Eating the Fruit of Lies

by Sandra Thompson Williams

  “He’s going to be just fine, Doctor,” she said with enthusiasm. I know he’s going to be just fine.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  When David left his prayer room that morning he felt fortified with the strength of God. The scripture he read for his daily devotion was l Peter 4:12,13: Beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

  He prayed a special prayer that morning for Keith. He couldn’t explain it, but he had a special peace after his prayer, even greater than before. He would keep a sacred consecration in his heart that day.

  One thing he knew for certain, the burden on his heart was God-given and it could not be ignored. Yet it could be chiseled away; one prayer at a time. After all, there was some progress he could not deny. He had spoken man to man with his father and he was able to tell him the simple truth. It was days like this that he needed to talk to someone. That someone was Aunt Tillie and thank God, he thought to himself, she’s expecting me.

  Work went rather quickly that day. David’s attention was pretty well focused on the report he would give Aunt Tillie. Just like she had prayed, he felt like he had become a prayer warrior. He didn’t intend to brag, but he hoped she would be godly proud of him. After saying good evening to the co-workers he headed in the direction of Aunt Tillies’ home. Three miles away he stopped for flowers. He never wanted to visit empty handed. The selection of lavender and pink silk flowers were arranged so beautifully over the greenery. He didn’t consider himself frugal but he thought they would last longer.

  David casually entered the lobby and discovered the receptionist was not at her desk. As a matter of fact, no one else was waiting at that time. He decided this was his chance to knock at her door and surprise her with a beautiful bouquet. The corridor was quieter than normal, considering the dinner hour was just recently ended. Two residents gave him the usual strange stare as he progressed down the hall.

  When he arrived at Aunt Tillie’s apartment, the door was ajar. He could see the back of someone who appeared to be leaving. The lady turned and faced him when she realized someone was behind her. “Oh hello David,” a rather strange sounding voice said.

  “Hi Sister Marie, I’m surprised to see you here. Are you coming or going?” he asked.

  “I was just leaving,” she said. “I guess Rose called you - or maybe not,” she said noticing the flowers in his hand.

  “No, Rose hasn’t called me,” he said, “but then again, I haven’t been home to check messages. I needed to see Aunt Tillie about something.”

  Sister Marie grabbed his arm and gently pulled him inside the apartment. “Aunt Tillie’s not here, David,” she said somberly. “She went home today.”

  “She’s gone back to her house?” he asked innocently.

  “No, David. She’s gone to her heavenly home,” Sister Marie said.

  She had barely finished the sentence when she put her hand over her mouth to muffle any sound of expressed grief. She had held up very well that day. However, listening to her own words was a bit too much to bear. David stood there as if someone had knocked the wind out of him. His young face instantly changed to show disbelief.

  “She’s gone?” he whispered, as if he didn’t believe his ears.

  “What happened?” David asked, as if there might have been a mistake. “I just spoke with her last night.”

  “She died peacefully in her sleep,” Sister Marie said as the tears began to flow. She went over to David and put her arms around him.

  “I know it’s a shock, David, but the Lord knows best.”

  “What am I going to do now?” he asked, as if he was desperate for a friend. He wanted to cry but tears would not come. He sat down on the familiar sofa to get a hold of what he had just heard.

  “I know she was special to you David. She often told me so,” Sister Marie said, trying to console him.

  “She did?” he said in bewilderment.

  “Oh yes,” she said reminiscing. “I talked with her nearly every day and visited her at least once a week.”

  “I had no idea,” David said. “I didn’t know you two had things in common.”

  “Oh yes, David,” she responded. “She was my prayer partner and for the last few years I would go to her to help me understand my visions and dreams.”

  David jerked his head from staring at Aunt Tillie’s empty chair.

  “You have dreams Sister Marie?” he asked.

  “Well I think everyone has dreams,” Sister Marie said. “It’s just that mine seem to be spiritual.”

  “I hope you don’t mine my asking you this especially at a time like this, but - could you tell me about one?” he asked.

  “Well, once I had this weird dream about people lining up to throw away something into a huge incinerator. It was really strange. They would carry the items like they were carrying sacrifices. I could never see exactly what the items were,” she said sighing.

  “You’re the witness,” David mumbled under his breath.

  “What did you say?” she asked. “I said that you’re my witness,” David exclaimed.

  Had his heart not been so heavy from the news of Aunt Tillie, he would have jumped for joy.

  “Sister Marie,” David asked, “did Aunt Tillie ever tell you why I came to visit her so often this year? I’m not referring to when Rose and I came to visit together.”

  “No, she never talked specifically about your visits,” said Sister Marie. “I respected her privacy,” she said.

  “As it turns out,” David said, “you’re not the only one who needed her help with dreams. She has enfolded to me some great mysteries of God through her prayer life. For a while, I thought I was losing my mind until Aunt Tillie stepped in. It was quite a miracle, yet I know it was all in the plan of God. Last night I shared with her how I was able to pray to God for the understanding of a particular dream and God gave me the interpretation. She seemed to be so happy for me. She did say something about not feeling the best and catching a healing. I wish I had come last night like she had asked me to,” he said regretfully. “She told me she had something for me. I have no idea what it was and now I may never know,” he said.

  “Well, I was made her trustee and power of attorney, several years ago,” Sister Marie said. I’ll be back to clean out this place, after funeral arrangements are made,” she said sadly. “If I find anything that I think she wanted you to have, I’ll be more than happy to get it to you.”

  “This place feels awfully empty without Aunt Tillie. Did she have any family left?” David asked.

  “She’s got some cousins who are rather distant. She always said our church members were her only real family. I spoke to my husband this afternoon about having a memorial service, possibly on Friday. If possible David, I’d like you to speak,” she said.

  David hesitated before answering Sister Marie. He took a deep breath then sighed, “I’ll be happy to speak on Aunt Tillies behalf.”

  “Will you be alright driving home?” she asked. “You’ve had a terrible shock.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said as he stood up. He looked at the flowers as if he didn’t know what to do with them. Then he handed them to Sister Marie. “Would you please take these?” he asked. “I’d rather not look at them now,” he said.

  “I understand,” Sister Marie said as she took the flowers. “Why don’t you get some rest and adjust to this situation. I want you to promise me you’ll call me if you need to talk,” she said.

  David nodded his head in agreement. He felt if he opened his mouth, tears might flow. He didn’t want that; not in front of Sister Marie. They left, one behind the other in total silence.

  When David arrived home, he noticed his answering machine was flashing. He wanted to ignore the message alert, but he felt obligated to listen to his calls. He pressed the butto
n and began to undress at the same time.

  “Mr. Edwards this is Darlene. I just wanted to let you know two things. My husband Keith is conscious and doing great and Mr. Edwards, it’s a miracle, but we’ve reconciled. I’ll talk to you about it soon. Have a great day.” Beep.

  “David it’s Rose, if you’re home please pick up the phone. OK. I’ll try to reach you later. I need to tell you something, but I can’t leave the message on this machine.” Beep.

  “David it’s Rose calling. Please give me a call as soon as you get home. It’s an emergency.” Beep.

  “David -it’s Mom. I just wondered if you heard the news. Give me a call.” End of messages.

  David felt drained and exhausted. A few moments earlier, he had felt numb just like the day his father told him he was moving out. He really didn’t feel like speaking to anyone. Instead, he went into his prayer room. He grabbed one horn of his altar and tried to give a prayer of thanksgiving. Only four words escaped his lips.

  “Father I thank you.” A flood of tears followed the words, making a small puddle that was absorbed by his vanilla colored carpet, but giving him a much needed release.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Aunt Tillies’ memorial service was held the Friday morning after her death. Not more than fifty people were in attendance at the modern funeral home. Flowers were lined across the front of her steel bluish-gray casket. The benches were more comfortable than those at church, David thought. He was sure no one would want to spend very much time seated in a mortuary. The pastor gave a wonderful eulogy and then asked for David to come forth to have words. He looked at his mother for reassurance and handed his program to Stephanie to hold for him.

  He slowly walked to the front and smiled at two elderly ladies that were seated on the front row. He thought to himself that they must be Aunt Tillies’ cousins.

  “Relationships,” David began after clearing his throat, “are not always easy to establish. People drift in and out of our lives on a yearly basis. Those people who seem to cling to us, very often do us good. Some people leave us, and we never give them more than a fleeting thought. Aunt Tillie came into my life, but instead of her clinging to me, I clung to her. I discovered that I needed her more than she needed me. Her presence was comforting at a time when I needed comfort, her wisdom was incredibly sound, at a time when I needed advice. But more than any of these qualities,” David said looking straight ahead to avoid the individual faces in the audience, “her relationship with God was to be envied.”

  “Upon visiting her on many occasions, I often would leave thinking, I hope that I can get to know God the way Aunt Tillie knows him. In our last visits together, she prayed for me more earnestly than anyone ever could. She invested time in me and I believe it was a sound investment. She also imparted to me something that I was not aware of. She helped me to see my reason for being alive. It was a greater purpose than I could have dreamed. I do not believe that Aunt Tillie has left me after all,” he said, noticing that Aunt Tillies’ cousin was wiping a tear.

  “She is a part of me more now than ever before. I know that Aunt Tillie never had children of her own, but I never knew my grandmother. I would kind of like to think of her as my adopted grandmother. That way she will always be a part of my family heritage. God Bless You.”

  Ten minutes later after a solo and the reading of Psalm 23, the service was completed. David was a bit surprised that it was over in exactly one hour. He expected others to talk about her kindness, but much to his surprise, Pastor Taylor said, “that concludes the services for the late Tillie Green. Those of you who so desire may continue with us to Redemption Cemetery.”

  Not quite having grasped the closure that he needed, he continued with the twenty others. He decided to ride with his mom and sister in his mom’s car. Her red six cylinder Chrysler was nearly ten years old. Yet it ran almost as smoothly as the sunny day his father had drove it home.

  “We have a new family car,” his father said. “It almost seemed comical to think of the car as the “family car” these days.

  “You did alright,” Steph said as they walked together toward the parking lot. “As a matter of fact, I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks Steph,” David said. “How are you doing these days?”

  “Pretty well,” she said with a gleam in her eye. “Don’t tell mom, but I’m going to have lunch with Dad on Saturday,” she said, unable to contain her joy.

  “Really?” David asked. “Why the secrecy?”

  “He just said it was our little date. It will be just the two of us.”

  “That’s nice,” David said, imagining the conversation. He hoped that whatever they talked about would be good news.

  “I am the resurrection and the life...” Pastor Taylor began “...ashes to ashes, dust to dust...”

  David watched from across the rectangular grave, as Rose dropped her head in grief. He silently left the huddle of family and friends where he stood and walked behind the crowd. He ended up at Rose’s side and almost without warning, offered his shoulder for her to cry on. Accepting, she wept quietly, and he never said a word.

  David heard laughter all around him. Nothing was that funny. But then again, the sound of the laughter was distorted and surreal. Of course, David thought. “I’m in hell.”

  He hid behind the shadows of tall unattractive pillars and listened as the reports were given.

  “I don’t know what happened. I tried to kill him. It’s just that his wife kept making some strange confession about a successful marriage and she keeps reporting to that David Edwards. The plan was spoiled but I’m about to close in on David Edwards. I’ll need the help of some of the others. It may be a little more complicated than I first thought because of this prayer thing he’s trying. I’ll put an end to that or my name isn’t the Big D,” he said before bursting into obnoxious laughter again.

  David awoke into the darkness of the night. He had been tossing and turning for more than 30 minutes. His forehead was sweaty and his eyes struggled to adjust to the pitch blackness of his room. The only light came from the digital red clock positioned in front of him. It was only 3:30 a.m. It had been several weeks since his journey into hell.

  “I’m tired of going through this,” he said. He turned on his little lamp and pulled the Bible from his night stand. He shook his head and said “this is dé-jà vu”. He was distracted by a light tapping at the door. He did not immediately get up because he thought it must be the wind. After the persistence of the noise he put on his robe and went to his apartment door. Looking through the peep hole he could see a distorted view of a face that reminded him of his friend Stephen. He quickly opened the door after unlocking the gold deadbolt.

  “Stephen, what are you doing here?” he asked. “Are you ok?”

  “Oh, I’m ok,” Stephen said. “I’ve been driving around for the last three hours,” he said, as he put what resembled a gym bag on the floor. “Myra and I had another fight. It would have looked worse if she left home at midnight, so I left. I just don’t know what to do anymore David. I feel like going out and having a drink. Which is strange since I don’t care for alcohol.”

  “Just calm down,” David said yawning. “Things always appear worse in the middle of the night.”

  “Look I just need a place to stay for a few days, until I can figure out exactly what I’m going to do.”

  “Sure,” David said. “You’re welcome to stay with me. You must be tired after driving around for three hours. Let me get you some blankets and I think I have an extra pillow,” David said.

  He went into the closet of his spare room and brought down an old quilt his mom had given him when he moved. He also found a sheet, pillow and pillowcase for his friend. He felt bad that things hadn’t worked out better for him. He had hoped his advice would have made a difference, but there was no time for wondering about problems. It would soon be light and there would be plenty of time to talk later. David helped Stephen get settled, sat up and talked to him a litt
le longer and finally went to bed about 4:20 a.m.

  Much to his surprise, when he awoke it was 7 a.m. He jumped up, showered, left a note and a spare key for Stephen and drove much faster than normal to work.

  “I must have slept through my alarm, or had I even set it?” David questioned himself. He was turning the final corner before reaching the parking lot when he realized he hadn’t prayed at all. The guilt trip would have to wait until he had settled in at work. He couldn’t arrive later than his clients. He would pray in the office.

  The receptionist stopped him before he could get inside his office.

  “Mr. Edwards, I hope you don’t mind, but I had to move a client up one slot. She has an emergency and this is the only time she had available.”

  David looked across the room that was half filled with people and found a rather anxious young woman smiling at him. He assumed this was the lady and told the receptionist he would see her in two minutes.

  There was a full load of clients to be seen that day. New and old faces seemed to have kept the office filled. Before he knew it, the day was over. He was happy about the busyness of the day because it kept him from getting sleepy. It had been a little while since he had stayed up all night.

  He returned home and noticed Stephen’s car was still in front of the apartment building. He went inside and found the living area tidier than he usually kept it. There was one exception. A large black suitcase had replaced the gym bag along the far wall.

  “Stephen?” David called out.

  “I’m back here,” Stephen yelled.

  David followed the voice to his spare room and was shocked by what he found. Stephen had rearranged the room and was bending over the table that was serving as his altar. The horns had been placed beneath the table, so that Stephen’s clothes and toiletries could fit neatly on the top. Stephen was bending over a gray futon which he was trying to set up against the wall. He never looked up once to see David’s frowning face indicating his displeasure at the change.