A Million Blessings

by Angela Benson

  “I will,” Mr. Davis said, moving over to make room for Craig on the wall. “I pray for the two of you every day. I have since the day she brought you home.”

  Craig closed his eyes for a second, then opened them again. “Thank you, sir. Don’t ever stop. Those prayers have done more good than you’ll ever know.”

  “Call us when you get there,” Terrell said after putting Brianna’s last bag into her car.

  “Are you sure you don’t want one of us to come along and help you drive,” Clare said. “It’s quite a ways to Tampa.”

  Brianna couldn’t help but smile. “You’re all like mother hens. Back up. I’m pregnant, not dying. If I’m tired, I’ll get a hotel and I will call when I get there. I know it probably isn’t the best timing, but I don’t think this is something I should tell Craig over the phone. Not to mention that I need to pay Asia a little visit.”

  Terrell laughed. “All right, now. No Holy Ghost beatdowns, okay? You might want to stay away from that one. You know she’s a little crazy.”

  “Aren’t we all?”

  The laughter quieted down.

  “Pretty much,” someone said. “Anyway, just be careful. We’ll be praying.”

  They must have been true to their word because Brianna made it to Tampa in great time, even with all her bathroom stops. She tried Craig once, but he didn’t answer his phone.

  Good enough.

  She had a stop to make anyway….

  Asia flung open the door with a squeal. “Bri-aaaana! Girl, I didn’t know you were coming. I would have—”

  “You would have what, sent a picture of my belly to the National Enquirer?”

  Asia narrowed her eyes at Brianna. “I hadn’t planned on that, but now that you mention it, we could make a little cash that way. Lift up your shirt—”

  “Girl, stop playing. I’m on my way to see Craig, but I came here first because I need to talk to you.”

  “You’re doing that already. Get to the point.” Asia’s tone was rising. A few more minutes like this and she’d be cussing like a sailor.

  “The point is—did you send photos of me and Terrell to Craig and send a text from my phone to Terrell?”

  Asia turned away. “Oh, man. I told him this wasn’t going to work. Look, I didn’t do all those things, but I did some of them and I did them for your own good.”

  Right.

  “So you trying to get my husband—”

  “Ex-husband!”

  “Whatever. You trying to get with Craig was supposed to help me?”

  Asia started laughing. Uncontrollably. “Is that what you think this was about? Me trying to get with Craig? Don’t get me wrong, Craig is fine as all get out, but he can’t stand me, and after all that has gone down, I’m not too fond of him—except to look at. It wasn’t about that at all. It was about getting Craig to play. It was all Mr. Gunter’s idea.”

  “Who?”

  “The scout that wants Craig? He’s a…friend from a few years back. He asked me to help him, and I didn’t see any harm in it, especially since you two fight so much anyway. Craig Richards hasn’t changed since he left you on that train track in eleventh grade. I don’t care what you say.”

  Forgive as you have been forgiven.

  “Asia, you don’t have to hate Craig for me anymore. He has changed. We all have. In fact, I need to tell you that since we’ve seen each other last, I gave my life to Jesus.”

  “Again?” Asia stuck out her lip. “I hope it sticks this time.”

  Me too.

  “Wait, did you tell Mr. Gunter about the baby?”

  “No, I figured I’d leave that train wreck to you,” Asia said, wiping lipstick from the corners of her mouth. “If you’re done letting me have it, maybe you can catch Craig before he pulls up out of here.”

  “What do you mean?” Brianna loved Asia, but this whole thing was wearing her out. She just wanted to find Craig, tell him about the baby, and take a good, long nap.

  “The tryout. Arman told me that the scouts moved things up. Craig is trying out today. Up at the school….”

  Brianna started running and didn’t look back. She had to catch Craig before he did something they’d all regret. She knew exactly who “Mr. Gunter” was now. Arman the Bone Collector, the agent that brought men out of retirement and ran years off their lives. Craig was better than that. And worse yet, she knew that if he did it, it would be for her. It was time for both of them to stop making each other pay for the past.

  Christ paid it all.

  “Run it again.”

  Though his knee seemed like something had come unglued inside, Craig walked back to the start line for the forty-yard dash. He looked out over the stands, filled as though there was a game being played instead of a old pro trying to come out of retirement. As he did a quick stretch to prepare for his next run, he saw someone in the crowd, waving a pink handkerchief.

  Brianna.

  Years ago, that had been their signal. It meant, “I love you,” and it was all Craig needed. He looked closer, and she was smiling. That was just icing on the cake. When the whistle blew, he ran like a madman.

  Though Craig doubted that his ex-wife’s hankie wave meant anything more than that she didn’t hate him, it was enough fuel to help him run near his personal best.

  “Nice!” Gunter screamed as he gathered the scouts around him.

  The crowd seemed to hold a collective breath, but Craig had been in sports long enough to know that at least one of those scouts would have been impressed by his workout so far. That wasn’t what concerned him at the moment.

  TreShard stood near Brianna wearing his jersey with Craig’s old number. The boy’s girlfriend was sitting next to him, but she wasn’t smiling. He couldn’t be sure from here, but it looked like she’d been crying….

  One of the scouts gave Gunter a nod, and the agent approached Craig with a big smile.

  “You did it, man. I knew you could. One mil for next season. I’ll go and draw up the papers.” He turned to the crowd and raised a fist in victory. Almost everybody went wild. TreShard climbed over the seat in front of him and started walking away. He stopped to look at Craig and shook his head.

  Craig shook his head, too, at Gunter.

  “No. I’m sorry to have wasted your time. I need the money, but there’s something here that I need more.”

  Gunter scrambled to make peace with the agents while staring daggers at Craig. “I knew you would do this. Say good-bye to your wife, to the life that you had. Tell this crowd why you’ve turned your back on them!”

  True enough, people booed Craig. Many of them just left the field, confused about what exactly had happened. TreShard came up and shook Craig’s hand.

  “Maybe I was wrong about you.”

  Craig gave the boy a nod and reached out to shake the hand of the boy’s pregnant girlfriend. They were standing together, holding hands.

  “Maybe we were wrong about each other,” Craig said as he told the boy good-bye. “See you Monday. After I get some rest, I’m going to run you all over this track.”

  The boy smiled. “After today, you won’t be running anywhere for a good long minute, but when you’re ready I’ll be waiting.”

  As Craig laughed and said good-bye, he heard a beautiful and familiar sound behind him. Brianna’s laughter.

  “The boy didn’t lie. That was one serious run. You’re going to need some Ben-Gay for that, baby.”

  Craig hugged her close. “Bri…I’ve been trying to get in touch with you. I need to tell you something.”

  She smiled. “Me too. You go first.”

  He nodded, waving good-bye to his aunt, who blew him a kiss on the way to the car. She didn’t look surprised or confused, but then she’d seemed to know how it would happen anyway.

  “I’m sorry, Bri. About the baby. About leaving you. I didn’t know what to do. I did love you, though, and I love you now. No matter what happens between us, though, I just need to know that you forgive me.”

>   She looked up at Craig with a smile so big it made him shiver. “You are forgiven. We both are. That’s part of what I want to tell you.”

  He hugged her again, and this time he didn’t let go so easily. “You went back to church? To Jesus?”

  She nodded. “I did. And God has been healing me so that I could come here today and ask you to forgive me, too. There’s been so much hurt, so many things broken and I’m sorry. So, so sorry.”

  “Shhh…” Craig pressed a finger to her lips. When she had no more words, only tears, he put his hand on her stomach. It was too early to feel anything, but he knew that a baby was in there. He did know what he should have done all those years ago, when she came to him just like this and he’d turned away. Only this time, the baby wasn’t his.

  “Lord, bless this child. May he or she grow up to love You and walk in Your ways for all the days of his or her life. Bless Brianna with a healthy pregnancy and a quick recovery.”

  She wiped her eyes. “You knew? Who told you? Asia?”

  Craig shook his head. “Nobody told me. I could see it. Congratulations. To you and Terrell, I mean. And don’t worry, you’re not showing yet. Not really. I can just tell. I I remember—”

  Brianna kissed him quietly. “You should remember…Daddy. That was quite some shower if I recall.”

  Chapter 9

  Shocked but thrilled, Craig closed his eyes as an ache traveled the length of his leg and settled into his knee. The wrestling was finally over. The struggle had hurt, but the blessing had finally been bestowed. A new beginning. He and Brianna were back at the beginning.

  A baby.

  “I guess I should have taken that money, huh?” Craig said as reality dawned on him: diapers, toys, books…college.

  Brianna shook her head. “Nope. Somebody told me once that God does a pretty good job at taking care of his children.”

  Hearing Brianna talk about God like that was almost more than Craig could bear. It was just too good. “I still can’t believe it. You, a Christian?”

  Brianna nodded. “Believe it. Baptized and blood-bought.”

  Craig took Brianna’s hand and walked off the empty field. Something dropped out of his pocket. The lottery ticket.

  Brianna raised an eyebrow. “What’s that about?”

  Craig laughed as he picked up the ticket and put it back in his pocket. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you on the way home. I bought it for Mrs. Wright—”

  “Tenisha’s mom?”

  “Right.”

  “Don’t even try to explain, then. That says it all.”

  There’s something else Craig wanted to say, though. Something he had to say.

  “Will you marry me?” he whispered into Brianna’s ear.

  Before Brianna could answer, her phone rang. She held it up so Craig could see.

  “It’s…Dante? I didn’t even know he had my number.”

  “Tenisha,” they both said together.

  Craig rolled his eyes. That boy never did have any sense of timing. “I can’t talk to him until you answer me, girl. For real, now.”

  Brianna laughed and gave Craig a kiss on the cheek. “I’d love to be your wife, now answer the phone.”

  “Hello?” Craig said, wanting nothing more than to toss the phone across the parking lot. “Man, what is it? I’m kinda busy—”

  “Do you still have the ticket? The one you bought for Brenda?” Dante was screaming into the phone. He’d been at the field earlier but made no mention of what had happened or Craig’s decision. “Where is it, man? This is urgent.”

  Craig fumbled in his pocket. “The lottery ticket? I’ve got it right here. Why?”

  Someone was arguing in the background. “He probably threw it away.”

  “He didn’t!” Dante screamed. “He’s got it right there in his hand. Don’t play my boy like that. He’s not crazy.”

  “D, what’s going on, man? Did we hit the lottery or something?”

  “Exactly that, my brother. Exactly that. And since I told you to buy it, we only have to split it two ways.”

  Craig just started laughing. He didn’t care how they split it. He just wanted to know one thing: “How much? And how do you know I won? Did you memorize the numbers?”

  Dante smirked. “I didn’t have to. Your wedding date, your birthday, your old football number, the combination to our rookie locker. You know I don’t forget numbers. When I heard the number a few minutes ago and they said that no one had claimed it, I was like, that’s my boy’s ticket!”

  The last date, the day that Brianna had lost their first child, Dante would have known, too, but he didn’t mention it now. Craig leaned down and kissed Brianna’s hair, surprised that she wasn’t asking him a million questions. She looked as if she was almost asleep on her feet, so he perched the phone on his neck, picked her up, and carried her back to his car.

  “All right, man. Tell me where I have to go. Brianna is almost sleep in my arms. I’ve got to get her something to eat, too. She’s pregnant.”

  “Is it yours? I’m just saying…”

  “Yes, fool. Now tell me where I need to go and tell me how much we won.”

  “Well, Miss Brenda is over here talking about what she won since she says the ticket is for her, but you know I’m not paying that any mind, right?”

  “Dante!”

  “Okay, right. The jackpot is thirty-two million. I believe that should hold a few things in place for a while. And you didn’t even have to blow out your knee again for it.”

  Craig let his phone hit the ground. He stopped where he was and lowered himself and his woman to the ground. Brianna slept right through it.

  “Lord, when you blessed me before, I didn’t know how to handle it. But now I know that whatever You give me isn’t just for me. It wasn’t the way I thought it would come, but somehow You always come through. Thank you for a second chance.”

  Epilogue

  One year later

  “Welcome to the dedication of the Theresa Richards Family Life Center.”

  Craig held his infant daughter Melody up to his shoulder to be sure that she could hear. Brianna reached over and hugged both of them.

  “I wish Aunt Tee could have been here today to see this,” Craig whispered. His aunt had fallen ill not long after he and Brianna remarried, but she’d had a peaceful passing. Many times, like right now, Craig could almost feel his aunt’s presence.

  Pastor Green cut the ribbon on the building after a dedication prayer and called Craig and Brianna up to the front. “These folks won the lottery through an interesting set of circumstances. They thought that Soul Harvest wouldn’t take the money since it came from gambling, but y’all know me better than that, don’t you? We cleaned that money right on up, and with their gifts, we have completed the church building, this facility for families and young people, and helped twenty-six people get their GED, and double that for finding a job. So those of you who are still sitting around wondering what you should do, just do like Brother Richards and pray while you’re running. God will show you the way to go.”

  While people made a line to shake Craig and Brianna’s hands, Craig’s mind was somewhere else. He had a bit of limp now and a few new gray hairs, but he wouldn’t have traded his life for anything. For the first time in his life, Craig Richards was truly blessed beyond measure.

  A Knight in Pink Armor

  TIA MCCOLLORS

  Chapter 1

  “Go ahead and buy a lottery ticket.”

  “No. I’m not doing it.” Dara Knight sat an orange soda, a bag of white cheese popcorn, and a tropical-flavored pack of Skittles on the counter. She had no intention of spending a single dime of her hard-earned money on a lottery ticket.

  Besides, she wasn’t one to play the lottery anyway. Dara considered it a waste of money even though the people who played on a regular basis could squeeze an ounce of justification out of every ticket they bought. Winning ten dollars from a scratch-off that they’d spent one dollar on was a r
espectable rate of return. But Dara didn’t see why they always failed to calculate the money they’d blown over the last five years without cashing in a single penny.

  “You act like God is gonna strike you down in this convenience store,” India Lanier said. “We’re practically in Booneville, Georgia. He probably forgot this place even exists.”

  Dara’s cousin, India, turned the plastic display holding the brightly colored scratch-offs, all of them promising a one in a billion chance at wealth. “Let me get one of each of the ones on this side,” India said, then slid a ten dollar bill under the opening of the bulletproof window. “And don’t forget to add these.” She held up a bottle of cranberry juice and pack of cashews.

  Dara tried to block India from tearing tickets from the roll.

  India reached over her. “We’re in the middle of the boonies,” she said, still trying to convince Dara. “This is the kind of town where winners hit it big. When’s the last time you heard of a lottery winner that bought their ticket in a big city? As soon as we get to Atlanta, our chances are going to plummet.”

  “They’re going to plummet anyway,” Dara said, counting out correct change for her purchase. “Because I’m not going to buy a lottery ticket.” Even if India does have a valid point. Stores like this transformed winners from being everyday people with respectable three-bedroom homes to millionaires with fourteen-bedroom mansions. But that didn’t change Dara’s mind. Her parents had taught her better.

  India didn’t seem to care what Dara said or thought. She was pulling out every excuse to debate her point.

  Dara dropped her goodies in her purse. “While you try to convince everybody else in this store to follow your lead, I’m going to the restroom. I don’t plan to make a stop on this highway again until we reach the city limits. I’ll meet you in the car,” she said.

  “I know I’m not the only one who could use sixteen million dollars,” Dara heard India tell someone.