Former Rain-Forsaken Box Set

by Vanessa Miller

  She fell on her knees on the bathroom floor. She was newly saved, but beginning to understand something it took many Christians years to grasp. The altar does not only reside in the sanctuary of a church building, but in the sanctuary of your heart. Wherever you fall down and pray, wherever you meet Jesus; that, is your altar. So, surrounded by Charmin toilet paper and Dial soap, Nina lifted her arms to the Lord and declared, “I will serve You, Lord. Show me how.”

  13

  “Thanks for taking us to church today, Michael. I really enjoyed it.”

  “I’m glad.” He pulled the car in Elizabeth’s driveway.

  Elizabeth turned to Erin and Danae in the back seat. “Tell Uncle Mike bye-bye.”

  “Bye, Uncle Mike,” they said in unison.

  Elizabeth got out of the car and helped Erin and Danae out. She looked back at her brother as she headed up the walkway. “Can you pick me up for church next Sunday?”

  He smiled. “Sure can. I’ll wait for you to get in the house.”

  Elizabeth lifted her door key. “Not necessary. See you later. Give Char a hug for me.”

  “I will. I have to pick her up from the airport right now.” He backed out of the driveway.

  The girls ran up the walkway. Danae did more falling than running. Elizabeth smiled. It was so cute to watch her. She put the key in the lock and tried to turn it. The key didn’t fit.

  That’s strange. She looked at the key. “Mmmh, it’s the right key.” She shrugged her shoulders and put the key in the lock again. Still didn’t work. Dread swept over her, the likes of which she had not known in many years. She rang the doorbell, no answer. She banged on the door and screamed, “Kenneth, I know you’re in there. You better open this door.”

  Kenneth walked into the foyer and spoke through the window. “You don’t live here anymore, Elizabeth. I told you that.”

  “You said you were moving in on Monday.”

  “The locksmith was available today.”

  Elizabeth balled her fist. “Oooh, Kenneth, you better open this door!”

  “Leave my children here and go find yourself a place to stay,” he told her as he pulled back the curtain.

  Elizabeth was hot. She stumped up and down the pathway trying to figure out what to do about this situation. That’s when she spotted the decorative red bricks. Bricks she’d laid around the flowerbed when their love was in full bloom. “You think you can just put me out of my own house, huh?” She grabbed one of the bricks and threw it through the bottom pane of the window.

  Kenneth opened the front door and menacingly moved toward Elizabeth.

  “Daddy… Daddy,” the girls screamed.

  Kenneth ran past them as Elizabeth picked up her second brick. “You lunatic. Only a fool destroys her own property.”

  She shook the brick in her hand. “I don’t live here anymore, remember?” She reared back, ready to send another brick sailing through the foyer window.

  Kenneth grabbed her arm and pulled the brick out of her hand. “You are the most selfish woman I have ever met. God, I can’t stand the sight of you!” He moved back, trying to put some distance between them. He’d grown-up believing that only weak men beat their women. His father told him that it was easy to smack a woman around, but a real man takes time to talk things over with his woman – help her understand why things are the way they are. Real men loved their wives into submission, rather than beating a ‘yes sir’ out of them.

  His dad took a hard stance against men who beat on their wives. He should have stood just as firm against extra marital affairs, of which he had many. When he was a kid, Kenneth vowed never to take the easy way out. He would never beat or cheat on his wife. He had already broken one of his vows, now this woman was making him rethink the other. Kenneth wanted to smack the taste out of her mouth, but he didn’t want to stop there. He wanted to keep on pounding until she was dead. Distance, that’s what he needed.

  Sirens could be heard afar off.

  “Don’t you walk away from me.” She strutted up to him and put her finger in his face. “I bet you feel like a big man today, don’t you? Put your wife and defenseless kids out on the street with no place to go.”

  Sirens were blaring on their street.

  “Get out of my face, Elizabeth.” More distance, that’s what he needed. But Elizabeth grabbed his arm. Her hand balled into a fist and she bust Kenneth in the mouth.

  Erin and Danae were sitting on the steps crying. That’s it, he’d had enough. Kenneth stepped back and raised his fist to retaliate.

  “Don’t do it, sir.”

  A White, heavy-set police officer approached as Elizabeth advanced on Kenneth like a tiger. Her claws dug into his skin. “Ouch!” Kenneth screamed.

  The police officer grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her off Kenneth. “Sir, we received a call about a domestic disturbance. Is this your wife?” he asked Kenneth as he held Elizabeth’s struggling form.

  “Let me go!” Elizabeth screamed.

  Kenneth nursed the scratches on his face. “She’s my wife.”

  “Do you want to press charges, sir?”

  Kenneth watched Elizabeth struggle to free herself. Her eyes were ablaze with fury. He turned toward his children. They were huddled up together on the porch, crying their eyes out. “No, I don’t want to press charges. I just want her off my property.”

  “Off your property?” Elizabeth broke free from the officer and lunged at Kenneth.

  The police officer regained his hold on Elizabeth. “That’s it. You’re going to take a little ride with me.” He took his cuffs out and put them on Elizabeth.

  “No!” Erin shouted and ran to her mother’s aid. She grabbed hold of Elizabeth’s waist. “Leave my mama alone.”

  “Officer,” Kenneth lifted his hands. “Please… I’m not pressing charges.”

  “You two are disturbing the peace. One of you has got to go.” The officer looked at Elizabeth. “Since this one appears to have anger problems, she should be the one to go.”

  Erin ran to Kenneth and pleaded, “Don’t let him take Mama, Daddy.”

  The officer started walking to his car, dragging Elizabeth with him. She was huffing and puffing all the way. Kenneth sat Erin down on the porch and ran after them. “Look,” he said to the officer. “This is the first time you’ve ever come out to our house. My wife and I lead a normal life, we’ve just been having a few – problems lately.” Kenneth couldn’t tell if he was getting through to the officer or not, but he continued anyway. “Man, don’t do this.” He pointed toward Erin and Danae. “My kids… they don’t deserve this.”

  The officer stopped and looked back at the tear stained faces of the little girls on the porch. He let out a heavy sigh. “Okay, but if I let her go, you’ve got to get her into some anger management classes.”

  He looked at Elizabeth. She was practically foaming at the mouth. He didn’t know how he would get her inside, let alone to anger management classes, but he would say anything to minimize the drama for his children. “Will do.”

  The officer unlocked the cuffs, took them off Elizabeth, then turned her around to face him. “If I get another call about a disturbance at this house, I’m taking you to jail. Do you understand?”

  She rubbed her wrist and shook her head. “I understand.”

  “Good.” The officer left and the Underwood family walked inside the house. Kenneth went to get the broom and dustpan to clean up the mess from the broken window.

  Elizabeth was tired and weary from the struggle. She stood with her back against the door holding onto the knob.

  Kenneth started sweeping up the glass. Erin and Danae ran to him. Erin, the spokesperson for the duo said, “Daddy, please don’t put Mama out. She didn’t mean to break the window.”

  Kenneth moved his girls away from the glass. “Go play. I need to clean this mess up.” Kenneth watched his girls run into the family room and sit in the entryway, peeking into the foyer. He turned cold, unyielding eyes on Elizabeth and whispered, �
��You take the master suite. I’ll sleep in one of the guest rooms.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Your generosity overwhelms me.”

  “I’m not being generous to you.” Kenneth peered around the corner and saw that Erin and Danae had scooted into the hall. “My children have been through enough. Just find a place to stay, Liz. I’ll pay for it until you can get on your feet.”

  “Oh, you’ll be paying long after I’m on my feet.”

  He kept his voice low, but his tone held purpose. “I don’t care, Liz. Whatever it takes to get rid of you, I’m willing to do it.”

  “Who do you think you are?” She pushed herself off the door and got in his face again.

  “Lower your voice.”

  She looked into the hallway and saw Erin watching her. She turned back to Kenneth and whispered, “I made you. Without me, you’d still be in middle management – somewhere being told what to do and when to do it. But look at you.” She waved her hand up and down his physique and sneered, “Mr. CEO – top dog. You think you’ve gotten big enough to forget the bridge that carried your country-behind over?”

  “Liz, I’m not going to tell you again, you need to back off me.”

  Elizabeth was not intimidated. She pointed her index finger in his face. “If you think I’m going to let another woman come in here and enjoy the fruits of my labor, you’ve got another thought coming.”

  A bitter laugh escaped his lips. “If you think I’m divorcing you so I can have another woman, you’re crazier than I thought.” He sat the broom and dustpan against the wall and stood to his full height. He looked down on Elizabeth. “You, my dear wife, have cursed the institution of marriage. It’ll be a long time before I can even think about putting a ring on a woman’s finger without vomiting.” He turned away from her and walked into the kitchen.

  Elizabeth screamed at his departing form. “If you hadn’t cheated on me, we-”

  Kenneth turned on her. “I guess everything didn’t go the way you planned it after all. Must’ve been a real shock to your system when you realized that I don’t need you to survive, huh?”

  14

  “She’s pregnant!”

  Isaac slammed his fist on the steering wheel. “Why didn’t she say something?” But he knew exactly why she didn’t tell him. He never gave her a chance. His ‘kick-butt-first, ask questions later’ motto could have cost him his son.

  His immortality!

  Isaac tortured himself with questions as he sat outside the women’s shelter where Nina stayed. He kept seeing Nina rolling on the ground holding her stomach while he kicked her. What if his actions had caused damage to the baby? He had to know.

  He got out of his car, walked up to Nina’s safe house and banged on the door.

  “Keep your pants on!” Lisa yelled as she slowly made her way. She opened the door wide and glared at Isaac. “What’s the emergency?”

  Isaac brushed past her and strutted through the house like his name was on the deed. “Nina! Nina! Where are you, Nina?” He opened the door on the left and walked into the bedroom. It was empty. He headed toward another door, but was cut off by the right-to-life lady. “Look mister, I don’t know what you want, but you got about two seconds to get out of here.”

  “I’ll leave, just as soon as I get what I came for.”

  “You’ll leave now, or I’ll call the police!”

  Isaac glared at the rigid woman in front of him as he said, “You gon’ be calling on God if Nina don’t get out here right now.”

  “Look, we don’t need no mess started up in here,” Lisa told Isaac as she stepped in between Isaac and Marguerite.

  “Shut up, Lisa – go sit down,” Marguerite told her.

  “Oh no. I’m not about to be up in no drama just to save Miss Thang.” Lisa pointed toward the back of the house. “She’s in the last bedroom on the right.”

  “Lisa! How could you?” Marguerite huffed.

  “Whew, I need to sit down.” Lisa pressed her hands in the middle of her back and wobbled her way into the living room. “Way too much drama for me.”

  Isaac headed toward the back. Marguerite headed toward the kitchen. “I’m calling the police.”

  Isaac opened the bedroom door and found Nina on her knees, head bowed, lips moving, but no sound exited her mouth. For a brief moment he was struck dumb by the sight of his Nina on the floor, bowed down, obviously praying. He had never seen her do this before. Never, not once in the entire year they had lived together, did Nina ever bow down to anyone but him. He hated to admit it, but he was jealous. “You’re gonna have to pray a long time if you’re asking God to save you from my wrath.”

  Nina stood up and turned to face Isaac.

  Isaac looked at her stomach. “Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t have an abortion?”

  She bent her head and touched her stomach, but remained silent.

  “Nina, didn’t you think I would find out about my baby?”

  She looked up at him. One small tear escaped her sad brown eyes. “I thought you’d kill me before you found out the truth.”

  Isaac blushed. “I’m sorry about that, baby.” He reached out to touch her, but she stepped back.

  “I’ll never put my hands on you again. You’ve got my word on that. My child will never see his mother battered and bruised.”

  She didn’t say anything.

  “Get your stuff, let’s go.”

  Nina put her hand on her belly and backed away from Isaac. “I can’t go with you.”

  “What do you mean you can’t go with me?” he mimicked.

  No response.

  “Nina, get your stuff.”

  She flopped down on the bed and looked at Isaac. He had been everything to her, but not anymore. Jesus had revealed Himself, and showed her that He was the only living God, and He alone was worthy of her worship. “I cannot live in sin with you, Isaac.”

  “We ain’t living in sin! Stop trippin’, girl, we live in Dayton.”

  Nina was not amused.

  “You’re carrying my baby – you belong with me.”

  She looked down at her hands. “We’re not married.”

  Isaac opened the closet and threw her clothes onto the bed. “I don’t know what these people have been filling your head with, but,” pointing at her belly, “that’s mine. And that makes you and me family.”

  Nina didn’t know where her strength came from, but she opened her mouth and said, “I will not live with you.”

  Isaac kneeled down in front of her. He tilted her head toward him so he could look into her eyes. She was sad, he could tell that right off. But there was something else in those eyes, something he hadn’t noticed before. Was it peace? No, no, maybe it was conviction he saw. Or maybe it was both. He couldn’t be sure, but there was definitely something different about her. “You know I don’t want nobody but you.” He rubbed her shoulders. “It’s you and me against the world. Come on, baby. Come home with me. Please.”

  She put her hands to her face as another tear fell to her cheek. “I can’t live in your world anymore. I don’t belong there.”

  He jumped up, agitated now. Beg mode over. “Where do you belong, if not with me, huh?”

  Nina flinched, but said nothing.

  “Girl, who do you think will treat you better than I have? Look around.” He grabbed the clothes off the bed and flung them on the floor. “You happy in these Salvation Army rags? I kept you in Gucci and St. John’s. Whatever you wanted, all you had to do was ask. What other man do you think can afford you? Shoot, truth be told, Nina, I barely can.”

  Silence.

  He was strutting around the room now. Anger magnified. “I’ve done everything you asked me to do, so what’s the problem?”

  No matter what he had done to her through the years – no matter how angry he made her, he could always look into her eyes and see how much she loved him. But as she looked at him now, and their eyes locked, he found no love for him there. “Nina, don’t you know how much I care ab
out you?”

  Nina softly said, “If you care for me, let me go.”

  He was a man. He could take just about anything, but to look into those sad eyes everyday and know that she had stopped loving him was more than he ever wanted to endure. He turned away from those unloving eyes and surrendered. “Fine, stay here. Rot here if you like. I don’t care.”

  15

  Late into the night, Elizabeth lay in bed, disheartened and disillusioned. Earlier that day, as she sat in Michael’s church listening to his pastor, she thought her life could be different. That she could make a change.

  But when she arrived home and found that Kenneth had changed the locks, she went ballistic. She shivered at the thought that she almost went to jail. And to think, she had considered going back to The Rock next Sunday. She actually thought there was something special about that church. Well, enough of this weak-kneed-using-church-as-a-crutch stuff. She needed to stand on her own two feet again. Not only would she never return to The Rock, she was getting out of the choir at her own church also. What was the use anyway? God wasn’t interested in helping her out. Her life was a living testimony of that.

  Kenneth claimed she was selfish and always had to have everything her way. That just wasn’t true. Kenneth got plenty of things he wanted. Like those golf clubs he just had to have. Okay, maybe she’d refused to let him golf with his work buddies or his frat brothers, but a married man was supposed to be worried about family time; not playing at being Tiger Woods.

  She sat up in bed, thinking over their life together. Sure Kenneth wanted to get married right after he graduated from Howard University, but she had another year to go. No way was she getting married without spending at least a year in Corporate America. Why did she work so hard getting her MBA if she wasn’t going to use it? So, two and a half years after Kenneth graduated, he and Elizabeth said ‘I do.’

  Kenneth wanted a house full of kids. Elizabeth had her tubes tied after Danae was born. When Kenneth came to visit her in the hospital, with his face all broke, Elizabeth told him flat out, “You might as well pick your face up. There’s no way I’m getting all fat having a half dozen kids so you can run off with some skinny twenty year old, claiming I’ve gotten too fat for you.”