“Let me hold him.” Angel opened her arms to the little man, and he came right to her.

  “Are you sure?” Marissa asked, not wanting to burden the Shepherd family when they were already dealing with so much.

  “I’m positive. You two go on about your business and let us watch this child.”

  Marissa and Isaac left the waiting area and walked down to the cafeteria. As they sat at the table with some peach cobbler and hot coffee, Isaac got to it. “I was wrong, Marissa. I have neglected you and talked to you in ways that I am ashamed of. You deserve so much better than what I’ve given you.”

  “I know I do. That’s why I left.”

  “I completely understand.” Isaac didn’t want to argue about anything, he just wanted his wife back. “I would have left me too. But believe me, I didn’t miss our lunch today on purpose. Dam and I were taking care of something with Bishop Thomas.”

  “You think I’m upset just because you couldn’t come home for lunch?” Marissa shook her head.

  “No, I know it’s a lot more. I started praying after you left, the Lord opened my eyes to what’s been going on.”

  “And...” Marissa motioned her hand as if rushing him to get to the point.

  “I have a clear understanding now... the devil is on assignment to destroy our lives, and I have been allowing him to do just that. But no more. I’m reclaiming my life, right here and right now.”

  “And what about the depression?”

  “What depression?” Isaac looked around as if trying to figure out what she was talking about.

  Balling her fists in frustration, Marissa almost screamed at him, “Isaac Judah Walker Jr., don’t sit there acting like you haven’t been dealing with depression. Remember, I live in the same house with you.”

  “Calm down, hon. I’m not pretending anymore. Yes, my parent’s death took a lot out of me.”

  “I know it did,” she was more compassionate now.

  “But my parents are in a better place. And I can celebrate their life by following in their footsteps. So, from this day forward I only want two things... to do the will of God and to love my family.”

  Tears stung Marissa’s eyes. “Do you mean it, Isaac?”

  “I’m just speaking words here, Marissa. But come back home and let me show you how much I mean every word I’m saying. If I have to stop doing the revivals in order to get my family back, then I’ll let it go. You just tell me what you need from me.”

  Marissa couldn’t be so selfish as to ask her husband to stop doing something that she believed was ordained by God. Because she herself had attended one of those street revivals that her father-in-law had done. She lost something very important to her at that revival, but she’d gain so much more...

  Marissa was so excited when Pastor Isaac invited her to the revival that she rushed to get dressed. She would have run to the car if she wasn’t carrying baby weight, because all she had been doing was sitting in the house, staring at the paint on the walls.

  “I am so glad you thought about me, Pastor Isaac. I wasn’t doing a thing but sitting around watching re-runs of Law and Order.”

  As Isaac pulled up to a red light, he looked over at her, praying that the Lord would allow him to see into Marissa’s heart, mind, and soul. He didn’t know for sure if she was the right girl for Ikee, but he had a feeling that she was in their lives for a reason. “You know... Nina and I could always help out with some babysitting if you want to go back to school.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it,” she admitted. “I just don’t want to be a burden to anyone. And I really don’t want to give Mrs. Nina another reason to dislike me.”

  “Nina doesn’t dislike you,” Isaac said quickly.

  Marissa didn’t believe it. In fact, she understood why Ikee’s mother would be down on her. If her son brought home some random woman, saying he was in love and wanted to get married... oh and by the way, the woman I’m marrying is pregnant by another man. Yeah, Marissa would have a problem with that.

  But because of Ikee, Marissa had changed. She wasn’t the same person who dated drug dealers and held their illegal drugs and guns. The power of God had changed her, and she wanted Ikee’s parents to know that. “It’s okay, Pastor Isaac. If Mrs. Nina gets to know me, she’ll come to see that I’m not such a bad person.”

  Isaac smiled and patted Marissa on the shoulder as they pulled up to the location. “I’m looking forward to Nina getting to know you.”

  Marissa smiled back at him with joy filling her eyes. “Me too.”

  They got out of the SUV. Isaac walked toward the stage while Marissa decided to help the volunteers put the chairs out. If she could have done more, she would have, because Ikee had told her on numerous occasions how good it made him feel to be a part of something bigger than himself. These revivals were everything to him.

  As she sat down in one of the chairs she helped put out, Marissa imagined herself helping out in all sorts of ministry related events. There was something in this world that she was good at, and she planned to figure out just what it was. She began to pray, “Thank you for allowing me to be here today. Let me soak in the message and help out where I can. I want to be used by You.”

  “Is this seat taken?”

  Marissa heard the voice, but she hoped it wasn’t who she thought it was. She looked up and saw Dana Milner, Calvin’s on and off girlfriend standing there. Marissa didn’t know if she would have to go into a witness protection program to get away from these people. Ikee had told her that his dad’s past kept coming back to haunt him; maybe she would just have to deal with the reality of her past and learn to live for the future. “Hey, Dana. I didn’t expect to see you here today.”

  “Calvin asked me to come.”

  Calvin’s brother was the father of the baby Marissa was carrying. Marissa hated that her child would be related to a man like Calvin Jones.

  As Dana sat down next to her, Marissa noticed that she was carrying the same bag Calvin tried to get her to hold the night before. That bag had several guns in it. Were they planning to shoot the people attending this revival? Lord, help me. I don’t know what to do.

  ~~~~

  Isaac stood behind the podium, looking out at all the people who’d gathered under this tent to celebrate the Lord. Marissa was silently cheering for him. Ikee had told her how someone tried to destroy the tent and even left threatening messages. The enemy didn’t want this revival to take place, but his mouth was being shut as pastor Isaac opened the Bible and began reading from Psalms 27:

  The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

  Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.

  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

  He closed the Bible and began speaking to the people from his heart. “In these last and evil days, we can’t allow man to make us afraid and cause us to give up and run away from the work God has put before us. Our mission on earth is clear... it is to do the will of God, not the will of man. So, stand up and whatever you do, never be ashamed to name the name of Jesus Christ.

  Marissa was soaking in every word. She had been afraid too many times throughout her life. Most of her fears came from living in an area that was infested with crime. But what Pastor Isaac was saying made sense. She could put her trust in God and let go of fear altogether, maybe then she could do the will of God.

  Pastor Isaac sat down as three praise singers stepped forward and began singing. Dana chose that moment to get up; she seemed to be in a hurry, but Marissa noticed that she left Calvin’s bag behind. She wasn’t about to pick that bag up. What if a cop saw her with the bag and then asked to search it. She didn’t know how many years she’d get for the possession of illegal guns, and she didn’t want to find out.

  Marissa got out of her seat and ran after Dana, but Dana was track-staring it down the street like she wanted to be anywhere but the revival. Being seven months pregnant, there was no way that Marissa was going to catch up to Dana. She stood and watched Dana for a moment longer. That’s when she noticed Calvin’s black Lexus with gold rims pull up next to Dana. She jumped in the car, and it sped off.

  If that was Calvin, Marissa wondered why he didn’t send Dana back for that bag and why he sped off like somebody was trying to carjack him. That was when she remembered that Calvin had warned her that Ikee shouldn’t attend this revival, as if something bad would happen. Now, she was very curious about that bag. What had Dana left behind? She knew that it wasn’t drugs or guns—no way would Dana have left Calvin’s stash.

  Everything in her was telling her to run... get out while the getting was good. But Marissa hadn’t called Ikee yesterday to tell him what Calvin had said to her, now she was feeling guilty. If something happened to these people and she did nothing to help, Marissa wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

  Marissa rushed back to her seat. She bent down, opened the bag and started screaming. Marissa took the bag and started running away from the revival, still screaming while carrying the bag she’d just looked into.

  As Marissa reached the street, she threw the bag up in the air and then tried to run back towards the revival, but she fell down and then there was a loud BOOM!

  Marissa had lost the baby she carried that day. But she had given her life to Christ and years later, she and Isaac Jr. had gotten married and now have a child of their own. No, she would not stop her husband from working on the revival. There were too many young girls out there like she used to be who needed to know about Jesus and His power to bring them out of whatever mess they’d gotten themselves into.

  Tina Campbell was right, it is too hard to hold onto the pain... she needed to forgive her husband so they could move forward.

  10

  Things seemed to get back to normal. Marissa came back home. She and Isaac were once again committed to loving each other. Amarrea was just days away from having the baby. Dam refused to leave her side for a month after the scare she’d given him. But once Amarrea felt better, she pushed him to get back to work.

  Dam and Isaac moved full speed ahead towards fulfilling their God-given assignment. Things were going smoothly, almost too smoothly. But then, one Sunday morning while Bishop Thomas was preaching a live sermon for the Christian Network Channel everything got turned upside down.

  There was a commotion in the back of the sanctuary. Heads swiveled towards the back to see what in the world was going on. That’s when everyone saw a church security guard trying to pull Minister Vicki Gray out the back door.

  “How dare you!” She screamed at him. “I’ve been a member of this church for ten years. I pay my tithes. You can’t just throw me out of here.”

  “Please don’t make a scene, Minister Vicki. I’m just doing my job.”

  “No! No!” She kept screaming. “This ain’t right, and he’s going to pay for this.”

  A man who was bigger than the security guard stepped to him. “Let her go. I’m not going to stand by and let you treat Minister Vicki like this.”

  The guard loosed his hold on Vicki’s arm. “Bishop told me not to let her in service today. But she won’t listen.”

  The moment the guard loosed his grip Vicki took off for the sanctuary. Bishop Thomas was standing behind the podium. He lifted a hand, trying to get her to stop. “This is not the time, Minister Vicki.”

  She kept strutting towards him. “Oh, well when is the right time to let all the wonderful members of Called of God International Ministry know that the good bishop has gotten me pregnant and wants me to have an abortion?”

  “What?... Dear Jesus!... I knew something was going on with them two,” were just a few of the words that were shouted throughout the sanctuary after Vicki made her announcement.

  “That’s a bold face lie,” First Lady Jade jumped out of her seat which was directly behind the pulpit and rushed at Vicki.

  Bishop grabbed his wife. “No hon, she’s not worth it.”

  “That’s not what you said when we were making this baby,” Vicki hollered up at them. “Now you standing here with your wife and in front of this church acting like I don’t mean nothing to you... but you told me you were going to divorce Lady Jade.”

  “Divorce me!” Lady Jade turned dagger filled eyes toward her husband. “You told that hussy that you were going to divorce me?”

  “He sure did. You don’t understand him like I do. I’m supposed to be the first lady of this church, not you.”

  “You’ve been sleeping with my armor bearer? Is that why you told me to drop her from my team?”

  “No, Jade. I told you what she tried to do.” Bishop’s eyes widened as he suddenly remembered that they were filming this portion of the service. He turned to the media team and signaled for them to cut the feed.

  The media team was stationed in the balcony. One of the team members hollered from the balcony. “We’re live, sir. We can’t just cut the feed.”

  “Unplug it! Cut the line. Do whatever you have to do.” Bishop was livid as he took his preaching robe off, threw it on the ground and then stormed out of the sanctuary.

  “Where are you going? We need to take care of this now. My baby is not going to be born to a single mother.”

  “Oh yes, it will be. You done let the devil trick you if you think you’re getting my husband.” Jade swooped down on Vicki so hard that she knocked the woman to the ground. The two women then rolled around on the floor, pulling weave and scratching faces until security pulled them apart.

  ~~~

  Instead of going out to eat after church, Isaac and Marissa came home and made a salad with grilled chicken. Marissa chopped the veggies for the salad while Isaac grilled the chicken on the George Foreman.

  “You grill the best chicken,” Marissa said as she plopped a cucumber in her mouth.

  “Is it me, or this George Foreman?”

  “I think it’s the spices you use. Your grilled chicken is the best. It keeps me away from fried chicken.”

  “You see how I’m cheesing right? I’m over here blushing because my wife said something nice about my grilled chicken. How pitiful does that make me?”

  Marissa scooped the cucumbers in the salad bowl and then walked over to her husband and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Not pitiful at all. You are an awesome man and a wonderful husband to help me with dinner. And I love you.”

  “I love you more, bae.” Isaac took Marissa in his arms and showed her how much he loved her with the deep sensual kiss he planted on her lips. As they were coming up for air, the house phone rang.

  “Let me go, man. I need to get the phone.”

  “Let it ring,” Isaac told her as he went in for another kiss. But then his cell phone rang. He tried to ignore that phone also. But they called right back.

  “It might be important.” Marissa giggled as she playfully pushed her husband away. She then took his cell phone off the counter and said, “Answer it.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Isaac saluted his wife as if she were an army drill sergeant. Glancing at the caller ID, he said, “It’s Dam. I wonder if Amarrea is having the baby.” He took the phone out of Marissa’s hand.

  “See, I told you to answer the phone.”

  “Hey Dam. Is everything okay?”

  “Man, things just got real crazy. Can we get together today?”

  Isaac put the phone on mute. “It doesn’t sound good, but I don’t think he’s talking about Amarrea. He wants to meet.”

  “Ask him if they’ve had dinner yet.”

  Isaac took the phone off mute and hit the speaker button. “Have you and Amarrea eaten anything yet?”

  “No. I was just getting ready to fix us something when things went crazy over here,” Dam said.

  “We don’t want you to leave Amarrea. Is it okay if Isaac and I bring dinner to y’all?” Marissa asked him.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Dam said.

  When Isaac ended the call, he turned back to his wife. “Are you sure you don’t mind. This was supposed to be our time. Just the two of us. And how often do we get my sister to babysit for us?”

  “Not often enough,” Marissa smiled. “But I’m okay, Isaac. Let’s take this food over to Dam and Amarrea’s. It’ll be like a double date.”

  ~~~

  “Wait, what?” Was all Isaac could say when Dam told him what went down at Called of God church that morning.

  “You heard right,” Dam said as they broke bread together. “I didn’t go to church today, because I wanted to be here with Amarrea. But I recorded the service thinking I would watch it later this evening.”

  “If you didn’t watch it, how’d you know what happened? Did someone call from the church?” Marissa asked.

  “Have y’all not had your television on today?” Amarrea asked.

  Isaac shook his head. “After church, we decided to just do us. No TV, no videos, just us. We were having the time of our lives until Dam called.”

  “Well, the story broke on the local news and then it made it’s way to CNN. Now Bishop Thomas is phoning into all the news shows trying to do damage control.” Dam picked up the remote and turned on the television. “I recorded this one. Pay close attention to what he says just forty-five seconds into the interview.”

  Isaac’s eyes widened. He turned to Dam. “Why would that idiot mention the revival at a time like this?”

  “I couldn’t believe it either. He got caught on TV with his wife and girlfriend fighting over him, and he thinks it’s time to talk up the revival.” Dam just shook his head.