“I can’t believe Jade was brawling with some woman. That’s just not her character.” Marissa looked like she was trying to make sense of what she had just heard.

  “Girl, they weren’t just fighting. Weave was flying, and shoes were hitting people upside the head. It was a mess.” Amarrea couldn’t help herself, she started laughing.

  “It’s not funny. This is serious,” Dam reminded his wife.

  “I know.” She tried to stop laughing, but couldn’t as she told Marissa. “You should have seen the bishop high tailing it out of the sanctuary. I’ve never seen such a spectacle in all my life.”

  “You did say you recorded the service, right Dam?” Isaac asked.

  “Man, it was hard to watch,” Dam told him.

  “If it’s that bad, I don’t want to see it,” Isaac said.

  Marissa interrupted him. “Speak for yourself. I want to see that footage.”

  Isaac gave his wife the eye. “As I was saying. I don’t want to see it, but I need to, especially since the bishop is supposed to be working on the revival with us.”

  “I thought he’d have enough decency to bail out, but after hearing him talk up the revival. I don’t think he’s going to bow out gracefully,” Amarrea told the group as she took the remote away from Dam and switched the channel to the recording of Called of God.

  “What’s that noise?” Marissa asked as they watched Bishop standing behind the podium beginning his sermon.

  “You’ll see, keep watching,” Amarrea told her.

  They didn’t have to wait long before Minister Vicki Gray came storming into the sanctuary and told everyone that she was pregnant with the bishop’s baby. “Now I see why Lady Jade beat her down. I would have done the same thing. And then I would have gone upside your head when I got finished with her,” Marissa pointed toward Isaac’s head for emphasis.

  “You don’t have anything to worry about with me, bae. I love you and God too much.”

  “You better,” Marissa said.

  “Yeah, you better,” Amarrea chimed in as she glared at Dam.

  “Hold on. How did this become about us?” Dam pointed between Isaac and himself. “We are men of God, remember?”

  “Bishop’s supposed to be a man of God too, right?” Amarrea shook her head. “I’m telling you, this is why I have such a hard time getting the nurses I work with to come to church. They think all preachers are scumbags.”

  “There are good men in the church and good pastors. Some of us truly want to do God’s will. All I can say for those watching preachers is that they’ve got their eye on the wrong thing. Jesus is our salvation, and they need to be checking for what Jesus wants,” Dam told them.

  11

  The next morning Dam and Isaac were seated in Bishop Thomas’ office trying to convince him to stop doing media interviews and to please drop out of the revival. But Bishop was not having none of it.

  “Why should I bow out? Don’t forget that I’m the main event. If it wasn’t for me none of these networks would be televising the revival, so don’t think you’re just going to throw me by the wayside because some delusional, lying woman makes false claims.”

  “Those false claims were shown on the CNC network, and they are now threatening to pull the coverage of the revival. So, should we thank you for that too?” Isaac said.

  Bishop harrumphed. Then twisted his lip and scrunched his nose as if he smelled something foul. “You think I don’t know what’s going on here?”

  Dam and Isaac glanced at each other as Bishop pointed a finger at them.

  “Y’all don’t think you need me. Since Dam here tried to steal the spotlight from my ministry, everybody’s been excited to hear what he has to say next. But this boy would be nothing without me.”

  “I didn’t try to steal anything from you, Bishop. I have done the job I was hired to do at Called of God and nothing more.” Dam tried to remain calm, but fire was shooting out of his eyes.

  “Look, Bishop,” Isaac began. “The bottom line is, with these allegations against you, it would create too much of a spectacle for you to continue on our team. Don’t you agree?”

  Sputtering, Bishop hopped out of his chair and got in Isaac’s face. “No the Sam-Hill I don’t agree. I’m the reason we have the television coverage in the first place. Oh, you may think that Dam had something to do with it. But who do you think pays the bills for those broadcasts Dam went behind my back to do.”

  Dam didn’t respond. Just shook his head.

  “And what about the fact that Dam plagiarized my sermon? You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

  “What?” Dam was out of his chair now. “What sermon of yours did I plagiarize?”

  “You’ve been stealing my sermons the whole time you’ve been here. I should have fired you, but the Lord told me to let you stay so you could continue to grow.”

  Isaac didn’t believe the Lord talked to Bishop Thomas at all... at least, not in a very long time. “If it is as you say, that Dam has been plagiarizing your sermons for a years, why are you just now mentioning this?”

  “I didn’t want to embarrass the boy. But while I’m doing these interviews to clear my name from that lying, vindictive so-called woman of God, I just might discuss this plagiarism issue as well. Just clear the air on everything.” Bishop looked from Dam to Isaac. He then grinned as he added, “However, I could be persuaded to keep my mouth shut.”

  ~~~

  “Thank you for meeting me for lunch, Jade,” Marissa said as the two ladies sat down.

  “Thank you for inviting me. After what I did on Sunday, I’m being shunned by most of the first ladies in this city.”

  Marissa put a hand on top of Jade’s to offer support. Jade was a beautiful woman, a Vanessa Williams look-alike with hazel eyes and all. She was twenty years younger than Bishop Thomas and his second wife. It had been rumored that bishop had cheated on his first wife while she lay on her deathbed with Jade. Hence the reason he married her six weeks after eulogizing his dear departed wife.

  Marissa didn’t judge Jade on that. She had skeletons in her closet as well. All the men in her life before Isaac had left her with scars, so she had no stones for her sister in Christ. Only love. “Girl, you know we are better than that. You and I will always be friends.”

  The waitress took their order then Jade said, “I know I could have handled things better. But Vicki took me by surprise. Believe me, I know that Daniel is a no-good cheat, but I had no idea he was cheating with my armor bearer.”

  “Do you hear yourself, Jade? You just told me that you know he cheats. Doesn’t that bother you?”

  Jade took a sip of her soda. As she put the glass back down on the table sadness crept into her eyes. “It bothers me. But do you want the truth?”

  “If you want to tell it.”

  The waitress put their food in front of them. Jade pushed her plate away as she sighed deeply. “I was pregnant when I married Daniel. That’s why we had a quick ceremony just six weeks after his first wife died.”

  Marissa gasped. Jade didn't have any kids of her own, and she had never been told about a pregnancy.

  “I lost the baby the week before we were going to announce it to the church. I got pregnant again about a year later but had another miscarriage. After that, I didn’t want to try anymore. Because you see, I think my barrenness and bishop’s cheating are my punishment from God.”

  Marissa watched as tears escaped Jade’s eyes and floated down her cheek. For years she had hung out with Jade. They’d shopped together, gone out to eat together. Attended church conferences together... and not once did Marissa ever realize that Jade was carrying such a heavy burden. “God’s not punishing you, Jade. And He doesn’t want you to punish yourself either.”

  “I don’t know if I believe that, Marissa. If only you knew how awful I was to Daniel’s first wife. I didn’t throw our affair in her face or anything like what Vicki did to me. But I helped take care of her during her last days. I smiled in that woman’s face all the while knowing I was sleeping with her husband. That makes me a bad person.”

  Marissa shook her head. “I never told you this, but I lost my first child too. I was pregnant by one of the neighborhood bad boys. When I lost the baby, I wondered if God was punishing me for having sex before marriage. But then I went to God about it, and I discovered this great big thing called forgiveness.”

  Nodding furiously, Jade said, “I’ve prayed and cried and begged God to forgive me for years now. I’m not the same person I was back then, Marissa. I truly love God. But...”

  Marissa lifted a hand to stop Jade from saying another word. “There’s no buts about it. You just said it, Jade. You’re not the same person anymore. You’re not a bad sinner. You are a forgiven person who sinned... catch the tense, because I just put that sin in your past. Will you do the same? Will you accept God’s forgiveness for your sins?”

  Tears were gushing down Jade’s face now. She picked up her napkin and wiped her face as the tears kept coming. Taking a few deep breaths, Jade calmed herself down. She looked over at her friend as understanding filled her eyes. “All this time, I’ve been forgiven... all this time, God has been trying to love on me, but I’ve been the one pushing Him away because I didn’t feel worthy.”

  “Look at you, figuring things out.” Marissa got up from her seat and pulled Jade up from hers. She hugged Jade so tight like she was trying to get the woman to feel God’s love from her hug. “You are special to God. Do you hear me?”

  Jade nodded but kept holding onto Marissa.

  “God wants the best for you, my friend. Stop letting people give you less than what God wants you to have.”

  ~~~

  “So that’s it? We just let him get away with this?” Dam was so angry he wanted to punch the walls... or better yet, Bishop Thomas.

  Isaac plopped down on the sofa in his office. “I messed up. I tried to handle Bishop the way I thought my father would have handled him. Thinking that we should invite the snake in to keep an eye on him.”

  “Men like Bishop Thomas need to be dealt with the Don Shepherd way.” After saying that, Dam ran his hand over his forehead as if trying to erase some things from his memory bank. “I shouldn’t have said that. When my grandfather had a problem, people usually ended up dead.”

  Isaac laughed. “That’s the way my father handled his problems too. Then he met Jesus. And instead of taking a life, Isaac Walker, Sr. gave his life to bring thousands upon thousands of people to Christ.”

  “And that’s why I’m so sorry that you asked me to help with these revivals. I feel like I’m destroying your father’s legacy.”

  “Dam, don’t be silly. How on earth could you be destroying my father’s legacy?”

  “You must admit that if I wasn’t partnering with you, Bishop Thomas wouldn’t have insisted on joining in. And we wouldn’t be dealing with such a spectacle right now.”

  “And you have to admit that adding you has provided benefits for our mission,” Isaac told Dam.

  But Dam wasn’t swayed. “What benefit I may have brought, Bishop is about to tear it all down when he goes on national television and claims that I’ve been stealing his messages.” Shaking his head at the predicament. “I can’t let your father’s legacy be destroyed by this. Not by a man like Bishop. I’m going to bow out, Isaac. Maybe if I do that, the networks will stay with you and the revival will be everything God meant for it to be.”

  “No Dam. This is not what God wants.” Isaac’s head was throbbing. He put a hand on his temple and closed his eyes. Letting out a deep sigh, Isaac opened his eyes again. “God clearly showed me you when I began praying about this revival. My father didn’t handle God’s mission on his own. He had my uncle Keith right there by his side the whole way. But I believe there were certain things my dad couldn’t do for the Lord because of the life he once led. I don’t know what all we are meant to do... but I’ve got a feeling that God is taking us back to them Billy Graham kind of crusades.”

  “You think that many people will attend the revival?”

  “Of course I do... why else would I have rented that football stadium? Not only are we going to fill up those bleachers, but we’re going to bring in chairs and line that field with chairs as well. This is going to be an event even bigger than Joel Olsten’s Night of Hope.”

  “Oh, you dreaming big like that. Then you definitely don’t want me around messing up your flow.” Dam said.

  “That means I need you even more. God is doing great work in us. We can’t let Bishop Thomas stop God’s work.”

  “I hear you talking, my friend.” Dam hesitated, for just a moment. “Let me pray on this.”

  “You do that,” Isaac said. “God will show you that Bishop Thomas is just a distraction from what He is doing in the earth.”

  12

  Dam went home and talked to Amarrea about everything he was feeling. He was unsettled in his spirit because he’d never dealt with so much turmoil when doing work for the Lord. Had he stepped into yet another thing that God had not called him too?

  He was so despondent that he forgot all about praying. After dinner, he went into the family room with Amarrea and put on a movie. Needing room to stretch out, Amarrea laid on the sofa. Wanting to keep his wife comfortable, Dam picked up one of the blankets they kept in the family room and pulled it over her huge baby bump.

  Dam took a seat on the recliner next to the sofa and leaned the seat back. “What do you want to watch?”

  “I don’t know... maybe a comedy. I think that’s what we need right now,” Amarrea said.

  Yawning, Dam handed the remote to Amarrea. “See what you can find.”

  She began channel surfing. Dam caught the bits and pieces of the movie about a poor family struggling for a way out of poverty. The two sons chose a life of crime, and one of them was murdered. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought, no comedy... that’s a tragedy.

  His dreams weren’t funny or kind either. As Dam drifted further, he felt as if he was walking through a movie scene. One character had gotten shot and was bleeding out. A paramedic tried to help him, but as Dam passed by them. Both the bleeding man and the paramedic turned to Dam and said, “Why didn’t you help us?”

  The question caught Dam off guard. He wasn’t a part of this movie. What kind of help could he have given? As he continued further down the street, cameras rolled as a woman jumped off of a building. Dam shouted, “Stop!”

  The woman who jumped had no safety net below her. Everyone just stood around either watching or filming the incident. Dam rushed over to the woman. Her lifeless body lay bloody and broken on the ground, but the people went on about their business as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

  He reached for his cell phone, figuring he should at least call the authorities. But he didn’t have it with him. Dam turned to the people and hollered out to them. “Can someone help, can anyone call 911?”

  “Man, why you acting like you care now? You left people like her and me to fend for ourselves, and that’s what we’re doing.”

  “What are you talking about? Isn’t this a movie set? Why are people dying on this set?”

  The man laughed at him and stumbled away as if he’d been drinking all day and could barely hold himself up.

  As Dam looked around, it appeared to him that these cast of characters had no script. Everyone was just doing as they saw fit to do. There didn’t appear to be any laws or right and wrong in this place. Sin had totally taken over, and no one seemed to care. He needed to get out of here. Dam started running, but it seemed the faster he ran, the worse things got. There was no way out of this God forsaken place.

  He stopped running and bent over to catch his breath. But when he stood back up, Dam’s eyes widened as he watched mummy like forms coming toward him. As they slowly moved toward him, Dam heard them say, “Why are you running away from us again? Why didn’t you tell us? Why’d you let us die like this?”

  “I didn’t! I didn’t!”

  “Honey, calm down and wake up.” Amarrea stood over Dam, nudging his shoulder.

  Dam flopped and flipped in his chair. Amarrea kept nudging him until his eyes popped open. He laid there, staring at her as if he didn’t know where he was. “What? What?”

  “You’re only dreaming, Dam. Stop looking like that. You’re scaring me.” Amarrea was concerned about her husband one moment, but the next moment a pain hit so severe that it doubled her over. She yelled out and then took deep breaths as the pain subsided.

  Dam jumped out of his seat. He held onto Amarrea. “Baby, are you okay?”

  “No! That was awful.”

  Dam helped Amarrea to sit down on the sofa. “Take a deep breath.”

  “I am,” Amarrea screamed at him. She then put a hand to her head to wipe the sweat beads away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

  “I’ve gotten used to it,” Dam joked with her.

  “It’s not my fault. This pregnancy is not normal. I don’t understand why I’m having so many problems. I’m a nurse, and I’ve tried my best to live a healthy life. So, I don’t get why...” Another pain stabbed at Amarrea’s core. She grabbed Dam’s hand and squeezed until the pain subsided again.”

  “Ouuu,” Dam complained as he snatched his hand from Amarrea’s grip.

  “Don’t you dare complain about your hand when I’m suffering through this pain.”

  “Are you having contractions? Should we go to the hospital?”

  Amarrea’s eyes widened. She stared at Dam as a light bulb went on. “I didn’t even think about that. I must be in labor. Praise Jesus!” Amarrea almost leaped off the sofa like she wanted to dance. “Let’s get this party started.”

  “Wow, I didn’t know the thought of labor would bring you so much joy.”

  “Are you kidding.” Amarrea headed toward the stairs. “This whole pregnancy thing is about to be over. My baby is going to be here, and I won’t have to elevate my legs, or sleep sitting up, or be rushed to the hospital as I pass out... It’s over.”