"Isda do you take Lucas Gabriel to be your wedded husband? To live together after God’s ordinance in holy matrimony? Do you promise to love him, to honor, obey and cherish him, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, and to be to him in all things a good and faithful wife as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” she replied, tears filling her eyes in happiness. There would be no more goodbyes now, after hours on the phone, simply ‘good mornings’.
“As the bride and groom exchange rings, a quote from the bible, that they have both chosen, will be read."
Her sister handed her the large gold ring they had chosen, the only one in the store that had fit, and Jinn passed Gabriel a gold band they found in a pawn shop, short notice leaving no time for sizing. There were whispers in the crowd about whether Isda was showing, whether that was a pregnant belly or the freshman 15, as they placed the rings on each other’s fingers.
“Corinthian 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…This kind of love enriches each part of life and marriage enriches love. Two lives shared with this kind of love can hold more fulfillment and happiness than either life alone."
Her father paused at the end of this sentence, looking both of them in the eyes.
“I now pronounce you man, and wife. You may, Gabriel, kiss the bride.”
The cheer that went up in the crowd was so much different from the cheers that they heard on stage. This was a different kind of happiness, subdued and yet pure, as the congregation applauded.
Gabriel’s lips met hers and he pulled her tight, dipping her back, much to everyone’s delight. He pulled back to whisper in her ear as he brought her up.
“We’re married.”
“Yes, we’re married,” she said, quietly, the words sounding strange. “I can’t believe it.”
“Well, we have forever to get used to it,” he replied, slipping an arm around her waist. Jinn and Ramiel started to hum, beginning the song they chose to walk back down the aisle to, one of their own, ‘Love is Patient’. It was their only movement of rebellion, of deviation from the traditional route. The boys were good backup singers, but as the newly wedding couple held each other and belted out the lyrics as they went down the aisle, it had never sounded better. No song sounded good if it wasn’t performed in pure happiness, and this song was perfect for the occasion. They exited the church to the waiting limo, giving them a moment alone while the rest of their bridal party instructed the guests on where to go for pictures and the reception.
“Well, this is it,” Gabriel said, stroking her finger with the ring on it. “There’s no turning back now.”
“I love you,” she said, looking right into his eyes. “And I love you no matter what happens, whether our album crashes and burns, whether we never sing again in public. At least we’ll always have each other to sing with.”
“Amen,” Gabriel said, leaning in for one final kiss before the wedding party tumbled into the limo. He kissed his wife delicately, loving the sound of it in his head. His wife, Isda, forever.
Chapter Three
The phone rang at eight am the morning they came back from their honeymoon, and Gabriel nearly threw it off the dresser. Who would be calling at eight am? Everyone they knew was aware they had arrived late last night, after three delayed flights, Facebook had been covered with posts from him. Glancing at the number, and back at Isda to make sure that she hadn’t been woken up, he scrambled out of bed and took the phone into the bathroom.
“Jinn? What the hell do you want?”
“Grumpy,” came Jinn’s voice. “How can you be grumpy after your honeymoon? It’s not a good start.”
“Because I got three hours of sleep,” Gabriel answered. “Can I help you?”
“We need to have a meeting, now, or as soon as you and Isda can. Preferably three minutes ago.”
“Why? What’s so important?”
“I think this needs to be done in person. Ramiel and I can meet you guys. Are you at home or at the apartment?”
“We’re at the apartment,” Gabriel said, looking around. There wasn’t much in there yet, a few blow up pieces of furniture that they had picked up cheap. They were currently sleeping on an air mattress, the sheet barely covering either of them. “Not even a warning as to what this is about? Is everyone ok?”
“We need to come over,” was all Jinn would say. “See you soon.”
“OK,” the phone call left Gabriel’s heart thumping in his chest, wondering what could possibly be wrong or who was dead. Gently, he crawled back under the mattress and shook his sleeping wife. “Isda, darling, it’s time to get up.”
“No,” she turned around, burying her head back under the pillow. He smirked, shaking her again.
“Sorry, babe, the boys are coming over. Apparently it’s some sort of emergency.”
“Yeah, they probably don’t have any food,” she groaned, finally getting up, her hair tangled and poufy. Gabriel thought that she looked absolutely stunning. “All right, I’m coming , I’m coming.”
“We still have time to take a shower,” he said, as she let the sheet drop.
“I thought we only have half an hour? It takes me twenty minutes to shower, and you even longer.”
“Not if we do it together,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she laughed.
“Fine then, but let’s hurry.”
“I enjoy married life,” he said, as they headed to their small bathroom.
The boys arrived a few minutes after they said they would, armed with coffee and doughnuts, which were their traditional peace offerings. No one, however, looked at peace.
“Guys, what’s going on? Who died?” Gabriel asked as they settled onto the second hand couch they had picked up at the thrift store. It was surprisingly comfortable for something that was twenty dollars and about fifty years old. Gabriel actually preferred it to anything new.
“The label called me this morning, “Jinn said, offering Isda a doughnut.
“Oh?” she bit into it. “Why didn’t they call me? I mean, I don’t care, but I’m their contact, that’s all.”
“Yeah, about that,” Jinn bit his lip. This was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever done. He had prayed for guidance on the way over, but no word had come. He was lost.
“Oh, no, they hated our stuff,” Gabriel said and Jinn was quick to assure him it was the opposite.
“No no, it wasn’t like that. Nothing like that.”
“So spill, Jinn, you’re giving me a heart attack,” Gabriel replied.
“They loved our stuff,” he said, very carefully, speaking as if English was his second language. “They love your voices, they think you two sound great…BUT…”
Gabriel glanced to Isda, taking her hand.
“But…they think the band will be more successful with just one vocalist. They want to continue but without Isda.”
Gabriel nearly dropped his doughnut in shock, “Excuse me?”
“That’s what I said.”
Gabriel looked frantically to Isda. She had no expression on her face, looking at Jinn blankly.
“So I’ll play guitar and…”
“Gabriel,” he waved his hand. “I’ve tried every option under the sun. They want an all guy band.”
Gabriel shook his head, “Well, then you can tell that they can…”
“Gabriel…” Isda reached up, taking his hand calmly. Her voice had almost no emotion and it alarmed him. She looked up at him as if Jinn had just said that she couldn’t come to lunch with them, no big deal. “It's ok.”
He lost it, raising his voice higher than he meant to.
“What do you mean, it’s ok? It’s not friggin’ ok! This is not what we got into this for. We’re a team, an
d we’re going to remain a team. And you’re my wife, I’m not just going to leave you on the side lines! If this crappy record label thinks that we’ll be better off without you, than they got another thing coming.”
“I agree,” Ramiel said, surprising all of them with his sudden outburst. “We sucked without you. Before you, we played little church things and open mics. You’re the one who got us this far, and we are certainly not going to abandon you now.”
Isda looked to each of them with a small smile on her face, and then rose, taking Gabriel’s hand and giving her husband a small kiss on the cheek. Very slowly, as if leading a child, she led him back to his place on the couch and waited until he was no longer panting with outrage.
She remained standing, looking to each of them for a full minute, before she finally spoke.
When she spoke, her voice was steady, and it was almost happy. How she could be feeling so calm was a baffle to all of them. They certainly felt the farthest thing from calm they could be feeling, and so, when she said that this was the word of God, they believed her. There was no other logical explanation for not making heads roll.
“I said,” she repeated herself clearly. “That it’s fine. I can’t see it now, but this is clearly God’s plan for you guys. For us. We have to trust, boys, that this is the way it’s meant to be.”
“How?” Gabriel asked, horrified. “How can this be the way?”
“You said, Ramiel that you wouldn’t have gotten here without me. And that’s true. I was the one who handled all the bookings and publicity. That’s what I’ve always been good at. And that’s what I’m going to continue doing. I’m going to go to school for law, and I’m going to be your support system. Maybe that’s what I was supposed to do all along.”
“Whore of Babylon will never be good without you.”
She offered Gabriel a small smile. “Well, maybe I can come back to sing that one. That can always be our song.”
“Strange song for a married couple,” Jinn tried to interject some humor into the heavy atmosphere. “I’m sure we can work something out. But Isda…”
“It’s your call,” Gabriel said. “Let’s not answer right away. Take some time. Whether we go forward or not will be on you.”
“I don’t need to think,” she replied, although there were tears on her face. “I know this is the way it was supposed to. One of us has to be educated, for when you guys act like rock stars on stage. I’ll clean up your messes. Although I do anyways.”
“Isda, you’re an angel,” Gabriel said, and he meant it.
“Dear God,” Jinn shook his head as they sat in silence. “How are we going to get through this?”
“The same way we did before,” Isda replied. “With prayer.”
“Arg,” Gabriel buried his head in his hands. “I hate this, Isda. I want to go on tour with you.”
“What are we, chopped liver?” Ramiel asked, and Jinn smacked him, rolling his eyes.
“We’re obviously not his wife, stupid.”
“Maybe I can look into school online,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Anyways, these things don’t have to be done now. The music industry has a short memory, so your first priority should be calling them back and accepting the deal…What is the deal, anyways?”
“National distribution of the CDs, for residuals, and a tour from October to December.”
“So much for school, you lucky ones,” she replied, only half joking. “So accept already, geez, guys. This is your dream.”
“Speaking of dreams…” Jinn tried to change the subject. “I sort of proposed to Christie while you guys were away.”
Gabriel made a strangled noise of surprise, but Isda picked up on the words.
“What do you mean, sort of?”
“I asked her if she wanted to get married, and if she did, I was down with it.”
“Classy,” Gabriel smiled, despite himself. “So? Was she down with it?”
“Yes, but only if it’s with like 4 people. You guys are invited. It’s tomorrow, after church. You guys, my parents and hers.”
“What?” Ramiel looked at him in shock. “Way to leave me all alone in singleton. We’re about to go on tour and you guys will both be married. This blows.”
“And you will be a good boy, operating in God’s image,” Jinn reminded him. “Or I’ll break your strings.”
Gabriel laughed, never letting go of Isda’s hand. This was certainly going to be hard, but it was something that he had to try. This was their dream after all, to bring the music of the Lord to so many people, and God was providing them a much bigger chance to do this than ever before. He couldn’t understand why Isda wasn’t involved in the plan, but maybe it wasn’t for him to see, right now.
“Well, we’ll be there,” Gabriel said. “Is she going to come on tour with us?
“Well,” Jinn smiled. “Now that we’re both graduated and settled down, and she has a steady job, we thought that we would start a family. So by the time October comes around…”
“You sly devil!” Ramiel punched him in the shoulder. “Is she knocked up already?”
“No!” Jinn looked horrified at the idea. “Were waiting. You know we’re waiting.”
“That’s patience,” Ramiel replied, and Jinn shrugged.
“When the time is right. Which will hopefully be before we leave for two months.”
Gabriel leaned back against the couch, listening to the chatter. He knew that they were in a much different place than most rock bands who went out on tour, especially their first tour, but then, they weren’t like most rock bands. Maybe, if they started out different, they would stay different, and maybe that would be enough to propel them towards fame. They didn’t want fame for themselves, but for their lyrics.
He prayed for over an hour that night, while Isda was in the bath, for strength and guidance. That whatever challenges were ahead, he’d be able to hold true to his morals and values. So far, the record label had not said anything about changing their image or changing their lyrics. Not even their opening introduction was going to be changed. In fact, they thought it was ‘creative and unique,’ and Gabriel hoped they would be a pleasure to work with the whole time through.
He had heard so many stories of record labels stealing from their artists, and he hoped that wasn’t the case. All he wanted was to go on tour and share his music.
But when he got in bed beside Isda and wrapped his arms around her, he felt his resolve slip away. He knew that sharing the message was important, but leaving her at home for two months was going to be difficult. They hadn’t spent more than a day apart in all the years they had been together, and it was the way they liked it. They never tired of each other’s company, never ran out of things to laugh and talk about.
Dear God, help me be strong, he prayed one last time, before slipping off to sleep. Help me to do your will.
When the boys left for their first trip, it felt like the whole town came to see them off, which wasn’t entirely inaccurate. The whole town also tramped in and out of their tour bus, which was outfitted with six bunks, an eating area, fully stocked cupboards and a fridge, as well as a tiny bathroom.
War in Heaven was scrawled across the side , as well as their angel names and their pictures. The record company had put a lot of money into sending them across the country, and their bookings were constant, in the hope to make back all the money spent. They were performing a show every day, sometimes twice a day, and the bus was always going to be driving through the night.
“Nice digs,” Jinn’s wife, Christie, a month pregnant, said, as she walked through the bus. “Glad I’m not sharing it with three men though.”
“You think we’re going to get a limo when you come visit or something?” he teased her, kissing her on the cheek.
“You better, or I won’t come visit.”
“Ok, Ok, your wish is my command,” he replied as he finished giving her the rest of the tour. Isda was sitting in the driver’s seat of the bus, her feet up on th
e dash, desperately trying to kill two birds with one stone. She had a midterm tomorrow, and with the chaos of the boys leaving, she was 100 pages behind. She had settled for trying to get an associate’s degree for paralegals at the local college, something that would have her done in two years. It wasn’t quite her dream, of music and entertainment law, but it was something she could settle for. Plus, three out of five her classes were online, giving her more flexibility to see the boys during the week if they were nearby.
“Isda,” Ramiel flopped in the passenger seat beside her. “What’s this?”
She took the contract out his hand, scanning it over with her two months of school experience.
“That’s liability insurance. It says that they’ll cover you unless you do stupid things on stage.”
“I always do stupid things on stage,” he grinned at her and she threw the contract back at him playfully.
“I know. That’s why you should just accept that you’re dead now, and maybe it’ll stress everyone else out less.”
“Are you bothering my wife, Ramiel?” Gabriel thumped onto the bus, grinning as he threw his bag onto the floor. Isda raised an eyebrow at that, and he picked it up.
“She wishes. Did you read this?”
“Sure and I signed it because I’m not a paranoid freak,” Gabriel coughed and Isda’s face turned to one of sympathy.
“Still feeling crappy, babe?”
“It’s nothing. A cold. Probably from staying up all night.”
“Why did you stay…” Ramiel’s mouth formed into an ‘O’. “Ew, you guys! I’m leaving.”
“So the label is definitely getting a mature band,” she teased, putting her feet down as Gabriel sat in the recently vacated seat. “Are you sure you’re ok? This is a bad way to start off. It’s not like you are going to be getting a lot of sleep on a tour bus all night.”
“Are you kidding? All I’m going to be doing is sleeping, eating and playing shows. My life Is going to be awesome! Minus the fact that you aren’t going to be in it for two months.”
War In Heaven Page 4