In Times of Trouble (13 page)

“I'm glad I finally got you alone. There's something I've been wanting to give you.” Pulling out his wallet, RJ presented her with a check written for seven hundred dollars. Lisa could tell that he had been working out. The shirt he was wearing seemed to cling to every muscle on his chest.

“What's this for?”

“It may not cover all of the expenses for Chanelle's party, but I wanted to at least give you something on it.”

“Thanks.” Lisa folded the check in her hand. Her purse was upstairs in her bedroom and the pink sundress she had on didn't have any pockets. She really didn't need RJ's money to help pay for anything. Part of her felt bad for taking it; he was just getting back on his feet. Yet, there was a part of Lisa that remained un-sympathetic. It had been a total of seven years since RJ first turned her entire world upside down and five years since their divorce. She hadn't received a single dime of child support from him in all these years, so this money was well overdue and much less than she deserved.

“The party is great. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and you look
really
nice.” He flashed a smile that used to spark a tingling in her lower extremities but now had a null effect.

“Thanks,” Lisa repeated blandly.

“So. . .the word is that you're getting married.” He looked as if she owed him some kind of explanation.

“Yep, hopefully before the end of this year.”

“I'm taking a big risk, but I have to say this.” He closed the gap between them to a few inches. “I still love you, Lisa. If there's any part of you that feels the same for me, please consider postponing your engagement and giving us another try. I messed up—”

“That's an understatement,” she spat, stepping back, hoping to create more space, but wedging the edge of the counter in her back instead, allowing RJ to zero in. Nervous, Lisa instinctively reached for her First Lady necklace, but it wasn't there.

“Baby, I know. . .I totally screwed things up with us, but you're making a mistake by marrying this guy. Do you really know him?”

“I'm sure much better than I knew you. I didn't really know you after all, did I? Thanks for the offer to reconcile, but I'm willing to take my chances with Eric.” She tried to gently push him aside, but RJ grabbed hold of her arm.

“You're making a mistake,” he said emphatically. “Something about this man seems odd.”

Lisa laughed sarcastically, jerking free from his grip. “Gee, I wonder who planted that idea in your head. The next time you and Mama have a panel discussion about my fiancé, please remember that I couldn't care less what either of you think. Chanelle is okay with it and her opinion is the only one that matters to me.”

“Sweetheart, is everything okay?” Eric couldn't have come in at a more perfect time. He walked over to where she and RJ were standing, territorially putting his arm around her waist, forcing RJ to step back.

“Yes, honey, I'm fine. We were clearing up a misunderstanding.”

“Hello, I'm Minister Eric Freeman. And you are. . .?” he asked as if he didn't already know. Lisa fought hard to keep a prideful “ahah!” smile from spreading on her face as lines of tension formed in RJ's forehead.

“I'm Robert Hampton.”

“Oh, so
you're
RJ. It's nice to meet you. Lisa has told me a lot about you.”

“Wish I could say the same. . .Anyhow, Lisa, how about we finish our discussion another time?”

“I don't think that'll be necessary.”

“I think it is. There's a lot more that needs to be said.”

“Maybe you should drop whatever the two of you were talking about,” Eric broke through. “She's apparently not interested in conversing with you.”

“Look, man, with all due respect, you need to stay out of it. I don't need your permission to speak with my wife!” yelled RJ.

“Don't you mean
ex-w
ife? In case you haven't been informed,
I
am the man in Lisa's life.” Holding her even tighter, Eric's voice was stern and steady.

If Lisa was a betting woman, she'd put money on the fact that RJ's muscular physique could crush Eric's slender one, but what Eric lacked in physical strength, he made up for spiritually. Lisa felt like she'd been taken back to biblical times and was witnessing David confront Goliath because like David, skinny li'l Eric was fearless against the muscular giant. RJ looked at her, then Eric, and then back at her.

“So, it's like that?”

There was a desperation in his voice that begged for mercy, but instead, she answered him coldly. “Yeah. . .it is.”

RJ kicked the back screen door open and stamped out.

“Do you want to talk about whatever it was that just happened?”

“Yes, but not right now.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Let's get back out to the party.”

Without pushing any further, Eric nodded understandingly. Hand-in-hand they walked out the same door that RJ had burst through moments earlier.

“We're getting ready to put the movie in. Would you care to join us?” Tyra poked her head into Bryan's study.

“No thanks. . .” His eyes remained glued to the paperwork on his desk.

“In case you haven't noticed, we have company. It's sort of rude for you not to interact with them at all. The least you can do is come say hello.”

His jaws tensed and he looked up at her. For someone who had recently given birth, Tyra still looked hot with her short, bob-like haircut and the camouflage tank top that showed just enough cleavage to pique his interest. She had been fortunate enough to gain minimal weight during the pregnancy and so she looked very good for someone who recently had a baby. Even if there weren't doctor's orders to refrain from intercourse for several weeks, he would have done so on his own accord because of his anger toward her. “In case
you
haven't noticed, I'm working, so you and your guests will have to watch the movie without me.”

Tyra grunted, slamming the door on her way out.

Truthfully, he didn't have to work. Sure he had some briefs to polish up, but they really could wait. He was still upset about how
Tyra had handled the situation with his mother and wasn't feeling very hospitable. Callie had been in Ohio for the last couple of weeks and hadn't been able to lay eyes on her granddaughter in person because of Tyra's stupidity. And now Tyra had the nerve to tell him he was being rude because he refused to entertain
her
family. “Women. . .” Bryan muttered to himself.

The tension between him and Tyra had been so thick lately that not even Naomi's cute little baby smile could cut through it. If anything, Bryan was glad that the new little bundle of joy took up so much of their attention. With her needs in high demand, less time was devoted to the ever-increasing wedge growing between him and his wife.

Tyra had irrationally built a case solely on myths, refusing to read or even listen to the facts. How in the world was he supposed to remain happily married when he was starting to feel like he didn't really know the woman he slept next to at night? The Tyra he'd fell in love with would've never been so cruel.

In an act of frustration with his mother's situation and his recently strained marriage, Bryan threw his pen down and tilted back in his leather executive chair. With his hands cupped behind his head, he looked up toward Heaven and said, “God, why do you let bad things happen to good people?” What happened to his mother wasn't fair. Callie was such a good person. In many ways she had been his guardian angel. If it weren't for her, who would've sewn the holes he got in his pants; embarrassed him by screaming
“That's my baby!”
overly loud whenever he scored a touchdown or made a tackle in high school; or sent him care packages in college? Thinking about the many things Callie had done caused a smile to form across his face as a tear gathered in the corner pockets of his eyes.
“Real men don't cry!”
His father's voice echoed through his head. “And how would you know?” He
angrily spewed out loud, though no one was around to hear or answer him.

For the first time since he could remember, Bryan allowed the tears to fall. Perhaps it was because he now realized that he couldn't healthily go on without such a release, or maybe it was to spite his father. Whatever the case, what started as a slow, steady drop quickly turned into a continuous flow and he soon found himself curled over his desk, sobbing uncontrollably. Like Job had once done, Bryan cursed the day he was born. That day his biological mother had lost her life as he made his grand entrance into the world. And now, the only mother he'd ever known had given up hers the day she decided to help make his better.

Bryan was unsure of how long he lay across his desk. It had to be quite a while, at least twenty minutes or so; his computer had gone into sleep mode. He had to admit, it felt good letting his bottled-up emotions loose. He sat up, taking several deep breaths as he looked at the tear-stained paperwork on his desk that would have to be redone. He'd deal with that later; right now he pushed the briefs aside and grabbed his Bible, looking for words of encouragement.

• • •

Callie heard the blaring sound of her cell phone as she came from the bathroom. “Hey, Bry, what's up?”

“I just wanted to call and say hi. Were you busy?”

“No; I'm the only one here. I wasn't doing anything. Chanelle is with RJ and Lisa went out to dinner with her fiancé.”

“Oh. . .” His voice seemed to trail off into space.

“Bryan, are you okay? You don't sound like yourself.”

“I'm fine. How did your appointment with Dr. Lancer go the other day?”

“It was okay; pretty much the same routine I go through with Dr. Samuels.” Per the referral of her therapist in Sacramento, Callie had hooked up with Dr. Lancer, a local psychiatrist who was a friend of Dr. Samuels. “Part of me feels like this whole counseling thing is a waste of time. Talking about everything won't change anything.”

“Don't give up, Mom. I can identify with your feelings of frustration. I was upset earlier and I asked God why He allowed this to happen.”

“Did He give you an answer?”

“Not necessarily. . .”

“Figures. . .,” she uttered without Bryan's knowledge.

“But, I read a few Psalms and then I began reading through the twelfth chapter of 2 Corinthians where Paul talked about praying three times for God to remove a thorn in his flesh, but God only said, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.'”

“No offense, but I'm sure my thorn is a lot more life-threatening than Paul's ever was.”

“The point I'm making is that as confusing and painful as this whole thing is, you have to lean on God. He allowed it to happen and He will see you through. Don't lose faith in Him.”

“I'd be lying if I didn't admit to you that I am struggling with my faith. You said something so true. God
allowed
this to happen. Quite frankly, that ticks me off. I feel like I'm reaping something I didn't sow. With all that's happened, it's going to take me a while to be able to trust God again.” She started to add the words “if ever” at the end, but thought against it.

“God can handle your feelings. It's understandable that you're angry. I am, too. This just isn't fair! But, God is able to do the impossible. I don't know what He has planned, but He does have something.”

“Bryan, baby, I realize you mean well, but if I'm going to sit and listen to this, I might as well have accepted the offer to have dinner with Lisa and her dorky fiancé.”

“I'll respect your wishes for now, but I'm going to keep praying.”

“One of us has to. I don't have anything nice to say, so I'm not saying anything at all,” she tried to sound as if she was joking, but she wasn't.

“The Lord hasn't forsaken you. Whenever you're ready to talk, He'll be there and so will I. Anyhow. . .what is it that you don't like about Lisa's fiancé?”

“I never said I didn't like him.”

“You called him dorky. Last time I checked, that wasn't a compliment.”

“Mama is the one who doesn't like him. He gets on my nerves. Lisa is supposed to be going out of town with him to see his mother for the Fourth of July. I'm afraid she might ask me to come also, but I'm going to go with RJ and Chanelle to Baltimore.”

“That'll be nice. Hopefully you'll get a chance to spend some time with your father and other relatives.”

“Daddy is. . .never mind. My purpose for going to Baltimore is more to avoid hanging with Lisa and her boyfriend more than anything else.”

“Why does he get on your nerves so much?”

“He can't engage in a conversation without quoting at least a half-dozen scriptures. Sometimes it seems as if he's going to break out in a sermon at any given moment. For instance, Mama was telling us that one of her friends broke both of her hipbones recently. This crazy man suggests that Mama remind her friend about how 2 Timothy 2:12 says that ‘If we suffer, we shall also reign with him,'” Callie began, cracking up. “I mean c'mon, the woman is in serious pain. I'm sure right now she'd much prefer
morphine over hearing someone tell her that she needs to suffer with Christ.”