“This is about Joseph, isn’t it?” She felt a confirmed yes in her heart. She continued to ask questions about him and learned that Joseph was one of God’s favored and that his imprisonment could be used for good and to further God’s Kingdom. She also repented for holding him in contempt because of his situation. Although she and Joseph had exchanged only two letters apiece, she felt assured through Scripture that he would be released soon.
Charity didn’t know what to do with the “information” she now had. Maybe she and Joseph would work together in the ministry, or maybe God would use her to minister to him, or something. Whatever God had in store for her to do with Joseph, she asked Him to reveal it today during their meeting. She was confident that He would.
By the time Charity finished her shower and left the bathroom, Sharon was already up. “I thought I was going to have to come in there after you,” Sharon joked.
“Second to God, the bathroom is my refuge. It’s the only place I can go without Xavier.”
“He’s so cute. I told you he should be on TV or in magazines somewhere modeling.”
“You and everyone else. I guess I’m waiting for someone to come up to us and give us a contract.”
They laughed. Sharon went into the bathroom, and Charity carried her duffel bag to the bed, where she poured out her toiletries. She put on some deodorant and lotion, and thought of putting on a CD. Sharon had brought Go Get Your Life Back by Donald Lawrence and played it for most of the road trip. Charity had fallen in love with the two versions of “Bless Me” (“Prayer of Jabez”) and “Seasons.” She played Lawrence’s solo “Bless Me” track.
While Lawrence repeatedly pleaded for God to enlarge his territory, Charity, clad only in her underwear and pantyhose, found herself kneeling before God with tears in her eyes, and her hands outstretched toward the ceiling. She and Lawrence poured their hearts out together on two more rounds of the same song before she got up to finish getting dressed.
Charity was dressed when Sharon rejoined her in the room. “You like that song don’t you?”
“It’s beautiful. It’s a good worship song.”
“You’re right about that. ‘Seasons’ is my favorite though. We sing it at my church.”
“I’ll play it for you.”
They talked and sang as Sharon got dressed and Charity put on her makeup. “You always look so put together,” Sharon told her.
“Chile, trying to be perfect and trying to control everything is what landed my behind in that hospital bed. But thank you anyway.”
“I understand exactly what you’re saying. There’s a difference. Sometimes I think we Christians get it all wrong. We’re already made in His image, the problem comes when we try to fit into the image, not even knowing we’re already there. I forget how I heard this, or where I heard it, but I heard this man say, ‘It’s not that we are humans trying to learn how to be Christians, but that we’re Christians learning to live as humans.’ That has always stuck with me. I don’t have to be no more than who I am made to be.”
“Look at you ministering to me. You better do it, girl.”
“It’s so much freedom in that perception.”
“You’re right about that.”
“So back to what I was saying. You are so perfect with your little waist. Your complexion is smooth and you look good in your clothes. And I don’t know nobody that can wake up with their hair still in place.”
“It’s called I-have-a-good-hairstylist.”
They laughed. Charity accidentally looked at the clock. “Uh, we better hurry up. It’s after seven.”
“Remind me to get directions to the prison when we go to eat the continental breakfast.”
“I will.”
Although the prison was a straight three miles from the hotel, neither Charity nor Sharon spoke a word. Charity’s stomach was in knots because she hated the check-in process. That’s why she rarely visited her father at the federal prison in Atlanta. It made her feel like a prisoner.
Sharon broke the silence. “You nervous?”
“So nervous I got to pee.”
They laughed. “I don’t know if I’m more excited about you meeting my brother or me introducing you to him.” She clapped her hands in excitement.
They walked into the lobby and stood at the desk behind a few others who were going before them.
“You need to fill out one of those papers,” the woman directly in front of them said.
“Thank you.”
This was the same form she had to fill out in Atlanta. She suspected that the rest of the process would be the same too. She sighed. It took them a whole forty-five minutes to do nothing but wait. When a guard finally appeared, they thought he was going to give them some bad news.
“All right, let’s go,” he said, like the people waiting were the holdup.
They all stood and followed him. They stopped at every door and had to have their IDs checked and their hands scanned under a fluorescent light to make sure their hands were still stamped. This was ridiculous, Charity rolled her eyes. The guard let them out of the last set of doors and led them outside. They could see the campus and dormitories from where they were. They walked one hundred feet to the visiting facility. Charity didn’t even look up, she just followed the persons in front of her to get her hand scanned and ID checked for the last time. She looked up when she heard Sharon squealing.
“There he is, there he is.”
Charity looked in the direction Sharon was pointing to find Joseph, a bronze-colored, broad-shouldered man who was smiling like he had just won a million dollars. The boy was so fine, he made the tan-colored prisoner uniform look like an Armani suit. Charity nervously waved and returned his smile. After they were done at the desk, Sharon walked briskly before her and hugged her brother.
He held her. “Look at you, girl. You look good. Looking like Momma.”
“Joseph,” Sharon said, “meet Minister Charity Phillips.” She had her hands outstretched toward Charity as she stepped forward.
“Look at my wife,” he said. “Girl, you are fine!”
Being called his wife made Charity nervous.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” Sharon added. “Just perfect. Y’all look good together.”
Joseph hugged Charity and then he leaned back to kiss her. She turned her cheek to him. “Thank you,” he said. “And you smell good.”
He led them to their assigned chairs and sat between them. He didn’t appear nervous and he had the same confidence that he wrote with.
“Your picture does you no justice,” he told Charity.
“It was an old picture and the only one I could e-mail to the editor of the magazine.”
“Wow. I can’t believe that just three weeks ago I read your article, felt led to write to you, and now you are here with me. And better yet, you’re with my sister. Y’all act like y’all have known each other for years.”
Sharon smiled and said, “Joseph, she is so sweet and so down to earth.”
“Well, I know who to call when I’m beating myself up,” Charity said.
Joseph asked a guard for a Bible and ministered to them about a revelation he had received during Bible study the night before. Sharon listened intently and encouraged him to keep talking, even though Charity felt like he was talking too much. It seemed as if he was trying to prove to her that he was really saved. Charity was embarrassed when prisoners and their visitors would occasionally look back or over at them. Joseph was talking a little too loud. When he finally took a break from speaking, Sharon agreed to find him a soft drink from the vending machines.
He turned to Charity, “Did you notice how people around us stopped what they were doing to look at us and to try to hear what we were talking about?”
She nodded.
“They’re attracted to the anointing on me. That always happens to me.”
Charity smiled politely. She wished she were bold enough to tell him that people were looking at him because they couldn’t hear
themselves talk over him. They were trying to let him know that he was getting on their nerves, and hers.
“I’ve been talking so much, my throat is dry. I need to drink something before my breath start stinking.”
Charity smiled. “Bless you,” she said softly.
His eyes widened. “What you say?”
“I said ‘bless you.’”
“Oh, I thought you said my breath stinks.”
Charity shook her head. God was making it clear, all right. This man was arrogant and needed some balance. All he talked about was God and the Bible. Definitely not my type. Sharon returned with a Pepsi.
“Did you want anything, Charity?”
“No, I’ll wait closer to lunch.”
“So, sis, are you dating?”
“Yes, remember I wrote you about Tyree?”
“Oh yeah, yeah. Y’all still together?”
“Yes, we’re planning to get married. I think I’m getting a ring soon.”
“Oh, that’s serious. I know I don’t have to ask if he is saved and spirit-filled, right?”
“He is both. I just have one complaint.” Sharon leaned over to make eye contact with both her brother and Charity. “Tyree is a fine young man, looks just like Morris Chestnut, on fire for the Lord, soon to be a minister of the Gospel, but the boy has no balance.”
Charity thought she would fall out of her seat.
“If it ain’t a Christian program, he won’t watch it. If they ain’t singing about God, he won’t listen to it. He doesn’t go to the movies, he doesn’t do anything. I love him but I get discouraged because I can’t figure out if I ain’t where I need to be and need to step up to where he is, or if he is just out there in left field.”
Joseph spoke first. “Well, I think there needs to be a balance.”
Charity pursed her lips to keep them closed.
“Righteousness is not obtained by deeds, it is a gift of grace. We make our walk with God harder than it has to be. All we have to do is receive righteousness, but we get into bondage thinking we have to make ourselves righteous.”
“Charity and I were talking about that this morning.” Sharon glanced at Charity. “About how trying to please other people and trying to appear a certain way because you are a Christian will run you to an early grave.”
Charity looked down, then up again. “And you don’t have anything to prove to me,” she said to Joseph. “Through prayer, I have learned who you are. I know your character. You don’t have to try to impress me.”
Sharon stood up. “I’mma go to the little girl’s room.”
Joseph turned to Charity. “You are so right. I’m sitting here trying to impress you and let you know that I am not an average prisoner. And I want my sister to know that I am doing well in spite of my circumstances. Thank You, Holy Ghost. I apologize.”
Now, he had her attention. A man who could recognize when he was wrong and promptly apologize. She took the Gideon Bible out of his hand and said, “I know what’s in here.” She pointed to his heart. “Tell me what’s in there.”
He allowed her to ask questions. Sharon returned and helped him fill in the blanks. Charity was intrigued and enjoying the time she spent with him. She learned about his failed marriage, his daughter, and again about how he came to be imprisoned. When she asked if he had heard anything from his former partner, he told her he hadn’t, but that he knew he was serving a life sentence. Finally, she listened as he told her about the clemency appeal that he recently submitted to the governor. She shared his excitement and committed to pray for him daily.
The visit was going so well that when the guard gave the final call for visitors to leave, she felt sad. After Joseph stopped trying to impress her, she found him to be funny, attentive, and sincere. She wished he wasn’t in prison. Joseph asked Charity if he could pray with her.
“What about me?” Sharon asked playfully.
“Now, you know I’m going to pray for you. Just after I pray for Charity.”
Charity allowed Joseph to hold her hands as he prayed. “Daddy, I thank You for blessing me with an opportunity to meet Charity. She is all You said that she would be and then some. Her visit is a testament to Your faithfulness to me. How blessed it is to know that You remember me and that You love me.”
Charity listened carefully as he was praying. She was glad to hear him use Scripture in his prayer.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me. And Your right hand shall hold me.”
By the time Joseph finished praying, Charity had a change of heart. Why wouldn’t she want a man with a faith like Joseph’s? She didn’t hesitate when he asked for her phone number. She helped him commit her number to memory so that he could have it put on his phone list for approval.
During the ride home, she and Sharon talked about Joseph so much, they reached Charlotte sooner than they expected. Charity couldn’t believe how fast her heart had changed. If only Emmitt was as spiritually mature as Joseph, and if Joseph was as available as Emmitt.
Chapter 30
IT WAS JUST TUESDAY and Joseph was more than pleased to have received another letter from Charity today. He walked over to the mailroom counter and without looking at the other pieces of mail, he pushed them to the side. The two pictures she sent had him mesmerized. The woman was breathtaking. In the first picture she was standing behind an executive chair with her hands resting on its back. She looks presidential, he giggled. She was wearing a tailored brown blazer with a champagne-colored silk shirt underneath. He studied her big eyes and admired her gracious smile. “Umph, umph, umph. Thank You, Father. You are the bomb!” The other picture revealed Charity and her son, posing beside a sand sculpture that was supposed to be a castle. He turned it over. She had written, “Me and Xavier at Myrtle Beach, summer 2004.” He found himself wishing that she didn’t have on the white capri pants over her bathing suit. She looked good and was shapely for someone so petite. Xavier looked just like her. He had the same eyes and smile as his mother. He was handsome and he looked like a good boy. He was wearing a white tank top and swimming shorts that matched Charity’s navy blue and white swimsuit. When Joseph had his fill of staring at the pictures, he read the card she sent. On the card front, sprinkles of rain were coming down from a cloud and there was an umbrella lying upside down on the ground with water in it. The inside read, “I’m praying a downpour of blessings for you.” His smile turned into a blush when he read about how much she enjoyed her visit with him.
He stuffed the card in the envelope and walked back to his dorm. He had a few minutes before he had to go back to work. He wanted to run and tell Allen and Hankins about what he’d received, but he believed they were probably sick of hearing about Charity by now. That’s all he had been talking about since the visit. Before he could get to his room, he heard his name being called.
“Nelson, let’s go.”
He looked at the security guard like he was cross-eyed. This particular officer was always looking for someone to harass. “I’m not going to be here long, officer. I just came to freshen up before I went back to work.”
“Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you. You need to report to your counselor immediately.”
He was getting annoyed by now. “Have I done something wrong, officer?”
“No, you’re out of here.”
Supposing that the officers had finally won their complaints against him and the others who were holding the nightly intercessory prayer meetings, he feared that he was going to be shipped to another facility. He wanted to smack that mocking smile off the guard’s face. “Thank you,” he replied, and stormed off.
He went to his room and washed his face. He knelt by his bedside and prayed. “God, please be with me when I stand before Officer Johnson. Touch his heart so that when h
e sees me, he sees You. If their intentions are to have me moved, Lord, send Your ministering angels to mess up their paperwork. The only move I want to make from here, Lord, is to my home. May it be so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
He arose not feeling much different from the way he did when he fell to his knees, but he rested in knowing that God was still in control. When he walked into Officer Johnson’s office, the counselor stood up to greet him. He was usually glad to see Joseph, so his greeting did not change Joseph’s demeanor. “Hey there, Nelson, are you all packed?”
His heart sank; it was true that they were moving him. Angrily, he snapped, “Where am I going this time?”
“Nelson.” The counselor looked at him with raised eyebrows. He picked up a letter from his desk and handed it to him. “Didn’t you get your copy of this in the mail today?”
It took everything he had not to snatch the letter out of his hand since everybody wanted to play games with him. He reached for the letter to read it. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
“Well, that depends, do you think it means you’re a free man?”
“Please don’t play with me.” He talked more slowly, “Does this letter… mean that I… my appeal was granted and I’m immediately released… and I can go home?”
Since Joseph was talking to him like he couldn’t hear, the guard talked slow and motioned with his hands like he was doing sign language. “By the authority of the Federal Bureau of Prisoners, I decree that you, inmate Joseph Nelson, number 03554-520, are a free man. Your appeal was granted. It looks like the witnesses that testified against you in the first trial had corroborated with your former partner. When they received your appeal hearing notice and were going to have to come back to court, they both turned in statements saying that their testimonies were false. That’s all the prosecutor needed to let you go. You’re scheduled to leave on the five-thirty-p.m. Greyhound bus heading to Virginia.”
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