XLIII

KEEP THY HEART WITH ALL DILIGENCE; FOR OUT OF IT ARE THE ISSUES OF LIFE

(PROVERBS 4:23)

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA SALLIE GIRL PROPHETESS)

“I have a headache,” my brother Six declared. “I’m gonna take an aspirin and lay down on your bed.”

I immediately knew what he was up to. The two way mirror that was in my closet that looked into my study. I had been about to invite Salena, my former girlfriend of almost twenty years ago, into my home. She was also a woman that was pregnant with my twin brother’s child. My brother was a man who felt himself not good enough for Salena. At least as he sorted out his troubled life.

“Hi,” Salena said meekly when I opened the door. She had forced a smile onto her lovely face. Her big dark brown eyes looked sad. Her long black hair was piled in a bun behind her head. A loose strand ran along her jaw. Even after all these years, her beauty still gave me a jolt.

“Hi,” I said with a warm smile.

“Sorry to just show up,” she said with a sigh. “I needed to get away and I needed to see you.”

I frowned. She needed to see me? Since we became reacquainted a couple years ago, we had established a solid friendship. But I didn’t think it was so tight that she would drive three hours to see me. Her need couldn’t be romantic. I thought I made it clear that wasn’t going to happen. Or did I?

She and I exchanged small talk as I brewed us some relaxing herbal tea. As I led her to my study, I felt a sense of betrayal toward Salena knowing that my brother would be eves dropping. Yet I also thought it might be the only chance to bring Six to his senses and begin working on reestablishing a relationship with the woman he had impregnated.

Six had also became reacquainted with Salena two years previously. They then began to see each other weekly for “Bible studies.” I believe their studies were genuine, yet something else transpired between them that was carnal rather than spiritual.

Salena was very religious and a devout Christian. When she and I dated, we were never intimate because we were saving that for marriage. Then she broke up with me to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather. He was the wealthiest member of her church and took care of her very poor family. Jealousy had almost consumed me at the time. Yet I understood her difficult dilemma. Sort of.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but it was the residue from the green eyed monster that kept me from rekindling what we had after she found herself a widow. I still loved her. I still found her incredibly attractive. But I could not stand the thought of that sweet, beautiful, wholesome teenager losing her virginity to a man in his fifties. I don’t care if they did exchange marriage vows first.

Salena’s marriage produced three children. A girl and two boys. Her daughter and my daughter met at a family gathering. I ended up impregnating Salena’s cousin, and we married. Our girls were approximately the same age. The pair became inseparable best friends after meeting at a family gathering more than a decade after their births.

Then at the age of only fifteen, Salena’s daughter Anna died from leukemia. Less than two months later, my ex-wife died. It was a devastating duel blow for my sweet Sevenia. Her broken heart, shattered mine. The only good thing was that she came to live with me as a result. Life is indeed a strange mix of good and bad.

“So,” I said cheerily and hoped she wouldn’t detect tension in my voice after I glanced at the mirror as we sat down. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Why do you need to see me?”

Salena eased into her chair. She must have been five or six months along and was wearing a maternity dress. She kicked off her low heeled pumps in like manner to my daughter kicking off her shoes, and she crossed one leg over the other. Her toenails were painted candy apple red and perfectly matched her long fingernails. Even pregnant and depressed, she was still elegant and beautiful.

“I patched things up with Salena,” she said.

I frowned. “I didn’t know you two had any discord.”

“Figures she wouldn’t tell you about it,” Salena said with a sentimental smile. “The last time we were together, she and I had a major disagreement over some spiritual, biblical matters. It occurred to me after much prayer, study, and consideration, that she was in the right. So, I apologized, and, not surprisingly, she readily forgave me.”

“Wow, so this disagreement was of such a manner, you needed to ask forgiveness?”

“I behaved impatiently and angrily, as opposed to Sevenia’s typical, non-teenager like, patient manner. I think I knew she was in the right, but I was too proud to admit it.”

“I see,” I said, as I then wondered why she needed to see me rather than Sevenia.

“I want your blessing to stay here for a while.”

“Here?” I asked dumbly. “Well, of course, but Six is currently staying in the spare bedroom. We could set you up with Sevenia in her room. You could have her bed and I know she would be glad to sleep in her sleeping bag.”

“No, no,” she laughed. “What I mean is would you mind if I stayed a few weeks in this area, and checked out your church and studied with Sevenia. I’ve become intrigued with what she has repeatedly referred to as primitive Godliness. I thought that is what I have always had. But Sevenia’s gentle persuasions convinced me that I have been following a lot of tradition along with my Bible.”

“I see, like Jesus said, In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:9).

“Yeah,” she said with a sentimental smile. Probably thinking of the spiritual conversations we had when we were in love many moons ago.

“Once again,” I replied with throat clearing cough, “You are still welcome to stay here.”

“You say Six is staying here?” she asked with a solemn frown.

“He is.”

“He told me he was only going to stay here over night and then go to Florida. So he is still here?”

“He is.”

“I see,” she replied with a frown. “Has he gone somewhere?”

“He told me he wasn’t feeling well, and he is recuperating in another room.”

“Oh my,” she said as she put her hands to her checks. “Is it okay that I’m here?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” I replied. “He knows we’re friends. He’s also well aware that you are expecting his child.”

“Yeah, I know,” she sighed. “But he lost a lot of respect for me when I gave into sexual temptation with him. Understandably so. I mean we had well over a year of Bible studies as platonic friends. Then in one hour of weakness, I prove to be a hypocrite and a harlot. You see, after Anna died, I had started drinking a glass of wine every evening to help me deal with the grief of her death. Over time, one became two, two became three.

“Then Six showed up unexpected one day, and it happened to be on Anna’s birthday. I had had a whole bottle of wine. He joined me in quaffing a second. He got me laughing the way you used to. He replaced my loneliness and heartache with desire. My inhibitions were lowered, my standards clouded, and I kissed him back when he attempted to kiss me. One thing led to another, and…”

Salena waved her hands over the human being growing in her womb.

“It takes two to tango,” I replied, and then glanced angrily at the mirror.  “I always thought my brother to be a stand up guy. I’m stunned he took advantage of you in such a way.”

“Oh no, Seven,” Salena said as she touched my arm. “I’m in no way blaming your brother. It’s my own fault. In all honesty, it was his similarities to you that caused me to give in to him. Obviously, you two aren’t identical twins. But he was behaving in such a way that it seemed like you. When we were in the midst of passion, I even said your name rather than his. Even in my state of inebriation, it was so embarrassing!”

She blushed and smiled shyly, yet seductively. I felt my toes curl knowing that my brother was watching and listening.

“I’ve never stopped loving you, Seven,” she continued with a nervous intensity in her gaze. “I died inside breaking up with you to marry someone else. But my dad no longer had to work twelve hour days roofing. My mother no longer had to clean motel rooms. My siblings no longer wore secondhand clothes that didn’t fit right, and they all went to college fully paid.”

“I’ve never stopped loving you too, Salena,” my mouth said before my brain could stop it. This had been a regular occurrence through out my life. Our eyes were locked and the same chemistry we had when we were eighteen sizzled between us. I thought of my sort of girlfriend, Zella LaStella, and looked away from Salena.

“Well,” Salena sighed and stood. “I guess I better go.”

“Go where?” I asked as I also stood. “Are you driving back to Minnesota?”

“Oh, no, I have room at the Marriot tonight.”

“Where are your boys?” I asked, referring to her two teenage sons.

She sighed, and sat back down wearily. “They are going to be living with my parents for a while, maybe even permanently. They need a father figure in their lives and it will do them well helping my parents on their hobby farm. They both had begun to rebel after Anna died. Then when they found out I was pregnant out of wedlock, they ended up despising me. They…”

Salena began to cry. I reflexively came out of my chair and went to one knee in front of her. I tilted her chin up to look at me and spoke softly. “This too shall pass. I went a couple years with Sevenia not talking to me. Now we’re as close as a father and daughter can be.”

“But her anger had been based on lies,” she sobbed. “My children’s anger is based on my own sins and hypocrisy.”

“If Brit would have never confessed her lies, the lies would have been a reality to Sevenia. You may be going through a valley of darkness right now, but one day there will be light.”

I smiled reassuringly and gently brushed the wisp of hair off of her jaw. Our eyes locked again. Her eyes glistened with tears, but once again that pure love from our teenage romance shone in them. Was it shining in mine?

It must have been because the next thing I knew her lips were on mine. It was both strange and new, yet old and wonderfully familiar. I couldn’t help kissing her back and letting it linger. I heard a thump from behind the wall and reeled back.

“I’m sorry,” Salena said breathlessly.

“No, no, it’s quite alright,” I stammered. “It’s just, well, you know my friend Zella. My friend that’s a girl. I’ve been intending to ask her to marry me.”

“I see,” Salena said.

There was another thump and a scrap from behind the wall.

“What’s that?” Salena asked.

“Oh, I think Six might be getting up from his nap.”

“I better go,” Salena said as she quickly rose and rapidly walked from the room.

I caught up to her at the front door and snatched her hand. “Salena, wait.”

“I feel like a fool,” she moaned.

“Don’t,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile. “I’m really glad you are here. Salena will be tickled.”

She smiled sadly and nodded. “Six won’t be.”

“Let’s have a hug,” I said lightheartedly.

She went on tip toe and we embraced. The ease of our nostalgic kiss was gone. The hug was stiff and awkward as her pregnant belly pushed against my stomach. I walked her to her car. I invited her to supper, but she declined.

When I went back inside, Six was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at walnut top in a trance. He looked up at me and smirked. “That was quite a kiss you and your old friend shared.”

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “Indeed it was. A surprise trip down memory lane.”

“Well, now you know the main reason I can’t be with Salena,” he said with reluctance. “I seduced her by letting her pretend I was you.”

All I could do was nod.

“So,” he drawled. “You’re going to ask Zella to marry you?”

“No, I mean, I don’t know.”

“I’m leaving,” Six said. “I’m taking off for Florida in the morning.”

“What about your Bible studies with Sevenia?”

“What, you really think I want to study with her and Salena?”

“You used to study with Salena all the time.”

“Yeah, before I got her drunk and knocked her up.”

“Study separately. I’ll study with you.”

“Some other time, little bro. Right now I need time on the beach. A lot of time on the beach.”

I just nodded.

“By the way,” he said pointing at me. “Feel free to pursue Salena cuz she and I aren’t happening.”

“Neither is she and me,” I said boldly.

“Little brother,” he laughed. “If you could have seen the way you two looked at each other. The way you two kissed. You would be a fool to not yoke back up with her.”

“Oh yeah, with your bun in her oven?”

“Get over yourself. I thought your religion was about selflessness. You need to put aside pride and jealousy. This life, this world is far from perfect. Look at Brock and Destiny. She’s a former porn star.  Even though she’s a devout Christian now, thousands of guys are probably still looking at her films online. She was also the maid of honor for Brock  when he and the cop chick were marrying.”

“She was? I thought Nora Medora didn’t like her.”

He shrugged. “Read about it in Johnathan Ember’s e-book ‘Knight Storm.’”

“But I’m in love with Zella, I think.”

“Maybe so, but I think I understand your situation even though I’m a reprobate. Do you want to know what I think from where I sit?”

“Sure.”

“Say yes I do, sir.”

I laughed. “Yes I do, sir.”

“I think you are hesitant to be more serious with Zella because she hasn’t fully embraced your faith. I think you were hesitant to get next to Salena because you didn’t embrace her fire and brimstone faith. Now that she’s showing interest in your interpretation, you two end up kissing for the first time since you were teenagers.”

“She kissed me!” I protested.

“You didn’t exactly shove her away,” Six chuckled. “As a matter of fact, you kissed her back.”

“She’s pregnant with your baby, not mine,” I said.

“Well, you’d be a better father to your niece or nephew than me. Plus what she said was true. I was able to seduce her because I was reminding her of you. That hurts my ego to admit, but it is what it is. This may make you angry, but it broke her heart as much as yours when she ended your relationship back in the day. But she was putting her family first. Her marriage to the old fart gave her family much better lives.”

“I don’t mean this to sound bitter,” I said calmly. “But I always viewed her marriage as a form of prostitution. She didn’t love that man when they married. She wasn’t attracted to him.”

“I know by the time he died she loved him,” Six said and shrugged. “I know we may not like or understand what she did. But we also don’t know what it’s like to be a family of poor immigrants.”

Six and I talked for awhile longer. Then he decided he felt so uptight and restless, he wanted to leave for Florida post haste. A half hour after Six left, Sevenia arrived home.

“Where’s Uncle Six?” my daughter asked cheerily. “I hope he doesn’t mind being part of a group study on Bible prophecy. Destiny has two girls that want to study, one of them being the girl we just rescued. Salena also called and wants to study. Isn’t that great? And guess who else I just talked to who wants to join us? Zella LaStella.”

“Zella,” I replied dumbly.

“I think you know her,” she said with a big grin and a wink.

XLVII

SEARCH ME, O GOD, AND KNOW MY HEART; TRY ME, AND KNOW MY THOUGHTS

PSALM 139:23

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA SALLIE GIRL PROPHETESS)

“She’s quite a girl,” my twin brother Six said with a sigh and then took a sip of coffee as we watched my daughter get into her car. She was off to help Destiny Knight-Storm with a hard case. Some stripper had tried to kill herself and was now on the run from an abusive boyfriend.

Six and Seven are actually our legal names, albeit middle. Six’s given first name is Simon, and mine is Sebastian. Both of our names might as well have been reversed. I can’t remember the last time someone called us by our first names in a serious manner. Maybe an aunt, or our cousin Brock occasionally does out of jest.

“She grew up fast,” I said.

“I think she might have been born grown up,” Six said and took another sip of coffee. “Having a conversation with her, I feel like I’m the younger one.”

“I know the feeling,” I replied and laughed. I recalled how not even a half hour ago, she caught me eves dropping on her and my brother as I was using a two way mirror in my closet. She scolded me and said we would talk about it later. It felt completely like a parental reversal. The mirth left my face and I winced. “Listen, Six, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Okay,” he said casually as he sipped more coffee. “Shoot.”

“I, um…” I began and then paused as we stared at each other.

“You um what?” Six asked.

“Why don’t I just show you.”

I led my brother to my bedroom. I opened the closet door and waved a hand.

“Is that a window in your closet?” he asked with a frown. He stepped up close and looked. He turned around with a fierce scowl. He stepped toward me and shoved me hard in the chest with both hands. “You spied on Sevenia and me?”

I raised my hands in surrender. He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighed heavily, and bowed his head as his shoulders slumped.

“Sorry,” I said quietly.

“You’re sorry!” he barked, raising his head with his eyes shooting angry lasers into mine. “What right do you have listening in on a private conversation?”

“I don’t,” I replied meekly. (A soft answers turns away wrath Proverbs 15:1). “You know, when it came out that you and Charlotte had an open marriage, I felt protective of Sevenia.”

“What, like I might molest her or something?” he asked bitterly.

“No, no, I just wanted to know what was being said. What my innocent little girl might being hearing.”

Six grunted, slapped a hand to his forehead, and sat down hard on the corner of my bed.

“Come on, Six. I’m not gonna tell anyone.”

“Yeah, right! You’re a professional blabber mouth!”

“Oh, like I’d say anything on my podcast.”

He arched an angry eyebrow at me.

“Or anyone else,” I said. “I promise.”

We had a long moment of awkward silence. Six sat completely still and somber.

“Listen, Six, I know you are uncomfortable having me know your secrets. I…”

“Do you!” He interrupted. “Despite how acceptance of alternative lifestyles has progressed in our culture, I never wanted to be out of the closet. I loved the secret Charlotte and I had. I got off on the fact that the world thought she was a beautiful woman. I don’t know how most bisexual men think, but for me, Charlotte was a dream come true. Even though I fell in love with Salena, and Charlotte and I talked of divorce. One of the main reasons, I, I…”

Six groaned and put his face in his hands.

“Look, Six, just like Sevenia told you. Knowing your secrets makes me feel closer to you.”

“Yeah, right,” he said, looking up and glaring at me, his right hand curled in a fist. “Why do I believe your daughter, but not you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked dumbly.

“If you have to ask,” he replied with a defeated tone.

I considered, not for the first time, how I might appear to family and old friends. Party animal, sarcastic, jokester, troublemaker, as a teenager. Married know it all holy roller in my early twenties. Divorced, boozehound, back sliding skirt chaser by the time I turned thirty. A multimillion followed broadcaster who exposed dirt and corruption on everyone.

Now I was a recommitted Christian as I rapidly approached forty. I still had a podcast, but I had lost a large percentage of listeners because I was no longer “sensational.” So I was still a wordsmith for a living, yet I groped for the right words to say to my own twin brother.

“Listen, Six, nobody will know your secret but Sevenia and me, I promise,” I said with a stammer.

“Yeah, well, what about Charlotte’s murder case? What if the detectives and medical examiner reveal to the media the truth of Charlotte? After all my twin brother is famous.”

“Not so much anymore,” I replied. “I lost most of my followers when I changed my format two years ago.”

Six snorted and shook his head. “You’re still not getting it. I guess, if the rest comes out, it doesn’t really even matter. According to your religion, I’m lost anyway.”

“That’s not true,” I barked. “My religion is always about hope. If you’re truly trying to follow Jesus, he will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5 ). Also, He that began a good work in you will finish it (Philippians 1:6 ).

“Oh yeah, little brother,” my twin who was born first barked back even louder. “You are such a (profanity) hypocrite! You even have broadcast to millions, albeit in a subtle way, your escapades. Now my secrets are, are…”

Six put his face in his hands and groaned.

“You’re right, I am a hypocrite,” I said. “Or I was, I hope.”

He slowly lifted his head and looked at me. “What?”

“My sins are far worse than yours,” I said boldly. But then I quoted a Bible text that was more powerful about confidence in God. “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16).

My brother looked at me with a stunned expression. “Are you just saying that to sell me?”

“The only thing I’m trying to sell you is the way, the truth, and the life,” I said. (John 14:6) “And that’s Jesus Christ, the only way to salvation. The only path out of this dismal planet of death.”

We stared at each other for a long awkward moment.

“So you’re not judging me?” Six asked.

“Me?” I asked incredulous. “How can I possibly judge you, big bro? I’ve been the chiefest among sinners.”

“Wow,” he said quietly. “You really have changed.”

“What do you mean?” I asked with a frown.

“I mean, we’re not just brothers, we’re twins. I know what you are really like. When you became a religious zealot when we were, what, twenty, I wanted to shoot you. You were so incredibly annoying. But now you’re, ah, you’re, well, you’re actually like your daughter.”

“What’s my daughter like?” I asked, even though I knew any Christian father would love to see the Christ like character I see in my daughter. But as her father, I might be bias. I have been the most arrogant of men in my lifetime. I’m beyond humbled to claim my sweet Sevenia as the fruit of my loins. But I wanted to hear what my, and I say this gently, hedonistic twin brother had to say about her.

“She blows my mind,” he said softly. “She’s so sweet, wholesome and innocent. Yet she seems to have the wisdom of a grandmother.”

“So you think I have the wisdom of a grandmother?” I asked lightheartedly with raised, hopeful eyebrows. He started laughing and I immediately followed. Then he quickly switched to sobbing.

“I’m such a,” he began, and then listed a string of profanities. Then finished with, “I miss Charlotte so much.”

I put my arms around him and pulled him into myself. “I love you brother.”

When he finished crying, he looked at me in a daze. “Who are you?”

“Seven Sallie, the one who grabbed your heel as we left the womb. Like Jacob and Esau.”

“Who?” he asked with a frown.

“You know, from the Bible book Genesis.”

“Oh yeah, Jacob’s the father of Joseph. The dude with the coat of many colors.”

“Right.”

“It’s kind of funny. I’ve met countless Jacob’s in my life,” my brother said. “But never an Esau.”

“Me neither. Yet Jacob had his own faults. But he persevered. Then we have the story of Jacob’s ladder.”

“But wait a minute,” Six said with a scowl. “I’m Esau in this scenario.”

“You don’t have to be,” I said cheerfully. “This is the modern era. Either good times or the end times are around the corner.”

We both laughed, and then my phone chirped with a new text right when I was about to explain to my brother why we might be close to the second coming of Christ. It was from my first love of almost two decades ago, and my brother’s recent fling who was pregnant with his child.

“Why the consternation on thy face?” my brother asked jovially.

“Salena’s in my driveway.”

The mirth left my brother’s face as he swiped at a lazy tear and glared at me. “Did you invite her here?”

“No, No!” I said, and then winced. “But she has called me numerous times. She’s distraught Six. She’s having trouble with her teenage boys, she’s pregnant, and for some insane reason, she’s worried about you.”

“God help me,” Six said as he hung his head. He groaned and he put his face in his hands.

“Hey, you’re learning to pray,” I said happily.

He looked up at me incredulous, laughed and then hugged me fiercely. “I love you, little brother!”

XLVI

THOU WILL KEEP HIM IN PERFECT PEACE, WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON THEE

(ISAIAH 26:3)

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

My brain whirled with chaotic thoughts as I drove to the Storm residence. It reeled from the heavy conversations with my Uncle Six about his murdered wife and their hedonistic lifestyle. Now Destiny wanted me to accompany her and Brock to see a young lady named Talia.

She was a stripper, or maybe, I guess, a former stripper now. Destiny had been ministering with Talia for months. It seems she had attempted suicide and was hiding from an abusive boyfriend. I had only met her once, but apparently she wanted to see me. I prayed and put Isaiah 26:3 into practice.

“Hey, kiddo,” Brock greeted as he let me into their house. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” I said, a little surprised. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh nothing, you just seem a little distressed.”

I forced a smile and shrugged.

“Hey, do you know what you call a grizzly with no teeth?” he asked.

“What?”

“A gummy bear.”

I laughed, and then for some reason felt like crying. Before I did, I hugged him. “I love you, Uncle Brock.”

“Well, I love you too, Sweet Pea,” he replied as he gently patted my back. “Thanks for coming with us.”

Brock isn’t really my uncle, but he’s my dad’s cousin. The weird thing is, he looks more like my dad than my dad’s twin brother. Only Brock is much bigger, burlier, and rougher looking than my dad. Except his eyes. Brock’s light brown eyes are warm and calm while my dad’s eyes tend to be serious and intense.

“I’m glad to,” I replied. “But I don’t really understand why Talia wants me to come. I only met her once.”

“In all honesty, it’s Dee.”

“Huh?”

“Dee wants your Godly atmosphere in situations like this.”

“She does? What about her own? She has led so many troubled girls to Christ.”

“But you’re the girl prophetess,” he grinned as he spread his massive zero fat arms.

“It makes me feel uncomfortable when people call me that.”

“You’re just being humble.”

“But Dee is one of my mentors.”

“You’re one of hers.”

“What! I’m only seventeen.”

“Seventeen going on,” Brock said and looked at the ceiling as he rolled a hand. “Well, a much older age wisdom wise.”

“Wisdom wise?” I replied with a frown, and then smiled. “Thank you though.”

“Hi, Sweetie,” Destiny blurted as she galloped down the stairs of their old farmhouse. She gave me a fierce hug and kissed my forehead. I hugged her back, realizing I would do anything for this woman. What Brock just told me made me feel both humbled and honored. “Ready to roll?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied meekly. “I guess.”

“Let’s pray first,” Destiny said and the three of us bowed our heads.

I would have felt uncomfortable driving into the neighborhood where Talia was staying with a girlfriend if Brock weren’t with us. The address Destiny was given was the top half of a rundown duplex. Talia opened the door and greeted us with a timid smile. Her hair was dyed jet black, and she had a big bandage around her right wrist. The room smelled like cigarettes, coffee, and sausage. We sat around a greasy kitchen table and Talia explained her situation.

“I didn’t actually try to kill myself,” she said with a tired sigh. “Chad, my boyfriend, was trying to pimp me out. This creepy old rich guy was on his way over to our place to have sex with me. If I tried to leave, he would have beat me. If I stayed and refused to go to bed with his Jon, he would have beat me. In desperation I slashed my wrist. I tried to balance my cuts between not enough to kill me and enough to have to go to the hospital. He’s still going to beat me when he finds me, but at least I bought some time to possibly get away.”

“Come stay with me and my husband,” Destiny said as an order. “We’ll help you get away from this abusive boyfriend and start a new life for yourself.”

“You don’t understand. Chad will find me eventually. He’s a big, mean guy. He won’t take my disloyalty lightly. I can’t put you guys at risk.”

“You haven’t met my husband, have you?” Destiny asked.

“I don’t believe so.”

“He used to be a high paid bodyguard. Come to the door with me, Sweetie.”

Destiny called Brock on her phone. The three of us went to the door. Brock got out of his car and ran up to us urgently. “What’s up?”

“Oh, yeah, um, Chad is almost as big as your boy, but not ripped like him.” Talia said.

“Plus my guy is a martial artist and he has guns.”

Brock frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Honey, have you met Talia?” Destiny asked her husband.

“I don’t believe so.”

Destiny made introductions.

“Honey, Talia is on the run from an abusive boyfriend. Would you mind if she stayed with us until we get her life situated so she can have a fresh start?”

“Of course not,” Brock replied as he gave Talia a friendly smile. “Do what you have to do. Talia, trust me, it wouldn’t be the first time Dee had someone in your situation stay with us. If you’re at our place, no one will hurt you. ”

“We’ll help her gather up her things then,” Destiny said happily with a clap of her hands.

“I’ll be back to help you carry stuff down,” Brock said. “But I need to call Captain Kirk back. We were in the middle of a conversation when you called me.”

Talia watched Brock in awe as he walked back to the car with the grace and power of a lion.

“Is he for real?” Talia inquired.

“What do you mean?” Destiny asked.

“Well, he’s built like The Rock, but he speaks more like he’s Mr. Rogers.”

Destiny laughed. “I’ve never heard anyone compare Brock to Mr. Rogers, but I see your point.”

“Does he have the, um, meanness in him to handle someone like Chad? I mean if it came to a confrontation.”

“Oh, trust me. When there’s danger, Brock has a switch. I wouldn’t call it meanness though. Confidence maybe, or aggression.”

Destiny proceeded to tell Talia how Brock had saved her from being raped and possibly murdered. Then she told her how they became reacquainted a decade later and eventually fell in love. (Their story is documented in the e-book by Johnathan Embers called ‘Knight Storm.’)

“So he’s never hit you?” Talia asked with a puzzled expression.

Destiny looked stunned for a second, and then a look of warmth appeared in her eyes. “No, never! I’ve never even thought once he might even be capable of doing me harm. Just the opposite. Brock’s always made me feel safe.”

“That’s the way it should be,” Talia said quietly as she quickly swiped at tear.

“And I hope he makes you feel safe during your stay with us, Sweetie,” Destiny said with a gentle smile.

Although I didn’t feel like I contributed much to rescuing Talia, a powerful lesson was driven home to me. It was witnessing just how much Destiny and Brock were a team. How much their love for each other and mutual love for God strengthened their souls.

I had been tempted to discouragement. I was still having flash backs to my attempted rape just a few months ago. Today as my mind spun taking in Talia’s situation, and before that being my Uncle Six’s confidant, I kept longing to be at Cottonwood Creek. Listening to the rippling water and talking with Branch as we watched the sunset.

I had been so wishy washy with Branch, and he had been so patient, never pressuring me. People call me a girl prophetess simply because I’m wholesome and have an interest in Bible prophesy, especially the books of Daniel and Revelation, along with religious history. Yet pride can be insidious. All the time I thought that I should be independent and that I don’t need a partner in life because it might impede me from doing all I can to minister to others was arrogant. Yes, to be solo in ministry might be right for some, but I was discovering maybe not for me.

“Lord, I’m sorry,” I whispered as I sat in my car after exiting the Storm residence. “Help me to be emptied of self. Please give me wisdom and direction.”

I took a deep breath and sighed. I opened my Bible. I could not count the times the Lord has shown me something I needed for the moment as I opened his Word. In seconds, Ecclesiastes 4:9 seemed to jump out of the page at me. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

After pondering this verse for a minute, I turned to Genesis chapter 2 knowing what I would find. My eyes went to verse 18. ‘The Lord God said, it is not Good that man should be alone.’

“Me neither,” I croaked as I texted Branch. I had my own chance at having a Brock Storm and I was blowing it!

I grinned from ear to ear when I read his reply two minutes later.

‘I’d love to meet you at Cottonwood Creek.’

XLV

FOR WITH WHAT JUDGEMENT YE JUDGE, YE SHALL BE JUDGED

(MATTHEW 7:1)

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Maybe I shouldn’t have burdened you with this,” Uncle Six said, causing me to jump and my eyes fly open.

 He had stepped out of my dad’s study room with a phone call, saying it would only take a minute. I assumed that meant five or ten minutes, but it must have only taken thirty seconds. I had actually relished the opportunity of a few minutes to get my head around my uncle’s revelation that he was bisexual and my Aunt Charlotte was transsexual.

“No, Uncle Six,” I said shaking my head. I crossed one leg over the other and smoothed my skirt. “Like I said before, it makes me feel even closer to you knowing we can talk about this stuff. Please continue. You were telling me that you and your boyfriend went to dinner and you met Aunt Charlotte for the first time.”

I noticed he winced when I said you and your boyfriend. He corrected me. “Former, sort of boyfriend.”

“Right,” I replied as I recalled him also telling me he couldn’t get comfortable being romantic with another man. “So go ahead with your story.”

“So Jesse tells me that Charlotte and I were perfect for each other. He said that believe it or not, as smoking hot female she looked, Charlotte was a male between her legs. Also, nobody in the Twin Cities knew that Charlotte used to be Charles. Her dream was to live as a woman with nobody knowing her secret. And if we were together, I could remain a closeted bisexual.

“When Charlotte and I met, her mostly complete transition was new to her. Although she received a lot of male attention, she was hesitant to date because she was so afraid that what was actually under her skirt might be discovered. She also didn’t know how to divulge her secret before a prospective date, or if things started to get serious. She feared how she would tell a heterosexual man that she actually had, you know.”

I nodded.

“So Jesse told her about me and she wanted him to introduce us,” he continued. “Hence having dinner at the restaurant where she worked. We went out for a few drinks after she got off that night. We clicked like you wouldn’t believe. It also turned out that she had a second job working part time at a funeral home owned by the same funeral home where I was apprenticing. But different locations. It just seemed like we were meant to be. We ended up spending the night together and have been together ever since.”

“So how did the fact that she had, a, um, you know,” I asked awkwardly. “How did that get her killed?”

“Oh yeah, our open marriage,” Uncle Six said, followed by a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t what most people probably think. It only occurred maybe once a year on average.”

“Only,” I said sarcastically and instantly regretted it. I gave him a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

“You’re fine,” he said with a lighthearted chuckle. “So after we had been together a little over a year, we got married and she really  gained confidence as a woman.”

I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I simply couldn’t get my head around Aunt Charley, secretly being Uncle Charley. It was simply bizarre to me. I’m not being judgmental when I say this. This news did not change how much I loved her. It’s just that not even once in the years I had known Aunt Charlotte did I ever think, gee, I wonder if Aunt Charlotte was born a boy.

“She was still waitressing part time back then,” Uncle Six continued. “And one day she was telling me that a prominent player on the Minnesota Vikings had come in and sat in her section three Mondays in a row. She had Mondays and Tuesdays off from the funeral business. I then told her that the wife of our boss made a pass at me. That’s when our arrangement began. I suggested she fool around with the football player if I could defile our bosses wife. We both agreed that going forward, we could fool around with other people on occasion, as long as it was a one-time fling. No more than twice.”

“Wasn’t she afraid of getting found out?” I asked.

“Well, she was pretty confident by then,” he replied. “Plus, she didn’t go all the way. She would just, you know, fool around. She would…”

“I see,” I interrupted because I really didn’t want to see or hear my uncle describe sex acts. “I get the point. Please continue with why she was murdered.”

“Now, to make a long story short. Fast forward to two years ago. I started seeing Salena. At first it was to see if I could seduce her, but we really clicked as friends and I actually enjoyed studying the Bible with her. Charlotte misunderstood Salena and me, and she became jealous even though I promised her that we weren’t having sex. We started to fight a lot every time I planned an encounter with Salena.”

“Were you guys actually gonna divorce?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I was confused. In some ways I’m even more confused now. But anyhow, I guess to retaliate, she began to regularly see the guy who ended up killing her. Anyway, he found out she wasn’t all woman if you catch my drift, and he was also homophobic. I think you know the rest.”

“So that’s why he killed her?” I asked with a dazed expression. “It wasn’t over jealousy at being dumped. It was because he found out he’d been fooling around with a shemale. Is it okay to use that term?”

“It is with me,” he shrugged.

“I don’t want to unnecessarily offend,” I replied. “These days if you call something immoral, it might be considered a hate crime. Like my dad always says on his podcast. The majority of people with coexist bumper stickers should have a qualifier sticker that says, but you need to agree with MY views.”

“So you think being a shemale is immoral, I take it?”

“For me it would be.”

“But not for me?”

“To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is a sin,” I replied. (James 4:17).

“So if I don’t see it as sin, it’s not sin then,” he said.

“Be careful, Dear Uncle, to neglect to seek God in the first place is as dangerous to your soul as seeking and ignoring.”

“What if I don’t buy into a supposed Holy book that was written two thousand years ago?”

“Uncle Six, if you read the Word of God and then ignore what it teaches, that’s between you and God. I don’t want to appear like I’m being judgmental, but let’s take your marital arrangement for example. Even if a couple agree it’s okay to see other people, that doesn’t change the fact that it is adultery. However, due to your mutual agreement, it didn’t seem to cause the hurt and bitterness the sin of infidelity often does. Until recently that is.”

Uncle six winced at my bluntness, and I was about to apologize when he became testy. “Fair point. But are you gonna tell me it’s a sin for a person to take female hormones?”

“Uncle Six,” I said softly. “I have nothing but love and sympathy that Aunt Charley was, um, uncomfortable being male. Yet I believe if she would have taken her issue to God rather than a person or persons, she might have done things differently.”

“How do you know she didn’t?” He challenged with hostility in his eyes.

“I don’t,” I replied meekly. “And that’s precisely why we are not to judge.”

“How does a saint like you understand what it’s like to deal with real, powerful sexual desire?” My uncle asked angrily.

“How do you know I don’t?” I replied calmly. “Seems judging can go both ways. No pun intended.”

My uncle frowned and then asked. “Have you and Branch…?”

“No! Not until we’re married.”

“So you are gonna marry him one day?”

“No! I mean, I don’t know.”

“Have you kissed him?”

“Yes.”

“Deeply?”

“Yes, a couple, maybe a few times,” I stammered.

“Any touching?”

“Uncle Six!” I replied as I felt myself blush and my rear end start to rise off of my chair. “No. As a  matter of fact, we decided to not do anymore, um, kissing even. I mean other than quick pecks hello and goodbye. But then we stopped doing that when I decided, well, I mean, right now we are platonic friends with the possibility of more one day. That is after we get married. I mean if we get married.”

“I see,” he said, eyeing me skeptically. “So you’re gonna tell me you had powerful desires to have sex with him?”

“I did,” I replied boldly, even though I felt my face’s color deepen some more and my toes curl.

“Forgive me for doubting the strength of the power drawing you, dear niece, to fornicate.”

“Are you saying your temptations are stronger than mine?”

“Possibly, I believe that is so,” he said with a satisfied glint in his eyes.

“That’s not fair.”

“It isn’t?” he asked heatedly, and then sort of altered the subject. “You Bible thumpers hate gay marriage and a woman’s right to choose what they can do with their bodies.”

“Our bodies are the members of Christ and the temple of the Holy Ghost. We’re to glorify God in our bodies.” (See 1 Corinthians 6:15-20).

“But I’ve always been able to do what I want with my body,” Uncle Six said cynically.

“Yes, of course, due to free will. God wants service out of love. He’s not going to force you to choose between your penis and Him. You have to decide for yourself. Choose this day who you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15)

My Uncle looked absolutely stunned at me using the technical term for male genitalia. We both stared at each other for a long uncomfortable moment before I finally spoke again.

“To truly follow the Bible requires discipline. Disciple is actually a derivative of discipline. When you’re disciplined in God’s word, this brings righteousness. And unrighteous people are often disturbed by righteous people. The main reason Jesus, GOD WHO WALKED THE EARTH! Was tortured and murdered! Was because people, mostly religious leaders, were threatened by His Holiness.”

He snorted and shook his head. “Bunch of hypocrites.”

“Uncle Six,” I said quietly as tears started flowing down my cheeks. “The Holy Bible is where we find salvation, the church is just a by-product. I know you are cynical with the hypocrisy of religionists, I am as well. To a large extent you are correct. Just as religionists put Christ to death, religionists will attack God’s remnant people before He comes back.”

“But you’re the most religious person I’ve ever met,” he laughed sarcastically, but not bitterly. “So your own kind is gonna put you yourself to death?”

“Yes,” I said simply, and gave him time to ponder my answer.

I thought of the chaos of the 2020 pandemic and both sides of political lines. The racial injustice problems. How quickly people fell into obeying what the authorities told them with covid 19 . I’m not saying they shouldn’t have. Quarantining and wearing masks didn’t cause disobedience to God. But when the day arrives when the powers that be require you worship, or pretend to worship in a certain way, they have overstepped their boundaries. Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth doesn’t force worship, how dare man!

“How?” He asked after a minute.

“Prophecy tells us that there will come a day when people on earth will not be able to buy or sell unless they have the mark of the beast. In that time you will either have the mark of the beast or the seal of God.”

“You’re talking about the tribulation after the rapture, right?”

“The rapture is a false doctrine, you won’t even find it in the Bible,” I said.

“So what about your Pastor and the book I just read? How do I know that’s not false doctrine?”

“For one thing, his teaching about the war in heaven and the fallen state of mankind is admittedly theory and speculation. The rapture is taught as a fact. When you compare the rapture to a thorough examination of prophecy, it’s not even a good theory.”

“You’re starting to convince me,” my uncle said. “So, let’s put my past to rest for now and focus on the future.”

“Great, let’s get out our Bibles.”

My phone rang and caller id told me it was Destiny. I let it go to voice mail, but she immediately called again. I answered.

“Hi, Sweetie. Are you busy?” Destiny asked with a quiver in her voice.

“I was about to have a Bible study with Uncle Six, why?”

“Can you postpone it?”

This had to be important. Dee would never, ever ask me to postpone a Bible study with Uncle Six if it wasn’t.

XLIV

JUDGE NOT, THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED

(MATTHEW 7:1)

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Can you keep a secret?” My Uncle Six asked me before we even sat down across from each other in my dad’s study.

“Sure,” I replied with a frown.

Then my uncle groaned and pushed the palms of his hands over his eyes and bowed his head. His elbows propped on his knees. I noticed the dark circles that had been under his eyes when we had met here two days previous had only deepened. Instead of revealing his secret, he became still and quiet.

“Did you read any of Pastor Samson’s book?” I asked quietly.

“Yes,” he replied, his head popping up so quickly I gave a little start. “I read the whole thing. As a matter of fact, I was up all night after you gave it to me. That’s why I was dead to the world when we were supposed to study yesterday. Sorry.”

“No worries,” I said with a shrug. “What did you think?”

He pursed his lips, looked at the ceiling, and circled his hands around each other. “Intriguing, enlightening, frustrating and confusing. Anyhow, reading that book is the reason I feel compelled to confide something to you.”

He stilled and stared at me as if expecting a response. I couldn’t think of anything to say other than, “Okay.”

“The chapter, ‘Father of lies,’ based off of Matthew 8:44,” he said. “I couldn’t get it out of my head. It seems like my whole adult life is based in secrets and lies. Part of it has been made known because of the way my wife died. But the biggest part is still hidden. It probably would have remained hidden since Charlotte’s killer was killed. He was shanked in jail last week so there will be no trial.”

“I see,” I replied, numbly. “So what you’re saying is even though your secret seems to remain safely hidden, you still feel compelled to share it?”

He nodded. Then he put his elbows back on his knees, became still, bowed his head, and stared at the floor. I resisted the urge to bob my leg or tap my foot.

“I’m bisexual,” he suddenly blurted as his head popped up.

This time I visibly startled. At the same time there was a thump that came from behind the wall. Then, albeit muffled, I heard my dad yowl in pain.

“Daddy?” I asked as I leapt from my chair and ran to his room. He was sitting on his bed, wincing, and rubbing the top of his head. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Oh, nothing, Sweet Pea. I just bumped my head when I was in the closet.”

You weren’t the only one in the closet, I thought as my brain reeled from Uncle Six’s revelation. “You’re okay then?”

“I’m fine,” he replied as I had already turned and dashed back to my uncle.

“Sorry,” I said a little breathless as I sat back down.

“What happened?”

“You just told me you were…”

“No, I mean with Seven.”

“Oh, he just bumped his head. Did you want to elaborate on what you just told me?”

His eyes looked frightened. “It felt weird telling you that. Do you feel weird hearing it?”

It’s strange how quick a lie can come to the lips of even someone who’s diligently seeking God. I see why we are instructed with things like pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and to bring every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5 ). I opened my mouth to say no, but instead replied. “It was a surprising admission, but it makes me feel closer to you.”

“It does?” he inquired with a frown

“Yes, it makes me feel loved that you trust me enough to reveal a secret like that.”

“Wow,” he said with a little smile, the tension in his face relaxing. “But you should already know I love you.”

“Oh, I know you do,” I replied with a shrug. “But there are degrees to love, and variations. For instance, obviously I love my dad. But the way I love my boyfriend Branch is different.”

There was another thump from behind the wall, but softer than the first and no yowl. What was Daddy doing?

“So there’s also another element to where I’m going with this,” he said nervously. “It has to do with your Aunt Charlotte. God rest her soul.”

He looked at me with both intensity and with caution, but seemed to freeze up. I urged him on. “Okay, what about Aunt Charlotte?”

“Your Aunt Charlotte,” he said slowly and deliberately. “Was born a boy. She was transsexual.”

There was not only another thump from behind the wall, but a big crash. I ran into my father’s room again and he was crawling out of the closet. That’s when I noticed something like a window in his closet. I looked closer. It was a two way mirror! As I took a couple steps toward it, I saw Uncle Six sitting very still and staring at the floor.

“Daddy!” I scolded with a low voice and clenched teeth. But he looked so stunned and sheepish, my anger quickly dissipated.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“We’ll talk about this later,” I said as I shut his closet door. “Stay out of there.”

He nodded as I quickly made my way back to Uncle Six. My brain whirled, not only with questions about what my uncle had just revealed about my aunt. But also the sudden parent child role reversal I just experienced with my father.

Uncle Six rubbed his hands vigorously on his thighs, and there was a frightened look was on his face again. I told him his brother was finished messing about in his closet. Then I gave him a reassuring smile, even as my heart pounded with the stunning information about my aunt. It was simply unbelievable.

My Aunt Charley was one of the most beautiful, feminine women I had ever known. I had accidently  seen her topless once. Her breasts appeared natural and well-proportioned with her tall slender frame. Her pale skin seemed soft, silky, and supple. There was nothing resembling a male at all. Except maybe her slightly husky voice.

“I guess I should start at the beginning,” Uncle Six said uneasily, and then forced a little laugh.

“That’s always a good place,” I replied with a nervous giggle.

“When we were in our early twenties, Brock was a bouncer at a, um, gentlemen’s club.”

“You mean strip bar,” I said more sternly than I intended. I found nothing gentlemanly about men watching young women dance naked.

“Yeah, anyway, I started hanging out with a coworker of Brock’s. Jesse Parker was his name. We really hit it off and became fast friends. At that point in my life, I was bicurious, but never really thought I’d act on it. Do you know what bicurious is?”

He really seemed uncomfortable, so I tried tapping into a bit of my dad’s style of humor. “I might have been born at night Uncle Six, but it wasn’t last night. So you were curious about learning a second language?”

I said this with a straight face, and his uncomfortable demeanor spiked, before my laughter put him at ease. “I know what you mean. Please continue.”

“Okay, well, like I said, we really hit it off. He was a great looking guy. One night he confided he was gay. One thing led to another, yadda, yadda, yadda, we had a great time and I ended up with a secret boyfriend.”

“So,” I said slowly. “It ended up you were more than curious?”

“I was. Yet I could never get completely comfortable being in a romantic relationship with a guy. So after a couple of months of fooling around with Jesse, we amicably ended things. Ironically, when we called the intimate part of our relationship quits, that’s when he told me he knew the perfect person for me.”

He reached into a book bag by the side of his chair and pulled out a yearbook. “So, when Jesse first told me he was gay, he said the only other lover he had was this guy he went to high school with.”

Uncle six thumbed through some pages and stopped when he came to the page he was looking for. The boy he showed me bore a strong resemblance to his deceased wife. The name underneath said Charles Davidson. I looked from the photo to my uncle. “Is that Aunt Charley’s bro…”

I stopped talking. My eyes went back to the photo and studied it for several seconds. “That’s Aunt Charley?”

He nodded. “So Jesse had told me they were a closeted couple for, like, two or three years, but not much else. Other than showing me these pictures.”

My uncle showed me two more pictures in the yearbook. Charley Davidson in a track uniform. And Charley Davidson with a girl at prom. Although he was far from macho, Charles Davidson was clearly a young man.

 “After he showed me the yearbook pictures, Jesse said he wanted to buy me dinner and he would explain further. So we go to this restaurant on the order of Hooters.”

“Wow, so this Jesse was a gay guy that worked at a strip bar, and liked to eat at Hooters. He was full of contradictions.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“Amen.”

“So the waitresses at this place all had the same uniforms,” he continued. “Green plaid miniskirts, green bikini tops, and white blouses that didn’t fully cover the bikini tops. White knee high socks and black Mary Jane shoes. Promise me you’ll never work there.”

“Trust me, I won’t,” I giggled.

“So we go there and he asked the hostess for Charlotte’s section. That’s when I met your Aunt for the first time. I don’t know about love at first site, but when Jesse introduced us, it was magical. So he asked me what I thought of her. I said she was not only smoking hot, but blazing hot. I asked how he knew her. He said that she was his old boyfriend. Then he reminded me of the yearbook pictures he had just showed me. I about fell out of the booth.

“He proceeded to tell me that she started transitioning with hormones when he turned eighteen, and the reason they broke up was because he was no longer comfortable with how spectacularly female she became. He was attracted to masculine, and although she didn’t plan on completing the transition with surgery, she was obviously too feminine for his tastes.”

“So, Aunt Charley,” I said and then cleared my throat. “Still had, um, some boy parts?”

My uncle nodded.

“Until the day she died?”

He nodded again. “As a matter of fact, you could say it caused her death.”

“How?”

“I’ll get to that,” he assured me, right when his phone rang with a song. I kid you not. It was ‘Man I Feel Like a Woman,’ by Shania Twain. “It’s my lawyer. I have to take this. It should only take a minute.”

“Okay,” I replied as chipperly as I could muster, even though my mind spun like I was riding the Tilt-a-Whirl. So I prayed.

XLIII

MAN THAT IS BORN OF A WOMAN IS OF FEW DAYS, AND FULL OF TROUBLE

JOB 14:1

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA SALLIE GIRL PROPHETESS)

My heart pounded as I peered through the back side of the two way mirror that was between my bedroom and my study room. My daughter and brother settled into chairs. It felt illicit eavesdropping on them. But I simply wanted to know what they would be talking about.

Sevenia had changed out of a fairly form fitting sundress into her usual uniform. A long denim skirt and a light green t shirt that declared that life was good. The color went well with her auburn hair.

“Before we get started, I want to set the record straight,” Six said.

“What record needs straightened?” Sevenia asked innocently.

“Well,” Six sighed. “I was ashamed when it became public knowledge that I allowed my wife to fool around with other men. I’m doubly ashamed that someone like you knows about it.”

“Why me?” She frowned.

“Because you’re sweet and wholesome, and how we lived was, well, strange to most people. And I just wanted you to know that for years I realized this and longed for monogamy with Charley. In the beginning I was head over heels for her. She was such a free spirit. The only way I could have her was to not have her.”

“I’ve always thought that term was counterproductive,” Sevenia said.

“What term?”

“Free spirit.”

“How so?”

“Because it’s not true. We need God’s spirit, the Holy Spirit. A supposedly free spirit would be a Godless spirit, and ultimately a lost spirit that would burn out like a flame. Even if to human reasoning, a free spirited person seems wild and fun. From my viewpoint, not being willing to be monogamous with your spouse is selfish.”

Six nodded and bowed his head. I felt a sneeze coming on and quickly stepped from the closet. After a half dozen sneezes, I blew my nose and returned to my lookout post. I wasn’t gone but a minute or two, so I couldn’t have missed much, but I did.”

“You don’t understand, little girl,” my brother barked.

“Uncle Six, you just admitted your lifestyle was wrong.”

“How dare you judge my wife?”

“I didn’t judge her, you asked my opinion.”

“But you basically said she was lost.”

“I talked to Aunt Charley numerous times about Christ and she pretty much laughed me off,” Sevenia replied. “It was like when Felix said when he had a convenient season.” (Acts 24:25)

“Who’s Felix?” My brother scowled.

“Never mind,” Sevenia replied. “The point is, she wasn’t interested.”

“Why should we be interested? Look at this planet. Where’s is a God in this diabolical world?”

“Why should we?” my daughter inquired with a frown. “I thought Salena made you interested in the Bible.”

“She did, but I lost that interest.”

I felt another sneeze come one and had to flee the closet again. This time I sneezed a dozen times. Maybe I should dust my closet. There was also a high pollen count, so I went to find an allergy pill. I lost at least five minutes of conversation. When I returned to my spy spot, Six was complaining about traffic of all things.

“It always amazed me when I was driving a big rig truck,” Six was saying. “There’s almost always somebody in the city getting on the freeway. And more than half the time you get over for them, and they don’t speed up or slow down so you can get back over. Like yeah, I wanted to stay over in the fast lane and bottle neck traffic. Thanks for dissing me after I showed you a courtesy. People can’t even put their phones down driving in heavy traffic.”

“I for one don’t touch my phone when driving,” my daughter said with a cautious, forlorn expression.

“Good girl,” Six replied. “So your dad never told you we were truck driving colleagues at that food distribution company?”

“No, he did. He just didn’t mention you much.”

“Yeah, he probably wouldn’t have,” he said with a heavy sigh as he leaned back in his chair and looked utterly exhausted. He folded his arms and sighed again. “I only worked there a year before I went into the death business. You know I got your dad on there. I mean at the food warehouse. I think he stayed two or three years, but our time overlapped together only a month or two. I loved it when he used to talk traffic on his podcast.”

“I hated it!” my daughter replied emphatically. I felt rebuked by my little girl, albeit in secret.

“Really? I thought he made great points.”

I felt myself smile at what I felt was a compliment from my brother. Then my daughter’s reply, not only made me frown in consternation, but feel small and shamed..

“Yes, I hated it,” she repeated. “All of the times he referred to the human beings Christ died for as demonic entities out to annoy. I mean a lot of them were simply sweet little old ladies, or heroic old gentleman who probably preserved our freedom during WWII. Being impatient with people in traffic is a YOU problem. It’s no secret even to secular humanists that people are incredibly flawed.  Just say a little prayer when dealing with traffic.”

“Yeah,” my brother replied dumbly with a stunned look on his face.

“Okay,” Sevenia said brightly. “Are you ready to crack open the Word of God.”

“Yeah, right,” Six chuckled tiredly.

“Yeah, right, what?” she frowned.

“I mean you Bible thumpers calling it the word of God.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I want you to help me figure out.”

“Well, it’s the inspired word of God,” she said with a patient smile, but roughly ran her hands through her ruffled hair.

“Inspired by who?” Six taunted. “Fallen men like David. A man who not only committed adultery, but had the husband killed so he could have his wife? Didn’t he write most of the psalms?”

“He did,” Sevenia replied calmly. “But he repented of his terrible sins. Therefore, many of his psalms teach us how to repent. That’s a good thing!”

“I guess so,” Six said, and then yawned. “But that’s why  when the rubber meets the road, I don’t see my wife and I’s arrangement as that big of a deal.”

“Really?” my daughter asked calmly, and with pure sympathy in her countenance. “But didn’t it actually end in murder?”

Six stared at Sevenia with a stunned expression. Then he sighed heavily and slumped forward.

“Uncle Six, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, you did nothing wrong,” he replied quietly as he held up a hand. “But I am so tired on many levels. I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like studying right now. This world is so diabolically twisted. I mean why were we born to live a difficult life, tempted with so called sin, and then not only to die, but according to you all, die in hellfire.”

“Hell is an event, kind of like Noah’s flood,” Sevenia replied calmly. “But in the future, I believe the near future, God’s going to create a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.”

“But why this mess now?” Six barked. “I don’t get the existence of evil in the first place!”

My stellar daughter remained so amazingly calm, despite the trauma she herself had recently experienced herself in the previous weeks and months. “Uncle Six, this book might help you understand your mindset.”

“Wow,” Six said as he looked at the book my daughter handed him, ‘A Star Fell From Heaven.’ It was about the origin of sin and the remedy thereof, written by Captain Kirk. AKA Pastor Kirk Samson “This is like deja vu.”

“What do you mean?” Sevenia said.

“Brock tried to give me this book a few years ago, and I refused it.” he replied. “Your dad also offered me this same book, and I refused it. Is this 3^rd time’s a charm or 3 strikes you’re out?”

“You’re looking at God all wrong, Uncle Six,” my brilliant daughter replied.

“How’s that?”

“God is all about an honest, pure, loving relationship,” my beautiful Sevenia replied with a sweet smile a father couldn’t resist. “Of commandment keeping people. Ecclesiastes tells us. Let us hear the whole conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (12:13). Yet obedience needs to be out of love of the purest kind. God is seeking us, but we’re the ones running from Him.”

“We’re running from Him?” my twin brother asked with an incredulous laugh. “You’re the purest human being I’ve ever seen. So if you’re running from God, dear girl. I’m in a top fuel dragster!”

XLII

THERE SHALL COME IN THE LAST DAYS SCOFFERS, WALKING AFTER THEIR OWN LUSTS

(2 PETER 3:3)

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA SALLIE GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Hi, Uncle Six,” my daughter said cheerily as she burst through the back door of our house.

“Hey, Rag Muffin,” my twin brother replied. A relieved look appeared on his haggard face. The last month had been hard on him. Not only had his wife been murdered, he was the main suspect for a week or two. It also had been made known during the ordeal that he and his wife had an open marriage.

It turned out that one of his wife’s lovers was the killer. It also turned out that one of Six’s lovers was the mother of Sevenia’s very best friend, Anna. A girl who had died due to leukemia at the incredibly young age of fifteen, two years previous. This poised my brother’s visit to be awkward between my daughter and him. Especially since Salena, Anna’s mother, was four or five months pregnant with Six’s child.

The potential for awkwardness between my brother and me stemmed from my own relationship with Salena. She was my first serious girlfriend when we were teenagers. She and I had even talked about marriage. But right about the time we graduated from high school, she broke up with me to marry someone else. He was a wealthy, older man who was going to take care of her impoverished family. He died around three years ago, about a year before his daughter Anna.

Although she and I became reacquainted shortly after her daughter died, Salena and I couldn’t rekindle the spark. Around the same time she also became reacquainted with Six, who she knew from the year she and I dated. Apparently there was a spark between Salena and my brother. When he found out that she and I were not romantically linked, the spark seemingly turned into a fire. This fire became so heated, there was now a bun growing in the proverbial oven.

Ironically, this sorted affair sprang from Bible studies my skeptic brother was having with my ultra-conservative, former girlfriend. At least that’s how I viewed her. Not to sound judgmental, but maybe it would be safe to at least remove ultra from the conservative label. To be fair, I didn’t understand the circumstances of their relationship. He was just beginning to divulge information about his twisted intimate life to me when my daughter Sevenia bounded into the kitchen.

My daughter gave my brother a hug. This cheered my heart. I knew my daughter was beyond bothered by the revelation of Six’s romantic life. Both his marriage arrangement and also his relationship with a woman my daughter looked up to as a spiritual pillar and mother figure.

“When did you get here?” Sevenia asked her uncle happily.

“Oh, a half hour or so ago,” Six replied.

“How long are you staying?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Six said, looking at me with a lost expression. “I’m kind of in limbo.”

“You’re welcome here as long as you like,” I told my brother. “I’ve got the guest room  ready for you.”

“Thanks,” he said and then sighed. “I just needed to get away.”

“That’s understandable,” I replied. “Who’s been managing the death business while in your absence?”

I immediately regretted the way I referenced his gothic funeral home, given the situation with his wife. Yet he didn’t bat an eye, and immediately replied. “Trisha Monson, our long time assistant. As a matter of fact, she and her sister are going to buy the place from me. The whole kit and caboodle.”

“Even the 59’ Caddy?” I asked, referring to the old hearse he had refurbished. It was his pride and joy.

“I have no need of a corpse wagon if I’m no longer a mortician,” he said with a shrug.

“I see.”

“So,” he said with a big sigh. “I thought I’d stay in this neck of the woods long enough to see why you and Brock love it here so much. Then I think I might move to Florida.”

“Well, once you find out why he and I ended up in rural Iowa, you’ll never leave.”

“Yeah, right,” he said sarcastically. “Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa.”

“I’m not a movie buff,” I replied. “Was that from a League of Their Own or something?”

“No, you idiot,” my brother laughed. “Field of Dreams.”

“Heaven’s found within you,” Sevenia said sweetly as she kicked off her blue converse sneakers, sat down, crossed a leg over the other, and then primly pulled the hem of her light blue summer dress over her knee. “To be precise, Jesus refers to it as the kingdom of God.” (Luke 17:21)

My daughter was big on modesty, and often looked like an Amish girl, minus the bonnet. Yet she also almost always wore converse sneakers. She occasionally wore cowboy boots, and at fellowship low heel pumps. But today the light blue dress that I had never seen before was made of some clingy material and was form fitting to the first flush of her womanhood. The hem of which she had tugged over her knee had retracted back over her knee and she was unmindful of it. I resisted the urge to pull it back over myself.

“Is that right?” Six asked mildly, but I could see the hostility on his face, but he held it in. Whether due to not wanting to offend his sweet, beloved niece, or feeling humbled by the events of the previous month. Probably both. “So is this kingdom of God lurking within me somewhere?”

“I believe it is,” she replied as she thankfully uncrossed her legs and with both hands yanked the dress below her knees.

“Was this kingdom of God in Salena when she invited a married man into her bed?” Six asked matter of fact.

I felt my toes curl as I noticed a look of surprise in my daughter’s eyes. I guess I wasn’t the only one in the family that was prone to an unbridled tongue. She recovered quickly.

“It is written,” she said. “Every person is tempted when they are drawn away of their own lust and enticed.” (James 1:14)

“Is that a no?” Six asked as he crossed his arms and frowned.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  She replied and then continued. “If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1).

“Is that a yes?” Six asked tauntingly.

“Uncle Six,” Sevenia said calmly and with the dignity of a woman years beyond her seventeen. “When you asked if I would study the Bible with you, was it as someone seeking truth or as someone longing to mock and ridicule?”

Now I saw a look of surprise come into my brother’s eyes. Then I watched them harden into a glint of steel. “I’m not gonna lie, I’m a skeptic. But when I was studying with Salena, she was winning me over to possibly becoming a follower of your Jesus. Then everything went haywire.”

“What went haywire?” Sevenia and I asked at the same time.

“Well,” Six sighed and looked at me. “I know both you and Sevenia know about the marriage arrangement between Charley and me.”

“We do,” I replied.

Six hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Six,” Sevenia smiled sympathetically. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) You’re still my favorite uncle. Even if you are a pervert.”

“Wow! Tell me what you really think.”

“Okay, I…”

“No, don’t,” he said as he put up a hand to stop her. Then he laughed. “She’s definitely a Sallie.”

We all laughed. Then Sevenia asked him to explain everything going haywire.

“First of all,” he replied. “I’m in love with Salena.”

“Then why does it seem like you’re avoiding her?” Sevenia asked.

“Because I am.”

“What?” my daughter and I inquired at the same time. “Why?”

“Because I’m no good for her. Because my involvement with her caused my wife to be killed.”

“How?” my daughter and I again asked at the same time.

“To make a long story short,” he sighed. “Charley and I never discussed our relationships with other people. Only that they existed, period. By the way, you’re right Sevenia, I am a pervert.”

“Uncle Six, I never should…”

“No,” he interrupted. “I am. I always had a thing about married women. You know, the forbidden. I’ve always loved the challenge of seducing them. I know Salena wasn’t married when I began my quest with her, she was widow. But I had never tried to seduce somebody so religiously devout, or put so much effort into it. In the process, I somehow fell in love with her. After we were intimate, she said she made a mistake and we couldn’t have sex out of wedlock ever again. But once I had a taste of Salena, I wanted more. Not just the sex, but the intimacy. The bonding, the love.

“Anyway, I told Charley I was in love with Salena and wanted a divorce. To my surprise she became extremely jealous. She suggested that she break up with her paramour, we renew our wedding vows, and we become monogamous. Realizing I was no good for Salena, and that I still loved my wife, I agreed. But her current boyfriend was a rich playboy that was used to getting his own way. After he beat her to death, he staged a car wreck to cover.”

There was a along moment of silence as Sevenia and I digested this information. Then my daughter spoke. “So your Bible studies with Salena. They weren’t genuine, the were just a means to seduce her?”

“They were genuine,” Six acknowledged. “But to be honest, seduction was the initial motive. But I became interested in the Bible along the way. I kept seeing her twice a week, even when I thought sex was out of the question. But then something shifted.”

“What?” my daughter and I, yet again, asked at the same time.

“Salena subtly started to dress sexier,” Six replied. “She always used to wear long skirts and dresses, like you used to Sevenia. Then she started wearing shorter, more form fitting dresses. Like yours now, Muffin.”

“I told Amy I didn’t think this dress was my style,” Sevenia blurted as she abruptly stood and yanked the hem down. “I should have known for sure when Branch’s eyes bugged out when we had lunch.”

Now my eyes bugged out. The last I knew, Sevenia had ended her courtship with the fine young man Branch Cromwell. She always expressed frustration with my lack of revealing romantic intentions. I guess I know how she felt. “You and Branch are an item again?”

“I don’t know, I guess so, maybe,” she shrugged. “But I do feel, I don’t know, out there in this dress. More revealed. I’m gonna change.”

“Sevenia,” Six said. “Maybe I’m not the one to ask, but you still look wholesome. For the most part.”

“What’s for the most part supposed to mean?” my daughter asked indignantly, with a frown between her brows and hands on hips.

“You look fine, Sweet Pea,” I said. “But your current attire does show your womanliness more than your typical, um, style.”

“Daddy!” she barked. “Don’t say I look womanly, I’m your little girl!”

“I know, I know,” I replied. “But lets keep to the task at hand. Six, do you or do you not want to study the Bible with Sevenia?”

“I do.”

“Sevenia, will you study with him?”

“I will.”

“I now pronounce you student and teacher.”

“Weird!” Sevenia spit, but then giggled. “But Uncle Six. Why me and not my dad, or Brock, or Destiny?”

“As much as I love and trust the people you’ve mentioned,” Six said. “You’re the girl prophetess, or so I’ve been told.”

“Oh, please,” Sevenia said. She was genuinely tired of being called that.

“Seriously though,” Six said. “With the questions I have, I want somebody I trust, but also won’t be offended.”

“You’d be offended by my instruction?” I asked.

“Mr. Know-it-all?” Six laughed. “The arrogant broadcaster and podcaster. Of course I’d rather learn from your sweet daughter than you.”

“Fair enough,” I shrugged.

“Oh, you’re gonna concede that quickly?”

“Sure,” I shrugged again as I put an arm around Sevenia. “I have no problem admitting my daughter is smarter and wiser than me.”

Both my daughter and my brother looked at me with surprised expressions.

“I am not, Daddy,” Sevenia replied meekly.

“Don’t argue with him, Rag Muffin,” Six said with a chuckle. “I think he’s right.”

Forgive me if this is wrong. But I had a two way mirror set up between my bedroom and the study room my brother and daughter would be utilizing for their studies and possible conversations. I didn’t like the things I had discovered about the man I shared a womb with for nine months. A father can’t be too careful, can he?

XLI

THINK NOT THAT I CAME TO SEND PEACE ON EARTH: I CAME NOT TO BRING PEACE, BUT A SWORD

(Matthew 10:34)

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, Uncle Six. Bye,” I said into Salena’s phone and handed it to her.

“Hello again, Six,” she said with a girlish smile. Then she frowned and a look of disappointment appeared on her lovely face. “Six?”

“He hung up,” I told her with a wince. “He said he had a call coming in. He said to tell you he would call you in a couple days.”

“A couple days?” she spit with disgust. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged.

“Forgive me for eves dropping, but what did you mean by see you tomorrow Uncle Six?”

“He, ah, talked to my dad, and it sounds like he’s coming to stay with us for a while.”

“Really?” She asked as she leaned back in the lawn chair she was sitting in and scowled at me. I wasn’t used to seeing hostility in Salena. She was one of the sweetest, most patient people I had ever known. “Did he say why?”

“He said he needed to get away.”

“Is that what he talked to you so long about, a need to get away?”

“It wasn’t very long, five, maybe ten minutes,” I said with a shrug.

“Twelve and a half,” she said sternly. “So, why did you say I’d be glad to three times?”

I felt my toes curl, and I spoke quietly. “He wanted to know if I would study the Bible with him.”

“Is that right?” She drawled with a sarcastic edge in her voice. She got up and began to pace. “So, I guess my studies aren’t good enough anymore. I gave into temptation, played the whore, got pregnant by his lust, and now he wants to study with a know it all teenager. A misguided teenager.”

“What do you mean?” I replied meekly.

“You should know what I mean,” she barked as she placed her hands abruptly on her hips. “I’ve tried to warn you with out offending you numerous times, but I couldn’t seem to get through your teenage, know-it-all skull.”

I felt numb with bewilderment, and the sting from her harsh reproach. I didn’t even understand the nature of her rebuke. What did I do? My heathen uncle wanted to study the Holy Bible with me. Wasn’t that a good thing? And where did sweet, loving Salena go? Who was this woman that looked like her? Cautiously and humbly, I asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Warning me about what?”

“That church you go to with all of its false doctrines.”

“False doctrines at Cotton Creek Cove?” I asked with a puzzled frown. “In the two years I’ve been there, I’ve been blown away by how much Bible truth I’ve learned. I’ve never seen a person quote more scripture than Pastor Samson. What are you talking about, false doctrines?”

“Where do I start?” she snorted. “How about your misguided teaching that there’s no hell to shun and heaven to win through the grace of Jesus Christ?”

“You know full well I believe in saved by the grace of Jesus Christ,” I said boldly. “His redeeming power is everything to me.”

“Hellfire is Biblical. Do you or do you not believe there is no hell?” she asked angrily.

“Hell as a place, no, absolutely not. Hell as an event, yes. Just as the earth was destroyed by a flood during the antediluvian world, the earth will be destroyed by fire at the end of time. Then God will create a new heaven and a new earth. And when God does He will wipe away all tears. And there will be no more pain or sorrow.” (Revelation 21:1 and 4)

“Jesus himself calls it everlasting fire in Matthew chapter 25,” Salena said heatedly. No pun intended. “In the last verse he calls it everlasting punishment.”

“Right, punishment, not punishing,” I replied softly.

“What about the everlasting part?”

“Yes, the results of the punishment will be everlasting, but not the fire itself. Revelation 20:14 says death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second DEATH. 21:8 similarly says the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second DEATH.”

Salena pursed her lips and then abruptly changed the Biblical subject. “What about the sabbath?”

“Huh?” I replied, taken off guard.

“You good folks at Cotton Creek Cove keep the Jewish sabbath, instead of the Christian sabbath.”

I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or genuine by calling us good folks. I no longer recognized the hostile person I was talking to. Maybe pregnancy was messing with her hormones. Or maybe she was now an alcoholic. I hoped she wasn’t still drinking, especially for the baby’s sake. I could tell asking her would go over like a lead balloon. So I let her control the conversation, and with God’s help, I patiently replied.

“We do keep the Biblical sabbath,” I said calmly. “From sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, we reverence God’s Holy day as instituted from creation. Recorded in stone with God’s own finger in the ten commandments.”

She shook her head and grinned. Again, I couldn’t tell if the smile was genuine or malicious. “Christian tradition reverences Sunday. It’s in honor of the resurrection.”

“But Salena,” I said sweetly and gave her a genuine smile. I absolutely loved the woman, and feeling like we were at odds with each other’s hurt. “It’s simply not Biblical. If God’s law were changed, there would be plenty of scripture backing it up.”

“It’s part of the new covenant,” she replied.

“But the earliest Christians kept what you refer to as the Jewish sabbath. Sunday keeping didn’t begin until the fourth century when Constantine supposedly converted to Christianity. That’s when paganism merged many of its concepts with the main body of Christianity. The biggest change stemmed from sun worship, the venerable day of the sun, which we today call Sunday.”

“What difference does a day make?” she asked with a big sigh.

“Looking at it superficial, I understand your thinking,” I said. “But it’s very important to understand its significance. God instituted it as a sign of his Creatorship. The official church long ago changed it, and established it as a sign of her authority. It’s going to play a role in end time prophecy.”

She snorted and shook her head. “You’re simply misguided. You’re dishonoring Christ’s resurrection by dissing Sunday keeping.”

“Jesus Himself rested in the grave on the sabbath,” I replied. “The two Mary’s even waited until the sabbath was over before they went to the sepulcher. It even says in the first verse of Matthew 28: In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week. Also, if it was changed, why did Jesus expect his followers to still be keeping it when he prophesied of Jerusalem being destroyed? The destruction of which happened in A.D. 70.”

“What do you mean?” she frowned.

“In Matthew 24:20, Jesus said to pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath. This prophecy actually happened decades after he spoke the words. In the last days, the ten commandment law of God will be at stake. Also, just an FYI, Six wanted me to study prophecy with him.”

“I already have,” she replied incredulous. “And hoped to continue.”

“I know, he told me you studied the rapture,” I replied cautiously as my toes would not uncurl, but even tightened. “He told me he tried to look for himself and he said he couldn’t find the term rapture in the Bible. I told him it was a false theory, and it was no mistake he didn’t find it.”

“You traitor!” She barked, and my eyes and mouth both opened wide in surprise.

“What do you mean?” I replied meekly.

“I mean you came to our church for a few years,” she said angrily. “You know full well what we taught and you embraced it. You were baptized into our faith! You and Anna solidified not only a tight friendship, but a sisterhood in your Christian faith together. Now your going to deny it?”

“Of course not!” I replied emphatically. “First of all, I think of Anna every day. But truth is progressive. The church I was born into was sort of like a prosperity gospel church, and people not only stagnated spiritually, they praised God for their wealth and selfishness. They glorified preachers that made millions, lived in mansions, and flew on private jets. Yet the God they claimed to worship was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Jesus was also homeless and had nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20)

“This is the opposite of the primitive Godliness concept my current church adheres to, but at least my birth church got me rolling on Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Then I saw that your church took the gospel I read more serious. Yet your church still stagnated on tradition and legalism.”

“You’re seventeen years old and you think you know better than hundreds of years of thousands, even millions, of Godly peoples’ tradition?”

“No, of course not,” I said sadly, as I tried to refrain from crying. “I’m trying to follow Jesus to the fullest. Bringing every thought to the obedience of Christ, and not ceasing to pray. But how do you not know what Jesus said about tradition? In Matthew 15:9 He said: In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

“I’m done here,” Salena said as she gathered her things and began to walk briskly to her car. “I don’t need a teenage girl treating me disrespectful and like a child. I’m pretty sure I’ve been around the block a few more times than you, honey.”

“Salena, I’m sorry that you’re offended,” I cried after her, as I arose and feebly chased after her. She stopped and bowed her head. I began to weep, and croaked. “I love you, please don’t go away mad.”

She turned and we hugged, both of us crying and confused.

“I accept your apology,” she said.

“Just to be clear, I’m not sorry for my position,” I told her. “Just that it caused strife between us. I love you”

“You’re not sorry, you’re impossible,” she spit, not returning the sentiment of love. Then she turned abruptly, climbed in her car, and slammed the door.

As tears streamed down my face, I watched Salena drive off. The mother of my childhood best friend. I feel to my knees, pleading with God, asking Him if I did anything wrong.

 Did I lose her as a beloved mother figure?

XL

TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON, AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN

ECCLESIASTES 3:1

SEVENIA SALLIE

“Are you okay with me meeting Salena today?” I asked my dad at the breakfast table.

He stopped a spoonful of Grape Nuts halfway to his mouth. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, you were sort of seeing her, but now she’s pregnant by your brother.”

“Salena and I are nothing more than friends. I told you that as soon as we were reunited a couple years ago.”

“I know,” I shrugged. “But you said that about Zella LaStella, and I saw you two on a walk holding hands. It was easy to tell because your interlaced fingers were, you know, ebony and ivory.”

My dad sighed and dropped his spoon into his bowl of cereal. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure,” I replied nonchalantly as I casually shrugged a shoulder. But my foot bobbed vigorously under the table with anticipation.

“She and I have gradually become more than just friends.”

“Daddy, that’s wonderful!”

“Slow down, Sweet Pea,” he chuckled. “I just don’t want you to be in the dark. Zella and I are taking things slow.”

“I understand,” I replied. “But doesn’t it bother you that Uncle Six has been seeing Salena all the while you were? I have to tell you, Daddy, I’m nervous about seeing Salena. And it’s mostly because I don’t know what is going on with you and her, Uncle Six and her, and this open marriage thing with Uncle Six and Aunt Charley. God rest her soul.”

“Relax, Sweet Pea,” my dad said as he held up a hand. “I understand you’re disappointed with Salena, my brother, and Aunt Charley. I don’t fully understand what’s going on myself. But Salena and I were never going to be a romantic item again. So, Six not only told me he was getting together with Salena, he asked my permission to seduce her. I told him to go for it, but I also told him he didn’t stand a chance. Seems I was wrong. Go figure.”

“I don’t get why Salena would be getting together with a married man,” I said. “She was like a second mother to me. She always seemed as pure as the wind driven snow.”

“They were getting together for Bible studies,” my dad replied.

“And she ended up pregnant! How?”

“You’re the one getting together with her, so you tell me.”

I felt butterflies in my stomach when Salena and I met at a Subway sandwich shop. As soon as I saw her warm brown loving eyes link with mine and her sweet smile, I relaxed. I grinned at her as we opened our arms for a hug. Then I stopped and frowned as I looked at a noticeable baby bump at her mid-section. She stopped too, and a hurt look transformed onto her countenance.

“Sorry,” I said, as I made myself laugh and look as cheerful as possible. Then we embraced for a tight hug. “I didn’t realize you were showing yet.”

“I’m actually due at the end of October,” she said.

“Wow,” I replied. “I didn’t realize you and my uncle had been seeing each other so long. I mean my aunt just died.”

“Sevenia,” Salena gasped. “I know you’re confused and disappointed. Please give me a chance to explain.”

“Okay,” I replied meekly, and smiled.

She smiled back and we hugged again. Then we bought some lunch to go and went to a park. We managed small talk for a while as we ate. Then we reminisced about Anna, and that put us in enough of a familiar comfort zone to talk about the elephant in the park. The recreational area was filled with big beautiful oak trees. It was also sunny with a high of 75. This picturesque setting helped with the ugly situation that was now broached.

“So,” Salena finally said after we had a long, awkward moment of silence. “I know you’re wondering how, I, a conservative Christian and an unmarried woman, became pregnant by a married man?”

“The thought crossed my mind,” I replied lightheartedly. Then we both fake giggled.

“You remember when your dad and I became reacquainted when your mother was in hospice?”

“I do.”

“Well, at the funeral for your mother, Six and I became reacquainted.”

“I see.”

“We had gotten to know each other when I was seeing your father.”

“I see.”

“They were so different for being twins,” she said. “Which made sense since they didn’t look alike. I was so blown away when I met Brock for the first time. I couldn’t believe Seven’s cousin looked more like him than his own twin brother.”

This peeked my interest. “You knew Uncle Brock way back?”

She frowned. “Uncle Brock? I always thought he and Seven were cousins.”

“They are,” I giggled. “But I’ve gotten to know Brock and his wife Destiny so well that they feel like my aunt and uncle.”

“So tell me about Brock,” we both said at the same time and then laughed.

It was almost like being with Anna. Her daughter was a mini me of herself. Soft, wavy, dark brown hair. Big, lovely, almond-shaped, brown eyes. Only I wasn’t used to seeing Salena so vulnerable. She was always so serious and stoic. Yet majestic and beautiful. Now, although still lovely, I detected scared and uncertainty in her demeanor. I felt horrible for being standoffish with her for several weeks. We had another awkward pause as we waited for the other to talk about Brock Storm, my father’s cousin.

“You go first, you knew him first,” I said with a sing song voice.

“I don’t have much to tell,” She replied. “I only met Brock once in person, but he was kind of a local legend.”

“I’ve heard that. So what’s your perspective on the legend of Brock?”

“He was just a bad man,” she drawled lightheartedly, and we laughed. “Seriously though. I’d heard about all these fights he had been in. Several of which were actually instigated by Seven, I mean your father. I understand that’s also why they ended up having a falling out. And I met your dad after the fall out.”

“So did you actually talk to Brock?”

“Briefly,” she replied with a little laugh. “He actually told me to beware of Seven. That I seemed like to good of a girl to get mixed up with him. He said he was a loudmouth and pretentious.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah. Then he said Seven was already self-righteous and now he’s religious on top of that. Then I lightheartedly said so you don’t believe in Jesus?”

Salena paused and giggled.

“What?”

“Oh,” she replied. “It’s just interesting that Brock’s a believer now. Because his reply was, I don’t need a crutch. I would so like to see him now. I would ask and remind him about that statement. Yet he didn’t say it in an arrogant manner. The thing that I found intriguing about Brock was he was so big and powerful, and he had this reputation as nobody to mess with. Yet the one time I talked with him, his eyes were so warm and gentle.”

“That’s the Brock I know and love,” I said. “A big muscular teddy bear.”

“I don’t know that I would have called him a teddy bear back then,” Salena laughed.

I told her about my first day as a freshman in high school. How Brock, wearing a form fitting t- shirt, drove me and purposely made us a couple of minutes late. I explained how he escorted me to my homeroom and politely, but loudly told the teacher he would be terribly upset if my first day went badly. Then how he quickly and menacingly eyed the classroom.

Salena laughed. “Six and Seven both have told me plenty of Brock stories, and how he toyed with bullies.”

At the mention of my Uncle Six, we both became silent. I forced a smile, but had too look away from her confused gaze. “Sevenia?”

“I’m sorry, Salena,” I blurted as a couple tears popped out of my eyes.

“For what?” She questioned breathlessly as she took hold of my hands. “I’m the one that let you down.”

“No, you didn’t let me down,” I choked. “I’m just confused.”

She nodded. “So how did the righteous seeming mother of Anna become pregnant by a married man?”

I shrugged and fake laughed. “Something like that.”

“I was so devastated when Anna died,” Salena squeaked as her tears began to flow. “I always thought I was so grounded in the Lord. I didn’t realize grief could make you physically ill, and linger and linger. And I had other children to care for.”

She bowed her head and sobbed.

“Salena,” I said. “I’m sorry, I…I…”

“No, it’s okay, Honey,” she relied, smiling through her tears.

“No it’s not, I’m selfish and sorry, I…I…”

“No,” she said and sighed as she put up a hand in a stop gesture. “So I became reacquainted with Six. He wanted Bible studies, and I agreed to get together with him every Wednesday.”

“Wow, you had Bible studies with Six?” I replied. “He’s the ultimate skeptic.”

“I know, and he wanted me to keep it a secret. So we studied, but we also talked and got to know each other. He told me about his marriage arrangement with his wife. But even though he flirted, I never responded, or at least never meant to.”

Salena sighed, clutched her head and sighed.

“It’s okay, I get it,” I said.

“No you don’t,” she replied with a pained expression. “Before Anna died, I never had an alcoholic drink in my life. But after she passed, and my grief ate at me and ate at me. I ended up trying  some wine and became hooked with the temporary relief I felt. Over time, one glass led to two, two led to three. Then one day, the boys were off camping. I had a full bottle and then some. Six showed up. One thing led to another, and now this.”

She waved a hand over her protruding belly and I fake laughed again.

“I see,” I replied. “So where do you go from here?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I told Six as soon as I found out, and he was excited.”

“But he’s married!” I blurted, and then instantly calmed. “I mean was.”

“I know,” she replied with a pained expression. “I also know you know about their open marriage arrangement. What you might not know is that Charley was never able to have kids.”

“This is so weird,” I said as mildly as I could.

“I know, Honey, I’m sorry,” she replied as her phone rang. “Hello? Oh hey. Six, that’s great! Okay, okay, I see. Wow, really? Okay, okay. I’m actually with your niece. Huh? Sevenia. He wants to talk to you.”

“Huh?” I asked dumbly.

“They discovered who killed your Aunt Charley,” Salena said as she handed me her phone. “Six is no longer a suspect.”

“Hi, Uncle Six,” I replied dumbly. “What’s new?”

XXXIX

IN THE WORLD YOU SHALL HAVE TRIBULATION: BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.

(JOHN 16:33)

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

“Hi Dee,” Sevenia greeted cheerily as she entered my kitchen wearing a bright yellow summer dress and red converse sneakers. My heart soared with hope. For the last few weeks, she just hadn’t been the same. This was understandable because 22 days previously she was nearly raped by a male friend of hers. Said assailant ended his life an hour after the attack. Then three days later, her aunt was murdered.

“Hi Sweetie,” I sang right before I hugged her. She plopped into a chair at the kitchen table, pulled a Granny Smith apple out of a fruit bowl, took a big chomp out of it and chewed happily. “How are you?”

“I’m good. How about you?”

“Just peachy,” I replied as I studied her eyes to see if the twinkle I thought I detected was genuine. It appeared that the familiar, optimistic light was back after day upon day with her lovely emerald windows to the soul shaded with gloom. “So what’s up?”

“I’ve made a decision,” she said boldly, and then frowned. “Actually a couple. Maybe a few. ”

“I see,” I said, even though it occurred to me that I didn’t. “Tell me about them.”

“Have you ever purposely yawned to make somebody else yawn?” she asked with a straight face.

“No,” I replied slowly and cautiously, then I realized she wasn’t joking. Yet I laughed. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s something I’ve always liked to do,” she giggled. “Even if you pretend to yawn, three out of four times the person you are with will yawn right after you.”

I frowned as I contemplated. Then I realized that most of the time that I see someone yawn, I yawn as well. “Okay Sweetie, what’s your point?”

“It’s a deception.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I suppose it is.”

“That’s lying.”

“Huh?”

“Pretending to yawn when I’m not really yawning,” she said earnestly. “That’s lying. And I’ve done this trick hundreds of times, to dozens of people.”

“Sweetie, I hardly think that’s bearing false witness in the strictest sense. You were joking, not deceiving.”

“Ah, I beg to differ. I was deceiving, albeit joking, for my own pleasure.”

“Talk about innocent pleasure,” I laughed.

“You think?” she asked so seriously I frowned, yet smirked.

“I think.”  

“Well, it got me thinking that maybe minor infractions aren’t so different than serious ones. Regardless of whether Captain Kirk’s speculations are right or not, we live in a sin polluted world, no question. Thankfully, Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of which I’m chief.”

“If you Sweetie,” I interrupted. “Are gonna claim to be chiefest of sinners like the Apostle Paul, I’m the devil himself.”

“You’re more than kind,” she giggled. “If you’re the devil than I’m… Never mind, this is stupid. The point I’m trying to make is we’re all flawed. We’ve all sinned and come short of the gory of God. The point I was trying to make is selfishness. Which is sin. Can be incredibly simple, yet deep, and subtle.”

“I agree,” I agreed.

 “I realized I can be incredibly judgmental, when I’ve always flattered myself that I’m not,” she said. Then she got up, went to the fridge, grabbed a grape flavored sparkling water, kicked off her shoes, sat back down and crossed her legs. “Dee, I need to apologize.”

“For what?”

“I was just at the pastor’s house,” she replied. “He told me you were worried about me. I’m sorry, Dee. The Captain pointed out how quiet and aloof I’ve been lately. It was so self-absorbed of me to not realize my depressed state of mind the last couple of weeks was not noticeable.”

“You’re such a beckon of light to so many, Sweetie,” I told her. “It’s pretty obvious when that precious light isn’t shinning.”

She looked surprised for a moment, then smiled. The girl was so selfless, it truly didn’t occur to her that people noticed she was hurting. “Thank you Dee, that was kind of you to say.”

I sat down next to the girl that was like a daughter to me. I squeezed one of her bare feet and said, “You need not apologize, but I do.”

“What for?” She asked with arched eyebrows.

“I prayed and prayed for you,” I told her. “Yet I never knew how to encourage you.”

“Your love and friendship is all I ever need to encourage me.”

“Thank you, Sweetie.”

“I knew the Lord was with me,” she said. “I was just experiencing Psalm 23 for real. It took some time and a lot of prayer to get my head around everything. But I clung to verse 6 as if it were a life preserver.”

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (Psalm 23:6),” I quoted. “I end up reading Psalm 23 every time I’m discouraged.”

“I guess that’s the reason it’s the most famous Psalm,” Sevenia said. “It always reminds me that the kingdom of God is within us.” (Luke 17:21).

“Yes,” I replied, and then we grinned at each other. “So tell me about your decisions.”

“Well, my dad has been wanting me to do a series with Lexi on his podcast about the occult. After reading Captain Kirk’s book about the war in heaven, I decided to do it.”

“What was it about the pastor’s book that changed your mind?”

“I guess between reading his book and what happened a few weeks ago, it really brought home Ephesians 6:12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

“And nobody at Cotton Creek knows more about that verse than Lexi,” I added.

“Right, I’m gonna go see her after I leave here.”

“Well, you’re really making the rounds today.”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “I guess after playing a hermit for the last dozen days, I’m longing to see some peeps.”

“So, do your other decisions have to do with your dad’s podcast?”

“No, the other two aren’t related.”

“Alright, tell me about the other two.”

“Well, one of the reasons I’ve been playing the hermit, is the thing with my Uncle Six initially being a suspect in Aunt Charley’s murder. But I’m ashamed to say, even more than that, my Uncle Six and his relationship with Salena, my forever bestie’s mother. It was their family, and their holy living, that made me become a diligent seeker of truth myself. Then I find out she had an affair with my Uncle!”

“Sweetie, you don’t know that,” I said.

“But I do, Dee,” Sevenia said sadly. “I talked to Salena on the phone right after everything went down. She admitted it. I sinned in my quick judgement of her, and I told her I never wanted to see or speak to her again. She started crying, Dee, and was saying let me explain, please let me explain.”

Suddenly Sevenia burst out in sobs.

“It’s okay, Sweetie,” I gently soothed. “I understand.”

“No, you don’t,” she croaked, as she quickly composed herself and continued. “I was so disappointed with her I hung up on her. I so missed Anna and her sweet, uplifting presence, I ignored her mother’s calls and texts in the days following until yesterday. I agreed to meet with her tomorrow in Clear Lake and discuss what happened between her and Uncle Six.”

“I see, is Branch taking you?” I asked.

“He wanted to, but my relationship with him is my third decision.”

“Okay,” I replied cautiously. “Say on.”

“I think I need to end things with him.”

“Why?” I blurted, causing her to look a little startled. “What did he do?”

“Nothing,” she replied meekly. “It’s just, with everything that’s happened with my uncle and Salena, and what not. I mean how can you ever trust anyone? I decided I want to just serve the Lord and not yoke myself with another human being. The Apostle Paul even recommends flying solo.”

“But Sweetie, Branch is a good man,” I whined. “And good, Godly men are hard to come by.”

She nodded slowly, and then bowed her head and fidgeted uneasily with her fingers. The couple were supposed to be baptized together, but then Sevenia’s aunt died and the ceremony went into limbo. My heart ached for Branch. I thought of him as a combination between my own husband and Billy Bob Booker.

“One more thing,” Sevenia told me as my brain whirled. “About Salena I mean. This is what pushed me over the edge and to behave so irrational with her.”

“Okay.”

“Salena’s pregnant with Six’s child.”

My mouth did the proverbially drop to the floor.