On A Prayer

by Mary May

  So once he was grown he went to work in a college as a janitor and self-educated himself to the point that he could apply for a scholarship. He lied and falsified his school records because he had never attended school.

  He studied like a mad man and graduated at the top of his class. He had learned that a man could either work his body and wear it out or work his mind and it would only grow stronger. He started his law office and worked whatever cases he could get his hands on. He would defend anybody. He said at first he didn’t care if he knew they were guilty or not; he would do his best to win the case against them. Slowly but surely he started to build a name for himself and the money started rolling in. He said he dated all the women he wanted. He went from one to another without a second thought. But then one evening he was walking downtown with his current lady friend and they passed by a church. It was a warm evening so the church doors were open and they must have been having choir practice. They started to walk on past when he heard what he thought surely must have been an angel start to sing.” Alec stopped smiling at the memory of his granddad telling this story. “It was one of his favorites.”

  Klara kicked his foot. “Well, don’t stop there! Keep going!”

  Alec grabbed her foot and placed it in his lap then continued with the story. “Well, he said the beauty of Amelia’s voice alone turned his feet back around and marched him right up into that church to sit down. There he saw her standing in her choir gown looking like the angel he thought she must surely be. Her long blonde hair was curling down to her waist and her clear green eyes looked to be the color of springtime. That’s how he described her.”

  He looked over to see that Klara was completely enraptured with his story. She shooed her hands at him to make him go on with it. “So he waited until choir practice was over then he introduced himself. Now Amelia Robertson was not easily impressed and she didn’t particularly care how wealthy Abraham Adams was. Her family was middle class and although not wealthy by any means they were comfortable. So Granddad had to find another way to catch her eye. He tried to show off in his fancy cars, but she walked right past him when he would honk at her. He tried to show off his strong body by doing athletic feats, but she ignored him. It wasn’t until he showed up to church one Sunday morning that he finally got a smile out of her. Then he knew what he needed to do to win her heart. So every Sunday he would be in church and finally two months later she agreed to a date. They were married a year later.

  Now the way granddad tells it, he got real busy with his law firm and didn’t have time for church anymore. The way my grandmother told it, he didn’t have a need to attend church any longer because he had gotten what he was after. She said he didn’t mind her going, but he never went again until years later.” He stopped again and Klara asked what made his granddad start going to church again.

  He smiled and shook his finger at her. “Donkey, plow, Klara, donkey, plow.”

  She rolled her eyes at him and shoved her foot into his stomach. “Everyone knows it’s horse, cart Alec! Now stop stopping! You’re killing me here!”

  He moved her foot out of his rib cage then went on. “Life was pretty good for them for the first three years or so. He was making money hand over fist and they built the house that you’re staying in now. My mother came along and then a son.”

  Klara sat up suddenly. “You never told me you had an uncle! Maybe that’s where your mother is!”

  He frowned at her. “Are you going to let me tell this story or not?”

  She grinned sheepishly. “Sorry…go ahead.”

  He winked at her then picked up where he had left off. “The reason I never told you I had an uncle is because I don’t. Not really. He died before his first birthday.”

  Klara gasped then covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, no! What happened?”

  “He was born with a weak heart and wasn’t expected to live more than a few days, a week tops. But he lived until he was nearly eleven months old. That was only because of the excellent care my grandmother gave him. After he died my grandmother just stopped.”

  Klara frowned at him. “What do you mean stopped? Stopped what?”

  He shrugged. “From what I have been told, everything. She stopped cooking, cleaning or taking care of my mother. She stopped eating or bathing; she stopped everything.”

  Klara shook her head. “I can understand that. I’ve been there myself. Losing a child is like having your soul ripped from your body. You feel empty and hollow. I think your grandmother had it worse than me. She had to live with the dread of losing him every day. I couldn’t imagine.”

  Alec squeezed her foot. “Yes, I imagine it was a horrible yet a sweet time for her. Bittersweet, I think, would be the correct word. After my uncle passed, everything just sort of fell apart for my grandparents. She was in such a deep state of depression that he didn’t know how to deal with her, so he started drinking. The worse her depression grew, the more he would drink. Then he started staying gone all the time. Rarely would he put in an appearance at his own dinner table. Finally my great grandmother Sadie had to come take my mother and grandmother to stay with them. After a while my grandmother started to improve, but unfortunately my grandfather just got increasingly worse. Once my grandmother had improved enough to return home and resume her role as wife and mother, my grandfather no longer cared about anything that didn’t come in a bottle. He drank from the moment he woke up until he passed out from it late in the night. When Grandmother would hide his whiskey, he would become enraged and threaten her if she didn’t give it to him. One night she stood her ground and refused to let him have it. My grandmother said he turned into a mad man, like he was possessed, screaming and yelling foul things at her; then he started destroying the house. He threw furniture into walls and out of the windows. She and my mother hid in a small closet under the stairs until he left the house; then she packed her bags and left. He didn’t even notice she was gone for nearly a week then he came after her.”

  “He came tearing up the driveway of my great grandparents’ house honking the horn and weaving all over the place because he was out of his mind drunk. He got out screaming for my grandmother. My great grandfather met him at the door with a twelve-gauge shotgun. They wrestled over the gun and it went off accidently.”

  Klara actually jumped in her seat. “Oh, no…did it hurt anyone?” Alec nodded. “Yes, it shot my granddad’s right foot clean off. That’s why he walks with a cane. He has an artificial foot.”

  “Really? I never would have guessed anything that extreme was the reason for the cane. I just thought it was to help him because of arthritis or something. He does remarkably well with it.”

  “Yes, he does. That, of course, put him in the hospital long enough to truly sober up and see what a monster he had become. Then he was plagued with guilt and regret. My grandmother swore she would never see him again or let him anywhere near my mother. She filed for divorce and moved in with her parents.”

  Klara shook her head in disbelief. “My goodness, what a mess! So where does the miracle come in?” At Alec’s stern look she sat back. “Yeah, yeah… ok…donkey plow…I hear you.”

  “My grandfather had to hire someone to help take care of him until he was well enough to be on his own. He found Agatha by pure happenstance. She was originally from England and…”

  “I knew I detected an accent! She covers it pretty well, but on certain words it rings out loud and clear.” Alec sighed then got up and went into the kitchen area of the suite. In a few minutes she heard the unmistakable sound of microwave popcorn beginning to pop. She got up to investigate. “Popcorn is a great idea. This story would make a great book or even better a movie.” Alec glanced at her but didn’t respond. In a few minutes they were back on the couch, popcorn in one hand and a can of Coke in the other. Klara snuggled down on the couch, placing the bowl of popcorn on her tummy as she scooted down to prop her feet up on the coffee table. She turned to Alec expectantly. He looked at her in amusement.

>   “Are you all comfy?” She nodded then offered the bowl of popcorn. “No, that’s all yours. I’m hoping if your mouth is full of popcorn you won’t be able to burst into the middle of my story.”

  Klara gave him a peeved look. “Well, you should tell it better. You stop at the important spots and you don’t give enough details.”

  He shook his head. “I tell the story just fine, thank you very much. You, madam, have no patience.”

  She crunched the popcorn in her mouth down to manageable size then she grinned at him. “That’s actually true. David hated going to the movies with me because I talked the whole time.”

  Alec grimaced in sympathy for the man. “You eat and let me tell this story.” She grinned and put another handful of popcorn in mouth. Once satisfied that the snack would keep her mouth busy, he continued on with the story.

  “Where was I? Oh, yes…Agatha. Well, like I said, Agatha was originally from England. Hampshire, I believe she said. She was here trying to find work so she could stay permanently and she had tried everywhere. Back in that time people were very untrusting of foreigners, so she had very little chance of finding work. My granddad was coming out of the local grocery store hobbling with his crutch in one hand and trying to carry a small sack of groceries with the other. They literally collided in the doorway. She helped him carry his groceries to the car and he offered her a job. They saved each other and she has been here ever since.”

  He stopped and waited to see how long Klara could stand it before she broke her vow of silence. She ate one bite of popcorn then another. The third handful never made it to her mouth because she tossed it at him with an exasperated look on her face, but she didn’t speak! He smiled at her. “Good girl. Ok, Agatha was very much a strong Christian and she saw how miserable my granddad was. She slowly started speaking to him about Christ and the peace and contentment that could be found with him. She always seemed so calm and peaceful that he enjoyed being around her. Finally she got him going to church. One night after dinner he asked her to lead him in the sinner’s prayer. After that he was in church every Sunday. He was there any time the doors were open really. Now he didn’t lose his gruff demeanor or his spit and vinegar as he would call it, but he found his inner peace.”

  He looked over at Klara and could see questions racing through her mind that she was trying so hard to suppress. He laughed. “Ok, what do you want to know? What did I leave out?”

  She blew out a breath that she had been holding, trying not to bust out with her questions. “Ok, Agatha led your granddad to the Lord, but who led Amelia? How did they get back together? When did the miracle take place? What was your uncle’s name?”

  He laughed at the explosion of questions that came shooting out of her mouth. “I’m going to answer your last question first because it has the easiest answer. His name was Alexander Riley Adams. I’m actually named after him; my mother just changed the spelling to Alec’zander; for whatever reason it’s a family tradition to have first names that start with the letter A. Now to answer your other questions, I’ll need to finish the story. I just stopped to give you chance to expel all that breath you were holding in.”

  Klara rolled her eyes. “Ok. I’m good. Now finish their story.”

  “Like I said, my granddad was in church at every opportunity. He started driving out to visit grandmother just to see my mom. He didn’t ask her to get back together or put any kind of pressure on her. He simply played with my mom and was acting so different that she finally asked what had happened. He told her about meeting Agatha and what a difference she made in his life by leading him to Christ. He said that he had found peace for the first time in his life. At first my grandmother was very skeptical; after all, he had done this before when they first met, so she wasn’t about to be fooled a second time. But as the weeks turned into months, she noticed that the change in him seemed to be genuine.

  By this time my grandmother’s relationship with the good Lord wasn’t what it should have been, so this started to weigh heavy on her heart. One Sunday morning a few weeks later Granddad said he was standing there listening to the praise and worship session. He had his head down praying for the restoration of his marriage when he felt someone bump up against him. He opened his eyes and looked down to see my mom smiling up at him with Grandma standing beside her. She smiled at him and reached for his hand. They left the church that Sunday morning much like they did in the beginning, only this time both of their hearts were in one accord with Christ, and there is your miracle.”

  Klara sniffled and wiped away tears from her eyes brought on by the beautiful story. “That’s the most beautiful story I have ever heard. You’re right. God did turn a mistake into a miracle. I just hope the miracle doesn’t stop there. I really hope your mother is found and that she, too, has a heart for Christ.”

  Alec got up and gathered up the now empty popcorn bowl and carried it into the kitchen. Klara followed along behind him. He was quiet and she could tell the subject of his mother was one that was hard for him.

  “I’m sorry, Alec; I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories.”

  He smiled down at her as he leaned against the counter. “You really didn’t. I don’t have too many memories of my mother good or bad. I was just thinking on what you said about the miracle not stopping there. I wish she could have been found before my grandmother passed on.”

  Klara cocked her head and thought a minute. “Well, I’m sure your grandmother knows where your mother is now. I would think that in heaven all of our questions will be answered, and I’m sure that was one of hers. Maybe the time down here just hasn’t happened yet for the miracle to be completed.”

  He nodded his head. “You may be right, Klara; thank you.”

  She looked at him, puzzled. “What are thanking me for?”

  He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “For reminding me that miracles do happen.”

  Chapter 22

  The following morning they packed their bags and were checking out. Klara waited while Alec tended to the business of reserving the same suite for the next weekend. They had decided they would give it one more shot. Hopefully next time they won’t be so distracted by Roy. Klara really hoped that Alec would have figured out how to catch him by next weekend. She didn’t think she could take living on pins and needles for very much longer. She dug around in her purse looking for her chapstick when the photo of Haylie fell out on the floor. A man in army fatigues and a buzzed haircut stopped and picked it up for her. He flipped it over as he handed it to her.

  “How do you know Haylie?” He was eyeing her with suspicion.

  “I’m looking for Haylie Kelley. Do you know her? Is she here with you?” Klara could hardly contain her excitement. Alec walked over and she explained what had happened.

  “So who are you and what do you want with Haylie?” The man’s face was stoic as he watched them. “My name is Klara Martin and this is Alec Adams. It is very important that we find Haylie and speak with her. Please tell us if you know where she is.”

  The man shook his head. “I’m not comfortable telling you anything until you tell me what you want with her. She has enough to deal with right now. You tell me why you want to talk her and then I’ll decide if I want to tell you where she is.”

  Alec stepped forward. “I’m Alec Adams and I’m an attorney. The matter that we need to speak with Mrs. Kelley is a private but urgent one. She isn’t in any trouble, if that is what you are concerned about. However, the matter is extremely urgent and time is of the essence.”

  The man still didn’t look convinced, and Klara was afraid he was going to leave without telling them where Haylie was.

  “Please, it’s about her son Matthew. Please, please tell us where she is. We promise we are not here to cause her any trouble.”

  The man looked at her sharply. “This is about Matthew? Do you know where he is? Is he ok?”

  Alec stepped forward once more. “Why don’t you tell us who you are and how you are associa
ted with Mrs. Kelley.”

  Klara rolled her eyes and pushed him out of the way. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, lay off the lawyer speak. Look, Matthew is fine, for now. But we really do need to speak to her about him.”

  He studied her face for a few long seconds then apparently he decided she was trustworthy. “Ok, I’m Derrick Merrill. I’m Haylie’s boyfriend and I’m Matthew’s real father.”

  Klara looked over at Alec with wide, surprised eyes. “I think we need to find somewhere to sit down and talk. There is a coffee bar across the street,” Alec suggested. A few minutes later they were settled in a booth at the Cup a Day coffee bar. “Why don’t you start with your last statement of claiming to be Matthew’s real father,” Alec suggested.

  Derrick played with his cup of black coffee. “Haylie and I met seven years ago at a party. I was on leave from the army and was only in town for a week. I fell for her pretty hard and I believe she felt the same way about me. I was shipped out to Afghanistan and we lost track of one another. I didn’t even know she was pregnant. She was over six months along when she met Marcus. If you check Matthew’s birth certificate, it has my name listed as the father.”

  “So where is she? Why did she leave Matthew behind?” Klara asked. “She didn’t leave him. She went to work one day and when she got back home they were gone. She spent weeks looking for them. The local police wouldn’t help her much because she was a known drug user and they didn’t consider her story very likely. As to where she is now, she is in the Nashville Cancer Care Center. She has stage four cervical cancer and the doctors have given her less than a day or two to live.”

  Klara was stunned. She looked at Alec and he, too, was looking at Derrick in disbelief. “We found her just in time,” Klara whispered.

  An hour later they were standing at the bedside of Haylie Kelley. The room was silent except for the steady beat of the heart monitor. Haylie was skeletal thin with a bright pink bandana wrapped around her head. She was so weak that she could barely speak, but love shone in her eyes when Klara told her why they were there.