Rain Storm Read online

  ***

  Janet was at her desk typing and taking calls when Keith walked into the office and took his hard hat off. His office was a one-story building just like his house. There was only room enough for Janet’s reception area, his small office, a conference room to meet with clients or his four staff members, and a vending area where they could get coffee and donuts before going out on a job. It was small, but he loved all 965 square-feet of it because he hadn’t earned it by selling poison on the streets. He’d scrimped and saved, and learned his craft the hard way – by working.

  “Did any of our clients send their payments in today?” Keith asked Janet.

  “Nope. But your suppliers are on time with their bills,” Janet said as she held up a pile of invoices and watched Keith frown. “No since pickling up your face. Just thank God that we have enough money to get these bills paid.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed as he rushed to his office. He had left the plans for the job they were on today somewhere on his messy desk. So he had to rush back to get them.

  Janet walked into his office as he was flipping papers over on his desk. “Looking for this?” she asked while holding out the sketches he was looking for.

  Shaking his head, he asked, “I left them on your desk this morning?” She nodded. “I thought I left them on my desk. What would I do without you?” he said while taking the papers out of her hand.

  As he was getting ready to rush back out of the office Janet asked, “Did you like the curtains I hung in your living room last week?”

  He stopped and looked at Janet for a moment. She was about 5 feet 7 inches, always neatly dressed, hair not too long, but not short either. She had a nice shape on her and a pretty face. But most of all, he’d met her at his church, and knew that she was a godly woman. Why not Janet, Lord. This is the one I want. “Did I forget to thank you for doing that? I’m sorry; I’ve had a few things going on lately. Anyway, the curtains are nice. Thank you.”

  She smiled. “I’m just glad you like the curtains. I didn’t think you were a big fan of olive green, but that color matched your living room best.”

  “Well, it goes good with the carpet and you know that I’m not planning on changing that carpet any time soon,” he said.

  “That’s why I picked them out.”

  He put his hand in his pocket and shuffled his feet a bit. “Janet, I was wondering…”

  “Yes?”

  Maybe God needed his help with this one, Keith thought before he ran interference on God’s word by posing a question to Janet. “We get along pretty good – and, well… I was just wondering if you’d like to go to dinner or to a movie with me sometime.”

  She smiled, but as she opened her mouth to answer, Keith’s cell phone rang.

  He held up a finger, and then said, “Keith here,” as he put the receiver to his ear.

  “I need you to come get me,” the voice on the other end of the phone stated.

  “Who is this?” Keith asked.

  “You don’t even know my voice? Thought you wanted to deliver me from the streets? Or do you take every wayward girl you meet out to lunch?”

  He turned away from Janet. “Cynda? Oh, praise God. I was just praying for you last night. God is so good.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Save all that good God stuff for the next church-convention meeting, okay? Can you come get me or not?” Cynda said, getting right to the point.

  Keith looked at his watch. He needed to be back at the job site, but he couldn’t just turn his back on Cynda. “Tell me where you are and I’ll be right there.”

  ***

  When Keith pulled up, Cynda opened the back door and deposited a little girl. She then opened the passenger door and jumped in. Keith couldn’t take his gaze off the little girl. She reminded him of somebody. He reached out his hand to her. “Hello, my name is Keith.”

  Shaking his hand, the little girl said, “I’m Iona.”

  “Are we going to sit here all day, or can we go?” Cynda growled at Keith.

  Without saying another word, Keith drove his two companions to his house. He took them inside and showed them around.

  “The towels are in the hall closet and there’s food in the fridge, “Keith informed his house guests. They were standing in the living room surrounded by the olive curtains that Janet had hung last week. Keith smiled as he thought of how right Janet had been. Those curtains matched his carpet to perfection.

  As if cutting into his thoughts, Cynda asked, “What’s up with all the puke green you’ve got going on in this living room. I mean, even your couch has a green tint to it for goodness sake.”

  Keith wasn’t about to discuss what Janet had done for him out of the kindness of her heart, so he changed the subject. “If you need anything while I’m out, give me a call and I’ll pick it up on my way home.”

  “What, you just gon’ leave us here?” Cynda asked, hands on hips.

  “I have to go back to work, Cynda.”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot that people do things like that.”

  “Cynda, what’s going on? Why’d you need me to pick you up?”

  She instructed Iona to go into the kitchen and see if she could find something to eat. When she and Keith were alone in the living room she said, “Look, I didn’t mean to bring you my problems, it’s just that when Iona told me that Spoony planned to turn her out – I freaked.”

  “Is Iona your daughter?”

  “Yeah, man.” She rubbed her eyes. “She’s all I’ve got. I can’t let Spoony turn her out like that.”

  Keith stood, mouth agape. He knew the man of whom Cynda spoke. He knew that Spoony was no saint – but this? Lord, is this why you wanted me to help her? “Don’t worry about it, Cynda. We’ll work it out,” Keith told her just before he left the house and got into his car.

  Keith drove away with something gnawing at him. He couldn’t put his finger on the problem, but knew it had to do with the precious little girl he’d just met.

  The construction site was calling his name though. Keith and his crew were on the most important job he’d been able to land all year. It still fascinated him that his bid was approved and the CEO of a Fortune 500 company was now relying on him to handle the add-on to his seven thousand square foot home. It wasn’t the Sears building, but it was a step in the right direction. He’d bring this job in on time and on the money. But even with the job on his mind, Keith couldn’t stop thinking about that little girl. Something about her just didn’t sit right with him.

  Keith almost cut off his finger while using the drill when a thought hit him. Throwing the drill down, he grabbed his cell phone and called Isaac. His voice got caught in his throat when Isaac picked up. He hoped to God he was wrong about….

  “Keith. Are you there or what?” Isaac asked after not getting a response from his initial greeting. “Look man, I’ve got caller ID, you know.”

  Keith managed to clear his throat. “I’m here.”

  “I was about to say. Thought you were too old for prank calling.”

  All Keith could think about right then was getting home and talking to Cynda about his assumptions. “Sorry about that, man. I’ve got a lot on my mind right now. What’s up?”

  “Not a problem. Hey, I’m glad you called anyway. Do you think you can pick me up from the airport at noon tomorrow?”

  “Pick you up from the airport? What’s going on?”

  “What’s wrong with you? I told you I would be in Chi-town this weekend. Told you I needed to talk to Spoony. Remember?”

  Keith smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Ah, man. I forgot. Look, I got you. I got you. Don’t even sweat it.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  Before Isaac could hang up, Keith called out, “Hey man, let me ask you something.” He hesitated, then came out with it. “How long has it been since you dealt with Cynda Stephens?”

  Isaac only took a moment to answer. “Ten years.”

  Isaac didn’t waste time remembering trivia
l things. That’s just how he was. If it wasn’t important enough to take up room in his brain, Isaac usually deleted it. “How come you remember it just like that?”

  “I went to prison ten years ago; right after I gave that tack-head her walking papers. Then she turned me into the cops – don’t think I’ll forget that too soon.”

  “Ten years, huh?” Keith thought about how Iona looked to be around ten. Could it be? The girl looked just like him.

  “Keith, why are you asking me about a female that you know I could go a lifetime without thinking about? The woman puts a bad taste in my mouth.”

  “I’ll pick you up in the morning. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  6

  Nina and Ebony were in the kitchen making the evening meal while Isaac and Donavan were at their little storefront church getting ready for Sunday service.

  “Can you hand me the oven mitt?” Nina asked while nodding toward the mitt on the kitchen counter.

  Ebony grabbed the ‘bless the cook’ oven mitt off the counter and passed it to Nina. She stood back and watched Nina take the meatloaf out of the oven, put it on a serving plate, and slice several pieces.

  Nina looked over at Ebony and smiled. “What are you thinking about?” she asked.

  Ebony looked away. Tears cascaded down Ebony’s dark-chocolate face. “I’m worried about what my mom is going to think when she finds out what I’ve been doing.”

  “Based on the conversation I had with your mom, she seems like a caring and understanding person,” Nina assured Ebony.

  “I wish I had never given you my mother’s telephone number.”

  Nina pulled Ebony into her arms and hugged her. “It’s going to be okay, you’ve just got to have a little faith.”

  Ebony held tightly onto Nina and said, “I don’t want faith. I want to stay here with you.”

  Ending their embrace, Nina softly touched Ebony’s cheek. How she wished that Ebony’s mom was a wicked, unfit mother, that way she would have no problems fighting to keep Ebony with them. Nina had even prayed that God would make a way for her and Isaac to be able to adopt the girl. But Ebony’s mom wasn’t wicked. She was simply a single parent doing the best she could, and the woman loved Ebony.

  Nina would miss this half-woman-half-child who had found a place in her heart. She hated the thought of Ebony leaving. But she’d done the right thing by calling her mother. Even if Ebony’s absence would cause her to mourn as if she were losing her very own child, Nina knew she had to do what was right for Ebony and her mother. She held back her tears, smiled and said, “You’ve got to go home, Ebony, it’s where you belong.”

  They hugged again. Nina quickly wiped away a disobedient tear as it slide down her cheek before releasing Ebony. She cleared her throat and said, “Turn the oven off for me. We’re done in here.”

  As Ebony turned off the oven she asked Nina, “Doesn’t this all seem too normal to you?”

  “Doesn’t what seem too normal?”

  Ebony stretched her arms pointing around the kitchen. “All of this. Dinner, setting the table, your family coming home to eat and having normal conversations with you?”

  Nina laughed. Some of the conversations she had with her husband were anything but normal. Especially the ones that related to the demonic forces they felt were oppressing the people within the inner city. They constantly talked and prayed about God’s delivering power. She loved her husband and was in awe at times of the ministry-minded man she ended up with. But she would certainly not characterize their relationship as normal. “Ebony, I’m glad you think we’re normal, ‘cause sometimes I wonder.”

  Ebony scrunched her nose. “Maybe you’re not normal.”

  “Gee, thanks, Ebony.” Nina playfully hit her with the oven mitt.

  “What I mean is, your husband comes home every night, he doesn’t beat on you, and I’d swear on a stack of Bibles that he wouldn’t dream of cheating on you. That’s not normal.”

  Nina laughed again. “Someday I’m going to sit you down and tell you our story.”

  Ebony took a seat. “Tell me.”

  “You’re much too young. I can’t tell you about all my drama.”

  Her eyes implored Nina. “Please tell me. I need to know that mistakes can be turned around.”

  Sitting next to her, Nina said, “All right. See, I wasn’t married to Isaac when I had Donavan.”

  “No way. You had a child out of wedlock?”

  “Yes, I did. See, back then, Isaac was very abusive and he cheated on me. Well, I decided that I didn’t want to be with a man like that, so I left him. I even considered aborting my baby. Thank God someone took the time to tell me about Jesus.”

  “What did Isaac do when you left?”

  “He found me,” she said, as she drifted back in time to tell Ebony the story.

  “I was on my knees, head bowed, lips moving, but no sound exited my mouth when Isaac opened my bedroom door. ‘You’re gonna have to pray a long time, if you’re asking God to save you from my wrath,’ Isaac had told me. I stood and turned to face him. He looked at my stomach and said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t have the abortion?’ I bent my head and touched my stomach, but remained silent.

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

  “I remember looking up at him. One small tear escaped down my face. ‘I thought you’d kill me before you found out the truth,’ I told him.

  Isaac blushed and said, ‘I’m sorry about that, babe.’ He reached out to touch me, but I 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,’” Isaac promised. ‘Get your stuff, let’s go.’

  “I put my hand on my belly and backed away from Isaac,” Nina said as Ebony sat listening intently. “I can’t go with you,” I told him.

  ‘What do you mean you can’t go with me?’ he mimicked. ‘Nina, get your stuff.’

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

  “‘We ain’t living in sin! Stop trippin’ girl, we live in Dayton,’ Isaac said, as serious as ever.”

  Nina chuckled as she reminisced, but at the time she had not been amused.

  “‘You’re carrying my baby – you belong with me’” Isaac said. “I remember looking down at my hands and saying, ‘We’re not married.’”

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

  “At that time, I didn’t know where my strength had come from. I opened my mouth and said, 'I will not live with you.' Isaac kneeled down in front of me. He tilted my head toward him so he could look into my eyes. ‘You know I don’t want nobody but you. It’s you and me against the world. Come on baby, come home with me, please,’ Isaac said.

  She put her hands to her face as another tear fell to her cheek. “I can’t live in your world anymore. You have to let me go,” I told him.

  “But he didn’t let you go, or else you wouldn’t be married today,” Ebony said when Nina finished her story.

  “No, he didn’t let me go. But it took eleven years for him to convince me to take him back. I had to be sure that he was the man God had for me.”

  Ebony frowned. “But what if the man God has for me doesn’t want to be bothered because of the things I’ve done?”

  “Trust me, Ebony, when God gets through working on the man He has designed for you, your previous indiscretions won’t matter to him,” Nina said.

  “Too bad you won’t know when that day comes,” Ebony sighed.

  “Why wouldn’t I know? All you have to do is pick up the telephone and call me,”
Nina told her.

  Ebony’s eyes brightened. “You really want me to call you?”

  “If you don’t, I’ll be forced to fly all the way to Pensacola, Florida just to see if your dialing finger is broken.”

  Ebony laughed. “Then I’ll make sure to call you every week.”

  “You better,” Nina said, laughing also. Then Nina told her, “Ebony, there’s something I’ve wanted to know since you came to our home, but I’ve been waiting for the right time to ask.” Nina paused, waiting for Ebony to give her permission to continue.

  “You can ask me anything, Nina. I promise I’ll tell you the truth,” Ebony assured her.

  Jumping right in, Nina asked, “How did you get from Pensacola, Florida to Dayton?”

  Lowering her head, Ebony told Nina, “I left town with Jimmy Jones. The kids at school used to call him Jim Jones, they said he was poison, and they weren’t far from the truth. I hit my first crack pipe with him. Then he got tired of me and ditched me in Cincinnati.” She looked up as she told Nina, “That’s where I met Charlie. He brought me to Dayton, and turn tricks for my crack.” They sat in silence for a moment. Then Ebony covered her face with her hands. “My mother is going to hate me.”

  Nina removed Ebony’s hands from her face and told her, “A mother could never hate her child. The two of you will get through this. And if it seems like she’s having a hard time forgiving you, just remember what Jesus said.”

  Intrigued, Ebony said, “Tell me, Nina. What did Jesus say that will help me deal with my mother?”

  “Well,” Nina began, “there was this woman who was caught in the act of adultery. A group of men brought her before Jesus accusing her of this horrible sin.”

  “Were they telling the truth? Had the woman really cheated on her husband?”

  “Oh, yes. Everything they said was true.”

  Ebony’s eyes dimmed. “So what did Jesus do about it?”

  “The people that had gathered around picked rocks off the ground and demanded that the adulterous woman be stoned to death. But Jesus simply told them, ‘He who is without sin, cast the first stone.’ And not one person in that crowd was able to throw a stone at the woman. Jesus finally told the woman to go home and sin no more.”