“We need to go someplace quiet to talk.”
“No, what you need to do is take me home. I don’t want to talk to you.”
He ignored her and drove to the nearest park anyhow.
Lisa scanned their environment, examining any and all vehicles passing by.
“What are you looking for?” he snarled, turning off the engine.
“I don’t know. I’m thinking this has to be some kind of practical joke. I keep hoping to spot some type of hidden camera crew or something. Am I getting Punk’d?”
“No, Lisa! I can’t believe you’re taking this so lightly!”
“And I can’t believe you’re really upset because I was dancing by myself to jazz music, at a restaurant that you took me to.”
“I’m sorry.” His demeanor suddenly changed. “You’re right. I am responsible for tonight because I chose the restaurant. Had I known that the band would have been there I would have taken you somewhere else.”
“I don’t want to hear your apologies. It’s not going to work this time. Take me home.”
“I will. Baby, just hear me out first, please. I prayed every day that God would send me a Godly woman and until I met you, no one had measured up. You are the Eve to my Adam. You’re the—”
“Get to the point!”
“I don’t know what happened tonight. I feel the devil is trying to come between us.”
“Naw, you’re not going to blame this one on the devil. This was all you, bruh.”
He sighed. “Regardless, we still have to hang in there and be strong. I admitted to you earlier that I was dealing with a selfish spirit—”
“More like a stupid one if you ask me.”
“Will you please cut out all the sarcasm?”
“No, Eric, tonight you’ve really worked my nerves. I was enjoying myself and you managed to stress me out all over again. I should have gone with my gut and stayed home.”
“I know how we can solve this real quick; let’s pray together.”
“Nope. I don’t want to pray with you; I want to go home.”
“A couple that prays together stays together. It’s important to have daily devotions and prayer time with God.”
“I know. . .I have done my devotions today. As a matter of fact, I have devotion and prayer time each morning before I leave for work. If I need to do more tonight, I’ll do it on my own. Right now, I want you to take me home!”
“How long did you pray?”
“Huh?”
“This morning, in your private time. . .how long did you pray?”
“I don’t know. . .I guess about fifteen or twenty minutes. Why? What does the length of my prayers have to do with anything?”
“A lot. We need to be on the same page. Starting tomorrow morning, I’m going to call you at four so we can spend time with the Lord together over the phone.”
Lisa was dumbfounded. Where were the practical joke cameras when she needed them? “Either I’m excessively irritated or you’re overly insane. . .”
“No, Lisa, I’m serious. Look at what happened to us tonight. I’m not going to blame it all on your not praying the required time. Truthfully, I probably cheated God about three minutes or so this morning. Usually I get down on my knees and pray for an hour and thirty-three minutes each morning. After I pray, I saturate myself in the Word for another hour and thirty-three minutes before I officially begin my day.”
Lisa was very curious about why he timed his prayers so meticulously, but dared not to ask. Instead, she replied, “It’s nice to know you have that much time on your hands every morning, but I don’t.”
“Well, I suggest you change that. When you become my wife we will definitely be doing our devotion and prayer time together—exactly an hour and thirty-three minutes for each.”
Now she couldn’t help herself, she had to know. “Why are so you specific about the timeframe?”
“Because. . .” He looked shocked, as if she should already know. “Jesus was thirty-three when He was crucified, signaling that He had completed His mission. In order for our devotion and prayer times to be complete, they must end at thirty-three.”
Lisa swallowed hard not to laugh. “After tonight, I no longer want to be your wife. No offense, but you’re crazy. I now have a better appreciation for the fact that God did not give me a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and a sound mind, which is much more than I can say for you.”
“Are you trying to quote 2 Timothy 1:7? If so, know that it doesn’t say ‘God did not.’ It says God hath not. . .” he emphasized passionately. “If you’re going to quote the Bible, do it correctly!” He flipped the switch and got angry once again. “I don’t know how you were brought up, but Mother raised me never to change the Word of God.”
Lisa laughed, sarcastically. “Oh, so your mama has something to do with this? That doesn’t surprise me. She’s not the brightest apple in the bunch. For the last time, take. . .me. . .home!”
Lisa leaned her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes. Hearing Eric fumble for a few seconds, she expected him to start the car and pull off. Instead, he’d poured anointing oil on his hand and the next thing she knew he’d placed his greasy palm on her forehead and began shouting: “Satan, I rebuke you in the Name of Jesus. Come out of her. Lisa Hampton, I command you by the power invested in me through the Holy Spirit to come forth!”
No longer mad, she was livid. Lisa slapped his hand off her so quick. “Get off of me, you nut!”
Eric continued screaming for her to “come forth” as if he was Jesus calling Lazarus from the grave. She got out of the car; her forehead dripped with oil. Immediately she tried to call Olivia for a ride, but got her voicemail. She dialed her mother’s number and tensed when her father answered.
“Can I speak to Mama, please?” Lisa was not yet fully supportive of the two of them living together. Though she had come a long way, him answering the phone was something that she still wasn’t ready for.
“Hey, Skeeter; one second, please.”
“Hello?”
“Mama, I need you to come get me. . .”
CHAPTER 24
True Colors
Lisa waited patiently for her mother as Eric eerily continued sitting in his car, yelling and rebuking the spirit of Satan to release and let her go. She prayed that her mother had accurately written down the directions she had given. About fifteen minutes later, Lisa recognized her father’s gold Cutlass coming her way. She slid in the back seat as Eric continued his séance.
Safely secured in her father’s car, Lisa was now more amused by Eric’s behavior than she was mad at him. She rolled with laughter as she told her parents about the night’s events. “See, I knew that man was crazy,” her mother bragged. “I tried to tell you the night y’all got engaged. I said, ‘something’s not quite right about him,’ but noooah, you said I was just saying that because he wasn’t RJ.”
The sound of her mother’s “I-told-you-so” tone got under Lisa’s skin a little, but part of her wondered if her mother had more of a spirit of discernment than she had given her credit for. It was she who had said the exact same thing about Marvin, Callie’s late husband. Callie’s latest revelation proved their mother to be right as well.
Lisa didn’t go to Bible study that week so as to avoid running into Eric. His voice messages to see if she had been “clothed and in her right mind” had gone unanswered. By Sunday morning, she knew she had to face him. After service, she knocked on his office door. There were many people lingering after church still and she figured it was the safest place to speak with him.
“Come in.”
The first time Lisa had stepped foot in Eric’s church office was earlier this year when she followed him back after one of the anniversary meetings to get some papers from him. Back then, she had been impressed with the plaques of scriptures outlining his wall. There were sixty-six plaques representing a favorite verse of his from each book. His tiny bookshelf was aligned with concordances, Bibles and p
ictures of Bishop and Mrs. Henry Freeman. He had not one, not two, not even three, but seven large statues of Jesus dying on the cross. Plastic doves hung from the ceiling and over in the corner was a life-sized statue of Jesus. Initially, Lisa saw all of this as symbolic of Eric’s deep spiritual connection with God and she had been drawn to him. After the stunt he’d pulled at the park, it became apparent how all of these were warning signs of his insanity.
If Eric was surprised or happy to see her, Lisa couldn’t tell by his expression. He stared at her blankly. “What can I do for you?”
She closed the door to give them some privacy. “Hi, Eric. I came—”
“It’s Minister Freeman,” he huffed.
Lisa chuckled, thinking back to the conversation when he’d asked her to call him by his first name, stating how he wasn’t hung up on titles. “Look, I’m not here to get into it with you. I think we both understand that our relationship is over. I wanted to give this back to you.” She held the ring out to him.
“Romans 11:29 says ‘For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.’”
Despite her conscious screaming, “Run! He’s crazy,” curiosity prompted Lisa to ask him how in the world that scripture was relevant.
“Did I ever tell you my middle name?”
“No.”
“It’s Joshua. My name is Eric Joshua Freeman.”
“O-kay. And your point would be?”
“The name Joshua has a very significant meaning. It is the equivalent of Jesus and means Savior. Don’t you see? I am so connected with the Holy Spirit that, in many ways, I am God. If Jesus weren’t Jesus, I would be. That ring was a gift to you because you are called to be my wife. But the devil has blinded you to the truth. I will—”
Lisa couldn’t take it anymore. She tossed the diamond as he spoke and quickly got out of his office. Speed-walking to her car, in case Eric came after, she prayed under her breath. “Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to see his true colors before I made the mistake of marrying him!”
• • •
Later that evening, Lisa and Olivia met at The Cheesecake Factory at Easton for dinner. “I couldn’t believe it when he said that!” Lisa shared with her best friend Eric’s latest rantings. “Can you imagine how crazy he would be if we actually had gotten married? I tell you what, I’m going to listen to my mama the next time she warns me about a guy.”
Olivia had remained quiet most of the dinner. She chuckled slightly as Lisa filled her in on all the drama with Eric, but there was a heartiness from her laugh that was missing. “Liv, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, why do you ask?”
“This past week, you haven’t seemed to be yourself.”
“I’m missing my husband. He’s back in New York now. I can’t wait until he comes home, which probably won’t be for about another month.”
For some reason Lisa wasn’t convinced by Olivia’s explanation. They’d been friends for four years, since Lisa first moved to Ohio, and they’d weathered many of Isaac’s business trips together. Though lonesome at times, Olivia never seemed to be this affected by his absences. Isaac and Liv appeared to be the perfect couple. Lisa hoped that his frequent traveling wasn’t causing them to have major marital troubles that, perhaps, were too painful for Olivia to share. She would eventually get down to the bottom of what was bugging her friend. She and Liv normally didn’t keep things from each other.
“You still haven’t heard from Chanelle?”
“No,” she admitted sadly. “The last text message RJ received from her said that she wanted to be left alone. Has Justin heard from her again?”
“She told him the same thing.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with that girl, but it’s officially out of my hands. She’s an adult now and I’m going to let her live her own life, even though I see her headed down the wrong path. I really hope she starts school and doesn’t screw that up.”
“Chanelle has been giving you problems for a long time. Her behavior does not surprise me.”
Lisa was a little hurt by Olivia’s callous response, but she stuffed it and quickly changed the subject. They continued talking about various things over dinner. Olivia mentioned how excited Justin was about this year’s football season. Their conversation was interrupted when Lisa’s cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number and had her daughter not been missing in action, she might not have answered it. “Excuse me for just a second, Liv. . .hello?”
CHAPTER 25
Down Right Ignorance
Lisa hung up the phone, horrified.
“Was that Chanelle?” Olivia seemed on edge.
“No, it was my nephew, Bryan. He said that Callie’s in the hospital. She tried to commit suicide.”
“Oh my!”
“I-I need to get there as soon as possible.” Lisa pulled out the iPhone that Olivia had given her last Christmas and frantically searched for her boss’s number. “I’ll call and leave Neil a message. I’ll call Megan, too. Hopefully, she can handle things while I’m gone. I need to get out of here. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Mama about this. She’s already worried to death about Chanelle and now Callie. . .It seems like my family is suddenly falling apart,” she cried.
Olivia reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “Why don’t you go talk to your mother now. Don’t even worry about calling Neil or Megan. I’m going in for the board meeting in the morning so I’ll talk to both of them for you.”
As tears dripped onto her friend’s hand, Lisa smiled. “Thanks, Liv.”
“Now go ’head and get out of here. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Lisa took her friend’s advice and ran out of the restaurant. Already in a panicky state of mind, Lisa called RJ and asked if he’d come with her to her mother’s house, sharing with him for the first time Callie’s positive diagnosis in addition to the details of Bryan’s call. RJ stepped up to the challenge without hesitation, meeting her at her home. They then rode to her parents’ apartment together.
As expected, her mother broke down in tears when Lisa disclosed Callie’s secret and suicide attempt. “You were right about Marvin all along, Mama,” Lisa admitted. For years, their mother had professed that Marvin was “different.”
“I wish I wasn’t,” she sobbed uncontrollably. Lisa watched as her father held back his own grief and wiped her mother’s tears. He appeared gentle, not at all like the alcoholic monster that had beaten her to a pulp.
From what Lisa was told, he had been sober since the incident last summer and was even attending church with her mother. Time would reveal if, in fact, he really had changed.
Escorted by RJ to the airport, Lisa and her parents were on the first available flight out to Sacramento that same evening. “Will you call and let me know how she’s doing?” RJ asked.
Lisa nodded affirmatively.
“If I hear anything else from Chanelle, I’ll tell you.”
“Thanks for everything.”
It was extremely late when their plane arrived, so instead of taking them to the hospital that night, Bryan took them all to Callie’s home where they planned to stay. The three-hour time difference between California and Ohio had already taken a toll on Lisa’s parents and they were soon off to bed, but Lisa and Bryan stayed up to talk for a while in the living room. Though Lisa was only about seven or eight years older than Bryan, they really weren’t all that close, more likely because of the geographical differences than anything else. That night they both needed emotional support and thus, leaned on each other.
Bryan, who lived almost six hours from Sacramento in L.A., had been notified of his mother’s suicide attempt by EMS. Apparently the mailman had spotted her seemingly lifeless body through the window. “I had no idea that she had even come back. I would call her cell phone and she pretended to still be in Ohio with you. I just feel so bad. I should have made it a point to contact you on a regular basis, but Mom was so adamant that no one knew about her condition I was afraid I’d s
omehow tip you off.”
“It’s not your fault. I should have been more attentive. I picked up funny vibes with her, but I’ve been so wrapped up in my own affairs that I sort of just ignored her. I mean, I prayed for her and all, but I never really sat down and gave her the attention that she probably needed. The night before she left we got into this huge argument and, in the heat of the moment, she told me that she was HIV-positive. I woke up the next morning and she was gone. I’ve been trying to call her ever since, but she wouldn’t answer my calls. In retrospect, I should have called you as well, then you would have known that she was back and maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.”
She and Bryan continued talking about Callie for a while, both feeling at fault. Lisa finally broke the cycle when she asked him how his wife, Tyra, and their baby girl, Naomi, were doing.
“Naomi’s great.” His face shone with pride as he pulled a picture of her from his wallet. Lisa’s heart melted at the photo of the newborn dressed in a “Daddy’s Girl” T-shirt. “This was taken the first day we brought her home from the hospital. She’s ten weeks now. Tyra’s got some new photos of her. She was supposed to have sent them off by now. Did you get one?”
“No, not yet. I did get one of the newborn pictures taken at the hospital. By the way, thank you for that.”
“No problem. I’ll remind Tyra to send you a recent one.”
“When are they coming to see Callie? I’m looking forward to seeing Naomi in person.”
Bryan sucked his teeth. “I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. Honestly, Lisa, Tyra and I have been having problems.” Pain peered through his eyes as he shared how Tyra insisted that Callie leave their house because she didn’t want her to spread HIV to the baby. “I couldn’t believe how ignorant she acted.”
“It boils down to a lack of education.”
“No, it was stupidity. The doctor even told her that there was no risk to the baby, but she listened to her ghetto cousin’s boyfriend who said he saw on the news how this woman got HIV from drinking from a glass that an infected person had recently drank from. The glass had been washed, but supposedly traces of HIV were still on the rim.”
In Times of Trouble Page 15
