Author: Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 17

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 17

PENNY

BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, EVEN AS GOD IN CHRIST FORGAVE YOU (Ephesians 4:32)

            “You!” The older woman barked through the screen door. Then she angrily crossed her arms. “What, did you come to steal my husband again?”

            “No, Ma’am,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. Why had I driven seven hours from Iowa into the Dakotas just to apologize and then turn around to drive seven hours back? “I came to say how truly sorry I am for the roll I played in, well, you know…”

            “Wrecking my home?” she said bitterly. It was like a slap in the face.

            “Yes, Ma’am,” I answered and then looked at my feet.

            There was a long awkward pause, and I put a hand on my very pregnant belly.

            “Do you still live in Cedar Rapids?” she asked, the sharp edge on her voice was lessening.

            I looked back up at her. “About fifteen minutes outside of.”

            “I see. Why come back now, after all these years?”

            “I recently became a devout Christian. As a matter of fact, I’m getting baptized, as well married this coming weekend. Before these holy ceremonies take place, I wanted a clean slate. Looking you and your ex-husband in the eye and apologizing was the last restitution I felt compelled to make.”

            “You’ll have a hard time looking Dan in the eyes,” she said with a grave expression.

            “Oh, did he move away from the area?”

            “No, but his address changed. He’s in section eight in Pine Grove Cemetery.”

            I felt myself stiffen. “Oh my, how, when?”

            “He died a year and a half ago of a drug overdose.”

            “Drug overdose! Why I never even thought of him as much of a drinker. When we…”

            What was I an idiot! I almost told her that the only time I ever saw him drink was occasionally a glass of wine during our romantic encounters.

            “Four years ago he got his back broke by a bull,” she explained. “He became addicted to pain killers, and the things that killed his pain, ended up killing him.”

            “I’m sorry,” I said hesitantly. I didn’t know how to respond. Their divorce had been bitter, and I was a major contributor. Yet they had been married for close to twenty years. Did she still have any feelings left for him?

            She shrugged a shoulder with a neutral expression, then an awkward silence ensued. So I figured I’d make a closing remark before turning and burning back toward Iowa. “It’s impossible to go back in time and undo what I did with your husband. But know this, if I could I would. For what it’s worth, I am truly sorry, and I completely understand if you don’t forgive me.”

            “I thought I already had,” she replied. “But then when I saw you standing on my porch, looking as cute as you did when you interned with Dan, those old feelings of betrayal and not feeling good enough, pretty enough came right up to the surface.”

            I nodded and looked at my feet again. Then to my surprise, she invited me in and introduced me to her second husband. We ended up talking for a couple hours. Everything from veterinary practice to her kids and grandkids, and most importantly, I shared about my newfound faith.

            It had gotten too late for me to drive back home. Maybe I could if I wasn’t eight months pregnant. To my surprise, she invited me to spend the night. I almost cried. The fact that she was always so kind and sweet, made my affair with her husband all the more brutal in the guilt department. I had patted myself on the back for mustering up the courage to come here. But I felt dirty, and she was much more honorable than me.

            My transgression also made me fascinated with the David and Bathsheba story. Uriah the Hittite was an honorable man, just like Mrs. Thompson was a devoted wife and mother. Psalm 51 became my favorite Psalm as I sought restoration from the Lord. For the record, I declined her offer to spend the night, thanked her profusely, and stayed at a Hampton Inn.

            On the other hand, upon arriving home I would discover that my fiancée had made one of his ex’s a temporary house guest. But before I journeyed home to make this discovery, I called Arlo after I settled into my motel room. I gave him the highlights of my restitution adventure, and he said Ariel desperately wanted to talk to me, so I called my sister after I finished with him.

            “Hey Sis, Arlo said you urgently wanted to talk to me,” I said into the phone.

            “I really wanted to talk to you in person, but Arlo said you are in North Dakota.”

            “I am.”

            “Does it have something to do with what’s his name?”

            “I went to see his ex-wife. What’s his name is dead.”

            “Oh! I’m… sorry… I guess.”

            “Yeah, it’s kind of weird,” I replied, and then gave her the highlights of my day.

            “So you wanted to make amends before you were baptized this Sabbath.”

            “I don’t think I ever heard you say that before.”

            “Say what before? Make amends?

            “No, you know, referring to Saturday as the Sabbath.”

            “Believe it or not, Eli got through to me.”

            “You mean the guy you’ve been fornicating with is teaching you Bible truth?”

            “Do you have to put it that way?” she replied disgustedly. “You couldn’t say dating?”

            I snorted. “Dating my foot, you’ve been bedding Eli more than dating him.”

            “If you weren’t my sister, you wouldn’t be my friend.”

            “A true friend tells you the truth.”

            “Okay, here’s some truth. You’re the pot calling the kettle black. Just how did you become with child yourself, dear sister? Why did I have to tell Arlo to tell you to call me anyway?”

            “Because you wanted to talk to me about something.”

            “Yes, I wanted to talk to you about something, not get an earful of rebuke.”

            “Alright,” I chuckled. “I’ll try not to give you my opinion so you can get whatever it is off of your chest.”

            “It’s nothing to get off my chest. I wanted to ask a favor. But if the answer is no, that’s okay. I don’t want to interfere with your special day.”

            I frowned. “Ruin my special day, how? What’s your favor?”

            “I was hoping you’d agree to a double wedding. Eli asked me to marry him, and I said yes.”

            “Ariel, that’s wonderful! It would be awesome to have a double wedding with my big sister.”

            “Older sister.”

            “You are a little bigger, too.”

            “Not with you looking like a watermelon is under your shirt.”

            “Fair point. But in a month my watermelon will be out, and your seed will be expanding your belly.”

            “Yeah, yeah, whatever. There’s one more thing. I think Eli and I are going to get baptized with you all also.”

            This stunned me even more than the marriage aspect. “So, it was no fluke you calling Saturday the Sabbath.”

            “I dusted off my concordance and looked up all of the points that you and my son and Arlo and Eli have all been espousing, in particular the Sabbath. I looked up every reference to it and can’t deny that it’s legit. The biggest problem I have is why the vast majority of Christians keep Sunday.”

            “Oh, you mean how the majority have always been right? Like how a thousand people were saved on the ark. Oh wait, it was only eight people. Or how about Shadrach, Meshach,  Abednego, and a thousand others who refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. Oh, wait, it was only the three young Hebrews. Or how the majority knew that Christ was gonna be betrayed and die on the cross but rise the third day. Oh, wait, the majority, even his own disciples, expected him to take the actual temporal throne. Or…”

            “Enough little sister, who’s actually bigger than me right now. You know sarcasm isn’t the best way to witness truth.”

            “But you’re used to it from me. If I can’t be obnoxious with you, I can’t be with anyone.”

            She laughed, I laughed, and then I told her that her favor would be a favor for me.

            The thing that inspired me to make restitution was Arlo’s pursuit of his own restitution. It had to do with his longtime girlfriend, Elsa. The last time they saw each other in person, it had been two weeks since they had broken up. She informed him that she was pregnant. What timing! Together eight years, they decide to call the relationship quits only to discover they are expecting.

            But due to her pursuit of an acting career, she didn’t want to have a baby, so she wanted money for an abortion. Not confident that the baby was his, Arlo gladly paid for it, then washed his hands from the relationship. But when he opened the door of his heart and let Jesus in, the role he played in aborting the child within Elsa weighted heavily on him.

            I was just a little bit insecure about him contacting Elsa. She was a nude model and softcore porn actress. Nature had been very good to her in the looks department. But in my heart I knew Arlo loved me and was completely loyal to any longings his old girlfriend might tempt him with. His intentions to apologize had motivated me to make my own restitution in the Dakotas.

            Although I felt inclined to make my apologies in person, Arlo intended to do his via the telephone. So imagine my astonishment when I showed up at Arlo’s room in Mrs. Mendelbright’s boarding house. I had burst through the door and shouted, “Surprise,” only to experience my own alarm at the same time.

            Arlo stood abruptly, and at first I thought guiltily. For his ex-girlfriend Elsa had been sitting next to him on the sofa. He shakily introduced us, and we greeted each other cordially enough for how awkward I felt. Then we went from awkward to the ‘Twilight Zone’ as I noticed a four year old little girl playing with one of Mrs. Mendelbright’s cats. She giggled as the cat joyfully chased a piece of string that she dragged back and forth.

            “Who’s this little cutie?” I asked with what I hoped was an even tone.

            Arlo rocked on his heels, hands in the back pockets of his jeans. He grinned from ear to ear, yet he eyed me hesitantly. “Penny, meet Ivy, my daughter.”

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 16

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 16

ARIEL

BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME; BEHOLD, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION (2 Corinthians 6:2)

            It was the day after I accused Eli of impregnating me, and he suggested marriage. Band practice had ended ten minutes ago. I had just returned from the restroom after an emotional breakdown as the last song they played concluded. My mental turmoil was both positive and negative.

            The song was an acoustic cover by the band Pearl Jam. They said it was called something like ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town.’ Why the long, strange title, I didn’t know. But the song moved me in an unexpected way. Whether my interpretation of the lyrics were correct or not, I don’t know. But it spoke to me of former young lovers reacquainted many years later.

            Eli and Arlo played acoustic guitars, while Ethan displayed his deep rich voice. Amy, the band’s drummer, sat next to me with her daughter on her lap. The song made me think about Eli reentering my life after a two decade absence. But then the last refrain that my son sang soft and melodious several times went ‘Hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away.’

            This part made me think of the passing of my second husband half a year earlier. That’s when I lost it. But it was not only grief, but guilt. How had I moved on so quickly? Was it Eli back in my life? Was it the fact that during both of my marriages, I loved, but wasn’t in love with both of my husbands? What was the defining line? What was it about Eli that bound my heart to him so much stronger than the two men I was actually married to?

             Ethan, Amy, Penny, and Arlo were sitting around a card table, probably in deep discussion about this coming Saturday. The four were going to be baptized, and Penny and Arlo were to be married afterward.

            On the other side of the large room, Eli gave our little five year old granddaughter Crissy a lesson on her small acoustic guitar. Her little tongue stuck out from between her lips as she concentrated, following Eli’s instructions. He was so patient with her and eyed her adorningly as she strummed.

            She spotted me watching her and said, “Look, Gammy.”

            “I see, Sweety.”

            “Do you think I’m good?”

            “I think you’re wonderful!”

            Eli looked at me with a twinkle in his eye, and I felt that heart flutter that no other guy had ever given me. Was it because he always seemed so elusive? I was even more drawn to this forty year old version of Eli than the seventeen year old version.

            Whereas the teenager was cocky, cool, turning girl’s heads with his macho strut and long flowing mane of dark hair, the current Eli was distinguished, like an aging movie star. He was gentle, relaxed, and surprisingly humble.

            Another thing that had changed about him was his world view. When we would talk into the night as teenagers, he would express teenage angst and atheism. I would counter with God’s love. In particular the fact that God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ.

            Fast forward two decades and Eli was not only is expressing love for God but parroting, what I then perceived, as legalism via the influence of his old, dear friend, Arlo Aldo. Who would have thought that the former bass player from ‘The Sons of Molech’, who looked like a professional wrestler, would also be able to sway my sister?

            Penny was smart, rational, and had graduated at the top of every phase in her academic career. She was a doctor and a successful, gifted veterinarian surgeon. But now she was joining what I had viewed at the time as a Saturday cult. Why a cult? Well, the majority can’t be wrong, right? I mean, ninety plus percent of Christians view Sunday as the sabbath, don’t they?

            The foursome being baptized in a few days stood and held hands. Arlo was about to lead them in prayer, and he invited Eli and me to join. Eli accepted, but I initially made no reply. Eli joined them, and the chain of arms and hands accumulated one more link.

            I tried to gather my granddaughter onto my upper legs as sort of a human security blanket. But as I tried to gather the little energy bundle onto my lap, she squirmed away and petitioned, “Can I pray too?”

            “Of course you can, Sweet Pea!” Arlo said delightedly.

            Feeling left out, I gave in. “Can I pray too?”

            “Of course,” Arlo replied happily.

            “Aren’t you gonna call me, Sweet Pea?”

            Arlo grinned. “I’ll leave that to Eli.”

            I blushed and glanced at Eli. Everyone in the circle knew I was with child. They also knew the embryo was created in sin. Yet Arlo asked for a blessing upon my unborn child and me. Then he followed by asking the same for Amy and Penny, who also were pregnant. As he  finished the prayer, he asked God to be with all those getting baptized, and to be with anyone who might be on the fence. I thought this was directed at Eli, and I felt a flash of annoyance at Arlo for what seemed like presumptuous zeal.

            After the prayer ended, Eli and I lingered in the parking lot, and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves alone. He leaned against his truck and pulled me into a reverse hug. As we admired the night sky, bright with being only two days past a full moon, I expressed my irritation with Arlo. But typical of cool and calm Eli, he simply shrugged, and an easy smile played on his lips. “My old pal is just worried about my soul.”

            “And you’re not?”

            “Sure I am. One of the Bible verses I have memorized is Philippians 2:12. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

            “It doesn’t seem like you fear and tremble over much.”

            “If you only knew,” he chuckled. “It’s easy to keep it together when you’re not alone. But you don’t realize how many nightmares I have had and still have over my association with occultists. The guilt over all the impressionable minds our band influenced.”

            “Is that why you’re not getting baptized with the rest of them?”

            “That and you.”

            I stepped out of his embrace, spun and looked at him. “Me? You mean because of…”

            “Fornicating,” he finished.

            My jaw clenched and my eyes narrowed. “Well just so you know, Mister, we’re done fornicating. You putting a bun in my oven was the rebuke I needed for giving in to sin.”

            “Hey, you opened the oven door, and your warmth drew me in.”

            “Well, this oven door is staying shut from now on.”

            “So marry me and lets start a bakery.”

            “This is the last loaf of bread coming out of this oven.”

            “I agree that we don’t need any more loaves of bread, but we can still bake, though.”

            I crossed my arms and kept a steady gaze on him. I didn’t want him to know just how close I was to accepting his offer of marriage. Plus, I really did want to turn my oven on again, metaphorically speaking.

            I shifted the subject away from loaves of bread and how they are made. “So these nightmares you speak of. Did they happen to Arlo too?”

            “Some, but when he became a Christian, they subsided. More than the rest of us in the band, Arlo was the most uncomfortable with the satanic imagery and the dark lyrics. But, like me, he justified it by telling himself it was just an act and that we were similar to Alice Cooper. Which I suppose we were similar. But it became harder to deny that Izzy, our singer and writer of lyrics, was in fact a satanist who was obsessed with Aleister Crowley.

            “Couple that with the fact that both Izzy and our drummer Kyle were spiraling downward in their drug and alcohol addictions. I had my own problems that way, but I still functioned. Then when they both died, it was a wakeup call for me to get sober as well. Once sober, I was impressed with how Arlo changed his life.”

            “Was Arlo steeped in addiction as well?” I asked.

            “No. Oh, he partied plenty throughout the years, but he was never a daily drinker. And never did drugs, other than an occasional joint.”

            “So it was Arlo’s conversion that led you to become a seeker as well?”

            “That and something he said that you had said when we were kids.”

            This took me by surprise. “Something I said?”

            “Yeah, you probably don’t remember. I was talking about the meaninglessness of life…”

            “You did that a lot,” I interrupted.

            He chuckled. “Yeah, but this time you said, if life had no meaning, we wouldn’t know that it had no meaning. That stuck with me. In the aftermath of Kyle and Izzy’s deaths, Arlo and I were talking. Although I was impressed by Arlo quitting the band and changing his life, I wasn’t convinced enough to do the same. I was half drunk and told Arlo that life was meaningless. When he replied with the same exact words as yours, I sobered. Literally, I went into rehab the next day, and Arlo gave me a copy of the book he got quote from.”

            “C.S. Lewis’s  book ‘Mere Christianity,’” I told him.

            “That’s it,” he replied happily.

            “So reading that made you became an Arloite?” I said, trying to sound lighthearted rather than cynical.

            “An Arloite?” he laughed. “No, it didn’t. I still couldn’t get past one doctrine, and you might recall what that was. You and I went round and round over this topic more than anything else.”

            “Hellfire,” I replied immediately. It had always been a bit of a stumbling block for me as well. I always thought that by faith we would learn in heaven how a loving God could torment even the most wicked with no end.

            “Precisely,” Eli returned. “After Arlo began studying material from ‘Amazing Facts’ ministry. (Amazing Facts is a real ministry. You can google them or find them on YouTube.) The first Bible study I did with him was on the subject of hell. Hellfire is more like an event rather than a place.”

            “As much as I hate to, I beg to differ. The book of Matthew, chapter 25 clearly says that the wicked go to everlasting punishment.”

            “Correct, punishment, not punishing. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. I think you’d agree that the wicked don’t inherit eternal life, so how could they be alive in hell forever and ever? Also, the book of Jude, verse 7 refers to Sodom and Gomorrah suffering eternal fire. But let me ask you. Are Sodom and Gomorrah still burning today?”

            “Well, no, of course not.”

            Eli retrieved a Bible from his truck. He pulled a piece of paper from it, and unfolding it read. “This is the main note I took on the subject. Does the word hell as used in the Bible always refer to a place of burning? No. The word hell is used 54 times in the KJV Bible, and in only 12 cases does it refer to a place of burning. It is translated from several different words with various meanings. 31 times from Sheol, which means the grave. 10 times from Hades, which also means the grave. 12 times from Gehenna, which means the place of burning. 1 time from Tartarus, which means a place of darkness.”

            “Look at you, Mr. Bible scholar,” I said, dumbfounded, yet truly impressed. I also felt guilty for participating in intimacy without the commitment of marriage.

            “I’ll read one more note I took on the subject,” he said and then grinned. “Then I’ll stop boring you with my Biblical acumen.”

            “I’m not bored.”

            “Then why does your face look like you’ve been driving hours down a long desert highway?”

            “Because I’m stunned to be getting a Bible lesson from Eli Endor.”

            “Alderson,” he corrected with a slight edge to his voice. “Endor was a stage name, never ever my real name.”

            “Sorry,” I said, making my eyes wide and innocent.

            “Just setting the record straight, Sweet Pea Senior.”

            I giggled. “Okay, finish your lesson.”

            “Here’s a list of scriptures that indicate the wicked are destroyed, not tormented forever and ever in hell. Romans 6:23, the wicked suffer death. Job 21:30, they suffer doom, in other words, destruction. Psalm 37:20, they will perish. Malachi 4:1, will burn up. Psalm 37:28, will be destroyed. Psalm 37:20, will vanish away. Psalm 37:9, will be cut off. Psalm 62:3, will be slain. Psalm 145:20, God will destroy them. Psalm 21:9, fire will devour them.”

            He looked at me. “One more thing. Ezekiel 33:11 says that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And Isaiah 28:21 says that the destroying of the wicked is a strange act for God.”

            My head was spinning when I went to bed that night. It is said God works in mysterious ways, and I never realized that more than that night. Eli had always moved me carnally. Even when I spotted him in a rock and roll magazine. Even as I despised him on those glossy pages, I thought of him as sexy, ridiculous goth get up and all. But since he had reentered my life the previous autumn, he had been moving me more spiritually than carnally. For the most part.

            The Spirit moving the people I loved to get baptized this weekend was like a personal, mini day of Pentecost for me from Acts chapter 2. Only instead of three thousand people being added to the church, four were being added to Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship. I was convinced I needed to make it five. With a phone call to Eli, possibly six.

            In my excitement of feeling spiritually drawn away from the present world, I didn’t consider the time. It was very early in the morning when I heard the alarm in Eli’s voice. “Ariel, what’s wrong!”

            “Nothing’s wrong, Eli,” I said and then cringed. “It’s late, isn’t it?”

            “Or early,” he replied mildly. “Depends on your perspective. So what’s up?”

            He was hard guy to rattle, I have never known a more laid back, go with flow person in my life.

            “You know when we parted ways last night, you decided you that you might just get baptized.”

            “Yeah,” he replied, and I’m pretty sure he yawned.

            “Will you get baptized if I do too, you know this…” I referred to Saturday this way for the first time. “Sabbath?”

            “Really?” he answered, and I could tell he perked up. “Sure, I mean, yeah, yes.”

            I giggled. “One more thing. Do you think Penny and Arlo would object to making it a double wedding? I mean, I know Penny wouldn’t, what about Arlo?”

            I think I heard him sitting up in bed. “No, I don’t think he’d object at all. As a matter fact, when we ask, he’ll probably pick you up, spin you around and yell ‘Yee Ha!’”

            I laughed and then felt happy tears on my cheeks. “Good.”

            “Good,” he repeated, and I could visualize his sexy smile when he said, “Well I ain’t getting back to sleep tonight, but sleepless will have never been more worth it!”

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 15

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 15

ELI

FOR WHO KNOWS WHAT IS GOOD FOR MAN IN LIFE, ALL THE DAYS OF HIS VAIN LIFE WHICH HE PASSES LIKE A SHADOW? WHO CAN TELL A MAN WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER HIM UNDER THE SUN? (Ecclesiastes 6:12)

            There was a brisk knock on my door at Mrs. Mendelbright’s bed and breakfast, which had turned into a boarding house for Arlo and me. I was pleasantly surprised to see Ariel when I pulled open the door. But my pleasure was soon turned to tension.

            She pushed past me as she stormed into my room, spun on her heel, and placed hands firmly on hips. With clenched teeth, she growled, “I’m so mad at you!”

            “What’d I do?” I asked innocently. I truly was surprised. Our relationship had turned intimate a couple months ago, and we both seemed to be on cloud nine. So what had upset the apple cart?

            She changed gears as her pinched face softened, and her clenched teeth turned into a menacing smile. She sauntered slowly over to me. “What did you do, you ask?”

            She gently looped her arms around my neck and her face positioned just two inches from mine. But hers was a creepy calm, not seductive. I knew no kiss was forthcoming, so I braced for her words, still baffled at what could be the reason for her anger.

            “Well, it’s like this, Mr. Alderson. I have just come from my doctor, and it seems that I’m pregnant. Would you care to explain how that happened?”

            Although I was stunned, I tried at a little levity. “Well, you see, when a man and woman come together like we have…”

            “Knock it off, Eli!” she barked as she shoved me. She then stomped to my sofa, plopped onto it, abruptly crossed her arms and one leg over the other. Then a finger shot up to an eye to wipe a tear away.

            I sat next to her and gently rubbed her knee. She was wearing her typical black leggings, with orange New Balance running shoes. She testily pushed my hand off. I put it back. She pushed it off. I put it back. She half laughed and half cried. “I’m forty years old; I don’t want any more babies. I’m even a grandmother!”

            “I don’t get it. I thought your tubes were tied,” I tried. “You had told me that before you and Doug got married, that you had gotten your tubes tied.”

            “No, I said I was going to, but Doug informed me that he was infertile. And you had told me that you had a vasectomy when you were twenty.”

            “I did, but I thought I told you I had it reversed a couple years ago… That’s why I was so excited to find out about Ethan. As I got older, I began to desire a heritage.”

            “Well, no, I think I would recall you telling me it was reversed, especially a couple months ago when we, you know.”

            “Well, if you recall a couple months ago, when we consummated our relationship, I told you I didn’t have a condom. Then you asked if I had any STD’s. After I said no, you said it was okay to proceed without one.”

            “Right, because I assumed you had been snipped.”

            “I had been, but like I said, it was reversed. When you told me it was okay to proceed, I thought it meant that you wouldn’t be getting pregnant.”

            “And when I said to proceed it was because I trusted that you wouldn’t be giving me an STD. You just gave me a baby instead.”

            “Wow, what a misunderstanding.”

            “So, it seems I’m pregnant due to lack of communication.”

            “I don’t know about lack of communication, just poor quality.”

            “Whatever!” she spewed, crossed her arms again and snorted. Her foot bobbed so intensely, I thought her shoe might fly off.

            “Well, which would you rather I had given you, herpes or a baby?”

            “Herpes,” she spit without hesitation.

            “Ya know, Ariel, I’m actually pretty excited,” I said with gentle smile.

            “Are ya!” she replied with a sarcastically ghoulish expression. “Ya know, I suppose I might feel better about it if you were gonna have a human being growing inside your stomach.”

            I frowned. “Don’t you mean womb?”

            “Oh, shut up!” she barked.

            “Look, Ariel, I’m truly sorry,” I said, and then we sat in silence for a long minute.

            I knelt in front of her and took both of her hands in mine. She didn’t jerk them away, which I was actually expecting. “Listen Ariel, I wasn’t here for you the first time, but I will be this time around. I have plenty of money, so you won’t have to work at the supermarket anymore. I’ll even hire a nanny. I’ll even marry you, with no prenup. You’ll be an instant millionaire after you say I do. You’ll get half if you decide to divorce me.”

            I was delighted to see hope and longing in her eyes. Now she smiled sweetly, no trace of sarcasm or bitterness. She asked, “Was that a proposal?”

            I shrugged and grinned, “Sure.”

            “How romantic,” she joked.

            “That’s what I’m known for.”

            “You’re known to be a womanizing rock star; that’s why my concern was STD’s over pregnancy.”

            With a serious expression, I said, “That’s not gonna be the case with the next chapter of my life… I love you, Ariel. I always have.”

            She put a hand to my cheek. “To be perfectly honest, I loved you, I hated you, and now I love you again.”

            “Okay, well, I could have done without the one in between.”

            “It’s the current one that counts.”

            “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”

            She sighed, stood, and began to pace. “I don’t know, Eli. Everything is happening so fast. What are people gonna think? My husband has only been gone for six months.”

            “It depends on your perspective. I think a lot can happen in half a year. Besides, it’s not like you met some random guy. I was your first boyfriend, and we made a child together. I also kept my distance after Doug passed away.”

            “Kept your distance? Maybe if you returned to California.”

            I stepped up to her. Her arms were crossed defiantly across her chest. I reached behind her head, took off her hair clip, and her long brown hair with a sprinkling of salt cascaded over her shoulders. Since she didn’t resist, I grabbed both of her wrists and placed them onto my shoulders. “Quit being a snot.”

            She gazed at me with hooded eyes and tried not to smile. This caused her to pout, and man did she ever look adorable. I brushed a strand of her hair off of her cheek and kissed her. After a minute she put both hands on my chest and shoved away, did a one eighty and walked toward the window. “Why are you so hard to resist?”

            I followed behind and spooned her. I kissed her cheek and said softly, “Why would you want to resist me?”

            “Because you tend to get me pregnant when I don’t,” she said bitterly.

            “I guarantee that you’re not gonna get anymore pregnant than you already are.”

            She spun around and put her hands on my throat as if to strangle me. She actually began to squeeze harder and harder. I laughed as I grabbed her wrists, and fortunately she laughed too.  We no sooner began kissing again, when a knock at my door made us both jump.

            It was our son and his wife. In the eight months I had been at Mrs. Mendelbright’s, he had only come over to my room a few times. We usually saw each other at band practice. He was grinning, so I grinned back. “Ethan, Amy, come in, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

            “Well, we…” He stopped short when he saw his mother, and his face registered surprise. “Mom, what are you doing here?”

            “Um,” was all she could manage. She looked like a deer in the headlights as she clasped her hands together, making her look even more guilty.

            Ethan smirked. “Is there something going with you two?”

            “Um,” Ariel and I uttered at the same time as we both looked at each other.

            Ethan started laughing and slapped his thigh. Looking at his wife he declared. “I told you they were item.”

            “Honey, we’ve just kind of been hanging out,” Ariel tried. Then she bit her thumb with an  anguished expression. “Well, to be honest, it’s a little more than hanging out. Actually a lot more now, I mean, ooooh, this so confusing.”

            “Mom, I think it’s wonderful!”

            “Really?”

            “Really.”

            “By the way, where’s Crissy?” Ariel asked. Was she purposely trying to change the subject?

            “Aunt Penny and Uncle Arlo are taking her for a pony ride.”

            I liked hearing him refer to my dear friend as Uncle Arlo. But Ariel had a slight edge in her voice when she corrected. “He’s not Uncle Arlo yet.”

            “A few days from now he will be,” Ethan shrugged. Then he looked at me and winked. “We stopped by your place first, Mom. Now I see why you weren’t home.”

            “Okay, Sonny Boy,” Ariel said as she put her hands on her hips. “What are you making the rounds about?”

            “Well, we have an announcement for you, and two for Dad here. The one for Dad alone is… Amy and I are gonna get baptized with Penny and Arlo this Sabbath. We were hoping you’d join us.”

          “Oh, Son, I don’t know, I’ve got some issues,” I told him, and then looked at my main issue. I wanted to continue fornicating with Ariel. If she would marry me, maybe I would get baptized with them. I know that’s a terrible excuse, but that’s where my mind was at back then.

          “Behold, now’s the day of salvation, Dad,” Ethan declared, quoting 2 Corinthians 6:2.

          “You mean I’m not invited?” Ariel asked, and I think she genuinely felt left out.

          “Well, I know you don’t like Bible truth, Mom, so why bother asking?”

          “That’s not true,” she defended. “I’m just more about grace, faith and love than you all.”

          “Faith without works is dead,” Ethan said. (See James 2:14-26)

          “We’ve been down this road before,” Ariel said putting a hand up. “What’s your announcement for both of us?”

          “Well,” Ethan began, then glanced affectionately at his blond haired wife who beamed happily back at him. “We just came from the doctor. Crissy is going to have a baby brother or sister.”

          “Wonderful!” I enthused. “You’re not gonna believe this. Ariel just… Ow!”

          I felt a sharp pain on my ankle and looked down just in time to see Ariel’s foot retracting away from my leg.

          “Mom, why did you just kick Dad! What were you about to say, Dad?”

          “Oh, nothing, never mind,” I replied as I rubbed my ankle.

          “What’s going on you two?” Ethan begged. “Mom, you’re not sick are you?”

          “Oh, no Honey, it’s nothing like that,” she replied. Then she looked at me as if for an answer. I had none. Especially after that kick! “Well, it’s like this. I was just at the doctor myself, and, well, Crissy’s not the only one that’s gonna have a baby brother or sister… You are too.”

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 14

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 14

ARIEL

BEHOLD, CHILDREN ARE A HERITAGE FROM THE LORD, THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB IS A REWARD (Psalm 127:3)

            “Where are we going?” I asked Penny as we prepared to leave her clinic in her pickup truck.

            My sister struggled to get her seat belt under her swollen abdomen. It was the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend, and my nephew was due to be born in early July. “You’ll see, it’s not far.”

            “Why so secretive?” I asked as gravel spun from underneath her tire as we exited her clinic parking lot.

            “I’m not being secretive,” she said, and then inhaled sharply through her nose and sighed. “But you’re not gonna like what I have to say, so I want the timing and atmosphere to be just right.”

            I felt myself tense, and I chewed on my lower lip. I knew what this was about. I may as well have had a scarlet letter on my chest. I recalled the passion between Eli and I the previous night. Although our passionate kisses had turned into something much more weeks ago, last night’s liaison ended with something more than exchanging ‘I love you’ with each other.

            “Marry me, Ariel,” Eli had whispered into my ear at the height of our passion.

            “Okay,” my lips had murmured against his cheek.

            It had become a well-known secret that Eli and I had become an item. I also thought our intimacy was a secret. But secrets involving sin lead to paranoia. So as I road with my sister, with her admitting she wanted to discuss something uncomfortable, I assumed she knew that I was fornicating. I figured Eli must have told Arlo, and Arlo relayed the gossip to her. Now she was going to get back at me for all the years I periodically accused her of promiscuity and hypocrisy.

             I was a professed Christian with regular attendance at worship, and an upstanding citizen involved with PTA and also assistant coach of soccer. However I did have some skeletons in the closet. These bone fragments of sin may seem like nothing to the culture at large. For my most grievous violations of the Decalogue was premarital sex with both of my future husbands, as well as Eli, who now might be my future husband.

            For the casual believer, no big deal, right? Well, as a deaconess in my family’s  conservative church, what Eli and I were doing in the bedroom loomed large and shameful in my mind. Ironically, the looming large actually disappeared as soon as I started kissing him.

            “What are we doing here?” I asked with a frown as she pulled her truck into the Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship parking lot. “You’re not taking me to one of your services.”

            “Sabbath school and worship was this morning,” she replied. “I want to show you the church’s namesake.”

            “What?”

            “I want to show you Cotton Creek.”

            “I thought you wanted to talk to me about something?”

            “I do, at the creek.”

            I shrugged it off and walked with her down a paved trail behind the church. My petite sister walked with great agility. When I was as pregnant as she was now, I waddled everywhere I went. It was in fact beautiful where we stopped. The stream rippled soothing sounds over rocks as the creek twisted under a canopy of large Cottonwood trees and lush green pines.

            Penny smiled with satisfaction as she gently rubbed her belly and stared at the chuckling stream. She seemed to relax as my anxiety grew. The beauty of the place and the gorgeousness of the spring afternoon seemed to mock my unease. A half dozen possible replies to her potential accusations raced through my head. Impatiently I blurted, “So what did you want to me talk about?”

            She glanced at me and then pointed to a bench. “Let’s go sit.”

            ‘Grrrr,’ I thought. But then I was pleased as she waddled a little as I followed her to the bench.

            “It’s pretty exciting that the band’s CD is going to be out in a couple weeks,” Penny said.

            “Yes, it is.”

            “Arlo and Eli sure have been getting lots of interview requests. Both Christian periodicals as well as secular.”

            “Yes, they have.”

            “It is a pretty interesting story. I mean two forty year old guys that spent almost two decades in a Satanic band together suddenly reappear a few years after the dissolution with a Christian band.”

            “A huh.”

            “There seem to be quite a few skeptics.”

            “Right.”

            “I hope they don’t go on tour for a while, what with the baby and all.”

            “Surely this isn’t what you wanted me to come here and talk about?”

            “No,” she said, her face growing serious. “I sold my share of the clinic.”

            This was actually no surprise; she had thrown around the idea for months. She wanted to take her time with the baby but still use her veterinarian talents volunteering with the animal rescue organization she worked with.

            “I was kind of expecting that,” I said. “But surely that’s not why you brought me here.”

            “No,” she said, eyeing me cautiously. She looked away, placed her hands between her knees and sighed.

            How could my spontaneous, opinionated sister be dillydallying so much? I couldn’t stand the tension any longer. “Look Pen, I know what you want to talk about.”

            “You do?” she frowned. “So Arlo must have talked to Eli already, and Eli told you?”

            “No,” I frowned. “I assume Eli told Arlo, and Arlo told you.”

            “Are we talking about the same thing?” Penny’s frown deepened.

            “Look, I know you’re all religious now, and into the Bible, and all what Eli refers to as primitive Godliness stuff. I know what Eli and I have been doing isn’t up to your new standards. Frankly they’re not up to mine either. But I’m human, and in love, and just so you know, we are getting married.”

            Penny’s eyes became like saucers and her mouth gaped open. “What? Married? When?”

            “I don’t know when. He just asked me last night.”

            “Well, talk about stealing somebody’s thunder,” she grinned as she ran a hand through her silky dark hair, which was now well past her shoulders and as long as I had ever seen it.

            “What do you mean?”

            “I mean what I wanted to talk to you about. Will you be my maid of honor?”

            Now I wasn’t the sharpest needle in the sewing basket, but I immediately put one and one together. Stealing thunder and maid of honor. “You agreed to marry Arlo?”

            She looked as happy as I had ever seen her as she bit her lip and nodded. Arlo had been practically begging her for months, but she would only respond with maybes. We hugged and I said, “Congratulations, I’d be honored to be your maid of honor.”

            “Congratulations to you, too,” she said.

            “Will you be my maid of honor?” I asked.

            “I too would be honored. But don’t you want one of your daughters this time?”

            “Who would I pick? Besides you’ve always been my maid of honor. Hopefully this will be the third time’s a charm.”

            She laughed and I asked, “How long until after the baby’s born will you wait?”

            Her face grew serious. “Actually, we’re getting married a week from today.”

            “In a week! Penny, weddings take time to plan. Besides planning, do you really want to be a month away from giving birth in the wedding photos?”

            “Well, here’s the thing. It’s gonna be low key and simple. Other than the parishioners here, there will only be a handful of people in attendance. We’re saying our vows right over there.”

            She pointed at a bend in the creek, just past were the length of water rippled rocks ended.

            “Arlo and I will be in baptismal gowns rather than a suit and dress. Immediately after we say our ‘I do’s’, we are going down into that three foot deep part of the creek to get baptized. So, you could say it will be an unconventional wedding.”

            “I will say. That’s definitely a unique setup,” I admitted. Then I asked her something quite personal, but she is my sister. “So have you and Arlo, you know?”

            “I know what?” she replied innocently.

            “You know, doing the deed?”

            “What deed?” she asked with a frown.

            “Oh, for Pete’s sake, have you two been boinking?”

            She laughed, and I realized that I had just been played by my ultra-serious sister. I laughed too. It was good to see her as lighthearted as I had ever seen her in her entire life. I had viewed her newfound religion as rigid and legalistic, but her joy was palpable. I also considered her impending motherhood and romance as the source. But going forward, there was no denying her and Arlo’s shared faith was at the center of their bond as well as their joy.

            “No, conceiving little Arlo was the only time that we’ve made love.”

            “You’re naming my nephew Arlo Junior?” I asked. Arlo was not necessarily a bad name. That said, I would never, ever name a child of mine Arlo.

            “It will likely be his middle name. Right now we’re considering Jeremiah for his first.”

            I nodded as I refrained from frowning. I don’t think I’d consider Jeremiah as a name for my child, but it wasn’t bad. He’ll probably go by Jerry.

            “When I told Arlo he was going to be a father, he knelt and kissed my belly and quoted Jeremiah 1:5.”

            “Interesting, but I’m glad my days of naming babies are over,” I chuckled. “As a matter of fact, I just had my first sign of menopause.”

            “Oh yeah? What sign was that?”

            “For the first time last month, without being pregnant, I missed my period.”

            Penny looked at me with a stunned expression. “You know your admission about, um, misbehaving with Eli? Did he wear a certain something?”

            “You mean a condom? No, but he had a vasectomy in his early twenties.”

            “He also had it reversed in his late thirties,” Penny declared.

            “No he didn’t, he would have told me,” I replied, thinking what she assumed ridiculous.

            “I don’t know about the second part of what you just said, but I know for a fact about the first part.”

            “How?” I wanted to know as my pulse quickened. It seemed she did, in fact, know something.

            “You know back in February when Arlo shut himself up in his room, and I went and told him he was gonna be a father?”

            “Of course.”

            “It was a couple days after. Arlo, Eli, and myself were chatting before their band practiced, and I distinctly remember Eli talking about being pretty serious with a lady right after their band broke up. She wanted a baby, so he got it reversed. But then he went on to say that she turned out to be infertile. Some time later, they parted ways.”

            “I don’t believe it; he would have told me.”

            “I’m just telling you what I overheard,” she said with a shrug. Then not understanding my fear, she grinned and said, “How about that? You made me aware that I was pregnant, and now it seems I made you aware that you could be pregnant.”

            “Yeah, how about that?” I mumbled.

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 13

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 13

ELI

THEREFORE, LAYING ASIDE ALL MALICE, ALL DECEIT, HYPOCRISY, ENVY, AND ALL EVIL SPEAKING… INDEED YOU HAVE TASTED THAT THE LORD IS GRACIOUS (1 Peter 2:1, 3)

            “Hi Eli,” Ariel said a little breathlessly as she entered the church basement. She unzipped her puffy, shiny white winter coat revealing a low cut top that my eyes lingered on a second too long before they met hers. There seemed to be a twinkle of satisfaction in her windows to the soul before becoming serious.

            “You’ve got to talk Arlo out of it,” Ariel insisted, her large brown eyes pleading. It was about a half an hour before our band was to practice. She pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail, her movements causing her chest to stick out even further. But her words caused me to tense rather than lust.

            For some reason I thought she was talking about suicide. But that couldn’t be. I had breakfast with him earlier in the day, and he had apologized profusely for shutting himself away in his room for a few days. He seemed mellow, even happy, yet I could tell he had been preoccupied. He also seemed on the verge of telling me something, but Mrs. Mendelbright kept lingering around the table.

            “Talk him out of what, quitting the band?” I asked, not knowing what else it could be.

            “He’s quitting the band?”

            “No, I mean I don’t know. I was just throwing up a guess since I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

            “Oh,” she replied, her lovely eyes getting even larger. “So he didn’t tell you then?”

            “Tell me what?”

            “Oh, never mind. I thought you knew.”

            “Knew what?”

            “Tick a lock,” she said, and then made a locking motion at her lips. “It’s not for me to tell, like I said, I thought you knew. I’m gonna run a quick errand.”

            She turned and began to walk briskly away. We were in her family’s church, and our band’s equipment was in the basement where we practiced. It had been two weeks since our reverse hug in the parking lot, which was also when we saw Penny and Arlo share a quick kiss followed by an embrace. In the days after, things between Ariel and me had become both more relaxed, yet strangely awkward because of sexual tension not acted upon.

            I grabbed her around the waist, and we fell onto a sofa that was situated in a corner of the basement. It was our first physical contact since the parking lot incident. “Oh no, you’re not.”

            She giggled and squirmed. Our heads knocked together, but it didn’t hurt much. Then as we wrestled in a sitting position, our cheeks ended up pressed together. I think we both somehow did this on purpose. Then we looked at each other and I kissed her. Then she kissed me. Then we kissed each other as we heard a door open. I abruptly stood and she tumbled onto the floor. I helped her up and said, “Sorry.”

            Ethan, Amy and Crystal came down the stairs. When Crystal spotted us, she ran to Ariel and shouted, “Gammy!”

            I sat back on the couch and asked our granddaughter, “Does Poppop get a hug?”

            She shyly shook her head, making her blonde curls jiggle. I sniffed, made fists and rubbed my eyes as if I was crying. Then she said, “okay,” and flew into my arms.

            “What were you two doing?” Ethan asked.

            Ariel and I glanced guiltily at each other as if we were a couple teenagers and our son was one of our parents. Ariel and I spoke at the same time. She said, “talking,” and I said “nothing.”

            “I thought I saw you helping Mom up off of the floor,” Ethan said.

            I didn’t know what to say. Ariel and I looked at each other. Neither of us wanted to lie, but how could we say why? Thankfully he shrugged and said, “Oh well, nevermind.”

            Sometimes playing dumb really does work.

            As our band practiced, I kept eyeing Arlo all evening. He seemed normal, maybe even a little more lighthearted than usual. So what could be so bad that Ariel wanted me to talk him out of? He and I were the last to leave band practice, and as I contemplated how or what to ask him, he solved the dilemma for me.

            “I asked Penny to marry me,” Arlo said with a sly grin as my mouth dropped open.

            Although I was in fact stunned, I calmly joked. “Well that must have been some kind of hug you two had the other week.”

            “Oh, if you only knew.”

            “So when’s the big day?”

            “She hasn’t said yes yet.”

            “But you think she will?”

            “I do.”

            “That’s what you’re hoping she’ll say one day soon.”

            He eyed me cautiously, and I soon understood why. “Penny’s pregnant.”

            Because of his religious zeal over the last couple years, it didn’t occur to me that Arlo might be the father. I knew that Penny had had a series of flings throughout her thirty eight years, but no serious relationships. I also knew that the recent funk that Arlo had been in had something to do with a child. However, I thought it had something to do with his ex-wife.

            So in the spur of the moment, I put one, plus two, plus three together. But instead of coming up with six, it turned out to be another equation. One, Arlo had been upset over a pregnancy or child. Two, Penny was pregnant, and Arlo was in love with her, and debating whether or not to raise another man’s child. Three, he asked Penny to marry him, therefore deciding to raise a child that wasn’t spawned by him.

            “That’s a very honorable thing to want to do, Arlo,” I told him. “I know if Ariel and I had reacquainted before she married her last husband, I would have gladly raised her daughters as their stepdad.”

            Arlo frowned and responded simply with, “Huh?”

            He was puzzled on a couple of fronts. Turns out I divulged too much information about my feelings for Ariel. Secondly, I discovered that Arlo was in fact the one that impregnated Penny. But how?

            Don’t misunderstand, I know the birds and the bees. I meant with the religious devotion he had been trying to witness to me over the last couple of years, how did he come to impregnate Penny out of wedlock? To him, this was sin. It became a bit of a stumbling block to me as I tried to become a follower of Jesus, rather than just an admirer. I was making the mistake of watching Arlo, and my son for an example, rather than Jesus. I was even looking to Ariel, the woman I found myself lusting after. But if you look to any person other than Christ as an example, you’re bound to be disappointed.

            “Oh,” Arlo gazed at me with regretful eyes. “You see… what happened… um.”

            Realization dawned on me. “So, Penny has a bun in the oven, but you are the one, shall we say, that provided the yeast?”

            He winced, nodded, took off his baseball cap that he was wearing backward, ran his hands through his long blonde hair, and then winced some more. “Are you disappointed?”

            “Yeah I’m disappointed,” I replied evenly. “You come across like the Apostle Paul, often making me feel like a degenerate because I don’t have your passion, zeal, and devotion. Then you not only fornicate but are fathering an illegitimate child.”

            A look flashed onto Arlo’s face that I hadn’t seen since we were on stage together in ‘The Sons of Molech.’ It was a glimpse of the sneer and growl he used to display at our audience, only without the gothic makeup. “Yeah, well I guess you’d know something about fathering illegitimate children.”

            I shrugged, “Yes, I would.”

            He shook his head in disgust, then put his face in his hands, sat in a metal folding chair and began to weep. “I’m sorry, Eli, I truly am. I sinned with Penny. I even wanted to last night. I already loved her, but making a child together… I feel a bond with her I never felt with anyone before. Yes I sinned. But just like 1 John 2:1 tells us. If anyone sins we have an Advocate in Jesus.”

            I crouched by him and patted his knee. “It’s cool, Arlo.”

            He looked at me with bleary eyes. “If you drop the soap, you don’t stop taking a shower.”

            “Huh?” I inquired, feeling myself edge a little away from him.

            He continued, telling me how he went to a pastor in his distress, and was counseled through an analogy of taking a shower. If you drop the soap, it doesn’t mean the shower’s over. You pick it up and continue getting clean. Therefore, if you sin, you ask for forgiveness, repent, and continue to get spiritually clean.

            It did strike a chord with me. I was getting close to becoming a follower of Christ, rather than an admirer. I had bonded with my son, who was deeply spiritual. He was also being influenced by Arlo, and becoming a student of the whole Bible, as well as history. There was also a bond being formed with my son’s mother that was both different and similar to the one we had as teenagers.

            When we were young, I used to think of Ariel as pretty and prude. It was how wholesome and untouchable she seemed that made her all the more desirable. Now there was a similar, yet different atmosphere about her. When we were young, long conservative skirts seemed to be her uniform. Now it was form fitting leggings and tight tops. But that was then, and this was now. One style was decided by her mother, while the other was by herself.

            I’ve never met a woman I was more attracted to than Ariel. And I’ve met plenty. Maybe a large aspect was her seeming untouchable. As a rock star, I had a bevy of attractive women throwing themselves at me. Why do we humans so often want that which is forbidden? When we were young, it was her virginal wholesomeness that kept her from me for a long time. Now it was her recent widowhood, coupled with her skepticism of me when I first arrived.

            Out in the church parking lot, I watched Arlo’s taillights disappear as I put some things onto the passenger seat of my pickup truck. Right as I turned and shut the door, a body loomed with a voice that said, “You’re just now leaving?”

            Startled, maybe even frightened, I reeled back and slammed the side of my head into the door of my truck. As I winced and rubbed my noggin, the female voice gasped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean scare you, Eli.”

            “I wasn’t scared, little lady,” I replied with a mockingly macho voice. “I was just making sure my door was shut with my head.”

            She laughed but then looked a little uneasy. “I was doing some things in the church office when I noticed you and Arlo leaving… So did you?”

            “Find out about Penny being pregnant and the marriage proposal?”

            “Okay, good, so did you talk some sense into him?” She asked as she casually unzipped her puffy coat halfway down again. Why were we outside? She had to be purposely enticing me. It was painful, but I kept my eyes glued to hers.

            “I don’t think that’s my business, Ariel. Besides, she only said maybe, not yes.”

            “Maybe with Penny or me might as well be yes when it comes to guys.”

            “Why are you so against Penny marrying Arlo? He’s a good man, and well to do.”

            “Because Penny isn’t the relationship type, and they’ve only know each other for like two minutes.”

            “They’ve known each other long enough and well enough to make a baby.”

            “That’s because Arlo’s a hypocrite.”

            “Why is he a hypocrite?”

            “Getting so exacting and legalistic with the Bible, and then he goes and fornicates.”

            “What about Penny? It takes two to tango. You all come from a religious family. She’s been a professed Christian a lot longer than Arlo.”

            She shrugged nonchalantly. “I love my sister, but she’s a hypocrite too.”

            “What about you?” I asked as I leaned into kiss her.

            Before I connected, she giggled and shoved me away. “I’m only a borderline hypocrite.”

            She turned and began to walk briskly away, her female form swaying in the moonlight. She called over her shoulder, “Goodnight.”

            In few quick steps I caught up to her, grasped her hand, and spun her around. “Let’s cross the border.”

            A minute later I pulled my mouth from hers. Grinning I said, “Hypocrite.”

            Smiling back, she abruptly zipped her coat up, spun on her heels, walked briskly away again and said over her shoulder, “Close, but not quite.”

            “Yet,” I said.

            She stopped, turned to face me, and with a flirtatious smile said, “Maybe.”

            Then for a third time, she spun and walked briskly away, disappearing into the night.

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 12

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 12

ARLO ALDO

BEFORE I FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB I KNEW YOU; BEFORE YOU WERE BORN I SANCTIFIED YOU; I ORDAINED YOU A PROPHET TO THE NATIONS (Jeremiah 1:5)

            I had never had such an extreme mood swing in my life! I went from several days of despondency to ecstasy in a matter of minutes. The only reason it took minutes instead of seconds was it was too good to be true, or so it seemed. My mind reeled, processed, and then I felt overwhelming love for a future child and the present mother who carried him.

            Female flesh had never looked so good as I gazed upon Penny’s swollen abdomen. Yet it wasn’t a lustful gaze as I swayed on my knees in front of her. It didn’t help my chaotic mind that I was sleep deprived. I looked up at her and then arose a bit unsteadily. “How do you feel about this?”

            “Freaked out,” Penny replied, strangely matter of fact.

            “That will happen with an unwanted pregnancy,” I told her. My declaration was actually a bit of a test. I liked her response.

            She frowned, and I could see her jaw muscles move briefly before she spoke. “I wouldn’t say it’s unwanted, but more like unexpected.”

            “How come you’re just now telling me?” I asked softly, not wanting her to think I was angry. “Our encounter was four months ago.”

            Her lovely dark eyes widened guiltily. “Arlo, honestly, I just discovered for sure only a little more than a week ago. I meant to tell you several days ago at church. But we were either interrupted or I couldn’t get up the nerve. But I had been in denial, I guess. When I noticed the weight gain, I was sure it was from snacking too much. As far as missing my menstrual cycle, its happened before due to being perimenopausal.”

            “What’s that?”

            “You know, symptoms that some women get before the actual menopause itself. In a nutshell, menopause is a time in a woman’s life when she loses the ability to bare children.”

            “Well, it seems you’re not menopausal yet.”

            “Ya think!” she snapped. Then she sat with a hard thump onto my bed and leaned back on her arms.

            I quickly squatted in front of her and clutched both sides of her belly. “Hey, easy.”

            She chuckled. “Who would have thought the wild he man rock star, Arlo Aldo, would make a loving father? But I think you will.”

            “I appreciate your vote of confidence,” I told her. “Let me ask you this though. What kind of husband do you think I’ll make?”

            “Well, your ex-wife apparently didn’t think you were a very good one,” she blurted.

            That hurt! Penny had a reputation for a sharp tongue, but that was cold. I reeled back and sat down hard myself. Only the floor was much harder than the bed Penny had plopped on to. My sleep deprived brain was jarred. I shook my head, stood abruptly, and downed the rest of my bottle of water. Penny came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist in a reverse hug. “Arlo, I’m sorry for that, but I didn’t like the direction you were going. I’m already freaked out about the prospect of motherhood. Bringing up marriage makes me be doubly freaked.”

            I turned and her arms fell by her sides. She did look contrite, so I smiled. “I guess a person reaps what they sow.”

            “What do you mean?”

            I shrugged. “I married Reese without hardly knowing her. Now I was testing the waters with you in the same boat.”

            Her face softened, but her words about my ex were harsh. “I am not the same boat as your ex-wife at all! If I were to take the plunge of marriage, I would die before I betrayed my vows.”

            Her softened face hardened again. Then her eyes welled, and she stomped to the window, abruptly crossing her arms as she gazed out at Mrs. Mendelbright’s backyard. Now I went and reverse hugged her, my hands resting on our child cocooned in her womb. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t comparing you two as people, only thinking about marriage again without knowing someone very well.”

            She turned to face me, and my arms fell by my sides. “It’s not that. After I spoke, I realized what a hypocrite I am.”

            She walked past me and plopped down hard on the bed again. I went and knelt in front of her again and placed my hands on her stomach. “Will you stop being so rough on our baby?”

            She laughed despite a tear running down her cheek. “Arlo, our baby is fine with the way I sat. If I sign up for roller derby, then you can get up tight.”

            I began to gently caress her abdomen. She looked me sternly in the eyes. “Arlo, unless you’re willing to make love, please stop touching me.”

            “That’s why I’m insinuating marriage, Pen. I want to make love with you in the worst way.”

            “Why is it the worst way? Shouldn’t it be the best way?”

            “No, because right now it’s forbidden.”

            “Why, just because we don’t have a legal document or have participated in a ceremony?”

            “It’s more than that. The document and ceremony represent commitment.”

            She sighed. “I know you’re right, but it’s hard to give up the old ways of thinking. The thing is Arlo, and this is full disclosure. I think I’ve always been afraid of commitment. So can you blame me? I mean how long have we known each other?”

            “Twenty three, twenty four years.”

            She laughed. “And with a twenty two and half or twenty three and a half year gap in between. As a matter of fact, I’ve only had one relationship last more than a year.”

            “How much longer than a year?”

            “Two months short of two years.”

            “Hmm, a catch twenty-two.”

            “More than you know.”

            “So what happened?”

            “The person was married, we got found out, and their marriage ended.”

            “So that ended your relationship with him as well?”

            “He didn’t want it to. He wanted me to marry him. But like I said, I feared commitment. Plus, I hated myself for being the other woman. My dad left my mom for a younger woman, and I absolutely despised him for it. So much so I even changed my last name to Balwin because I didn’t want his name attached to me. Then I end up doing the same thing only on the other end.”

            “Let me guess, he was older with a family?”

            She made a pained expression and nodded. “I interned under him in North Dakota. He had two other vets working for him. When my internship was up, I was hired and worked another two years at his clinic. He was handsome like an old time movie star. He reminded me of Cary Grant.”

            “What, was he like fifty or sixty years older than you?”

            “No,” she said with a scowl and threw a pillow. Then she sheepishly admitted, “Twenty-one years older.”

            “Did you love him?”

            She shrugged. “Yes, while at the same time despising him for being unfaithful.”

            “It takes two to commit adultery,” I said, and then cringed.

            But she looked humbled. “I have no excuse, but excuses were exactly what I made.”

            “What kind of excuses?”

            “First I bought into him having a loveless, sexless marriage; but that he stayed in it for the kids. So it started as friends with benefits, and I told myself his marriage was between him and his wife. If it wasn’t me, it would be someone else, and I was jealous of the imaginary someone else. I also told myself I would never let him leave his wife for me, which I held to. But there was always guilt, which was overruled by the thrill of the illicit and forbidden. Plus I always told myself just one more time, or this was the last time. There was also the satisfaction of it not being a real, time consuming relationship. I didn’t have to go to family functions, cook dinner, or argue about housekeeping. I could focus on my career. My career was also another aspect. He was a brilliant doctor, and a fantastic mentor… Is that enough excuses? I’m sure I could come up with more.”

            “Plenty.”

            “So how about you? How come you never married Elsa after what, six or seven years?”

            She was referring to my longtime girlfriend who was a model and actress. “Eight. The simple answer is that I didn’t want to marry someone who would have me as a husband.”

            She laughed, but I told her. “That’s no joke. I think she was more attracted to my stage persona than to me. There was also the element of my money. Even before I was a Christian, I didn’t like the prospect of a prenup. If you’re not going to pledge forever, what’s the point?”

            “But after that long with her, wasn’t there a common law factor anyway?”

            “No, we never lived together. When Elsa and I were together, I spent more than three fourths of my life on the road. Our home was hotels whenever we could get together.”

            “So when your marriage with Reese ended, did she get half?”

            “She got half of my earnings from the band during the time we were together. But she was unaware of my other investments which exceeded my salary from the band. She settled for a two million dollar settlement. She made out pretty good, since it seemed she only married me for my money.”

            “I don’t understand, you look like you should be on the cover of a romance novel.”

            I felt myself make a face, and she laughed. “It’s a compliment, Arlo.”

            “But that sort of sums it up. She looked at me like I was a feral, dumb jock. Turns out she was more into the charismatic, plastic type.”

            “Why were you attracted to her?”

            “It was a combination of things. Elsa and I had broken up a couple months earlier, and as shallow as our relationship had been, it left me feeling empty. I was tired of life on the road and wanted to settle down. I started reading self help and spiritual books. We were finishing up a world tour, and our last stop was LA, where we were based out of.

            “Being known as a satanic band, we often had protesters, but I usually ignored them. But there was no ignoring Reese. She looked like a Victoria’s Secret model dressed in ‘Little House On the Prairie’ garb. I was captivated and approached her. We talked about spiritual things for about ten minutes before I told her who I was. She was fascinated, which should have been a clue. She was protesting my show, but then she was enthralled by my presence.

            “We had dinner the next night, I went to church with her, I quit the band, we began dating, I got baptized, we got married, she cheated, yadda, yadda, yadda, we got divorced. On the plus side, her ultimate view of me as a neanderthal saved me a lot of money. Instead of getting half, she didn’t even get ten percent.”

            “Just how much are you worth?” Penny asked. Then she closed her eyes and held up a hand. “I’m sorry, that’s none of my business.”

            “No worries,” I grinned. “You’re worth half if you decide to marry me.”

            She threw another pillow at me. I caught it and with toes curled told her. “Twenty seven million last time I checked.”

            She gasped, and her eyes widened. After she processed this for a minute, she said, “Well, I guess I don’t need to worry about child support.”

            “Especially if we’re married,” I told her, attempting a charming smile.

            But she only frowned. “Why didn’t what you said about Elsa apply to Reese?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “You know, how you wouldn’t marry someone who would have you as a husband?”

            “Well, two reasons. I asked her after I quit the band and converted to Christianity. And second, after I converted to Christianity, I was convicted that I shouldn’t have sex outside of marriage. Forgive me if this is TMI, but I really like sex. That’s how I ended up allowing you to seduce me.”

            She reached for another pillow to throw, but there wasn’t one. So I threw the last pillow she threw at me back at her. She caught it and then marched over to me and began beating it over my head. It didn’t hurt.

            I grabbed her and pulled her onto my lap. Laughing, she said, “Arlo, careful, the baby!”

            I immediately let go of my grip on her. She laughed harder, then kissed me on the mouth. I kissed her back, then said desperately, “Penny, marry me!”

            She sprang off my lap as if I was on fire. She ran a hand through her silky dark hair and looked at me as if I was crazy. Maybe I was. “Arlo, are you nuts?”

            I went to her and pulled her into my arms. “Yes, for you.”

            “I can’t believe you’re willing to marry a second time on short notice.”

            “Short notice?” I laughed. “There’s a big difference between this and last time. The biggest is we’re having a child together, and I want to be a part of his or her life. So you and I might as well marry so we can make a sibling.”

            She laughed. “Actually I was already regretting that he or she wouldn’t have a sibling.”

            “Then we’ll start working on a second as soon as possible. After all your biological clock is almost out of time.”

            She shoved me but chuckled. “Thanks a lot.”

            We had an awkward moment where we just stared at each other. Then I asked, “Can we pray?”

            “Sure,” she said, and we knelt on the floor, facing each other. We held hands and I asked for a blessing on our child. I had mentioned that God knew our baby before he was even in the womb.

            When our prayer ended, a little miracle transpired. As we arose from our knees, Penny asked, “If it’s a boy, how about the name Jeremiah?”

            “Sure. Was it because of my prayer?”

            “Sort of. I thought of my grandfather, my mother’s father when you mentioned in the womb. He was a doctor, and he was my biggest inspiration on me becoming a doctor myself. Only he was a people doctor and has delivered many babies. His name was Jeremiah, but he went by Jerry. Anyhow, my mom was an only child, and it was family lore that she was supposed to be Jerry Jr. if she was a boy.”

            “Did you know that when I mentioned God knowing our baby before he was in the womb, I was borrowing from the book of Jeremiah?”

            “Really!”

            “Yeah, maybe he’ll be ordained a prophet to the nations as well. That’s what the rest of the verse says. Whatever his life course, he will be blessed because we asked, and God is faithful.”

            Penny’s face seemed aglow. Her eyes were misty, and she looked joyful. She hugged me. She was so natural. I inhaled her sent. No perfume, just her and maybe a hint of Ivory soap. Her warm breath declared something musical into my ear. “I love you, Arlo.”

            “I love you too, Penny. That’s why you should marry me. Soon, very soon.”

            She pushed away from me, her face still radiating joy. I’m sure her words back to me caused me to radiate joy as well, for they gave me hope. “Maybe I will.”

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 11

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 11

PENNY

FOR YOU FORMED MY INWARD PARTS; YOU COVERED ME IN MY MOTHER’S WOMB. I WILL PRAISE YOU FOR I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE. (Psalm 139:13, 14)

            “I can’t stand to be around you, Penny,” Arlo had told me.

            “Well hey, that’s just what every girl wants to hear when she feels drawn to a guy.”

            He laughed, but then sighed and ran his hands through his long blonde hair, causing his large biceps to bulge like softballs under his dark blue long sleeve dress shirt. A moment before he had declared my presence to be a nuisance as he had disconnected our faces, which had been joined at the lips.

            It had been four days since my sister snapped me out of my denial of pregnancy. It had been three days since my doctor officially confirmed that I was with child. It had been two hours since I had surprised Arlo by joining him at Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship. It had been one minute after we had sat down on bench down by Cotton Creek. The rippling brook was about a football field’s length behind the church. It was also exceptionally warm for late February.

            With my heart pounding, I opened my mouth to tell Arlo that he was going to be a father. But before my words could come out, Arlo stopped them by covering his mouth over mine. I didn’t resist, but after around sixty seconds of an extremely friendly mouth embrace, my pulse quickened for a different reason. But then he separated from me as if I was the devil. Who knows, maybe that wasn’t far from the truth.

            Although a professed Christian since I was a girl, my faith was more like an insurance policy, rather than a personal relationship with the Savior. Until the Lord used Arlo and Abby to open my eyes to Bible truths, my conversation during the judgement might have gone like this. “Haven’t I gone to church dozens of times every year? Haven’t I saved many animals from death and discomfort? Haven’t I devoted time and resources to animal rescue organizations?”

            And the response I received would have likely been “I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23).

            Arlo looked at me and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry Pen, that wasn’t very gentlemanly.”

            “Which one? Saying you don’t like to be in my presence, or taking liberties with kissing me?”

            “I actually love being in your presence! But due to your extreme loveliness, coupled with our night of passion, and coupled with my abstinence ever since that night, I feel tormented around you.”

            “It would be fun to end your torment,” I told him with a sultry smile. Keep in mind I wasn’t converted yet.

            “That doesn’t help,” he said with a smile. Then his face grew serious. “I was so glad to see you show up at church today. But were you there for me or the pursuit of God?”

            “Both,” I replied. Then I told him all about how I had been studying the Bible, and that I had read the three books Abby had given me. ‘Steps to Christ,’ ‘The Desire of Ages,’ and ‘The Great Controversy’ (between Christ and Satan).

            We talked about spiritual things for the next ten or fifteen minutes. Finally we reached a point in the conversation where I had both an opening and the nerve. “So Arlo, there’s something I…”

            “Hey kids,” A voice called, causing me to jump, and then making my jaw clench in frustration.

            It was the pastor. He was a man in his sixties, but lean and fit. He had a long white beard and was known affectionately as Captain Kirk. His name was Kirk Samson, and he had been a Chaplain in the army and was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain after a decade of service.

            “Why don’t you two come on up to the church basement? We’re gonna play Bible Trivia?”

            “That doesn’t sound fair, you’ll clean up,” Arlo replied with a chuckle.

            “No I won’t, son. I’ll be playing the role of game show host.”

            “What do you say, Pen?” Arlo looked at me.

            I didn’t want to be a party pooper. Plus the mood was ruined at the moment for me to reveal parentage news. “Sure, but I get the feeling I’ll be watching more than participating.”

            We made our way back to the sanctuary. I had worn a tan and white stripped dress with white tights, and toeless heels to church. But before Arlo and I walked down to the creek, I went to my truck and retrieved my hiking boots. Now back inside the church, I kicked them off and reached for my heels. I heard Arlo chuckle as he watched me.

            When I had changed into my hiking boots before the walk, Arlo had said, “Watching you walk in those heels was pretty intense.”

            “Yeah?” I replied with a coy smile.

            I had assumed he was admiring my attempt at femininity. But instead he declared, “Yeah, I thought for sure you were gonna twist your ankle.”

            I had stuck my tongue out at him then, but his chortle now was for a different reason. I discovered his amusement was centered on my shoeless feet. From my ankles to my toes, my white tights were stained with a brownish hue from my dirty hiking boots. “Oh no, my brand new tights.”

            “I guess you can take the girl out of the country, but not the country out of the girl.”

            “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “I mean that you’re better suited for jeans and flannel rather than dresses and pantyhose.”

            “Thanks a lot,” I said, tossing one of my heels at him. He dodged it and I threw the other. He caught it with one hand. “But jeans and flannel are more comfortable.”

            He knelt in front of me, apparently pretending to be a shoe salesmen, and attempted to put one of my shoes on my foot. “I can’t wear those with all the dirt stains.”

            He picked up one of my hiking boots and carefully placed it on my foot instead. Then the other. Then he grinned at me. “There you go princess of the outdoors. Nobody will even be paying attention to your feet.”

            He was right, for the next three hours they stayed under the table as we first played Bible trivia and then conversed. There were three other couples besides Arlo and me. Even though I was the only one at the table that had a doctorate, just as I figured, I was more of a spectator than a participant.

            However, I also was the only one under forty. With the exception of Arlo, all of the rest were also long time Bible believers. At sundown that late Saturday afternoon, the Biblical Sabbath ended (See Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31, 2:1-3), and the pastor closed out our little gathering with a word of prayer.

            Although I had enjoyed the fellowship, I also had anxiously awaited to get Arlo alone and tell him the news about my womb and what resided there. But my plans were foiled yet again. Arlo had offered to help pastor Samson work on the church’s sound system, and I could tell that it was going to be a while. So I left alone and went home.

            Getting together with Arlo Sunday was also out. Early that morning he flew out to California to take care of some legal matter first thing Monday morning. That week had been busy for me as well, and although Arlo returned Tuesday, we were unable to get together in person for a few days. The couple of times I tried to call, he didn’t answer, and I didn’t leave a message.

            Then I got a visit from my sister on Friday morning. She greeted me. “So apparently Arlo took the news of fatherhood bad?”

            “No, I haven’t had a chance to tell him yet.”

            “Well, he must know, because Eli’s concerned about him. He hasn’t come out of his room for the last two or three days. All Eli knows is it has something to do with parentage.”

            “You mean you told Eli that I was pregnant with Arlo’s child!”

            “No, no, no! I haven’t told a soul, I promise!”

            “Well, how would he be upset then? You, me, and my doctor are the only ones that would know about my pregnancy.”

            “Cross my heart, Pen. Maybe you should go talk to him.”

            Fortunately I had most of Friday afternoon off. Arlo and Eli were still staying at Mrs. Mendelbright’s bed and breakfast. It was the off season for her, and she was often cooking two meals a day for the pair. They were also paying her handsomely, and she was delighted! She said it was the first time she had made a larger profit in the off season.

            It was a large beautiful Victorian home. Although I was familiar with the location of the place, I had never been inside. It was like a combination of a historic old home and a hotel. I told Mrs. Mendelbright who I was and why I was there. She too seemed concerned about her tenant, and it only made me the more apprehensive.

            I could hear a TV inside Arlo’s room. I knocked three times, but there was no reply. I tried the door handle, and it was unlocked. I opened the door slowly and discovered Arlo laying on his back, fully dressed in jeans and a blue flannel shirt, mouth agape, and snoring softly. The old sitcom ‘Three’s Company’ was playing on the tube. I sat on the bed and took hold of his hand. He moaned, his eyes fluttered, opened, and turned their gaze on me.

            “Janet?” he croaked, gazing at me with squinted eyes. He looked at the TV and then back to me. “You’re not Janet, are you?”

            I glanced at the TV. I resembled one of the characters on ‘Three’s Company’ who was named Janet Wood. I wasn’t offended since she was pretty. Since I had let my hair grow out the last few months, from what my sister called a man cut, I had also recently been told that I looked  like Joan Jett.

            “Sorry to disappoint, Arlo, but it’s me Penny.”

            He sat up rubbing his bleary eyes. “Oh, hey, Pen. I’m not disappointed in the least. How’d you get in here?”

            “I knocked a few times, but apparently you were sound asleep. The door was unlocked, so I came in. I was worried about you.”

            “Oh?” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Why is that?”

            “You haven’t answered my calls, and Eli said you haven’t come out of your room for the last couple days.”

            “Yeah, yeah, I guess I’ve been in a funk,” he said, looking at me, and I could tell he was concentrating on focusing on my face. “You’re so pretty, Pen… I’ve been watching you on TV. There’s what they call a marathon of this show. I couldn’t stop watching because you look like you on it.”

            “Arlo, have you been drinking?”

            His eyes widened. “No, Pen… No I haven’t, but I’ve been sleep deprived all week.”

            “Can you tell me why?”

            “I’m no good, I’m no good,” he groaned, and then put his face in his hands.

            Was I in the ‘The Twilight Zone’? First I meet an older lady named Mrs. Mendelbright, who happens to be Arlo’s landlord. Just like a Mrs. Mendelbright was Barney Fife’s landlord on an episode of ‘Andy Griffith.’ Then Arlo, seeming like he was drunk due to sleep deprivation, starts declaring ‘he’s no good,’ just like I’m pretty sure Barney did on that same episode. Also, the actor Don Knotts, who played Barney, was on both ‘Andy Griffith’ as well as ‘Three’s Company.’

            “Arlo, Honey, why are you no good?”

            He lifted his face toward the ceiling, his face scrunched in pain. “Oh, Pen, it hurts!”

            “What hurts, Arlo?”

            “My soul.”

            “Why does your soul hurt, Sweety?” I soothed. I wasn’t good with terms of endearment. But my sister was, and I mimicked her form of speech that I had witnessed her use throughout the years, especially when she consoled someone.

            Arlo got out of bed and gulped down half a bottle of water. Then he said, “A couple of weeks ago, my ex-wife informed me that I was the father of a three month old little boy.”

            My whole body tensed, and Arlo pinched his nose and wept again. I just stared at him as my mind reeled. After a minute he continued. “I thought, wow, I have a son! But then I thought, wow, I don’t want to have to be involved with that betraying witch for the rest of my life. But I have a son! And I want to be a part of his life. Maybe I need to move back to California.”

            I was now so stiff with tension, I thought I might topple off of the bed. “So you’re moving back to California?”

            “No,” he said shaking his head, and snorting sarcastically. “Tt turns out he’s not my son after all. My ex claimed he was mine, because a DNA test determined that it wasn’t her current husband’s, with whom she was having an affair with while we were still married. But then a DNA test also determined that it wasn’t mine either. She discovered this the other day in my lawyer’s office. Then you wouldn’t believe what she started babbling to her husband.”

            Arlo was both crying and laughing as he shook his head. I gave him space, and then he continued. “That can’t be, he wore a condom, he wore condom. Her husband asked who and I couldn’t believe her reply. It was their pastor, the Reverend Bruce Simon. He was also the man who baptized me. I now feel like my baptism was illegitimate. Can you believe the Reverend that baptized me not only committed adultery, but with my wife!

            I noticed how when Arlo called Bruce Simon Reverend, he did so mockingly. Interestingly, Pastor Kirk Samson gave me a little lesson when I had called him Reverand at Cotton Creek last week. With a twinkle in his eye, and like a loving grandfather, he said softly. “Please don’t call me Reverend, my dear, for I am not worthy. Scripture declares in Psalm 111:9, King James Version, that Holy and Reverand is God’s name. You can call me Kirk, or some like to call me Captain Kirk, or if you like formality, Pastor Samson is fine also. Shoot, I’ll even answer to hey you.”

            I laughed, and thought, I like this guy!

            “I believe you deserve the respect of at least Pastor Samsom, Captain Kirk,” I said with a grin. With his long white beard, he reminded me of Moses, and with his self-deprecating humor and powerful sermon, my first impression of him was as a man with impeccable character.

            “I don’t believe your baptism was illegitimate, Arlo. The so called man of the cloth is the one that sinned. Also, Captain Kirk enlightened me on the title Reverend.”

            I shared with him the verse, and he seemed pleased despite the emotional pain he was dealing with. Then he gave me a quick scripture lesson along the same lines. “I do know that Jesus said in Matthew 23:9 that we’re to call no man on earth father. Of course he’s talking in the spiritual sense. He didn’t mean we couldn’t call our dad, father. But I did not know about the Reverend thing.”

            After a moment of silence, Arlo sighed and declared, “I deserve it.”

            “Why do you say that?”

            “All those years promoting evil in our band. Plus, I’m ashamed to admit, I fathered two abortions in the past… How ironic, as nihilist in a hardcore, hedonistic rock band, I gave no thought of exterminating my child’s life. Now I’m grieving the loss of what turned out to be a fictional child of mine.”

            “So is that what you’re mostly upset about right now? You wanted to be a part of your ex-wife’s child’s life?”

            “Yes, big time! I have a different world view nowadays. It seems like it was possibly my only chance at, what would you call it, heritage? Family? At least for a long while.”

            I was no longer nervous or hesitant about revealing his impending fatherhood. “Arlo, you can still be a father to a child.”

            “Are you out of your mind! You expect me to be a father figure to the child of my cheating ex-wife? Fathered by an adulterous pastor? Forgive me if that’s unforgiving.”

            “That’s not what I’m talking about,” I said. I lifted the old comfy purple flannel shirt I was wearing up to my chest, exposing my entire stomach. My faded blue jeans were unbuttoned because they were otherwise too tight on my expanded waist. Yet I honestly wasn’t trying to entice him sexually. “Our night together more than four months ago now. This the result.”

            If ever there was ever a stunned expression on a face, it was Arlo’s. His mouth gaped open, and his eyes were bulging from their sockets. After a moment, he gathered himself and stepped toward me. He put a hand on my lower cheek. Although it was warm, I felt goosebumps rise. He spoke quietly as his eyes welled. “So there’s gonna be a human being that is part you, and part me?”

            I nodded.

            “For real, and you’re sure it’s mine?”

            “For real, and there’s a one hundred percent chance my egg was fertilized by you. I told you before we ever made love that it had been half a year since a man had been allowed into my sacred spot. Just so you know, I haven’t even kissed a guy besides you since.”

            Then he went onto his knees in front of me, and kissed our child cocooned behind my flesh.

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 10

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 10

PENNY

  BEHOLD I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK. IF ANYONE HEARS MY VOICE AND OPENS THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN TO HIM AND DINE WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME. (Revelation 3:20)

            “So Penny, what was going on with you and Arlo last night?” my sister demanded with hands on her hips.

            “So Ariel, what was going on with you and Eli last night?” I replied, mimicking her hands on hips.

            She folded her arms over her chest, lifting her chin. “I asked first.”

            “Give me a break, what, are we kids again fighting over a doll?”

            “You didn’t play with dolls.”

            “I did so.”

            “Yeah, only to play doctor with them.”

            “And what did I become?”

            She snorted a laugh. “Eli and I were simply reminiscing of our time as teenagers. It was an innocent, nostalgic look at the stars.”

            “Yeah? As he hugged you from behind?”

            “It was cold. Now what about you and Arlo in a lip lock and a tight embrace?”

            “It was a friendly kiss.”

            “On the lips? I’ve never kissed a friend, male or female on the lips.”

            “Well, I guess I’m friendlier than you.”

            She laughed menacingly. “Yeah, Penny, ‘I hate people.’ Baldwin is friendlier than me.”

            I sighed and sat down behind my desk. We were in my office at the clinic I shared with two other vets. I was tired. Abby, our best assistant, quit with less than two weeks notice. Yet, I understood her situation, and we parted on good terms. The night before I slept poorly due to the uncertainty of Arlo’s  and my relationship. Then twenty minutes before my sister arrived, I lost a family’s beloved Cocker Spaniel.

            Although I had warned them it was a long shot, and although I try to stay detached from defeats in veterinarian practice, the moment had worn me down. I couldn’t stop a couple tears from my eyes. I whimpered, “I’m in love with Arlo.”

            “Oh Sweety,” my sister replied, pulling up a chair next to me, and taking one of my hands. My sister was a very empathetic person. She was right about me having a hard time liking people, although hate was too strong of a description. I think anyway. So just as a yawn often causes another person to yawn, my tears produced tears to emit from Ariel’s eyes. “Isn’t Arlo seeing Abby, though?”

            “That’s what I was talking to him about.”

            “And?”

            “When Arlo first showed up in town, he was hanging out with both Abby and me. But he had the Bible in common with Abby, and nothing is more important to him. I was jealous, and knew he and I had chemistry. So four months ago I seduced him… And it worked.”

            Ariel’s large brown eyes became even larger, and her mouth gaped in surprise. She whispered, “You and Arlo had… Sex?”

            I cringed, the word sex never sounded dirtier. But I didn’t feel that way about the passion between Arlo and me that night. So I declared, “We made love.”

            “I don’t get it, he’s so devout. He makes such a big deal about what day a person worships on. Yet he fornicates outside of the bonds of marriage?”

            “It’s not like that Ariel. All have sinned. He was devastated. He even tried to flee right before we, you know…”

            “You mean you had to talk him into it?” She frowned. Her words and expression made me feel like a tramp.

            “Let’s just say I persuaded him.”

            “How?”

            “Well sister, I may not be as striking as you, but I can still be rather sexy.”

            “Me more striking? Hardly! I’ve always been envious of how you can still look lovely even when you’re dressed more like a guy.”

            “I’ve always been envious of…” I pointed at her chest.

            “And I’ve always been envious of your perfect legs.”

            “Okay, we’re a couple hot sisters,” I said. But then becoming uncomfortable with the beginnings of a love fest, I teased, “Despite you being in your forties now.”

            “Yeah, well you’re not far behind,” she grinned. Then she grew serious. “So, after your night with Arlo, what happened?”

            “Nothing,” I shrugged. “I felt terrible that he felt terrible. I also knew that Abby had a thing for him, and that they were better suited for each other, so I stayed out of the way. Besides, I found it highly unlikely that Arlo would give into temptation again. And at the time I was mostly interested in him physically.”

            “So why did Abby give him a Dear John letter then?”

            “She confided in me that Arlo didn’t reciprocate her feelings for him. Also that he asked about me on a regular basis. Then last week she asked me about the few times I hung out with Arlo. I told her I began to avoid him so she could be free to win his heart. My seemingly selfless act moved her. So now she has switched things up so I could be free to be with Arlo.”

            “By the looks of last night it would seem that you are.”

            “It’s complicated. Due to religious convictions, we would have to be married before we would, um, well, you know…”

            “Have sex?”

            “Make love.”

            “Apples and oranges, my dear. So let me ask you this. How come you’re so willing to fornicate? Are all the times I’ve seen you in church just for Mom’s benefit?”

            “In all honesty, pleasing Mom plays a big part. But I’m also a seeker, and sanctification is a process that is the work of a lifetime. Besides, like you always say, we’re saved by grace.”

            “That doesn’t mean we’re free to do whatever we want.”

            “Oh really? So let me get this straight. It would be a sin for me to fornicate with Arlo. But it’s okay for you to worship on the day that religious systems appointed rather than the day God Himself  blessed and made holy.”

            “Once again, apples and oranges.”

            “I beg to differ. Sin is transgression of the law, says 1 John 3:4. And the Ten Commandments are the only part of the Bible that God wrote Himself. You can’t pick and choose which ones are necessary and which aren’t.”

            “I understand your point. However, you can’t compare getting naked with another person with what day you choose to worship on. You should worship God every day.”

            “True, but there is only one day that God set apart as particularly special and blessed. Malachi 3:6 declares that God does not change. So where do human beings get off on thinking they can change the law of God? Yet the Bible predicted that the religious system that ruled in the dark ages would think to do just that. Daniel 7:25 talks about this persecuting power that would think to change times and law. The Sabbath is both. And the Word of God predicted this many centuries before it happened.”

            “Well, it’s tradition now,” Ariel said with a shrug.

            “In vain they worship me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men. That’s Mark 7 verses 7 and 8.”

            She snorted. “It seems Arlo and Abby are turning you into a legalist.”

            “That depends on your reason for obeying the law of God. If you’re doing so just out of duty, then yes, you’re a legalist. But Jesus said in John 14:15, if you love Me, keep my commandments. So our motive to obey should be because we love Him.”

            Ariel’s mouth hung open and her arms were crossed defiantly across her chest. But then she forced a smile. “Look at you, Pen, you’re not only a DVM, but a Bible scholar as well. How did that happen?”

            I shrugged. “It has been a lonely few months, so I’ve been studying for myself the things Abby and then Arlo have been telling me. I guess you could say Abby had planted the seeds, and Arlo watered them.”

            Ariel changed the subject. “So what would you do if Arlo asked you to marry him?”

            “He’s not going to because we haven’t known each other all that long.”

            “That’s not what I asked. I asked what would you do if he asked?

            “I don’t know,” I replied and then bit my thumb. “But we’d need to see each other for a while first.”

            “Oh my word! My confirmed bachelorette sister would consider a husband?”

            “Whoever said I was a confirmed bachelorette? Just because marriage has never been a priority with me? I’d consider settling down with the right guy one day.”

            “And Arlo, former wild rock star, might be he?”

            “Doubtful, but never say never. Now it’s your turn, buckaroo.”

            “What do you mean?” my sister asked with wide innocent eyes.

            “You know very well what I mean. That backwards hug between you and Eli. I don’t buy for a second that it was just cold. Otherwise you wouldn’t have stepped out of it so quickly.”

            “Honestly, I was just reminiscing. My senior year of high school was the happiest time of my life, mostly because of Eli. But then it ended up the worst time of my life after he not only left town but left me pregnant.”

            “You know, last night when we saw each other, I swear it looked like Eli was about to kiss either your neck or cheek.”

            “Really?” Ariel asked, and then bit her thumb and began to stare at nothing.

            “Reminiscing my foot,” I suggested.

            Ariel snapped out of her trance and then laughed. “What are we… a couple of teenagers?”

            After she left, I took of my white lab coat and hung it on a hook. My t-shirt rose a couple inches, and I yanked it down in annoyance. I needed to stop snacking in between meals. I frowned, went to a mirror, and lifted my shirt. As I studied my midriff, Ariel walked back into my office.

            “I forgot my…” She started to say, and then froze. “Pen… are you… pregnant?”

            “Of course not,” I snapped, yanking my shirt back down.

            “Are you sure?”

            “Sure I’m sure. I think I’d know, being a doctor. I just need to go on a diet.”

            “When was your last period?”

            “I don’t know, a couple months ago. Look, the last couple years it’s been inconsistent. I think I’m perimenopausal.”

            “You know your night of passion with Arlo. Did he, um, wear a certain something when you two became one?”

            “No,” I replied quietly as I felt my face flush. Denial is a strange thing. “Do you really think I could be pregnant?”

            Ariel looked sympathetic, yet sarcastically said, “I don’t know, Sis, I’m not a doctor. But I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest Abby wasn’t the only one that planted a seed in you, albeit this being a different kind.”

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 9

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 9

ELI

THE LAW OF THE LORD IS PERFECT, CONVERTING THE SOUL; THE TESTIMONY OF THE LORD IS SURE MAKING WISE THE SIMPLE (Psalm 19:7)

            Life is a strange trip. The whole year I lived in Iowa as a seventeen year old, I could not wait to graduate high school and leave. But one thing that did give me contentment was my friendship with Ariel Grobstick. Then that friendship turned romantic right before Arlo and I fulfilled our plans to go west to pursue our dream of rock and roll stardom. I still remember those last words exchanged between Ariel and me as if it were yesterday.

            “I gave you my virginity!” she had told me with tears pouring out of her eyes. “You said you love me more than anybody on the planet.”

            “I do, I truly do, Ariel,” I pleaded, her words were like a knife in my gut. Yet the second part of my response displayed how cold hearted I was. “More than any person, Ariel. But my first love has always been music. I need to do whatever it takes to be successful, and the L.A. rock scene is the best place for that. Come with me.”

            “Why, so I can be your mistress?” she replied bitterly.

            “What do you mean? I would never cheat on you.”

            “You just said you love your guitar more than me.”

            “Ariel…”

            “Goodbye, Elijah,” she spit, turning and walking briskly away from me. I didn’t see her again for more than two decades.

            It was now midwinter in Iowa. Despite feeling like the frozen heartland was a prison as a teenager, I was now forty years of age and had been residing there for four months of my own free will. And I had never been happier in my life. It was all because of the instant family I had miraculously acquired by opening a letter one day.

            It had all turned out better than I had expected, but it hadn’t been without some challenges. First of all I needed to gain trust. Not only because I was a virtual stranger to my twenty two year old son, but also because of my rather crazy past as a wild rock star.

            Then two weeks before Christmas, Ariel’s second husband, who had been seriously injured in a scuffle with her first husband, died suddenly after suffering a stroke. Since Ariel had been the most skeptical of me upon my arrival, and since we had been lovers as teenagers, the death of her husband made me extra uncomfortable.

            Not long after meeting my son, we began jamming together. In other words we were creating music. He was a fantastic singer, and his wife was a superb drummer. When Arlo arrived, he took up the bass with us. Over the days and weeks, we evolved into a pretty tight little band and practiced three or four times a week.

            In the beginning of these sessions, Ariel was present every time. It was as if she was a mother hen making sure that I wasn’t a wolf. I can’t blame her. If ever a band’s record needed a parental advisory label it was ‘The Sons of Molech’. Even while a member of the band, I often distanced myself from the content, sighting that I wrote the music and Izzy wrote the lyrics.

            After the death of Ariel’s husband, she only joined us a half a dozen times when we practiced. On this day, in mid-February, she arrived with our five year old granddaughter. I tried not to notice how well Ariel filled out the black leggings she wore. Her dark hair with sprinkles of salt was pulled back in a ponytail. She rarely wore makeup, but this day a little mascara framed her large lovely brown eyes.

            In one hand Crystal carried the little guitar I had bought her. I typically gave her a five to ten minute guitar lesson before our band practiced. She was surprisingly good. Could musical talent be genetic? I knew little of such things.

            In Crystal’s other hand, she held a card. She shyly smiled as she shoved it toward me, using the name she called me, which I absolutely loved. “Here, Poppop.”

            “Thank you, Crissy,” I said cheerly as I opened it. It had a cartoonish picture of two kittens holding hands. Inside it asked, ‘Will you be my Valentine?’

            “I’d be delighted to be your Valentine, Sweetheart,” I told her as I spread my arms, She leapt into me for a hug.

            I glanced up at Ariel and she smiled happily at us. When we broke from our hug, Ariel handed another card to Crystal, took her guitar from her and said, “Go give this to Uncle Arlo.”

            I felt my toes curl. Not only at being one on one with Ariel, but I was fearful of how Arlo would handle a Valentine card. He was really into what he called primitive Godliness. Not only the Bible and the Bible only, which was great, but he also became a student of history, which was also great. Yet in my opinion, he took it too far, often preaching about the pagan origins of most of our holidays.

            But I couldn’t help chuckling when Arlo’s face lit up in exaggerated glee. Then he picked Crystal up and spun her around three or four times as she squealed with delight.

            Ariel pulled up a chair, sat, and strummed Crystal’s guitar a few times. “How about you give me a guitar lesson?”

            “Seriously?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

            “Sure, why not,” she replied with a shrug.

            “You never wanted any guitar lessons twenty years ago.”

            “I didn’t need any,” she said with a coy smile. “You paid attention to me back then without me asking.”

            Words got stuck in my throat. Was she flirting with me? It had only been two months since her husband passed away. Was there a timetable for grief and its extent? I suppose everybody was different.

            “Eli, will do me a favor?”

            “Sure, but let’s get a bigger guitar.”

             “I’m not talking about that,” she said with a little giggle. Then she became serious. “Will you please stop avoiding me, and tiptoeing around me.”

            “Am I?”

            “Ya think.”

            “Apparently not,” I said with a smile.

            Once again she giggled, but then became serious. “Before we, ya know,  made a baby, you were one of the best friends I ever had. Ever since our senior year, I’d look up at the stars at night and recall how wonderful it was sitting next to you gazing at the twinkling heavens and talking the night away. Now, to have you so close, and only to be avoided. It, well, hurts.”

            “I’m sorry, Ariel. I truly am. The truth is, I have been avoiding you. But its only because I hurt you all those years ago. I felt like my presence here only made things worse for you. I even thought about going back to California for a while right after Doug passed away. But selfishly, I have been enjoying getting to know Ethan and his family, and couldn’t get myself to go.”

            “Well I’m glad you didn’t go. I admit, I was skeptical when you first arrived back in October. But your presence has been a blessing to us all. Watching you bond with Ethan and Crystal has warmed my heart, and I never would have believed it possible.”

            “Really, why’s that?”

            “You have to ask? Sweet Eli Alderson became sinister Eli Endor. That whole ‘Sons of Molech’ thing was as if you left me and married a prostitute.”

            “I’ve come to realize over the last couple years how wrong my thinking and rationalizing was. But you have to believe me when I say I didn’t take the whole satanism thing seriously. I looked at our band like a traveling horror show, and I was an actor playing a part. Like Alice Cooper. You know he’s a Christian. And as far as I know, he still tours with his traveling horror show. As for me, ‘The Sons of Molech’ are done forever.”

            “It helps that half the band is dead,” she said.

            “Even if they weren’t, Arlo quit, and I was following on his heels. Now, writing Christian songs with Ethan… It feels redemptive. Like making amends for promoting that which was dark and evil.”

            “Where do you see this all going?” Ariel asked with an eager expression.

            I shrugged. “We’ve got enough songs to record a CD. Then who knows? Play some shows, go on tour.”

            The door to the church auditorium opened. Ariel and I both looked and watched Penny walk in. She hadn’t been to one of our band’s rehearsals in months. I noticed Arlo slink in the opposite direction. I wasn’t the only one tiptoeing around one of the Grobstick sisters. Although they both had different last names now.

            “What’s up with Arlo and Penny?” I asked.

            Ariel looked at Arlo. “What do you mean?”

            “She came in and he went to the other side of the room.”

            “So?” she replied with a shrug.

            “Oh, I don’t know. When he first arrived here in Iowa, not long after I did, they seemed awfully chummy. Then all of a sudden they don’t seem to want anything to do with each other.”

            “I do know he’s been seeing Penny’s assistant, Abby.”

            “Oh, I think they are just friends. He goes to church with her. They’re both into that Biblical Sabbath thing. He says the Bible and the Bible only, something like primitive Godliness.”

            “Primitive Godliness,” she snorted. “If Abby’s into something like that, maybe she should stop having one night stands while she’s engaged.”

            “What, you don’t believe she could repent and be forgiven?”

            “No, I do,” she said with a bit of a whine. “I didn’t mean to sound judgmental. It does seem like something weird is going on with the three of them, though. I know Penny had a thing for Arlo, but it seems he has more in common with Abby. Yet the two women have to work together.”

            “So what did Penny tell you?”

            “Nothing. She doesn’t talk to me about her love life. But I know my sister, and I observe… Speaking about the Sabbath situation, I wish you’d tell Arlo to stop brainwashing Ethan. Now he’s talking about going to that Seventh Day church.”

            “Brainwashing?” I chuckled. “They’ve just been studying together. I’ve even joined them.”

            “I guess Arlo is a fairly new Christian. I suppose he doesn’t understand the Sabbath was changed to Sunday in honor of the resurrection.”

            “He and I have discussed that. He says baptism is what honors the resurrection. He says Sunday keeping became a prominent tradition in the fourth century when Constantine made Christianity a legal religion. When that happened a bunch of the pagan traditions entered the church. One of them, the worship of the sun God, on the venerable day of the sun, was Sunday which became instituted.”

            “Look at you, Mr. Bible scholar,” she joked, yet I detected an air of annoyance.

            “He said the Bible says God doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). God wrote the Ten Commandments with his own finger, and the Sabbath is right in the middle (Exodus 20:8-11).”

            “But we’re not under the law, we’re under grace.”

            “Do we then make void the law through faith. Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. That is Romans 3:31.”

            “You’re freaking me out, Eli,” she with a smile. “I guess you’ve convinced me that you’re not a satanist.”

            “Hey, Ethan is not here yet, and it seems Crissy is more interested in playing drums right now. Are you really interested in a guitar lesson?”

            “Sure, why not?”

            “I’ve got an acoustic guitar out in my truck.”

            My Shelby Mustang was in storage for the winter, so I was just about to unlock the pickup truck I had acquired when Ariel came up behind me. She had a look of wonder on face as her eyes danced with excitement. “Eli?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Before we go back in, will you hold me like you used to, and we’ll look at the stars for a minute.”

            “Sure,” I replied with an easy smile. She turned and backed into me, and I wrapped my arms around her, so we were spooning. She turned her gaze toward the sky with a sentimental look on her face. I inhaled her scent, and was considering kissing her cheek, when we heard a murmur of voices. It was Penny and Arlo, over by her pickup truck. They didn’t see us. Ariel suddenly lost interest in the night sky.

            Penny retrieved something from her truck. It was an envelope, and she handed it to Arlo. “So you say she quit her job and is leaving town?”

            “I guess so… I’m sorry,” Penny consoled.

            “It’s no big deal, we were just friends. I did hope we could be more, but I just couldn’t…”

            “Couldn’t what?”

            “Get you out of my head,” he blurted.

            “Oh Arlo,” she said. Then she went to tiptoes and kissed his lips. Then she hugged him and pressed the side of her face onto his chest as they held each other. With her cheek pressed into Arlo’s chest, she spotted Ariel and me watching them. She quickly shoved away from Arlo. As soon as she did this, Ariel abruptly stepped out of my backward embrace. Then we all just looked at each other for a long speechless moment.

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 8

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 8

ARLO ALDO

WITH HER ENTICING SPEECH SHE CAUSED HIM TO YIELD, WITH HER FLATTERING LIPS SHE SEDUCED HIM. IMMEDIATELY HE WENT AFTER HER, AS AN OX GOES TO THE SLAUGHTER (Proverbs 7:21, 22)

            I felt Penny’s warm breath on my face as she spoke with her lips only an inch away from mine. “Arlo, Honey, do you have protection?”

            Penny implied carnal protection, as we had been on the verge of fornicating. But it spoke to me of spiritual protection, what was I doing about to fornicate? Penny and I weren’t married!

            “You’re right!” I blurted, leaping from her bed as if it were on fire. I grabbed my jeans, and hurriedly began to dress. Several scriptures passed before me like the scenes of one’s life before they die.

            The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, is not of the Father but of the world (1 John 2:16). Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts (Romans 6:12). Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Flee sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18). Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11). Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed (James 1:14). Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyes (Proverbs 6:25).

            “Right about what? Where are you going?” she asked with her lovely large brown eyes looking pleadingly.

            “I need protection,” I croaked.

            “Hold on.” she said. Once again, my mind was on spiritual protection. While her mind was on carnal as she opened her nightstand and pulled out a box of condoms.

            She glanced guiltily at me, but then scowled. “Don’t judge me. I’m not promiscuous. The last time I had a guy in here the snow was flying, and it’s now October.”

            “I’m not judging. I’m leaving.”

            “Oh great!” she said disgustedly. I didn’t know if she meant about me leaving, or that the box of prophylactics turned out to be empty as she shook it. Maybe both.

            “I’ll see you later, Penny. I’m truly sorry.”

            She sprang from the bed and grabbed my hand. “Arlo, come lay back down.”

            Her words and actions reminded me of Joseph fleeing from Potiphar’s wife. (Genesis 39:7-12). This recollection caused me to jerk my hand from hers. In the ambiance of the dim light I could see her jaw clench as she grabbed my hand back. “I’m not Potiphar’s wife!”

            Was it a coincidence that she spoke of what I was thinking? She pleaded. “I’m the woman whose strawberry milkshake shake you’ve been tasting for the last half hour. Remember?”     She went on tip toes and pressed her mouth firm against mine. Oh, I remembered alright!

            I look at the cosmic conflict we are doing battle with like balance scales. When you are drawn away by lust, the carnal side rises and the spiritual lowers. On the other hand, when you behold Jesus, pray, ask for the Holy Spirit to help you (John 14:26) and personally study your Bible, the spiritual side of the balances can rise to the top and bottom out the carnal. Thereby by living out righteousness by faith.

            James 4:7 instructs us to submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. And the devil can come to you in the guise of a naturally beautiful woman who desires you. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t do a thorough job of resisting her. Portions of those verses I recited may have passed through my mind, but not my heart. I didn’t ask the Helper, AKA Holy Spirit to help. Instead I satisfied my carnal instinct.

            I wanted to flee once the sexual indulgence was over. But Penny hooked a leg over mine, wrapped an arm across my chest, nuzzled her head into the crook of my neck and chest as she sighed with satisfaction. I was trapped! Sure, I could have flung her off like a rag doll, but we had just done the most intimate act that two human beings can do. I may have sinned, but I still needed to be a gentleman, even if I lay there wallowing in the vomit of my sin (Proverbs 26:11).

            “Arlo, I’m sorry,” Penny said quietly. “Guys aren’t exactly lining up to go out with me. But I’ve never coerced a guy like I just did you tonight.”

            “You didn’t put a gun to my head.”

            “It felt like it.”

            “It’s only because I want to live a righteous life.”

            She winced. “Not only did I beg a guy to sleep with me, I led him to betray his faith.”

            She didn’t mean to, but her words betrayed my faith like a knife in the gut. Somehow I forced a smile, and kissed her head, taking in the scent of her rose shampoo. She was like a basic, no frills model of a female. “I went willingly, Pen. You did not beg me. You’re a natural beauty I just couldn’t resist. You’re the most physically pure woman I’ve ever been with.”

            She lifted her head and looked at me. She smiled, but her eyes were watery. She kissed me. “Ya know, if you want to live a righteous life, you ought not lie. Now get out of here, ya big lug. But I do want to ask you one favor.”

            “Okay?”

            “Tonight was a one off so please don’t kiss and tell. But most important, give Abby a chance. I know she’s head over heels for you. I feel like I horned in.”

            I was stunned, and I didn’t know what to say. She was forcing a smile, but tears ran down her cheeks. I wiped them with my thumb. Did the woman I was in bed with just say I should pursue another woman she knew? The strangest postcoital I had ever experienced. And I was a rock star! Or had been.

            The next day I sat across from Abby’s pastor as he sat behind a desk in his office. His name was Kirk Samson. He had been an Army Chaplain for many years, honorably discharged with the rank of Captain. So most of his congregation affectionately referred to him as Captain Kirk.

            He stroked his long white beard, his intense blue eyes on mine as he listened to me relive the previous night with Penny. I actually wept as I finished talking, wiping my eyes as well as blowing my nose with a tissue the good Captain had given me. He leaned forward with his elbows propping him up on his desk. “Son, have you ever dropped the soap in the shower?”

            I frowned. Was he nuts? When I heard his sermon the previous Sabbath, I had never listened to such reason. I had never heard a preacher quote more Scripture. That’s why I called on him and was grateful when he made time to see me. Then after I pour my heart out, he asks if I ever drop the soap during a shower?

            “Of course,” I blurted, instantly regretting the impatience in my tone.

            “What’d you do?”

            “What do you mean what did I do? I picked it up.”

            “And then what?”

            Why did I just confess such a shameful thing to this virtual stranger? He had struck me as such a wise, Godly man the other day. But now one on one with him, it appeared he had a screw loose. “I continued on with my shower,” I said, placating him.

            “Son, you dropped the soap with the woman you were indiscreet with,” he told me. “Your tearful confession was picking it up. Now move on and keep getting yourself spiritually clean.”

            Okay, he was wise after all. He was just giving me an object lesson. A little parable if you please. He picked up a Bible on his desk, flipped through some pages until he found what he was looking for. He handed it to me and asked me to read 1 John 2:1. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

            “You may have violated the law of God,” Captain Kirk told me when I finished. He leaned forward, a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. “But by confession and repentance you have hired Jesus as your lawyer. Our Savior is so many things to us. Our Redeemer, The Prince of Peace, The Wonderful Councilor, The Bread of Life, just to name a few… But He is also our lawyer, and He has never lost a case!”

            “Thanks, Pastor, I needed that!”

            “Praise God!” the pastor smiled. Then his face grew serious. “Son, may I say something that might be out of bounds?”

            “I don’t know what you mean, but please say whatever is on your heart.”

            Those intense blue eyes looked cautious. “I assume the woman in your story is someone other than Abby. She told me you two were simply friends, and that she hasn’t known you long.”

            “No, Sir, it wasn’t Abby.”

            “Good. Now, I need to tread carefully here. When I council with people, it’s in the strictest of confidences. But in a case like yours and Abby’s, your relationships intertwine. So I know that you know that she has some quite serious issues herself.”

            “Yes, Sir, I do.”

            “Good. So please tread carefully with her.”

            “I will… Sir, did she tell you about my background?”

            He nodded. “That you were married a couple of years, but recently divorced.”

            I nodded. “Did she tell you how my wife and I met?”

            He shook his head, leaned back in his chair, laced his hands together, and clearly expected an unusual story. He got one. I told him all about her being with a Christian organization that was protesting outside one of our concerts.

            “So you were deeply involved in the occult?” he asked with a concerned frown. “How long and how deep?”

            “Well, almost twenty years. But how deeply involved, only God knows. I never took the actual… how do I put it? …religious aspect of devil worship seriously. I viewed myself like an actor playing a part in our band. The most egregious thing I ever did was in the beginning, before we had major success. I took part in a satanic ritual, where we, um, well, sold our souls for rock and roll so to speak.”

            “I see,” Pastor Samson replied as his frown deepened. “That’s very, very dangerous spiritual ground to have walked.”

            “I know, believe me, I know. I was nineteen years old. So at the time I looked at what we did like playing the Ouija board, you know, like a game.”

            “More spiritual danger,” Captain Kirk interjected. “The Ouija board is a game that is no game at all! People unwittingly invite the demonic into their lives when they mess with that.”

            “Yeah, I know. That’s why I never had true peace the whole time I was in the band. On the other hand, there was a lot to take my mind off of the danger. Money, fame, models for girlfriends. I didn’t party as hard or fornicate with a variety of women like the other guys. I was actually in a committed relationship for eight years.”

            “But you never married?”

            “Nope.”

            “May I ask why?”

            I chuckled. “I guess you could say I didn’t want to be yoked to someone who wanted to be yoked to a rock star from a satanic band. But with Reese, she’s my ex-wife, she wasn’t romantically interested in me until after my conversion. Ironically, we were married six months after we met. In eight years with Elsa, I never even considered proposing.”

            “Why caused your breakup with Elsa?”

            “My Christian conversion.”

            “What happened with you and your wife?”

            “When I became a Sabbath keeper, it didn’t sit well with her. But, to whatever degree, it was also a convenient excuse for her to start seeing another man she fancied. They married before the ink was dry on our divorce.”

            “How did your bandmates take your conversion?”

            “Izzy, the singer, leader, and the one who took satanism the most serious, hated me. He even told me he was gonna put curse on me. Kyle, the drummer, was too immersed in addiction to care much. Eli, the lead guitarist, and my best friend was happy for me.”

            I told him about how Eli was interested in God, but noncommittal. But that he had asked me to pray for him and was reading his Bible on a regular basis. I explained our history, and how it was actually here in the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area where we first met as seventeen year olds. I told him about Eli recently finding out that he has a son and granddaughter, and how we had been toying with forming a band with his son and his wife. I was quick to point out that they were Christians.

            Then I went rigid. Eli! What would he think of my Christian witness if he found out about Penny and me? Would he find out? Should I tell him? Or should I just wait to see if the ball dropped, and then humbly admit my indiscretion?

            I put my face in my hands and groaned. “Pastor, I have another dilemma.”