Tag: christian

ANGELS AT WAR – PART 2 – CHAPTER 1

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

PART 2

CRICKET KARR AND THE ROCK STAR

CHAPTER 1

CRICKET

HERE IS THE PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS; HERE ARE THOSE WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND THE FAITH OF JESUS. (Revelation 14:12)

             “It’s Sully!” My sister shouted.

            A dozen of us gathered on the shore of the lake and watched anxiously as Sully paddled a kayak furiously. Three fast powerful boats were chasing him. My hands were steepled in front of my lips as I murmured in prayer.

            All of a sudden the water parted that the boats were skimming on top of  and the speeding vessels momentarily became like air planes. Seconds later the water closed back up. Then the large body of liquid became a boisterous tempest, as if it were a giant pot of boiling water. The wind and the waves roared. But only for a minute.

            “Oh Lord, save them, they parish,” Pastor Samson could be heard above the storm. “Maybe some will be convinced now.”

            The tempest suddenly calmed and a dozen bright orange forms bobbed in the tranquil water. A minute later another boat pulled up and rescued the unintentional swimmers. Several geysers began to spew about twenty feet in the air between us on the shore and the people giving chase. Sully’s one person skiff skimmed off the water and skidded to a stop on the sandy shore. We rushed to greet him.

            Three days earlier Sully had been arrested. His crime? Defying the national Sunday law. He had used his notoriety as a very famous musician to join God’s people in the loud cry of the third angel’s message. The loud cry being the warning message of the three angels from Revelation 14:6-13.

            The Sunday laws had begun as a simple ordinance carried out by numerous states. They were reminiscent of the Sunday blue laws of old. The government mandated that businesses close and civilians limit activity on what most Christians considered their sabbath. Most religious leaders, especially Christian nationalists, were on board with these government legislations, feeling it would bring the country back to God and a sense of morality.

            Then many non-Christians surprisingly came on board, viewing the push for a day of rest as an environmental reset for the planet. It also ensured that people forced to work by their employers on Sunday were fairly compensated. It became a requirement for companies to pay their workers double time.

            All of these reasons sounded good on the surface. What worthy employee doesn’t deserve fair compensation? What decent person doesn’t want to take care of the environment? Most important, people should come back to God. However, you can’t force genuine morality. Jesus said if you LOVE me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15). Therefore He doesn’t force His way in with governmental religious mandates. He stands at the door and knocks. (Revelation 3:20) It’s up to us to open that door and invite Him in.

            So the Sunday mandates escalated quickly from local ordinances into state laws, and then federal law. The reasons issued by the newly formed church-state were several. The out of control immorality, wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters to name a few.

            These were the main aims of mandatory worship. They imposed economic sanctions on those who disregarded them, thereby fulfilling the prophecy in Revelation 13:17 regarding buying and selling. This only strengthened the mindset of taking the country back for God. But I digress, back to Sully’s arrest and escape.

            Being timid and shy I stood back and watched a dozen members of my church family greet Sully enthusiastically. He received hugs, handshakes, and pats on the back as he was questioned how he escaped from a high security prison.

            Sully was in a state of disbelief himself with hands motioning and head shaking as he explained. “It was an angel of the Lord. I didn’t believe it at first. I thought he opened the door with a code or a key. I even wondered if he was taking me off to be executed, so I drew back. But he said, ‘Fear not, I am Jack Querida. I’m a friend of Cricket’s.’”

            Sully’s gaze turned to me. He was so handsome, so talented, so brave. My heart often fluttered when he gazed into my eyes. After Sully swiveled his head in my direction, twenty some eyeballs aimed at me as well. I shifted uneasily, but smiled and shrugged. Sully walked toward me and was followed by my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. My biological sister was by his side, mouth agape, her lovely eyes wide as they looked into mine.

            I knew what she was thinking. She and I were very close. So I knew she was wondering, who is this Jack Querida, friend of Cricket’s? How did I tell her I didn’t know myself? It was just then, with Sully’s harrowing escapade, that finally confirmed in my own mind what I suspected. That the man I had encountered numerous times over the years was actually a ministering spirit. (Hebrews 1:14) In the beginning of our, what? Friendship? Acquaintance? I had ministered to him, unaware of his angelic status. (See Hebrews 13:2)

            Sully continued to gaze at me with an expression of wonder. “How do you know him, Cricket? Who is he? He helped me get out of that prison as if we were teleported. Then he said he left a kayak for me at such and such and to hurry.”

            Cricket isn’t my legal name. My parents were expecting a boy, and I was to be named after my father, Jim. When I turned out to be a girl, they still called me Jim, but combined it with my mother’s name, Elena. So I became Jimena. Before I was old enough to even remember, my grandmother started calling me Jimena Cricket after the cartoon, Jiminy Cricket. People followed her lead, and to this day most people don’t even know my legal name.

            “I don’t know him that well,” I shrugged.

            “You must,” Sully said. Then seemed a little jealous as he added, “I guess I failed to mention he not only called you his friend, but precious friend.”

            “I don’t know what to tell you,” I shrugged again, even though I felt a little thrill. Yet I didn’t know what precious meant. Although Jack intrigued me, I wouldn’t call my feelings for him romantic. Now Sully on the other hand… But I suppressed those desires for the man standing before me. He was more suited for my sister. Even though she was a man hater, Sully had broken through her shield.

            In a strange way, Violetta and I were like Racheal and Leah from the Bible. But only as far as looks go. My sister was beautiful. More than once I heard her referred to as drop dead gorgeous. She had long wavy red-gold hair, large blue-green eyes, and flawless skin, with a lithe athletic body that still held desirable female curves.

            As for me, one of my blue grey eyes was called lazy. My reddish brown hair was straight and limp. And my frail body was clumsy and twitchy. Chronic allergies also kept my nose frequently red, highlighted by my pale skin. But I was otherwise healthy, so praise God!

            “How don’t you know what to tell us?” Violetta inquired, her own demeanor seeming a little jealous. “You’re apparently his precious friend.”

            I shrugged again, but now pulled nervously on my fingers. “I don’t know where Jack is from, I don’t know how old he is. Only that he seems older than me. Until Sully called him Jack Querida, I didn’t even know his last name.”

            “God works in mysterious ways,” Pastor Kirk Samson, also known as Captain Kirk, said.

            “Yes, he does,” Sully agreed, nodding emphatically.

            “Why I noticed a few Bible stories come to life in miniature,” Captain Kirk added. “The parting of the lake reminded me of the parting of the Red Sea. The sudden tempest for a minute or two reminded me of Jesus calming the storm on the lake. Plus an angel prison break like in the book of Acts.”

            “Praise God,” Sully said as he put his right hand on my shoulder and his left hand on Violetta’s. “What a privilege to be the Lord’s instrument. When I was in jail, I was sure I’d never see you all again.”

            I observed Violetta gaze fondly at Sully and bite her lip. It reminded me of the first time I witnessed Violetta bite her lip over Sully. Which also happened to be the first time I saw my sister bite her lip over any guy.

            A year or so before we watched Sully wash up on the shore of the lake in a kayak, Violetta and I had watched a biography of him on YouTube. It was the day after our cousin introduced us to Sully’s cousin. He was her current beau, and had joined us for Thanksgiving dinner at our grandmother’s house.

            Callie had never brought a boyfriend to a family dinner before, so I was intrigued. I figured they must be pretty serious. Violetta, on the other hand, was skeptical. At one point Callie had taken my sister and me aside, whispering excitedly, “Jeremey’s cousin is Sully Sage.”

            I had leaned in eagerly, excided by my cousin’s excitement. But the name meant nothing to me, so I asked, “Who’s Sully Sage?”

            Callie looked stunned at my ignorance, but Violetta appeared slightly annoyed as she said, “Come on, Cricket, even I know who Sully Sage is.”

            “Well, who is he?” I asked, curious over this supposedly very important person.

            “He’s a drug addled reprobate that sings about loose women, drinking, and drugs,” Violetta declared.

            “Come on, Vi,” Callie replied. “Why do you have to be so negative? Yes, his early career was, I guess, pretty raunchy. But he became a super star singing about lost love and feelings of hopelessness.”

            “Oh boo hoo,” Violetta replied. “Poor pampered rock star. Takes countless women to bed and then cries over his main squeeze dumping him. Then profits off it with sappy songs.”

            Callie looked disappointed. “Vi, you shouldn’t be so judgmental. Sully’s wife was killed in a car crash three years ago. Despite his wild stage persona, Jeremey claims Sully was faithful and loyal to his wife. They were high school sweethearts.”

            “Well, like I said,” Violetta responded with a shrug. “I know who he is, just not much about him.”

            “Well then maybe you ought not judge people you don’t know,” Callie rebuked. “You certainly didn’t like people judging Jimmy.”

            I felt my toes curl. Violetta’s and my brother was a sensitive subject, especially with my sister. He was the reason Violetta despised macho guys, even though she was attracted to manly men. Jimmy was a bit effeminate, and thought to be gay by his peers. He was bullied by the type of guys Violetta loathed. His death was ruled a suicide, but I considered it to be an accident. Violetta believed it was murder.

            Callie’s eyes widened as Violetta’s narrowed. Trying to correct the mistake of bringing up Jimmy to Violetta, she tried, “You should take a page out of Cricket’s book. We all ought to.”

            “I don’t follow a book of my own,” I meekly replied. “I live by the Bible.”

            “Yes, you sure do,” Callie responded with a nervous laugh.

            As different as we were, my sister and I loved each other deeply, and our cousin knew it. By mentioning me, and thereby bringing to mind my devotion to God, Callie quelled the savage beast in my rebellious sister. Violetta forced a smile as she turned her gaze on me and nodded.

            The next day Violetta and I watched the documentary on Sully Sage in her apartment. The first quarter of the program dealt with his early life and a difficult, dysfunctional upbringing. It also covered his becoming an item with Poppy at sixteen, the woman who would later become his wife.

            The next part covered the young lovers running away from home at the age of seventeen when they were both in between their junior and senior year of high school. Then Sully as a struggling musician in LA the next three years. The making of his band, and their first block buster hit, which was a tongue and cheek song about a break up and how much the woman hated her ex.

            The program then covered Sully’s band continually on the road the next three years. It chronicled the personal and legal troubles that accompanied the seemingly never ending travel. There was only a brief six week break to record their second album. The long stint on the road ended with a heart breaking tragedy.

            Poppy, who was a constant companion of Sully’s on the road, was very pregnant and spent the remaining couple weeks of the tour resting at a friend’s LA home. At eight thirty one evening, Poppy left to meet another friend at an In and Out Burger. One block from the restaurant, a speeding drunk driver ran a red light in his hopped up pickup truck. He hit Poppy’s car broadside, killing mother and child instantly.

            The last part of the program dealt with the aftermath of Sully’s terrible loss. It detailed the songs that came from his pain. The biography described his relationship with Poppy. Bandmates and friends talked about the differing natures of the young couple before the tragedy. Poppy, a vibrant light to Sully’s dark brooding personality seemed to somehow balance the pair.

            Now, after the calamity, some music journalists predicted Sully would end up a member of the twenty-seven club. But, at only twenty-four years of age, most didn’t think he’d make it that far. It was already known that he struggled with addiction, depression, and volatility. Throw in the loss of his greatest love in the world, and you had a recipe for human destruction.

            I watched three expression come over Violetta’s face as we watched the biography. The first was neutral as it covered Sully’s childhood. Then she sneered in disgust when they showed clips of him early in his career as a cocky, feral, tattoo covered, shaggy haired rock star.

            Then her face softened when they showed excerpts of his tender relationship with Poppy. They showed him explaining some of the lyrics describing Poppy and the pain he felt. One of the names of endearment he had for his wife was Sunshine. That was what was behind the wording of a song that described how quick the sun could drop away.

            The lyrics of the song described him as he laid in bed all alone, unable to get over his grief. The next few lines described the suicidal despair he felt. Yet the last line held out hope for a better tomorrow. That is when I watched Violetta’s eyes well up, followed by me observing her biting her lip over a man for the first time.

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 20

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 20

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY (Exodus 20:14)

            “Are you disappointed she didn’t confess?” Vermillion asked. His tone was surprisingly neutral from what he usually spoke to me when he wanted to gloat or boast.

            “If you don’t have expectations with sinful humanity, you’re not disappointed,” I replied.

            “Is that why you’re side rejoices over one sinner that repents?” he asked with a mocking tone as he referred to Luke 15:7 and 10.

            “Why do you seem disappointed?”

            “I’m not. You know my side prefers sin and secrecy over truth and honesty.”

            “You must not be confident that there will be a second indiscretion.”

            “Oh, it’s not that at all. Now that she didn’t confess, she, I should say they, are gonna disregard the warnings of Proverbs chapter five about adultery. I just felt the confession would have been interesting to watch.”

            Now I knew why he was neutral. To use a human expression, he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted to see the possibility of marriages destroyed with the adultery coming to light. At minimum marriages damaged. But he also wanted to see his prediction of rinse and repeat come to fruition.

            It had not even been an hour since the woman defiled herself with a man who wasn’t her husband. To add severity to the sin, the man she went to bed with was married as well. He was also the father of three young children. To make the iniquity yet more precarious, he was her next door neighbor.

            She had scrubbed herself aggressively in the shower after the encounter. Not only did she wish to scrub the sin away, she wanted to make sure any possible scent of her paramour’s cologne was gone. Then, facing her husband less than a half an hour after she dried off, he had leaned toward her and asked, “What’s that smell?”

            Her guilty conscience warned her that he suspected. In an effort to get her sin off of her chest, she blurted, “I have something I need to tell you.”

            He walked past her to the gas stove. “You didn’t turn the burner all the way off. So what did you need to tell me?”

            “How careless of me,” she said, looking at the stove with a frown as her brain scrambled for something to ‘tell’ him. “Um, there’s a light bulb burned out in the bathroom.”

            “Okay,” he said laughing. “You made it sound like something more urgent than a burned out light bulb.”

            “I just didn’t want to forget. You can reach it, but I’d have to get the little step ladder from the shed.”

            The next day, the woman got a text message from her young lover about going for a run. She made an excuse to not go. The following day the same text and made the same excuse to not go. The third day he called. As she looked at caller ID, she sighed and decided she couldn’t evade him forever. She might as well face the music. Yet she didn’t push answer in time. It went to voice mail, and he left a brief message. “Please call me within the next few hours. We need to talk, and Jill and the kids won’t be home until at least seven thirty.”

            She paced the living room nervously biting her thumb. Why was she hesitating? Did she actually want another tryst, even though she felt compelled to tell him their fling was a mistake? She wanted them to get back to normal. But what was normal? Flirting and lusting had become normal, and then that led to the point where they crossed a line!

            No, she determined to not only tell him it was a mistake, but that they needed to stop seeing each other altogether. Their relationship needed to be strictly a wave across the fence followed by a ‘hello neighbor, nice day.’ Then maybe their indiscretion would fade over time. She sighed heavily and picked up her phone. She might as well get it over with.

            “Hey,” she greeted softly, rather than her usual perky attitude.

            “Hey,” he replied with his own low tone. “Were you trying to avoid me?”

            “Why would I try to do that?” she asked, half joking and half serious as she tried to dial up a more lively vibe.

            “Because something pretty big happened between us the other day.”

            “Yeah, Justin, about that. We… ya know… made a mistake.”

            “I thought we made love.”

            “But we are both married.”

            “I know.”

            There was a long awkward pause. “Justin, I can’t have an affair. I love my husband… I think we need to stop running together, hanging out together.”

            “I completely understand. I felt terrible as well. But I do not want to lose our friendship.”

            She didn’t either. She hated the thought of their relationship being reduced to ‘sure could use some rain’ over the fence.

            “So, how about it? Let’s go for a run and try to get back to normal.”

            “Okay,” she replied with both a grin and a frown. “But I only have about a half hour, then I need to get supper started.

            “That’s fine.”

            As Vermillion and I watched, my opponent became giddy despite the woman putting on loose sweat pants instead of her usual painted on spandex shorts. She also pulled a large t-shirt over her head, covering the tight sports bra.

            Despite a resolve to just be friends, she felt a sense of skepticism. How could they go back to normal? Before their sin, they had a mutual attraction and a playful flirtation. Now that they gave in to the desires that resulted, would that just go away? Was it possible? They had opened a door. The question was, could it be shut before the illicit winds of lust opened it wider.

            But it seemed to work! Their playful banter was still present, but the sexual innuendos that had evolved over the previous months were absent. The chemistry was still there but held in check. Maybe just friends could work. They were well behaved and polite, and this seemed to give Vermillion great delight. He told me. “It’s the little things, Q, that build up to bigger things.”

            As their run ended, Justin followed her into her garage. He held out his hand to shake. With a boyish grin he said, “Thank you for accompanying me, Mrs. Stetson.”

            “Thank you for escorting me, Mr. Phillips,” she replied with her own grin. But then for some reason, she spontaneously winked at him.

            Their hands were still joined and Justin’s grin faded as he contemplated that wink. Then for some reason he spontaneously pulled her hand toward his face. With eyes locked on hers, he kissed it. Her pulse began to quicken, but so did her conscience. She jerked her hand from his but smiled coyly. “Are we gonna be able to remain just friends?”

            With a suggestive low tone, he growled. “You tell me.”

            “We have to,” she declared and gave him a playful shove. “Now, I think we both need a shower.”

            “So, are you suggesting we take a shower together?”

            “Justin!” she said with hands sternly on her hips, but a little smile curled on her lips. “I mean you in your house and me in mine. We can’t go down that road!”

            “We already did.”

            “Well, we need to realize that it’s a dead end.”

            “So let’s park and stay there awhile.”

            “Look, Justin, I don’t think running together and hanging out is gonna work. There seems to be just too much chemistry between us, and now that we, you know, got to know each other in a way reserved for our spouses. I mean, don’t you feel guilty? I know I do.”

            She hoped bringing up their partners would deter him, but it only added fuel to his fire. “I do, but there’s another side of the coin. Both of the spouses you mention are terribly out of shape. And ironically, trying to initiate sex with mine is like trying to pull her teeth. And you admitted that yours has recently developed certain problems. Which is also ironic since his wife has to be the hottest fifty something on the planet.”

            His compliment made her suddenly wish she was in her usual attire rather than frumpy sweats. He was clearly willing to pursue an affair, and she found this prospect both alluring and disturbing. Determined to focus on disturbing, she said, “Justin, it just isn’t right. We both took vows.”

            “True enough, but you were willing to break them the other day. How come then but not now?”

            She shrugged. “I gave into desire.”

            He grinned and took hold of her hand. “So give in again.”

            “I can’t.”

            “But why? I thought the other day was absolutely amazing! Forgive me, but you seemed to thoroughly enjoy yourself as well. So why am I now repulsive?”

            “Trust me, you are anything but repulsive.”

            “If that’s the case, I still don’t get it.”

            “Don’t you feel guilty, Justin? I mean, not just for our own spouses either. I don’t know if I could look Jill in the eyes right now.”

            “You’re over thinking this.”

            “You didn’t answer me. Don’t you feel guilty?”

            He shrugged. “Of course I do. But you’re worth it. The guilt will fade with time. We are both just freaked out by the newness of our secret love.”

            He loved her! Did she love him? Why were there so many mixed feelings? She realized they were still holding hands and she pulled hers away. She tried a different approach. Although she skipped church more often than she went these days, she said, “I’m a deaconess in our church; I was head deaconess for more than a decade. Do you realize how humiliating it would be if we got caught? Look, I’m already late getting supper going and I need to shower first.”

            “Run tomorrow?”

            She bit her lip and looked at her watch. “We’ll see.”

            Vermillion couldn’t keep silent. “Do you see why we usually win with fallen humanity, Querida? She is clearly more concerned with getting caught rather than the sin itself. But I guess that should be obvious since they’ve already done the dirty deed. Watch what happens next.”

            I knew what his team had in the works and it wasn’t good. The thing that made it all the more despicable was they were using the good heart of the adulteress’s husband. He was one of those people that many others rely on when in need. The type of guy that would give the shirt off his back when someone was in need.

            The adulteress’s mind was completely absorbed with her paramour and their dialogue. So she gave a little start as she dried off from her shower when her phone sounded off. Then she recoiled for a second as she reached for it and saw her husband’s name on caller ID. It was as if he knew her thoughts. It was as if he knew about her fling. But he couldn’t, could he? The guilty mind sure can be paranoid.

            “Hi, Honey,” she said cheerfully, yet her hand trembled slightly.

            “Hey, Babe,” her husband cooed lovingly, calming her instantly. “Have you started supper yet?”

            “I was about to. I was just drying off from a shower after a run.”

            She bit her lip. Every once in a while he asked if she ran with Justin. Never out of jealousy, always simply conversational. But he didn’t ask about their neighbor; he went right into the reason for his call. “Jared Anderson forgot to turn his lights off on his car when he got to work this morning, so I’m going over to his office to jump start him. By the time I drive over there and get him going, I won’t be home until around eight, give or take.”

            “Oh, okay. I’ll wait an hour to start supper.”

            “Thanks, Babe, love you.”

            “Love you, too,” she told him.

            Her heart pounded with excitement. She scrolled her contacts for Justin’s number. She was about to hit send, when my team pricked her conscience. She groaned and tossed her phone onto the bed. But she had freewill, and sometimes when carnal desire gets rolling, it’s hard to stop. Us trying to influence the conscience then becomes like trying to stop a Mack truck with a butterfly net.

            My team’s job becomes easier to a large degree when people stay grounded in the Word of God, coupled with prayer. It’s been said, and I agree, that prayer is the better half of study. When this is practiced, humans experience a very high success rate with victory over sin.

            Spiritual things have been compared to food and water. Jesus said if anyone thirsts let them come to Him and drink. (John 7:37) He also called Himself the Bread of Life. (John 6:35) How often does one need to eat and drink their physical food? As with physical nourishment, so with the spiritual sustenance. One needs it multiple times a day.

            On the other hand, beware. The enemy does double down on those that are serious about God. The Bible warns that those who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12) The demons don’t need to work hard on the people that already don’t care about following God.

            Unfortunately the adulteress, someone still considered a church leader, had back slidden from devoted prayer and study. Her daily devotion had become reduced to a halfhearted thirty second prayer before bed. But her mind did anguish and wrestle with her dilemma over her potential lover for almost five minutes. But time was waning, she needed to make a decision.

            Having forfeited her strong connection with God, Vermillion’s team was able to harness her carnal desires. One of the first things they did after taking a hold of the reins was convince her that another dalliance was meant to be. Justin was right about them deserving each other. But was there still time?

            Almost frantically she picked up her phone. Justin’s name was still up and she hit send.

            “Hey, Jenny, what’s up?” his voice said into her ear.

            “Jimmy won’t be home until around eight… Do you want to come over?”

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 19

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 19

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

“I SAY TO YOU THAT WHOEVER LOOKS AT A WOMAN TO LUST FOR HER HAS ALREADY COMMITED ADULTERY WITH HER IN HIS HEART.” (Matthew 5:28)

            “You’re too late, my former friend,” Vermillion gloated.

            “Am I?”

            “You are indeed,” he taunted. “The covenant is broken, the indiscreet affair consummated, adultery completed. Never to be undone.”

            “No, they can’t undo it. But it can be forgiven.”

            “Oh wait, I spoke amiss. I suspect that the affair is just beginning not completed. Oh, I know they both tell themselves, ‘just this once.’ But human hormones are a powerful drug, especially when locked into illicit thoughts. You should have been here to stop it, Querida.”

            “You know better than that. We can impress, we can protect, but we can’t get in the way of freewill.”

            He chortled. “Ah freewill, tiz a wonderful thing when coupled with a sinful nature.”

            “It’s a beautiful thing when submitted to God in love.”

            He snorted. “You say trust and obey, I say lust and give way. To the carnal instinct that is. Look how much fun they just had! That was the biggest thrill in years for both of them!”

            “Well, the biggest thrill in years is gone now. They are experiencing guilt and shame on a level like never before.”

            “That’s your side’s fault. We provide the party; you guys are the poopers.”

            “We provide peace and contentment when following God. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. Through the conscience, humans have an instinct leading to a higher purpose.”

            “It’s funny how that works, Querida. When that instinct is ignored, and a person gives themselves over to the forbidden, their doom is sealed.”

            “Not so, they…”

            “What do you mean not so?” Vermillion interrupted. “What about the mark of the beast or the seal of God? When a person gives themselves over to us, we have a seal as well.”

            “As long as they have breath, they have time to repent.”

            “Bah!” Vermillion barked, then laughed maliciously. “You just wait. They’ll rinse and repeat. Speaking of rinsing, look at the extra friendly neighbors now. They are both in their own showers trying to scrub their sin away before their spouses arrive home. Is that how one repents? With soap and water?”

            “It’s a start. They both are aware they have sinned.”

            “They’ll be back at it when the hormones rebuild. Then they will be aware that they tapped into something magical. Illicit brings excitement. Right now they are more worried that they might get caught than sorry that they sinned.”

            “Look at her tears. That’s not worry of being caught, that’s sorrow over betraying a sacred trust.”

            “It’ll pass. Then the recollection of his touch and the sensual sensations she felt will overrule her conscience. The first encounter is in the books after months, yeah years, of resisting. The next encounter will come much, much easier.”

            “We’ll see. There’s a reason for guilt. If she confesses, God will forgive.”

            “What about her husband? Shouldn’t she confess to him as well? Will he be harmonious with his next-door neighbor given such a revelation? Smile and wave as they both mow their lawns? No, Querida, my bet is she will figure what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. And that reluctance will ultimately make the second encounter much easier. Then a third and a fourth and a fifth, etc, etc. Despite their aggressive cleaning now, it was quite the start a half hour ago.”

            “You know as well as I do that it started with that first look of lust.”

            “Ah, like I said, lust and obey the carnal instinct. Sometimes it just takes time and patience. But a lot of resisted longing makes the coupling all the more intense when it finally happens. Were you here the first time the new neighbors, now lovers, met four years ago? I don’t believe you were, so let me fill you in.”

            “I was made aware,” I cut in.

            The older, established neighbors brought a welcoming gift to the new neighbors sixteen years their junior. The fresh names on the mailbox declared them to be Justin and Jill Phillips. The new neighbors invited their brand new friends in for a beverage. They accepted but said only for a few minutes because they had a golf engagement with some friends.

            As the older female neighbor sat next to her husband on a love seat, that’s when the first looks and thoughts in the secret recesses of the eventual lover’s minds began. Her short golf skirt revealed a lot of shapely leg, and as the younger man approached with a glass of lemonade, his mind told him, ‘She’s got to be forty plus, but she’s in better shape than your wife.’

            The older woman admired the lean, toned runner’s build of the younger man. His stomach was flat behind his gray tucked in polo shirt. She glanced at what looked like a small pillow behind her husband’s green polo shirt.

            The younger couple’s five and three year old sons were tearing around the living room. This motivated the older couple to down their lemonades more quickly than necessary. Then they looked at their watches and excused themselves.

            Although the two neighbors exchanged several waves in the following weeks, it would be a couple months before they actually spoke again. It was on a hot summer day when the older female returned from a run. The younger male had been operating an edger on the sidewalk as she approached. He stopped his work and stepped aside so she could pass. He smiled warmly and said hello.

            Instead of running past, she stopped. Huffing slightly and sweating profusely, she said, “How are things in the new digs?”

            “Great,” Justin replied.

            When she glanced down at her watch, apparently checking her running time, he glanced down as well. He took in her black spandex shorts with matching sports bra that seemed to be painted on. His mind told him, ‘Man, she’s smoking hot, and not just from the run. Yet she’s probably not much younger than my mom.’

            His eyes averted back to her face before her eyes averted back to his. He asked, “Do you run quite a bit?”

            “I do,” she admitted. “It’s become quite an addiction.”

            “I like to run, but between work and the family, it’s hard to find time.”

            “Well, if you ever want to join me, I run almost every day at around this time. Sometimes it makes it easier to get motivated if you have a running partner.”

            “Yeah, I should do just that,” Justin replied nodding. “You sure you wouldn’t mind company?”

            “Not at all, I’d love to have you join me,” A little sultry added to her smile. Her subconscious nagged her mind a little bit after her reply. There was a chemistry between them that she couldn’t put her finger on that Vermillion’s team was pushing. Our side motivated distance.

            “My husband used to run with me, but he has knee problems now.”

            Vermillion inspired Justin’s first bold flirtation, that was encouraged by her sexy smile. “Are you sure your husband won’t mind me getting sweating with his gorgeous wife?”

            She smiled warmly, liking the compliment. Then our side caused caution to enter her mind. Her smile faded and she said, “Considering I’m old enough to be your mother, he won’t mind at all.”

            “There’s no way you’re as old as my mother.”

            She couldn’t help grinning again. She liked the younger man. He had a friendly charm that was appealing, and he was so good looking. Tall dark and handsome was what came to mind to describe him. But she felt ancient in his presence and was sure his mother had him late in life. “Well, let’s see, how old was she when you were born?”

            “Seventeen.”

            Her smile faded again. His mother was only a year older than she was. Yet he had said there was no way she was as old as his mother. That was good, right? But then dawning recognition set in. The younger man had reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t put her finger on it until now. That dark wavy hair and the shape of his blue eyes. She remembered a girl a grade ahead of her who had gotten pregnant the summer between her junior and senior year. “Is your mother’s name Becky Russo?”

            A look of astonishment came over his face. “Well it was. It’s Becky Adler now, but how did you know? Were you high school classmates?”

            “Well, she was a grade ahead of me. I didn’t really know her, I just knew of her.”

            He smiled coyly. “You knew of her because she was a pregnant high schooler.”

            She shrugged and nodded. “Pregnant with you no less, my new neighbor.”

            Then a week later, the younger couple discovered they were expecting again themselves.

            “Like I said, patience, the long game,” Vermillion had told me on numerous occasions throughout our association as opponents.

            I hate to admit it, but he was right. Finding out that Justin’s mother was almost her same age quelled her flirtations with Justin for the time being. His wife being with child again postponed his own feelings of amour.

            Then things shifted over time. Justin’s wife was at one time a cheerleader to his quarterback, and homecoming queen to his king. After two kids she struggled to get into a semblance of shape. After the third child, who they would refer to as an ‘opps,’ she didn’t even try. Yet his frequent jogging partner next door became more sleek and lithe by running religiously.

            Then things shifted again. Not long after the older woman turned fifty, she won first place in her age category in a 5K. The next day Justin called the older neighbor to see if she wanted to go for a run. He went next door, taking his phone with him. “I never got a picture of you wearing your medal.”

            “Oh, it’s no big deal,” she replied modestly. She had only been running in 5K’s for two years with the first one at the younger neighbor’s instigation. “I never won first place in the forties category. Since my birthday was only two months ago, I was probably the youngest in the fifties bracket.”

            “Nonetheless you won first place and I want a picture.”

            She struggled to clasp the medal around her neck, so Justin offered to help her. Then a miscommunication opened the door for their not so secret desires for each other to come to fruition. Although they had always behaved physically, never even exchanging a hug, they often teased each other. This teasing evolved into flirting.

            The older woman handed the medal over to Justin. She had a stiff neck, and when she pulled her ponytail aside to make way for him to clasp the medal, she tilted her head to the left to stretch the tight muscles. The younger neighbor mistook this as an invitation to place his lips on the soft skin just below her jaw.

            She froze with my side telling her mind to tell her mouth to stop this right now and obey the Spirit. But Vermillion’s side kept her locked in indecision. They kept her tantalized with intense carnal sensations. The long standing attraction to each other that they both allowed their minds to indulge in fantasy was now rearing its ugly head in reality. My side sent a hard jab at her conscience. She pushed away from her younger neighbor and said, “We better stop.”

            But her shaky giggle, along with her hands still on his chest communicated something other than her words. Then she allowed herself to waver. “Don’t you think?”

            Justin countered her suggestion. “I saw your husband leave with golf clubs twenty minutes ago. My boys won’t be back from Cub Scouts, and my wife and daughter from play group until seven. Just like you, it crossed my mind that this was our chance.”

            “What do you mean ‘just like me?’”

            He smiled coyly. “You know, offering your neck like that. I got the hint and went with it. Don’t change your mind now.”

            “But I…,” she said as my side tried reasoning with her.

            But Vermillion overwhelmed her with carnal desire. All of her impure thoughts about her younger neighbor came to a boil. But an hour later her shower lasted twice as long with twice the amount of soap than if she would have actually went for a run in the July heat. Her hands trembled off and on as she prepared supper afterward with her mind reeling with anxious, guilty thoughts.

            She kissed her husband when he came home and they hugged. He frowned when they separated. “Why are you shaking?”

            “Oh, am I?” she stammered, then lied. “I don’t know, I guess I over did it this afternoon running so soon after the 5K.”

            “Did Justin go with you?”

            “No,” she blurted. “I mean yeah.”

            “No, yeah,” he laughed. “What kind of answer is that? Either he went or he didn’t.”

            “Well, he wasn’t gonna, but then he changed his mind.”

            She could feel her heart pounding, and it reminded her of the Edgar Allan Poe story, ‘The Tell Tale Heart.’ It was a tale of man who killed an old man and hid him under floorboards. Then his guilty conscience kept hearing the old man’s heart beating louder and louder, even though he was dead. But she didn’t kill anybody. Maybe just her marriage.

            Her husband leaned in toward her, sniffed and frowned. “What’s that smell?”

            Her heart beat still faster! Lies, betrayal, adultery! Just confess right now! Her husband was a reasonable man. They had been married for more than a quarter of a century, and until today she had never so much as kissed another man. She made a mistake; her husband would forgive her. Wouldn’t he? They had built a life together, a good life. She just needed to get serious about God again.

            Okay, she might as well own up to it since he clearly suspected. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 18

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 18

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

HE WHO BELIEVES AND IS BAPTIZED WILL BE SAVED (Mark 16:16)

            “All things work together for good to those who love God,” I said, not as a taunt, but as a praise to God.

            “Oh, shut up,” Vermillion responded. “At least Ginger’s actions tainted their so called conversions.”

            “But all four got baptized.”

            “You know as well as I do that it’s the long game, not the short game,” he replied.

            He spoke the truth. The demonic realm often espouses truth. Poison is more likely to be taken if it is diluted with something else. That’s why false religion has done so much damage. That’s how all the world marveled and followed the beast. (Revelation 13:3)

            (Just a reminder, to learn WHO the beast is and WHAT the mark of the beast is, AmazingFacts.Org. has excellent free Bible study guides you can do online.)

            It also helps the demonic realm that human nature is more prone to follow them than God. Living in a fallen world actually means one needs to rebel, albeit in a positive way. Everyone on earth constructed of flesh, bone and blood is in danger of the following Bible text. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who cane know it?’ (Jeremiah 17:9)

            Although Lucy was not desperately wicked, she was desperately wounded after being raped by four men. In the scaring process of this wound, her mind was in denial about a frightening fact. She hadn’t experienced her menstrual cycle since she was violated. Even as she noticed her mid-section begin to gradually expand, her prevalent thought was that she had been eating a lot of ice cream lately. She needed to cut out comfort food since it wasn’t healthy and the brief consolation it afforded wasn’t sustainable.

            As she and Jimmy began to seek truth together, another truth was beginning to nag at her mind. She began to entertain the thought that her lack of having a period could mean she was pregnant. She began to concoct a scheme, for she and Jimmy hadn’t made a decision for Christ yet. They were still smoking funny things and flirting with the chemistry that crackled between them.

            She began to manipulate Jimmy’s oversexed instinct. It worked. She made sure that when they gave into passion, that the lighting was minimal. She didn’t want Jimmy to question why her stomach was slightly out of proportion with the rest of her body.  

            In a subconscious attempt to block her pain, Lucy even convinced herself that the baby was Jimmy’s. The adage of ‘tell a lie long enough or convincingly enough and you believe it yourself’ happened to her. It also happened to my adversaries, like Vermillion and his supreme leader, on a supernatural level.

            When Jimmy literally got caught with his pants down with Ginger, it jarred something with Lucy’s psyche. When it was proven that Ginger set him up, for they discovered the cut phone line and the carelessly discarded spare key, Lucy confessed. “Just so you know, this baby isn’t yours! I’m sorry.”

            “I forgive you,” he said, feeling relieved. He wasn’t sure if that feeling was right or wrong. He was just glad he wasn’t gonna be the parent of two children, by two women, one month apart in age.

            Jimmy knew Lucy meant that one of her sex offenders was in fact the biological father. As painful as it was to admit, the truth was coaxed out of her by the Spirit of God. She stared at him with mouth agape, her eyes wide and filling with tears. Jimmy hugged her and at first she clung to him. He gently said, “It isn’t the child’s fault who the father is.”

            “I know,” she replied before going to her knees sobbing. It was then that the pair decided to postpone their baptism. Between Lucy’s admission, and Jimmy’s ordeal with Ginger, they wanted a little more time to adjust. Jenny and Jake also postponed their intended baptism in solidarity.

            As the next Sabbath approached, Lucy decided that she wanted to get baptized. Between the council of Pastor and Mrs. Samson, and the support of her friends and family, she didn’t want to wait any longer. Vermillion and his host had hoped to discourage or at least taint the baptisms, but they were only delayed one week, and the participants were all the more zealous about their commitment to Christ.

            The plan to destroy only brought beauty from ashes. Lucy gave a testimony to the church on the morning of their baptisms. She felt led to make public her ordeal, even if it only helped one young woman.

            While she made clear that the men who violated were in no way, at all, even slightly justified with their crime against her, she acknowledged her own culpability. The first mistake was indulging in several adult beverages. With lowered inhibitions, she then engaged in exhibitionism by flashing the four college guys. Her third and final mistake was she carelessly found herself alone with them.

            She admitted difficulty getting her mind around her child being a blood relative of one of her rapists. But thanks to Jimmy, she embraced the concept that it wasn’t child’s fault. It occurred to her that the biological father and her child were two separate people.

            Lucy and Jimmy shook hands before they were baptized in Cotton Creek. Then they hugged after they emerged from the watery grave where they honored Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, thereby committing themselves to Him.

            Afterward, Jake wowed the congregation with his acoustic guitar rendition of shall ‘Shall We Gather at the River.’ Then he himself was astounded when Lucy joined him to sing ‘Amazing Grace.’ His astonishment wasn’t that she spontaneously joined him, but at the loveliness of her voice. The two began a collaboration with a song ministry.

            With music being a great joy in both of their lives, they began to spend a lot of time together. They even began writing songs together. It was during one of these collaborations on a song that Lucy began to experience severe cramping. The pain became so intense she fainted. Jake rushed her to the emergency room where she miscarried her baby.

            Jake had been a big source of comfort in the aftermath of her loss. This comfort eventually led to their first kiss. This first kiss led to a conversation with Jimmy. He gave his brother his blessing. He admitted that with Jenny expecting his child, Larry out of the picture, and their faith in God in common, romance between them was beginning to simmer once again.

            September 1, 1991. It was a year to the day the four were baptized. Lucy and Jake, along with Jenny and Jimmy, were married in a double wedding. Pastor Samson, AKA Captain Kirk, officiated.

            Jake became an evangelist, and he and Lucy travelled the world with a song ministry. They figured they would do that until they found themselves with child. Then they would settle down to a pastorship wherever the Lord called. But children were not forthcoming, so they continued bringing hundreds, ultimately thousands, to Lord over the years.

            Jenny and Jimmy welcomed a daughter in April, 1991. They welcomed a son two years later. Jenny was a stay at home mom with their kids until they were school age. Jimmy was blessed by employment with a plumbing distribution company that was employee owned. He came in at just the right window and retired before he was sixty, cashing in on substantial shares of stock.

            For more than two decades, the faithful foursome lived fairly steady lives of loyalty and devotion. However, one of them wandered away from the fold in a disappointing manner. C.S. Lewis once posed the question. ‘If you examined one hundred people who lost their faith, I wonder how many of them had been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?’

            After the four baptisms, I moved on to another assignment, leaving reliable colleagues in charge of guardianship. A quarter of a century later, one of them sought me out and informed me that Vermillion and his minions had successfully lured one of the faithful four into deep sin.

            Before I move on to a new tale involving different people and circumstances, I will wrap up the story of Lucy, Jenny, Jimmy, and Jake in the next couple of chapters. I will try to explain how one fell so far from grace after years of devotion.

            But even we angels do not understand the mystery of iniquity. But, like believing humans, we are strengthened by the unfathomable grace and love of God!

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 13

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 13

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

THROUGH THE LORD’S MERCIES WE ARE NOT CONSUMED, BECAUSE HIS COMPASSIONS FAIL NOT. THEY ARE NEW EVERY MORNING. GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS. (Lamentations 3:22, 23)

            “Poor Jimmy,” Vermillion mocked. “So new to love and it happens with two women simultaneously. Yet one is likely pregnant by another guy, and the other just related an ugly story he will never forget. Not only the words of the horrific tale, but the tremble of her body with the snot and slobber coming from her pretty face slimming onto his shirt. Look at his body language and how much he’d like to push her away.”

            “But he isn’t pushing her away,” I responded. We watched as he hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head. She pushed away and looked at him. He pulled his t-shirt up and wiped the tears from her eyes, the mucus from her nose, and saliva from her chin.

            “I’m sorry,” she lamented. “I’m so disgusting.”

            “No big deal, it’s just an old t-shirt” he said with a gentle laugh.    

            “I don’t just mean your shirt.”

            “What happened to you wasn’t your fault.”

            “How can you say that? I drank more than I should have. I flirted and teased inappropriately.”

            “And that gave those guys the right to violate you?”

            Lucy just looked at him with a bewildered expression. So he continued, “I’ve actually been hot and heavy with women before and they have said no. And I respected that no means no. So I’m not gonna excuse those guys even a little bit.”

            “You actually told Lexi no,” Lucy said. He nodded. So she asked, “Was that hard?”

            “It wasn’t easy,” he admitted. “But on the other hand, it was easier than being told no.”

            “Was that the only time you told a girl no?”

            He thought of Jenny and the night she seduced him. He had tried to tell her no for her own sake, but his desire for her overcame his will to behave. “Not exactly. But Lexi was the first time I followed through.”

            “For what it’s worth, it really, really impressed me.”

            He shrugged.

            “I don’t know if I was more pleased because I was jealous,” she continued. “Or because you seemed to have integrity.”

            “You were jealous?” he asked with both a frown and smile.

            “Yes,” she said utterly serious. “I’ve had a bit of a crush on you ever since you moved into this mobile home court last year. Then Lexi started talking about you and how much you were frustrating her. She had never had a guy play hard to get before.”

            “In all honesty, until a few days ago I didn’t know your name. But you and your moped do seem familiar. But now that I know you, I have a bit of crush on you as well.”

            Jimmy frowned. Should he be telling a girl that he had a crush on her when he had a girlfriend? Did he have a girlfriend? Should a girlfriend be making dinner for another man? The other man was likely the grandfather of the baby she was carrying. The other man was a guy she did “stuff with” before she became involved with his son. How was it his love life was never more complicated? He was trying to do right, but everything seemed all wrong.

            “Really? You have a crush on me even after what I told you?”

            “Like I said, it wasn’t your fault. But even if you felt that you played a role in what happened. If I’ve learned anything from these Bible meetings, it’s that God can forgive anything.”

            “Would you believe I’ve never even kissed a guy?”

            “You hang out with Lexi’s gang, and you haven’t dated or fooled around?”

            “The boy that lived next door to me before we moved into the mobile home court has been my boyfriend for almost two years. He’s a year older than me.”

            “You’ve had a boyfriend for two years and you’ve never kissed?”

            “He’s gay, in the closet, and I’m his mask. He’s been with his boyfriend even before we started pretending. It’s worked for me as well. No one pressures me to fool around with guys. They assume I’ve been having regular sex with my so called boyfriend.

            “I see.”

            Lucy’s eyes looked startled. “Opps! I just told you another secret!”

            “You never said his name.”

            “It wouldn’t be hard to find out. Lexi or Amy or any of them could tell you who he is.”

            “Who would I tell?”

            “Your girlfriend,” she replied, but Jimmy waved a dismissive hand. She gave him a little shove. “You need to tell me a secret.”

            “Oh, come on, what, are we in junior high school?”

            She took hold of his hands, and he was surprised at how natural it felt. “Please. Surely a guy like you has some secrets.”

            “A guy like me, what’s that supposed to mean?”

            “I happen to know through Lexi’s infatuation with you, that you were a player. That’s one of the reasons she felt frustrated by your rejection. It was like, what’s wrong with me that I’m not good enough for a womanizer like Jimmy Stetson?”

            “I resent that implication.”

            “You earned it. Now tell me a secret.”

            “Jenny’s pregnant.”

            She dropped her hands from his as a stunned expression came over her face. “Your girlfriend is pregnant?”

            He explained the scenario of him becoming reacquainted with Jenny and how she came to be with child.

            “Wow! So the baby likely isn’t even yours, but you’re gonna treat it as if it is?”

            “We’ll see,” he said with a shrug. That had been his original plan, but so much seemed up in the air now. His old lifestyle. The new direction he seemed to be heading with his newfound interest in the Bible. Larry nudging back into Jenny’s life. Jenny not seeming all that interested in what they were learning at the Bible meetings. And now this infatuation with Lucy. This desire to protect her, which felt similar to his desire to protect Jenny.

            Lucy looked over his shoulder into the distance. She wore a vacant expression. Then her brown eyes with gold flecks took on a glassy, watery appearance. Jimmy waited and she eventually looked at him. “Can I tell you another secret?”

            “Sure,” he replied quietly.

            “Those guys in Florida,” she said and then paused.

            She seemed to be waiting for a response, so he replied, “A huh.”

            “They didn’t use protection.”

            His first thought was an STD. But when the tears spilled from her eyes, he knew what was about to come out of her mouth. “I got pregnant.”

            He uneasily stuffed his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “I see… When is it due?”

            “There is no due date. I got an abortion.”

            She put her face into her hands and began to sob. He reached to pull her in for a hug but recalled her saying ‘don’t touch.’ But then she said ‘no, do hug me.’ He opted for words instead. “It’s okay.”

            “It’s okay? No, it’s not okay! How can you say getting pregnant by your rapists is okay? How can you say killing your baby is okay?”

            “Poor choice of words,” he replied. “I didn’t know what else to say.”

            “That’s because I’m vile, disgusting and dirty.”

            “No, you’re not!” he said more aggressively than he intended, But it was the right move. She stopped crying and looked at him with wonder. “You were the victim of a violent crime. Don’t give me you teased them and flashed them. Guys go to strippers all the time and don’t track them down and rape them. Remember what the pastor ended with tonight? God’s forgiveness cleanses us.”

            He was encouraged when she nodded slightly. She sat against his Chevy Chevette and began to rummage in her small purse. She pulled out a joint and lit it, inhaling deeply, then coughed.

            “Here we go, Querida,” Vermillion began to boast. “This is where the advantage shifts to me. Get them off track before they get on track.”

            “Maybe,” I admitted, and then paraphrased Philippians 1:6. “But He who began a good work in them will finish it.”

            “Well, my former friend, I’m gonna abort that plan just like Lucy aborted her baby.”

            “They’ve already tasted and seen that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)

            “Ah, but life is bitter. And complex. Look over there, Querida. Larry is kissing Jenny on the cheek as he leaves. Oops, he caught the corner of her mouth. Hee, hee, hee. With her blush and shy smile, he thinks she caught the corner of his mouth on purpose. Hee, hee, hee. Now he’s kissing her full on the lips. Oh what a good girl, gently pushing him away like that. But her bashful giggle and fluttering eyelids just told him, not now… But maybe.

            “Now let’s see how loosey goosey Lucy and Jimmy get with that little stick of rolled up weed, Querida. Now that Larry’s gone, Jenny wants to make sure everything is good between her Jimmy. Are you gonna stop Jenny? Are you gonna stop Lucy and Jimmy?”

            He knew that I couldn’t stop them. Distract, inspire, impress, yes things like that. He also knew in most ways he had the advantage. His side controlled the wide gate, that most go through. My side controlled the narrow gate which sadly fewer in number find. (See Matthew 7:13, 14)                       

            But when a person submits to God, they are an unstoppable force. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. But the key is submitting to God. (See James 4:7). Unfortunately, for the moment anyway, Lucy and Jimmy were in the process of shutting the door on the light.

            Jimmy had only occasionally smoked marijuana; the last time being more than a year ago. By Lucy’s coughing, he could tell she wasn’t overly experienced herself. He intuited she had only recently started smoking pot to escape the emotional pain from her spring break ordeal.

            She extended the wacky tobacky to Jimmy. He took it and sat next to her. As a cigarette smoker he did not cough after taking a drag. Inebriating substances are a big time deception. The early euphoria is often replaced with addiction. As one Guns-n-Roses song proclaimed, ‘I used to do a little but a little wouldn’t do it so a little got more and more. I just kept trying to get a little better, said a little better than before.’

            “Where did you get this?” Jimmy asked. “You are a feisty little gal, but this does surprise me big time.”

            “It’s a secret. I can’t betray my dealer,” she replied and then giggled. Then he giggled, then they laughed so hard they were rocking two and fro and back and forth. After a few minutes of this, they settled into a mellow zone out for several more minutes.

            Then Lucy hoped up suddenly and declared, “I better go.”

            Jimmy arose as well. “Going to the meeting tomorrow?”

            “A huh.”

            “Why don’t you swing by, and we can ride there together on your moped.”

            This idea gave them another round of laughing. Then she said completely serious, “Maybe you could pick me up.”

            “I better not, I have a girlfriend.”

            “Do you?”

            “I don’t know.” This comment caused yet more chortling.

            “Since you don’t know, would you mind kissing me?”

            “I certainly wouldn’t mind, but I probably shouldn’t.”

            She nodded and he noticed a look of sadness spread into her countenance. He knew what she was thinking. I’m vile, I’m dirty, I’m disgusting. So he said, “One friendly kiss wouldn’t hurt though.”

            He was six foot one compared to her five foot four. So he leaned down and put his lips to hers. He intended it to only be a second long peck. But her arm draped over his neck as he began to pull away. So he kissed her again, and her right arm joined her left. Then his hands went around her waist, and they stayed connected for a minute or two before Jimmy was only vaguely aware of a car approaching.

            The gray Monte Carlo stopped at his driveway, drawing his full attention. He broke the lip lock with Lucy and looked into the surprised face of Jenny, her mouth agape with astonishment.