Tag: family

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – PART 2 – CHAPTER 15

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

PART 2

CHAPTER 15

DREW ALDO

  SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU. (Matthew 6:33)

            I felt my toes curl when Sevenia Sallie told my brother Jerry that his girlfriend Brenda was her cousin. Brenda was Jerry’s ex, or something like that. If a six week relationship is long enough to merit the term ‘ex.’

            Sevenia had made this declaration happily. For she had yet to discover that Jerry and Brenda were no longer an item. To make matters worse, I could tell that Jerry had been smitten with Sevenia. This surprised me. Jerry’s typical lady of the moment was usually a blonde with dark roots, a tastefully placed tattoo or four, and a few piercings beyond just the ears.

            Sevenia, like Nancy, was a plain Jane. However, for my tastes this usually spelled natural beauty. But I guess I don’t think like most guys. Take your average male. If one of Jerry’s typical dates was walking down one side of the street and Sevenia on the other, at least four out of five are watching Jerry’s typical date.

            When I first met Sevenia a couple years ago, I myself was smitten with her. But because she had a boyfriend at the time, we became friends on a brother and sister level. She sort of reminded me of Nancy due to their similar builds, as well smooth alabaster skin, short hair and simple dress. But that’s where their similarities ended.

            Sevenia’s auburn hair was short and spiked at the time, whereas Nancy’s hair was strawberry blonde and stylishly mussed. But I don’t believe the stylish aspect was intentional. Nancy just washed, tossed and went.

            Their personalities were opposite as well. Sevenia was bubbly and outgoing. Nancy was an introvert who was often moody and sullen. While I was in between. I never got too high and never got too low. I suppose I still am.

            Although the revelation that Jerry and Sevenia’s cousin had just broken up was awkward at first, she seemed to shrug it off. Over the next three weeks, the thirteen prophecy presentations went off without a hitch. Nancy was baptized on the last night, and Jerry recommitted to his childhood faith.

            The next day I wasn’t surprised to get a text from Sevenia, but I was a little surprised at the time, 12:51 am. She requested that I call her. When I did she requested to meet me alone. We decided on lunch at the Bluebird café. At 12:48 pm Sevenia came walking into the cafe wearing a light blue summer dress with white sneakers.

            After quick greetings, I had to ask, “So why this urgent clandestine meeting?”

            She smiled but frowned. “Is that what you think this is?”

            “You texted me at 12:51 in the morning.”

            She crinkled her cute little nose, and her large emerald eyes looked a little mischievous. “Sorry about that, I was a little discombobulated.”

            “Over what?”

            “Your brother.”

            “My brother?”

            “Yeah, we were at the church talking for several hours last night. I guess you could say we really have hit it off, and then he asked me to dinner tonight. I told him yes, but I instantly regretted it. So when we parted ways, without thinking, I just rattled off that text to you. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

            “No, I didn’t see it till the morning. Well wait, I guess it was morning when you sent it. So you and Jerry talked until one?”

            “No, it wasn’t one yet.”

            “Oh, sorry,” I teased. “So you and Jerry talked until nine minutes to one.”

            “No, more like a quarter to one.”

            “My bad,” I replied, and then we looked at each other for a long moment. “So why do you regret it? It sounds like it’s just a friendly dinner.”

            “Well,” she winced. “I find Jerry rather appealing.”

            “And that’s a bad thing?”

            “Yes, for a couple reasons.”

            “I’m listening,” I said, reminding myself of Frasier Crane.

            “I sort of swore off the possibility of romance to focus on serving God,” she said. She sighed and looked out the window. A waitress had brought us waters and menus, and she twisted the wrapper from a straw in her fingers. “I don’t mean a promise, just kind of an intention.”

            “You said a couple reasons?”

            “Well, maybe this is unfair, even judgmental. I may have just gotten to know your brother, but I knew of him.”

            “Let me guess, you think he was a womanizer.”

            “Drew, I don’t think there’s any guessing about it.”

            “Oh boy,” I said and pinched the bridge of my nose. Then I looked at her solemnly. “He would probably kill me if he knew what I’m about to tell you, so please keep it to yourself.”

            “I’m listening.”

            So I shared with Sevenia what Jerry had shared with me a couple days before Sevenia’s prophecy seminar got underway. About how due to his religious upbringing he never actually had sex with any of the girls he dated. How although he only halfheartedly followed the fundamental beliefs of our church, he believes one should be committed before intimate relations. Now that he has repented, and turned from his backslidden ways, I’m sure he believes a couple should even be married.

            I was concerned when Sevenia stared at me with a blank expression. Then she quietly said, “I think I’m in love.”

            I reached across the table and took hold of her hand. “I’m flattered, Sevenia, but I’m with Nancy.”

            She laughed. “I meant Jerry, not you… I mean I love you as a dear friend, but…”

            “I know. I love you too as a dear friend.”

            “Just so you know,” Sevenia said, looking a little shy and nervous. This was strange to see because she is such a confident, dynamic speaker. “When you and I first met, I found you very desirable. But I had a boyfriend at the time, and you were heartbroken over Nancy putting the kibosh on your friendship. As a matter of fact, one of the things I found appealing about Jerry was his similarities to you.”

            “But with muscles on the order of Brock Storm,” I said with a grin. When Sevenia and I first became friends, she confessed guilt that she had had a bit of a crush on Brock, who is built like an NFL linebacker and married to Destiny Knight-Storm. He’s also her dad’s cousin.

            “I suppose,” she grinned back, but then grew serious. “I think the main thing is he is recommitting to God. Not being unequally yoked is very important to me.”

            Now I squirmed and looked a little nervous. In the course of our friendship, she had given me honest council that Nancy being out of my life was for the best if she refused to follow God. That had been the reason she had broken up with her own boyfriend. She had hoped he would convert, but he ultimately chose not to.

            “It’s important to me as well,” I declared. “It was troubling to be so attracted to someone who didn’t share my spiritual values.”

            “It seems there are no worries now,” she said happily.

            “Well, our spiritual beliefs are now in harmony. But I’m not certain she will ever want to be in a relationship. She has always been afraid of intimacy.”

            “Well, I’ve got some good and bad news for you,” Sevenia reported with a coy smile.

            I frowned. “Regarding Nancy?”

            “Yes. There’s actually a dual reason for our, what did you call it? Our clandestine meeting?”

            “If it wasn’t, it is now. So what is it you have to say about Nancy?”

          “When she discovered that you and I had become pretty good friends over the last couple years, she confided a couple things to me last night before you guys left.”

          “And something was good, and something was bad?”

          Sevenia nodded.

          “Tell me the bad first.”

          She frowned. “I kind of need to tell you the good first, because the bad coincides with it.”

          “Okay, spit it out.”

          “She was lamenting that you haven’t discussed marriage with her.”

          “I was just giving her time to get adjusted spiritually.”

          “Well, just so you know, she’s had enough time.”

          “So what’s the bad? Is she worried she’ll be afraid of intimacy?”

          “Because of the abuse she endured as a child, she’s been told by doctors she likely could not have children.”

          “That’s not important to me. When and if the time comes, we can adopt.”

          Sevenia smiled sweetly at me, took my hand, and said, “Go to her.”

          Two hours after having lunch with Sevenia, Nancy and I found ourselves at Cotton Creek. The rippling stream was about a football field’s length behind our church. I’d like to tell you I did something like have a skywriter spell out a proposal. But after she sat on a bench, I simply went to one knee and asked her to marry me.

          Instead of saying yes, she said, “Did you talk to Sevenia?”

          “I did.”

          “Did she tell you about me being barren?”

          “Yes, and it doesn’t matter. All that matters is I want to spend the rest of my life loving you.”

          She started to cry as she said, “I’m sorry I asked her to do it for me. I just couldn’t face you with it. Especially so soon after you found out what happened to me as a kid.”

          “Hey, it’s alright,” I soothed, caressing her cheek with my thumb. “But please answer my question.”

          “What question?” she asked. Then she gasped and went to her knees in front of me. Then before kissing me passionately she said, “Yes, oh yes!”

          After a couple minutes of hugging and kissing, she became dead serious. “By the way, the boy that rescued me from my situation all those years ago wants to meet with me.”

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – PART2 – CHAPTER 11

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

PART 2

CHAPTER 11

DREW

TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD; BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO TAKES REFUGE IN HIM (Psalm 34:8)

            “On second thought, maybe you should stay awhile longer,” I heard Nancy say with a  sultry tone.

            “Maybe you’re right,” my brother replied cooly.

            Then I heard more shuffling and low moans. What was going on? Was Nancy making out with Jerry? What happened to her fear of intimacy? What about her and me?

            “What about Drew?” Jerry asked.

            “Like I said, as much as I love and admire him, we’re no good for each other. Last night proved it. I had never admired and respected him more. But it also convinced me that I could never be the woman he needs.”

            “But thinking I was Drew, you asked me to kiss you.”

            “Yes I did. Who knows or understands the human heart?”

            “It’s deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9)

            “Now you sound like Drew,” she giggled.

            “Speaking of sound, I wouldn’t have kissed you if I knew that you thought I was Drew.”

            “That was, indeed, bizarre.”

            “You should have seen the look on your face when you realized I wasn’t Drew and turned on the lamp. What gave it away?”

            “When you started to get handsy. Drew made it clear he believes in waiting until marriage for sex. You obviously don’t.”

            “No, I admit I am not a saint like Drew.”

            “How come you don’t believe like he does? You come from the same family.”

            “I just don’t buy into all that primitive Godliness stuff my family’s church sells. There’s a reason it’s called primitive. By the way, you said you want the peace Drew seems to have. After what you witnessed tonight, that doesn’t motivate you?”

            “It’s not that simple. I just believe we do the best we can, and apparently Drew’s better at it than most of us.”

            There was a moment of silence, then Jerry said, “Look, I should go.”

            “I know you should, but please don’t go.”

            “Nancy, put that back on!”

            “Why, am I not beautiful enough for you?”

            “No, you’re surprisingly stunning!”

            More giggles from the least giggly girl I ever knew. “Why is it surprising?”

            “Because you’re like, you know, a feminine guy.”

            More giggles. “You sure know how to flatter a girl. Now let’s get you out of your clothes.”

            “Nancy, we can’t betray Drew.”

            “How are we betraying him? Am I his girlfriend?”

            “I don’t know, are you?”

            “Well, I’m a girl, and we’re friends, but I don’t really think I’m his girlfriend.” Giggles.

            “You don’t really think? What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “I don’t know. I guess we got this strange attraction, but then there’s this other side that makes our chemistry like oil and water.”

            “We shouldn’t do this.”

            “Then why aren’t you stopping me?” More giggles.

            I could hear clothes shuffling, the smacking of mouths together, then the springs in the mattress creaking.

            Then Nancy saying, “Jerry, I changed my mind.”

            “What!”

            “This is no good, we shouldn’t be doing this.”

            “You have got to be kidding!”

            “No I’m not!”

            “Well I’m sorry, you took me too far to stop now.”

            “Jerry, stop!”

            “This is your fault. You should have stopped this before we shed our clothes, let alone climbed into bed.”

            “Jerry, no, please!”

            I raised my fist to pound on the door. Then something surreal happened. Nancy’s warm breath was on my ear as she shook my shoulder. “Drew.”

            I bolted upright in my bed. With a full moon’s light streaming through my window, I made out Nancy’s shadowy silhouette. Apparently I had been dreaming! Actually having a nightmare is more accurate!

            “Are you okay?” Nancy asked.

            “Um, yeah,” I managed.

            “You were making an awful groaning and moaning sound.”

            My mind was still hazy from sleep and reeling from a very real seeming dream. “Is Jerry here?”

            “Your brother?”

            “Yeah, was he in your room?”

            “No, I thought you said he was camping.”

            Have you ever awoken from a bad dream, and then the realization that it hadn’t been real washes relief over you? The shower of relief I felt in that moment was so wonderful. “Thanks for waking me, Nancy.”

            “Drew, were you having a bad dream?”

            “Indeed I was.”

            “What about?”

            I felt a little embarrassed. I did not want to tell her I was nocturnally imagining she was getting it on with my brother. “You don’t want to know.”

            “Actually I do,” the feisty Nancy I had known so well throughout our lives so well demanded.

            I turned on my bedside lamp and literally gulped. She was wearing a tiny nightgown that was too small, old and rather worn. It was pink and had Tweety Bird on the front. It was to the point of becoming tattered and see through. And I’m embarrassed to report that I saw through. I’m ashamed to say I couldn’t get myself to look away, until Nancy noticed my eye bugging out.

            “Oh!” Nancy gasped as she witnessed my astonishment. I felt her leave the edge of my bed and dash to the door. I thought she was about to leave, but she grabbed my robe that hung on a hook behind my door and put it on. She cinching it tight and then sat at my desk’s chair. “Drew, I’m so sorry! After the stress of last night I put on my oldest and most comfy nighty. I wasn’t thinking when I came up here without my robe. My mind has been churning ever since we went to bed hours ago.”

            “No need to apologize,” I said and tried to give her a reassuring smile but ruined it by saying, “I just wasn’t expecting to see you with more birthday suit than bed clothes.”

            She blushed, groaned and flanked her eyes with both hands in an effort to hide her face. Hoping to change the subject I said, “Why did you come up here?”

            She looked at me, her embarrassment disappearing. “I couldn’t sleep, and it sounded like you were moving around. So I thought I’d ask you a few questions about the things cycling through my brain… Sorry to wake you, but you were making awful groans in your sleep.”

            “No, no, like I said, I’m glad you came and also glad you rescued me from my nightmare.”

            “Me rescuing you, that’s a first,” she said, with a look of fondness in her eyes. “So, you were gonna tell me about your bad dream.”

            “Not much to tell. Probably the events from last night interfered with both of our sleep. I was just dreaming some guy was in your room. You two were fooling around, and then you wanted him to stop, and he wouldn’t. I was gonna make him stop when you, well, stopped me from dreaming.”

            “Would this guy in your dream be Jerry?”

            “How’d you know?”

            “When you first woke up you asked if he was here.”

            “Oh yeah, you’re right… Now your turn. What’s on your mind?”

            She chewed on her lower lip for a few seconds as she studied me. Then she arose and sat on the edge of my bed. Although covered with bedsheets, I now became aware of my own state of undress. I was wearing briefs and nothing else. “Nancy, will you look toward the west wall? I want to throw a shirt and sweats on.”

            She did as I asked, and I slunk out of bed and for some reason tiptoed to my dresser. I yanked a t-shirt over my head. Then I put one leg and then another in a pair of sweatpants. I turned back toward Nancy and was pulling them up my legs only to discover her staring at me.

            “Nancy! I asked you to look away.”

            She shrugged, aimed a coy smile at me. “You didn’t say for how long. Besides, I guess this is how two chaste people accidently play show me yours and I’ll show you mine. Now we’re even.”

            “How embarrassing!”

            “How do you think I felt?”

            “Feel better now?”

            “Forgive me but I do in fact feel better now,” she said with a satisfied grin.

            “Okay, now tell me what’s on your mind.”

            “Well, as you know, I’ve been reading the Bible. I’ve especially been thinking about the life of Jesus. I’ve even researched Him historically. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Jesus is a historical figure. He was God in human flesh. Wasn’t it Phillip who said show us the Father?”

            “Yes.”

            “And Jesus said that if you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father. Anyway, the thing I can’t get passed is you telling me that I’m a virgin in God’s eyes.”

            “You don’t believe me?”

            “I do and I don’t,” she told me, her eyes welling with tears.

            “Have you come to believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God?”

            “I have.”

            “Then I want to share a special passage with you,” I said, reaching for the Bible on my nightstand. I turned to 2 Corinthians and found chapter 5 and verse 17. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.”

            Nancy took the Bible from my hands and reread the text as if in awe. Then she read from verse 19. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.”

            I reached over and flipped to John 6:63. “Listen to the words of Jesus. ‘It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.’”

            “I want that life,” she said eagerly.

            “It’s yours for the asking,” I told her. I showed her several verses to back that up. In particular Luke 11:9-13.

            “Drew,” she said with a small, vulnerable voice. “My fear of intimacy has been my biggest obstacle with you and me being, you know, romantic. I also know that your biggest obstacle with me has been me not sharing your faith. I just want you to know, I now share your faith, although it’s all so new, and I would like to be baptized… And one more thing. I know for sure that you are the one person on this planet that I no longer fear to be intimate with.”

            “Does that mean you feel like you’re stuck with me?”

            “Hardly,” she replied and then actually giggled! Then her face grew serious, and her eyes grew misty. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

            “Well then I’ll spend my life trying to find out.”

            I couldn’t believe it, more giggles! Then something else unusual for Nancy. She looked bashful, her face colored, and she pressed her hands between her knees. “Does that mean…?”

            It occurred to me that we knew each other pretty well. So all I had to do is say “It does.”

            She gave me a quick chaste kiss, and we continued conversing until the sun began to come up. When we suddenly noticed light coming through the blinds, Nancy arose with a start. “I better get back to my room before someone gets up. We wouldn’t want them to get the wrong idea.”

            “Don’t worry, my dad was a musician most of his adult life. My parents aren’t early risers,” I spoke the famous last words.

            Nancy stopped at my door and made a hand motion for me to turn away before she removed my robe. I heard the door open and shut. About ten seconds after she left, I arose to go use the bathroom. But as I reached for the door handle, it popped open, and Nancy flew in. Her eyes looked like they were gonna pop out of their sockets, and she held her hand over her mouth, muffling something like a scream.

            “Nancy, calm down! What’s wrong?”

            “You’re mom was up making coffee!”

            “She was? Did she see you?”

            “Yes!”

            “You’re sure?”

            “Positive! She looked right at me and what little is covering me.”

            There was a gentle rap on my door. Then my mother spoke with an eerily calm voice. “Drew, Honey, may I speak with you?”

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 19

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 19

ELI

BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, IF ANYONE HAS A COMPLAINT AGAINST ANOTHER; EVEN AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, SO YOU ALSO MUST DO (Colossians 3:13)

            “Hey, Eli,” Elsa greeted, looking at me hesitantly as she sat next to me.

            We were on a bench that overlooked a small playground behind Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship. We had just finished a rehearsal for the small impromptu double wedding ceremony for Penny, Arlo, Ariel and myself to take place the next day. I was watching my five year old granddaughter Crystal play with Elsa’s four year old daughter Ivy.

            “Hi, Elsa,” I greeted cheerily, even as my body tensed.

            She had been my best friend’s girlfriend for eight years. Their relationship was often stormy, and I’m afraid I was the last straw. Elsa had often been flirtatious with me over the years. I’m ashamed to say that not only did I not discourage the behavior, I often flirted back.

            But then the sexual tension between us came to a boiling point for her. She not only propositioned me, she tried to seduce me. As randy as I was back then, there was no way I would actually get physical with my best friend’s girl. So I told Arlo on her. It not only caused their biggest fight to date, it was the last nail in the coffin of their dying relationship.

            Until her greeting on that sunny afternoon in late May, the year of our Lord 2000, her last words to me had still echoed in my head. With an ugly look on her pretty face, she declared, “Ya know Eli, you’re a hypocrite! All of the times you’ve undressed me with your eyes, and commented on my work, so here I was very generously trying to give you the real thing and you turn traitor on me.”

            By me commenting on her work, she was referring to her occupation as a model and actress, which mostly entailed posing nude and soft core porn. Her rebuke stung and was one hundred percent accurate. For I had, even sometimes blatantly, encouraged her behavior, yet I let her take the fall. Then to make matters worse, I smirked at her with demonic pride, not saying a word. She spit in my face, turned on her stilettos, and I didn’t see her in person again until this day at the wedding rehearsal.

            I was tongue tied for a long moment. I had always fancied Elsa. I’m ashamed to say, if she was anybody’s girl but Arlo’s, I would have bedded her in a second. I guess you could say she and I had been friends, but the only bond we had besides Arlo was a mutual attraction. Now, several years later, I find out that she has a terminal illness. She spoke first after our greeting. “Sorry about spitting in your face.”

            I chuckled and shrugged. “I deserved it.”

            “I’d like to think you did. When you aimed that cocky smile at me, I wanted to do much more than just spit in your face. I had never been turned down by a guy that gave me such clear signs he desired me.”

            “I had never turned down a woman as beautiful as you. But Arlo is like family.”

            “I know that now more than ever.”

            “I owe you an apology as well,” I told her. “I was more guilty than you over our mutual lust, but I threw you under the bus to cover my own guilt and shame.”

            She glanced at me with an arched eyebrow. “That’s big of you to say, but I’m the one that made the physical proposition.”

            “But before that, I was the one being more suggestive. It was my behavior more than yours that led to, shall we say, you showing me your goods.”

            She looked at me with an inquisitively arched eyebrow. “You seem different, Eli.”

            “Yeah?” I replied with my own arched eyebrow. “Is that good or bad?”

            “Definitely good. Do you know how I ended up in Iowa?”

            “In your car.”

            “No, silly,” she laughed and then frowned. “Well, yeah, I guess I did. Maybe I should have said do you know why I ended up in Iowa?”

            “I don’t know.”

            “A week ago I was in a Christian bookstore, and low and behold, I see you and Arlo on the cover of a magazine. I bought it and read the interview three times. I couldn’t believe it! You and Arlo renouncing your Satanic band and talking about coming to Christ.”

            “So I assume you’ve become a Christian then?”

            Her gaze was pensive. “I don’t know, Eli. I’m scared. Not just for me, but for Ivy. I guess I was there looking for hope. I had already bought a Bible when I was pregnant with Ivy. But it can be hard to understand, so I wasn’t very devout in reading it. Then my cancer came back, and I wanted some direction, some hope. I never dreamed it would come from Arlo. I didn’t want him to know about her because of your band. But after reading the article about you two, I knew I needed to contact him.”

            “That’s weird. I thought he contacted you.”

            “That’s the miracle!” she beamed. “I tried, but his number had changed. I tried calling some people we both knew, but all they could tell me was that he left California. I knew he grew up in the Midwest, but in all the years we were together, we never went to his hometown.”

            “You never met any of his family?” I asked.

            “Oh sure, but they came to us. We never went to them, not even at Christmas. Anyway, so I actually tried to pray about it, and literally a half hour later, Arlo calls me! I couldn’t believe it! At first I thought he had gotten wind that he had a daughter, but he said he called to make amends for being a less than stellar boyfriend.

            “He told me where he was, and I told him I was only about four hours away in the Chicagoland area. I told him I needed to see him. He was skeptical. I think he thought I wanted to get back together, and he told me that it wouldn’t be a good idea to see each other. He said he had a fiancée and was gonna be married this weekend. So as much as I wanted to tell him in person, I had to tell him about my illness and his daughter over the phone.

            “He said he would come to me, but I wanted to see where my daughter might be living, and with whom besides Arlo. He had called at lunch time, so I threw some things together, and spur of the moment, we made a little road trip out here.”

            “Wow,” was all I could manage to say in response. I was a guitarist, not wordsmith.

We both looked at Crystal and Ivy, and then she sighed as she watched our children. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. My heart ached for her as I groped for something to say. A weary smile spread onto her face. “They sure seem to click, just like you and Arlo. His daughter, your granddaughter.”

            “Yeah, a couple little cuties came from a couple bruties.” Maybe I was a wordsmith after all.

            “I understand you had a similar experience as Arlo.”

            “You mean finding out you have a kid years after the birth. Yeah, it is similar. But thankfully Arlo found out much sooner.”

            “So you wish you would have known Ariel was pregnant back then?”

            “Yes and no. I was a selfish pig right up through the collapse of our band. So it was probably best for Ethan that we met as adults.”

            “I have to agree that you were a selfish pig.”

            I chuckled. “Tell me what you really think.”

            “I did,” she replied with a tilt of her head and a little smile. If you hadn’t known Elsa, you wouldn’t know she had a terminal illness. But her voluptuous body was now a bit frail. Her lovely face was getting slightly hollow in her cheeks, and there were light purple circles under her eyes.

            Her little jab at me gave me a Penny moment. By that I meant that I spoke a question that was on my mind but had no intention of broaching the subject. “Are you sure Ivy is Arlo’s?”

            I instantly regretted it, but she turned sad, patient eyes on me. “You know firsthand that I was a cheater. But God as my witness, Arlo was the only man I had sex with for several months before Ivy was conceived.”

            “I don’t know why I asked that,” I replied and then sort of put my foot in my mouth again. “Arlo would raise her even if she wasn’t. You know when you, um, well…”

            “Die,” she finished with a zombie like voice as she stared at the kids. Then a tear leaked from her eye. “Arlo is such a changed man.” Then she turned her eyes on me. “I mean not that he was ever as wild as you other three, but…”

            “I was a saint compared with Kyle and Izzy,” I said, placing a hand over my heart, half mocking myself and half serious.

            “I suppose, but even Ozzy Osbourne seemed tamer then Izzy. Ozzy may have bitten the head off of a bat, but Izzy chopped off his own hand and slit his own throat. And Kyle was like a walking pharmacy and liquor store. So my old friend, being less insane than them isn’t all that impressive of an achievement.”

            I chuckled but then grew serious. “Are we old friends?”

            “I hope so,” she said eyeing me thoughtfully, as she scratched her temple daintily with her index finger. “I mean we had that last bad spat and haven’t spoken in years. But I traveled to a hundred cities with you guys. I’d like to think you and I got to know each other beyond all the partying and flirting.”

            “Yeah, me too,” I replied, and then chuckled before a little confession. “Now that I have a conscience.”

            “You’ve always had a conscience, Eli. What do you think kept you from getting as out of control as Kyle and Izzy? Or telling Arlo I tried to seduce you?”

            “Self-preservation and loyalty.”

            “Wouldn’t they be elements of a conscience?”

            “It seems you’re no longer an atheist.”

            A pained look came onto her face. “I don’t know. I guess between having Ivy, having a deadly illness, and talking to Arlo, I’ve become something between agnostic and a believer. I mean, when faced with raising a little human being, and then facing death, my search for God has consisted mostly out of fear and anger.”

            “That’s understandable,” I replied. “I’ve had a similar experience, albeit different circumstances.”

            “So what were your circumstances?”

            “Well, the fear came in through nightmares. Dabbling with Satanism and the occult is dangerous, and we did considerably more than dabble. The anger came in simply through the false doctrine of eternal hellfire, which, oddly, most of Christianity embraces. I thought, how can a God of love torture people for eternity? But Arlo set met straight. In a nutshell, he gave me a Bible study showing me that the world is destroyed by fire. Kind of like Noah and the flood, only fire instead of water. But then he recreates it after the devil and his angels are destroyed in the lake of fire. So even the supernatural forces that created evil won’t be tortured permanently. Only the result is permanent. The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

            (For more information on the topic of Hellfire, lookup Amazing Facts ministry and request their study guide, ‘Is The Devil In Charge of Hell?’ There are also a couple dozen other study guides with topics ranging from who is the Antichrist to can you rely on the Bible?)

            “Yeah, Arlo shared a bit with me about that. But I still can’t get beyond running your life by a book that was written two thousand years ago.”

            “See, another similarity with you and me. I felt the same way. But once again, after Arlo showed me through prophecy that the Bible is as relevant today as when it was written. The one that stuck with me the most profoundly was form the book of Daniel, chapter 7 and verse 25 in particular. Keep in mind this was written about six hundred years before Christ was born.

            “It says that a power would appear on the world scene that would think to change times and laws. It was referring to the Sabbath, which is both about time and is the fourth commandment in the law of God. This happened in the fourth century, when Constantine made Christianity a legal religion. To accommodate sun worshippers, the Bible Sabbath was shifted from the seventh day to the Venerable Day of the Sun, also known as Sunday. But who is man to think to change God’s Holy Law?”

            Elsa was looking at me like I had two heads. In a strange way, I sort of did. For I wasn’t the same person I was when we last spoke. Yet I was still me. Two different characters in one person. Elsa even expressed this. “Are you really the wild guy I knew as Eli Endor?”

            “I was,” I chuckled. “But now I’m simply Elijah Alderson.”

            She looked away from me and at the two girls playing happily. A wistful look grew onto her face. She smiled. “I’m so glad I came here and got to meet everyone. Even the man formerly known as Eli Endor has been a sweetheart. You all have been such a balm to my hurting soul. I’m gonna try hard to embrace the side of me that believes.”

            “I’m so glad you came here too, Elsa. And as for embracing the side of you that believes, pray for the Holy Spirit to help you. He’s also known as the Comforter  (John 14:26 KJV). By the way, I hope you stay. I’d like to truly be your friend.”

            “I’d like that,” she squeaked. Then she put her face in her hands and began to whimper.

            This took me a little by surprise. On impulse, I gently put my arm around her. Once again, to my surprise, she leaned into me and her head rested in the crook of my neck. There was nothing sexual about our togetherness, but talk about a relationship that did a one eighty.

            It felt awkward at first with my arm around her, but then shifted when she stopped crying. “I’ve been so lonely Eli. My aunt has dementia, so I can’t truly talk to her about my feelings. I was so nervous coming here, worried on how I’d be perceived, given my past and all. Especially by you and Arlo’s fiancée. The only one I’m still not sure about is your woman.”

            “Oh, no worries about Ariel, she’s a sweetheart,” I said, and then realized something. “Although, when I found out you were coming, I did tell her about our history. I didn’t want her to find out from somebody other than me.”

            “So that’s why she’s been aloof around me.”

            “She’ll come around. She’s probably just sizing you up. She’s had a tough go of it this last year.”

            I’m not gonna say speak of the devil, even though I sort of just did. But my sweet lady’s’ calm, yet menacing voice sent a jolt through me when I heard Ariel say, “Well, don’t you two look cozy?”

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 15

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 15

ELI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

            “Wow, what a misunderstanding.”

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

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

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

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

            “Herpes,” she spit without hesitation.

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

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

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

            “Oh, shut up!” she barked.

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

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

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

            I shrugged and grinned, “Sure.”

            “How romantic,” she joked.

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

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

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

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

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

            “It’s the current one that counts.”

            “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

            “Mom, I think it’s wonderful!”

            “Really?”

            “Really.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES – CHAPTER 14

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

HEAVY METAL MIRACLES

CHAPTER 14

ARIEL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

            “What?”

            “I want to show you Cotton Creek.”

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

            “I do, at the creek.”

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

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

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

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

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

            “Yes, it is.”

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

            “Yes, they have.”

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

            “A huh.”

            “There seem to be quite a few skeptics.”

            “Right.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

            “What do you mean?”

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

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

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

            “Congratulations to you, too,” she said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

            “I know what?” she replied innocently.

            “You know, doing the deed?”

            “What deed?” she asked with a frown.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

            “Oh yeah? What sign was that?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

            “Of course.”

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

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

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

            “Yeah, how about that?” I mumbled.