Looking over the deep blue lapping waves from their open bedroom, the two had yet to consummate their marriage in all of these months. Brianna was ready now. But there was something special, different, that she wanted the two of them to do first.
“If I ask you to do something, would you do it?” Brianna asked.
“Ooh, that’s a potentially loaded and dangerous question. If I say yes, what might I be agreeing to before I even know it? If I say no, then how can I deny my lovely bride who has captured my heart in every sense of the word.” His eyes slowly roamed her face . . . her forehead, her eyes, her nose, her lips, her chin, then back to her eyes again.
“Do you believe I would ever do anything to hurt you?”
“Not on purpose,” King d.Avid said. “But I’ve not run into too many people who set out to hurt me, at least in the beginning. It happens though.”
“Yeah. I know. I feel like I’ve hurt people, and they don’t even know I was responsible for it,” Brianna said. “I absolutely hurt Unzell.”
“I know you’re still hurting over Unzell, but—”
She touched his arm. “You don’t have to worry; I’m not going to talk about Unzell. Not here, not during this time. I was just mentioning him because I’m sure I hurt him. And not just with what we did that he never found out about. Just during the course of life and our marriage. I’ve hurt my parents. I’ve hurt Alana with some of my comments that she felt were judging her, instead of showing her the love of God.”
“Well”—he wrapped his arms securely around her and leaned back, drinking her in with his eyes—“sometimes love hurts. There’s tough love that’s for our own good. Then there’s love that just hurts without any rhyme or reason for it to hurt.”
“And . . . I’ve hurt you,” Brianna said, finishing up her verbal list.
He stepped back and shook his head. “No. No. I’m the one who has been wrong in so many areas that I was ashamed when I was confronted with them.” He moved back to her. “Early on, I had people who gave their lives and heart to what I was doing. And when I reached the place we’d all worked so hard for, what did I do? I sat back passively and allowed others to take over when I should have been a real man and stepped up.”
“That wasn’t all your fault though,” Brianna said. “In your position, you can’t do everything. You can’t know everything. You rely on others to do their jobs. Maybe you did make a few bad judgments in who some of those people should have been. But God still has a way to use the bad for our good . . . for His ultimate purpose. However, the fact remains: we can’t go back and change any of our past or our past decisions. You can’t; I can’t. We just have to start where we are and make better decisions now.”
King d.Avid wrapped his arms around her again. He then stooped down a little so his eyes would be comfortable with hers. “So, my beautiful, wonderful, and amazing wife: what would you like for us to do?”
Brianna released a mischievous grin. “Well, you may think it’s crazy. And I know it’s not required. But it’s really on my heart. It’s something I feel like we should do . . . together, as husband and wife—you being my husband and the priest of our house.”
“Oh, so you caught what Minister Nate said about the word ‘husband’ meaning ‘priest’ and that meant you had a priest in the house,” King d.Avid said.
“Sure. I always listen to Minister Nate. As our spiritual covering, he loves us. But more important: he loves and listens to the Lord. I believe God has given Minister Nate messages to, not necessarily give to us, but to confirm what God has already spoken or is speaking to us.”
King d.Avid nodded in agreement. “That’s a good way of putting it. Because you’re right. God confirms His Word. I know some believe that God will tell someone else things about them before telling them. But I believe God tells us, then confirms it by bringing that same Word through a party who was not in on our original conversation with God. And God confirms it through actual manifestation of what was told.”
“Yeah. Like I know that you and I have much work to do for the Kingdom. And although I can’t say exactly what it is or when it is to take place, I know there’s something big God has called into our lives, called into this union. I now know this in my heart. I do.”
“Okay, quit stalling. What do you want to do?” King d.Avid said. “You have me all hyped up now. I can feel a few words and beats to a new song coming on.” King d.Avid started popping and moving to a silent beat obviously playing only in his head.
Brianna moved up closer to him in a flirty way. “So, what you’re saying is that I inspire you. Is that what you’re saying, Mister Shepherd?”
He stopped moving and gazed lovingly at her. “Oh, you definitely inspire me.”
“All right. This is what I’d like for us to do. We have this island all to ourselves. Sort of like our own Garden of Eden. There are natural waters flowing at every turn. Do you remember that time you said you saw me in the waters at the beach.”
“Oh, yeah.” King d.Avid blushed, then his eyes widened. “Oh-h-h, I see where you’re going. Oh, yeah! We’re going to have a good time; I see that already.”
She playfully hit at him. “Stop that. I’m being serious now. And this is a spiritual thing on my heart. I want us to start anew. I want us to begin our relationship with a clean slate. I know in the real world that’s impossible. But from a spiritual standpoint, and with God, all things are possible. I would like for you and I to really give ourselves to the Lord, in a truly dedicational way, as one. I would like for us to go to a mikvah, a pool of nonstagnant water, where we outwardly consecrate, purify, dedicate, and show that new life is emerging forth, just as it has inwardly been done through Jesus Christ. Like a baby emerging from the mother’s womb, I would love for me and you to do this together . . . as one. And I can’t think of a better place than here, God’s natural mikvah in its primal form, and right now, as we embark upon a true committed journey as man and wife.”
He kissed her. “Oh, I love that! I have chills going all through me right now. My spirit absolutely agrees with this. Yes! Let’s do it!”
“And then, to keep with the tradition of what happens after going to a mikvah, we can come back here—”
“Or any one of these houses. Pick whichever one you want. I rented the whole island, so every house here is at our disposal, Mrs. Shepherd,” King d.Avid said, smiling and playfully raising his eyebrows rapidly and in succession.
“Oooh, it looks like when we’re done with mikvah, we’re going to have our work cut out for us. There are like six houses on this island.”
“Yeah. Absolutely. And I want to be a good steward of God’s money that He has entrusted in my hands. We’re paying a pretty penny for this place, so I think we definitely should get our money’s worth.”
“Oh, absolutely. And as your wife, I plan on doing my part. Waste not, want not.”
“Okay. So let’s do this,” King d.Avid said. “Quickly.”
Keeping with the mikvah tradition, they showered first. They then wrapped in their robes and went down to the waters with the large rocks and the waterfall below it.
They prayed sincerely and laid everything on the altar before the Lord, all of the dead stuff in their lives. They prayed some more, then immersed seven times, praising God each time they broke the water’s surface. Then once more, synchronized this time, number eight—the number of new beginnings—they went down and came up together. Putting on now-wet robes, they got out of the water, giving God praises for resurrecting, restoring, refreshing, reviving, refining, renewing, replenishing, and redeeming them as well as their marriage, and for where He’d brought them from and was leading them to.
After that, they went to Bali Cliff, the Balinese house perched off the mountain, and finally sealed their vow—finally, truly they became one.
Chapter 46
Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.
/> —Psalm 28:3
Vincent Powers was not going down without a fight. He was convinced that it was he who had made King d.Avid, and he was not going to be denied.
“How dare he tell me my services are no longer needed?” Vincent said as he paced back and forth in his living room.
“Well, there’s nothing any of us can do,” Kendall said. “We’ve talked with lawyers, to no avail. We’re all out now. And yeah, I could get another job, but who’s going to pay me anywhere close to what I was making when I worked for him?”
“Yeah, well, I hope you know your salary was all my doing. You definitely wouldn’t have been raking in that kind of money if I hadn’t been the one there guaranteeing and manipulating it. In fact, you wouldn’t have even gotten your foot in the door had it not been for me,” Vincent said.
“I know that, Vincent. But you got your money’s worth, and then some,” Kendall said, snarling as she looked him up and down.
“Yeah, okay. So you and I had a little thing on the side. I hope you know what was between us in the bedroom didn’t mean anything. It was merely fringe benefits on the side, for both of us.”
“Yes, Vincent. I’m well aware that what we had together didn’t mean jack to you. I know about all the other women you paraded in and out of your bed. Many of them actually believed you might do something to promote their pathetic little music careers, be that as it may.” Kendall crossed her legs and began swinging the top leg in a rhythm.
Vincent stopped pacing. “It’s not my fault most of those women didn’t really have any talent to speak of. Because you know me: if I believed I could have made a buck off of any one of them when it came to some real talent, I would have had their names on the bottom line of a binding contract quicker than they had time to let a lawyer review it.”
“Yeah, we know, Vincent. You got it like that.” Kendall uncrossed her legs and looked up at Vincent. “The question now is: what are we going to do? You’re no longer King d.Avid’s manager, and I’m no longer his able-bodied assistant. We’re both out.”
“I’m working on it. I’m working on it.” Vincent eased down in the wingback chair across from Kendall. He crossed his leg.
“You’re the genius. It’s been three months now. So what have you come up with so far?”
“I was thinking that we might be able to make King see the error of his ways with a little bit of info that I’m pretty sure we can use to persuade him to see things more our way. I mean, it’s not like any of our hands are completely clean. He fired me because he thought I’d been doing underhanded things, maybe steering money to certain places he didn’t authorize or approve, including into my bank account,” Vincent said.
“What little information are you referring to?”
“Well, for starters, that crippled child. What was his name?” Vincent snapped his fingers as though that would help him to recall.
“You mean Melvin Samuelson, now Melvin Samuelson-Wright?” Kendall said.
“Yeah. Why would King care anything about that child? And why is it that Mack Wright took such an interest in a child that was no relation to him? What’s the real story behind all of that?”
“There’s nothing there,” Chad said, closing the door with fanfare behind him.
Vincent looked up. “I didn’t hear you come in. And how did you happen to get in here, anyway?” Vincent said, quickly rising to his feet.
“Still have keys,” Chad said, holding up his ring of keys to Vincent’s house.
“Yeah, well, I need those back,” Vincent said. Chad threw the keys to him. Vincent caught them, although barely. “So why do you say there’s nothing there with Mack and that little Samuelson kid?”
“Because I checked them out thoroughly myself.” Chad gestured toward the couch, requesting permission to sit. Vincent nodded his okay. Chad sat down next to Kendall, who quickly scooted closer to him. “Believe it or not, Mack and Jonathan Samuelson became friends when King d.Avid was signed with Mack’s grandfather, Pearson Wright, as his manager.”
“Another loser,” Vincent said, dismissing Pearson’s name with the wave of his hand. “Pearson was going nowhere fast with the hottest talent out there. If I hadn’t stepped in and taken over when I did, people would still be saying, ‘King who?’ instead of ‘King d.Avid.’ See, that’s the difference in a manager and an effective manager.
“I still don’t get what would cause a single man, who is no kin at all, to step up and take on the responsibility of a child that’s number one: not his own; and number two: has major health issues,” Vincent said. “Was Mack gay and he and Jonathan had some kind of relationship we don’t know about? Could that be why Mack stepped in like he did? Or is Mack a pedophile with his eye on children? What better mark than a child no one apparently wants, who can barely get around? A child with no power to tell. And if he did tell, who would he tell, who would believe him, and what might he lose in the process?”
Chad shook his head. “No, man. Don’t even go there.”
“Well, no one said it had to be true to spread it. And you know what they say about a lie making its rounds around the world before the truth can even put its boots on good, or something like that,” Vincent said.
Chad shook his head again slowly but deliberately. “Drop that, Vincent. I’m serious now. Drop it.”
“I wasn’t planning on actually putting it out there. But if I told King that I was, the way he feels about his dead friend Jonathan, I’m sure he wouldn’t want something like that out there, possibly tarnishing his friend’s memory. Then there’s the son, who’s still here. King wouldn’t want that little boy to have to suffer through anything like that.”
“I’m telling you,” Chad said. “Squash that noise. You’re not going to do that to either of them. You’re not even going to threaten to do it.”
“Excuse me,” Vincent said, drawing his body back. “But who exactly invited you, first off, into my house; and second, to this private discussion?”
Chad leaned forward. “Look, man, I’m just telling you not to go there.”
“Okay, since you want to play the role of advisor today. What about this? Unzell Waters was married to Brianna Waters when he’s mysteriously killed in some freak accident that, by all accounts, should never have happened. The question is: was it really an accident or did King d.Avid order the death of an innocent man just so he could take the man’s wife, who happens to be a gorgeous little lamb?”
“Ooh,” Kendall said. “Now that’s scandalous for real. And you know: it positively has legs. I was thinking about that one myself. I mean, did you see how fast King d.Avid swooped in after her husband died? The man wasn’t in the grave six weeks good before they were running off and getting married.”
“And then the baby was born not six months after the wedding,” Vincent said. “I’ll tell you what I’d like to know. And that is: whose baby is it? Really?”
“Wow. I hadn’t thought of that. Do you think it was possibly King d.Avid’s?” Kendall asked as she arched her curvy body to show off her assets better. “Scandalous.”
“Who knows and who cares?” Vincent said. “The thing is to get that out there. For that matter, put it out there about him and Jonathan’s questionable, close friendship. Let people debate what may have been between them as well. Or more to the point: tell King d.Avid that’s what we’ll put out there. We’ll see if that’s something he wants to have to battle down, especially now that he has his little wife on his sweet little arm. They made that big old show, having that rededication ceremony a few months back.”
“Do you think they were really even married?” Kendall asked.
“Oh, yes, they were married,” Vincent said. “Chad and I were there to witness that sham. They didn’t even really kiss. It was one of those old folks’ wimpy lip pecks. And Brianna seemed so out of it, I had to wonder what he’d done to force her into marrying him. She was definitely not a blushing bride. Maybe I should try again to hook up with Alana, Brianna’s little
friend; see what she knows and can tell me. Although she blew me off the last time I tried. But there’s too much not adding up. She might talk.”
“Yeah, right. Good luck with Alana, now that she sees you’re really not about anything. But I know they say the happy couple didn’t even sleep in the same room,” Kendall said. “So you’re right. There was something going on that just didn’t add up.”
“Well,” Chad said, standing to his feet, “I would be careful when it comes to talk of blackmail and extortion. Last I checked: that was a crime—punishable by jail time.”
“Yeah, like I’m worried about King d.Avid standing up to something like this,” Vincent said. “The man cares too much about his brand and about not disappointing his fellow Christian zealots. Christians have enough scandals to deal with as it is, especially lately. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be the cause of one more, specifically one that could tarnish his good name in the process.”
Chad walked toward the door. “I’m out of here. Y’all be good now, you hear?” Chad said it like the show The Beverly Hillbillies where, at the end, Elly Mae Clampett would wave and tell folks to come back. Chad then left.
“Why did you let him hear what you were planning on doing?” Kendall said after Chad was gone. “What if he runs back and blabs it to King d.Avid?”
Vincent smirked and ticked his head two times. “That’s my plan. If Chad tells him, then King will know that we’re absolutely serious. If Chad doesn’t, then that lets me know maybe we can pull him over to our side, and we’d have someone on the inside again. Either way, we win.” Vincent nodded with satisfaction. “Either way, my dear Kendall . . . we win.”
Chapter 47
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
—Psalm 110:1
King d.Avid opened the door for Vincent.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” Vincent said. “I think this is something you and I can work out in an amicable way. I don’t want to hurt you or your family. Oh, and congratulations on your recent announcement. So, when is your baby due?”
Redeeming Waters Page 26
