by Thornton, EJ
"She needed that," Pearl said.
Jeannie put the phone away, switched off the light and crawled back in bed. She tossed and turned for a while. A couple of times she smacked herself on her forehead, while she scolded herself. "I should've put that stuff in storage. But I gave it all away. 'I'm done having babies.' Yeah, right!"
Poor girl, she had to have as many thoughts running through her head as I had had at the cemetery that day. Pearl had had enough, so she curled up around her and sang her a lullaby to soothe her spirit. George and I sang the songs with her. Edwina was still in the house and she joined in, too. Jeannie settled down, stopped tossing in her bed and finally fell asleep.
"That was a tough one," Pearl said after we successfully lullabied Jeannie to sleep. "I've never felt her so scared. She talks tough, but she's afraid."
"Are you worried?" I asked Pearl.
"I'm at complete peace with this." Pearl smiled at me. "God chose her for a reason. Soon you'll be a believer in her spirit too."
"Are you going to be all right here?" George asked Pearl and Edwina. They reassured us that they would be. "Then we should be going," George told me.
"We'll see you soon," I said and then we left.
Chapter 15
I wanted to go check on Jeremi, to see if he had gotten to sleep yet. He was asleep, if you could call it that. He beat the bed worse than I'd ever seen anyone do before. A very worried Henry watched over Jeremi. I would've asked Henry how Jeremi was doing, but it was obvious, he was a mess.
"You can almost see the players in his struggle. He's fighting so hard. The good side of him is right there on the surface. It's the side he shows Mama and Jeannie. However, the side of darkness looms right below it, trying to take him over forever. He's fighting to keep it down, but it's powerful and he's afraid. And it's his fear that allows the darkness in. This is a critical time for him. I have to be alert every moment, waking and sleeping. This is such a critical time for him."
"It's fear against faith," George comforted Henry, "and I'll take faith every time, Henry. We'll be fighting this battle right by your side. We will win him back for God and for his family, present and future. We will." George's tone was solemn and absolutely sincere. George put his hand on Henry's shoulder and gave Henry strength. We all put our heads down and prayed quietly for Jeremi. We stayed there all night because both Jeremi and Henry needed us.
I watched a sad, tired angel that night. I know that Henry had been by Jeremi's side every second in the past several years, except for maybe when Jeannie's angels took over from time to time. I felt the awesome responsibility a Guardian Angel must feel when his charge is in danger. I felt the despair he felt, feeling he was close to losing his charge. I prayed that night, I prayed so hard for my son and for his son and for his angel. I prayed his son would have a sober father. I prayed that Jeremi would want to be a part of, and a positive influence in, his son's life. I prayed that God would show me what I needed to do to help this come to pass, whatever it took.
We were visited in the night by all of Peter's family's angels. They stayed with us and prayed with us. Peter's angel, William, promised to keep Peter nearby at precisely the right moments, to help both Jeremi and Jeannie.
Jeremi woke up early. After he had his first obligatory sip of beer, he called Jeannie. "What's up?" he asked. . . . "I'm sorry, were you asleep? I just wanted to talk to you, to see if you were all right. . . . That's good. Go back to sleep. I'll call you later. 'Bye."
He put the phone down. He was the only one up. He turned on the TV and flipped through all the channels about four times before settling on a music video station. He sat there and stared out into space, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings.
To Henry, this seemed a perfect time to coach. "Calling her was good. That was good, but she's scared you'll leave her and she's scared you'll stay and keep drinking. You need to let her know you'll be there for her and the baby and that you'll be sober. This is the best reason in the world for you to straighten up your life and take care of your responsibilities."
I could tell Jeremi heard him because his look changed from a blank expression to one of deep thought. I could see his shoulders literally start to bear the burden and he hung his head, then shook it.
"I know this is hard to believe, but it did happen to you. This is your lifeline, Jeremi. You know it and I know you feel it too. Take hold. God wanted to give you a reason to stop destroying yourself. This is it. Jeremi, there's a family in your future. If you keep drinking, you could mess this up. Please hear me, it's so important," Henry finished.
Jeremi stayed with his head still down, but now he shook it up and down ever so slightly. George went to get him some company. He led the dog in from the other room and when it saw Jeremi, it wagged its tail and licked his face, since Jeremi had his head down so low. Jeremi was happy for the company. He gave the dog the rubs it wanted. It brought him out of his self-pity mode. It made him feel better, for the moment.
Henry said he would let us know if he needed us, so for the moment, George and I left Henry and Jeremi.
It was time to check on Jeannie now, to see how she was faring this fine morning.
Pearl and an angel I'd yet to meet sat on Jeannie's couch, giggling. There was a persistent knock on the door every few seconds, knock, knock, knock.
"What's so funny?" I asked Pearl.
"I asked Robin here to get Anne out there to spend some time with Jeannie this morning. The knocking is Anne's way of getting Jeannie out of bed, somewhat akin to the Chinese water torture. Watch when Jeannie finally gives in."
After a few more series of the knocks, Jeannie came down the hallway, fresh out of bed, one eye still closed and the other barely open. She just opened the door because she obviously recognized the knock. Anne popped right on in and said, "Donuts and espresso delivery service."
Jeannie collapsed on the couch next to Pearl. "Mmmm, you love donuts!" Pearl said, which caused her to open the other eye.
"What kind of donuts?" Jeannie asked, annoyed that she'd been pulled out of bed and her friend was so lively so early in the morning.
"Your favorite, chocolate! I know you've been watching your waist lately, but those days are over! So let's just indulge!"
Jeannie gave her an evil eye. She seemed a little irritated that Anne was already joking about her being pregnant.
"Did you say something about coffee?" Jeannie changed the subject.
"Caf mocha, with whipped cream. Um, um, fattening!"
Again Jeannie gave her the evil eye, but Anne was impervious to it. Anne smiled sweetly as she gave Jeannie the coffee, just to needle her.
"Thanks," Jeannie said lightly.
Anne got herself a donut and her coffee. "Cheers!" she said. She touched her coffee cup to Jeannie's.
"Cheers to what?" Jeannie snapped.
"To whatever will be! Qu sera sera," Anne said.
"Cheers," Jeannie said back to her as lightly as she had said thanks.
"Now, dear heart, we need to figure out a few things." Anne hinted.
"Like what?"
"Like, where are you going to put a baby in this little cramped apartment? Like, what to do about baby supplies? I know you gave everything away before you moved here. Like, when are you due? So we can figure out how much time we have to get things ready."
"Well, that's easy. God only knows. God only knows. And on Monday I'll call the doctor and then we'll know!"
"I can tell you put a lot of thought into those answers," Anne said. She enjoyed being about ten steps ahead of Jeannie on the awake and enthusiasm scales. "Well, do you want some more questions or would you like answers?"
"Oh, answers, please." Jeannie started to perk up.
"The answers are: You are going to put the baby in with you for a few months, then we'll just trust that God will provide an answer between now and then, so we'll consider that one solved . . . at least for the short term. We're going to go garage sale-ing and get you what you need. And
last, since you're only a couple of weeks along, I'm gonna sticky my neck out here and guess that we still have the better part of nine months to get this all accomplished. I just wish I knew if you were going to have a boy or a girl, that would make it easier to plan."
"It's a boy," both Pearl and Jeannie said, with identical conviction and inflection.
For the first time this morning, Anne was off-balance. "Excuse me?"
"It's a boy," Jeannie repeated.
"And you know this how?" Anne hoped Jeannie would fill in the blanks.
"Just know. I knew the girls were going to be girls, right?" Anne agreed. "Okay, I only suspect very strongly it's a boy, but if it turns out to be a girl, I'll be very surprised. So, how's that?" Jeannie caught up to the same speed as Anne. These girls had a rhythm with how they talked to each other. There was a lot of joking, but through it you could see the deep bonds of a truly special friendship.
"You want to know something funny?" Anne asked and Jeannie nodded. "I had a dream last night that you had a boy." Their eyes locked and grew wide with astonishment. There was a long, drawn-out pause in their conversation.
"There's the look," Robin said, as she and Pearl broke up laughing. Robin hummed the theme to an old science fiction movie. She and Pearl laugh even harder. It seemed to me that Robin and Pearl had a bond as close as Jeannie and Anne did.
"Nice touch, Robin," Pearl said. Robin smiled slyly.
George explained to me later why that was. Robin and Pearl had been friends before they were angels. On earth, many years ago, they were young friends who had been separated when Pearl's parents moved away. After they became angels, they stayed in close contact. Their desire to see each other led their charges to each other. When Jeannie and Anne met, they hit it off right away. The second they met, Jeannie and Anne felt like they already knew each other. That's the sensation people get when they feel their angels reunite. The unexplainable familiarity they feel is their angels' familiarity. What seems a natural part of the human's friendship is the simple love between their angel friends.
Anne picked up the conversation again. She cleared her throat and continued, but her voice cracked a little. "It might be dangerous to plan things based on that assumption."
"Why?" Jeannie countered with characteristic stubbornness.
"O-kay," Anne said, conceding the issue.
The girls talked the rest of the morning about the curve that Jeannie had been thrown in her life. Anne let her know unconditionally, that whatever happened she would be there to help all the way down to being in the delivery room with her at the hospital. Anne was a nurse at the hospital, so that part of it would come together easily. Pearl and Robin spent the rest of the morning making plans of their own regarding upcoming events. They reminded me very much of Naomi and Goldie and Glory and Vivian. Jeannie would land on her feet, if she had support like this around. This scene made me think about my friends. So I asked George, "Did you do things like this when I was with my friends?"
"Of course."
"Tell me about it."
George took me back to the garden and we talked for the longest time about all the times I was with my childhood buddies and what he and their angels did for us. He elaborated, in much greater detail than I wanted to remember about the times my friends and I got into trouble. How, before it got too dangerous or foolhardy, someone would amazingly discover what we were doing and lead us back to our mothers, usually by our ears. The plan was always foiled just in time. My friends and I were always sure that someone was working against us. We had it so backward. We should've known how hard they were working for us. We were sure the powers that be hated us because we could never pull off a successful prank. Thank God, they really loved us as much as they did and kept us from successfully pulling off one of those stupid capers.
George and I reminisced all afternoon about the stunts I pulled and how he and my friends' angels always had to intervene. I asked him about some of the ones we actually pulled off and like clockwork, he countered with the object lesson, it was supposed to teach us.
The grand plan was so marvelous. I wish I could have appreciated it more when I was still alive. I could have taught so many people so much. I was so blind, I should've been able to see these inter-workings. Looking back, it is all so clear. I guess I had a hard head.
Chapter 16
Henry's call interrupted our talk, which had apparently lasted the entire afternoon and evening. "George and Martin, you need to come. Jeremi is about to call Mama."
George and I exchanged quick glances and smiles. We wanted to be there for this one. We'd left a standing request with both Pearl and Henry to call us when someone was told about the baby. Surprisingly, we landed at Jeannie's apartment. Jeremi and Jeannie were out in the living room. The girls had already been tucked into their beds. Henry, Pearl, Jack and Sheila waited for us there. We all greeted one another.
"They just had a long conversation and decided that they should tell their families. They plan on keeping the baby and that's the only decision that has really been made," Pearl explained to us. "Jack and Sheila are going to run interference for us." I know I looked perplexed so they explained. "If Jeannie calls someone and they give her a hard time, then Jack will go work on that person to insure against any lasting damage done to the relationship. Likewise, Sheila will run interference for Jeremi."
"Things are about to heat up," George said, rubbing his hands together.
Jeremi was up first. "Let me call Mama." Sheila left in a flash. Jeannie handed him the phone. He dialed slowly. At first he got a wrong number. "Boy, I must be nervous," he told Jeannie. Then he took a sip of his beer and he dialed again.
"Mama? How are you?" There was a long pause; I guess Glory told him quite a bit. "How's Sarah?" There was a short pause and Jeremi laughed. "Really?" He laughed some more.
Jeannie listened intently for Glory's reaction, but Jeremi stalled a bit. So she sat back on the couch and stared impatiently up at the ceiling. After a few minutes of small talk, Jeremi looked back at her and sensed her anxiousness.
He grabbed her hand and took a deep breath. "Mama, I have some news."
Knowing Glory, she got extremely serious and asked, "What kind of news?"
"I'm going to have a baby," Jeremi said.
"WHAT?!" came through loud and clear. It even made Jeannie's head turn.
"I mean, Jeannie and I are. I mean Jeannie is. I mean she's pregnant. We just found out last night," Jeremi stammered, scrambling for the right words. "Mama, are you there? Mama?" There was a pause. "Yeah, I'm sure it's mine." He squeezed Jeannie's hand really tight, when he said that. Jeannie's eyes got really big as she realized what the question must've been.
"Yeah, I know, but we never actually found out if it was my problem or hers. . . . I know it's a shock! Believe me, I know it's a shock!" He looked into Jeannie's eyes when he said that, with a little humor and a little sarcasm.
Jeannie pantomimed sarcastically that it was just a "little" shock. She rested back on the couch.
"We'll know soon enough. She goes to the doctor on Monday." Glory must've asked a million questions when he said "hospital." He kept trying to answer her questions, but she fired them off so fast, it was hard for him to keep up. "Yeah, we-- . . . She, uh-- . . . Of course! . . . I did!. . . Really!"
I could just imagine how fast she was talking. She talked very fast when she was nervous or upset. She must've finally settled down.
"We thought she was having an appendicitis attack, but they did some other tests and that's how we found out. They did this ultra-sound thing. Mama, we saw the baby's heart beating. It was a trip!" His whole tone changed when he said that. He stopped explaining. He sounded awestruck. "I'm sure she'd love to meet you, too, Mama." Jeremi looked at Jeannie when he said that.
"Nod your head, dear," Pearl whispered in her ear, to get her attention.
Jeannie complied with Pearl's request. Her eyes were huge. Jack was sitting on the other side of her. "Wake up!" he
said and poked her in her ribs. Jeannie snapped out of it. Then her nodding seemed a much more conscious decision.
"She says she would like to meet you, too, Mama," Jeremi said. "There's plenty of time, we'll figure something out. . . . Okay. I love you, too."
He hung up the phone and sat back into the couch beside Jeannie; both of them stared up at the ceiling.
It was fun to be here for this side of the conversation, but I wanted to see Glory's reaction to all of this, so I went home. Glory was at the kitchen table deep in thought. Her tea had spilled on the table in front of her and she was so fixated on Jeremi the tea had escaped her notice. Naomi was there with Glory. Sheila and Grandmama guided Sarah into the kitchen right on cue.
"Who was on the phone?" Sarah asked casually. Poor unsuspecting Sarah was about to be unleashed upon.
Glory shook her head with a pained look on her face. Sarah saw Mama's expression and got very concerned. Sarah grabbed a napkin from the middle of the table and started blotting up Glory's spilled tea.
"Tell me again what your brother told you about the girl he's seeing," Glory requested of Sarah.
"Oh, let's see. She works on computers, lives in a dinky apartment, can sing when she's practiced, has two little girls and," she paused, "that's all I can remember. Why?"
"That was Jeremi," Glory started. "He called to tell me that, ah-- that, um . . ." Sarah stared intently at Glory and waited for the bottom line. "That she's pregnant."
"Lord have mercy!" Sarah sat down hard and it took the breath right out of her.
"He says he is sure it's his."
"But--" Sarah started.
"I know, he said he never for sure got checked. He says he's sure this baby is his."
"This is what you've been praying for," Sheila said to both of them.
