The Other Side of Goodness

by Vanessa Davis Griggs

  He knew how Gabrielle felt about Jasmine. If she was willing to take him on to save her life, she surely wouldn’t hesitate to do what she needed to do to hold on to her—now that she apparently had her back.

  The only option he had was to stop his daughter Paris.

  “William, we’re going to have to do something to get my daughter’s attention away from trying to adopt this little girl. If she were to get pregnant with her own child, I’m sure she would abandon this pursuit.”

  “I can’t do anything about her getting pregnant now.” William chuckled.

  “I know that,” Lawrence said. “I pray she gets pregnant. But if she doesn’t, we’re going to have to find some other way to divert her attention. If she tries to take this child from Gabrielle, then I’ve lost this election for sure.”

  “To be candid, you’re already losing this election. You’re thirty points down in the polls. When black folks found out you switched parties and became a Republican and that you’re now spouting off Tea Party talking points, they’re running from you like a man running from killer bees. And those Tea Party rallies with those racist posters being broadcast on television aren’t helping matters.”

  “Well, let’s just concentrate on one crisis at a time. You remember that last guy I had you check out for me?”

  “You’re talking about Darius Connors?”

  “Yes. Him. Well, I need you to put someone on him and keep an eye out on both him and my daughter.”

  “Are you sure about this? You know you’re always reminding me that Paris is family . . . that she’s blood.”

  “I’m sure. I told Darius that he needed to be careful when he decided he wanted to play in the major league with the big boys. If Paris refuses to heed my warning, then you recall what they used to say when we were growing up.”

  William smiled. “A hard head makes for a soft behind.”

  “Yeah. She’s grown now. So I can’t control her the way I could when she was more under my thumb. If Paris won’t stop on her own, then I’ll just have to help her. And if she happens to fall on her behind in the process, oh well . . .”

  “I’ll get somebody on this pronto!” William left.

  Lawrence looked toward the ceiling. “God, help me. God, help us all!”

  Chapter 49

  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

  —1 John 4:18

  Having just left Paris, Gabrielle held it together when she got to the car where Zachary and Jasmine were waiting for her.

  “Is everything all right?” Zachary asked.

  She nodded and forced a smile. “Oh, yeah. Everything’s fine.”

  “I remember her,” Jasmine said. “She and her sister, Imani, came to see me the day I got to go home.”

  “Yes,” Gabrielle said, turning to look at Jasmine, who was in the backseat buckled up. “She most certainly did.”

  “She must not have remembered me,” Jasmine said.

  Zachary backed out of the parking place. The lights in the lot lit up the car.

  “Why do you say that?” Gabrielle asked Jasmine.

  “She didn’t say hello to me when she saw me. She acted like she didn’t even notice or see me.”

  Zachary released a short laugh. “Oh, she didn’t say hello to me, either,” Zachary said. “I think her mind must have been somewhere else.”

  “Yeah, but, my mother says you’re always supposed to speak to people you know.” Jasmine got quiet.

  Gabrielle tried to see what was going on with Jasmine. She could hear her sniffling. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.” Jasmine sniffled. “I just miss . . . I just miss my mama.”

  “I know you do, sweetheart. But we know she’s in a better place now.”

  “I know,” Jasmine said. “She’s with Jesus. But I miss her so much! I do!”

  “I know.” Gabrielle turned around and wiped the tears from her own eyes.

  Zachary looked over at Gabrielle. He pulled the car over to the side of the road. Gabrielle smiled at him, jumped out, went and got in the backseat, and put her arm around Jasmine, who was crying hard now. “It’s okay. I’m here. And Dr. Z is here. We’re going to be here right with you. Okay?”

  Jasmine nodded. Gabrielle buckled up in the seat next to her. Zachary pulled back onto the road.

  When they reached Gabrielle’s house, Zachary got out and came in with them. He stayed until after Jasmine was in bed.

  “Come here,” he said to Gabrielle, wrapping his arms around her as soon as she walked into the den.

  Gabrielle couldn’t hold it together any longer. She completely broke down.

  “Oh, baby. I know all of this is hard.” He sat down, pulling her with him. “Did that woman . . . Paris, isn’t that her name? Did Paris say something to upset you?”

  Gabrielle wiped her eyes and nodded. She pulled away from Zachary’s embrace. “She says she plans on taking Jasmine from me.”

  “Come again?” Zachary said with an obvious edge to his voice.

  Gabrielle primped her mouth a bit before steadying it. “She says she’s going to petition to get Jasmine.”

  “What does she have to do with any of this?”

  “I don’t know,” Gabrielle said. “I don’t even know where this is coming from. Unless her father is putting her up to it, I can’t imagine Paris wanting to raise a child that’s not her own.” Gabrielle released a short laugh. “In truth: I can’t see her wanting to raise her own child. She’s the type that would hire a full-time nanny while she sat there watching her fingernail polish dry.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Unless she’s changed from the person I knew.” Gabrielle shook her head slowly. “I don’t know where this is coming from.”

  “Okay. So tell me everything she said,” Zachary said.

  “Basically she said I wasn’t fit to be anybody’s mother, especially somebody like Jasmine. She made references back to my days as an exotic dancer. Oh, let me not clean up the way she said it: my days as a stripper. She indicated that Jasmine would fare better in a home with two parents as opposed to being with me. I don’t know. Jasmine doesn’t know her. How does she think it will benefit that child to have some stranger whisking her away to a home with people she doesn’t even know?”

  “I know.”

  “Jessica left her in my care. She did everything within her power to ensure Jasmine wouldn’t suffer too much when she was gone,” Gabrielle said. “I still haven’t told Jasmine who I really am or the truth about who she is. I was supposed to. But with everything happening as it did and so fast; I just couldn’t bring myself to do it then. Now Paris is here saying I’m not good enough to take care of her and she wants to take Jasmine away from me?” Gabrielle began to shake her head. “No. No. I’m not going to let her. I will fight her until the end.”

  “We’re not going to let her,” Zachary said.

  Gabrielle smiled at Zachary. “Thanks for that. But this is my battle. I wouldn’t dare involve you in this. It’s going to be hard enough on me. I’ll not let her drag your name through the mud. This is my battle.”

  “No, the battle is not yours; it’s the Lord’s.” Zachary took her by both her hands. “And you’re not going to fight this one alone because, as your husband, I’m not going to let you fight it alone. I’m going to be right there by your side every step of the way. Understand?”

  Gabrielle frowned. “What?”

  Zachary kneeled down on one knee. He reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a black velvet box, and opened it to a princess-cut three-carat diamond ring.

  Gabrielle placed her right hand over her mouth and began to shake her head slowly. “Zachary . . .”

  Zachary took her left hand and looked lovingly into her eyes. “Gabrielle Mercedes . . .”

  Gabrielle started to cry with her right hand still covering her mouth.

  “I love you,” Zachary said. �
��And I want to spend the rest of my life with you as your husband and best friend. I want us to be a family: me, you, and Jasmine. In fact, I can’t imagine my life without the two of you in it. I promise to love, honor, cherish, and, yes, fight for our love, every single day of our lives, if I have to. Gabrielle, whatever is in our past is in the past. And on this side of goodness, God’s goodness, I would be honored if you would say yes to my proposal and agree to be my wife.” He took the ring out of the box and set the box on the floor. He held the ring out to her as he waited for her to answer.

  “Zachary,” was all Gabrielle said as tears came streaming down. “But why? Why now?”

  “Why now?” He grinned. “Well, because it took them a week to get the ring in that I ordered. Otherwise, I would have asked you last week. Now, will you please make me the happiest man in the world and say yes? Yes, you’ll be my wife. Let’s just forget about everything and everybody. The only people I care about what they think or feel when it comes to us, is you, me, and of course now, Jasmine.”

  “Are you sure, Zachary? Are you sure? Because I believe I’m in for the fight of my life if Paris decides to proceed with this as she indicated she would. You know I love you. I love you, Zachary. But I don’t want to do anything that might hurt you.”

  Zachary stood up, pulled her up, and kissed her. “If that’s true, then shut up with the commentary and say yes.” He smiled, holding the ring up to her.

  “Hmmm. I don’t know.” She shook her head. “If I shut up, then how can I possibly open my mouth to say yes? A closed mouth can’t speak.”

  He grinned. “Gabrielle Mercedes, will you marry me?”

  She looked at him hard, then broke out into a huge grin. “Yes!” she said. “Yes, I’ll marry you!”

  The next thing she knew, he’d slipped the ring onto her finger, and her feet were dangling in the air as he hugged her.

  “Hey! Hey!” Jasmine’s voice came through the loud laughing they were doing. “What’s going on in here?”

  Gabrielle dashed over to her and hugged her. “I’m sorry. We woke you up.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t asleep. I always have a hard time falling asleep,” Jasmine said. “So what are you and Dr. Z so happy about?”

  Gabrielle looked up at Zachary, who was also grinning. He came over to them and, kneeling, took Jasmine by both her little hands. “I just asked Miss G to marry me.”

  Jasmine’s face lit up. “You did? You asked her to marry you? For real? You really did?”

  Zachary smiled. “I did.”

  Jasmine turned back to Gabrielle. “And did you say yes?” She held her hands together in a prayerlike pleading way.

  Gabrielle was grinning hard now. “I did! I said yes!” She held out her hand, showing Jasmine her ring.

  Jasmine started jumping up and down, then grabbed them both by their hands and started jumping up and down along with them. “Yay! We’re getting married,” she began to sing. “We’re getting married.” After about two more times of singing that stanza, she stopped and began rubbing her eyes with her fists and began to cry.

  Gabrielle squatted down and hugged her. “Jasmine, what’s wrong? What’s the matter?”

  “I was just thinking. I prayed and asked God for you two to get married. God didn’t answer my prayer when I asked Him to heal my mother.” She rubbed her eyes with her hands. “But God answered my prayer with you.” She stopped wiping her eyes and suddenly broke into a humongous grin. “We’re getting married! We’re going to be a family! I’m so hap-py,” she sang.

  Zachary hugged her. “Me, too, Miss Jazz! Me, too! I’m so hap-py! Yes, God does answer prayers!” He stood up, looked at Gabrielle, winked, then hugged her. “God absolutely answers prayers.”

  Discussion Questions

  1. What did you think of Paris and her relationship with her father? Her relationship with her husband, Andrew?

  2. What were your thoughts about the whole Lawrence and Gabrielle situation?

  3. Knowing what was going on with Jasmine, do you agree with Gabrielle’s actions in her attempt to get a donor? What would you have done?

  4. Do you feel what Gabrielle was doing could be classified as blackmail?

  5. How did you feel about the revelation of Jasmine’s father? Discuss the stage that set this, including Paris’s treatment of Gabrielle.

  6. What are your thoughts when it comes to Lawrence, William, and Paris? What word would you use to describe each of them?

  7. Jessica Noble had her own health challenge. Do you think Jessica did the right thing from the time she learned about what was going on until the final thing she did? Discuss.

  8. Mattie was a true gatekeeper. Discuss.

  9. What did you think of the way Zachary helped Gabrielle, including getting her past Mattie that time into Lawrence’s office? Discuss the confrontation in Lawrence’s office.

  10. What are your thoughts when it comes to these kinds of secrets? Are there times when something shouldn’t be disclosed? Explain.

  11. Discuss Imani and her role in shifting the dynamics of the story.

  12. Do you believe Paris really wants to be a mother? Discuss.

  13. What are your thoughts when it comes to Darius? Discuss the square-offs that happened between Darius and Lawrence.

  14. Considering Gabrielle’s past and what Paris feels she can do, who do you think is the best person when it comes to Jasmine? Why?

  15. Discuss the night after Paris confronted Gabrielle in church and informed her of her intentions.

  16. At the end, Zachary made his move. What are your thoughts?

  Don’t miss Vanessa Davis Griggs’s

  Goodness and Merc y

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  Turn the page for an excerpt from Goodness and Mercy ...

  Chapter 1

  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

  —Isaiah 1:18

  “If you’re here today,” forty-eight-year-old Pastor George Landris began, “and you feel there’s something missing in your life. If you admit that although there are billions of people on this earth, you still feel like you’re all by yourself—that sometimes it feels like it’s you, and you alone. If you feel as though no one truly loves you. If you’re fed up with being fed up.” He paused a second. “If you’d like to be born again . . . you want to know Jesus in the free pardon of your sins. Then I want you to know that your being here today is neither an accident nor a coincidence. I want you to know that it’s time for a change! You see, I’ve been told that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but somehow expecting a different result.” He shook his head slowly, then took one step to the side.

  “Well, to that someone who’s here today, your change has come. If you’re looking for change, change you can truly believe in, then the Lord is extending His hand to you today through me. He’s asking you, on this day, to accept His hand. I know I’m talking to somebody today. In your life, it’s time for a change.” Pastor Landris nodded as he narrowed his eyes, then ticked his head three times to one side as he smiled.

  “Oh, I know we heard the word change a lot last year. We talked about change. Some of you even voted for change. Some of you voted for the first time in your life because of change. Well, on November 4, 2008, change took a step forward in these United States of America . . . a change that’s already had an impact on the world. But on this day”—he pointed his index finger down toward the floor—“on this Sunday, January 4, 2009, sixteen days before that embodiment of change is to be sworn in as the forty-fourth president of the United States, it’s time for your own personal change. A change, a wonderful change.”

  Many in the audience began to clap while others stood, clapped, and shouted various things like: “Change!” “A wonderful change!” and “Thank God for change!”

  Pastor Landris bobbed his head, th
en continued to speak. “For those of you here who are tired of fighting this battle alone, let me assure you that there is another way. And in case you don’t know or haven’t heard, Jesus is the way! He’s the truth, and He’s the light.

  “And today—just as Jesus has been doing since before He left earth boarded on a cloud on His way back to Heaven, where He presently sits on the right hand of the Father—He’s calling for those who have yet to answer His call, to come. Come unto Him all you that labor and are heavy laden. Jesus desires to be Lord of your life. Won’t you come today? Won’t you come? Come and cast your cares on the Lord, for He cares for you. Oh, yes, He cares . . . He cares. He cares. He . . . cares.”

  Pastor Landris extended his hand. He looked like someone waiting on a dance partner to take hold of his outstretched hand in order to continue the next step of a well-choreographed dancing routine.

  Twenty-six-year-old Gabrielle Mercedes heard his words. She felt them as they pierced her heart. She doubled over as she sat in her seat. Quickly, she felt the warmth wash completely over her, starting at her head. It felt as though she was being covered with pure love and peace, as though buckets of warmth were being poured on her, the warmth quickly making its way down to her feet. Her feet heard the music inside of the words “Come and cast your cares on the Lord, for He cares,” and they began to move, to tap rapidly, all on their own.

  The music that played inside her was not the usual music one might expect to hear in church. It was music that no words she knew could aptly describe—angelic. Her body instinctively knew what to do; her legs summarily stood her upright. She hurriedly, but gracefully, started across—one–two, one–two, side step, side step—from where she’d been sitting, quietly excusing herself past those who shared the row with her. Then, forward she glided, with long deliberate strides down a wide center aisle—flow, extend, now glide, glide, faster, faster—toward the front of the church building’s sanctuary. Everything happening before the right side of her brain was even able to effectively launch a logical and methodical discussion about any of this with the left side of her brain. She was moving forward, refusing to look back.