“You mean the one that I started to ask to bring me home tonight so I could have avoided just this situation I’m dealing with right now with you?” Gabrielle said.
“The reason you didn’t ask him is because you didn’t want to hurt Tiffany’s feelings. Or maybe you didn’t want to have to explain why you didn’t call him to come pick you up tonight instead of riding there with us,” Darius said. “You now owe me.”
“He wouldn’t have asked. Besides, he didn’t know I came with you and your family. He probably thought I drove. I could have just told him I needed a ride home.”
“But you, being the strong lady that you are, would never be as forward as to ask a man to do anything for you,” Darius said. “You’re probably the type of woman who still believes a man should be the one to ask a woman out.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Gabrielle asked.
“You mean besides it being old school, oldfashioned, and out of date? This is the age of cell phones, text messages, e-mails, instant messages, MySpace, Facebook, Tagged, and Twitter. Women have officially been liberated. You can put your profile in cyberspace for all the world to see. You can press a button and in nanoseconds you’re letting your wishes and desires be known. If a woman sees something, she’s free to go after it.” He grinned. “Or him, if that’s the case. No, I suspect you just might not want him knowing where you live. I take it you just met him, and you’re probably still putting him through his initial interview.”
“I’m sure Tiffany is wondering what’s taking you so long. Can you please go?”
He nodded. “I’ll handle Tiffany. But that guy who’s hot to talk to you, he’s not right for you. He’s a bit too polished for a woman like you. He can’t appreciate you. You need a real man. Someone who can take charge; someone who will tell you what’s what. That guy, Mister-I’m-so-happy-tosee-you-again-I-hope-the-last-time-we-talked- helped-move-me-along-in-this-relationship, is not what you need at this stage. Maybe later, but not now.”
Darius stepped out the door and bowed slightly. “You can take that little advice from your Christian brother who’s just trying to look out for you, or not. That’s all I’m interested in—you. I’d like to take care of you until you get your Christian legs under you. Otherwise, these seasoned Christians are going to have you for breakfast. And what do you think homeboy will think about you should he find out what you used to do for a living? Huh? You think about that.”
Tiffany stuck her hand out the window and waved again when she saw Gabrielle still standing in her doorway. Gabrielle waved back and smiled. Darius strolled back to his SUV.
Gabrielle closed the door, then leaned back against it. “God, please help me. Something is seriously wrong with that man. Seriously wrong. At best, he’s a real pest; at worst, he could be dangerous. But honestly, right now, I don’t know exactly what to do about him. I don’t. Please, I need You to help me.”
Chapter 25
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
—James 1:3
Zachary called Gabrielle shortly after she’d gotten dressed for bed. They talked for an hour. She didn’t tell him about her car or her job or her house possibly headed for foreclosure. They did talk about things in the Bible and what Pastor Landris had taught at Bible study. They talked about what real faith was, and what trusting God really meant to them individually.
“How can God tell when you’re really in faith or when you’re merely just trying to fake it until you make it?” Gabrielle began the discussion.
“I think it’s by how you stand no matter what’s going on in your life, no matter if the world is crashing down around you,” Zachary said. “That’s how God knows you’re in faith. You don’t change your confession or belief in what He’ll do, even when it looks like what you believe hasn’t happened yet or when it looks like it’s DOA.”
“DOA,” she said, laughing at his choice of words. She could see he liked to watch either crime shows or those set in hospitals.
“Yeah, DOA: Dead on Arrival. God can resuscitate, resurrect if He has to, what others, including the experts, have declared dead. I know. I’ve personally seen what appeared to be all but gone, lost . . . come back to life—physically and spiritually.”
“Physically?”
“Yeah, physically. When someone’s heart stops and you get it back going, that person died for whatever brief time it might have been. When a person is given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, that is nothing more than dealing with life and death through breath. The way the Bible said God breathed the breath of life through Adam’s nostrils, think about that for a second. That was the first recorded evidence of resuscitation performed by the Master Himself. And spiritually, those hopes, dreams, and desires that you believed would come to pass, you were praying for, standing in faith for, when those things seem to have died . . . they’re gone, God can bring new life to the situation. Faith is to believe in God’s power to do even the impossible, then to act like you believe. Trust demonstrates your confidence that God not only knows what He’s doing but can handle it without any input or direction from us on how it should be done.”
Gabrielle really liked Zachary. She liked talking to him. And when it was time, she didn’t really want to get off the phone with him. But he had to be at work early and she . . . Well, she didn’t have a job to go to or a car to go and look for one. Yes, she had believed God would come through. And even though the devil was constantly whispering in her ear, talking to her mind—saying that God didn’t care, that God had let her down—her mind (even through all of these trials) was being transformed. Pastor Landris’s teaching had helped her so much, and talking to Zachary had given her yet another boost. She had put her life in God’s hands. He knew what was going on. He could see what was happening. Now she had to trust Him, even though her whole being was screaming for her to save herself in whatever way she could or knew how.
It’s not over until God says it’s over. Those were the words she heard as she began to drift off to sleep.
She’d almost fallen asleep when the phone rang. She fumbled and picked up the phone without thinking about it, or bothering to look to see who it was.
“Hey,” the voice on the other end said. Gabrielle could hear loud muffled music in the background. “You ’sleep?”
“Just about,” she said, trying to get reoriented. “Who is this?”
“It’s Clarence.”
“Clarence? Why are you calling me?” She sat up, turned on the lamp, and pressed her back against her pillow and the headboard.
“Listen, I’m not going to front with you. I need your help. There’s this big delegation in town. A few of the girls got sick, so I’m really shorthanded here. I know you’re not doing this sort of stuff anymore, but I have all these hungry men here, and they are going to tear down my place if I don’t deliver the service they’re expecting.”
She shook her head even though he couldn’t see her. “I’m not interested, Clarence.”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I just need some help here. Please. My business has fallen away since you left. If this night goes well, it could help. You could help me tremendously. And I know you’re hurting for money. You know I’ll take care of you and do right by you. Think of how much money you could rake in the rest of this week.” Clarence paused. Gabrielle could tell someone had walked in.
He’d either pressed his hand over the mouthpiece or pressed mute. The sound suddenly came roaring back. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I tell you the truth: I work with a bunch of nitwits. I just don’t know about folks these days. Now, back to what I was saying. Listen, I heard about your car.”
“How did you hear about my car?”
“Now, you know I’m connected like that. One of my friends works for that repo company that came and took it. He called and told me your car had been impounded.”
“Hold up,” Gabrielle said, “why would someone who knows you be able to connect the
name Gabrielle Mercedes, which is on my registration, with the name Goodness and Mercy?”
He started chuckling. “Okay, you kind of got me there. I sort of have a file with things in it like your loan company’s name for your car and your home mortgage company. You know, you had to put your place of employment down on your application when you applied to get them. They actually verified that you worked here, so I still had all of that information. What can I say? I’m a resourceful person. After you quit, I called around and asked a few folks I knew to keep an eye out for you. I asked them to let me know if you were ever in trouble. That’s all.”
“So, you had people spying on me?”
“No. I just knew you would never let me know if you needed help. I told you, I know more about this Christian stuff than you think. You seem to be a lot more serious about it than I ever was, so I suspect you’ve totally surpassed me in the knowledge of Christ department. Still, I knew where you were coming from and where you were trying to go. I knew that it was going to be a difficult journey, especially financially. Goodness, now you know I care about you. You’re like a little sister to me. I just want to help you. I know you won’t take a loan from me; that’s just the type of person you are. And you’re too proud to ask for help or to borrow money, even from your friends. That can turn out to be a double-edged sword—whether you’re a Christian or not.”
“Clarence, you don’t really need my help. You’re just trying to figure out how to help me without me thinking what you’re doing is charity,” Gabrielle said.
“Oh, no, now. Don’t get this twisted. I need your help for real. No joke. Believe me, I desperately need you here. What harm would it do? You could come and work tonight and the rest of this week. Next week, if you like. And I’ll pay you top dollar, regardless of what job you decide to do. If you want to wait tables, hey, I’m down with that. We both know that doesn’t pay as much as the other work available to you, but every little bit helps. It would be no different than you cleaning other people’s toilets, which frankly causes me to cringe just thinking about someone with your awe-inspiring gifts and talents doing something like that.”
Gabrielle laughed. “Well, somebody has to do it. Otherwise, even your business would stink to the high heavens.”
“Somebody has to do it, but it doesn’t have to be you,” Clarence said. “You’re better than that.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about me doing even that for now. I lost my job today.”
“Now see, now you know this has to be God,” Clarence said. “I bet you that you’ve been praying for help, haven’t you?”
“You know I have.”
“Then maybe this is the answer to your prayers. You don’t have a job; I have one begging for you to come right now. You don’t have a car. I can send someone to come and pick you up and take you home when you finish—free of charge—while you make the money you need to get your car back. You could even make enough money to catch up your home loan.”
“I don’t think even I can make enough money in a week to do all of that.”
“That’s why I’m offering you two weeks, three, a month, the rest of the year if you need it. Can’t you see God’s hand in this? What you’d be doing here isn’t illegal. It’s a legitimate way to bring in some much-needed funds. People always say God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.”
Gabrielle started laughing. “I’ll tell you what I do see. I do see you’re trying to work me in all of this,” she said. “Nice try, though. I give you an A for effort.”
“Look, you’ve been praying for a while for God to move, am I right?”
“Yes.”
“And so far what has happened?”
Gabrielle knew she could be real with Clarence. “I couldn’t find a job that paid enough money to take care of my existing bills, my car has now been repossessed, my credit cards are maxed out while those legal loan sharks jack up my rates and there’s nothing I can do about it. I lost the only job I was able to secure with my limited education and in this economy. And it’s likely, by the end of the month, I’ll be that much closer to losing my house that I’ve had on the market since June with all the equity I’ve put into it so far.”
“And then, what happens right after all of this?”
“You call me and offer me a perfect way out.”
“A boat in a storm. Now, tell me that’s not God,” Clarence said, smiling as he leaned back in his oversized black leather chair, causing it to make a slight squeak.
“That’s not God,” she said.
Clarence sat up straight. “What? See, that’s just the reason why you’re going to find yourself out on the street with nowhere to lay your pretty little head. You’re like the story of that person who prayed to God for God to save him when a storm and a flood came through the town. He prayed for deliverance, God sent a few boats and a helicopter, and he was still on the housetop saying he was waiting on God. And do you know what happened to him? He drowned! And when he got to Heaven and questioned God on why He hadn’t saved him, God told him He had sent several people to help him, but he had turned the help away. That’s what you’re doing now. God has sent me to help you, I’m here extending a hand to keep you from drowning, and you’re just slapping my hand away without any regard to what you’re doing, saying you’re waiting on God.”
“Oh, now, don’t think I don’t appreciate you, Clarence. And I know you think you’re doing something to help me and in turn helping out God. But I’ve come too far to turn around now. I’m going to say to you what Esther in the Bible said: ‘If I perish, I perish.’ Right now, this is about me trusting God. Believe me: the easy way out would be to take you up on your more-than-generous offer. You’re right. What you do isn’t illegal. But it is, in my opinion, immoral. Yes, I could take the easy way out. But easy is not always godly. I choose to wait on the Lord. And if you think that’s foolish, then I will continue to pray for you that God will open your eyes so you can see, as my eyes were opened, and I now see.”
“Amazing grace,” Clarence said.
“What?”
“There’s a line in a hymn we used to sing a lot when I was little. The song is called ‘Amazing Grace.’ The line says, ‘I once was blind, but now I see.’” Clarence suddenly stopped.
After too long of a silence, Gabrielle said, “Clarence, are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” Clarence spoke in the most humbled voice Gabrielle had ever heard from him. She also heard what she thought sounded like a sniffle. “Darn allergies. Listen,” Clarence said in his deep, strong voice again. “I commend you for taking a stand and sticking with it. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Well, the Bible says we never really lose anything for Christ’s sake and not receive it back in this life as well as the life to come. I guess I may end up finding out firsthand whether that’s actually true. In any event, I refuse to go back to where God has brought me from. I think I’ll run on and see what the end is going to be,” she said.
Gabrielle hung up after they said their respective good-byes. She turned off the nightstand lamp, laid her head back on her pillow, and began to pray for Fatima and whatever had called her away so suddenly as well as others who had asked her—likely not really thinking that she would—to pray for them.
Chapter 26
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
—Luke 18:1
Fatima called Gabrielle early the next day and told her what was going on. Her mother was in the hospital, deathly ill, having been stricken by salmonella. The doctors weren’t sure her mother was going to pull through. Her father had gotten her to finally go to the hospital. They just weren’t sure if he’d gotten her to go in time.
They had narrowed it down to peanut butter. Apparently back in January when there was a huge salmonella problem with a plant in Georgia dealing with peanut butter products, the tainted peanut butter product had remained on a she
lf in their house. Her mother either didn’t know about the recall or never checked her cupboard—thinking the problem couldn’t possibly affect them. In any case, she hadn’t thrown the product away and now havoc was visiting their family.
“The doctors say her recovery will depend on her immune system,” Fatima said. “They’re working to keep her hydrated, replacing her fluids and electrolytes. They’re giving her antibiotics. All we can do now is pray. She wouldn’t go to the doctor early. She’d gotten so bad that my dad had to call an ambulance to come and get her. By the time he called me, he had lost it. I don’t know what my dad will do without my mother. I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here. I’m sorry I had to leave the way I did. But my dad called, and he wasn’t sure, even with me flying in to Cleveland, that I would make it in time. She’s not doing well at all.”
“Don’t worry about leaving me. I’m just glad you’re there with your family.”
“Did Tiffany pick you up okay?”
Gabrielle’s first thought was of Darius coming to her house and her surprise in seeing him. That wasn’t cool by any means. “Yeah. Darius brought her.”
“Darius? You mean he came?”
“Yes. He drove her over here to get me.”
“We’re talking about the Darius that Tiffany said hasn’t been to Bible study in more than two years? That Darius? But he went to Bible study last night when Tiffany was coming over to pick you up? And I suppose it was sheer coincidence that the one night when you need a ride to Bible study, that would be the night he just happens to decide to go, too?”
Gabrielle knew what she was thinking about that situation, but she was picking up on something from Fatima now. She wondered if Darius was also trying to make a play with Fatima. Her question: How could she bring that up without it coming off wrong?
“You don’t seem to care much for Darius,” Gabrielle said, hoping Fatima might explain what was going on, so she in turn could tell what was going on from her end with him.
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