Goodness and Mercy

by Vanessa Davis Griggs

  “Personally, even I find that hard to believe,” Alicia said as she also laughed.

  Gabrielle didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t pressed about where he worked or what he did because she didn’t want him turning that question back on her. Besides, they weren’t serious enough to dive into all of that just yet. Suddenly, Gabrielle felt herself getting sick. She quickly excused herself and rushed to the restroom. She arrived inside just in time to throw up.

  Zachary Wayne “Z. W.” Morgan is Doctor Morgan. The Doctor Morgan I’m now employed by? Five-monthpregnant Queen’s Doctor Morgan? That must be why he only gave me a cell phone number to call him on when we first met. He is married, and that’s how married men keep their wives and potential mistresses in the dark. But how did this happen? How could she have fallen for such a lowlife that would cheat on his beautiful, pregnant wife? And, unlike the other married person I was involved with some years ago, I met Zachary in church. How could I have missed who he really is ?

  Sure, he could quote scriptures, and he was good. She’d thought she’d found a genuine Christian man. Now it turned out, he wasn’t any different from Darius Connors. No wonder he’d known so quickly what Darius was up to. They must have attended the same dog school.

  Darius. The thought of him caused her to throw up again.

  Chapter 33

  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

  —Galatians 6:10

  Zachary had called and left a message on Gabrielle’s answering machine. She had a real dilemma now. She’d fallen for Doctor Zachary Wayne Morgan, only to learn he was apparently married with a child on the way. Forget she’d just learned he was a doctor; that was a good thing. Now much of what he’d told her about his life made sense. Like being bogged down with college work where he didn’t have time to date. Of course, if he was studying to be a doctor (college, med school, intern, and residency) that would be a lot on his plate. Who would have time to date?

  Maybe she was wrong about Queen being his wife. Maybe Queen was just his girlfriend. Maybe they’d broken up. But if that was the case, why was she at his house that early in the morning? If they weren’t together, why was she living with him? She wouldn’t still be there, not in his house. And even if Queen was his girlfriend or an ex, she didn’t want any part of that either. She then remembered Queen’s wedding rings—the girlfriend theory was out. Should I quit working there? Ask for another home to clean?

  That sounded like the best solution. She needed the job and the money, so she couldn’t just quit. Surely the agency could swap her with someone else, and everything would work out. She would call tomorrow morning and ask to be transferred. But what reason would I give if asked?

  Zachary called her again at ten PM. She sat and watched the phone ring. What would she say to Zachary if she answered now? Accuse him of holding back the truth about what he did for a living? She couldn’t do that. She had never asked him what he did. She recalled that time the subject of doctors came up in their conversation. He’d asked her if she had anything against doctors. Is that why he asked? Because he is a doctor? Of course. But how could he be so public with her if he was in a committed relationship? It didn’t make sense.

  None of this made sense. She began to pray for guidance. She knew she needed to talk to Zachary at some point. She had to tell him what she knew, give him a chance to explain. That was the decent thing to do.

  The phone stopped ringing. Not a minute later, it began to ring again. She picked it up, realizing maybe it was time to quit dodging the situation and face Zachary.

  “Hello,” she said as dryly as she could manage.

  “Well, hello there, sweet thang,” the man’s voice said.

  “Who is this?”

  “Goodness, girl, don’t be acting like you’ve forgotten me already,” the male voice said.

  His voice quickly registered. “Clarence!”

  “How you doing, girl?”

  “I don’t know. I was excited today, and then everything seemed to have gone downhill quicker than clicking the send button on an e-mail you didn’t mean to send.”

  “Okay,” Clarence said. “I knew there was something I missed about you.”

  “Clarence, I don’t understand. I just don’t understand,” Gabrielle said.

  “Well, before you start to getting too depressed on me, why don’t you come to your front door?”

  “Where are you?” She got up, slipped on her slippers and her matching purple silk robe to her silk pajamas, and hurried to her front door. She opened it and stepped outside.

  Standing in her driveway was Clarence, in front of her Toyota Camry Solara convertible. His 2009 red Corvette was parked directly behind her car. She clicked off her phone and slipped it in her robe pocket.

  Ensuring that her robe was tied tight, she hurried over to him. “What is this?”

  “Gee, it’s been that long since you’ve seen it? Why, it’s your car,” he said.

  “I know it’s my car. What’s it doing here?”

  He held out the keys to her. She took the keys as she continued to wait for an explanation. He pulled out an envelope from inside of his jacket and handed it to her. “It’s free and clear now,” he said.

  “Clarence, what did you do?”

  “I got it back for you. And you don’t owe anything on it anymore.”

  “Why did you do that? I told you I’m not coming back to work for you. I told you, I’m not coming back. Not ever,” Gabrielle said, trying not to sound frantic.

  “I know.”

  She calmed her voice. “I just don’t want you thinking you can make a loan to me I can’t possibly pay back, and hold that over my head to force me to come back to work for you.”

  “I would never do anything like that to you and you know that. It’s not a loan. I’m giving it to you, free and clear. It’s my gift to you.”

  She shook her head. “Unh-uh. Giving it to me is the same thing. I’ll be indebted to you, and I don’t want that. If I can’t pay for it, then I don’t need to have it.”

  “Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen anyone tell someone they can’t give them a gift.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Apparently, you don’t understand the definition of gift. It means you don’t owe for it. Look, I don’t want anything from you. I don’t. And I understand that you aren’t coming back to work for me. I got that. But the car is yours. If you don’t want to keep it, then that’s on you. You can do with it as you please. Give it away. Give it to the church if you want. I don’t care. But Gabrielle—”

  She snatched away from him and took a step back. “What did you just call me?”

  “Gabrielle,” he said.

  She wiped away a few tears with her hand that were making their way down her face. “You’ve not called me that since I first came to work for you some eight years ago.”

  “Can we go inside?” he asked.

  Gabrielle looked back at her open door. “Yeah, sure. Come on in.” They walked to the front door and went inside.

  “Do you have any coffee?” he asked.

  She put some coffee on, making only four cups, since she definitely wasn’t planning on drinking coffee this late at night. Clarence always drank his coffee black, so she didn’t bother offering him sugar or cream.

  He texted a message to someone, then took a sip of his coffee, having blown across the top of it to cool it. “Good coffee,” he said after taking a few sips. He sat back against the chair, then leaned it back on its two hind legs before slowly setting it back down on all four.

  “Gabrielle, you’ve changed. I began seeing it when you called that first time after you gave your life to Christ. I’ve always wanted to believe someone could be serious about their conversion to Christianity. You’ve proven it can be done. It’s been something watching you struggle yet stick with it no matter whether an easier way was offered to you. And I must admit: you’ve touched me in a way I
can’t put into words. You’ve caused me to rethink what being a Christian is really about. It’s not becoming perfect and then coming to the Lord. It’s about the process of being perfected by the Lord. The process of trusting and believing God, no matter what man attempts to do to you to bring you down. Standing, no matter what.”

  Gabrielle leaned in closer. “I didn’t realize you were paying attention to me.”

  “Well, I was. And yesterday, I was at a low place in my life. I was about to pour myself a drink and drown my misery in a bottle of spirits when I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me just as plain as you and I are talking right now,” Clarence said.

  “What did you hear?”

  “‘I created you for more than this. Come back to me. I’m waiting on you. I haven’t given up on you. I won’t give up.’ That’s what I heard. I promise you, I heard it plain as day. I was created for more than what I’m doing now.”

  “You actually heard the Holy Spirit say that?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve heard people say they heard God speak, but I thought it was just a feeling they have on the inside, and they just say they heard His voice,” Gabrielle said.

  “Well, I heard Him. And I knew it was Him speaking. I want to make some things right. That’s why I went and got your car today. I want you to have it, no strings attached. I promise you, I’m not looking for anything in return. May God strike me down if I’m not telling you the truth. I just need to make some things right with the Lord,” Clarence said.

  She reached over and touched his hand. “I’ll take the car if you’ll do two things.”

  Clarence laughed. “Oh, this is funny. I’m trying to give you your car back, and you’re over there making conditions before you’ll take it. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?”

  She grinned. “I’m serious, Clarence. If you don’t agree to my terms, then you can call whomever you need to call, and y’all can take that car and do whatever you want with it. I still believe, somehow, God will provide for me.”

  “See, that’s what I’m talking about. Look at you. Just look at you. I know how you were before: before you would have just said thank you. You’re not the same woman I knew. When I was an avid churchgoer, we used to sing this song that said, ‘I looked at my hands, and they looked new. I looked at my feet, and they did, too.’ I never believed that was either true or possible. But looking at you, I do see a brand-new you. And you’re not playing games either. I can see just how real God is, through you.”

  “So, does that mean you’ll agree to my terms?” Gabrielle asked as she slightly raised her body up from her chair by leaning onto the table.

  “Okay, let’s hear them.”

  She sat back down completely and grinned. “First, I’d like us to pray, right here, right now. Just me and you.”

  He chuckled. “Okay. We can do that. What’s the other thing?”

  “Go to church with me. We have Bible study tomorrow night and church service on Sunday, two services, so you can pick either the early service that starts at seven-thirty or the ten-thirty service. Now, which would you like to go to?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know about that. I am moving, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m taking baby steps. Bringing you the car, that was a baby step. Me and you praying like you’re asking . . . baby step. I can do that. But going to church, I don’t know about that just yet.”

  “Come on, Clarence. What are you afraid of ?”

  His look became serious. “That I’ll end up becoming just like my father. That I’ll be called to preach, and I’ll end up letting others, as well as God, down. At least the way I am now, God knows I’m not a hypocrite. I’m not putting on a show. He knows I’m not leading anyone astray under the disguise of religion.”

  “So, is that a yes? You’ll go to church with me on Sunday? Just once. One time. One.” She held up an index finger. “Come on, say yes! And I promise, I won’t ask you ever again. If you’ll come just once.”

  “Thank you, Gabrielle.” He smiled a sincere smile. “I realize your stage name may have been Goodness and Mercy, but I think that name just might have been prophetic of how you would someday demonstrate God’s goodness and mercy through your caring about what happens to others. You care about sinners’ souls. That’s rare.” He pulled out another envelope and laid it in her hand. “We all wanted you to have this.”

  “What is this?”

  “Open it, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  Gabrielle brushed the tears away from her eyes as soon as she opened the envelope stuffed with cash. “I can’t accept this, Clarence. This is too much.” The tears continued to flow. She grabbed a napkin off the table and wiped her eyes.

  “It’s from all of us down at the place. I know you’re having a hard time. You’ve said you’re not coming back where you know you could make that much money in a week. Some of us wanted to do something to help out. Actually, we admire you for taking such a stand and sticking with it. Besides, I told you that I owed you.” He laughed. “I cheated you out of some of your money early on. Consider this my retribution. Now, how about that prayer?” He bowed his head. She took his hand and prayed with him.

  Gabrielle began to sniffle after the prayer. “Clarence, please come go to church with me Sunday. Please?”

  He stood up. “I’ll think about it and let you know. In the meantime, know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. And please, don’t become like those Christians who tend to blow with the wind. Stay rooted in the Lord the way you are now. Keep what you have and continue to grow it. Believe me: what you have is rare indeed.”

  He left. She stood at her front door and waved good-bye to him as he got into his Corvette and drove off. With a smile, she closed the door. Five minutes later, her doorbell rang. She hurried to open the door, figuring Clarence had forgotten something.

  “Darius?” she said, shocked to see him. She tried to push the door closed.

  He smiled, pushed the door open, and stepped past her. “Hello, Gabrielle. Mind if I come in?” He grabbed the door, closed it behind him, then locked it.

  Chapter 34

  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

  —2 Corinthians 2:11

  “What are you doing here?” Gabrielle asked as she stood near the door.

  “I just came by to see how you were doing.” He looked around the foyer. “Aren’t you going to tell me to make myself at home? Isn’t that how southern women are taught to be hospitable?”

  She crossed her arms. “What do you want?”

  “Hold up with the attitude. I just came by to apologize. Tiffany told me that apparently I’m the one being credited with spreading things about you through the congregation. I wanted you to know that even though I did threaten that I would do that, it wasn’t me.”

  “Sure, Darius. You were the one who kept bringing it up. You were trying to use it to move in on me. And when I wouldn’t play with you, you decided you would make me pay. I hope you’re happy now.”

  “Secrets, secrets, so many secrets. You, of all people, should know that secrets generally tend to find a way of coming out. So, what did Johnnie Mae Landris say to you when she heard about what you used to do? I’m sure she’s heard it now.” He tried to appear concerned.

  Gabrielle laughed. “Oh, so you’re supposed to be bothered that Johnnie Mae might be upset about what you were spreading?”

  “I told you, I didn’t spread that on purpose. I asked a few people to keep you lifted up in their prayers that you don’t slip back into what you’d been delivered out of. I praised you for your strength in doing what you’d done by putting your dancing gift to work in the Lord’s house,” Darius said, looking all sincere.

  Gabrielle smirked. “Yeah. Just like you told me that Christians who want to spread something spread it when they don’t want it to look like they’re gossiping.”

  “You still haven’t told me what Johnnie Mae said. Did she banish
you from the dance ministry? Put you out? I hope not. That would be a travesty.”

  “Like you really care.”

  “I do care. How was I supposed to know that was going to travel the way it did? I thought maybe a few people would say something to you, let you know I was serious about the damage I could do if I wanted to. I sure didn’t intend for it to get away like it appears to have done. And now my name is being attached to the mess. Big mouth folks. If they wanted to talk, they could have kept my name out of it.”

  “Well, not that it’s any of your business, but I’d already told Johnnie Mae everything about me and my past. Everything.”

  “No, you didn’t. You’re lying. Why would you tell something if you don’t have to?”

  “I don’t know,” Gabrielle said. “But maybe you should try it. I suppose the biggest reason is that it can take a huge bite out of the impact of something getting out in other ways. Both Johnnie Mae and Pastor Landris were aware of my dancing career because I told Johnnie Mae. She spoke with Pastor Landris about it. They prayed about it. And in the end, not only was I allowed to dance in the ministry, but I was chosen as the choreographer.”

  “Yeah, okay. But that was before other people in the congregation started grumbling about it. There are lots of people, from what I hear, who don’t think you should be allowed to continue dancing in church given your past life,” Darius said.

  “Well, you know what? I’m just glad these people aren’t God. Because if they were, none of us would stand a chance. Now”—she walked to the door, unlocked it, and opened it—“it’s time for you to go home to your wife. Tell her I said hello, won’t you?”