Quiet As It's Kept

by Monique Miller

  When he returned to Phillip’s house, he found Shelby about to get ready for work. He was thankful for his friends and glad to have been blessed to have them in his life. Will had no idea where he would have been or what he would have done without them. And he had no idea how he would ever be able to repay them, not only for giving him and the baby shelter, but also for their paying for his lawyer and pretty much all of his basic financial needs since he was pretty much out of money.

  He and the baby had been at their home for almost two weeks, and he didn’t know when he’d be able to change his living situation. Morgan had not pushed to take Isaiah from him, which only made Will wonder again how her mind worked. But he figured maybe her actions were strictly selfish in that she probably didn’t want to have to worry about taking care of Isaiah full time and taking the time to find arrangements for him during the day while she was working. But Will was still holding his breath, because he knew at any moment Morgan might all of a sudden say that he was keeping the baby from her, which would be yet another false accusation.

  Morgan was still living in their home and had no intentions of moving out, according to his lawyer. The charges of assault and battery were still pending and Will was due to be in court soon to try to defend himself.

  Things were looking pretty bleak for him, but he still held faith that the Lord would not let him down. And like the painting he often thought of with the one set of footprints in the sand, Will knew that that one set of footprints were the Lord’s carrying him. He was not alone.

  “Hey, Will. I’m headed out. Let Phillip know there is some leftover spaghetti in the refrigerator for you guys. There should be enough for everyone. And that little purple container has what is leftover of Isaiah’s spaghetti that I processed for him to eat,” Shelby said.

  “Thanks, Shelby.”

  “No problem. See you tomorrow.” Shelby left.

  Will’s cell phone rang. He answered it on the second ring, hoping that Isaiah, who was sleeping in the upstairs guest room, hadn’t heard it.

  “Hello,” Will said.

  “Hello, is this Mr. Will Tracy?” a female voice asked.

  Will braced himself, wondering if this was another call from his lawyer’s office with bad news. “This is he.”

  “This is Janice from The Berringer Corporation.”

  Will remembered the name of the woman who had called him about the job interview right before the car accident. “Yes, Janice, how are you?”

  “Good, Mr. Tracy. The reason I am calling is that another position is open in our corporation, and my boss wanted me to contact you to see if you would like to come in for an interview.”

  Will didn’t have to think about it. “Yes, I would like to come in for an interview. When are you all holding interviews?”

  “Next week. We have the third in the afternoon, the fourth in the morning or afternoon, or the fifth in the afternoon. Which would be best for you?”

  Will remembered Shelby saying that she was going to be off on the fourth and fifth. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t mind watching Isaiah. So he decided on an interview on the fifth in the afternoon, to give Shelby a day to rest and so that he would be one of the last people to interview. He wanted his interview to be fresh on their minds when it was time to decide who the final candidate would be.

  “How about the fifth in the afternoon?” Will asked.

  “That sounds good. How is three o’clock for you?” Janice replied.

  “Sounds great. Thanks, Janice.”

  “You are welcome, Mr. Tracy. And good luck.”

  “Thank you, Janice.”

  Will clicked the phone off, feeling like he was on cloud nine. He ascended the stairs to the guest room he was staying in and retrieved his laptop and its accessories. He needed to set up the computer in order to refresh himself on the information about the company with which he was blessed to have another interview.

  Will turned the computer on and found that everything in his history was still intact. It didn’t look as if Morgan had used the computer at all. He was able to easily click on to his favorite files and find all the information he needed for the corporation. Much of the information came back to him easily and he felt pretty self-assured that he would pass the interview with flying colors.

  When he finished his review, Will decided to set his Web cam back up. After it was set up he sent a text to his sister, letting her know his computer was back up and running, and for her to let him know when she wanted to do another video meeting. As he waited for her to respond to his text, Will decided to look at previous video sessions he’d had with his sister.

  He missed talking to his sister and needed a touch of family in his atmosphere. The recordings were ordered from oldest to newest. The last recording showed a record time of over three hours. The sessions between him and his sister never lasted for more than thirty minutes, so Will wondered why the counter for the last recording lasted so long.

  Then he noticed something odd. The date of the last recording was the same night he’d been arrested. That was the same day he’d gone to Warsaw and returned to his home to pack some items. He’d forgotten about that brief Web cam conversation with his sister that evening. But he was sure he hadn’t recorded their interactions that evening. He had barely been able to log on properly with the way his hands had been shaking from nervousness.

  Curious, Will clicked on to the three-hour recording and started to watch. He saw his baby boy standing in front of the computer, hitting the keyboard and trying to move the mouse. Will’s jaw dropped wide open as he realized what was going on.

  “Dada.”

  Will turned around to see that Isaiah was awake in his playpen. Will quickly stood and picked the baby up. “I love you, little man. I love you so much.” He pulled the baby close to him and kissed his forehead. “You had Daddy’s back and you didn’t even know it.”

  Tears of joy streamed down his face. Will looked heavenward and said, “Thank you, Lord.”

  Chapter 26

  After composing himself enough to sit down, Will sat down in at the foot of the bed and restarted the three-hour recording. Again he saw his baby boy standing in front of the computer hitting the keyboard and moving the mouse around. And in the background he saw what was so astonishing to him. He and Morgan were arguing. The sound on the state-of-the-art system he had purchased was awesome. It recorded every little sound.

  On his computer screen, Will watched as most of their argument in the den was being recorded. He listened to the parts of the recording when they had stepped out of view of the camera. The recording showed his version of how he tried to get past her and had barely touched her shoulder to get by, and how she’d fallen like she’d been shoved. The recording also showed how she’d bounced back up like nothing had happened.

  Will continually shook his head, not believing what he was seeing on the screen. The recording was supporting to a tee everything he had been saying, right even up until the time that Will left. In the background, he could hear where he had cranked the car and driven off.

  A few minutes later, Morgan’s body came back into view of the camera. He figured she’d probably realized that the camera was on, and she would probably turn it off. But he pushed that thought out of his head quickly because there was still well over two hours of recording time left.

  Morgan disappeared out of view of the camera for a few moments, and then he heard a howling scream just before he saw her run into the wall. He blinked a couple of times, wondering if he had seen right, and sure enough, she ran again headfirst into the wall. Then she picked up a picture frame and hit herself over the head with it.

  For the next few minutes Will watched as Morgan went in and out of the camera’s view, beating herself up. The entire scene made him cringe as he wondered why anyone would do that to herself. Each time she came back into the view of the camera, she looked worse for the wear. The beat-up session took over fifteen minutes, and, by the end of it, even Will would have be
lieved that someone else had beaten her up.

  Will’s heart raced as he saw Morgan pick up the cordless phone and dial three numbers. He figured she had dialed 911. Sure enough, in the next words out of her mouth she told an operator where she lived and that her husband, Will Tracy, had just beaten her up. She sobbed as she spoke into the phone, doing her best job to convince the 911 operator that her complaint was valid. And again Will had to admit that her acting job was pretty believable, so believable that he wouldn’t have believed she was lying unless he’d seen the footage.

  After she hung up the phone, her fake tears ceased immediately. Then Will heard her say out loud, “Take that, Will.”

  Will couldn’t believe what he had just seen. And the show wasn’t over, because Will fast-forwarded the recording and saw Morgan start her act up again when the police got to the house. It was hard to hear them at first since they were at the front door, but when Morgan walked them in to the den to show them the damage that was supposedly done by him, Will saw the same two police officers that had come to Phillip’s home. Again, Will couldn’t help but shake his head.

  “Wonders never cease,” Will said to himself.

  He watched the rest of the footage and was surprised to see the laptop being closed by Morgan. She didn’t know much about Web cams, but she was a stickler for turning off anything that was taking up too much electricity. It was a blessing that Morgan had no idea that the Web cam had been recording. Had she known, Will would have never had the evidence he needed to show his lawyer and the police to get the charges dropped.

  Will thanked the Lord for looking out for him. And thanked the Lord he didn’t know how many times for the blessing he held in his lap; the curious blessing who had pushed the right buttons on the computer to make the Web cam record his mother’s crazy actions.

  Hearing a knock at the bedroom door, Will looked up to see Phillip.

  “Hey, man, I didn’t even hear you come into the house.”

  “I figured that. I called you a couple of times.” Phillip looked toward Will’s computer. “I see you finally got your computer. Is the wireless working for you?”

  “Oh, yeah, it is working wonderfully.” Will grinned.

  “What is that grinning all about?”

  “It is about how God can turn a seemingly hopeless situation around in the wink of an eye.”

  “I know that’s right,” Phillip said. “And with that being said, I want to talk to you again about coming to work for me. I know you haven’t wanted to in the past, but I had a sales associate quit today and I have an opening. And before you ask, no, I did not fire him to make a position for you.”

  Will laughed. “I may just do that for the time being. But I have to say, boss, I may not be there for long.”

  “No, why?”

  “I got a phone call for an interview today.”

  “You did? That’s great, man.”

  “It sure is, and I haven’t told you the best part.”

  “What’s the best part?” Phillip asked.

  “It is the same company that I was supposed to interview for the day of the accident.”

  “You’re kidding me. Did you apply for another job there?”

  “No, they just called me. I mean, after the accident I did notify them to let them know why I didn’t make it to the interview. And I also told them that if anything else came open I would like to be considered. I guess they remembered.”

  “Man, that is awesome.” Phillip put up his hand to give Will a high five.

  Will high fived Phillip’s hand so hard that it stung. “Man, ain’t God good? I mean, I don’t have the job yet, but I feel like my favor from God is being taken up a notch.”

  “You think?” Phillip asked.

  “No man, I know this for a fact.” Will closed his eyes, lifting his head toward heaven. “Man, let me tell you the best part of God’s favor that I am still reeling about.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You got three hours?”

  “Don’t you mean do I have three minutes?”

  “No, I mean three hours, or at least time enough for me to show you a few things and fast-forward through some others,” Will said. “So maybe about an hour total.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “As a heart attack,” Will said. “And I am talking about the ultimate favor of God and His divine intervention.”

  “Whoa, hold up. Hold that thought. I need to pick P.J. and Nyah up. Can it wait until I get back? Because I want to hear this and I want you to have my undivided attention.”

  “Yeah, I can show you when you get back, because this is something that you won’t want to have any interruptions.”

  “Is it that good?” Phillip asked.

  “Even better.” Will smiled.

  Chapter 27

  “Hello, my brothers,” Will said to the group assembled in the circle, in the hidden office of New Hope Church. “A couple of months ago, I was in turmoil over the direction my family life was taking. I prayed to God for answers, and He led me to Brother Tyler.” Will looked over in the direction of Tyler, who was sitting two people down from him.

  Will looked around the room at some familiar faces, and a few faces he had never seen before. He was pretty sure by now that there were quite a few men in the Secret Brotherhood who were victims of domestic violence, who had come to the semimonthly meeting. Present in this meeting were Brother Chrispin and Brother Nelson. Will was glad to see both of the men again.

  Both brothers had called and checked on him after the arrest. They both offered to help him whenever and however they could, and they let Will know that he and the baby were in their prayers. It all meant a lot to Will to know that he was not alone. The Lord had sent into his life like-minded men who had been through some similar circumstances.

  “The first time I came here I had no idea what to expect. Brother Tyler was vague in what the meeting was about, but, by the time I left, I understood the reasoning for his secrecy and vagueness. I understand the importance of keeping the confidentiality of the persons present, not only for personal privacy, but also for their safety.

  “Because, sadly enough, there are many different forms of domestic violence. I think Brother Tyler said it best the last time I was here, that while men often use physical force to control their mates, women are crafty and they often use different devices to get the same results.”

  Tyler King nodded in agreement.

  “I didn’t speak at my first meeting, as I was trying to fully understand why I was even here and what exactly I had in common with all of you. I left that meeting with a wealth of information that helped me tremendously. You see, I was at a point when I was first starting to realize that my wife meant me ill will. Just like one of the brothers said, my wife didn’t touch me physically to harm me; she did things on the sly to hurt me.

  “It took a little while for me to realize it, but my wife was trying to get rid of me and get insurance money. And there wasn’t anything concrete that I could put my finger on, and many of the things she was doing were things that she tried to justify. I believed her, I think, because I wanted to believe her. I mean, nobody wants to think that another person means him harm.

  “But I found out all too well that she meant me harm. I also found out she had been lying to me ever since the very first day I met her. In a nutshell, the name she went by was not her birth name. I’ve recently found out from a private investigator that she had used the name of some baby who had died. She’d used its name to get ID cards made, to start up credit lines, and to even put the information on a fake diploma and other documents. The investigator also found that she had taken out three extra insurance policies on my life.”

  Will shook his head. “I still have to shake my head when I think about it. The past two years have been a roller coaster, especially with my being out of work. But the main part of my testimony is that I used much of the information that I got from that last meeting when I decided to leave my wife. I
was able to grab the important documents that I would not have even thought about taking had I not come here and gotten the pamphlets and handouts.

  “And when I was arrested for assaulting my wife . . .” Will started. He paused. Sounds of astonishment came from a couple of men in the circle. “No, I assure you I didn’t lay a hand on my wife. Well, I put my hand on her shoulder only to walk around her so I could get out of her way that night, but I did not assault my wife.”

  Will looked over at Brother Chrispin, who nodded to agree with Will. He had been privy to the truth of what had happened.

  “I was blessed to have brothers here in the brotherhood who were there for me during my time of need. Even at the police station, when I wasn’t thinking straight, I remembered that Brother Chrispin was a police officer there. And as soon as I remembered he worked there, I asked for him. He came and gave me words of encouragement. And, let me tell you, that went a long way, because I needed it.”

  Will took a deep breath. “It was hard, because the police officers who interrogated me acted as if I was guilty of the crime I was being accused of. And I guess I can understand that because there are so many male-on-female crimes that occur each and every day. And it didn’t help matters that my ex-wife had bruises to show that I had beaten her.”

  Curious eyes stared at Will as he held his hand up. “To make a long story short, my wife beat herself up after I left the house that evening. When I left her, her body was intact. But when the police interrogated me they were armed with pictures of my wife beaten and bruised. I myself couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the pictures.”

  Speaking out words he was thinking, one of the brothers asked, “What happened?”

  “My wife beat herself up. How do I know this, you might ask?”

  A couple of men nodded.

  “Well, what I am saying is not just speculation on my part. My little boy recorded the whole ordeal. I have a Web cam and my baby boy hit the right buttons on my computer to make the Web cam record. And the recording supported my statements to a tee, even down to the time-stamps on the recording.”