by Robin Janney
He gave her the withering look she used so often herself. “Angela, come on! John Welles? He never washes his hair, has piercings in both ears and his tongue and his nose! The music he listens to is horrible!”
Angela laughed. “Is that you or mom talking?”
“Ha-ha, very funny.” The boy sat at the table where his finished homework sat. “I’m being serious here! I don’t like any of Cassie’s boyfriends…not John Welles, or Bobby Green…you get the idea. They’re just not nice.”
“Yeah, I understand. You’re twelve and these boys are what? Seventeen, sixteen?”
“Stevie Williams is nineteen,” Jared supplied.
“My point is they’re more mature than you.” Angela reconsidered as she placed the chocolate ice cream into the freezer before it could melt. “Actually, I take that back. You might be more grown up than all of them. Anyway, Craig’s older than I am, which might explain why you like him better. He’s far from being a teen boy. And as for Cassie, she’s in one of those rebellious stages we go through. She’s probably just dating those boys to make Mom and Dad mad. I know that’s why I dated bad boys when I was younger. You’ll probably go through the same thing in a few years, only you’ll date bad girls instead of bad boys…unless you really wanted to give Mom and Dad a heart attack.”
“You are so funny,” declared Jared with thick sarcasm. “I certainly don’t plan on rebelling. Can we be serious here?”
Angela wiped the saucy grin from her face. “Anything my little sage says.” She began washing the few dishes in the sink before they moved on to their dessert.
Her brother sighed and opened his math book. “So,” he asked casually as he inspected a page. “Has Craig kissed you yet?”
Angela retrieved the spoon she had dropped. “What makes you think I would tell you that?”
“So, the answer’s no?”
“You are too smart for your own good,” she muttered. Placing the last spoon in the drainer, she wrung the rag and drained the sink. She draped the rag neatly across the center of the double sink.
“Do you wish he would?”
“What is this? Twenty questions?”
“And that would be a yes!” Jared sounded pleased with himself.
She pulled two bowls from her cupboard and set them on the table. Proceeding to the refrigerator for the cake Flo had refused earlier in the week, she grumbled, “Is it too much for a girl to ask to be allowed to keep a few secrets to herself? What do you and Craig see that no one else can? How do you see through the walls I’ve put up?”
Jared shrugged. “I don’t know. I just see you.” He watched as she placed the marbled cake into the bowls. “That’s the best answer I can give you. Sorry. Have I made you sad about something?”
“Just frustrated. Two scoops or three?” She pulled the ice cream back out of the freezer and placed it on the table next to the cake.
“Three, duh! Mom’s not here to be the ice cream police, is she?”
Angela laughed, opening the quart container. “She most definitely is not.”
He waited until she was done filling his bowl with ice cream before speaking again. Taking the bowl she offered, he said, “Hey, Ange.”
“What?” She scooped ice cream into her own bowl.
“I think Craig likes you too. The same way you like him I mean.”
Her scoop of ice cream missed the bowl. She hastily used her fingers and the scoop to wrestle it into the bowl. Licking her fingers, she asked, “What makes you say that?”
The boy shrugged as he dug into his cake and ice cream. “I saw him watching through a window when we were out with your dog. He had one of those grown-up looks, like happy and sad all at once.”
Angela was silent as she put the cake and ice cream away. It was one thing to have Michelle suggest Craig liked her, she only had Angela’s perspective to go on. Even Craig saying he was ‘maybe’ interested wasn’t much help. But Jared had seen them together, and he was an observant boy when he wanted to be. “Thanks for saying so. Time will tell I guess. Ready to watch our movie?”
I t was early morning though not time to get Jared up for the morning. Instead, Angela sat in the dark kitchen, save for the light above the sink, and watched him sleeping on the couch. Some small noise had brought her out here, but she hadn’t found anything out of place aside from the door not completely latched. It was enough for her to feel on edge.
She loved this boy so much, and not just because he reminded her so much of the brother she’d lost. True, there was a strong physical resemblance between the two boys. From the red in their hair to their height. Their dad was tall too.
Some aspects of their personalities were the same, both intelligent and far more mature than other boys their ages. When they wanted to be. There were enough differences that Angela could easily love Jared for himself. He was funnier than Randy had been. And more forgiving. Jared didn’t have the mean streak their older brother had possessed.
It bothered Angela sometimes when she thought about it too much, like she was now. Her older brother had been her entire world growing up. Would she have ever noticed Jared had Randy lived? It wasn’t something she thought about often. If she did, the more she thought one brother had to die for the other to shine. A thought she didn’t like, but kept coming around to.
The phone rang sharply in the stillness, interrupting her thoughts. She’d even be happy for one of the prank calls she’d begun receiving. She hopped up quickly, catching it before it could ring again. Softly, so as not to wake her brother she greeted her caller. “Hello?”
“Hi,” replied a male voice, a bit hesitant. “Did I wake you?”
“No.” She’d know Craig’s voice anywhere. What time was it anyway? “You sound like you just woke up though.”
“I did. How come you’re up already? It’s barely past five. Been up praying again?”
“No.” Something in his tone bothered her, but she decided to tell him the truth. “I was having trouble sleeping, so I gave up and I’ve been watching my little brother sleep.” She cleared her throat as quietly as she could. “Is there a reason you called?”
He sighed. “Sort of.”
“Are you going to tell me? Or do I have to guess?”
“It’s just…usually I call my friend Kevin when I have these dreams.”
“Oh. I had mine earlier too.” She hoped he didn’t hear the slight tremor in her voice. Perhaps it was just her imagination. “I’m never able to go back to sleep after. Was…was he in it?”
“Yes,” answered Craig with an emotion she couldn’t identify. Anger? Fear? Disbelief? “You told me not to believe him, that he was a liar. But Angela, some of the things he said are true.”
Angela didn’t want to know. It probably wasn’t the same demon as the one she’d faced, but they were all the same. And it was pure fear she was hearing in his voice. “Yeah,” she said at last. “They’re good at telling enough of the truth to make a lie convincing.”
“What makes you think it’s not just a figment of my imagination?” Anger began to tinge his voice, growing stronger as he spoke. “I know you said you had something similar in your dreams, but that doesn’t mean a lot to me right now. It could just mean you’re as cracked as I am. I mean, if God doesn’t care about me, why should the devil?”
Why call her if he was just going to push her away by making her angry? His last sentence diffused her momentary anger. “Is that what you think? That God doesn’t care about you?”
“Angela, I don’t even know if I believe there is a God.”
She lowered herself back into the kitchen chair she had vacated. She struggled daily to reconcile the image of her childhood savior to the God of judgment preached from the pulpit each Sunday. Her heart clung to the vision she’d had as a child, and to hear this coming from the man she was beginning to love broke her heart. “You’re right Craig, the devil doesn’t care about you one bit. He hates you and wants to see you dead. And would you like to know why? Because
the God who made you loves you and the devil is angry we were forgiven when he wasn’t. I know you say you’re not sure if He exists, but you also said you’ve been questioning your beliefs. Sometimes that’s enough to grab the attention of devils, and then they will focus incredible amounts of energy to keep you from finding answers to your questions. The devil will harass you at every chance he gets. His sole desire is to keep you from God.”
“Are you crying?” Craig sounded amazed, but his voice was so quiet she didn’t really hear him.
Was she crying? Not quite. “There is a God, Craig. Someday I’ll tell you why I’m so sure, but for right now just trust me. He made you and He loves you. He gave his Son, the incarnation of Himself, for us on the cross. I know it doesn’t always feel like He loves us, especially when life is hard. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us.”
“That may be, but that doesn’t tell me how to get this devil out of my dreams.”
“I…” A sound drew Angela’s attention, and she saw Jared standing in the archway between the kitchen and living room. “Jared, go back to bed.”
Jared stuck his tongue out at his sister and sat at the table next to her. “Who are you talking to?”
“I’m talking to Craig.”
“I take it we woke someone?” He sounded apologetic.
“Yeah.” Angela sighed in resignation. “Craig, the best thing to do would be to surrender to God, to trust in Jesus as your Savior. Then you would have the authority to order the demon out yourself.”
He was silent a long time. She could hear him breathing, so she knew he hadn’t hung up. One look told her Jared had begun praying.
“What’s the second-best thing?” Craig finally asked.
Angela sighed. “To get as many of your believing friends to pray for you. Jared and I could pray for you right now if you’d like.”
There was a rustle. “That’d be alright.”
Angela reached a hand out towards her brother, and he clasped it tightly. “Lord God, we come to You this morning to ask for protection and grace for Craig. We ask You to please surround him with Your presence as he seeks the answers to his questions – as he seeks You. Please protect him, Lord, especially at night in the area of his dreams. We ask for ministering angels to surround him, so he might not fear the night. Grant him favor Lord, and please reveal Yourself to Him. You’re pursing him, even as he seeks you…” Angela paused, suddenly intimidated to voice her prayer. She didn’t know this man well enough, but she knew what the little voice of the Holy Spirit was urging her to pray.
“Ange, you need to say whatever you’re hearing,” Jared whispered to her. “He needs to hear it.”
He needs to hear it. Jared was right. She continued her prayer. “He knew You once…during that one perfect summer when he was fifteen. You are pursuing him, Lord. Searching for him like the lamb who wandered away. Because he left You. He turned away instead of turning to You when he needed You most because he was certain, is certain, that You abandoned him when he needed You most. Please Lord, reveal Your truth, show him how You’ve never left his side. We ask for healing and wholeness. All this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
“Amen,” echoed Jared.
There was a whispered amen on the other end. “Thank you,” he said softly.
“You’re welcome. I suppose Jared and I could start getting ready for school.” She was tired enough to consider making coffee instead of her usual tea.
“I’ll let you go.” There was another soft rustle. He was probably still in bed. The thought made her heart pick up its tempo. “You do you realize this could become a habit don’t you? Calling each other in the middle of the night, I mean.”
“It’s hardly the middle of the night.” It would be so easy to just keep talking with him. She rose and walked to where the phone’s cradle sat on the counter. “I’m usually up now. I don’t have a problem with it.”
“Neither do I.”
What was also quickly becoming habit was the drawn-out silence. Each knowing they had to end to call but unwilling to do so.
“The count of three?” asked Craig, his tired smile clear.
Angela hoped he could hear her return smile. “One.”
“Two…”
“Three!” they said in unison after a brief hesitation and hung up.
Jared laughed in adolescent amusement. Angela pinned him with a glare, and he quieted though his grin was far from leaving his face. “Come on Ange, you have to admit it’s funny to hear two grown adults behaving…”
“I don’t have to admit any such thing,” she interrupted.
“If you say so. I’ll keep praying for Craig.”
She heard the unvoiced ‘you too’ and decided not to acknowledge it. “Good. That makes two of us.”
“You don’t have anyone else praying with you? Not even Michelle?”
Angela shook her head, crossing to the refrigerator. “No, I…” She hesitated as she pulled out the carton of eggs. Going to the stove to begin breakfast, she continued. “I don’t think Craig would want a lot of people knowing. I know I wouldn’t. He’s a very private man.”
“Yeah.” The youth yawned. “Yeah. I know what you mean. Can I have cake too?”
15
“P
rincess!” Angela called out in the warm afternoon sun. The dog had not been waiting for her on the deck Thursday afternoon, so she stepped down the stairs and called for her. It was a little earlier than usual, but the yellow dog never seemed far away at any time. Especially since the day of her bath and hadn’t that had been fun? She whistled and called again.
The world came to a screeching halt for Angela at the familiar sound of squealing brakes, following by a shrill yipping.
Angela couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. But she had to, she had to…The dish of food she held dropped noiselessly to the pavement, though in truth it clattered to the pavement as the soft food splattered. Angela was beyond hearing anything but the terrible sound of those brakes as she ran around the corner of the store.
Princess had been hit close to the intersection, and the yellow dog was laying almost on the sidewalk along the store. A red car was parked across the narrow street, teens piling out. They all looked sick as they crossed to where Princess and Angela were.
Angela knelt next to her broken dog and began to examine her. No broken legs, and her neck and back were fine. Princess lifted her head and whimpered as her hands slid down the dog’s side.
“Angela, I didn’t see her! Honest…” The young driver was one of the Barry’s youngest girls. She was close to being in hysterics, and the skinny teen boy at her side was trying to calm her.
“Is this your dog?” asked another unfamiliar girl.
“Of course it’s her dog!” declared Becky’s voice from somewhere behind. Her voice came closer with each word. “She feeds it faithfully every day. Oh hon, I’m so sorry.”
Angela did her best to tune them out. Princess needed to get to a vet as quickly as possible before it was too late to save her. “It’s going to be okay, Princess. Please God, let it be okay.” Her hands ran over the dog’s floppy ear. It wasn’t a bad hit but left untreated Princess would die. She’d walked today…her car was too far away. Panic was beginning to creep up on her, a red haze at the edges of her eyes…blinking didn’t help.
Someone new was talking and gripping her shoulder. Looking up, seeing Craig, the panic broke and words flowed out of her. “We have to get her to a vet. Doc Maynard is the closest, but my car’s too far away. Do you know where he’s located?”
“I do, but…he’s probably just going to put her to sleep. You have to be prepared for that.” His gaze never wavered from Angela, fresh pain in his eyes.
“No. No.” She had to make him understand, and her voice came out forcefully. “Listen to me. Most of her injuries feel superficial, but she might have internal bleeding. I can’t tell right now, but if we hurry and get her to Doc Maynard, he can fix her. Please, Craig…it’s not that far, B
ecker Drive right outside Sawyersville.”
“I know,” he reassured her. His jaw tightened, and he looked down at their dog. His face softened, and his hand brushed over Angela’s hand and the dog’s head. Princess whimpered and looked up at her humans. “Still looks alert too. Okay.” Craig looked at Angela again. “I’ll get the truck. Hang tight.”
As he hurried away, Angela looked around her for the first time and saw the crowd which had gathered around them. Perhaps a dozen people, but it was too many for her to handle. “Back up,” she ordered. “Give Princess some room to breathe.”
No one moved.
“Back up!”
They couldn’t move fast enough.
In less time than she expected, Craig’s truck was backing up near them. Lowering the tailgate, Craig returned to their side. “Let’s go,” he said his hands sliding under the dog’s backside.
“Careful, careful,” Angela whispered unnecessarily as she slid her arms under the whimpering dog’s chest and helped lift her into the back of the truck. She climbed in after the dog, unaware of Craig’s helping hands. “Go,” she kept saying as the tailgate shut behind her.
“As fast as I can,” Craig said.
The small crowd talked among themselves as the truck took off fast enough to squeal tires.
N ewt Maynard was a kind grandfatherly man, known by almost everyone as Doc Maynard. He had been Angela’s hero for years. He had held her when Orangie the cat could no longer walk and needed to be put down, and since then had never hesitated to drop whatever he was doing to help save whichever broken animal she brought him.
Before Angela knew it, she was standing in the middle of his waiting room not knowing what to do. Doc Maynard had taken Princess immediately, having been waiting for them with a stretcher. Someone had called ahead, she didn’t know who.
The receptionist and the other vet on duty were both assuring the others waiting that everyone would be seen to. No one complained, instead they offered Angela their sympathy. And she felt so lost right now.
