Rain in the Promised Land

by Vanessa Miller

  “Ikee doesn’t even know what he’s getting himself into,” Kenneth said.

  “He hasn’t a clue,” Isaac agreed. “But if they’re going to do this at such an early age, I’m going to give them the best chance at success.”

  ~~~~

  Ikee, Nina, and Elizabeth sat around the restaurant table looking lost and lonely, even though they were in a room full of people.

  “Look at us,” Elizabeth said, after the waitress placed their food in front of them. “We should be having the time of our lives. We’re in a beautiful place with good company and good food. But you and Ikee look like you’d rather be anywhere but here.”

  “You don’t look any better,” Nina told Elizabeth. “You’re pretending like you’re having the time of your life, but I know you, girl. Your eyes don’t pretend.”

  “Okay, so we’re all miserable. What do we do about it?” Elizabeth asked as she picked up a piece of toast from her plate, then put it back down.

  Ikee leaned forward as he said, “I don’t know about y’all, but I’m ready to hitch a ride out of here.”

  “Even if we went to the airport right now, we wouldn’t get home until tonight. So, we’d still miss the revival.”

  “We could get a non-stop flight. That way, I could get home for the tail end of the revival. I’d be able to help dad with the altar call.”

  The look of excitement in Ikee’s eyes stunned Nina. She and Isaac had prayed that all of their children would grow to be ministry minded, but now that they were, she was the one standing in their way. She wanted desperately to get out of Ikee’s way, but she just didn’t know how. Nina looked toward Elizabeth as she told Ikee, “I can’t leave Elizabeth here all by herself.”

  Smiling, for the first time that morning, Elizabeth said, “Who says I wouldn’t hop on that plane with you?”

  “You really don’t mind if we leave, Aunt Elizabeth?”

  “No, Ikee. To tell you the truth, I miss my husband. I need to get back and talk to that man.”

  Lifting a hand, Nina suggested, “Why don’t we finish our breakfast. Then we can contact the airport to find out if we can even get a flight out of here today.”

  Ikee jumped out of his seat, put his arms around Nina, and kissed her forehead and then both her cheeks.

  “Calm down, boy, we don’t even know if we’ll be able to get out of here.” Nina knew that Ikee was excited because he would be back home with Marissa before the night was over. She remembered being young and in love, and, for a moment, Nina regretted all thoughts of breaking the couple up. They would go home and whatever was to be, would be.

  ~~~~

  Marissa was so excited when Pastor Isaac invited her to the revival that she rushed to get dressed. She would have ran to the car if she wasn’t carrying baby weight, because all she had been doing was sitting in the house, staring at the paint on the walls.

  “I am so glad you thought about me, Pastor Isaac. I wasn’t doing a thing but sitting around watching re-runs of Law and Order.”

  Kenneth had gotten into the back of the car so that Marissa would have more legroom. As Isaac pulled up to a red light, he looked over at her, praying that the Lord would allow him to see into Marissa’s heart, mind, and soul. He didn’t know for sure if she was the right girl for Ikee, but he had a feeling that she was in their lives for a reason. “You know… Nina and I could always help out with some babysitting if you want to go back to school.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it,” she admitted. “I just don’t want to be a burden to anyone. And I really don’t want to give Mrs. Nina another reason to dislike me.”

  “Nina doesn’t dislike you,” Isaac said quickly.

  Marissa didn’t believe it. In fact, she understood why Ikee’s mother would be down on her. If her son brought home some random woman, saying he was in love and wanted to get married… oh and by the way, the woman I’m marrying is pregnant by another man. Yeah, Marissa would have a problem with that.

  But because of Ikee, Marissa had changed. She wasn’t the same person who dated drug dealers and held their illegal drugs and guns. The power of God had changed her and she wanted Ikee’s parents to know that. “It’s okay, Pastor Isaac. Because if Mrs. Nina gets to know me, she’ll come to see that I’m not such a bad person.”

  Isaac smiled and patted Marissa on the shoulder as they pulled up to the location. “I’m looking forward to Nina getting to know you.”

  Marissa smiled back at him with joy filling her eyes. “Me too.”

  They got out of the SUV. Isaac and Kenneth walked toward the stage while Marissa decided to help the volunteers put the chairs out. If she could have done more, she would have, because Ikee had told her on numerous occasions how good it made him feel to be a part of something bigger than himself.

  As she sat down in one of the chairs she helped put out, Marissa imagined herself helping out in all sorts of ministry related events. There was something in this world that she was good at, and she planned to figure out just what it was. She began to pray, “Thank you for allowing me to be here today. Let me soak in the message and help out where I can. I want to be used by you.”

  “Is this seat taken?”

  Marissa heard the voice, but she hoped it wasn’t who she thought it was. She looked up and saw Dana Milner, Calvin’s on and off girlfriend, = standing there. Marissa didn’t know if she would have to go into a witness protection program to get away from these people. Ikee had told her that his dad’s past kept coming back to haunt him; maybe she would just have to deal with the reality of her past and learn to live for the future. “Hey, Dana. I didn’t expect to see you here today.”

  “Calvin asked me to come.”

  As Dana sat down next to her, Marissa noticed that she was carrying the same bag Calvin tried to get her to hold the night before. Were they planning to shoot the people attending this revival? Lord, help me. I don’t know what to do.

  Chapter 14

  Nina came back from the airport counter with two tickets in her hand. “I’ve got good news and bad news,” she told Ikee.

  “You’ve got tickets in your hand so it looks like we’re getting out of here, so I’m good.” Ikee was grinning from ear-to-ear.

  “Yes, but they didn’t have any direct flights so we have a connector in Atlanta, which means you will not get home in time for any part of the revival.”

  “That ought to make you happy.”

  Nina sat down next to her son and handed him his ticket. “I’m not happy about this, Ikee.” She shook her head. “Far from it, because for the first time in my life, I have allowed fear to dictate my actions, rather than praying and trusting God to keep you safe.”

  Ikee didn’t understand. He turned toward his mother. “What are you so afraid of?”

  Sighing as she ran a finger over her eyebrow, Nina prayed for the right words as she opened her mouth to explain. “What can I say? Your father has always been like a whirlwind in my life. Always bigger, and greater, and so much more than I ever expected to be dealing with. But I can handle all of that, because that’s who he is.” She hesitated, trying to focus and understand her dilemma herself. “I just didn’t know that he had so many enemies, and that marrying him meant putting my kids at risk.”

  Ikee’s eyes widened. “You regret marrying daddy?”

  She shook her head. “Never. I love your father. But I have grown weary of all the collateral damage.” Then, she smiled at herself for not understanding this early on as she said, “But that’s also a part of who he is. He doesn’t know how to back down or run and hide. So, you and your daddy don’t have the problem. I do. And I’m asking the Lord to help me with that. Okay?”

  Ikee put an arm around his mother’s shoulder. “Okay.”

  That’s when Elizabeth came bouncing over to them, holding up her ticket while singing, “On my way to see my man, on my way to see my man, happy, happy… oh what a happy day!”

  The three of them hugged. They had left town for a vacati
on that was supposed to make them feel better about their situations, but the funny thing was, they hadn’t started feeling better until they decided to go back and deal with their issues.

  ~~~~

  Isaac stood behind the podium, looking out at all the people who’d gathered under this tent to celebrate the Lord. Enemies had tried to destroy the tent and had even left a threatening message for them, but none of it mattered as Isaac got ready to preach the Word of God. He wanted to give the people something they could hold on to, because the Bible told him that many hearts would give out due to fear in these last and evil days.

  He was witnessing some of that fear in his own house, with his wife. In some way, Isaac felt that if he could teach the people how to stand in times like these, then maybe he would also be able to ease Nina’s fears as well. He opened his Bible and began reading from Psalms 27:

  The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

  Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.

  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

  He closed the Bible and began speaking to the people from his heart. “In these last and evil days we can’t allow man to make us afraid and cause us to give up and run away from the work God has put before us. Our mission on earth is clear… it is to do the will of God, not the will of man. So, stand up and whatever you do, never be ashamed to name the name of Jesus Christ.

  ~~~~

  “Why hasn’t the captain of host called us back yet?” Arnoth asked, a look of confusion on his face.

  Brogan turned to Nathan and Arnoth and asked, “We missed something?”

  Nathan shook his head. “We dispatched those demons last night and I haven’t seen any more lurking around here this morning.”

  Pointing at the numerous people in attendance, Arnoth clarified, “Except for the ones some of the humans brought with them.”

  “Yeah, but as long as those demons remain dormant inside the humans, we aren’t at liberty to do anything about them. Hopefully, Isaac will cast a few of those demons out during the altar call… and then they will be all ours.”

  Nathan and Arnoth smiled at that.

  But then Brogan said, “Remember, we are on Earth. These humans have free will. So not everything is ruled by God or the Wicked One. We foiled the Wicked One’s plan last night, but mark my words, we’re not done yet.” It was times like these that Brogan wished that angels could see into the future just as God could, that way he would know what he didn’t know and be better able to help his charge. But Satan had been kicked out of heaven for desiring to be like God, so Brogan repented of his thought and simply watched and waited.

  ~~~~

  Marissa was soaking in every word. She had been afraid too many times throughout her life. Most of her fears came from living in an area that was infested with crime. But what Pastor Isaac was saying made sense. She could put her trust in God and let go of fear altogether, maybe then she could do the will of God like her husband and son were ready, willing and able to do.

  Pastor Isaac sat down as three praise singers stepped forward and began singing. Dana chose that moment to get up; she seemed to be in a hurry, but Marissa noticed that she left Calvin’s bag behind. She wasn’t about to pick that bag up. What if a cop saw her with the bag and then asked to search it. She didn’t know how many years she’d get for the possession of illegal guns, and she didn’t want to find out.

  Marissa got out of her seat and ran after Dana, but Dana was track-staring it down the street like she wanted to be anywhere but the revival. Being seven months pregnant, there was no way that Marissa was going to catch up to Dana. She stood and watched Dana for a moment longer. That’s when she noticed Calvin’s black Lexus with gold rims pull up next to Dana. She jumped in the car and it sped off.

  If that was Calvin, Marissa wondered why he didn’t send Dana back for that bag and why he sped off like somebody was trying to carjack him. That was when she remembered that Calvin had warned her that Ikee shouldn’t attend this revival, as if something bad would happen. Now, she was very curious about that bag. What had Dana left behind? She knew that it wasn’t drugs or guns—no way would Dana have left Calvin’s stash.

  Everything in her was telling her to run… get out while the getting was good. But Marissa hadn’t called Ikee yesterday to tell him what Calvin had said to her and now she was feeling guilty. If something happened to these people and she did nothing to help, Marissa wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

  ~~~~

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Isaac was seated behind the podium as the praise singers encouraged the crowd to stand on their feet and worship the Lord. But as everybody stood, he saw Marissa rushing back to her seat. She bent down and opened a bag and then she started screaming. Isaac got up, preparing to see what had happened, but Kenneth put a hand on his shoulder.

  “You need to be up here. The people will expect you to preach again when the praisers finish. I’ll go check on her.”

  Isaac nodded, but by that time, Marissa was running away from the revival, still screaming while carrying the bag she’d just looked into.

  Marissa reached the street before Kenneth caught up with her. She threw the bag up in the air and then tried to run back towards the revival, but Kenneth was behind her and she ran directly into him.. They both fell down and then there was a loud BOOM!

  ~~~~

  As the pregnant girl threw the bag in the air, Brogan heard Isaac yell, “Marissa!” and then saw him step down from the podium and head toward her. “It’s happening,” Brogan said as he beat a path toward the pregnant girl. The bag exploded before he reached her. Marissa and Kenneth fell to the ground just as the explosives rained down on them. The force of the explosion knocked Isaac and several others in the crowd backwards as well.

  Brogan threw himself toward the bag where the explosion had come from, and felt the impact as it exploded again. The second explosion was worse than the first, but as Brogan lay on it, the bomb put a hole in the ground beneath him.

  Arnoth pulled Marissa off of Kenneth, her body seemed lifeless as he blew the breath of life back into her.

  Nathan’s eyes widened as he saw Kenneth lying there, motionless. Images of 9/11 and pulling Kenneth out of that rubble flashed before his eyes. He hadn’t saved Kenneth’s life all those years ago just to watch him die a senseless death.

  Nathan put a hand on Kenneth, trying to give him the strength to survive this attack.

  Brogan was weak from lying on that bomb, but he scanned the crowd and saw Isaac getting up and brushing his clothes off. His charge was okay. He hadn’t lost him this time. Good, Brogan thought as he started to drift off.

  Chapter 15

  “Nina, where are you?!” Isaac screamed into the phone. “Ikee and Elizabeth aren’t answering their phones either and I need to speak with both of them.”

  Isaac, Keith, and Cynda were at the hospital, praying for the numerous people who’d been brought into the emergency room with cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Keith and Cynda weren’t at the Revival when the bomb went off because they were driving the church van, picking up neighborhood kids and bringing them to the event.

  Isaac was thanking the good Lord that Keith and Cynda had not returned to the revival with those kids. If one of those children had been harmed, he didn’t know if he would’ve
been able to forgive himself. He was having a hard enough time coming up with a reason to forgive himself for not canceling the revival after repeatedly being warned to do so.

  Kenneth was unconscious and Marissa was in surgery. At this point, the doctors weren’t sure if they would be able to save both mother and child. So he stood there and listened while Marissa’s heartbroken mother instructed the doctors to do everything to save her daughter’s life. The woman then sat down in the waiting room and cried like she was proactively mourning the death of her grandchild.

  Isaac had tried to get a hold of Ikee and Nina before Marissa went into surgery, but neither had answered their phones and now he was worried that something might have happened to them. And knowing that Nina and Ikee would have been at home with him if he had just canceled the revival like Nina had practically begged him to do, Isaac felt like sitting in the chair next to Marissa’s mother and crying his sorrows out too. But he couldn’t break down now, not when so many people needed him to be strong.

  Isaac got back on his cell phone and call Johnny. He hadn’t been at the revival today because he was working a case. When Johnny picked up, Isaac told him that he thought Calvin Jones was responsible for the explosion. “He threatened me, but I didn’t listen.”

  “That name just keeps coming up today,” Johnny said. “Let me do some checking, and I’ll get back with you.”

  As Isaac hung up the phone, the emergency room was being flooded with wounded people once again. But this group hadn’t been at the revival—they were all busted up after participating in a riot. Calvin Jones strikes again. Isaac was weary from all the destruction. He went for a walk around the hospital; he needed to find a spot so he could be alone and talk to God about this, because Isaac just didn’t understand.

  ~~~~

  “That flight was terrible,” Nina said, as she, Elizabeth, and Ikee rushed to get to their connecting flight. The Atlanta airport was a gigantic. They had to ride a shuttle and take several flights of stairs in order to get to the terminal for their next flight.