Forgotten (Book 3--Forsaken Series)

by Vanessa Miller

  "You mean, check up on me," Dynasty snapped.

  Taken aback by her friend's tone, Margie took the phone from her ear and stared at it for a moment. When she placed the phone back against her ear, she said, "What was that comment all about?"

  "Oh nothing, I just know how judgmental you and your mother can be at times."

  "So, because I called to see how you are doing, since I haven't heard from you in about three weeks, I’m being judgmental?" Margie was clueless as to how their conversation turned to this.

  "Look Margie, there's no need for us to play this game. I know how you feel about Walt. But you need to understand that I love him and we are going to be married. So, if you can't deal with that, then I just don't see how we can continue to be friends."

  "Are you serious?" Margie honestly couldn't believe this. But then she thought back to years ago when she had been dating a married preacher and thinking that all was going to be right with the world once he divorced his wife... so she actually did understand what Dynasty was going through. But she had hoped and prayed that her friend would have come to her senses by now.

  "As serious as a heart attack. So, what you need to do is figure out if you are going to accept me for who I am, and stop judging me because I'm not perfect like you."

  "I'm not perfect either, Dynasty. That's the reason I've said the things I have about your so-called relationship with Pastor Jenson." It galled Margie to have to call that man a pastor; he was so foul and had no business leading God's people anywhere. But like the saying goes... some were sent, and some just went. And Walt Jenson was one who had just made himself a preacher without any confirmation from the Lord, Margie was sure of it. "You know the mistake that I made, thinking that some married preacher cared about me and wanted to be with me. I just didn't want you to make the same mistake. That's all."

  "Well you don't have to worry about that, because my relationship with Walt is nothing like your relationship with JT."

  Margie shook her head with sadness. "I have to get to work, Dynasty, so I can't stay on this phone, but if you need anything, please call me. Okay?"

  "I can tell that you don't believe me," Dynasty said, snippily. "I'll tell you what... I'm going to send you an invitation to my wedding." Click.

  Margie bowed her head and prayed, "Lord, please help Dynasty realize that what she is doing is wrong."

  "Chile, you might as well quit wasting your breath praying for that one. She don't want to be nothing but wrong," Betty said, sneaking up on Margie.

  "Huh?” Margie wished she had prayed silently. “Mama, how can you say that?”

  "Cause I call 'em like I seem 'em."

  "Well, all I know is that plenty of people were probably saying the same thing about me, but it wasn't true at all. I was doing wrong, but I just didn't know how to do right."

  "Who you trying to fool, Margie Ann, me or yourself?" Betty sat down in the seat across from her daughter and looked her square in the face. "All you ever had to do was stop fooling around with JT if you wanted to do the right thing."

  Margie shook her head in shame. "But the sad part about it is, I don't know if I ever would have stopped seeing him. I thank God that he broke it off with me after I called his wife, because if he hadn't, I would have been no different from Dynasty...believing that a man who cares nothing about her will change the world for her."

  "It hurts me to hear you say that, Margie."

  "But it's the truth, Mama. Sometimes sin can be so addictive that something or someone has to pull you out of it, because you can't do it on your own." She stood and carried her empty plate and coffee cup to the sink. Turning around, she leaned against the counter. "I'm sorry if it shames you to know that your daughter couldn’t get herself out of harm’s way, but it's the truth, Mama. It's a truth that I have to live with every day. But now that I am stronger, I'm going to be there to help others as much as I can. I’m going to write my blog for people who I was once like –wounded and not strong enough to get up on my own.”

  Standing, Betty walked over to Margie and wrapped her arms around her. When they broke their hug, Betty said, "Sweetie, you are stronger than you think. I could never be ashamed of you, because I am so proud of who you are. And I'm sorry if what I said led you to believe otherwise."

  Margie wiped a tear from her face as she said, "Thanks, Mama." She went to her computer and wrote in her blog about becoming a woman after God’s heart. After that she left the house so that she would be on time for work.

  Once at work and sitting behind her desk, Margie tried to rein in her emotions about her earlier conversation with Dynasty and her mother, when Pastor Jenson walked into the church. His presence ruined all of the positive energy she had been building around herself.

  "Good morning, Ms. Margie. How are you doing this fine Tuesday morning?"

  She caught the way he was admiring her on the sly. Almost as if he wanted her to jumped up on her desk and beg him to have his way with her. She smiled sweetly and said, "I'm doing wonderful;, mornings are my best time of day."

  "Oh, and why is that?" he asked with a curious lift of an eyebrow.

  Just as sweetly as before, Margie said, "Because I sleep with a good conscience, so I wake up with a smile on my face every morning." She wanted to ask, 'How about you?' but Pastor Lamont had already warned her about mistreating his guests. She just hoped her comment hit its mark and let that be that.

  He stopped gazing at her as if she were an apple pie he wanted to sample and quickly asked, "Is Lamont in?"

  Margie kept smiling, knowing full well, that Mr. No-good had received her message. "He certainly is. I'll ring and let him know that you're on the way to his office." With that she turned away from him, picked up the phone and dialed Lamont.

  "Yes, Sister Margie."

  "Pastor Jenson is here to see you. He should be at your door by now."

  "Thanks for letting me know." Lamont hung up.

  Margie went back to her work, but inside she was fuming that Lamont would even associate with a man like that. Her mind told her that birds of a feather flock together. But her heart told her that Lamont was not like that.

  He had never stood over her desk ogling her, as Pastor Walt had just done or as JT used to. Once she calmed down, Margie thought clearly. Lamont had only treated her with respect, so, she knew that he was nothing like the man who'd just stepped into his office. Still, she wondered why Lamont was so compelled to hang around these no-good preachers.

  A while later, Lamont's door opened and he and Walt stepped out. Walt slapped Lamont on the back as they passed Margie's office and said, "You're doing good for yourself. I always knew you had it in you."

  Lamont said, "I thank God for each and every blessing."

  "There you go being all spiritual again. Can't you just take a compliment and let that be that?" Pastor Walt asked snidely.

  "I thank you for the compliment, but I still thank God for all His blessings." Lamont stopped walking, stuck out his hand for Walt to shake, and then said, "I'll see you on Sunday."

  They were standing near Margie’s office, so she overheard Pastor Walt say, "Will you at least consider my request?"

  "I don't see what there is to consider. I don't operate like that. It seems too much like pimping God's people."

  With a sneer on his face, Walt said, "Yes, I guess with all that dirty money you got from your jailbird daddy, you don't need to take up a second offering to feed your family, but my daddy wasn't no thief, so he didn't steal me a bunch of money."

  Lamont turned away from Walt and began walking back to his office. He called over his shoulder, "Get out of my church, Walt."

  Margie couldn't help herself, she started giggling when Lamont told Walt to get out of the church.

  As Lamont passed her office, he saw her laughing and stepped into her office. "What's so funny?"

  She glanced up in mid giggle. Embarrassed at having been caught listening in on his conversation, Margie stopped laughing, stood up and said
, "I-I wasn't trying to—"

  That started Lamont laughing. "You were eavesdropping on my conversation."

  "No I wasn't."

  He stepped further into her office and confronted her. "Yes, you were. And you know what? I think you like what you heard. But why would you be giddy over me throwing a preacher out of the church?"

  Sheepishly, Margie made up her mind to be truthful. He certainly needed to be thrown out as far as she was concerned. “Why you are even bothering to do this revival with his slimy self, I just don’t understand.”

  “Margie,” he said in a warning tone.

  "No, I'm serious, Pastor Lamont. My mother always says, ‘Bad company ruins good intentions’. And look at him,” she pointed in the direction Walt had taken to leave the church," over here trying to get you to get more money out of people who barely have enough to pay their bills."

  "I understand what your mama says, but God says, 'What you call unholy, He calls holy." With that, Lamont turned and went to his office.

  Thirteen

  Before Diane got involved with JT and had to deal with all of the fallout after she had his baby, she had been best friends with Cynthia Jenson. Cynthia was the daughter of a bishop and came from a long line of bishops and pastors. Needless to say, she had been expected to marry a preacher herself. So, while Diane was still married to Benson, she had fixed her friend up with Walt, who at the time was a minister serving under JT.

  Walt had instantly fallen in love with Cynthia and had asked her to marry him within three months after they began dating. But Cynthia had been adamant about only marrying a pastor. Once Walt had informed her that his goal was to one day have his own ministry, Cynthia quickly agreed to marry him. She then used all of her resources to help Walt obtain a church to pastor.

  Diane was happy that things had worked out for her friend, but she never understood why Cynthia abandoned her at a time when she needed her the most... especially since she had helped her snag her husband. Oh, Diane knew that Walt wasn't the most faithful husband, but he paid the bills and kept her in high fashion. So as far as Diane was concerned, she had done Cynthia a favor and it was time that miss high and mighty recognized who her friends are.

  Diane borrowed a cell phone from one of the inmates who was going with a guard and had managed to get him to sneak a phone in for her. She dialed Cynthia's number and waited three rings before the diva answered.

  "Speak now or hold it until later," was the way the first lady of New Hope Church answered the phone.

  "You know, you really need to get some home training," Diane said as she rolled her eyes.

  "Diane? Is that you, girl?"

  "You know it is. Too bad the call didn’t come from my home number, or you could have just ignored the call as you always do."

  "Whatever. Anyway, I thought you were in jail—something about being a deadbeat mom."

  Cynthia thought she was so smart, but Diane had her number. "Well I'll be out in two days and I need your help to stay out."

  "Help?" Cynthia said the word as if she'd never heard of the concept. "How am I supposed to help you?"

  "If I can't get my child support paid, Benson is going to have me locked right back up. Two weeks is one thing, but if they lock me up again, it will be for six months or a year."

  "Why don't you just pay your child support?" Cynthia asked. “I mean come on Diane, only a real loser brings a child into the world and expects someone to feed, clothe and put a roof over their head.”

  Diane put her hands on her hips and angrily said, "Don't act like you've never been broke. Before I hooked you up with Walt, you couldn't even pay your rent without help from your dad every month."

  In a tone that indicated that she was bored with the conversation, Cynthia said, "What do you want from me, Diane?"

  "I don't want anything. I need ten thousand dollars."

  Cynthia laughed. "Call me back when you get serious."

  "Oh, I'm serious all right. And if you had been any kind of friend, you would have already offered to help me. But you might be interested to know that I've made friends while I've been in jail. And some of them seem to have a few things to say about you. I'm sure you don't want me to repeat what I've been told, now do you?"

  The line went silent.

  Diane asked, "How soon can I expect the money?"

  Scoffing, Cynthia asked, "How do you expect me to come up with ten thousand dollars?"

  "I'm sure you'll figure it out. I'll meet up with you on Sunday at the revival," Diane said and then hung up.

  ***

  But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things... So the Lord's anger burned against Israel. Lamont read as God directed him in Joshua, chapter seven.

  As Lamont was reading the Bible that morning, every time he came across the word Israel or Israelite, God seemed to replace it with the word Christians.

  While in his office, Lamont fell to his knees, with tears in his eyes. God was revealing to him why Christians weren't receiving help from God in this most dark hour. His congregation was praying for the sick, but the saints were still dying back to back and other saints were leaving the church all together. He cried out with a loud voice and bowed his head in reverence to his Lord.

  His office door flew open and, looking like a wild woman ready for a fight, Margie ran in. “Are you all right, Pastor Lamont?” she asked.

  "Take your shoes off and close the door. This is holy ground and I don't want anyone else to enter right now."

  Margie did as he commanded, and then stood still waiting on direction for her next move.

  Lamont wiped the tears from his eyes. He looked up at Margie and said, "God has been dealing with me about some of the things you and I have talked about, and I…"

  "Okay, what do you need me to do?" she asked softly.

  He held out a hand to her. "Come and sit with me."

  Margie obliged.

  He put his Bible on the floor in between them, and then began reading again, "Christians have sinned; they have violated My covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have stolen, they have lied... that is why the Christians cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction."

  Lamont finished and glanced at Margie. They were quiet with their thoughts.

  Without warning, Margie closed her eyes and began praying for him. God was trying to show him something, and Margie prayed that he would get everything he was meant to get out of the text he'd just read. “Oh Lord, My God… You are a strong tower and we know that the righteous can come to You and be healed. You are mighty and full of wisdom, so now I pray that You continue to direct Pastor Lamont in the way in which You have for him to go. Guide his heart and his mind, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.”

  When she finished praying, Lamont said, “JT thinks that God has given me an assignment to turn people’s hearts back to Him."

  Margie frowned at that. "Shouldn't every pastor have an assignment like that from God?"

  "Exactly," Lamont said, smiling at the fact that she seemed to be understanding his dilemma. "Every preacher does have that assignment, but not all of them can fulfill it.

  "God showed me that even though most pastors truly want to help the saints, they can't because they've done too much... got too much blood on their hands."

  "So, what are you saying?" Margie asked.

  "I guess I'm agreeing with you now. Remember when you told me that too much sin was going on in God's house for Him to bless us. Well, I think that you are right. And if we want to begin seeing God's healing and restoring power in the church again, then we are going to need to consecrate ourselves."

  Confusion was on Margie’s face. "Now, when you say, ‘consecrate ourselves’, what is it exactly that you want us to do?"

  Lamont was just as perplexed as she was. "I’m waiting on God to give me further direc
tion on that. I don't just want to generically ask the people to fast, when God might be requiring something else. Or He might want us to do it for a certain period of time. I'm trying to stay in my Word so that I can hear clearly from Him, because I don't want to lead the people down the wrong path."

  Awestruck, Margie said, "I believe in you, Pastor Lamont. You won't lead the people astray. God will give you direction."

  He stood up and lifted her off the floor, as well. They stood there staring at each other, and then Lamont became aware that not much space separated them and that his hand was still holding her arm. For one electrified moment, Lamont saw Margie in a white gown, walking down the aisle of the church toward him. He stepped back and shook his head, trying to remove the image from his mind. What was God doing to him?

  As awestruck as she seemed a moment ago, now Margie just seemed nervous. She moved around his office, looking at the floor, the walls, the paper on his desk all as she made her way to the door. "I need to get back to work. Just let me know if you need anything else from me," she said as she put her shoes back on and left his office.

  "That went well," Lamont said to himself as he realized that while he was picturing Margie in a wedding gown, he must have been gazing at her in such a manner that must have unnerved her. "Great, now she thinks I'm just like the rest of the pastors that she has known." Lamont shook his head as he sat back down behind his desk, still trying to figure out what consecration looked like for his church.

  Fourteen

  Walt was in his favorite place. In bed with a woman who wasn’t his wife. When Walt married Cynthia, he hadn’t wanted to be a pastor. He’d known that God had a ministry for him and had always thought he fit best in the Helps ministry. He’d served as an armor bearer for JT and had even been given the title of minister because of the work he did with men’s prisons and homeless shelters. But Cynthia wouldn’t marry him unless he agreed to become a pastor. She’d said that he wasn’t fully utilizing his God given abilities.