Rain in the Promised Land

by Vanessa Miller

  Grinning as she glanced over at Ikee, Marissa then quickly turned back to Nina. “Yes ma’am. Ikee was so sweet, coming to my door with those tracts talking about how God could save my soul.” She laughed at the memory. “I told him that I didn’t have time to worry about Heaven because I was too busy trying to survive from day-to-day right here on Earth.”

  Ikee joined in, “I gave her your favorite phrase, Mom… ‘I wouldn’t want to live or die without Christ in my life’.”

  Marissa’s eyes got teary and Nina could see that those words had an impact on the girl.

  Wiping a tear as it traveled down her face, Marissa said, “I had never heard anything like that before. Certainly no one in my family was thinking about living for God in the here and now. All we’ve ever been taught to do is scratch our way from the bottom, just to get barely above ground.

  “But when Ikee told me that I shouldn’t live or die without Christ in my life, it felt as if God had finally opened my eyes and I was able to see the truth. He led me in the sinner’s prayer that day and came to see me at least once a week, if not more, since that time.”

  That was obvious, Nina thought. If the boy hadn’t been sniffing around, then Marissa wouldn’t be in their house looking for child support. “How many months are you?” Nina appreciated that Marissa had accepted the Lord into her life, but she couldn’t understand why Ikee or Marissa were willfully having sex knowing that they were neither married, nor able to take care of a child.

  “I’m almost seven months pregnant, ma’am,” she answered respectfully.

  “So you and Ikee must have met during the first revival we held over on Brown Street last year,” Isaac said, trying to put the dates together.

  “No sir, I don’t live on Brown Street. I live on Riverview, remember?”

  Nina glanced at her husband. Why was this girl asking him if he remembered the street she lived on? Isaac didn’t know this girl.

  “That’s right,” Isaac said quickly. “We had a revival on the corner of Riverview and Broadway in that abandoned lot.”

  Nina quickly counted backwards and then asked, “But wasn’t that revival about five months ago?”

  Isaac did a little math in his head and then he and Nina turned to Ikee at the same time. But it was Nina who asked, “How could you have impregnated this girl seven months ago, if the two of you hadn’t even met yet.”

  Marissa stood, shaking her head. “I’m not pregnant by Ikee. I’m sorry if that’s what you were thinking. But no, Ikee and I are in love with each other, that much is true. But he had nothing to do with getting me pregnant.”

  “Who is the father, if you don’t mind us asking?” Isaac said.

  “Some loser who wants nothing to do with me or the baby. I’ve tried my best to stay out of his way and he avoided me like the plague since the day he found out I was pregnant.”

  “Does he live in Dayton?”

  Marissa nodded.

  “Well, if you and Ikee are hanging out, then I think we should at least know this man’s name.” Nina didn’t want any surprises. Not in this town; surprises got you killed.

  “I understand why you would want to know all about me. But I’m really embarrassed about the situation I’ve put my child in, so I don’t like talking about him, but if you really—”

  Ikee jumped up. “You don’t have to give us his name. Because once we’re married, the baby will have my last name anyway.”

  “Married?” Isaac couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

  “Yeah, dad. I already told you that I plan to treat Marissa’s baby like it’s mine. The only way I can do that is to marry her and give the baby my last name.”

  Nina swung around to face her husband. Her eyes were bulging out of her head as she asked, “You already talked to Ikee about this? You knew?”

  “Yes, but we were going to tell you everything after graduation. That’s what Ikee wanted to talk to you about today. But I had no idea that Marissa was going to show up at the graduation.”

  She was about to lose her mind. This wasn’t happening. “And you kept this from me? How long have you know about them?”

  “I just found out yesterday. You had been so worried about Ikee so I followed him, and that’s when I found out what he’d been doing.”

  “But you didn’t say a word to me about this last night.”

  “You had other things on your mind; I didn’t think it was the right time to discuss this.”

  “You had no right to withhold this information from me. I’m his mother.” She pointed at Ikee. But pointing at her son only served to draw her eyes toward Marissa and her belly again. This girl would soon be a mother and be responsible for a child. But Ikee was her child and he wanted to marry some random woman just to play daddy. And her husband hadn’t thought to mention any of this to her.

  ~~~~

  “Are you really not going to say more than two words to me this entire weekend?” Kenneth asked Elizabeth as they prepared for bed.

  At this point, Elizabeth was tired of holding her tongue and silently wondering about the reasons her husband would have for sabotaging her career. She wondered if the Mary Mary effect was going on in her life as well. Was Kenneth out messing around when she went on the road to promote her CDs? Was he worried that women would start coming out the woodwork once the reality show aired? My God, had she believed in this man all these years, simply to discover that he really hadn’t changed at all?

  He stood on one side of the bed and Elizabeth stood on the other. She kept her eyes on his, trying to detect any deception as she asked, “Are you cheating on me?”

  “What?” Kenneth exploded.

  “You heard me. I want you to stand there and tell me to my face that nothing is going on with you and that new secretary that you just had to hire a few months back.”

  “Taylor?” Kenneth's voice held an air of disbelief at the conversation he was having.

  Putting her hands on her hips, Elizabeth said, “Did you hire another woman that I don’t know about? Of course I’m talking about Taylor.”

  He didn’t want to dignify Elizabeth’s insult with an answer, but because she was his wife and he truly loved her, Kenneth sat down on the bed and, sounding as reasonable as a man being accused of cheating could, he said, “First off, the assistant that I have worked with for the last twenty years passed away, so I had no choice but to hire another assistant. Secondly, Taylor is Erin’s age so how you could think that I’d have an affair with a woman who is the same age as my own child, I simply don’t understand.”

  “Men do it all the time,” Elizabeth said, not yielding.

  “Not this man.” Kenneth pointed a finger toward his chest. “The final reason your accusation is absurd,” Kenneth continued through gritted teeth, “is because I love you and I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize what we have.”

  “I seem to remember a man who said the same kind of things to me after we’d only been married about seven years. But when all the cards were laid out, you had been cheating. And back then you even wanted to leave me for one of your skanks.”

  He was hot now. Lifting himself from the bed, his eyes bore into his wife. “How dare you throw that in my face as if the past twenty-five years we’ve been together since those early years have meant nothing.” Pacing around the room, he counted off his accomplishments to her, “I gave my life to the Lord, I took care of you and my children to the best of my ability, I have been faithful to you and to the ministry the Lord put in my hands. That’s it, Elizabeth, that’s all I’ve got. And if that isn’t good enough for you, then I don’t know what else I can do.”

  Elizabeth was emotional as she listen to her husband pour his heart out to her. She loved Kenneth dearly, but sometimes she wondered if she was loving him ‘right’. She knew that she was brash and sometimes overbearing, but Kenneth didn’t seem to mind her personality faults. He learned to love her in spite of them. And she had spent a lot of years learning to love him in spite of those li
ttle things that irritated her. But the issue they were dealing with now wasn’t as small as leaving the toilet seat up or throwing his clothes all around their bedroom. Her career was in serious jeopardy and the man who claimed to love her wouldn’t help.

  “I don’t understand any of this Kenneth. Because if you don’t have anything to hide, why won’t you agree to this reality show?”

  “I have told you over and over again that I don’t think we should expose the people at the homeless shelter to cameras and producers and such. What if one of the people coming to us for help has a felony and gets arrested because of your need for more fame than you already have? What if someone dies because they’d rather stay out in the cold than take the risk of being exposed at our shelter? Could you live with that? Because I can’t.”

  “You pick the most extreme examples to trot out as the reason why you won’t help me.” Elizabeth plopped down on the bed, punched the pillow, and then lay down.

  “I don’t think you should go to sleep right now, Elizabeth. We need to talk this out.” He sat down on the bed and rubbed her back, trying to get her attention. “We’re leaving for our vacation tomorrow. I really don’t want to go on this vacation when we’re barely speaking to each other.”

  “Then don’t go,” Elizabeth told him. Then she sat up, turned to face him, and added, “Maybe I’ll go without you. I need some time to think.”

  ~~~~

  “No, you did not tell Kenneth that you’re going on your vacation without him!” After the conversation with Ikee and Marissa, Nina had retreated to her room and cried herself to sleep and then woke up with tears in her eyes. But now she was on the phone with Elizabeth and they were able to laugh at their trauma.

  “Kenneth is working my nerves. I don’t understand how he can sabotage my career and then stand in my face and claim to love me so much.”

  “I hear you about this sabotage stuff, because my son is over here wanting to marry some girl who is pregnant by another man.”

  “What is wrong with Ikee? Has he lost his mind?”

  Nina was still shaking her head about the entire incident. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. But I’m thinking about packing him up and getting out of this town for a little while.”

  “I’m glad you said that. Just because I don’t want to go on vacation with Kenneth doesn’t mean I want to go alone… so how about it?”

  “I still can’t believe you did that.” Nina couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “I sure did. And I don’t want a lecture on how to treat my husband right now.”

  Nina was thinking that she couldn’t lecture Elizabeth on that at the moment, because she wasn’t really speaking to Isaac either. She was just so mad about the whole thing. If Isaac had never planned that street revival, then Ikee wouldn’t have knocked on Marissa’s door. And none of this would be happening. Marissa probably wouldn’t have given her life to the Lord either, but Nina wasn’t dwelling on that. The thing she was dwelling on was that her husband had known about Marissa and never said a word to her.

  “Kenneth has agreed to give me a little time away, because we both need to calm down. So, I’m calling to see if you want to go to Puerto Rico with me.”

  Nina screamed. “Girl, I would love to.” But then she thought about what was going on at home, and quickly added, “But I can’t leave Ikee.”

  “I wouldn’t leave him either. Not with that girl sizing him up for tuxedos and wedding bands. I’ve got your ticket. I’m going to call the airline and change Kenneth’s name to yours. While I’m doing that, I’ll check to see if we can get Ikee on the flight as well.”

  “Wait, Elizabeth. Are you sure you want to go on this trip without Kenneth? I do need to get away. But I don’t want to stop you from spending time with your husband.”

  “Girl, please, my husband has been talking with your husband this weekend and he has decided to stay here and help with the upcoming street revival.”

  “I’m so tired of hearing about those street revivals. All they’re doing is bringing more and more problems into this house.” Nina knew that Isaac was doing great and blessed work with those revivals, because dozens of souls were being saved with each revival. But sometimes, it seemed like the cost was just too high. Each time Isaac and Ikee left to do another revival, Nina’s greatest fear was that they wouldn’t return home because some thug would finally take his vengeance out on her family, once and for all.

  “I know what you’re saying. Kenneth is making strides with the work he does at the homeless shelter, but sometimes I think he puts his ministry before me and it’s starting to get on my last nerve.”

  “So you really think Kenneth is okay with this?”

  “After our blow out last night, that man probably doesn’t want to see my face for at least a week. He’ll be fine. Just check with Isaac to see if they’re in need of another volunteer.”

  Nina was getting excited. It was time for her to stop crying and take action to save her son. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Let me give you my credit card info to cover the charges.”

  Now Elizabeth was starting to doubt their plan. “Do you think Isaac will be okay with you and Ikee leaving with me?”

  “My husband will not stand in my way. I guarantee it.” If Isaac even dared to ask her and Ikee to stay here for the next street revival, she would simply remind him that her son wouldn’t be considering marriage right now if it wasn’t for him and this street ministry stuff. That ought to shut him up.

  Chapter 9

  “I don’t want to go, Dad. Why is Mom suddenly coming up with this trip to Puerto Rico the day after I tell her I’m getting married?”

  Isaac put a hand on his son’s shoulder as they sat out on the back patio. “I understand how you feel, son. You love this girl and you want to be there for her. But a part of me wonders if you’re feeling more obligation than love for this girl.”

  “You’re wrong, Dad. Marissa is all that. She and I clicked. She gets real down on herself sometimes because she dropped out of school, but that doesn’t bother me because I know that she’s smart.

  “Then she needs to get back into school so she’ll be able to earn a living to take care of that baby.”

  “I know, dad. I figured that I could work at the church with you during the day and then I’d watch the baby at evening, so Marissa could attend night school.”

  One thing Isaac knew for certain was that the Walker men played hard, but loved even harder. At Ikee’s age, Isaac thought he would be trying to stop him from running a bunch of women in and out of their house. He and Nina had dealt with that problem with Donavan and thought that it was only a matter of time before Ikee would be playing the ladies. But Ikee was a lot like his mother when it came to loyalty. Isaac had mad respect for his son because of that. But he still wasn’t letting Ikee do this marriage thing without thinking it all the way through. “Coming to work with me at the church is fine. But you don’t have a college degree, nor have you been to seminary, so the salary you would start at would be just above minimum wage… and that’s only because I’ve got love for you.”

  “I’m not complaining, Dad. I’ll start at the bottom and work my way up. Isn’t that what a man is supposed to do?”

  His son had come so far from the knucklehead he’d thrown out of his home after he decided to become a gang-banger that Isaac wanted to throw his arms around him and hug him. But just because Ikee wasn’t thinking about street-life, didn’t mean that his mind was all the way wrapped tight. “So, where will the three of you live?”

  “Well,” Ikee began, as if he had given the matter much thought, “since I’m not going to be making that much, and Marissa will have her hands full with the baby and night school, I think we’re going to have to stay with either you and Mom or Marissa’s mom. And I don’t want a kid of mine growing up in the neighborhood that Marissa lives in.”

  “So that leaves me and your mom’s house?”

  “Yeah, Dad,” Ikee said, as if
that was the obvious solution. “I didn’t think you’d want to see us on the street.”

  “Tell you what, son. You go on this trip with your mother and I’ll talk to her about turning the basement into an apartment for you and your new family.”

  Ikee let out a long, suffering sigh. “You don’t get it Dad. I love Marissa. Mom just wants to break us up.”

  Isaac stood up and leaned against the post as he said, “One thing I know for sure is if you truly love this girl, then one week away won’t change that. Matter-of-fact, ten years away won’t change it.” Isaac knew that from experience. Because he and Nina had been apart for over a decade before they got back together. “So, start building your own family. I would count it as a personal favor to me if you did this one thing for your Mama.”

  With his head lowered, Ikee said, “I heard her crying last night.”

  “She loves you, Ikee. She only wants the best for you.”

  “Marissa is the best for me.”

  “Then, like I said, one week away won’t change that.”

  “But the revival is in two days. Don’t you still need my help?”

  “Uncle Kenneth has volunteered to hang around to take up your slack on this one.”

  “But I’m supposed to spend the summer working with you and Uncle Keith. How can I focus on the ministry while I’m on vacation?”

  “The one thing this time away will give you is a chance to talk with your mother. Help her to understand what the ministry and Marissa mean to you.” Isaac’s hands were tied. He wanted both his sons in the ministry with him. But his wife was hurting. He had to step back and allow God to work on his wife’s heart.

  He didn’t want to demand that Ikee go on this trip because his son was becoming a man, and he refused to treat him like the little boy Nina wanted him to be. But Isaac was silently praying that Ikee would make the right decision.

  “Okay, I’ll go. But Mom will have to get used to the fact that I’m a man now, and I make my own decisions.”