“Keisha, thanks for being a good friend, but I’m okay.”
Keisha left Delilah alone in the bathroom. With all of the excitement, Delilah had left her purse in Samson’s office near his desk. She wiped her face. She was calm when she returned to his office. Samson’s back was toward her. He was looking out the window. “Where’s your gatekeeper?” Delilah asked.
“Elaine’s somewhere around here.”
“Oh. Keisha told me what you two were talking about. You hate me that much that you want me to leave?”
Samson turned around. “Delilah, I don’t hate you. You’re not one of my favorite persons right now, but I don’t hate you.”
“I really do like Peaceful Rest. This has become my second home. I don’t know how I’ll fit in somewhere else.”
“Be honest. The only reason you’re here is because of me. I’m just a man, Delilah. A man who unfortunately got caught up in the flesh, and I do not want to hinder your walk any more. I’m already having to pay for what I’ve done. Move not just for my sake, but for yours.”
Samson’s phone rang. He answered it. He scrambled to get the phone off speaker but couldn’t. Julia’s voice echoed through the room. “Did you convince her to leave?”
Samson finally got the speaker off.
Upset, Delilah blurted out, “Tell her that would be a negative.”
Delilah patted her feet as she waited for him to end his call with Julia. “I get it. You want me to leave because the wifey wants it. Well, you and she both can look at my face every Wednesday night and Sunday morning until I get good and ready to leave.”
“Let’s pray,” Samson said, reaching for her hand.
He caught her off guard. Delilah responded, “I’ll pray when I get home because right now I don’t think your prayers will get through.”
Chapter 62
Samson felt like he would have been able to convince Delilah to move her membership if only Julia hadn’t called and interrupted them.
“What can we do to get rid of her? She’s like a thorn in my side,” Julia said that night over dinner.
“She’s not bad,” Samson said, avoiding eye contact with Julia.
“Humph. You just don’t know.” Julia threw her fork down on her plate.
Samson felt something else was going on, and Julia just wasn’t telling him. “Enlighten me.”
“Everybody knows she doesn’t like me. She practically kisses the bottom of your feet. The list goes on and on.”
“Sweetheart, we’ve talked about this before. You can’t let the spirit of jealousy cloud your judgment.”
“Samson, I know you’re a preacher, but you and I both know jealousy has nothing to do with why I don’t like Delilah. That woman wants my husband. I’m supposed to sit back and pretend like I don’t know it? Enough is enough.”
Julia finished eating her food and left Samson at the table alone to ponder his thoughts. He no longer had an appetite, so he ended up throwing the remainder of the food in the garbage disposal.
The following morning, Samson decided to stop by his parents’ house before going to the church. His mom greeted him with a kiss. “The prodigal son has come home, Regis,” Kelly said.
“Stop teasing the boy before he turns around and leaves,” Regis replied.
Samson missed his mom’s home cooking. She prepared a breakfast for him and filled his plate with his favorites. His spirit was more at ease as he relaxed with them around the dining room table.
“If I’d known you were coming, I would have told the fellows I wouldn’t be able to make the golf course today,” Regis stated.
“Dad, don’t let me stop you. We’ll talk later,” Samson replied.
“You sure everything is okay? You’ve been heavily on my mind, but the Spirit told me to wait and let you come to me.”
“Dad, I’m fine.”
“Kelly, don’t interrogate him too much when I leave,” Regis said before leaving the room.
“That man knows me too well,” Kelly laughed.
Samson would have laughed along with her, but he knew as soon as his dad was out of earshot he would be badgered with questions. “Mom, don’t even start.”
Kelly ignored his request. “Your wife wants Delilah gone, and you should respect her wishes.”
“Since you’re all up in my business, did Julia tell you that she refuses to leave? I’ve asked her to move her membership. What else do you want me to do?”
“Something else is going on and, son, you need to tell me what it is right now,” Kelly insisted.
“There’s nothing going on.” Samson did his best to say it with a straight face. He was lying, and his mother knew it, although she didn’t let on any. An hour later, Samson left and went for a long ride.
“Look who finally decided to stroll in,” Elaine said when Samson showed up at church after noon.
“Hello to you too, Elaine. Did I get any calls?”
“You sure did. Your wife called and so did you-know-who.”
“Well, whatever you do, please don’t put any of Delilah’s calls through.”
“I would say I told you so, but that wouldn’t be the Christian thing to say, so I’ll just keep my mouth shut.”
Samson went into his office and called Julia. He spoke with her for a few minutes. Next, he logged on to his computer. He responded to e-mails from people in various parts of the world. He had made friends with other ministers while taking missionary journeys, and some people were contacting him because they watched his sermons on the Internet. Samson felt blessed to be able to share God’s Word with so many people.
His inbox was filled with Facebook messages. He tried to respond to them all by clicking on the links. Delilah had sent him several. He clicked on those as well. In the first few e-mails, she was apologetic, but her messages started getting harsher and harsher. Instead of deleting the messages, he decided to save them just in case he needed them for evidence later. He dialed Calvin’s number. “Man, I hate to bother you, but I have a little situation.”
“What do you need, Pastor?” Calvin asked.
“This must stay confidential,” Samson said.
“It won’t go any further than the phone,” Calvin assured him.
Samson paused and took a deep breath before saying, “It’s Delilah. She’s harassing me.”
Calvin waited for Samson to give him details. “What do you need me to do?”
Samson responded, “I want to get a restraining order, one where she can’t come anywhere near me or the church.”
“Are you sure you want me to do it because I can have it done today?”
Samson should have felt guilty about embellishing Delilah’s actions, but he didn’t. “The sooner, the better,” Samson responded.
Chapter 63
Delilah spent most of the week filling out job applications. Although William begged her to stay at Trusts Enterprise, Delilah had given him her written resignation. In return, he gave her a nice nest egg to tide her over until another job came along. She wanted to repair her relationship with God, and cutting ties with William and his company was one way to start.
It was a beautiful Friday morning, so she gathered up her laptop and decided to sit on her porch to surf the Internet for a job. An unfamiliar car pulled up in front of her house. A man dressed in a police uniform strode up her walkway. She immediately put her laptop down on the side and stood up. “May I help you?”
“Are you Delilah Baker?” he asked.
“Yes,” she responded.
The man handed her a sheet of paper. “You’ve been served.”
Delilah looked down at the paper. “What in the world? What’s this?”
“Ma’am, the information is on the paper.”
Delilah read the paper, and before she finished, the process server was back in his car. “Ain’t this a blip?” Delilah retrieved her cell phone from her purse and called Keisha. “You’re never going to believe this. Samson has filed a restraining order against me and has
banned me from coming to the church.”
Even Keisha was caught off guard. “Delilah, I don’t know what to tell you. Leave them people alone. You’re always welcome to come to my church.”
“It’s that wife of his. I bet she’s behind this.”
“Now, Delilah, don’t go doing anything crazy.”
“Oh, he ain’t seen crazy yet.” Delilah ended the call with Keisha. She could no longer concentrate on looking for a new job. She picked up the laptop and the paper she had just gotten from the process server and went into her house.
Later that evening, Delilah drove by the church. She saw Samson’s car in the parking lot and kept driving. She drove to his house. Julia’s car was parked outside. Delilah laughed out loud at the thought of how Samson had tried to outsmart her but failed. The restraining order required Delilah to stay clear of the church, but Julia’s name wasn’t mentioned in the document.
Delilah pulled off her sunshades and placed them on the dashboard. She exited her car like a woman on a mission. She rang the doorbell and waited, purposely turning her back toward the peephole.
“May I help you?” Julia answered the door.
Delilah slowly turned around. “Me and you have something to talk about.”
“You’re not supposed to be here.” Julia blocked the entranceway.
“I already know Samson’s not here. I saw his SUV at the church.”
“Well, he’ll be here any minute. I just got off the phone with him.”
“Then it’s to your advantage that we hurry up and talk.”
“Delilah, I don’t have all day to play with you.”
“Oh, you think this is a game. Whose idea was it to put a restraining order out against me?”
Julia smiled. She folded up her arms. “It was my baby’s. I wished I would have come up with the idea though, and we would have been rid of you long before now.”
“Go ahead and smile now, but don’t forget that I know a little secret, a secret neither one of you would want to get out.”
Delilah turned to walk away. “Wait!” Julia said.
Smiling, Delilah turned back around. “So can I come in? These heels weren’t meant for standing.”
Julia moved from the entranceway and Delilah walked in. She followed Julia to the kitchen. “I was cooking. You talk. I’ll cook.”
Delilah sat down and watched what could have easily been a good friend, but Julia had determined the state of their relationship the moment she told Samson she would marry him. “What happened to the baby you had when you were sixteen?” Delilah asked.
“Frankly, it’s none of your business.”
Delilah crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “Does Samson know about this baby? I can wait around, and we can tell him together,” Delilah threatened.
“If it’ll get you out of here, fine. I’ll tell you.”
“I knew we could work together.”
In a monotone voice, Julia explained her past. “I was too young. My parents thought it was best.”
“You’ve been selfish all your life. Just like your husband.”
Julia slammed the oven mitt down on the counter. “Don’t go judging me.”
“I’m not like you, Julia. I never judged you in the sense that you judged me. You and your buddies always tried to make me feel inferior, like you were all that and here I was a measly sinner without hope for redemption. But thank Jesus I know about His grace and mercy and that in His eyes we’ve all sinned and fallen short.”
“Now that you’ve had your come-to-Jesus moment, you can leave.” Julia put back on the oven mitt and removed a pan covered with foil from the oven.
“I wonder what would happen if you accidentally burned yourself.”
Julia looked at Delilah. Delilah laughed. “You’re crazy, you know that.”
“No, Julia. You haven’t seen crazy yet.” Delilah winked her eye. She stood up and said before leaving, “Tell your husband I stopped by. And your secret”—she paused—“it’s safe with me—for now.”
Chapter 64
Samson sped home after getting Julia’s frantic call. He called Calvin while on the way. “She showed up at my house, man. I thought the restraining order was supposed to cover that.”
“It does. If she stops by again, you or Julia need to call the police.”
“Samson, man, you can tell me. You hit it again, didn’t you? And it’s been since you and Julia were married?”
“Man, you know me better than that.” Samson would never confess to sleeping with Delilah since marrying Julia to anyone.
“Well, whatever it is, Baby Girl has some serious issues.”
Samson dodged Calvin’s questions and then headed home. Julia fell into his arms as soon as he walked through the door. “I’m scared, Samson. What if she comes back with a gun or something?” Julia asked.
Samson thought Julia was being overly dramatic, but he appeased her. “Calvin assured me that if she stops by again, we should call the police and let them handle her.”
Later that night while Julia was sleeping, Samson slipped out of bed and went down to his study. He called Delilah. “This thing is between us; leave my wife out of it.”
Delilah responded, “There’s something you don’t know about your holier-than-thou wife. You thought you picked the right woman, but think again. Check your e-mail.”
Delilah hung up on him. Curious to see what Delilah meant, Samson logged on to his home computer. He searched for an e-mail from Delilah. “Bingo,” he said. He clicked on Delilah’s e-mail. It read: “You think you know your wife. Ask her about the child she had when she was sixteen years old. Ask her if she knows her baby girl ended up being placed in a foster home just like me because her adoptive parents were killed in a car accident. You and I both know what can happen to a young girl in foster care.” Samson scrolled down and saw a picture of a teenager who looked just like Julia.
Samson couldn’t believe Julia had been carrying around that secret. They were not to have secrets between them. Here he was feeling guilty about Delilah, yet the wife he thought he knew was not who Samson thought she was. Samson didn’t have any kids, and he thought that Julia didn’t either. Snapshots of the birth certificate and adoption papers stared back at him on the screen. He continued to scroll down.
Delilah wrote: “Do you want to know why the name of the father says unknown? Well, the woman you thought was so pure used to be the ‘go-to’ woman for the entire football team, if you can read between the lines.” Delilah followed up her comment with a smiley face.
If what Delilah had revealed in the e-mail was true, Samson didn’t know Julia like he thought he did. His mind was on overload. He couldn’t compute everything disclosed in the e-mail. He laid his head on the desk, and that was the way Julia found him the next morning.
“Baby, how long have you been up?” Julia asked.
Samson lifted his head. His eyes were bloodshot. “I slept down here.”
“You and that computer again. That Bejeweled game will get you hooked.”
Samson didn’t know where to begin, his sweet, innocent Julia. “I want you to see something.” He moved the computer monitor so that Julia could see the screen.
If Samson hadn’t caught her, Julia would have hit the floor. Julia got her balance. “I never meant for you to find out about it like this.” Tears started flowing down Julia’s face. “I’m so sorry. I should have told you,” Julia said over and over.
“Why didn’t you?” Samson asked.
“Because it was a part of my life I was trying to forget. I didn’t want to give up my baby girl, but my parents wouldn’t hear anything else about it. It was either give her away or be kicked out. They didn’t want me disgracing the Rivers name.”
“But didn’t everybody know you were pregnant?”
“No, because they sent me to my grandparents’ house in the country.”
“Still, this wasn’t the sixties. There were plenty of sixteen-year-olds having kids.”
“I didn’t tell you because I closed that chapter of my life.” Julia’s demeanor changed. Filled with rage, she said, “I should have known she was going to tell you.”
“So you knew Delilah knew?”
Julia hung her head down low. “Yes. That’s another reason why I wanted her kicked out of the church. Samson, will you ever forgive me?”
He embraced Julia. “You know I love you, but this is a lot to take in.”
“I know, and I promise to never keep a secret from you again.”
Samson felt like a hypocrite. Julia wasn’t the only one with secrets.
Chapter 65
Delilah should have felt some type of relief from exposing Julia, but she didn’t. Maybe if she could see Samson’s expression when he read her e-mail she would have felt better, but since she wasn’t privileged to know what transpired after the revelation she was left feeling a void.
Delilah logged on to her e-mail account to see if Samson had responded. The e-mail she thought was from Samson was actually from Julia. The message contained vile words. In her message, Julia called Delilah every name but a child of God. All of a sudden, Delilah started feeling better. With Julia’s attitude, the guilt Delilah felt for exposing her disappeared.
Someone was outside Delilah’s door banging on it real hard. “Who is that banging on my door?” Delilah yelled. She needed to put a sign up alerting people that her doorbell did work, if only they would use it. “What?” she asked as she opened the door.
She stared into the bloodshot eyes of Julia. No words were exchanged. She held the door open wider, and Julia walked in. Delilah looked behind Julia to see if she was alone. She closed the door behind her as they now stood face-to-face.
“I take it Samson read the e-mail,” Delilah said with a smug look on her face.
“You had no right doing what you did,” Julia yelled.
“This is a free country, so I can do whatever I please.”
“How did you get that information?”
“Let’s just say for twenty-nine dollars and ninety-five cents, you can find out a lot of information on people.”
Delilah Page 21
