LXXIII

IT WERE BETTER FOR HIM IF A MILLSTONE WERE HANGED ABOUT HIS NECK AND HE WAS CAST INTO THE SEA, THAN THAT HE SHOULD OFFEND ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES

LUKE 17:2

BROCK STORM (DESTINY KNIGHT STORM’S HUSBAND)

“My mind is spinning so much,” Destiny declared, as she walked into our bedroom clutching her head with both hands. “I feel like my head is going to come flying off.”

“Is that why you’re holding on to it?” I replied, trying a little levity.

“Oh stop,” she said, giving me a playful slap and grinning briefly. “I just can’t believe it Brock. Those poor girls.”

A few hours ago, we had rescued a couple girls that were temporarily living a mile into some woods and under an old railroad bridge. How did we know they were there? Sevenia had dreamt that a couple girls were taking refuge under the abandoned railroad bridge that had a unique significance at Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship. (This bridge is the setting for two significant romantic events in two of Johnathan Embers e-books, ‘Spoiled Produce’ and ‘Knight Storm.’)

Many of us refer to Sevenia as the girl prophetess, due to her uncanny knowledge of scripture as well as church history. Yet as far as I know, this dream of the two girls under the bridge was the first actual prophetic episode Sevenia has ever had. I have to admit that I was skeptical. Sevenia even doubted herself, yet she couldn’t shake the overwhelming urge to go out there and make sure.

Low and behold, there were in fact a couple of scared and cold girls out there. Marcy, who appeared to be in her upper teens, and Oralee, who clearly looked to be under ten years old, abiding below a bridge in the winter! Sevenia and Destiny talked them into coming to our place for food and shelter. Until Destiny entered our bedroom clutching her head, that’s all I knew about the two girls.

“Are you gonna tell me what you found out?” I asked.

“So Marcella, aka Marcy, was forced into prostitution when she was fourteen. She was originally from the Boston area. She has no idea who her biological parents are, other than a vague memory of her mother. She spent her childhood going back and forth from foster homes to orphanages. She suspects that her last foster parents sold her to the man who would force her into prostitution. He was supposed to be taking her to a summer camp held by the church her foster parents attended. But she ended up forced into prostitution instead.

“How old is she now?”

“Sixteen. She has been in eastern Iowa for about three or four months. You probably noticed, despite her hard life that she’s quite striking.”

“As a matter of fact, I did,” I admitted. “I also noticed she bears a striking resemblance to you.”

Destiny stared at me with a troubled gaze. Tears began to stream from her eyes, and I wondered if I said something wrong.

“I thought that, too,” she said quietly. “At times, talking to her was like looking at myself in a mirror when I was a teenager. But there was a huge difference.”

“What’s that?”

“When I was her age, I was fresh and cocky. Marcy’s haunted face looks as though she’s been to war. And she has! Only she’s not gonna get a metal for valor.”

“In God’s eyes, she already has,” I said.

Destiny stepped toward me, looped her arms around my neck and kissed me ever so gently. Then she said, “There’s one more thing. Marcy would be about the age my aborted child would have been.”

Destiny began to gently weep as she pressed her cheek against my chest. I stroked her hair and gave her a couple minutes before I spoke.

“What about that little angel, Oralee?” I asked softly. “They don’t appear to be sisters. What with Marcy’s blonde hair, blue eyes and fair complexion, and Ora’s black hair and big dark brown eyes.”

“She’s a little beauty, isn’t she?”

“She is.”

“She’s such a little sweetheart, too,” Destiny said and then grinned, her eyes glistening. “Do you know what she said about you?”

“Oh no, is it good or bad?”

“Mostly good. She said that you have big muscles, and I agreed that you did. Then, this was sad, she asked me if you were my pimp.”

“Oh Lord, please don’t tell me that little girl was forced into prostitution.”

“She was intended to be. That’s why they are on the run,” Destiny replied. “That’s not all. They were gonna use her in child porn. Can you believe it? Right after I found out what happened to my dad when he was a boy, I’m introduced to another example not even a week later.”

“During all your years in adult entertainment, you never came across somebody that was abused that way?”

“I didn’t. I mean, I knew of underage girls, you know sixteen, even fifteen. But in the circles I worked, I never knew of anyone being outright forced. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I was always stoned. But I did know of countless cases of abuse as children. Most in the biz were. So indirectly, you could say those girls did it against their will. I mean when their will and psyche had already been severely damaged when they were children.

“Anyway, Marcy said when she saw them taking Oralee to do a ‘photo shoot’, her little skirt was all bunched in the back. She thought of her favorite movie, ‘The Hunger Games.’ When she saw what was going to happen to Ora and the bunched up dress, it reminded her of what happened with Catness and her sister in the movie. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“I think so,” I replied. “When Catness’ sister was selected to be in the hunger games, Catness saw her little sister’s shirt similar to what you described and realized her sister’s helplessness. So then she volunteered to go in her place because she knew that her sister wouldn’t last very long before she was killed.”

“Right,” Destiny nodded. “So, the human traffickers had taken nude photos of Oralee. When Marcy saw how upset Oralee was afterward, she couldn’t stand the thought of her being made to participate in actual sexual contact. She decided she needed to get Ora out of there posthaste. But the only way they could escape was with the clothes on their backs, and the few dollars Marcy had stashed away.”

“How did Oralee even end up in a house of ill repute?”

“I’m not sure,” Destiny replied. “I talked privately with Marcy, and Sevenia was talking privately with Ora. So I haven’t found out yet myself. By the way, Sevenia is spending the night. She’s gonna share a room with Oralee.”

“Okay, good,” I replied as Destiny picked up her phone and vigorously typed a text to Sevenia. In less than a minute, she knocked on our bedroom door.

“Ora is suuuuch a little sweetheart,” Sevenia gushed. “When we were done talking, she was so tired, but she thanked me and hugged me. When she wasn’t letting  go of me, I eventually pulled her away from me.” Sevenia paused to giggle. “She was sound asleep. Part of me just wanted to hold her all night.”

“How old is she?” I asked.

“Eight,” Sevenia answered.

Destiny groaned. “Does she know what her captors intended to do with her?”

“She told me they made her take off her clothes, and they took pictures.”

“That was only the start of their intentions,” Destiny told her.

Sevenia gave a slight nod and then looked at Destiny as if to say, I don’t need to hear anymore. I get the ugly picture.

“How did she end up in that house of horrors?” I asked.

“It sounds like her biological parents were illegal immigrants from Mexico. They were killed when Ora was only three in some type of accident while employed as migrant workers. She was passed between relatives and friends for a year or two, and then ended up with a retired schoolteacher in Omaha.

“She said the woman, her name was Grace, was wonderful to her, and they went to church every week. When she died about a month ago, a couple from their church took her in briefly. She said they weren’t very nice, and she was only with them a couple weeks before a man they knew, ‘took her for a ride.’”

“And that’s how she ended up with Marcy,” Destiny said disgustedly. “And unknowingly was intended to be a human toy for perverts.”

“Yes, so, she and Marcy have actually only known each other for about a week.”

Sevenia asked about Marcy. After Destiny filled them in, we discussed what the future might hold for the two girls, and what we could do to help. I suggested we contact my former girlfriend, and current FBI special agent Nora Medora, and hopefully have Marcy tell her and her colleagues where this horror house of sex slavery was located.

The next day it became clear that the two girls viewed me in completely different ways. Oralee seemed to find me utterly fascinating. Who wouldn’t? Apparently Marcy. She, on the other hand, continued to look at me with cold skepticism. But it was understandable. All she’d probably ever known from men is being used and abused.

After Destiny and Sevenia had a lengthy conversation with Marcy, she agreed to let me talk to Nora Medora. Nora was based in Chicago, and I figured that she would set me up with some local agents. To my surprise, she showed up herself six hours later. It turned out, she had gotten a promotion and has quite a bit of clout. She’s also passionate about human trafficking. When we met a decade ago, she was a vice detective for the Miami police department.

(Nora Medora is one of the side characters in Destiny and Brock’s story, ‘Knight Storm’, an e-book by Johnathan Embers).

Nora is of Hispanic decent, and she really took a shine to Oralee. But Oralee is simply a sweetheart, so I don’t think that ethnicity even played a role. However, Nora was a bit cool toward Marcy. I don’t know whether it had to do with Marcy’s hard, cynical attitude, or because she bears a striking resemblance to Destiny. Although my ex-girlfriend and wife now get along on the surface, their personalities clashed. Nora’s brash, aggressive demeanor and Destiny’s timid nature mixed like oil and water. Not to mention whatever jealousy issues lingered on their psyches.

The day after Nora’s arrival, we got some good news and bad news. Apparently, Marcy and Oralee running away caused the bad guys to go on the run themselves. The house of ill repute was empty. This news terrified Marcy. She was afraid some guy called Sinbad, apparently the leader and or pimp, would eventually find her. Marcy seemed on the verge of tears and, in anger, she glared at me with even more intensity than before.

“Relax, you are safe here with Brock,” Nora told her. Then Ms. Medora looked at me as if she spoke out of turn. “I mean…”

“They can stay here as long as they need to,” I interjected.

“Yaaaaay!” Oralee exclaimed. She ran to me, threw her little arms around my neck, and hugged me. “Thanks, Uncle Brock!”

“Uncle Brock?” I inquired with a laugh.

“Yeah, that’s what Sevenia calls you.”

I laughed some more as I felt a strange, liquid pressure behind my eyes that I kept in check.

“You promised me you would arrest Sinbad and the other creeps if I told you where they were,” Marcy barked. “And lock him up for a long, long time.”

“That was our intention,” Nora replied diplomatically. “And we would have if they were there, that was the promise. Since they weren’t, they likely fled town, even the state.”

“Likely, but you don’t know that!” Marcy scolded.

“You’re safe here, though,” Nora said, as gently as I have ever heard her speak. “I’ve known Brock for years. Not only was he a professional bodyguard, but he was also among the very best of professional bodyguards.”

“Yippee,” Marcy scoffed. “I suppose he’s faster than a speeding bullet, too. Cause that’s what he’s gonna have to be if Sinbad and company find us.”

“No, I admit he’s not,” Nora said and then sighed as she put her hands on her hips. “But I guarantee you, that he’s the type of man that will put himself in front of a speeding bullet if it means protecting you.”

Marcy bit her lower lip and glanced at me, her eyes softening ever so briefly. It was a start. Sevenia started something later that day that would ignite passion in both girls. Some of it positive, and unfortunately, some negative.

“Can you start teaching me self defense again?” Sevenia asked me.

“Of course, when?”

“Now.”

She was a wise little lady. Oralee immediately wanted to participate. Even though Marcy feigned indifference, Destiny reported to me that she actually watched pretty closely. The next day Amy joined us and Destiny even participated. Although Marcy declined our invitation, we had ourselves a little martial arts class.

After we finished, Amy and I began teasing each other. As her custom was after a back and forth with me, she wanted to hit me in the solar plexus. I braced for it, and she gave me a wallop to the midsection. She often shook her hand afterward and complained that it hurt. This time she flipped her long red-gold hair over her shoulder, smirked and said, “Your gut isn’t as hard as it used to be.”

“I just wasn’t bracing hard,” I replied with a shrug. “I don’t need to with your weak little punch.”

“Alright, fella,” Amy grinned, her one blue eye and one green eye twinkling. “Brace yourself again.” She threw another one at me, smiled and shook her head. “Still didn’t hurt.”

“Can I try that?” Marcy asked, surprising everyone.

“Sure,” I replied hesitantly.

I felt uneasy as she stepped in front of me, taking Amy’s place. I wasn’t worried about being hurt. What concerned me was the hard, mean look in her eyes and what her motive was.

(DESTINY”S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

Only the love that flows from the heart of Christ can truly heal. Only He in whom that love flows, even as the sap in the tree, or as the blood in the body, can restore the wounded soul.

If our lives are to be healthy, and our spirits are to grow, we need dedication to the truth. Superficially, this should be obvious. For truth is reality. That which is false is unreal. The more clearly we see the reality of the world, the better equipped we are to deal with the world.

How shall a person be just with God? How shall the sinner be made righteous? It is only through Christ that we can be brought into harmony with God. But how are we to come to Christ?

On the Day of Pentecost when the multitude cried out, “What shall we do?” Peter’s response was “Repent.” Acts 2:37, 38. At another time shortly after, he said. “Repent… and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” (Acts 3:19).

Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We shall not fully renounce sin, until we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.

There are many who fail to understand the nature of repentance. They sorrow that they have sinned, and even make an outward appearance of reformation. But they lament the suffering sin has caused, but not sin itself. One of the most extreme examples is Judas Iscariot, when he exclaimed. “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” (Matthew 27:4). He was in fact sorrowful, but instead of repenting, he hung himself.

Christ must be revealed in the heart to the sinner as the Savior dying for the sins of the world. As we behold the Lamb of God upon the cross of Calvary. The mystery of redemption begins to unfold to our minds and the goodness of God leads us to repentance.

Through influences seen and unseen, our Savior is constantly at work to attract the minds of people from the unsatisfying pleasures of sin, to the infinite blessings that may be theirs in Him. To all these souls, who are vainly drinking from the broken cisterns of this world, the divine message is addressed. “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17). “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; If anyone hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come into them, and will sup with them, and they with Me. (Revelation 3:20).

How many there are who think they are not good enough to come to Christ. Do you expect to become better through your own efforts? We can do nothing of ourselves, we must come to Christ just as we are.

The drunkard is despised and is told that his sin will exclude him from heaven. While pride, selfishness, and covetousness to often go unrebuked. But these are sins especially offensive to God; for they are contrary to the benevolence of His character, to that unselfish love which is the very atmosphere of the unfallen universe.

The love and suffering and death of the Son of God all testify to the terrible enormity of sin and declare that there is no escape from its power, no hope of the higher life, except through the submission of the soul to Christ.

What we do not overcome, will overcome us, and work out our soul’s destruction.

Christ is ready to set us free from sin, but He does not force the will. He stands at the door and knocks. (Revelation 3:20). It’s up to us to let Him in.

“Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

As you see the enormity of your sins, as you see yourself as you really are, do not give up to despair. It was sinners that Christ came to save.

No earthly parent could be as patient with the faults and mistakes of his children, as is God with those He seeks to save.

When we see the length of the chain that was let down for us, when we understand something of the infinite sacrifice that Christ has made in our behalf, the heart is melted with tenderness and contrition.

He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

Confession of sin, whether private or public, should be heartfelt and freely expressed. The confession that is the outpouring of the inmost soul finds its way to the God of infinite pity. The psalmist says, “The Lord is close to them that are of a broken heart; and saves such that be of a contrite spirit.” (Psalm 34:18).

However, confession will not be acceptable to God without sincere repentance and reformation. True repentance will lead a man to bear his guilt himself and acknowledge it without deception or hypocrisy. Those who do acknowledge their guilt will be justified, for Jesus will plead His blood on behalf of the repentant soul.

The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will appreciate something of the love of God and the cost of Calvary. And as a son confesses to a loving father, so will the truly penitent bring all his sins before God. And it is written, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).