel and began wiping his hands with it.

  “You know, they have sanitizers in little convenient bottles now,” Brianna said.

  “I know. There’s a person who follows me around with one of those large bottles and squirts it in my hands after I shake folks’ hands. That’s my life. I have all of these people whose job it is to be sure I’m kept safe.” King d.Avid poured salad dressing on his salad. He held the French dressing in the air over Brianna’s salad. She nodded.

  He poured until she indicated for him to stop. “Chad keeps me physically safe from those who might want to do me bodily harm. My manager keeps me financially safe from those who would try and do me harm in that arena. There’s a minister who travels with me to ensure that spiritually I don’t fall into harm’s way. And then there’s the little woman who follows me around to make sure that germs from other people don’t manage to be the thing that ends up taking me out.”

  Brianna laughed. “You’re really funny.”

  “I don’t get a chance to show this side of me much. Most people only get to see the serious, ministerial side: the singer, the psalmist, the preacher side of me. Don’t get me wrong: I love what I do. To be able to stand before so many and proclaim the Word of the Lord, whether through a song they enjoy or through the preaching I tend to do when it’s called for. So many people have given their lives to the Lord because of the gift God entrusted in me and the call He has placed on my life. I don’t take what I do lightly, nor do I take it for granted,” King d.Avid said. “I give God all the praise.”

  He hurriedly put a piece of lettuce in his mouth, on purpose, Brianna believed, to give him some time to regroup and not completely break down. She had heard the tears on the cusp of his words, and she knew from him choking those tears back that they were ripe for release. His love for the Lord and his sincerity, without a doubt, touched her.

  “I know how you feel,” Brianna said. “That’s how I feel about what you do. That’s how my grandfather feels about what you do. You encourage me as I step out and do what I believe God is calling me to do. That’s why I’m taking college courses dealing with theology and religion. I want to learn as much as I can about our Creator.”

  “Speaking of your grandfather: how is Pearson? It’s been so long.”

  “Granddad is doing well. And just so you’ll know, he is so proud
of you.”

  “I doubt that,” King d.Avid said. “I’ve attempted to reach out to him more times than I can count. But he doesn’t reach back. I can’t say I blame him though. I should have handled things differently. But I was young and inexperienced. And all of these people were coming at me from all sides, everybody with a thought, a deal, or an ultimatum. I just shut down. I was waiting on God to tell me what to do. But there was nothing. It was like God went silent on me. I took too long to do anything. So your grandfather walked.”

  “And you didn’t go after him,” Brianna said with resolve.

  “If he wanted to leave, who was I to try and force him to do something he didn’t want to do? I thought it would be arrogant of me to say that what I was doing was so important that everyone should put aside their own desires and feelings just to help make me great. I’ve always believed: whatever God has for me is for me. I still believe that.”

  “I guess I can see how you could look at it that way.” Brianna nodded as she chewed, then swallowed. “But believe me: my grandfather thinks the world of you, the world. He lifts you up in prayer daily, at least that’s what he told me when the topic of you came up.”

  “And I truly believe that he does. It’s rough out here. Believe me. I thought your grandfather left in anger. When I would put in calls to him, he would never return them.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound at all like Granddad,” Brianna said. “Even if he needs to tell you off, Granddad will stand flat footed and do just that. But he won’t walk away or merely ignore you. He won’t. Not unless he’s told you that he’s through with you. But running away and hiding? Uh-uh, that’s just not Granddad’s style.”

  “Yeah. I did find that out, although too late. The people who were supposed to be looking out for me decided not to put his calls through. And when I thought I was putting in a call to him and a few other people, or reaching out with correspondences, all of them somehow ended up filed in File 13,” King d.Avid said, meaning they were thrown away.

  Brianna shrugged. “I guess you should have kept trying yourself.”

  “Yeah, like I said: I’ve made my share of mistakes. And no matter how hard I try not to, I’ll likely make more down the road. But I’ve also done and gotten a lot right.”

  “What about those people who were obviously sabotaging you? What did you do about them? Where are they now?” Brianna asked.

  King d.Avid made a slow, silent chuckle. “Some are still on my payroll. I guess you can say I’m still with some of the devils that I know, rather than changing to devils that I don’t know. I’m older now. I’m wiser. Not perfect by any means. But I love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. And as long as God will have me, and wants to use me, I’m going to do the work of Him who sent me. When I mess up, I go to God and ask for forgiveness from my heart. But I’m not going to let Satan take me out because of my foolish mistakes. That’s one of his tricks. He gets us to mess up, then sit down on God because we feel we can’t serve God’s interest anymore. The harvest is too plentiful, and the laborers too few, for any of us to slack off, sit down, or quit on God.”

  “Amen,” Brianna said. She smiled and ate her delicious smoked salmon. “Amen.”

  Chapter 19

  He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

  —Song of Solomon 2:4

  “Okay,” King d.Avid said. “Enough about me. Tell me about you.” He began to eat some of the squash casserole.

  Brianna sat back against her chair. “Ooh, now you’re going to make me feel bad, for real. I have nothing compared to you and your story.”

  King d.Avid stopped eating and looked at her. “Don’t do that,” he said in a warm and caring voice. “Please don’t ever do that again.”

  “Do what?”

  “Diminish your life. God has given you a beautiful smile that if you never did anything else except let it rip before the people you meet, you have blessed someone’s life in ways you’ll never know. Here I am with more money than I know what to do with. This big old house that cost millions, and that doesn’t even count the millions I’ve spent to furnish it, or the money I spend every year to keep it up. I can buy any car, any vehicle I desire: a Lamborghini . . . Rolls Royce . . . Bentley. I have unrestricted access to my own private plane day or night. I pay people to keep up with my e-mails twenty-four seven due to the massive amount I receive. Same for my regular mail, which in this day and age you would think wouldn’t be so much, but it is. I can sell out an arena that holds tens of thousands of fans in mere hours.” He shook his head. “And your smile, oh my goodness, your smile has made my day. Your smile, that’s pure and honest, has made me feel the truth of who I am when it comes to our Father in Heaven. From your smile, I know there is a God in Heaven, and that He loves me more than I’ll ever know. So if that’s all you have, if that’s all you can say you’ve accomplished in life, then you’re ahead of a lot of folks. Believe me: I know.”

  Brianna blushed and held her head down before looking back up, first with her eyes, then her smiling face. “Okay. Now I know exactly why you’re the King,” she said.

  “See,” King d.Avid said. “Now that’s what I’m talking about! Right there.” He pointed at her lips. “So pure and authentic.” He began to eat again.

  “So, you want to know about me. Okay, let’s see. I gave my life to Christ when I was eight. I started back to college this year, taking religious studies. I met my childhood sweetheart, Unzell Waters, when I was in the ninth grade and he was in the twelfth. I was a straight-A student in school. I was the perfect daughter, who was punished minimally, mostly because I had an older brother who showed me all the things not to do if I didn’t want to get in trouble with my parents. Unzell and I knew from the start that we would always be together. We met and became ‘girlfriend and boyfriend,’ so he is the only guy I’ve ever dated. You can say he was my first, my last, and my only. Unzell received a four-year scholarship to the University of Michigan to play football, breaking all kinds of records there. We were married in December, about a year and a half ago. He was on track to go to the pros—”

  “Wait a minute. Unzell Waters? I think I remember hearing something about that,” King d.Avid said. “I didn’t get a chance to watch much television back then, but I certainly heard about what happened. Wasn’t he playing in a championship game down in Florida when somebody tried to literally yank his leg off while he was in midstride?”

  “Yes. That was my husband. And that fast track to the pros vanished right before his eyes,” Brianna said. “Poof! Gone! Just like that!”

  “Wow. And if I remember correctly, he was set to pull in some serious bank.”

  “Yep,” Brianna said, with a pop to her p. “But things changed. We adapted. He had two surgeries, went to rehab, still managed to graduate college that May. I suspended going to college and got a job as a secretary to help with the mounting bills—despite the health insurance, thank God he did have—while staying with my folks through all of that. When he graduated, he moved back to Montgomery, landed a job with a stage production company, and here we are. Unzell and I don’t get to see much of each other lately—”

  “Because of me,” King d.Avid said. “My concert schedule has been unrelentingly crazy. Everybody has been gone from home for sometimes months at a time. Except I get to come home whenever I want, because I can just hop on my plane and fly in and out with no problem. They, on the other hand, are left to set up, break down, and pack up the set, while all I have to do is walk out on stage, perform, look good, and get the credit.”

  “Listen, I don’t want you to misconstrue anything I’ve just said,” Brianna said. “I’m thankful Unzell has this job. I’m even more thankful that he has a job he adores. And believe me: he loves what he’s doing. Loves it! He respects you and what you do so much. He’s often told me what an honor it is to serve you as you are serving the Lord. He looks at what you do as ministry, but he also considers what he does as mini
stry as well.”

  “ ‘And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ’—Colossians 3:23–24.” King d.Avid nodded. “Your husband is absolutely right. It is ministry. What I do, what he does, what each of us—no matter how big or small what we feel we’re doing is—do. Ultimately, it’s not about us; it’s about Jesus and the Kingdom of God. That’s why I don’t look down on any of the people who work in our troop.”

  “Why do you call the group . . . the crew a troop?”

  “Because what we do is like being in the army. Only, we’re in the army of the Lord. Have you ever heard that old song people sang back in the day, ‘I’m a soldier’?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I believe we’re soldiers. And like soldiers, we deploy to various regions of the world. We’re on the battlefield for our Lord. And sometimes, our service to God requires us to sacrifice. We may have to be away from family longer than we’d like. We have to take certain training courses so we can learn how to survive, in case we’re ever under attack, or worse: captured by the enemy. Many times what we think is the devil messing with us may just be God placing us in a simulated situation in order for us to learn what we need to know. Then when the enemy does move against us, we’ll automatically and instinctively know precisely how to respond without even having to give it a second thought.” King d.Avid took a swallow of his soda that was becoming watery from the melting ice. “Our actions become second nature.”

  “That was deep, right there,” Brianna said. “I’ve never thought about it like that. My husband is on deployment while in God’s military operations. He sacrifices . . . we’re both sacrificing; but it’s all for a good cause—a cause greater than ourselves, when you actually think about it. Then, the part you said about sometimes things happening in our lives and it’s for training purposes, now that’s really something to chew on.”