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.