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Destiny was surprised at how fresh Seven looked despite how drunk he was the previous night. Especially after passing out and sleeping on a sofa.

“Morning, Destiny,” he mumbled.

“Good morning, Seven,” she responded more cheerily than she felt.

“Want some coffee? Mugs are in the second cupboard from the left.”

“Thanks,” she replied. Then she poured herself a cup of steaming Joe and joined Seven at the kitchen table. “How are you feeling?”

“Huh? Oh, fine, I guess,” he replied. “I wasn’t as drunk as everyone probably thinks. I was mostly tired. I haven’t slept well the last few nights.”

“No worries,” Destiny said with a smile.

They looked at each other for a long awkward moment, and Destiny tried and failed to not be mesmerized by the cute face that resembled her husband’s ruggedly handsome face. What did Brock’s sisters look like if his male cousin looked like a prettier version of her husband?  

“Let me guess,” Seven Sallie said with a laugh. “My cousin didn’t inform you that he and I look more like each other than we do our own siblings?”

“No, he did not,” Destiny said with a lighthearted smile.

“Or that I’m the better looking of the two of us,” Seven Sallie said with a cocky smirk.

“Wow, somebody’s full of themselves,” Destiny replied after a fuse of irritation was lit.

“Just so you know, I would never betray my cousin. So get rid of any ulterior motives you might be harboring about us,” Seven told her as he pointed back and forth between them.

Destiny’s mouth practically dropped to the table. “Where do you get off assuming something like that?”

“Just a couple of deductions,” he said with a shrug. “Before Brock, your sexual preference seemed to be women and I’m a prettier version of your husband and…”

“If I was less civilized, I’d slap your face right now,” Destiny interrupted with a low voice and clenched teeth. “I’ll have you know, I would rather die than be unfaithful to my husband. For another thing, even if I was single, I wouldn’t even consider being with an arrogant pig like you!”

Destiny rose hastily from the table and Seven grabbed her hand. “Destiny, please don’t go, I was just testing you.”

“Let go of me,” Destiny said as she jerked her hand out of his and turned to leave. He grabbed her again and she was just about to do a self defense move Brock had taught her when she froze. A tear was running down his cheek.

“I shouldn’t have behaved like that,” Seven Sallie said. “I have a bad habit of provoking people. It makes for an interesting broadcast or podcast, but it doesn’t win you many friends. Please, sit back down, I need to talk to you.”

“You need to talk to me, huh?” Destiny said as she slowly sat back down and eyed him cautiously. “Need is stronger than want or would like to. Are you sure you don’t want to rephrase it?”

“I don’t. I need to talk to you.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. Why do you need to talk to a woman you barely know and have just insulted?”

“Listen, I’m sincerely sorry,” Seven Sallie said as he hung his head and shook it. Then his eyes rose to hers and the intensity in them made her uneasy. “Before I pick Brock’s brain about his, um, drastic life changes, I would like to hear your version.”

“My version?” Destiny replied with a frown. “You make it sound like something about us isn’t genuine.”

Seven closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t mean to. It’s just that ten years ago Brock was an atheist and seemed like a confirmed bachelor. If he ever did marry, I figured it would be someone like that cop chick Nora Medora. Not someone with the baggage of a former stripper and porn star.”

“Okay, well,” Destiny drawled. “That wasn’t at all insulting either.”

“I’m such a mess,” Seven Sallie said as his forehead thunked onto the kitchen table. “I should have pulled the trigger last year and blown my brains out.”

Seven began sobbing. Between that and his words, a chill ran up Destiny’s spine. Was he or is he suicidal? She recalled the night not so long ago when she almost ended her own life. The angst she had been feeling toward Seven disappeared and was replaced with love and sympathy. She reached across the table and took hold of his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Tell me about last year,” she said softly.

He slowly rotated his head back and forth with the crown still on the table indicating no.

“Two and a half years ago I came close to killing myself,” Destiny told him quietly.

His head slowly rose and his face was as distraught as she had ever seen in a person. “What stopped you?”

“I had been drinking heavily to get the courage to take a lethal overdose of pills. Ironically, the strong drink gave me a momentary feeling of wellbeing and I went to bed instead of ending my life. I ended up having a nightmare that I was on a high precipice and I was saved by my Aunt Belle. When I awoke, it caused me to look her up on the internet. I found out she had a ministry that helped girls like me and she only lived twenty miles away from where I was living. Or maybe I should say dying. Anyway, she and I became reacquainted. She couldn’t have been more loving and understanding of my situation. Ultimately, she led me to Christ.

“Wow, so you were saved by the Belle,” Seven Sallie said with fascination.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Destiny chuckled. “But I was really saved by Jesus, who used Belle as His instrument.”

Seven snorted and shook his head skeptically. Then he recalled researching Destiny and remembered the woman he saw in illicit videos and pictures. He thought about the sultry seductress he saw on screen contrasted with the wholesome beauty that sat across from him in his brother’s kitchen. He compared the dark, empty eyes on the computer with the bright, intelligent eyes in front of him that seemed to radiate light. His eyebrows rose in confused contemplation and he nodded ever so slightly.

“So tell me about a year ago,” Destiny gently prodded.

“A year ago yesterday I came this close to killing myself,” he told her as he held his thumb and index finger an eighth of an inch apart, then shrugged and chuckled sarcastically.

“What stopped you last year if you were this close?” Destiny asked as she imitated his thumb and finger gesture.

“You’re gonna think this is weird, but a song came into my head and it actually stopped me.”

“A song?” Destiny asked intrigued.

“Yeah, have you ever heard the band Staind and their song ‘Outside’?”

“Stained? You mean like my knees are grass stained?”

“They are? What have you been doing?” Seven Sallie said with a smirk.

Destiny rolled her eyes, closed them and then sighed heavily.

“I’m sorry,” Seven Sallie said quickly. “I know I’m obnoxious. But can a leopard change his spots?”

“No, but a person can change their character.”

“Point taken, even if I don’t believe it,” Seven Sallie said, as he raised his hands and showed her his palms.

“Okay, continue, what about a song?”

“Yeah, so rage and anger, fear and loathing had me pushing a gun so hard on my temple that it left a red ring when I eventually pulled it away. I was just about to pull the trigger when some words from the song popped into my head. It went like this. ‘I lie here in bed, all alone I can’t mend. But I feel tomorrow will be okay.’ That part in particular. Tomorrow will be okay, began to echo in my head. I lowered the gun from my head and put on the safety.  A week later, a video I had put on YouTube went viral. Not long after that my podcast just snowballed in popularity and I quickly became this polarizing figure.”

“So what led to your despair in the first place?”

“I guess I was just weary of life. Did Brock tell you about my marriage?”

“Unfortunately, Brock has told me very little about his family. As he likes to say, he wants to look forward not backward. I did know you were divorced though.”

“Good ole Brock,” Seven chuckled. “Man of few words. When we were younger it added to his mystique as a tough guy. Last night when he grabbed me and talked into my ear. That was the most he had ever said to me at one time.”

Destiny perked up. “He told me he quoted a verse from the book of Revelation to you and it had a profound meaning.”

“Yes,” Seven Sallie said with wide eyes. “It was weird. And just as weird was him telling me that he came here more as a spiritual mentor than a bodyguard. I mean Brock, a spiritual mentor! I’ve only known him as a professional thug and an atheist.”

“Why did Revelation 10:11 have such significance?”

“Wow, the big question for me is how did Brock know?”

“The Holy Spirit,” Destiny replied without hesitation.

“Yeah,” Seven responded with a skeptical look.

“Once again, what’s the significance of that verse to you?”

“The short answer is that verse called me to be an evangelist. But before I followed the calling, my marriage came to an abrupt end and I ignored the call and, well, the truth is I backslid.”

Destiny stared at him with a gaped mouth. “Okay, what’s the long answer?”

“How much time do you have?”

“Personally, I have all day. I don’t know how much time or even what exactly you and Brock have to discuss,” Destiny told him.

“You and me both. How about for now we do a medium version?”

“Fine by me.”

“Well, let see, where to start…” Seven Sallie said, and then leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “I grew up Catholic. Brock too.”

“Yeah, I know,” Destiny said as she leaned forward in full attention.

“So, I started deejaying at parties when I was sixteen. When I was eighteen, I got a job deejaying at a rock station in Minneapolis. One day I we were broadcasting on location at a Marylin Manson concert. I came across these holy rollers that were protesting his concert. You know, Marylin Manson being a Satanist and all.”

“I didn’t know.”

“You’ve never heard of him?”

“I’ve heard of him. I don’t know anything about him or his music. When I was younger, I was mostly into country and rap.”

“Country and rap, now that’s an interesting combination.”

Destiny shrugged. “Now I’m into gospel, classical and because of Brock, jazz. But please continue. You came across some, um, holy rollers protesting.”

“So amongst the protesters was this cute Mexican girl that went to my high school. Salena Ramirez was her name and we got to talking. We were civil with each other, but got into a major disagreement about her purpose at the concert venue. I said Manson and his fans had a right to do their thing at the arena. She said that she and her church family had a responsibility to protest evil events such as the concert in their community. She and I hit it off in a strange way and I wanted to see her again. She wasn’t allowed to date outside of her faith, so I started going to her church. It was a real conservative fire and brimstone type church.”

“I was uncomfortable with how often the church emphasized people going to hell, but yet they also had a strong mission to warn people about such a doom. I actually liked the old fashioned values they espoused, and I really got into learning about Jesus. Salena and I also fell in love with each other. I quit deejaying, joined her church and was baptized. Giving up deejaying was the hardest thing I ever did. Being a radio personality, albeit small time, made me very popular at school. I could have practically any girl I wanted. But the church had me convinced that all secular music was evil and Jesus was coming back tomorrow. Also, my love for Salena lessened the sacrifice. She was saving herself for marriage, and we planned on getting married right after we graduated from high school.”

“Shouldn’t you say we were saving ourselves for marriage?” Destiny asked, and then pressed her tongue into her cheek.

Seven looked puzzled for a few seconds before continuing. “It was too late for me, but Salena understood.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, in the last few weeks leading up to graduation, Salena had become reserved. I got the feeling she was reconsidering marrying me, and she was. The head elder in the church was this fifty six year old man who was very wealthy. His wife of thirty five years had died six months earlier from breast cancer. She had been unable to get pregnant early in their marriage, so they adopted a boy. He had always wanted a child of his own. Since most of the congregation married young to avoid sin, all of his candidates were young. They only married within the faith you see.  So he put his sights on Salena. Not only because she was so beautiful, but because her family was poor. He offered to not only pay off their house, but buy them a newer nicer home.”

“Salena was torn up inside. When she broke up with me, she said she had prayed and prayed over whether to marry the rich old guy or me. In the end she said she didn’t have a choice. If she married me, we would have to run away because her family would be so angry. She said that even though she loved me deeply, she couldn’t forsake her family’s well being or leave her church. So, a few weeks after we graduated, she married the rich elder. Then on April fool’s day the following spring, Salena gave birth to a baby girl. A child whose grandparents were more than a decade younger than the baby’s father.”

“Do you know if she and the older rich guy are still married?”

“As of about a year ago, yes. Salena is the most loyal person I have ever known. If he lives to be in his hundreds, she will be by his side.”

“What she did to you doesn’t sound very loyal.”

Seven shrugged. “I guess that goes to show how rotten the human condition is. But to be honest, I never viewed what happened between us as disloyal. She never cheated on me. She just informed me of the situation and the decision she  made. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t painful and I wasn’t angry. As a matter of fact, an element of revenge ultimately led me into a horrible marriage.”

“How’s that?” Destiny asked and then tucked a leg up under herself and leaned closer as she propped an elbow under her chin.

“Salena had a cousin that was a year younger than us. They hated each other. Wait, I shouldn’t say that. Brit hated Salena while Salena simply disapproved of Brit’s behavior. So, Salena and I had only been broken up for one day when I found Brit on my doorstep.”

“Is Brit short for Brittney?”

“It is. So, before joining the church and Salena and I becoming an item, I sort of knew Brit. She was the girlfriend of a friend of mine for about a year. Brit wasn’t quite the beauty that Salena was, but she was incredibly sexy. Short skirts, perfectly applied makeup, long auburn hair, sultry eyes and a coy, yet flirtatious demeanor.”

“So she didn’t go to church with you guys, I take it.”

“No, she did. At church she’d be dressed in long skirts or dresses and no makeup. Then you would run into her at a mall or something and she almost looked like a hooker. Let’s see where was I?”

“Brit showed up on your doorstep.”

“Yeah, so Brit shows up and tells me how sorry she is and Salena is a fool, and it’s so gross her marrying a guy three times her age. So I immediately put the moves on Brit and she tells me she’s not that kind of girl. I said you could have fooled me. By the way, I used to be kind of obnoxious?”

“Used to be?” Destiny replied with a giggle.

“Anyway,” Seven began after a shrug. “Brit slaps me. I apologize. Then Brit tells me she’s been going to her friend’s church and it is way better than her family’s. She tells me thy have Christian rock bands that play Sunday evenings, the men don’t wear suits and the women don’t dress like they’re Amish. Yet they had a zeal for the Lord. Brit intrigued me on several levels. Like I said, she was sexy, but I now perceived she wasn’t a slut because she turned down my initial advances. Yet I also knew she wasn’t a virgin because of my friend. I also liked how interested she was in Christianity. And I also thought by hanging out with her for a while might annoy Salena. Brit and I even attended her wedding.”

“You’re kidding!”

“I am not. It was even Brit’s idea. She actually had to talk me into it. I’m telling you, those two cousins did not like each other at all. I was young and naïve. I didn’t realize just how evil Brit was. She hid it with a cloak of religiosity. By the time we had gone to Salena’s wedding, Brit and I had gotten together about a half dozen times. During those times we would kiss, but every time I tried to go further she would make me stop like the good little Baptist girl she was supposed to be. After the wedding though, she was all over me. We had sex for the first and she was beyond passionate. We became an inseparable item and she was insatiable in the sack. I was smitten and I was in love.”

“When we were together about a year, she ended up pregnant. She was devastated. She was only days away from graduating high school and had just turned eighteen a month previous. She wanted to get an abortion. This devastated me. I justified the sin of our premarital sex because we were in love and I intended on marrying her one day. But abortion? I was adamantly prolife back then.”

“Not anymore?”

“I’m all about choice now. Not that abortion isn’t an awful thing. But we shouldn’t dictate or judge what another person does. How about you?”

“I guess you and I are opposites. I was pro abortion most of my life. But since I became a Christian, I’ve taken a different perspective.”

“Well, even though I’m pro choice now, it should have been a red light that a supposedly devout Christian woman was considering abortion when she found herself with an unwanted pregnancy.”

“What’d you do?”

“I tried to talk her out of it. I told her we should get married. She would have none of it. I told her we should talk to the pastor and his wife. We confessed to them that we had been having sex and now found ourselves with child. They both agreed with me that we should get married. I guess with three against one, Brit reluctantly agreed. Now that I’m older and wiser, I think that was a big part of Brit’s infidelity.”

“How so?”

“Well, just like she really got off having sex for the first time after Salena’s wedding. I think when she became resentful at being tied down with a husband and child or she was simply angry with me for making her trapped. She ended up taking solace in other man’s arms, and then some. I forgave her twice, but the third strike she was out. For our daughter’s sake, I probably would have forgiven her a third time, but the way I found out was just too humiliating.”

This surprised Destiny. Seven didn’t seem like the type that would forgive adultery once, let alone twice or even three times. “So she cheated on you three times.”

“I caught her three times. The last year or two we were together, she probably had sex with other men more than me. I’m not exaggerating.”

“You know how you said you are pro choice now?” Destiny asked. “Do you think you would have agreed to an abortion back when Brit became pregnant if you had your current mind set?”

“That’s a complicated question,” Seven Sallie said. “Without knowing the end from the beginning, yes. To be saved all the heart ache of being married to someone like Brit, absolutely. But, Mia, my daughter, is the love of my life. Even though at the moment she can’t stand me. She is the love of my life.”

“How old is she now?

“Fifteen.”

“So would you have gotten an abortion then or not? Your answer was ambiguous.”

“No, I would not have agreed to an abortion. I would go through the whole ordeal with Brit again for the sake of my daughter. Talk about sacrifice. I’m not all bad then, am I?”

“No,” Destiny agreed and then smirked. “Then again Hitler loved dogs.”

“Gee, thanks,” Seven Sallie said with disgust as he rose from the table and sighed. “I need more coffee.”

“Sorry, that was a low blow.”

“Don’t be, I liked it.”

“Now tell me about your call to evangelism,” Destiny said, relishing how easy it was to get Seven to talk.

“Not right now, I’m tired of talking. Now it’s your turn. Tell me what led a girl next door into being a stripper and porn star.”

“There’s not a whole lot to tell. Other than being an extreme exhibitionist, my previous life was pretty boring. You probably know the most dramatic thing that happened to me. It was in the early days in Minneapolis when Brock saved me from being raped and probably murdered.”

Seven leaned back in his chair as his eyes narrowed. “Brock saved you from being raped. How long ago?”

“Eleven or twelve years ago now. You didn’t know about that?”

“No, I thought you and Brock met just a couple years ago in Iowa. You knew each other over a decade ago?”

“Just as acquaintances at a night club we both worked at.”

“All right, your turn, go ahead.”

Destiny took a deep breath and sighed. She now agreed with her husband. She wanted to look forward, not back at her twisted life. She didn’t mind talking about her past when she was ministering to young women who were involved in similar things that she was. Or if she happened to be sharing her testimony to a group. But she had never talked about her past with a man who was most likely a current a customer in her in her former world. He even admitted looking at the evidence of her former life. So she relied on what had become her habit in difficult situations over the last couple years. Prayer.