Rain in the Promised Land

by Vanessa Miller

  Nina rolled her eyes. Every other sentence was something about Marissa. “I don’t want you thinking about that girl at all this week.”

  As he clicked pictures, Ikee said, “Mom, no disrespect, but I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”

  She didn’t have time for Ikee’s puppy love syndrome, so she stepped out of their room and decided to call Isaac as she sat down on the sofa in the living room.

  He picked up on the first ring. “Hey baby, how was the flight?”

  “Perfect. No turbulence at all.”

  “I’m glad. Is the resort as nice as you thought it would be?”

  “Even better,” Nina assured him. “It’s bananas, as your son said. He’s even standing on the balcony taking pictures of the ocean and sending them to Marissa.” Nina said Marissa’s name in a sing-songy voice.

  Laughing, Isaac said, “He hasn’t stopped talking about her, has he?”

  Whispering into the phone, Nina admitted, “He’s driving me crazy, Isaac. I don’t know what to do. Ikee is too young to be this serious about any girl. And I certainly don’t want him this serious about a pregnant girl whose child doesn’t even belong to him.”

  “Give him some time, Nina. If it’s not meant to be, then it will fizzle out.”

  “Yeah, but I want it to fizzle out before he goes off and marries this girl.” She sighed and then asked. “What’s going on with you? Is everything ready for the revival tomorrow?”

  “We’re getting there, just taking care of a few loose ends.”

  Isaac was short with her and didn’t sound excited as he normally did the day before one of these events. That made Nina think he was trying to down play it for her. And at that moment she wished she had been more supportive. She had promised to work with him in this ministry, but she just hadn’t been able to shake thoughts of another disgruntled hustler from Isaac’s past coming to one of those revivals and killing all of them.

  Her thoughts were irrational, she knew that. But Isaac had led a dangerous life, and it seemed that everyone who had ever had beef with him kept finding their way into their lives. But he was still her husband… warts and all. Even when she didn’t agree with him or like what he was doing, she had said ‘I do’ and still meant it. “I’m sorry that I left you to deal with everything on your own.”

  “Hey, don’t sound so sad. I want you to enjoy your vacation. And besides, I’m not alone. Keith and Kenneth are helping me. And the things the three of us can’t figure out, the Lord will just have to handle.”

  “Thank you for being so understanding. I really do think I need this time away.”

  “Just don’t stay too long. I miss you already,” Isaac told her.

  “Me too, baby… me too,” she told him, just before they hung up. Then, Nina giggled as she realized that she and her husband were acting like lovesick teenagers. She was sure Ikee was on the phone with Marissa telling her how much he wished she was here with him. But instead of absence making their hearts grow fonder, Nina was hoping that the separation would kill the romance all together.

  Elizabeth stepped out of her room with a royal purple cover-all over her white swimsuit. She was rocking white pumps that had a hint of a purple trim. She put her purple and white straw hat on her head along with her Gucci sunglasses and said, “I’m ready for a swim.”

  “I’ll say you are, looking like every bit of the star that you are. If I didn’t know better I’d think cameras were getting ready to follow us down to the pool.”

  “Don’t spoil my mood. I don’t want to think about all the money Kenneth is costing me by being so stubborn.”

  “Are you sure that Kenneth is the one who is being stubborn?” Nina got off the sofa and headed back to her room to get her swimsuit.

  “Don’t you dare take that man’s side. You know how important that reality show is for my career, and so does my dear husband.”

  “Okay, I don’t want to make you mad, so just let me throw on my swimsuit and then we can head down to the pool and relax.”

  Chapter 11

  While Marissa was trying to live vicariously through the pictures Ikee sent her of an ocean so clear she could almost see the bottom of it, and the glorious palm trees that decorated a spectacular Olympic-size pool, her doorbell rang.

  The old sofa she was sitting on was low to the ground, so she had a tough time getting up. Feeling a pull in her belly, Marissa held onto her swollen stomach as she made her way to the door. But with every step she took, she was thinking about that wonderful ocean view Ikee sent her a picture of. She prayed that the two of them would someday be able to take a trip like that and just bask in the sun, without a care in the world.

  Marissa didn’t know much about carefree days. She might not be doing much while she waited on this baby to arrive, but her days were filled with stress because she constantly worried that the water, electricity, or gas would be shut off. Her mother worked two jobs, but still didn’t have enough money to keep all the bills current. So Marissa spent her day fielding calls from bill collectors. Some days she just didn’t answer the phone at all.

  Opening the door earlier that day and finding Pastor Isaac on her door step holding groceries had been a welcome surprised. She and her mom had been running low on food and Marissa had prayed that someone would loan her mom some money so they could go to the store. But they hadn’t needed a loan at all. God answered her prayers by sending Pastor Isaac. She was new to all this praying and receiving stuff, but she was getting the hang of it.

  The person on the other side of the door banged on it just as she reached it. “Hold on, I’m coming.” Marissa looked out the window, and immediately regretting doing so. She only opened the door because he had looked directly into her face as she peeked out of the window. “What are you doing here?” Marissa demanded, as Calvin Jones stormed into her living room.

  “What you mean, what am I doing here?” He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “I’m here to check on my little niece or nephew.”

  “Your niece or nephew?” Marissa scoffed at that. “Didn’t your brother tell you? I could be pregnant by anybody in this neighborhood. So, we won’t know who my baby’s father is until the DNA test.”

  Calvin waived that comment away. “Tony was just trippin’ on account of his court case and all.”

  “Well he can keep tripping, because I’m not about to take my baby on no prison visits to see him when we all know that if he wasn’t doing time, he wouldn’t bother to come see this baby.”

  “Now you just talking foolish. Because we Jones men take care of our kids.”

  “He told me to go find my baby’s daddy. Does that sound like someone who wants to take care of his kid?”

  “That’s why I stopped by,” Calvin said, as if his brother’s words hadn’t been hurtful; it was just Tony being Tony. “He’s been trying to call you to apologize for all that.”

  Putting her hands on her hips in defiance, Marissa said, “I changed my number.”

  “Of course you changed your number,” Calvin said matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t have to stop by without calling if you hadn’t.”

  “Look.” Marissa extended a hand toward Calvin’s chest, backing him up. “Thanks for checking on me. But you don’t have to do that. I’m fine and my baby will be fine… I’ve moved on.”

  Calvin’s lip curled as if something distasteful had found its way to his mouth. “So, that’s how it is, huh? All the love you supposedly had for my brother is gone, just because he’s in prison and can’t come over here and check on you himself?”

  “Your brother left me alone before he went to prison. You can’t fault me for getting the message and then moving on with my life.”

  The angry scowl across Calvin’s face began to dissipate. “You right. I can’t fault you for what my knuckle head brother did. But you could at least do one last favor for me.”

  Marissa had only been fifteen when she started dating Tony. She’d thought it was cool being the girl who had th
e bad boy wrapped around her finger. Her mother tried to warn her, but she hadn’t listened. After a month of being with Tony, he started asking her to carry this bag or hold a briefcase until he could get back to pick it up. Sometimes drugs or guns had been in the bags, other times he’d had her hold a briefcase full of money. All of it had been illegal and she no longer wanted any part of that life.

  Marissa opened her door as she told Calvin, “My mother will be home from work in a few, she won’t be happy to see you.”

  “Okay girl, I got you, I got you.” He headed for the door. But just before leaving, he took the strap off his shoulder and tried to hand the bag to her. “I’ll be back for it in the morning.”

  Marissa backed away from it. She shook her head. “I’ve got my baby to think about… can’t be holding nothing that’s going to get me locked up.” Silently, she prayed and asked God to deliver her from the life she once led.

  “You used to be down. Now you’re acting like you’re too good to help us out. How am I supposed to take that?”

  The murderous look in his eyes frightened her for a moment. Then it was as if she heard the Lord telling her to speak the truth to him. She opened her mouth and said, “It’s not that, Calvin. I’m a Christian now. And I don’t think the Lord would be pleased if I participated in criminal stuff. You feel me?”

  Calvin leaned his head back and laughed. “So, you a Christian, huh? And I guess you and that Walker boy have been doing Bible study all this time.”

  Her eyes got big. “How’d you know about Ikee?”

  “I know a lot more than you think I know. But I’ll tell you what, Ms. Christian… I’ll take my dirty little bag with me and I’ll leave you with a piece of advice.”

  Marissa was just happy that Calvin was leaving and taking his bag with him. She didn’t want to do anything that would cause him to change his mind, so she stood there pretending to be interested in the so-called advice he had for her.

  Calvin put a hand on the doorknob as he said, “If I was you, I’d tell lover-boy not to attend his daddy’s revival tomorrow.” With that, Calvin stepped out of her house and closed the door behind him.

  Marissa hadn’t imagined that the advice would be for Ikee. She hadn’t told Ikee about Tony or his brother either, for that matter. Marissa had been so ashamed of the life she’d led once she’d gotten involved with those Jones boys that she’d been trying to block the whole experience out of her mind.

  Ikee was out of town. He wouldn’t be at the revival tomorrow anyway, so there was no reason to tell Ikee about Calvin or Tony or anything that Calvin had to say. She could just go on forgetting about that part of her life.

  ~~~~

  Lying on the beach, Elizabeth questioned herself every which way she could. It was unthinkable that she had accused her husband of cheating on her. After all these years, wouldn’t she have recognized the signs? Wouldn’t there have been some tell in the way he acted towards her? Or had Kenneth mastered the art of cheating to the point that Elizabeth could no longer tell what was real and what was distorted in her life?

  “What are you deep in thought about?” Nina asked, as she came back to her lounge chair next to the pool.

  Elizabeth laid her head back against the headrest of the lounge chair and turned to her friend and asked, “Have you ever doubted Isaac? After spending so many years with him, have you ever wondered if maybe he was cheating on you?”

  Nina shook her head. “He got all of that out of his system before he gave his life to the Lord. I’m thankful that my husband is one of the true believers, because he’s never given me a reason to doubt him in that way since we’ve been married.”

  “That’s good,” Elizabeth said, with tears forming in her eyes. “Doubt is a terrible thing.”

  Nina reached over and hugged Elizabeth. “Oh hon, don’t tell me that you think Kenneth is cheating on you. Because you know that’s not true.”

  Elizabeth hated crying or looking vulnerable in any way. But she had loved this man for so long. She wiped the tears from her face as she said, “I wish I was as confident as you are. But the truth is, I just can’t come up with another reason for his refusal to help me further my career, except that he has some secret that might be dug up.”

  “So, this is why you asked Kenneth to stay behind and brought me to Puerto Rico instead?”

  “Hey, it’s better than what I did to him the first time he cheated on me.” Elizabeth tried to be funny with her comment, but she sounded more hurt than comedian like.

  “He’s not cheating on you, Elizabeth. Kenneth is a different man than who he was all those years ago.”

  “And he needs to thank God that I’m a different woman than I was back then, too,” Elizabeth said, as her mind drifted back to one of the blow ups they’d had after she discovered he had been cheating on her with a white woman…

  After discovering that Kenneth was cheating on her, she had thrown him out of the house, but she’d come home after a long day of job hunting to find him standing by the porch with a hand on his hip, got the nerve to have an attitude, was that light-bright-just-know-he-wishes-he-was-White-no-good-freckle-faced-adulterous husband of hers. “What do you want?”

  “Where are my kids, Elizabeth?”

  Her head started bobbing, lip got ta’ twitching. Can’t nobody do attitude like a mad Black woman, and Elizabeth intended to give him plenty of it. “Funny how you remember you have kids now. Maybe you should have told that strumpet you’ve been laying up with that you have kids.”

  “Look, Elizabeth, I don’t want to fight with you. I just want my kids. You put me out, I didn’t want to leave, and I sure didn’t want to leave my kids—they need me.”

  “The kids need you!” Her hands started flailing in the air. “Why you good-for-nothing ##%@!.” The wind blew, dust flew up; there was definitely a chill in the air. It did nothing to cool the fierce heat from the anger Elizabeth felt at this very moment. “What about me, huh, Kenneth? Did you ever stop to think for one second that I might have needed you, or was that irrelevant?”

  He looked down at the cracks in the concrete, then over at the leaves as they fell off the big oak tree in front of their house. “Oh, so now you can’t even look at me. Come on, Kenneth. What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?”

  He still said nothing.

  “Well, maybe snow flake has your tongue. Do I have to call your woman and ask her to give you permission to speak to your wife?”

  He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “I don’t want to fight with you, Elizabeth, I just want to see Erin and Danae—that’s all.”

  “Oh, really? Well people with visitation rights pay child support. Did you know that, Mister Adultery Committing man?”

  He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, counted out two hundred dollars and handed it to her. “Is that enough?”

  “What, wasn’t I a good enough wife to receive a little alimony?”

  He counted out another two hundred and handed it to her. “Look, I’ll put your name back on our joint account; you can take whatever you want. Now can I see my children?”

  She threw the money at him. “No!” she said, and walked away.

  Kenneth grabbed Elizabeth’s arm to turn her around to face him. She immediately balled her fist and struck out. He ducked, she slipped, and her bottom hit the concrete with full force.

  “I don’t want to fight with you. Will you please stop?” He bent down to help her up.

  Elizabeth jerked away from him and pushed on the ground as she stood up. “Tell me why you did it. Why did you do this to us?” The tears were out now, and she hated him for it. Neighbors were peeking out their windows, then came outside, taking half-full trash bags to their trashcans. Elizabeth didn’t care. She wiped at her face and her disobedient eyes and stood toe-to-toe with her husband. “Why? Tell me why.”

  He backed up, shoulders slumped. “The last couple of years haven’t been our best.”

  She stepped to him again. “In other w
ords, after I had your kids,” she was so close to him, so angry, that spit smacked him in the face as she said the word ‘kids’, “you had no more use for me.”

  He wiped at the spit on his reddening face. “Look, Elizabeth, you know as well as I do that we haven’t been happy for a while now.”

  She started strutting up and down the walkway. “I knew no such thing!” She turned to face some of her nosey neighbors that had the nerve to be standing in the street watching them. “Mind your own business! Matter-of-fact, where’s your husband right now, huh? That’s what your nosey butts need to be figuring out.” She turned back to Kenneth. “How was I supposed to know something like that, Kenneth?” She looked him dead in the face. “Am I a mind reader or something? Cause you sure never opened your mouth to tell me you were unhappy.”

  His shoulders slumped again, his knee bent, and his eyes slowly glazed over as they became cold and withdrawn. The look in his eyes sent a chill through Elizabeth.

  “If you cared anything about me, you should have been able to tell how I was feeling. You should have been able to read my body language.”

  Oh she was good and mad now. Read it in his body language. Ha! Okay, she wasn’t blind. Yeah, she could see he was unhappy. Matter-of-fact, he looked more than unhappy. Kenneth quite nicely projected the image of a poor, rejected, freckle-faced stepchild. But she was always so busy with the kids, the house, the bills, the dog, and oh my goodness, when she finally got around to his needs - that didn’t take any thinking, no mind reading. What did he want from her? Forget it. She threw her hands up and walked away from him. He didn’t try to grab her this time, but as she reached the top step, he called out to her again.

  She spun around to face him, all the while thinking, you are a strong Black woman, you will get through this.

  “I miss Erin and Danae. When can I see them?”

  She struck a pose for him and said, “Read it in my body language.”