The List

by Robert Whitlow

Renny let his hand be swallowed in the lawyer’s massive paw. “Hello.”

  “Sit down,” Jenkins said, and they sat across from each other at the small metal table.

  “Are you an idiot—I mean, appointed lawyer?” Renny asked.

  “No.” Jenkins laughed.“I know Agnes Flowers. I’ve practiced law in Georgetown for ten years, and she called early this morning asking me to see you.”

  “Did she tell you I was a lawyer, too?”

  “Yes, she said you recently started working for a big firm in Charlotte. Could someone from your firm help you?”

  Renny couldn’t imagine Barnette Heywood’s reaction to a request for legal help in his current circumstances. “There aren’t any criminal defense lawyers in our firm. I’m sorry about what I said.”

  “No problem. I know I look more like a right guard for the Packers than an attorney. Actually, I was an offensive lineman in high school and college.”

  “I was a linebacker,” Renny responded. “A small linebacker who would have hated to see you on the other side of the ball. Where did you grow up?”

  “Orangeburg. After high school I received a football scholarship to South Carolina State and later went to law school at USC in Columbia.”

  Renny liked the big man’s demeanor.

  “If I can, I’d like to help you,” the lawyer continued. “I’ve checked the warrant docket, and you have four charges: criminal trespass, possession of burglary tools, criminal damage to property, and attempted burglary. The first three are misdemeanors; the attempted burglary is a felony.”

  “How can you help? I was caught on the roof of the house, trying to cut open a skylight.”

  “Well, it may be possible to get some of the charges dismissed and work out a sentencing agreement as part of a plea bargain on what is left. But first I need to ask you some questions.”

  “May I ask one first?”

  “Sure.”

  “How much are you going to charge? I’ll need to make arrangements to pay.”

  “No problem. Mrs. Flowers said she would take care of my fee.”

  Renny’s mouth dropped open. “I can’t let her do that.”

  Jenkins shook his head. “Actually, I think you should, or at least let her think she is. She tells me you are a special young man.”

  Renny felt a rush of emotion at Mama A’s expression of love. “How do we let her think she’s paying?”

  “I’ll bill her a small amount, and you can pay the rest without mentioning it to her. Without a trial, my fee should be around twenty-five hundred.”

  “That’s fine. I’m not rich, but I can come up with that much money even if I have to sell something.”

  “OK. Now, let me ask a few questions. Did you give a statement to the police after you were arrested last night?”

  “No. A detective named Cook started to question me and when I told him I would prefer to talk to a lawyer first, he said I was nailed to the—”

  “C-r-o-s-s. He needs to get a new line,” Jenkins said. “It’s good you didn’t talk to him. It will be better if we can deal straight with the district attorney’s office.”

  “It’s not that I deny what I’ve done, I just didn’t see the point in rehashing everything with him.”

  “Don’t worry. He knows they have what they need without a statement, but you’d be surprised how many people confess even when there is insufficient evidence to convict them otherwise. It just shows that God has put in all of us the desire to be free from a guilty conscience.”

  “Are you a Christian lawyer?” Renny asked.

  “Actually, I’m a Christian who practices law.” Jenkins smiled. “That’s how I know Agnes Flowers. I’ve spoken at her church several times, and she invited my family over for dinner one Sunday after the meeting.”

  “And you live in Georgetown?”

  “Yes. I had a hearing scheduled this morning, but it was postponed, and I was available to come see you first thing.”

  “But, if you’re a Christian like Mama A, I mean Mrs. Flowers, how—”

  “How can a lawyer who is a Christian represent guilty people?” Jenkins finished Renny’s thought.

  “Right.”

  “Remind me to show you the Wall of Faith at my office sometime. Then you’ll understand. Now, let’s get down to business.”

  Carol met a sleepy-eyed Anne and Dr. Levy inside the quarantine area. “How is she this morning?”

  Anne yawned. “Her fever climbed in the night until spiking at 103. It’s down some now, but she’s still somewhat delirious.”

  “What’s causing the fever?”

  Dr. Levy glanced at Jo’s chart in his hand. “It’s not clear, but minor infections that would be unnoticeable to a healthy person are extremely dangerous for Jo. We’re giving her the maximum amount of antibiotics in an effort to knock it out of her system, but without any white blood cells to fight infection, we don’t have any allies in her body.”

  “Are the antibiotics working?”

  “We hope so.”

  “And if they don’t work?”

  The doctor closed the folder. “We may lose her.”

  30

  And they loved not their lives unto the death.

  REVELATION 12:11, KJV

  Jenkins put his legal pad down on the table. “OK. You’ve told me everything that happened last night except the most important thing.”

  “Which is?” Renny looked puzzled.

  “Why? Why did you want to break into LaRochette’s house? Mrs. Flowers told me you’re from a well-to-do Charleston family, and I know you work for a big law firm in Charlotte. That is not the typical profile for a twenty-five-year-old who tries to burglarize a rich man’s beach mansion.”

  Renny shrugged his shoulders. “Why does it matter? Motive is only important to TV lawyers. The reason I wanted to get inside LaRochette’s house is not going to get me off the hook, is it?”

  Jenkins nodded. “You’re right. But you have told me as much about this disaster as the crew of the Titanic knew about the iceberg that sank the ship. If you really want me to help you, I need to know everything.”

  Renny had faithfully carried the secret of the List so long it had become automatic to exclude any hint of it in conversation with everyone except Jo. But there was a strength in this huge man that made him feel safe. Renny’s attempts at solving the problems created by his involvement with the List had failed miserably. Like many other men who had confessed their hidden secrets within the walls of the jailhouse interview room, Renny decided this was the time for him to come clean. Maybe confession would be good for his soul as well.

  “How much time do you have?” he asked.

  “Enough. My office knows where I am. They can call the jail, and one of the deputies will let me know if I have an emergency. Go ahead, I’m listening.”

  Renny began with an odd question. “Do you know how many levels of hell there were in Dante’s Inferno?”

  “Uh, nine.”

  “Well, right now I am at Level Seven, and I don’t want to go any lower.”

  Renny started at the beginning and took the lawyer down the path that led to the interview room at the GCCC. After a few minutes, Jenkins stopped taking notes and just listened. When Renny told him about Jo’s illness, tears filled both their eyes.

  He finished his tale of woe and said with relief, “And that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I feel better just getting everything out in the open after wrestling with this by myself for so long.”

  “Thank you for trusting me,” Jenkins said soberly. “We have three things to do. First, I am going to cancel everything on my calendar for the rest of the day and seek guidance from the Lord on your behalf. The next time I see you, I want to have a strategy that has the counsel of Jesus Christ for your situation. He is our Advocate, and unlike earthly lawyers, has never lost a case for a cooperative client. Second, I want you to give me permission to call Agnes Flowers and enlist her prayers on your behal
f. I won’t tell her everything, but she needs to know enough to appreciate the level of spiritual warfare involved in this situation. Third, I want you to call your landlady in Charlotte and have her fax me the financial information sheet you obtained after the last meeting at the Rice Planter’s Inn.”

  “Will they let me make another call from here?”

  “Yes. I’ll make sure of it. Here’s my card. It has all my phone numbers on it.”

  “OK.”

  “Before I leave, I want us to pray together.”

  “Sure.”

  The lawyers bowed their heads, and Jenkins began pouring out his soul in prayer. Renny was stunned. For passion and persistence, he had never heard anything like it. It reminded him of the finals of a high school wrestling tournament in which two evenly matched grapplers refuse to yield an inch of territory to the opponent. Jenkins approached God with a determined intensity and an unwillingness to accept no for an answer. At one point, chills ran down Renny’s spine, and he opened his eyes to see if angels or some other form of heavenly creatures had come into the room. A. L. quoted passages from the Scriptures with fire and conviction. He beat his fist against the table in opposition to the works of Satan. He beseeched heaven for the manifestation of the will of God for Renny. He invoked the authority of the One who conquered the grave for Jo’s deliverance from death. He bound, he loosed, he cried, he sweat, and when he finished by declaring, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the strong Son of God, amen,” Renny, for the first time since he started his downward spiral, knew there was a reality to the word hope.

  In Charlotte, Daisy Stokes had not eaten, slept, or taken a sip of water since Renny’s call the night before. Although in good health for a woman of her age, she feared her body could not endure the strain caused by the intensity of the prayer burden for the two young people. Hour after hour passed in the prayer closet. Dawn arrived, but the burden did not lift. Then, suddenly, peace came.

  “What is this, Lord? Is it victory?”

  “No,” came the steady reply to her heart. “ It is the eye of the storm.”

  “What do I need to do? My strength is almost gone.”

  “You can choose to be poured out.”

  Opening her Bible, she read the words of Paul to Timothy:

  For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

  She waited, then lifted her head, and spoke, “If I choose to be poured out, will it bring victory for Renny and Jo?”

  “If you choose rightly, you will fulfill my will and have the same epitaph as my servant Paul.”

  Her understanding expanded by the intensity of the Holy Spirit’s presence, Daisy appreciated in a heightened way the excellency and surpassing glory of fulfilling the Lord’s will, regardless of the consequences to her own life. Her decision was easy; she’d already made the hard choices along the path of a long life lived in obedience to Jesus.

  “Yes,” she whispered and immediately the whirlwind of opposition to her prayers again swept over her. But now, energized by a new strength, she beat back the darkness with one of the most powerful weapons in a Christian’s arsenal: the increasing brilliance of the Lord’s manifest presence upon her life.

  After Agnes Flowers learned from Mrs. Stokes about Renny’s trouble, she went into the kitchen for a drink of water. She was troubled on the surface but she felt a settled resolve deep in her soul, like a soldier going into battle who knew there was no turning back, no chance of a transfer to a safe assignment in the rear, no other option but to go forward and face the enemy. Sitting at the table, she thought about Renny’s mother.

  “Katharine, your boy’s in trouble, but somehow I still don’t think the Lord’s frettin’ and wringin’ his hands.”

  Stretching and lifting her own hands in the air, she said, “What do you want me to do, Lord? Please show me.”

  Nothing came, so she went to bed and soon fell asleep. She dreamed. She saw herself standing on top of a hill covered with green grass. The terrain was rolling and rocky, not flat and sandy like the Low Country. The landscape reminded her of pictures of Scotland. In the distance, she saw men coming toward her. She could not see who they were, but they were walking resolutely in her direction and would soon ascend the hill where she waited. The closer they came, the more impressed she was by the determination in their bearing. When their faces came into focus, she saw a strength and fortitude that caused her knees to tremble. Although they carried no visible weapons, these were warriors trained for battle, and she knew no foe could stand against them. Up they came to where she stood and stopped. One of the warriors stepped forward. Opening his cloak, he pulled out a double-edged sword that was taller than Agnes and laid it at her feet.

  “Pick it up,” he commanded.

  Agnes looked at the sword and showed the man her hands. “I can’t do anythin’ with that. It’s way too big. I don’t even think I belong here.”

  “Pick it up.”

  Deciding to show him instead of arguing, she leaned over and grasped the handle, easily lifting the sword over her head; it had no weight at all. Swinging it in front of her, the sword disappeared from view, yet somehow she knew it was still in her hand.

  “Where did it go?” she asked.

  “It is still there. Its purpose is not to fight what is seen, but what is unseen.”

  “How could it be so light?”

  “You’ve trained yourself to wield it. The strength to use this sword is not in your flesh; it’s in your spirit. You are one of the few on earth who can bend a bow of bronze.”

  Agnes fell on her knees before the Captain of the Host.

  “No.” The angel took her hand and lifted her up. “We, too, are here to serve our Lord, and he has assigned us to fight this battle alongside you.”

  Agnes woke up. She put on her robe and went out to the back porch. The sky was clear and the night air cool on her face. As she rocked, she prayed, and as she prayed, she cut the heavens with a double-edged sword.

  Renny called Mrs. Stokes as soon as A. L. Jenkins left. “Are you OK?” he asked, disturbed by the obvious weakness of her voice.

  “I’m going to be better,” she answered cryptically. “I’m glad you called, because I’m going to lie down and rest in a few minutes.”

  “OK, I’ll talk fast. First, did you talk with Jo’s mother?”

  “No one was home when I called. Do you think I should try to reach her at the hospital?”

  “There isn’t a phone in Jo’s room. Please leave a message on Carol’s machine that I’ve been unable to reach them. I know they’re wondering why I haven’t called.”

  “When are you going to tell them what’s happened, Renny? You know they would want to help you.”

  “You’re right, but I need to wait. Thanks for calling Mama A. She contacted a lawyer who is a Christian here in Georgetown, and he came by to see me. He is going to pray the rest of the day and let me know what he thinks I should do.”

  “Sounds like a good lawyer to me.”

  “He is. One other thing. Upstairs on the coffee table in my living room is a sheet of paper with a list of names, bank account numbers, and dollar amounts on it. Could you fax it to my lawyer sometime today?”

  “Yes. I’ll do anything to help. There is a fax machine I can use at the church.”

  Renny gave her Jenkins’s fax number. “Thanks, Mrs. Stokes.”

  With trepidation, Renny phoned the law firm. Surprisingly, Mr. Heywood was in and immediately took his call.

  Without any pleasantries, Heywood started right in, “Renny, is it true that you’re in jail on a burglary charge in Georgetown, South Carolina?”

  “Uh, yes, sir. Well, no, sir, it’s attempted burglary.”

/>   “That distinction doesn’t make a lot of difference to me.”

  “Well, yeah. I understand. How did you find out I was here?”

  “Obviously you didn’t call me, did you?”

  “No, sir, not until now.”

  “Let’s cut to the heart of the matter, Renny. I have one question. I’m a lawyer, not judge or jury, but I need to know the truth. Are you guilty?”

  Unable to think of any other answer, Renny said, “Yes, sir.”

  “All right. You understand the position this puts us in. We can’t have someone associated with the firm who has a criminal record. Anyway, you’ll probably lose your license.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “I’m sorry. You’re finished at the firm. I’ll do everything I can to get you a small severance, at least two weeks’ pay. Janice will box up your personal belongings and deliver them to security downstairs. You can have someone pick up your things if you don’t, uh, get out for a while.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Renny hung up the phone. Mr. Heywood may not be judge or jury, but he makes quite a swift and efficient executioner.

  Before Renny was taken to the cellblock, he asked one of the guards if there were Bibles available.

  “Sure. A local church supplies them for every prisoner. I’ll get you one.”

  “Thanks.”

  No one was in the cell when the guard slid back the door.

  “Where are the two guys who were here this morning?”

  “They work outside cleaning patrol cars in the afternoon. They won’t be back until supper time.”

  “How much are they paid?”

  “Jailhouse wages, fifty cents an hour. Enough for cigarettes, candy, and stamps.”

  “Oh.”

  From fifty million to fifty cents.

  Renny sat on an empty bunk and turned to 1 Kings 13, reading again the prophecy predicting the destruction of the altar built by Jeroboam at Bethel. What did Josiah of old do? How could there be a connection between the righteous king of Judah and Renny Jacobson? He read the prophecy of judgment and doom. It was obvious one of Josiah’s purposes was to be an instrument of God’s wrath against idolatry. But what would that mean today? How could it apply to him?