Promise of Forever Love Read online

  On the ground, holding his knee, which had gotten injured as he’d jumped out of the car, Thomas watched as his Mustang fought with the bigger and bulkier Buick while the cars swung back and forth. By the time the car fight was over, it was clear that his Mustang had lost. So much time and money had been spent restoring that car to its former glory that he was saddened to see it destroyed in such a senseless way. But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He got up from the ground and hobbled down the street.

  “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” one of the officers yelled. “You need to file a report about your car.”

  “I can’t stay,” Thomas yelled back as he continued down the street. “My goddaughter has been kidnapped.”

  Yvonne got off her knees and stood up. She had been in her prayer position so many times today that her knees were beginning to ache. A soft whisper in her ear said, The Lord has heard you. She smiled, believing that everything would be all right.

  The meeting started in half an hour. She picked up the file on Marvel and his dirty dealings from the coffee table, then grabbed her purse and keys.

  Tia came into the room before she could get out the front door. “You’re not leaving without me,” she told Yvonne.

  Yvonne put her keys in her pocket and turned to face her daughter. Tia’s hands were on her hips, and her shoulders were rolling as if she were preparing for a fight. “It’s only a city council meeting, Tia. I don’t need you there with me tonight. Why don’t you stay here and get some rest?”

  “I’m going,” Tia declared. “When I came home earlier, I could tell that something was wrong. You won’t tell me what it is, so I’m going to this meeting to find out for myself.”

  “Get your hands off your hips and stop talking to me like you’re my mother or something.”

  “I’m not trying to be your mother, but I am worried about you. I tried calling Toya to see if she was going, but I couldn’t get a hold of her. So, I’m going.”

  Giving up all pretense, Yvonne slumped her shoulders and sighed. “Tia, baby, do you want to sit down?”

  A terrified look crossed Tia’s face as she lowered herself silently to the couch. Yvonne sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “You’re right, honey. Something is going on. But I don’t want you in the middle of it because I don’t want you or the baby to get hurt. So, please, do what I’m asking and stay home.”

  “But how can I help you if I’m at home and not with you?”

  Yvonne smiled at her daughter. Tia’s experiences during this pregnancy had changed her, helped her to grow up. Yvonne liked what she was seeing in her daughter, and at that moment, she knew exactly how Tia could help. “I do need you, Tia. And Toya needs you, too.”

  “What can I do?” Tia asked eagerly.

  “Well, honey, I’m not sure how to say this, so I’ll just tell you: Marvel has kidnapped your sister.”

  “What?” Tia exploded.

  “Just listen, hon. I don’t have much time. Marvel doesn’t want me to reveal the information I have on him at the city council meeting, and that’s why he’s holding Toya. He claims that he’ll let her go after the meeting as long as I keep quiet about him. But I believe that God will provide us the victory in both areas. So, stay here and pray that Toya comes home safe and sound, and that I will be bold enough to do what I must at this meeting.”

  “Oh, Mama. No!”

  “I know, hon. This is a hard one. But we have to be strong. God is a way-maker, and I am standing in faith. Will you stand with me, Tia?”

  Tia’s eyes had filled with tears. “I want to, but I don’t know if God is even interested in any of my prayers.”

  “Didn’t you tell me that you had already asked God to forgive you for the sins you committed?”

  “Yes….”

  “Then, you have to believe by faith that God has done just what you asked. I need you to believe, Tia. Can you do this for me?”

  Tia hugged her. “I’ll stand with you, Mama. You go to that meeting. I’m going to get on my knees and pray for you and Toya.”

  “Thanks, Tia.” Yvonne kissed Tia on her forehead, then stood up and gathered her purse.

  Before she was out the door, Tia was already on her knees, starting to pray. “Oh Father, You know that I love You. I have made so many mistakes in my life, but I believe that You have forgiven me for them all. And I thank You for Your love, mercy, and grace. Right now, I am coming before You to humbly ask You to please help my mother and sister….”

  Chapter

  Twenty-five

  Mother Thornton looked up as an overwhelming, all-consuming light appeared in her living room. She couldn’t make out the image, but she lived her life in expectation of seeing the manifestations of God in action. She sat up and asked, “Is that You, Lord?”

  The light diminished, but then she noticed that her front door was wide open. Mother Thornton got off her couch, grabbed her cane, and walked over to the door to close it. That’s when she saw the expensive car parked in front of the empty house next door. Her neighbor, Vera Sue Reeding, had lived next door to her for over thirty years. They had watched out for one another before and after their husbands had passed. Vera had gone home to be with the Lord last year, and, ever since, there had been one drug dealer after another trying to use Vera’s house to sell poison out of. But Mother Thornton ran each one of them off.

  She was a woman who knew no fear, because she knew her God. She stepped outside and slowly walked toward the car. Those knee operations hadn’t done her much good, and she often wished that she had just left well enough alone and bought herself a cane like the one she was stuck walking with now, anyway.

  She made her way to the car and checked to see if the door was locked. It was locked, but that wasn’t going to stop Mother Thornton. She started attacking the car with her cane, looking for the sweet spot that would set the car alarm off. When she found it and the alarm went off, Mother Thornton continued beating on the car.

  Thomas had run down two different streets in search of Marvel’s car. His knee had gotten pretty banged up from the car accident, but he wasn’t feeling the pain. He ran on pure adrenaline and the overwhelming need to find Toya. He couldn’t let her down, not on something as big as this. When he reached the end of the street, there was still no sign of Marvel’s car. At this point, he was tempted to go back to the accident scene and ask one of the officers to help him find Toya. He turned around and started running back up the street when he heard the sound of a car alarm.

  In this neighborhood, Thomas figured that car alarms probably went off all the time, but for some reason, he couldn’t ignore this one. He turned in the direction of the noise and started running toward it.

  “Lady, what is your problem?” Marvel yelled as he walked out of the abandoned house and found an old lady beating on his BMW.

  “I want you to get away from ’round here,” the woman yelled back. “No drug dealing is allowed on this here street.”

  As the woman kept up her racket, the front doors of several houses opened, and various neighbors came outside to see what all the commotion was about.

  Marvel took a quick look around and decided he had better go. He grabbed his keys out of his pocket. “Look, lady. I don’t have time for this. I have someplace to be, anyway.” He unlocked the car door, jumped inside, and sped off.

  When Yvonne arrived at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, she was surprised to see many familiar faces—members of Christ-Life who had come out for the city council meeting. They were lined up outside and holding up signs with encouraging messages, such as, “Praying for you!”

  Tears welled in Yvonne’s eyes as she read those signs. The church members probably would never know just how much she really needed their prayers right now. Or maybe God had sent an angel to whisper her needs into their ears.

  Yvonne walked inside the municipal center and followed the signs to the room where the meeting was being held. It had started already, as she wa
s fifteen minutes late, and when she walked in, she noticed that the governor was in attendance, seated right next to the mayor.

  She found a seat in the second row and tried to be patient as she listened to the other issues being discussed. While she waited for her issue to come up, she made sure to pray for Toya. Without some divine help, she couldn’t go through with exposing Marvel Williams for the monster he was while worrying about her daughter’s safety.

  Yvonne wanted to believe that God would make a way of escape for Toya, but would she truly be able to put her daughter’s life in jeopardy, not knowing whether or not she was safe yet? There had to be another way. And Yvonne was counting on God to show it to her.

  Thomas rounded the corner onto Rosa Parks Boulevard just in time to see Marvel jump in his car and speed off. “No!” he yelled.

  On the sidewalk ahead, an older woman turned to face him. He recognized her immediately as Mother Lillian Thornton, a longtime member of Christ-Life. Never had a familiar face been such a welcome sight.

  “Pastor? Pastor Thomas?” she said, slowly making her way in his direction. “What’s wrong?”

  “H-he’s got…my goddaughter…Toya…Yvonne’s daughter,” Thomas stammered, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

  “Who?” Mother Thornton asked.

  “Marvel—the man who just drove off.”

  “That man was alone. He left by himself.”

  Thomas clasped his hands behind his head and began turning in circles, starting to panic. “Oh God, where is she?” he shouted. “Where is she, God?”

  “He came out of that abandoned house,” Mother Thornton said calmly as she pointed to a dilapidated-looking structure. “Maybe Toya’s in there.”

  Thomas bolted for the house. His knee almost gave out as he bounded up the porch steps, but he endured the pain. He threw open the screen door, rushed into the dark house, and searched one room after the next, praying that he would find Toya alive. He would never be able to look Yvonne in the eye again if he brought her daughter home in a body bag.

  “Toya! Toya!” he yelled as he passed through what appeared to be the living room, kitchen, and first-floor bedroom.

  He was at the bottom of the stairs, getting ready to search the second level, when he heard muffled sounds coming from behind a closed door in the hallway. He rushed to the door and yanked it open. There sat Toya, tied to a filthy toilet. Duct tape bound her mouth, and her eyes spoke the terror she could not voice. The entire room smelled of mold, and as he stepped forward to start untying Toya, two mice scurried past him out into the hallway.

  The terror in Toya’s eyes turned to relief as Thomas untied her. Thankfully, the rope had not been fastened in a way that was difficult to undo.

  When she was free, she jumped up and pulled the tape off her mouth with a terrible ripping sound. “We’ve got to get to the council meeting!” she blurted out. “Marvel is going to kill my mama.”

  “Not as long as I’m living, he won’t.” And Thomas meant every word.

  Yvonne was still praying for Toya when she heard the door open and saw Marvel walk in. She watched as he took the empty seat directly in front of her as if it belonged to him. It was all she could do not to jump up and announce to everyone in the room that he had kidnapped her daughter. She saw the governor lean over and whisper something to the mayor. When the mayor finished speaking with the governor, he called an end to the current discussion and opened the floor for discussion on the eminent domain seizure of property for a new business district.

  Yvonne prayed for strength.

  “Pastor Milner,” the mayor addressed her, “it has come to my attention that you have information concerning the new factory we intend to build in the community in which your church resides.”

  Tapping the folder that she held against her thigh, Yvonne looked up and into the eyes of Marvel, the monster, who had turned around in his chair. His eyes were filled with a hatred and violence that unnerved her. At that moment, she feared that he had already harmed Toya, but she took a deep breath and decided to trust God. He had brought her this far, and she was sure that He would finish what He had started. She saw the hand of God, and it was working in her favor.

  The prayers of the saints had brought the governor to this meeting of City Council, and Yvonne knew that the mayor, who had been too busy to meet with her and Thomas a few months ago, was addressing her now only because of whatever information the governor had just shared with him. Thomas also had a lot to do with this. How she wished he were here with her now. But she understood why he wasn’t. She’d pushed him away, and he wanted nothing more to do with her or her problems. God was with her, though. She could feel His presence, and it gave her strength.

  Taking a deep breath, Yvonne stood up and summoned her voice. “Mr. Mayor, Mr. Governor, members of the council: I certainly do have information that I believe bears on your decision to build the factory. The information is regarding certain unethical business dealings of Mr. E. Marvel Williams.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Mayor,” Marvel said as he stood up, “but do you normally allow the citizens of this city to slander upstanding local businessmen at these meetings? I am simply trying to move this city forward by putting unemployed people back to work.”

  “We need those jobs!” a man shouted from the back of the room. “Let the man build his factory!”

  Yvonne turned around and saw a little old lady stand up to shout back, “Then let him take your home and build his factory in your neighborhood!”

  A buzz erupted through the room as everyone started speaking at once. While that was going on, Marvel turned around again and gave Yvonne another menacing glare. “I’m the only one who knows where Toya is,” he said quietly so that she alone could hear. “Do you really want to do this?”

  Yvonne felt a holy boldness rise up in her that far outweighed any confidence she’d felt since learning that Marvel had kidnapped Toya, and she knew for sure that the saints were still praying. “My God knows where Toya is, and He will bring her to me,” she said firmly.

  Marvel laughed.

  Yvonne didn’t pay attention to him. She moved into the aisle and marched up to the front, then turned around and faced the room. “This man,” she said, pointing at Marvel, “does not plan to help the unemployed of Detroit.” Everyone quieted down as she continued. “He cannot help the unemployed of Detroit because he hires undocumented workers.” She turned around and placed the file folder in front of the mayor. “I have evidence that proves Mr. E. Marvel Williams has arranged for illegals to be smuggled into this country and has forced them to work for less than the minimum wage. And if you check into his factory in Flint, Michigan, you’ll find even more evidence to support my claim.”

  “American jobs should go to American workers!” yelled a male voice from the middle of the room.

  His comment set off an eruption of shouts and a flurry of movement. The people were fighting mad and shouted about how they had suffered too long with high unemployment to let some factory owner come into their town and give away their jobs to people who shouldn’t even be in this country.

  The mayor pounded his gavel several times, trying to quiet the crowd. “Sit back down,” he shouted. When no one did, he repeated, “Sit back down, or the guards will put you out of here.”

  Slowly, the crowd began to sit down, but low murmurs could still be heard all across the room.

  The mayor looked down at Marvel. “Can you explain this?”

  “Why should I have to explain any of this nonsense? Pastor Yvonne must have ulterior motives for spreading all these lies about me. Her church was about to go into foreclosure—until her boyfriend paid off their debt. If anything, I’d say that Pastor Yvonne is the one who needs to explain to her congregation just what’s going on with her and Pastor Thomas Reed.” Marvel turned to face the crowd. “I’m sure you all remember seeing those pictures of pastors Yvonne and Thomas in a steamy embrace.”

  Yvonne refused to respond to Marvel’s
sensationalized version of her relationship with Thomas. Instead, she told the council, “If our church was behind on its mortgage payments, it was largely because Mr. Williams paid one of our board members, also the finance director, to embezzle money from Christ-Life.”

  “I did no such thing,” Marvel objected. “Are we going to continue listening to these lies by a disgraced preacher, or are we going to rule on whether or not I can have that land so I can bring some jobs to this town?”

  The governor spoke next. “How many employees do you have in your Flint location, Mr. Williams? How many of them are paying taxes, and how many are undocumented?”

  As Marvel opened his mouth to respond, the door opened once more, and Thomas came in, followed by Toya. Yvonne felt as if her heart would explode with joy, even though Thomas looked as if he’d been tied to a pole and beaten all day long, and Toya was almost as haggard-looking as he. “Thank You, Lord Jesus!” she exclaimed.

  Forgetting all about the proceedings, Yvonne ran to Toya and wrapped her in a tight embrace. “I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said through her tears.

  “Thanks to my hero, here,” Toya said, smiling at Thomas.

  Yvonne turned to Thomas and gave him a hug. “Thank you, Thomas. Thank you so much…for everything.”

  They broke apart when Toya screamed, “Stop him!”

  Yvonne looked up and saw Marvel running to a side door.

  “What’s going on?” the mayor demanded.

  “That man kidnapped me!” Toya exclaimed. “You can’t let him get away. He needs to be arrested!”

  Chapter

  Twenty-six

  Marvel had gotten away, the security guards reported when they returned, breathless, from chasing him down to the parking lot. But Yvonne wasn’t worried. She knew that justice would finally catch up with that scoundrel.

  Joined now by Thomas and Toya, she stood before City Council once more. “We are here because we firmly believe that our church and neighborhood should not be bulldozed to make way for a business that does not have the best interests of the citizens of Detroit in mind.”