Maxine looked up at him. “Do you want a bottle, too?” She got up and headed to the kitchen with Brielle. It was time for Brielle’s last feeding of the day. Maxine intended to feed Brielle, then put her to bed, and then get her house key from Ram so that she could go home. She didn’t belong there, pretending as if they were a family.
As she took the milk out of the fridge and began pouring it into Brielle’s bottle, Renee came into the kitchen. She didn’t seem as angry as she had been earlier, so Maxine smiled at her.
“I’ve never seen my brother so in love with a woman. What have you done to him?”
Maxine wished she could teach him how not to be so self-righteous... wished she could get him to understand that sometimes otherwise good people do terrible things that they live their whole lives regretting. “I haven’t done anything to him.”
Renee sat down at the table across from Maxine and Brielle. “Can I feed her that bottle?”
“I think Brielle would like that.” Maxine handed Brielle to Renee and then gave her the bottle.
Renee smiled as she looked down on Brielle happily taking her bottle, not knowing anything about the storm brewing around her. “Can I ask you something?” Renee said to Maxine.
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
“Earlier today you told me that you knew how I felt.” Renee looked up at her. “Did you lose a baby, too?”
Sighing deeply, Maxine said, “If only it was that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out the memory of those days when success at any cost was the only thing that mattered to her and the group of friends she associated with. But Maxine was tired of hiding from the truth. “I didn’t lose my babies like you lost yours. I aborted them.”
“Woo,” was all Renee could say to that news.
“Woo is right,” Maxine agreed as her eyes filled with tears again. “I’m ashamed of the way I took the easy way out, and the way I didn’t care about what happened to my babies until it was too late.”
“That’s how I feel,” Renee told her, like she was fascinated that they both felt the same way. “I kept telling myself that if I hadn’t gotten involved with a monster like Marlin, my baby would still be inside of me. So I guess my shame lies in the men I’m attracted to. There must be something wrong with me, to pick such evil men.”
“I’ve been trying to figure out what’s wrong with me that I could have done some of the things that I have done in my lifetime. All I’ve been able to come up with is that when we don’t follow God’s path for our lives, we can make some pretty big mistakes... some that we can’t take back; we have to live with the consequences forever.”
“You sound like you really regret your decision.”
Sorrow was imbedded in Maxine’s eyes as she said, “I’ve never regretted anything more.” Her body shook as tears spilled out, tears for her unborn children who were not on earth with her. Maxine knew that God had received them in heaven. She had tried for years to let that knowledge be enough for her, but this thing with Ram and Brandi had brought all those memories, and all the guilt back up and Maxine didn’t know if she would ever be able to let it go.
Renee took the bottle out of Brielle’s mouth and walked around the table to comfort Maxine. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried into your business.”
Brielle reached out for Maxine. “Mama.”
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Maxine took her daughter into her arms and hugged her tight once more. She looked up at Renee and confessed, “I bought into the whole I-am-woman-and-I-can-do-what-I want-with-my-body movement. But the people who were encouraging me to do what I wanted, forgot to tell me just how guilt ridden the rest of my life would be. They also forgot to tell me just how precious and wonderful it would feel to have a child look at you with complete and utter trust and then call you ‘mama’”.
Now Renee’s eyes were filled with sadness. “I’m still waiting to hear those precious words.”
Maxine took Renee’s hand and squeezed it. “You will hear those words, Renee. Trust God, and I promise you that the man of your dreams... someone who will be good to you, will find you. And when the two of you do things God’s way, I believe you’ll find great joy and a whole bunch of babies.”
Renee stepped back from that prophesy. “Hold up, I’m not looking for a basketball team. One or two children would be nice. Any more and I just might lose my mind.”
“My bad.” Maxine had her smile back, enjoying where this conversation was going.
Then Renee said, “I misjudged you, Maxine. And again, I’m sorry for getting in your business.”
“Don’t worry about it. You just gave me practice for the conversation I came back here to have.”
“That sounds like a very long conversation. So before you get into that with Ram, would you mind doing me a favor?”
“What do you need?” Maxine didn’t mind putting the inevitable off for another few minutes.
“I was serious about wanting to know more about the monitoring system. One day I will have a baby. And I will protect her just like you are protecting Brielle.”
“Sure, come on, let me get my iPad and I’ll show you.”
***
Ram didn’t know why he had been compelled to listen in on his sister and Maxine as they talked in the kitchen. But as he heard Maxine admit to having abortions, he felt sick to his stomach. This was the woman he was in love with. Could it be possible that he didn’t know her at all?
He wanted to storm into the kitchen and demand that she explain herself. Why had she let him go on and on about women who carelessly have abortions and never once mention that she’d done the same thing? She was trying to play him for a fool, but he would be an even greater fool if he allowed Maxine access to his daughter, because the moment motherhood no longer suited her, she might just bolt, leaving him and Brielle brokenhearted.
But then he heard Maxine cry and say how much she regretted aborting her baby. That surprised Ram, because he had always thought that women who could do such a thing didn’t have any room in their heart for regret or to even feel bad about what they had done. But maybe he was wrong, maybe he had been self-righteous about the issue because of what he thought Brandi had done to his child.
Before Ram had time to further ponder the issue, he heard Maxine and Renee walking towards him. He quickly made his way back to the living room and sat down on the sectional with his parents and pretended to be watching the news with them.
Maxine, Brielle and Renee entered the family room. Maxine handed Brielle to Ram and he eyed her as she made her way to the love seat, next to Renee. She picked up her iPad and began showing Renee the features of her monitoring system. And Ram was amazed that the two of them seemed like this was any other normal moment of the day and they were just having a casual conversation as if they hadn’t just shared the most devastating secrets.
“And this is the button I push when I want to scan different rooms in the house.”
“That’s slick,” Renee said as she watched the screen.
“Yeah, and you can go from room to room. Check this out.” Maxine tapped another link and instead of seeing a view of her entryway, they were now looking at the kitchen. She then hit another link and the camera began panning Brielle’s bedroom. As the camera slowly moved throughout the room, Maxine pointed out the white crib that she just loved. “It will convert into a regular bed when she’s old enough.”
“That was a good idea. I need to remember that,” Renee said.
“You need to remember to tell your husband to get a baby bed like that... is that what you meant to say?” Ram asked, challenging his sister to say otherwise.
Renee rolled her eyes. “Of course I want a husband before I have a baby, Ram. I’m just thinking about the future that’s all.”
Carmella and Ramsey Sr. breathed a sigh of relief.
But
then Maxine pointed at the computer as she said, “Someone is in Brielle’s room.”
Ram jumped up, still holding Brielle. He looked at the screen and saw exactly what Maxine was seeing. A woman was going through the dresser drawers in Brielle’s room. She removed a pair of frilly pink socks and walked over to the bed. One of the girly dresses that Maxine bought Brielle was lying in the bed. The woman put the socks below the dress. She then put a bonnet above the dress as if she were dressing Brielle. “What in the world is going on? I locked those doors before I left your house earlier today.”
“I know you did. That’s why I couldn’t get in the house when I went over there to paint.”
Carmella and Ramsey came over and watched the scene unfolding, then Carmella said, “We need to call the police.”
The woman turned around and Ram saw exactly who it was and said, “No, I need to go over there and handle some business.”
“No that woman is not in my house.” Maxine was in shock as she watched Brandi sit down in her rocking chair and make herself at home.
Ram snapped his fingers. “I knew I smelled Brandi’s perfume when I went into Brielle’s room earlier. She’s probably been in your house the whole while you’ve been here. That’s why the back door was unlocked when I was there earlier. She probably ran out to get something.”
Maxine touched his arm. “Ram do you realize what this means? If you hadn’t locked my back door, I would be there right now and Lord knows what she would have done. She doesn’t seem to be in the right state of mind.”
Ram was furious. He might not be sure where his and Maxine’s relationship was headed, but he knew one thing for sure, he wasn’t about to let Brandi harm Maxine. Brandi’s reign of terror is going to end tonight, because I’m going to put a stop to it, he thought as he grabbed his keys. “I’ll be back.”
Carmella grabbed hold of him. “What are you going to do, Ram? Go over there and try to beat some sense into that woman like you did with Marlin? You think you can handle this yourself, but we need to give this battle to the Lord.”
Ram loved God and he believed in Him. The only problem was, he just didn’t understand Him. Why hadn’t God stopped Brandi from entering Maxine’s house? If he hadn’t locked the doors, Maxine would probably still be in that house fighting it out with Brandi. “God doesn’t handle all of our problems, Mama Carmella. Sometimes we have to fight our own way out.”
“God is a better fighter than you will ever be.”
Ram clinched his fists. He was tired of standing by while the people he loved were victimized. He wasn’t letting it happen this time. “You all can pray. I’m going over there,” Ram handed Brielle back to Maxine and made his way to the door.
Renee picked up the phone. “I’m calling the police.”
“You heard him, y’all. Let’s pray,” Carmella said while she, Ramsey and Maxine touched and agreed.
“He’s not ready yet,” Steven said to Arnoth as they watched Ram storm out of the house.
“Do you hear that?” Arnoth asked Steven.
“Hear what?”
“The prayers of the saints. They are bombarding heaven on Ram’s behalf. He will either get ready tonight, or be stuck where he is, never truly knowing the power he possesses within him as a child of God.”
“I guess we have a whole lot of work to do tonight,” Steven said, putting a hand on his sword.
“We can do a little, but most of the work is going to come from Ram on this night.”
15
“Brandi, get down here. You and I are going to have it out once and for all,” Ram said as he opened Maxine’s front door. He stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Brandi to appear.
“I know you can hear me. I’m not playing games with you anymore.” Ram was just about to climb the stairs, go pull Brandi out of that rocking chair and drag her out of that house. Ram didn’t believe in putting his hands on women, but he would make an exception for Brandi and do his time with a smile on his face, if need be.
As he put his foot on the first step, Brandi appeared at the top of the stairs. She was looking at him like he was her king and she was getting ready to bow down to him. “Baby, you finally came back to me.”
“Brandi, have you lost your whole mind? You’re in Maxine’s house. I came to throw you out of here.”
Her hands were behind her back as she descended the stairs. “Maxine doesn’t matter. You and Brielle are the only people that matter to me. I messed up with you, Ram. But I’m begging you to forgive me. Give me a chance to show you how good things could be with you, me and Brielle.”
“Is this a joke? Do you know what you put me through with all the lies about how you aborted my baby? I missed a whole year of Brielle’s life because of your vindictiveness. And now you want me to forgive you and pick up where we left off?”
She was five steps from the bottom. “That’s what I want, Ram. I’m begging you to say that you want the same thing.”
He laughed in her face. “The best I can do for you is warn you that the cops are on the way. You might want to get out before you get arrested again.”
“All right, Ram, you win. I believe that you don’t want me anymore.”
“Good.” He stretched out his hand toward the front door, and began saying, “Now if you could just...”
Brandi brought her right hand from behind her back and pushed the bottom on the taser she was holding. The first zap sent so much voltage through Ram that he looked as if he was having a seizure. The second voltage knocked him to the ground. He hit his head and was out like a light.
***
Maxine covered her mouth with her hand as her heart dropped to her feet. Ram, the man she loved had just been tased and he looked to be unconscious.
Ramsey Sr. grabbed his keys and started barking orders. “Come on, were going over there. Maxine, give Brielle to Renee. She can stay here and call the police again. We need you at the house when the police show up.”
Maxine handed Brielle over, and kissed her on the forehead. She then pointed at her iPad and as tears rolled down her face, she instructed Renee, “Keep watching. Tell the police everything you see.”
“I will.” Renee was crying, too. “Hurry up, get my brother out of that house before that woman kills him.”
“He won’t die. He can’t. I love him too much,” Maxine admitted to everyone listening. They left the house. Ramsey drove while Carmella and Maxine sat in the back holding hands and praying for God to intervene.
***
Renee watched in horror as Brandi tied her brother’s hands behind his back and then tied his legs together. After that she turned him onto his back and sat on his chest. Brandi slapped him a few times and she heard her screaming at him to wake up. “Where are the police? What’s taking so long?” Renee was frantic with worry for her brother. She dialed 911 again.
The 911 operator sounded a little annoyed as she said, “Ma’am, for the third time. Officers have already been dispatched to that location. They should already be there.”
“Well they aren’t,” Renee screamed at the woman and then hung up the phone.”
What should I do? Renee wondered as she paced the floor. The only thing her family had ever taught her to do in times like these was to get down on her knees and pray like someone’s life depended on it. She laid Brielle on the sofa, turned off the iPad, because she couldn’t keep her eyes on what Brandi was doing. She needed to put her trust in God and believe He was able to see Ram through this situation even without seeing it.
***
“Lord, we need you right now. We need you to send your ministering angels to work this situation out on our behalf. We don’t know how it’s going to be worked out or what needs to be done to save Ram tonight. We just trust You to do it,” Carmella prayed.
“And we thank You, Lord for all that You are working out for Ram tonight. Bring him back to us safely. Thank You, Lord Jesus, thank You,” Maxine added.
Arnoth, the warrior angel, was at that moment receiving extra power from the prayers of the saints. And he was using that power to run the police in circles. Every time they drove up near the house, Arnoth would raise his arms and cause them to see visions of a dirt road.
“What happened to all the houses?” one of the police officers asked his partner.
The other officer took off his glasses and poked his head out the window. “I’ve been on this street at least a hundred times; I know there was a house right there.” He pointed at the spot where Maxine’s house was.
“Well, let’s just keep looking.” the officers drove off and Arnoth put his hands down.
Steven rushed to Arnoth’s side and reported. “She’s got a knife and there are two demons in there encouraging her to stab him.”
“Come on, Ram. Please open your heart to God. Let Him fight this battle for you.”
***
“You don’t want me anymore, fine,” Brandi said with finality in her voice. “But you don’t get to have Brielle without me. And I’m not going to be alone while you run off and marry Maxine. That’s not going to happen.”
As Ram came to, he realized that his hands and feet were tied and that he couldn’t defend himself against Brandi if he wanted to. That’s when Ram began to understand what Carmella had been trying to tell him about letting God fight his battles.
“I’m serious, Ram. I’m not going to be one of those silly women who kills herself because some man fell out of love with her. I’m going to kill you. And then I’m going to kill Maxine and I will take my baby back.” She lifted the knife so that he could see that she was serious.
“You don’t have to do this, Brandi. If you want us to be together, we can talk about it,” he said in her hearing, but inside he was screaming, Jesus, I need You. Please Lord, fight this battle for me. Help me, Lord. I don’t want to die. I want to live and see my daughter grow up and I want to marry Maxine. When he heard those words rumbling around in his mind, Ram realized at that moment that Maxine’s past didn’t matter to him. He was lying on the floor hog tied looking up at his past, and it didn’t look so good to him. How could he judge Maxine for the mistakes of her past when he had made some whoppers himself?
Ramsey's Praise Page 10
