For Your Love
Page 10
“That’s fair, because like you said, you are afraid.”
“Aren’t you afraid too?”
“I’m not superhuman, so I do have some fear for the situation, especially because Marvel kidnapped me at gunpoint and had plans to kill me.”
Snapping her fingers, Gina said, “That’s why you started having panic attacks, isn’t it?”
“At first, I was okay. People had prayed for me and then I was rescued from Marvel. But later when I had time by myself, I allowed thoughts to flood in... like, why did anyone have to pray about that situation at all? Couldn't God have stopped Marvel from kidnapping me if he had wanted to? Then I thought about my father’s untimely death and that’s when the panic attacks began because I just didn’t trust God anymore.
“I never wanted to admit that to anyone, because how do you tell your pastor parents that you don’t trust God? I’m just so thankful that you called and asked me to attend that Bible study. Each week, my faith kept growing, and I realized that although things do happen in this world that God still loves me. And if He won’t give up on me, I sure won’t ever give up on Him again, no matter what.”
“I wish I was more like you.”
Toya shook her head. “You don’t have to be like me. Just remember God’s word. Take the scripture we just talked about... if God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear, then what has He given us.”
Gina answered, “Power, love and a sound mind.”
“Exactly. But let’s not just say the words without dissecting it. Now when I hear the word power, it tells me that I have the power to trust God. I have the power to do something about the situation I’m in, like call the police and alert them to the fact that Marvel Williams is back in town.” As Toya picked up her phone to call the police, she asked Gina, “What does the word power make you think of?”
“I guess,” she began a little timid at first, “I have the power to pray rather than worry about things I can’t control in the first place.”
Toya high five’d her. “And it’s prayer that helps us to have that sound mind that God wants to give us.” After saying that, Toya called the police and informed them that the man she has a protective order against was now back in town.
When she hung up with the police, she called her mother and warned her that Marvel was in town, “Be careful Mom, okay.”
“I will, hon. But I’m more concerned about you. Maybe Thomas and I should drive over there and bring you to the house with us.”
“I’m good Mom. Gina and I are hanging out. She’s going to spend the night with me.” She didn’t bother to tell her mom that Gina was staying over because she was the one who was terrified of Marvel. If Gina wanted anyone else to know her business, she would have to tell them.
When Toya hung up, Gina said, “About that prayer. Do you think we can do some of that now?”
“Absolutely.”
16
“Oh no she’s not staying at her place tonight. I’ll go get her myself and bring her back here,” Jarrod said as his father informed him that Marvel was back in town. “That man won't lay a finger on her as long as I’m still living.”
“Calm down, Son. Toya has already called the police and she lives in a secure community.”
“I know all that, Dad. But I also know how terrified she has been these last few months. That man stole her peace of mind. She’s just now starting to come back to herself, and there is no way I’m going to just sit back and watch her fall apart again.” Jarrod took his keys off the counter and headed for the backyard. Princess had gotten so big that Yvonne wouldn’t allow her in the house. “Thanks for inviting me to dinner, but I’ve got to go.”
Yvonne and Thomas looked at each other, their eyes communicating something that the two of them now understood clearly. Thomas walked out the front door and waited while Jarrod put the dog in the back seat of the car. The dogs head was touching the roof of the car. “You’re going to need something bigger to transport Princess in.”
“Yeah, I know. Her growth exploded in the last month.” Jarrod got behind the wheel of the car.
Thomas stepped back, but before his son pulled off, he said, “You really love her, don’t you?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Jarrod shook his head in frustration. No matter how old they got, their parents still saw them as teenagers and wouldn’t understand that the mistakes of the past had nothing to do with what was going on now.
“I get it, Son. I get it. Just remember, these Milner women might be stubborn, but they have good hearts. Don’t let her get away this time.”
Backing out of the driveway, Jarrod said, “I won’t. And I won’t let Marvel get to her either as God is my witness.”
“We’ll be praying for you.” Thomas went back in the house and he and Yvonne touched and agreed on the safety of both their children as they prayed.
~~~
Marvel pulled up to the guard shack with a Pizza Hut hat on and the pizza warmer bag in the back seat. When the guard greeted him, Marvel rolled down his window and said, “I have a pizza delivery for 1922 Ferguson Street.”
“Wrong block. There’s no Ferguson in this community.” He shewed him away with the back of his hand. “Back up and turn around.”
“Yo-Yo, my man. I think I just got the street name wrong. My boss told me that the pizza has to be delivered to Moss Creek, this is the Moss, right?”
“Yeah, this is the Moss, but our residents call down to inform me whenever they order out. And I don’t have Pizza Hut on my call list.”
“Let me check my delivery list.” Marvel looked around in the front seat, then jabbed his forehead with his index finger. “I can’t believe I did that. I put the delivery list in my trunk.” He opened the door, and before the guard could say anything, he popped the trunk. “Let me show you the address, then you can tell me where to go.”
“Get back in your car,” the guard yelled at him.
“Come on, man, I’m going to lose my job if I don’t deliver these pizzas.” Instead of getting a delivery list out of his trunk, he lifted a sawed-off shotgun, cocked it and then pointed it at the guard’s head. “Open the gate.”
The guard’s hands went up. “Man, what's going on? I know you don't need to deliver pizzas this bad.”
Marvel walked over to the guard and asked, “Do you want to live or die tonight?”
“I got kids, man. I want to live.”
“Open the gate. And I guarantee you, I won’t ask again.”
The guard hit a button, and the gate slide open. Marvel then whacked the guard in the head with the shotgun. He then shoved the guard in the back of his car and pulled the rope out of his pizza warmer bag and tied the guy up.
Marvel got back in the car and drove into one of the safest communities in Detroit like he owned the place and was riding through to check on the upkeep of his property.
~~~
Toya and Gina had changed into their pajamas and were lounging in the family room watching a movie and chilling out.
Gina took a deep breath. “I think I have actually calmed down. Thanks for helping me to see things differently today.”
“What are friends for.”
“Hey, remember when had that pajama party at your house and the boys stood outside the house throwing rocks at your bedroom window?”
Toya laughed. “It was Jarrod and his goofy friends. I remember one of them had a serious crush on you, so Jarrod was trying to play matchmaker.”
“Sureeee, if you say so... he was trying to play matchmaker. But I think he was just itching for another chance to be close to you.”
“He had a funny way of showing it if that was his plan.” Toya rolled her eyes at the thought.
“That’s why he beat up that guy who started gyrating and made a few off-color remarks about what you could do for him.”
Snapping her finger, Toya said, “I remember that. It was Hank Gilbert, and do you know that pervert actually became a preacher.”
But then Toya said, “Actually it was my dad. Remember he chased the guys off, but I wondered how come it took him an extra few minutes to get outside with all the noise the fight was causing. Turns out, Dad heard what Hank said to me, and he let Jarrod get in a few punches before breaking it up. But later, Dad told me that he felt bad that he hadn’t prayed for Hank. So, that’s what he started doing, and then he eventually became his mentor.”
“Your dad was an awesome man,” Gina told her.
“Yes, he was.” Toya smiled at the memories. “From that day forward, Jarrod could do no wrong in his eyes. Whenever Jarrod would come for a visit, Dad would always tell me, ‘that boy is going to be something in this world.’”
“You think he was trying to send you subliminal messages about Jarrod?”
“If that’s what he was doing, I wish he would have come right out and said, ‘this is the guy for you’ because I just don’t know what to do with that man.”
“Well, you better figure it out, because he is coming for you. I’m just proud of him for finally opening up and telling you how he feels.”
Toya thought about that for a moment. “I wish he had done it sooner; things are just too complicated now.”
“Girl, love is love, and ain’t nothing complicated about that.”
“Actually, some love is just lust and should never ever happen in the first place.”
“Do you think that Jarrod is only feeling lust for you?”
Toya shook her head. “We’ve known each other too long for that. Look, just ignore me. I’m too confused right now to know what to do about anything.”
Gina turned off the television and stood. “I’m drained. It’s bedtime for me.”
“Sounds like a plan. If we’re going to make the first service at church tomorrow, I think we’d better get some sleep.”
~~~
The tracker Marvel put on Toya’s car had malfunctioned, it directed him to Toya’s subdivision with no problem. But once he drove through the gates, the signal went haywire, causing him to drive around in circles. Marvel pulled over to the side of the street, reached in the back and shook the guard until he woke up.
The man was stretched out in the back of the car with his arms and feet tied yet Marvel still put the barrel of the gun in his face. “Where does Toya Milner live?”
“Who?”
“Don’t play games with me, not if you want to make it home to see them kids of yours.”
The guard huffed. “Do you think I’m dumb enough to believe that you’re going to let me live.” The guard spit at him. “Find her yourself.”
Marvel would have loved nothing more than to put a bullet in this man’s head. But the sound of the shotgun would alert the neighbors, and he still remembered how a noisy neighbor had stopped him from finishing off Toya the last time. So, he put the gun down and punched him so hard it knocked him out.
Marvel woke him up again. “How many times do you think that pee brain of yours can take being knocked out?” Marvel lifted his fist again.
“Wait... wait... wait.”
But Marvel hit him anyway, then asked, “What’s the address?”
His nose was bleeding, and his jaw was beginning to swell. “Toya is a nice lady. Why do you want to bother her?”
“Last chance.” Marvel pulled a pair of bolt cutters out of the glove compartment and started towards the guard with them.
“Around the corner, man. She leaves on the next street over.” The guard cried as he gave up the information. He really liked Toya and hated that this man would be anywhere near her.
17
“Did you hear something.” Gina came barreling out of the guest bedroom and banging on Toya’s bedroom door.
Toya yawned and stretched as she got out of bed. She unlocked her bedroom door, and as she opened it, Gina flew in. “I thought you were sleep. What woke you?”
“I heard something.”
Yawning again, Toya said, “I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. I didn’t hear anything.” But as soon as she said that, there was a loud crash, like a window breaking in the kitchen. “Oh, my God.” Toya turned to Gina. “Call the police.”
She then went into her closet and grabbed the big stick she kept tucked away in there. Toya never liked the idea of keeping a gun in the house for protection... too many things could go wrong. But this stick would help her wail on an intruder.
But when she reached the living room on her way to the kitchen to see why glass was breaking, Gina was standing in the entry between both rooms staring at something that caused her to freeze with the phone in her hand. “Did you call the police?” Toya asked as she turned to look at what Gina was staring at. Marvel was coming through the window.
Toya ran towards him with her stick as she said, “Call the police now!”
As if coming out of a trance, Gina dialed 911. Toya gave a good swing and knocked Marvel back out of the window. “And stay out,” she yelled at him.
“Help, we have an intruder,” Gina said as an operator came on the line. She was in the process of giving them Toya’s address as Marvel banged against the back door so hard that the door jamb broke.
“Get out of here, Gina.”
“I can’t leave you with that monster,” Gina protested.
“You have too. Go get us some help.”
Gina nodded. “Okay, right,” she ran towards the front door.
Marvel burst through the back door and yelled at Gina as she tried to flee. “You get back here. You’re not going anywhere until I say so.”
“She doesn’t answer to you anymore. You don’t scare us.” He laughed at that but stopped laughing when Toya swung that stick and caught him in the chest. She heard the cracking of his ribs as he went down. Toya felt like a champion with the armor of God on. She looked to heaven and silently said, ‘this battle is not mine alone, Lord. It’s yours, so give me the strength to fight.’
“You’ve got some arm there, but I’ve got something better,” he told her.
Toya was about to swing on him again, but he pulled a gun from his back pocket. “You’re evil,” she spat the words at him.
“How is your mother?” He was holding his rib cage with one hand and had the gun pointed at her with his other hand.
“My mother is none of your concern. You need help, Marvel. You had everything a man could want with Gina. But you destroyed that relationship and almost destroyed her all because you can’t stop hating.”
“Yes, I hate. I hate the fact that you have a mother, but mine is dead. Why should your mother live in peace after destroying my family?”
“Your father destroyed your family, and if you weren’t so mental, you’d be able to see that.”
“Shut-up and get over here, or I’ll shoot you where you stand.”
~~~
“Is that You, Lord?” This was Mother Thornton’s normal question whenever she awoke out of her sleep and still felt restless even after using the bathroom.
The Lord had her on prayer assignments. She never knew who or what she would be required to pray for on any given night, she was just thankful that the Lord trusted her with the assignment. Mother Thornton was up in age, almost ninety, so her knees didn’t tolerate bending like they used to.
She couldn’t bend down on the floor and pray, but she had a special prayer chair in her bedroom. Mother Thornton got out of bed and sat in her chair and began praying in her heavenly language. A few minutes after she started praying in tongues, Mother Thornton saw the face of Toya and Gina pass before her. At first, she thought she only saw their faces because she had just been at Bible study with them.
But then she reminded herself that there were no coincidences in the spirit realm. The Lord Jesus wanted her to pray for those two sweet young ladies and she would do just that, even if she had to stay up all night long. “Deliver them, Jesus.”
&n
bsp; ~~~
As Jarrod drove over to Toya’s place, he chided himself for being a lovesick puppy. Toya was safe. She lived in a great community with a guard and a locked gate. You couldn’t just bust into the Moss.
“You think Toya’s going to be mad at us for coming back a day early?” Jarrod asked Princess.
Princess had been in the back seat minding her own business, but when Jarrod spoke to her, she jumped from the back to the front and barked.
“You want to hang out with me for another night? You think we should just go home and see Toya in the morning?”
Princess barked again, but this time she shook her head.
“Ain’t that about nothing. Well, I have more fun with Toya too. But she did ask for a break.” But hey, if Princess was homesick and wanted to be with Toya, what could he do but comply with the dog.
Jarrod kept driving toward Toya’s place. When he got there and saw the gate wide open, and the guard missing in action. He was immediately fearful that something had happened to Toya. As he drove through the gates, he called his dad and said, “Something’s wrong, Dad. I need you to pray like only you know how.”
“I’m going to pray, Son. But it’s time for you to do the same. Remember what I told you.”
Hanging up the phone, Jarrod was so worried that Toya was in danger that he couldn’t do anything else but pray as he kept driving towards her townhouse. “We need You, God. We need You to come through for us. Protect Toya. Don’t let harm come to her, Lord. Yes, I’m talking to You Lord... my Lord. The One I have trusted all these years, and I want to trust You with this situation too. Please come through for us.” Tears bubbled in Jarrod’s eyes, causing him to not be able to see clearly. But he kept driving anyway.
“No Father, I’m not begging You as if you are some stranger and I’m not sure how great You are, or all the marvelous things You have done. So, right now I’m just going to thank You for helping us. Toya will survive this night, and she will not withdraw and hide away ever again, in Jesus name. I count it done, Amen.”