Redeeming Waters

by Vanessa Davis Griggs

  “We just need to know the difference between friendly training and enemy fire. It matters. Because when it’s time to truly fight back, to go into combat, we’d better know it, be ready, and do it,” King d.Avid said. He looked at Brianna’s plate. “Would you care for any more of anything?”

  Brianna glanced down at her plate. She didn’t remember cleaning her plate. “Oh, no.” She shook her head. “I’m good. Everything was great!”

  “So . . . are you ready for dessert? We have cheesecake. And you get to choose your own topping.” He smiled as he looked at her. “We can go up onto the back terrace and eat out there. It’s really beautiful. I don’t get to enjoy it as much as I’d like to, either.” He wiped his mouth with his black linen napkin, then laid it on the table.

  “It sounds to me like maybe you need to learn how to stop and smell a few roses. It’s not good to work all the time and never enjoy the blessings of the Lord or some of the fruits of your labor. Even people working out in the fields get a taste, every now and then, from where they are laboring. If you ask me, not to do it is practically an insult to God.”

  “Ooh. Ouch!” King d.Avid said. He stood up. “The truth can hurt.” He held Brianna’s hand as she got up.

  Brianna started to take her hand away and tell him that she was more than capable of getting up from a table on her own. I do it all the time. But if she was being honest, she had to admit that she enjoyed being treated the way a woman should be treated. It was refreshing to have someone pay attention to her . . . to make her feel as though she existed, at least a little bit and for a change.

  They went upstairs to the second level and out onto the terrace. Brianna couldn’t believe anything could be so beautiful. But it was. And it absolutely took her breath away!

  King d.Avid hung up his cell phone. “The chef is bringing up our dessert.”

  Brianna just stood, shaking her head at the magnificence her eyes beheld. “This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my entire life! It’s like I would imagine the Garden of Eden or Paradise to have looked. Yes . . . this is Paradise! The waterfall, gorgeous plants and trees in full bloom in every direction you look. Is that a reflecting pool? Yes, that is a reflecting pool! And those stone steps up to that peaceful-looking area with the gazebo. This is simply stunning. Absolutely stunning!”

  King d.Avid looked around. He walked over and stood behind her, a little too close for her comfort. “You know; you’re right,” he said, nodding as he leaned forward and primped his mouth. “The view is stunning!” He then took her hand and led her to the patio table. Pulling out her chair for her, he looked into her eyes, and said it as though it were five words instead of two: “Ab-so-lute-ly stunning!”

  Chapter 20

  A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

  —Song of Solomon 4:15

  After Brianna and King d.Avid finished their dessert, they went down on the grounds and walked around. There were acres and acres of land, total and complete, with each area performing a function or a purpose. Even the natural area was natural by design. He had a tennis court, now with a possible promise from Brianna to play on it on another day, pending his return to the states. There was an outdoor basketball court and another magnificent pool area, despite having a reflecting pool right outside his backyard.

  “You like water, huh?” Brianna said. “You have enough pools and fountains.”

  “I never have enough water. I love water,” King d.Avid said. “There’s just something special about water, wouldn’t you agree? Water is redeeming.”

  Brianna didn’t respond, although if she had, she would have agreed. She loved water as well. Yes, water is redeeming. They laughed and talked while admiring the various things in and around his home. Things that Brianna was surprised he had never paid attention to before. It was as though he resided there, but didn’t really live there.

  “Well, I thank you for the tour of this exquisite home, Brianna. You’ve certainly sold me. I think I’d like to own it now.”

  She laughed. “Oh, so are you trying to tell me that you don’t own this house?”

  He shrugged. “I paid for it, sure enough. But if you can show me things I should be showing you, and I can see what a great home it would be to own, then I’m not sure I truly own it. I purchased the house, but I haven’t owned it. And I’ve definitely not made the house into a home. I guess I’ll have to work a little harder on that.”

  “Well, I suppose I should be getting to my own house right about now,” she said.

  “Now?” he said in a pretend-teasing, whining voice. “You have to leave now? And there’s so much more you need to show me about this place. Like the movie theater. I desperately need to check out the movie theater here inside the house.”

  “Are you serious?” Brianna asked.

  “Yes, I’m serious. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been to the movies?”

  “No,” Brianna said. “But I know how long it’s been since I’ve been to one.”

  “I’m sure whatever number you have, I’ll top it,” King d.Avid said.

  “Okay, if that’s a real challenge, we can do this.”

  “Keep in mind now, you’ve only been married for a year and a half,” King d.Avid said. “And I’m an old man who, except for work, doesn’t do a whole lot of things.”

  “I hear you. So let’s hear what you got,” Brianna said, her hand on her hips.

  “All right. The last time I saw a newly released adult movie was a year ago,” King d.Avid said. “Mind you, the only reason I’m stating this was an adult movie is because I did happen to watch a movie in the theater here with little Melvin when he and your brother, Mack, came to visit me the week before Christmas. It was The Karate Kid, a remake of the 1984 film I happened to have seen when I was around Melvin’s age.”

  Oh, so my brother came to Atlanta that time to see you? That’s what he was doing here. Brianna didn’t want to get sidetracked with her thoughts, so she didn’t try to get any more information about Mack and Melvin’s visit here. “Not bad,” Brianna said, nodding and sticking with the subject at hand. “Well, the last time I went to the movies, adult or otherwise, was a month before my wedding. It’s was a Thanksgiving release. Unzell, at the time my fiancé, took me.”

  “And you actually expect me to believe he hasn’t taken you to a movie since that time? Honestly?”

  “Honestly.”

  “Wow,” King d.Avid said. “Well, you can’t blame that one on me and my work schedule. Okay, what about going with a friend. You mean to tell me that you and Alana or some other friend have failed to go to a movie in all of this time? Tell the truth now.”

  “That’s exactly what I mean to tell you. Alana goes on dates with guys, so the last thing she needs is for me to go to a movie with her,” Brianna said.

  “What about her going to see one with you?” King d.Avid said. “Aren’t friendships supposed to be a two-way street?”

  “Yeah. But I wouldn’t do a friend like that. I wouldn’t guilt her into going with me to a movie or anything else, just because I don’t have anyone to go with.”

  “Wow, you’re almost about to make me feel sorry for you,” King d.Avid said.

  “Well, don’t. If I really wanted to see a movie, I could just go by myself.”

  “Pardon me for saying this, and I may be totally out of place. But you shouldn’t have to either miss out or go alone,” King d.Avid said. “But that’s just me.”

  “So what are you trying to say?” Brianna said. “That I need to find other friends, preferably someone in as bad a shape as me when it comes to movie and dinner buddies?”

  “Hmmm. That might be one thought. Another thought would be: maybe you should tell your husband to take you to see a movie, out to dinner, or whatever your heart desires,” King d.Avid said. “That’s what I think.”

  Brianna squinted her eyes a little as she tightly buttoned her lips. She relaxed her stance. “Or maybe
we should change the subject.”

  King d.Avid held up both hands in a sign of surrender. “No problem. Didn’t mean to overstep boundaries. Just trying to help, that’s all. But”—he began to grin—“I am serious about us trying out my movie theater. Give it a good old workout. It’s state of the art with popcorn, drinks, and a completely stocked candy stand. It’s the next best thing to going to the movies without being mauled and harassed for autographs and pleas to listen to ‘the next smash hit’ by Pookie and His Cousins.”

  Brianna started laughing. “Pookie and His Cousins?”

  “Yeah, you know. People see you out and they want you to help launch them into stardom. Pookie is a nickname of someone who grew up in my community. I just pulled his name out of the air, purely for added effect.”

  Brianna nodded. “Oh, okay.”

  “So, is that an okay to my invitation to watch a movie? I can order up the latest thing you’ll find playing in movie theaters right now. I can.”

  “Oh, so you have it like that, huh?”

  “Not trying to brag or anything”—he took his fingers and did a scratching motion against his shirt as though he was sharpening his nails on sandpaper taped to his chest—“but I have it like that.”

  “So you can order up any movie I want to see? Any movie?”

  “Pretty much.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  “You just want to see if I really can do it,” King d.Avid said. “Don’t you?”

  She held out her hand to motion for him to pass. “Lead the way, O King.”

  He smiled and walked beside her as he led her to a set of eight-foot-tall, solid mahogany double doors. When he opened one of the doors, she couldn’t believe just how beautiful and large a theater room in a house could be.

  After excusing himself for a few minutes, as promised, he ordered up the movie she requested to see.

  But what really blew her away? Really. Was that the movie she requested hadn’t even been released to the public as yet, and it wasn’t due to release until the following week.

  Chapter 21

  He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

  —Psalm 105:41

  It was a little after 10 P.M. by the time the two-hour movie went off.

  Brianna glanced down at her watch a bit surprised by how late it had gotten so quickly. “Oh, my! Look at the time. I can’t believe I’ve imposed on you this long.”

  “Believe me, this has not been an imposition at all,” King d.Avid said. “I’ve enjoyed every second, every minute, every hour of it. And trust me: I don’t say that to very many people about very many things.”

  “Me either,” Brianna said. “I’ve enjoyed it as well. But I really must be getting home. Chad made me leave my cell phone at the house, and if anyone has been looking for me, they’ve probably already sent out the cavalry to hunt me down.”

  King d.Avid frowned. “Chad made you leave your cell phone?”

  Brianna smiled, then shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah. But it’s okay. I understand where he was coming from.”

  “Did Chad physically take your phone?”

  “No, he just asked me not to bring it or any other type of recording device. But I absolutely understand why he would do that,” Brianna said, smiling. “It’s okay. Really, it’s okay.” She nodded.

  “I know why when it comes to people who are out to do me harm. But not you. He shouldn’t have made you leave your phone like that,” King d.Avid said, visibly disturbed about this. “I’ll speak with him—”

  “Please don’t.” She touched his arm. “The truth is: I’ve never felt so free as I have today. I didn’t have to worry about my phone ringing or having anyone asking me where I am and what I’m doing. Today was so liberating. As helpful as electronic gadgets are supposed to be in our lives, sometimes it feels like we’re being imprisoned by technology. You can’t go anywhere and just have some peace and quiet . . . serenity. People don’t think we’re entitled to be inaccessible anymore. You can’t even go to the bathroom in peace. And if anyone has called, now they’ll be expecting an explanation as to my past whereabouts, which I need to let you know right now, upfront; no one is going to get,” Brianna said. “I have no intention of letting anyone know I was here. No one will know, unless it’s something you or your people put out there.”

  “I appreciate that,” King d.Avid said. “You’d be amazed at how many people want to come here just so they can broadcast that they were here. It makes it hard to be able to trust anyone or their true motives and intentions. You always feel like people don’t care so much about you, as they do the bragging rights that make them look and feel important. I’m looking for real people in my life, especially now. And it’s not easy to find them.”

  “Well, King d.Avid—or as my grandfather would call you, David R. Shepherd.”

  “No,” King d.Avid said. “Your grandfather did not tell you my real name, did he?”

  Brianna laughed. “He most certainly did. Everything except what the ‘R’ is for.”

  “I suppose he also told you that he was the one who came up with the stage name of King d.Avid?”

  “Yes. He told me that as well.”

  “May I ask you to do something for me? And if it’s something you don’t care to or want to do, will you just tell me?” King d.Avid said.

  “Go ahead,” Brianna said.

  “Would you please tell your grandfather how much I appreciate all that he did for me? And would you let him know that I was wrong. And that if I could go back and change things, I would.”

  “David, let me say this to you.”

  King d.Avid began to smile.

  “What?” Brianna said, emphasizing the t.

  “Nothing. It’s just gratifying to hear my real name being spoken so nice and respectful. I like the name King d.Avid, but you make me feel like you see me and not just the created persona. But I’m sorry: I rudely interrupted you. You were about to say?”

  “I just want you to know that my grandfather holds nothing against you for any reason. He’s proud of you. And if you ask me: I think you should call him and tell him all of the things you want him to know yourself. Stop sending messages by other folks.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously,” Brianna said. “In fact”—she looked at her watch—“we’re an hour ahead of him in Alabama. Why don’t you call him right now? Tonight.”

  “I’m not very good at making things right with people I’m estranged from. If you don’t believe me, ask my parents and siblings. They will tell you that we’re not speaking at all. Besides, I don’t have Pearson’s number.” He grinned and tilted his head to the side.

  “Any old excuse will do. Where’s your phone?” Brianna beckoned with her hand.

  “I put it up. I feel the same way as you do sometimes. There are days when I don’t want to be bothered, and today just happens to be one of those days. I put my phone away when we came in from outside. And I sent everybody who might even remotely attempt to interrupt or bother me home, including Chad.”

  “All right. I don’t have my phone; yours is put up. So I suppose we need to go get your phone, so you can call my grandfather and put all of your misgivings, and his, to rest. Besides, if I were to tell Granddad, he’d want to know how we happened to speak.”

  “So you want me to go and get my phone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Right now?”

  “Yes.” Brianna crossed her arms and began to tap her right foot as though she was perturbed. She knew she was unconvincing; her smile betrayed her.

  King d.Avid started laughing. “You are so funny.”

  “Let’s go get your phone. Now, Mister. I’m not playing with you. I know my grandfather will be thrilled to hear from you. So you’re going to call him tonight before I leave this place. I’m going to teach you a thing or two on conflict resolution tonight.”

  King d.Avid shrugged his shoulders as he gri
nned. “All right. You’re the boss. I’m just King d.Avid, the humble mega-super-duper-nova-star.”

  Brianna laughed. “Granddad said you’d do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Come up with a new way of describing what you are and have accomplished.”

  “Oh, he did, did he? I suppose he still thinks he knows me that well.”

  “I suppose that he does.” Brianna pointed. “March,” she said for him to go get his phone.

  “Actually, my phone is upstairs in my bedroom,” King d.Avid said.

  “In your bedroom?” Brianna said, taking one step back.

  “Yeah.”

  “And you don’t have any landline phones around this monstrosity of a house?”

  King d.Avid stepped back closer to her. “Oh, so now my beautiful amazing home that earlier today took your breath away is a monstrosity of a house? Is that what I’m hearing from you now, Mrs. Waters?”

  “I asked you a question first. So answer my question. You don’t have a landline phone anywhere? I mean, seriously?”

  “No, I seriously don’t. In this age one doesn’t need a landline. I’m hardly ever here. My cell phone is with me no matter where I am. So what’s the point of having a phone that serves no purpose to anyone, except the people who dust here, and maybe the people who happily take my money at the phone company,” King d.Avid said.

  “Well, then, go get your cell phone and bring it down here,” Brianna said. “I’ll wait. Then I’ll give you Granddad’s phone number, and you can call him. But you need to hurry now, before it gets too late. I don’t want to end up waking him.”

  “I tell you what. Why don’t we both go up to my room and get my phone. That in itself will cut out a lot of wasted time. Then I can call him and tell him what’s been on my heart all of these years.”