My Father's Gift (11 page)

D’Cerner leaned over in her seat to hug Angela.  “Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you?”

“Get out of here.  You don’t need to tell me nothing.  I’m just being me, straight up without a chaser.”

“I know.  More people need to be like you.”

“Nnn, no they don’t.  Too many of me could cause some serious problems.  People don’t like hearing the truth.”

“Just the same, thanks.  Now, will you let me get some sleep before we land?”

Angela laughed at D’Cerner as she tried to get comfortable in her seat to take a nap.  Looking at her, Angela said a brief prayer for her that nothing would deter the course that God had set her upon.  Having said her prayer, she requested a diet coke and picked up the latest issue of
Christianity Today
and read until they landed at Metropolitan Airport.  After the plane had come to a complete stop, Angela gently shook D’Cerner awake. 

“Time to go.  We’ve made it home.”

“Thank God,” D’Cerner said yawning.

“Oh, I did during the entire trip,” Angela said smugly.

They got off the plane laughing.  After picking up their luggage, they commandeered a porter to get them a cab.  While waiting outside for the cab, D’Cerner spotted one of Cal’s limousines and thought for a brief moment that perhaps he had sent a limousine for them.  Then she remembered he hadn’t known when she would be in and couldn’t possibly have ordered the limousine.  She found herself sighing, hoping, and then wondering why.  “There’s no way he could have known,” she thought.  “No way.”

The cab pulled up to the curb and between the driver and the porter, they positioned their luggage in the trunk and then hopped into the cab after tipping the porter.  “At least,” they both thought, “there would be no more traveling for awhile.

*****

Cal spotted D’Cerner waiting outside the airport and for a moment, he almost gave into his feelings.  Watching her made breathing difficult.  What made it even worse was the fact that he didn’t know how he could explain to her he had called her house to find out when she would arrive.  They had not talked in so long he thought she might feel he was infringing.  Watching them get into their cab, he became frustrated because he had not had the courage to do what he really wanted to do, which was to sweep her off her feet and drive until they couldn’t drive anymore, never letting her out of his sight. 

“What a joke,” he thought.  “She probably doesn’t miss me at all.”  With these thoughts in mind, he waited at the curbside for a few moments, pretending he was waiting for a client.  After they finished loading the trunk and got into the cab, he waited until their cab was out of sight then pulled out and headed home

For the next few weeks, Cal felt extremely discouraged and exasperated.  He hadn’t bothered to return D’Cerner’s message that was waiting for him when he had returned from the airport that fateful night, weeks ago.  He knew her daughter would have told her he had called, but he didn’t have the courage to face her now, when he had blown a perfect opportunity to explain some things to her.  He had picked up the phone twice to call her and twice he had hung up before dialing her number.  For some reason he couldn’t put his finger on, he couldn’t bring himself to dial the number.  He found himself spending more time at Dexter House, trying to help young men put their lives back together.  It seemed like the thing to do, since he couldn’t do a thing about his own.  When he wasn’t at the home, trying to either find mentors or mentor himself, he was driving one of the limousines.  Driving was therapeutic for him.  It gave him a chance to be involved in other people’s lives and alleviated the need for him to deal with his own, which was almost nonexistent.

His children were busy.  Don was enrolled at the university and Kathy was in her last year of high school.  Since they had their own friends, they didn’t seem to have time for him lately.  Between trying to keep up with the responsibilities that his pastor kept giving him and everything else he was doing, he finally decided to stop thinking about D’Cerner because there was nothing he could do about it.

The moment he made that decision, it seemed as though his life began to take on otherworld dimensions.  The other-realm experiences began when he seemed to be plagued with constant problems with the limousines.  Two of the drivers had their licenses suspended for outstanding tickets.  At the church, his pastor expected him to spend more time there to relieve her.  At home, his daughter actually thought she could do what she wanted to do, with or without his approval and Dexter House was having major financial difficulties.  There were days, when he didn’t know if he was coming or going.  His prayer life had become more ritualistic than sincere.  He seldom found time to study and trying to keep his business afloat, meant he had to do more driving than he had anticipated.  Where he was once driving for the therapeutic benefit, he was now driving out of necessity.  He discovered that driving for other people was sometimes a pain in the neck.  People wanted to argue over contracted rates, dispute the best way to get to their destinations, and lately it seemed that everyone had contrived to swim in the same pool of bitterness.  It resulted in everyone having major attitude problems.  Knowing that courtesy counted first in his business, he had to swallow words on more than one occasion to keep his temper in check.  Constantly battling rising fury was more than he could bear.  He finally hired an additional driver after obtaining a copy of their driving record and tried to let things settle into some kind of routine. 

He remembered thinking once, before he met D’Cerner, that his life was totally ordered.  He knew each moment what he was going to be doing and did it.  Now, there didn’t seem to be any order in anything.  Everything was chaotic.  That thought brought on even more frustration.  He was not used to things being out of control.  His children were even suffering the ill effects of his moods more than usual.  He began to be a real tyrant in their eyes.

First, he refused to let Kathy even talk to the young man she wanted to date, which made her rebellious.  As punishment, she was to come home immediately after school and could only attend church functions with her brother, which caused another problem.  Don did not exactly want to have his little sister around all the time.  So they started bickering with each other.  By the time school was out for Christmas holiday, Cal and his children were ready for strait jackets.  Everything finally came to a head when Cal discovered that his daughter had deliberately disobeyed him and was secretly seeing the young man he had forbidden her to see.  He was so angry he almost slapped her, but caught himself as he saw the frightened look in her eyes.  His son, standing nearby, positioned himself to defend his sister if he had to, knowing that there were going to be severe consequences if he confronted his dad.

Cal knew then he had to deal with his feelings for D’Cerner or lose his mind.  He sent Don and Kathy to their bedrooms to pray and he went to his own to pray.  He had made up his mind he would try one more time to talk to her and if she wasn’t interested in listening to him, he would leave it alone.

Chapter Fifteen

D’Cerner had been busy at the church since her return from Miami during the summer.  All of a sudden, it seemed as if Pastor Gibson was spending more time out of town than usual, which meant he expected her to keep things going.   She did not resent it, it just seemed a little odd to her.  Duties at the church kept her busy, but not too busy to attend the football games that Carlos played in at the university.  He was just as adamant about her attending his games in college as he was in high school.  She didn’t mind at all.  It was a distraction and she needed all the distractions from thinking she could find. 

Then she had decided that since both of her children could function on their own, she could take some additional classes at the local university, which left her little time to write.  Keeping up with the course work in addition to her other obligations kept her busy and tired.  Christmas was soon upon her and she realized she had totally forgotten to do any shopping for anyone.  Since she didn’t have time to do any shopping, she did something she really didn’t like to do; she wrote her children checks and made special cards for them. 

For the church, she individualized greeting cards for each family and for Angela, she called a florist and had them to deliver a Christmas bouquet.  This was the first time in years she had not shopped for gifts and she felt a little guilty about it.  No one else seemed to mind, but she couldn’t shake the feeling she was letting people down.

Christmas came and went and then it was New Years Eve, which was supposed to be spent in church, but she didn’t feel like going and for once, stayed at home.  She didn’t know why, but she felt like she needed to be at home, away from other people for a while.  Carlos and Chantelle had made plans for the evening so she looked forward to being home alone.  She stayed up until midnight and prayed for a while.  Afterwards, she went to bed and immediately fell asleep.  Twenty minutes later, the phone rang.

“Hello,” D’Cerner said groggily looking around to see what time it was.

“Sister Everett, Cal Recinoire.  I know it’s late, but I wanted to wish you a happy New Year.”

“I thought you would have been in church, Cal.  But same to you.”

“Normally I would have been, but there have been a lot of things going on lately and I thought I’d stay home this once.”

“That’s odd,” D’Cerner responded, a little more alert by now. “I felt the same way.  I mean about staying at home.”

“Look, I know we’ve had some problems with missed phone calls and haven’t really had time to talk, but I need to talk to you,” Cal said, almost desperately.

“Now?” D’Cerner asked, amazed.

“No.  Can we meet for lunch somewhere the day after tomorrow?  I mean it would really be difficult to find a decent place open tomorrow.”

“Sure.  Name the place and I’ll meet you there.”

“How about The Fishhook.  They have great seafood and it shouldn’t be too crowded.  About one o’clock?”

“That’s fine.  I’ll see you there.”

Fully awake by the time she hung up the phone, D’Cerner sat staring into space wondering what was on his mind.  Even thought she couldn’t fathom why, for some reason, she was more relaxed than she had been in weeks.  “Maybe,” she thought hopefully, “just maybe, he’s decided to be real and let me know what’s on his mind.”

*****

Cal experienced instant relief and he even noticed the difference in his attitude the moment he hung up the phone.   He was absolutely elated at the prospect of seeing D’Cerner and knew he could not afford to blow this opportunity.  “Father, help me to do this right.”  For the first time in weeks, he went to sleep without dread, thinking he would have a recurring dream in which every time he got close to D’Cerner, she disappeared.  In the dream, he would look far off, blocks away and see her waving and as soon as he would get close enough to touch her, she would be gone.  It was a frustrating dream and he was beginning to think that it might become reality if he didn’t act soon.  As he lay in his bed, he thought to himself, “I will not lose her, I will not lose her.  In two days, I’ll see her, up close and personal.” And with those thoughts, he fell asleep.

*****

D’Cerner had similar thoughts, but for different reasons.  This time, she was more determined than ever to get the truth out of him.

Chapter Sixteen

Neither D’Cerner nor Cal thought about the fact that the change in their inner feelings caused changes that were visibly noticeable and that those changes would serve as warning signals to their pastors. 

Pastor Gibson was concerned when D’Cerner didn’t show up for the New Years Eve midnight service so he called her the following morning.  He noticed the change in the sound of her voice right away.  His original intent in calling her was only to express how much they had missed her at the midnight service, but when he heard the soft, teasing lilt in her voice, he guessed she had been in contact with Brother Recinoire.  He didn’t ask why she seemed happier, but he commented on the enthusiasm that he hadn’t heard in her voice for weeks.  Her immediate response to his comment was, “there’s nothing like living in the moment.”  After talking to her and failing to entice her out to dinner, he tried to call Pastor Thomas, but he only reached her voice mail.  He left a message for her to call him, hoping she would perceive the urgency he felt.

*****

Pastor Thomas called Cal on New Years Day to wish him a happy holiday.  He heartily returned the greeting.  Pastor Thomas was surprised at his exuberance, since the day before he had seemed so burdened.  She couldn’t imagine what could have caused a change in attitude that quickly.  Thinking she had every right to know, she asked him.

“Brother Recinoire,” she said with a forced cheerfulness, “you seem like a new man today.  Did the Lord bless you in some special way?”

“I don’t know if I can say that it was the Lord blessing or just waking me up before I missed a blessing, but today seems a lot brighter than yesterday.”

“That sounds like you have someone special in your life.”

“Maybe.  It all depends on what I do at this intersection of my life.”

“Well that’s good.  I’m glad to hear it.  By the way, we missed you last night, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” he asked puzzled.

“Well, yes.  Did you forget about the meeting with the minister’s board?”  Oh that’s right, you weren’t there last night when I announced it.  Oh dear.  Maybe I forgot to announce it.  Anyway, let’s plan to meet at noon and I’ll order lunch.”

“Uh, Pastor Thomas, I’ve already made plans for lunch tomorrow.  Could we schedule this meeting for the day after tomorrow?”

“Oh!  I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to infringe upon your time.  What time is your lunch?”

“One o’clock.”

“Okay, we’ll just have to make sure that we start on time and finish quickly.  I won’t take much of your time.  It’s just that this is a new year and we need to prepare our annual calendar as soon as possible.  I’ll call the others right now and make sure they get there on time.  Is that agreeable?”