“Look, you handle your business the way you handle it and let me handle mine,” Leonard said with his chest stuck out.
“Yeah, we all saw how you handled your business while you were picking yourself up off the floor,” Keith responded.
Leonard jumped out of his seat, angry. “You think I can’t handle that sucka? I was ready to do it. But y’all were busy screaming peace, peace like scared little punks.”
“You’re a fool,” Keith said as he stood and got in Leonard’s face. “You’re going to get us all killed someday. You never think before you open your big mouth and I’m tired of picking up after you.”
“What did I do that was so wrong?” Leonard asked, the picture of innocence.
“You told the man that you were sizing him for a body bag, you idiot,” Keith yelled.
Isaac stood now and paced the room. He ran his hands through his wavy hair and looked at Leonard.
“What?” Leonard asked.
The education of Leonard was a never ending endeavor, but none-the-less, Isaac felt compelled to try, try, try again. “How many times have I told you to never threaten a man unless you are prepared to carry out your threat at that very moment?”
“If I’d had my gun, I would have shot that fool,” Leonard said.
“Do you have any idea who Marko Stevens is and how connected he is?” Isaac asked.
“You scared?” Leonard taunted Isaac.
“Naw, stupid, I’m not scared; I’m wise – and I don’t start trouble I can’t finish,” Isaac spat.
Leonard stepped back, holding his hands in the air. “So are you saying that I can’t handle Marko?”
Isaac wasn’t listening. He was looking out his kitchen window as he noticed the lights of a car being turned off, but the car kept moving slowly down his driveway. “Get down!” Isaac screamed just as the window shattered and bullets splattered through the apartment. Keith fell down as a bullet sped past his forehead. Leonard cowered underneath the kitchen table, shaking and bug eyed.
The door to Isaac’s bedroom opened and Debbie walked out asking, “What’s with all the noise out here?”
Several more bullets rang out through the apartment and Isaac heard a thud. He crawled through the kitchen and into the living room. Debbie was stretched out on the floor. Isaac crawled over to her. Blood was seeping through the top part of her dress on the right side. At least the bullet hadn’t gone in near her heart, Isaac thought as he tore her dress, pulled off his shirt and pressed it against the wound. “Debbie, can you hear me?”
“W-what’s g-going on?” she asked, visibly dazed.
“You’ve been shot. Hold still and I’ll get you out of here in a minute.”
Keith pulled his gun out of his holster, got off the floor and sent bullets flying out of the window. Pop-pop-pop. Screeching tires backed out of Isaac’s drive and sped down the street. Isaac picked up his telephone and dialed 911. He gave them the address and then hung up. The gun fire had stopped, so he walked back into the kitchen to make sure Keith and Leonard were okay. Keith was reholstering his gun and leaning against the wall. Leonard was still shaking and cowering underneath the table. Isaac kicked the table and asked him, “So are you scared yet?”
Isaac went back to Debbie without waiting on a response. “He didn’t have to do this. He doesn’t even want me anymore,” she said as Isaac held his shirt against the wound.
“Just hold on, okay Debbie? An ambulance is on the way,” Isaac said.
Debbie put her hand on top of Isaac’s and weakly declared, “I’m not going to die. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.”
“Keep thinking like that, Debbie. Just keep thinking like that.” Isaac heard the sirens outside his door and hollered for Keith to let the paramedics in.
The paramedics came in and carted Debbie out of the house. She held onto Isaac’s hand until she reached the front door. “I’ll see you at the hospital,” he told her.
Leonard finally came from underneath the table as the door closed behind the paramedics and said, “Man, that fool is crazy. We got to do something about him now.”
“We will.” Then Isaac said in a calm voice just like he was asking his friend to go pick up a pizza, “Go get that body bag you sized Marko for. He’s going to need it.”
***
They didn’t actually break into a morgue to get a body bag. They brought a suit bag out of Isaac’s closet with them and threw it on top of Marko after breaking into his house. When Marko opened his eyes and saw Isaac in front of him with his Glock trained on his head, his eyes widened as he heard Isaac say, “The next time you open your eyes, you’ll be begging Satan to turn the heat down.” And with that, Isaac shot him in the head.
On the nightstand, Marko had five bundles of green backs. Each bundle was ten thousand. Isaac took the bundles.
Leonard was giddy as he said, “Let’s loot this place.”
“No,” Isaac said. “I don’t want anything from him.” He lifted the cash. “He owes this to Debbie.”
“Aw man, do you know how much money we could make selling off this fool’s stuff?” Leonard asked.
“Do you ever quit?” Keith asked as he headed toward the door.
“He don’t know how to quit,” Isaac said with a laugh as they all walked out of Marko’s house as if they had done nothing more than visit a friend in the wee hours of the morning and share a cup of coffee with him.
The next morning, Isaac visited Debbie in the hospital. She was bandaged up, but all in all she looked pretty good as she sat up in the bed.
“Hey you,” Isaac said as he walked over to her bed.
“Hey yourself,” she said smiling.
“You’re looking good.”
“I told you I wasn’t going to let him kill me.”
Isaac took the package out of his coat pocket and laid it in her bed.
“What’s that?” Debbie asked.
“A little something to help you get on your feet.”
Debbie opened the bag and stared at the contents. “Where’d this money come from?”
All Isaac said was, “It’s yours.”
Debbie asked matter of factly, “I don’t need to worry about Marko anymore, do I?”
“I don’t think he’ll ever bother you again,” Isaac told her.
Her eyes watered. She looked away from Isaac for a moment and then turned back to him and said, “Thank you.”
Chapter 23
Present Day
Pastor Walker was in the front of the sanctuary, bowed down at the altar in prayer. His deep chocolate face was pensive as his mind kept reeling into the past. Iona had asked too much of him. For decades Isaac had tried to forget what manner of man he had once been. So much death happened around him back then – now he only wanted to bring life and that more abundantly to people who believed on Jesus. He wasn’t that man anymore, and remembering the destruction that had been caused by that former man made his heart sick. “How much more, Lord? How much more?”
Remember it all, Isaac. There’s something you left undone, came the gentle instruction from God.
But Isaac didn’t want to remember anymore of those maddening times. Because even as his mind’s eye pictured himself in the hospital giving Debbie McFearce that packet of money, he knew he would have to remember what she did with that money; that Marko had turned Debbie into a junkie while she lived with him. The moment she was released from the hospital, she went and blew that money on so much dope that her heart exploded and she died.
Johnny walked into the sanctuary and Isaac stood to greet him. “Son,” Isaac said.
With eyes downcast, Johnny asked, “How can you still call me that?”
“Because you have become a son to me; just like Donavan doesn’t stop being my son because he messed up, neither will I stop thinking of you as my son in the Gospel.”
“Pastor, I came to see you today because I wanted you to know that I don’t believe that you are a crook or that you are doing anything to harm y
our congregation. Yes, I started my investigation with that premise in mind, but after sitting in this church and listening to the word you preach, and yes I will admit, after checking the church’s financial records, I came to believe not just in you, but in God.”
“I know you did, Son.”
“And I had already told JL that I had closed my investigation on you. So some of the things he told Iona were false. Not that she’ll ever believe me.”
Isaac sat down on the front pew and asked Johnny, “Why do you think this JL person would be interested in having me investigated?”
“JL Tyler, he’s a prosecutor, sir,” Johnny answered. “I really don’t know why he was so interested, but I’d like to tell you a little more about me so you can understand why I even considered investigating you.” Johnny sat down next to Isaac and told him all about his preacher father and his suicide committing mother. He told him about his visits to the church that his father still resided over.
When Johnny finished his story and left to go back to work, Isaac’s heart was heavy. He looked up at the pulpit and thought about Johnny saying that he wasn’t doing anything to harm his congregation. Funny thing was, Isaac hadn’t only harmed people in the past, he was now harming his own congregation every time he stood behind that pulpit and preached.
Tomorrow was Sunday and the man who’d never been scared even when bullets flew over his head was now terrified that a sermon he preached would cause another man to lose his life. And he just couldn’t have that. For almost thirty years, Isaac’s life had been about his pulpit. Could he really separate himself from it? What would that separation do to his relationship with God? Isaac bowed his head and put his hands over his face. The enemy was wearing him down, and Isaac didn’t know which way to turn.
Brogan stood in the back of the sanctuary watching over his charge. Angels were lined against the walls. They had been called to this town and this particular sanctuary because of the continual prayers of Isaac, Nina and other faithful saints. Now they were standing off to the side waiting on word from the captain of the host. The battle would be deadly, they already knew that. The evil one had been gritting his teeth over Isaac’s many victories for far too long; he would surely send his mightiest warriors to finish the job.
Miguel, who was one of the newly recruited angels, walked over to him and said, “He is weakening.”
“Isaac is a mighty warrior for the Lord, but the enemy has been intensely focused on him for much too long without us being able to intervene,” Brogan said. Then with a reassured nod of his head he added, “The captain will give us orders soon.”
***
Donavan broke down and went to see his frat brother, Charlie Brooks. He told him everything that was going on in his life; how he’d messed up and how his dad needed him, but he was too ashamed to go to him. When Donavan finished his story he admitted, “For years, all I did was walk upright before God and pray for others, now I’m the one in need of prayer.”
Charlie patted Donavan on the back as he said, “I don’t have any stones to throw at you, brother. We’ve all been at this crossroad. Isn’t that what the Bible says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
“I know that in theory, Charlie. I just don’t know how to get past what I did in order to get back to the place I had been with God.”
Charlie held out his hands to Donavan. “Well then, let’s pray and ask God to show us what to do.”
Chapter 24
In the wee hours of the night, pain exploded throughout Cynda’s body. Keith tried to hold and comfort her, but his touch only made the pain worse. He got off the sofabed and knelt down beside the bed to pray. Cynda began crying out to the Lord. Every inch of her body ached, and shooting pains were rocking her very existence. Sweat beaded down her face as ever increasing pain ravaged her body. Cynda had gone through child birth four times and still could not relate the pain she was now enduring to that of child birth. She knew with every fiber of her being that she was dying.
She looked to heaven and said, “Not now, Father, not now.” She turned her face toward the posters on her wall and began reciting, “Healing is the children’s bread; It is by your stripes that I am healed…”
As Cynda was sweating and going through her third round of scripture reciting, another pain shot through her and caused her eyes to roll back and her head to bob. She was delirious now as she heard Keith cry out, “Don’t take her from me, Lord. Help us God, please!”
Where was Keith? She couldn’t see him, but she wanted to comfort him; let him know that it would be all right. She tried to open her eyes and lift her head, but this bright light was in the room blinding her. A smile crossed Cynda’s face as the light subsided and Arnoth, the angel that had been with her from the time she was nine years old, stood before her. She knew her lips weren’t moving because she couldn’t speak, but her mind said to him, “Nice to see you again, old friend.”
He had a sad expression on his angelic face as he said, “Nice to see you as well.”
“Don’t be sad,” Cynda told him. “I’m going to live.”
He lowered his head, but did not answer her.
“No, no. Don’t be like that. I know you came here tonight to see me safely to heaven, but I need you to do something for me.”
Arnoth lifted his head and told her, “The time has already been set.”
“I believe in miracles, old friend. So I need you to go tell my Father that I haven’t finished my race down here. Tell Him that I’ll be happy to come home once I’ve completed the assignments He gave me.” She lifted her hand to shoo Arnoth back to heaven. “Go tell Him; He knows what He called me to do.”
Arnoth smiled as he appeared to be hearing another voice, one way up high, and then he left just as quickly as he had come. Before Cynda could rejoice over her angel delivering a message to God, the pains came back. She realized that while her angel stood in the room, she felt no pain, but once he left, she again felt as if she was being ripped apart. She wanted to call him back. She had changed her mind. She would go home now, if God would take this awful pain away.
Cynda heard Keith singing “There’s no God like Jehovah.” He got on the bed and rubbed her back like he had done during child birth. He was a good man, and she wasn’t about to leave him either. Keith was her love, her friend. Lord, I’m only forty-six.
“How does that feel?” Keith asked after rubbing her back for a while.
She wanted to tell him it felt wonderful; just what the doctor ordered, but she was drifting.
Chapter 25
Back To the Killing Years
After Marko’s death, Isaac’s empire grew larger as Isaac took over a third of what had belonged to Marko. Spoony took another third and Brown took the remaining piece. But according to rumors on the street, Brown wasn’t happy with his cut of the action and therefore Isaac and Keith had to meet with some of the other hustlers in Chicago tomorrow.
Leonard’s sampling of the product had exploded into full blown drug addiction. Leonard had started stealing from the operation, so Isaac finally had to cut him from the payroll. Having no place to go, Leonard moved in with Clara, the mother of his son. Isaac would drop by from time to time bringing food and Pampers. He would also put a little money in Clara’s hand, hoping that she wouldn’t let Leonard talk her out of it.
Keith had his own sorrows as well. He kept receiving reports from their runners that his mother was out tricking. Isaac knew that Keith wanted to go to her, but he was tired of fixing everything for her. It seemed that even though they were on top, too much had gone wrong and the game was getting old. So now as they sat counting their stacks of money, neither Keith nor Isaac could find anything to smile about.
Keith blew out hot air and then threw a stack of fifties against the wall. “Man, I’m tired of this. We have worked hard to get to where we are, and these guys just keep trying to push us back.”
“You know how it goes,” Isaac said. “They were in the game before
we were, and they don’t think we deserve to have as much of the take as we’re getting.”
“I really don’t care what they think. I’m not pulling back for them,” Keith said with determination.
Isaac’s face was set in calm resolve as he told his friend, “I’m glad you feel that way, ‘cause we just may have to kill a few more of them before this is all over.”
Keith put his gun on the table and said, “Bring it on.”
Isaac stood, took some of the money off the table and put it in the safe. Keith brought the rest of the money to the safe. Isaac turned to Keith and said, “Look man, we have been way too focused on people who don’t want us around; let’s finish up our business and go find some women to hang out with for the night. All right?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Keith agreed.
They jumped into Isaac’s brand new Lincoln Navigator and headed to each of their spots, dropping off bags of happy rocks. They usually left the stuff in one of their crack houses and gave one of the runners the job of distribution, but they needed a release; a thrill rush. And nothing was more thrilling than riding the Dan Ryan with a cop tailing you whileyou carried enough drugs to get life in prison. When they finished their thrill ride, they went in search of female companionship.
Isaac was dating about five women at that point in time, but the only one he really cared about was Valerie Middle. She was down for him and willing to help him build his empire and he liked that about her. He also knew that Valerie was not a drug-head so he didn’t have to worry about having another Debbie incident on his hands if he gave her a bundle of money to take care of things.
Keith was only seeing one woman. That was how Keith was. He didn’t like spreading his love around. He was always looking for a woman he would be interested in marrying. The girl he was currently seeing was Lydia. So they picked up their women and headed out for a night on the town. It was lobster, steak, Remy Martin and bubbly for everyone.
In the midst of one of Isaac’s drinks, he looked at Valerie and decided he wanted her for his woman. “So when are you going to move in with me?” he asked.
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