Isaac didn’t think his wife would ever get used to that fact. But if Ikee was willing to give it the good old college try, then who was he to stand in the boy’s way?
~~~~
“Pastor Isaac?” With a look of surprise on her face, Marissa said, “Ikee didn’t tell me that you would be stopping by.”
“I thought I should check on you since Ikee will be gone for a week.” Isaac held up a grocery bag. “When my wife was pregnant she craved green grapes, ham and cheese sandwiches, Pringles, and ice cream.”
A greedy smile spread across Marissa’s face. “You got all of that in that bag?”
“Sure do.”
She grabbed the bag. “Thank you so much, Pastor Isaac. Come on in.”
Isaac sat down at the kitchen table while Marissa fixed herself a ham sandwich. He wanted to talk to her so he could see where her head was at. Ikee might think the world of this girl, but daddy needed to make sure she wasn’t going to become a hindrance.
“Would you like a sandwich?” Marissa asked, after her second bite.
“No, no. I brought that stuff purely for your enjoyment.”
“Thank you. And even though I have no idea why, I have been craving ham sandwiches.”
“Well, you can thank my wife for that. If she hadn’t been craving all those things I wouldn’t have known what to bring you.”
Marissa sat down at the table across from Isaac. She looked at him intently for a moment, then said, “She doesn’t like me, does she?”
“Who, Nina?”
Marissa nodded, then Isaac said, “It’s not that she doesn’t like you. She’s just concerned about Ikee. See, he was supposed to go to college but now he’s decided that he’s not going.”
“I told Ikee not to give up on college. He’s real smart and deserves a chance to go out into this world and do great things. But Ikee won’t listen to me. He thinks he has to stay here and help me with the baby.”
“He wants you to go to night school so you can get your GED. Ikee thinks you’re smart enough for college, too. And he wants to help you get there,” Isaac told her.
Shaking her head, with tears glistening in her eyes, Marissa said, “I never met nobody like Ikee before.”
Sitting there, watching the emotions dance across Marissa’s face, Isaac knew for certain that love existed between his son and this girl. She had his heart and he had hers. He didn’t feel like questioning Marissa any further. What God joins together, let no man come between it.
He stood to leave and handed Marissa his business card after writing his cell number on the back. “If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me. It’s my job to look after you while Ikee is gone.”
Giggling, while popping a few grapes in her mouth, she said, “Okay, Pastor Isaac. I’ll do that. Thank you so much for these grapes and the other stuff too.”
Isaac got back in his car, heading home so he could pick up Kenneth. They had a few more items to go over before tomorrow’s revival. Kenneth had checked out of the hotel and was hanging out at the house with Isaac for the week. But since Isaac left the house early this morning, he decided to let Kenneth sleep in. As he turned the corner, his cell rang. Isaac could see that it was Keith so he answered by hitting the talk button on his steering wheel. “Why you stalking me, man. Didn’t I tell you that me and Kenneth would hook up with you by noon?”
“You need to get down to the revival location right now.”
Keith’s voice was all business. Something was wrong. “I can get over there in about an hour. Just have to go to the house and pick up Kenneth.”
“Kenneth is with me,” Keith told him. “I swung by your house this morning, but you were already gone. Kenneth was up and ready to roll, so he came on out to the location with me and Cynda.”
Making a U-turn, Isaac said, “I can be there in ten. But can you tell me what’s going on? You don’t sound so good.”
“This you’ve got to see to believe, man. I’m just standing here tripping. Get here quick.”
“I’m on my way.” It was a rough side of town. The residents had suffered long and hard through poverty and despair after watching family and friends being gunned down in the streets. The blood of innocent and not-so-innocent souls called out to Isaac as he made his way to the empty lot where they had erected the tent for tomorrow night’s revival.
When he’d scouted out the location with Ikee several months ago, Isaac remembered Ikee saying, “This area looks like the life has been sucked out of it,” as they drove up to the empty lot.
Isaac had shaken his head in agreement. “This has been an undesirable part of town for many decades now. So much poverty and neglect allowed for the drug trade to run rampant. People like the man I used to be drove the spirit and the will to thrive out of this community. So, it’s only fitting that I should help in some small way to bring it back.”
“It’s way past time for them to receive the kind of help the Lord can bring,” Ikee had said.
“Way past time,” Isaac agreed. But as he pulled up to where the tent was supposed to be, he saw Keith, Kenneth, Cynda, and a few members of the church walking around the lot, picking up pieces of the tent as they flew in the wind, and Isaac wondered if help had come too late for this community.
“What happened here?” Isaac asked as he got out of the car.
“Someone cut the tent up.” Keith bent down and picked up another piece. “And that’s not all.” Keith pointed to the broken down wooden fence behind the lot. “They left us a message.”
Cancel the revival, or die here.
“I guess they got straight to the point,” Isaac said, as he read the menacing words that had been left for them.
“Why would the people in this community be against a church event that can only help them?” Kenneth wanted to know.
“We’re not fighting this battle against the people. The Enemy has been against these revivals from the very beginning. He’s trying to wreak havoc in my home, at the church, and even at the very location of the event. But he is not going to win this fight,” Isaac assured everyone.
One of the volunteers spoke up, “But we don’t have a tent anymore, Pastor. These people are not going to want to sit in this hot sun without some type of covering.”
Another volunteer said, “If we can’t get another tent, we’re sunk.”
“And you and I both know who did this,” Keith said to Isaac.
Before Isaac accepted Christ into his life he would have shot a man for this kind of disrespect. Even years after putting his gun down and picking up a Bible, Isaac found himself fighting his own battle against the man who had shot Donavan and Nina. Isaac still got shivers when he thought of what he was capable of, even after saying yes to the name of Jesus…
Isaac had left the hospital after checking on Nina and Donavan. He’d wanted to pray, to ask God to fight this battle for him. But that old frenemy—anger and murder—grabbed hold of him and, before Isaac knew it, he had picked up a Glock and was on his way to find Mickey, the man responsible for the nightmare he was now living through.
Mickey was drunk when Isaac walked in on him, so drunk that slapping him upside the head with his Glock was useless. Isaac did it anyway.
The head trauma caused Mickey to vomit on the already nasty, dirty floor.
Good, Isaac thought. Some of the drunk probably oozed out of him when he threw up. Now he’ll be able to feel this kick.
“Urrrgggh!” Mickey screamed as Isaac kicked him in the back.
Isaac then sent a heavy handed blow to Mickey’s head.
“Ah man, that hurt!” Mickey’s wobbly hand reached for his gun. Isaac ripped it out of his holster, and kicked him again.
Several kilos decorated the dilapidated dining room table. Back in the day, Isaac would have killed this low-life, taken his stuff, and sold it himself. Had he just crawled back into his past? He might as well take that stash and get his grind on. He sure wasn’t going to have a church job to go back to after th
is, and a man’s got to eat.
“I-Isaac, man, I’m sorry,” Mickey said with a pained expression on his face.
Reaching down, Isaac grabbed a fist full of Mickey’s shirt and pulled him up. “You messed with the wrong one, boy.”
Nervously, Mickey laughed. “You know how I am, man. I just get to trippin’ sometimes.”
Trippin’? Was he crazy?
The answer to that stupid question was a resounding aboleet, aboleet, that’s a yes, folks.
Although crazy, Mickey was no punk. He wasn’t going out like a sucka, even if he was up against the great Isaac Walker. They tussled. Isaac dropped his gun. Mickey used that opportunity to swing.
With the way Isaac’s jaw shook, Mickey could have been a contender. “What you think about that?” Mickey asked while shuffling his feet like a boxer. “Yeah, I ain’t no easy win,” He swung on Isaac again and connected.
Isaac grabbed him by the throat and drove him against the wall.
Mickey’s breath whooshed from his body.
The wall buckled as Isaac slammed Mickey’s head into it again and again. When he released him to grab his Glock, Mickey crumpled to the floor holding his throat. “Man, you’re supposed to be a preacher.”
Isaac smiled sinisterly. “That’s why you’re getting a two-for-one special today— a man who can kill you and preach at your miserable funeral.”
Isaac kicked Mickey in the face, then picked his gun off the floor and lifted it to Mickey’s head. “What do you want on your tombstone, Mickey?”
Blood dripped from his mouth, but that didn’t stop him from running it. “You tired of looking at yourself, Isaac? Is that why you want me dead?”
“You’re nothing like me.”
Mickey crawled on the floor like the animal he was. His gold teeth weren’t as sparkly with blood splattered on them. “I am what you made me. You taught me everything I know.” Mickey’s gun was in sight, he kept crawling toward it.
Shoot him. No need for conversation. What are you waiting on? Don’t you dare think about God. Just leave the Almighty-oh-so-busy-One out of this. All these thoughts ran through Isaac’s mind as Mickey reminded him of the man he used to be. “I didn’t teach you to kill kids.”
Mickey’s laughter bounced off the walls. He picked up his gun and fired. The bullet missed Isaac by a mile. Mickey stood, more confident now. “That bad little ninja needs to die.”
Mickey tried to shoot at Isaac again but his clip was empty. Isaac squeezed the trigger of his gun—he had bullets and didn’t miss. The only problem was that when Mickey stood up, Isaac did not re-aim the gun and the bullet went into Mickey’s left thigh.
“Urrrgggh!” Mickey dropped his gun and started jumping around while screaming, “You shot me! You shot me!”
The second bullet missed Mickey by half an inch. Slumping back to the ground, Mickey giggled through the pain. “Give me your phone, Isaac. I’m calling your pastor.”
Isaac’s cold eyes bore into him. “Right now, I suggest you call on Jesus.”
“Forget Him. I’d rather call on the Devil. He’s the only one that’s ever helped me,” he told Isaac, as he broke into his crazy man chant. “Oh Satan, come help me. Oh Satan, Isaac keeps shooting at your son. Oh Satan, oh my daddy, come help me now.”
Isaac’s hand shook. Mickey had no idea what he was asking for, but Isaac did. The Devil would help him all right. He’d help him all the way to Hell.
“I’m bleeding. Woo hoo!” His head flopped back and forth. “I’m a bloody mess. Losing con-scious-ness.” His words were slow and slurred.
He was conflicted. Should he pray or should he shoot. Finishing Mickey off would do the world a great service, but Mickey would bust Hell wide open. Even this psychopath wasn’t ready for the torment he’d suffer in Hell. Isaac had already sent too many people there. Could he live with one more?
What am I doing here? How could I have sunk so low again? Isaac put his hand to his head, the one that didn’t hold his Glock, and rubbed his temple. “Oh God, I don’t want to send him to Hell. Help me!”
The door to the crack house opened and Keith rushed in. Isaac turned his gun on him, then lowered it. He was thankful that his friend has arrived before he’d done something he would regret fro the rest of his life.
That incident had occurred twenty years ago. Isaac was no longer conflicted. Since then, the Lord had fought too many of his battles for him to start doubting now.
He watched as Cynda started walking the perimeter of the lot, praying and calling out to God for His mercy and grace over the situation. There was no need for Isaac to ever fight his own battle again in life, not when the Lord was on his side. He was thankful that Cynda was there to remind him of just what needed to be done at times like this. He stood before the volunteers and his good friends and said, “We are in the middle of a spiritual battle right now. So, before we worry about tents, or the people who we’ve invited to this revival, we need to invite the Lord and His angel to come down here and partake in this event with us. If the Lord wants the work in this neighborhood to continue, then He will send provisions for us.”
They all joined hands. Isaac bowed his head in reverence to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Isaac had always been the head man-in-charge, never bowing to anyone, not even his mentors, until the day he finally said yes to Jesus. That was the day he realized that there was something bigger and badder than he ever could be. God would always be able to take care of Isaac’s enemies, all he had to do was turn his problem over and let the Lord work them out. “Father God, in the name of Jesus, we humbly come to You now…”
Chapter 10
The sweet fragrance of Isaac’s prayers drifted up to Heaven, where two angels stood outside the most magnificent pearl-laden gates collecting the prayers of humans.
Cushions of snowy white clouds then caressed the angels’ feet as they made their way past the tree of life that stood bold and beautiful in the middle of the outer court. Its leaves were a heavenly green, and its fruit was succulent and enjoyed by all. Sweet blissful music could be heard throughout the great expanse of Heaven. It was the harp, but it was better than any harp on Earth; it was the guitar, but it was better than any guitar on Earth. As the music played louder, the angels’ feet left the cushiony clouds and floated the rest of the way to the Holy of Holies.
While the angels were delivering prayers to the Most Holy place, Aaron, the captain of the Host left the heavenly hosts in the outer court and made his way through the inner court on his way to the Holy Place. There were innumerable mansions in the inner court, room enough for everyone. Sadly enough, the beauty and splendor of Heaven would only be enjoyed by the few that served God. As he passed by the room of tears, he glanced in and shook his head in wonderment. It still amazed him that humans had tears so precious that God would bottle and preserve them in a room as glorious as this.
He opened the door of the Holy Place and stood in the back as he heard the voices of thunder and lightning. He then heard a multitude of praises. As the voices became thunderous, Aaron joined in with them. In this place where God sits high and is lifted up, praises are sung to Him forever. His glory lovingly fills the atmosphere and joy spreads throughout His heavenly court.
His omnipotence glistened through the emerald rainbow arched above the magnificent throne. The twenty-four elders surrounding Him were also seated on thrones and clothed in white radiant robes. They wore crowns of gold on their heads.
Seven lamps of fire were burning and a sea of crystal lay at the Master’s feet. In the midst of the throne and around it were four living creatures with eyes covering their entire bodies. The first living creature was like a lion, the second a calf, the third a man, and the fourth a flying eagle. Each of the creatures had six wings. They do not rest day or night, as their massive wings enable them to soar high above the thrones. Generating cool winds throughout Heaven, they bellow continuous alms to their King crying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to
come!”
The twenty-four elders fell down before Him and worshipped, saying, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” They threw their crowns before the throne in adoration. No matter what sin and immorality went on in the Earth, none of that changed the truth… God still reigns and the world would one day understand what that simple truth meant.
Thunder and lightning sparkled from the throne of Grace once more, then Michael’s glorious nine-foot form stood. His colorful wings glistened as they flapped in the air. “Yes, my Lord,” he said, as he took the scrolls from the omnipotent hand that held them.
Michael stood in front of Aaron. Michael’s sword was longer and heavier than the other angels’ swords. Jewels were embedded throughout the handle of this massive sword, a symbol of his many victories. The belt that held his sword sparkled with the gold of Heaven. Michael had defeated the Prince of Persia more times than he cared to remember. But the enemy was getting stronger as his time drew near. Michael eagerly awaited their next meeting. It would be their last. “Here is your assignment.”
Aaron took the scrolls, then said, “My General, my Prince, we will complete the mission.” He pounded his chest with his fist as he added, “God be praised forever and ever!”
~~~~
As they walked into their room at the San Juan Marriott Resort, Ikee put his bag down on the bed and then made his way over to the patio window. “This is bananas. You didn’t tell me we had an ocean view room.”
“If we’re going to be here, why not get the ocean view room?” She and Elizabeth had called the resort before they left home and changed the room from a one bedroom suite to a two bedroom. Elizabeth had a king size bed in her room, while Nina’s room had double beds so she could spend every waking moment with her son in order to find a way to talk him out of throwing away his life on a girl he barely even knew.
Ikee pulled his cell phone out of his pocket as he opened the patio door and stepped out onto the balcony. “I’m taking a picture of the ocean and sending it to Marissa. She is not going to believe this.”
Rain in the Promised Land Page 8