Chapter Six
Abbie, Danny, Elizabeth, and I got together around mid-morning, since everyone had the day after Christmas off from work and school. We sat around a pile of cards on the floor, playing spades, as Abbie and I tried unsuccessfully to beat a team of two people who had known each other all their lives. “Being siblings is cheating,” groused Abbie. “I swear you can read each other’s minds.”
“Hey, I can read minds,” I objected. Abbie raised an eyebrow skeptically, and I pushed my fingers to my temples. “Right now you’re thinking, ‘no you can’t, you liar.’”
She laughed. “Maybe you can after all.”
We got annihilated, of course, but the sting of the loss was eased a bit by some steaks that Danny had cooked up on the skillet. While we were eating, Elizabeth leaned over and glanced out the window. “Were you aware of anyone moving into the building today?”
Danny frowned, perplexed. “No, I wasn’t. I talked to Karin down in the front office about it just last week, and she didn’t say anything either. That’s strange.”
“Well,” said Elizabeth, “let’s hurry up and head down to see what’s going on.”
Neither Abbie nor I needed any encouragement to pack down meat, and unsurprisingly, we were the first two finished. “I have to go downstairs for my shoes and coat,” I announced. “Meet you guys down there.”
Abbie followed me down to my bedroom, playfully poking me in the sides as I fumbled with the door key. “Having problems with the lock, there?” she teased.
I lunged back at her and she flinched away, squealing, before I even made contact. With a victorious laugh, I pushed the door open and ran in quickly, grabbing my shoes from beside the bed before Abbie could come return fire.
She stood at the door, hands in her pockets, smirking. “You’ve won this round, Radak, but don’t think you’ve won the war.”
“I’ve already won the war. You just don’t know it yet…Amy.”
Somehow, at the same time, she laughed and turned red. “I thought you forgot about that.”
“I never forget, Ms. Grant. You know, we should sing together again sometime. You have such a nice voice, and I have a guitar. Somehow we’ve never put those two together.”
“Later today,” she suggested. “Let’s make it a date.”
“Date.” I put my arm around her shoulder and we walked side by side toward the staircase.
Danny and Elizabeth had beaten us downstairs, and were waiting by the door. “Have you met the guy yet?” I asked them.
“No,” Danny said. “I think that’s him over there.”
“Why haven’t you gone over there?”
“Cause you’re going to.”
I faced Danny, and instantly understood where he was coming from. He was passing the baton to me. Stanley and Danny had welcomed me to the building, but Stanley wasn’t here, so Danny was giving me the chance to do for someone else what the two of them had done for me. If Stanley were here, he’d be doing the same thing, I had no doubt in my mind.
It struck me again, just how far I’d come in the last few weeks. Standing on the front step of a building I’d seen for the first time earlier in December, with friends who had treated me like a friend long before I deserved it, who believed and hoped the best for me when I didn’t believe in myself. Danny, who had given me a chance in the praise band. Elizabeth, who had shown such hospitality greeting me with cookies. Abbie, who had seen such a change in me and who was now my partner at the beginning of what could only be a beautiful relationship. Stanley, who had spent so much time with me and done so much to make me feel wanted and valued in the building. Even the others who weren’t here had played a role: Jarrius, Julius, DeRon, Willy, Jake. I didn’t know if it took a village to raise a child, but it had taken a village to bring me to faith, and now I was part of the village.
Maybe the guy at the bottom of the stairs was already a believer, or maybe he hated the idea of God and church, or maybe he was right where I had been when I came to Fort Worth. There was only one way to find out.
Feeling three pairs of eyes on the back of my head, I bounded down the steps and strode confidently toward the man Danny had pointed out.
“I’m Eli Radak,” I said, holding out my hand. “Welcome to the building. Let me introduce you to a few of my friends.”
About the Author
Jim Barringer is a writer, Jesus lover, soccer nut, and seafood consumer from Orlando, Florida. He serves as worship+teaching pastor at The Church of Life (.com), and New Heart Church is his first Christian novel. He can be contacted at [email protected], and more of his writing can be found at facebook.com/jmbarringer. He has but rarely updates a Twitter account, so if you want to know what he was doing two months ago, follow @jmb783.
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