by Dynah Zale
“What you heard was the Book of Life being slammed shut.” God explained.
“What does that mean?”
“That means your friend has missed his opportunity. That book is being closed forever to his name. It’s too late it can never be added and he won’t ever have the opportunity at another chance.”
“What’s going to happen to him?”
“He’ll live in the belly of the beast forever.”
“Hell!” Garrett was so angry with himself. “You mean to tell me my friend is going to spend eternity in the depths of hell.” He immediately blamed himself. “I should have done more. It’s not fair. I should have talked to him. I could have done more.”
“There was nothing you could have done.” Kiel reminded him. “Sawyers’ decision of salvation was Sawyers’ alone. It was a decision only he could make.”
Chapter 11
One week later, Garrett sat in the kitchen feeding lil’ Garrett from his high chair while Mecca loaded the dishwasher with dishes.
“Honey, thanks again for being so understanding about Blair.” Garrett spooned another heaping of baby food into the baby’s mouth.
“Garrett, you don’t have to keep thanking me. Why would I hold something like that against you? This is a child you had before we even met.” She picked up Imani’s Disney animated Princess Tiana plate, “My heart goes out to Reneé. I can’t imagine not being around to see my children grow up. I’m just thankful that she found you when she did. I think we should try and make Blair’s life as normal as possible.”
***
“Do you really want Garrett’s bastard child coming into your home living under the same roof as your children?” A demon sat perched on Mecca’s shoulder spewing a barrage of ugly, fear-filled thoughts into her mind. “Don’t you wish Reneé would have stayed back in Atlanta? Wouldn’t it be better if Blair never existed? How are Imani and lil’ Garrett going to adjust to having a big brother they never met before? This could be disruptive.”
***
“God is going to work it out?” Mecca swatted away an annoying bug that kept buzzing in her ear. She hit the bug and sent it hurling to the floor. “I got you now.” She took her foot and smashed the bug into the floor.
“That’s nasty.” Garrett twisted up his nose in disgust.
“It shouldn’t have been in my kitchen.” She picked up its remains with a tissue before disposing of it in the trash.
***
From underneath Mecca’s shoe the demon faded into the ground.
“I love when she does things like that.” Kiel said. “It seems so natural for her to keep Satan off her back.”
***
“What about the campaign? Do you think me having a child outside our marriage could make the voters think twice about casting their votes for me?”
“Not if we’re honest with them, we won’t hide this. Blair will be present in all family photos and events; if anything it should increase your numbers in the polls.” Mecca was always encouraging.
“That’s why I love you.”
“Have you heard from Reneé’s sister yet?”
“No every time I think to give her a call something else comes up.” Garrett filled the baby’s spoon with more oatmeal before telling him to open wide. “Sawyer was such a big part of my campaign and with him being gone I feel like I’m lost and I have no direction.”
“You really believe you need Sawyer to tell you what to do?”
“I hate to admit it, but yes I do. Every time I make a decision I second guess myself. I don’t want to let Sawyer down, so every decision I make has got to be the right one. He put his life into this campaign. I have to make it to the finish line, so that he’ll know that we won.”
Mecca walked up to her husband and tilted his head up towards her. “I hate to see you doubting yourself like this. It makes me feel even worse to see that you’ve put so much trust in one man. Sawyer made mistakes too, you just didn’t know about them.” Mecca rubbed Garrett’s back as a gesture of reassurance. “All that faith you put into him should be going to God, because He can do what Sawyer couldn’t and never would be able to do. If it’s meant for you to be elected mayor, then it’s going to be because God said so, not Sawyer.”
Lil’ Garrett screamed for more food. Mecca laughed at her son and moved out of Garrett’s way. “You know some times God will take people out of our lives because we use those people as a crutch when we ought to be relying on Him and not them. Now that Sawyer is gone, you have no choice but to seek God’s grace.”
***
Another skeleton stepped forward.
“Not again.” Annoyed, Garrett threw his hands up in the air as if he were ready to give up. “Another sin!” Exasperated, Garrett accusingly pointed at the skeleton. Then he marched straight up to the skeleton’s face, “You’re not a sin. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Garrett argued.
“You didn’t see anything wrong with what you said in your conversation with Mecca?”
God’s question forced Garrett to rethink the conversation with his wife. It took a moment for the scene to replay again in his mind, but to no avail he found no wrongdoing on his behalf. “No Father. I didn’t.”
“God knows your heart.” Kiel spoke up. “He knew ahead of time that you would do anything Sawyer asked of you because you trusted him wholeheartedly; that was the sin.”
Garrett was perplexed. He struggled to understand the wrong he had done.
“Don’t you get it?” Kiel’s ten-foot stature intimidated Garrett. “This is your final chance to repent. If you don’t do it now, you may not get a second chance.” Garrett had never seen Kiel this angry before. “Father, sometimes I wish you would just wipe the earth clear of these selfish humans. They always put themselves first and turn to you as a last resort.”
“Calm down my little angel.” God knew this was bound to happen. “Garrett your guardian angel is very passionate and loves you very much.”
Garrett wasn’t sure Kiel even liked him after he told God to wipe the earth clear. He took a step back away from him.
“Your sin is disobedience.” God explained. “I’ve watched you many nights burn the midnight oil memorizing every word of Sawyer’s action plan, but not once have I’ve seen you up late studying My Word or My Plan for your life.”
“God, I wasn’t aware you had any plans for my life.”
“How would you if you never talked to Me? If you would have sincerely reached out for Me - just once and allowed me to take control - I would have directed your steps. Doors would have opened up for you like the parting of the Red Sea.”
“I earnestly believed with all my heart that Sawyer was the only person who could take me to the mountain top.”
“The only true path is to follow God.” Kiel replied.
***
“Garrett, have you started looking for a new campaign manager yet?” Mecca sounded like she was fishing for information.
“Not yet.” Mecca never inquired about his business so he knew there was a reason behind her question.
“I was thinking I could help you find a replacement. It would save you some time.”
Garrett was surprised. This was the first time Mecca ever asked to actively participate in his campaign in any capacity. “I thought you didn’t like politics.”
“I don’t, but I feel that the right person can help us win this election fair and square without the need for any tricks or schemes.
Garrett appreciated Mecca’s offer, but politics was a dirty business and it usually involved not playing fair. He never heard of anybody winning a race based on truth and honesty.
***
“Satan really had you fooled.” Kiel chuckled.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Garrett was insulted by Kiel’s assumption that he was a being played. “Politics is a dirty game; everybody plays the same.”
“Only the prince of darkness would want you to believe that lies and backstabbing is the only way to get ahead in life.”
<
br /> Truth that had defined Garrett’s entire existence and made him into the man he was today was a contradiction of God’s truth. He had been taught by his parents, teachers and even mentors that it was okay to be dishonest if the end result helped someone in need. Over the years he had lied to raise money for the poor, took bribes to secure shelter for the homeless and even maliciously slandered his opponent’s good name in order to get ahead in the polls.
Now he realized none of these things mattered to God.
***
“Please, I promise you’ll like who I choose.” Garrett was still hesitant. “If you don’t like her then you can fire her. No questions asked and I won’t interfere ever again.”
“Her.”
“Yes.” Mecca twisted the dish towel in her hand. “I already spoke with Joye Anne Burrell.”
“The woman from the church.” Garrett turned his nose up at her recommendation. “Nope. Sorry. It’s not going to work.”
“Garrett,” Mecca turned towards him. “Joye Anne is good. She organizes all of the church bake sales, our fish dinners and she’s the best at handling our yearly church bazaar.”
“Mecca, there’s a big difference between coordinating a church function and being able to run an effective political campaign.” He turned his attention back to ‘lil Garrett. “I’m surprised you would suggest someone as inexperienced as her. You know I would never go for it.”
“Before taking an early retirement Joye Anne worked as a campaign manager for several elected senators for the state of New Jersey and New York.” Mecca now had Garrett’s full attention. “She was a senior advisor to the mayor of Newark. He won with eighty-seven percent of the vote.”
Garrett’s gaping mouth was a sure sign that he was impressed. “I’ll let her know she can start on Monday,” Mecca said.
Garrett laughed. As usual, Mecca came well prepared for battle.
Before Mecca went back to cleaning the kitchen she watched Garrett play with the baby. It was amazing to see the bond between them grow stronger every day. ‘Lil Garrett held out his hands for his dad to hold him.
“Garrett.” An idea popped into her head. “I know you usually spend Wednesday mornings with the baby and me, but why don’t you go down to the hospital and visit with Reneé.” Garrett was surprised by her suggestion. “I mean, she said she doesn’t have much time and maybe she can tell you some things about Blair that will help you to get to know him better.”
He stood up from the kitchen table with the baby in his arms. “That’s why I love you so much.” Mecca took the baby from him as Garrett reached for the cordless phone. He called the hospital. “Let me call ahead to let her know I’m coming.”
“Yes, can you please connect me to Reneé Kendricks’ room?”
“Are you a family member?” A clerk from the nurse’s station asked.
“Well…um…” Garrett stuttered. “This is her son’s father? I realize she’s really weak, but I was hoping I could come by and sit with her for a couple hours this morning.”
“Well sir, I hate to have to be the one to tell you, but Reneé Kendricks passed last Thursday.”
“Huh?”
The nurse’s words were shocking. “Yes, her funeral is today. She was such a nice lady. A couple nurses from her floor just returned from the burial and—”
Garrett disconnected the call in the middle of the nurse talking.
Mecca saw the distant look in his eyes. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“She’s dead. Reneé is dead.” The news was a hard blow for him to take. He knew Reneé was dying, but for her to actually be gone and no longer exist in life was an overwhelming thought for him.
Mecca could see how Reneé’s death was affecting him. “Are you all right?” She rubbed his arm.
Garrett grabbed ahold of her so tight. He was scared to let her go.
Chapter 12
Out of nowhere an overwhelming surge of anger washed over Garrett’s mind, body and soul like a tsunami. He was mad and needed to lash out at somebody. Without giving it a second thought Garrett pushed Mecca away and grabbed his car keys from off the kitchen table.
Garrett drove frantically through the streets of Camden. The speedometer on his Escalade far exceeded the twenty-five miles per hour driving limit on the tiny side streets. He brought his truck to a screeching halt directly in front of Reneé’s parent’s house, leaped out and left his car running.
Garrett entered the crowded house full of visitors from the funeral like a raging cyclone. In an uproar he frantically searched the living room, then the den. It wasn’t until he came to the dining room that he found who he was looking for. He rudely shoved people out of his way until he stood face to face with Raquel.
“Uh Oh! Here he is! Everybody here he is” In a drunken stumper, Raquel breathed stale alcohol in Garrett’s face. “Here is my nephew’s father, the great Garrett Dunn.” Her speech slurred.
Embarrassed, Garrett dug his nails into Raquel’s elbow, “May I speak with you outside for a moment.” He said through clenched teeth.
She struggled to pull away, but stopped when she saw Blair watching them from the stairwell. “Boy, go back upstairs.”
All ill feelings drained out of Garrett’s system at the sight of his son for the first time. “He looks like my dad.” Garrett’s gaze never left Blair’s face, because the resemblance was uncanny. There was no denying those ebony eyes, thick bushy eyebrows and jet-black curly hair. The only distinguishing factor was that Blair’s skin color was darker.
A strong gravitational force pulled Garrett towards Blair. He had never felt a feeling so strong before. Acting on impulse Garrett took a step forward. Raquel realized what he was trying to do and screamed at Blair, “Boy, what did I tell you? Get back up those stairs and don’t come down until I tell you to.”
Raquel pulled Garrett outside and she didn’t let go until they reached the sidewalk.
“Why didn’t you call to tell me that Reneé had passed away?” Garrett was aggressively hostile by yelling in her face.
“I don’t have your number.” Raquel lied. “And what right do you have to come on my property and holler at me after I just buried my only sister?” She started to cry.
Garrett didn’t mean to upset her, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should have been more sensitive, but I just wish you would have called me. I feel like I missed out on saying my final goodbyes.”
Raquel’s fake tears quickly dried up, “Well then you should have come back up to the hospital, like you said you would. She was looking forward to seeing you again, but you never showed up.”
Garrett felt guilty, “What about Blair?”
“What about him?” She questioned him with attitude.
“I know Reneé told you that she wanted Blair to come live with me and my family.”
“My sister wasn’t in her right mind when she made that decision. She was sick. Now I’m left with the responsibility of having to do what’s best for my nephew and right now I don’t think you’re what’s best for him.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Blair doesn’t know you, your stuck up wife, or your spoiled kids. I’m not packing my nephew up to go live with a bunch of strangers.” Raquel pointed her multi-colored acrylic finger in his face. “He doesn’t even know you. This could cause him to have a nervous breakdown; going to live with a father and evil ugly step mother.”
“I want my son.” Garrett said.
“I want my son.” Raquel mocked him. “I’ll tell you what, let’s start off with visits. That way Blair can get to know you before he rushes off to live with you.”
Although Raquel was drunk, Garrett reasoned that what she was proposing did make sense. Blair did just lose his mother and he didn’t want to make his life any more difficult so he agreed.
“When can I come by?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Garrett thought about the numerous meetings he had scheduled for the following day. “
I have a full day tomorrow.”
“Oh! The councilman can’t take time out of his busy schedule to come see his first born son. Don’t think I won’t call the tabloids and tell them how you neglected Blair all these years.”
Garrett stared at Raquel. He never would have thought that Reneé’s little sister would grow up to be so manipulative. She used to be so cute and pleasant. He wondered what happened to make her so bitter.
“Fine. I’ll be by tomorrow but it won’t be until around six o’clock.”
“That’s fine.” She turned to walk in the house, “But just to let you know, you may want to bring some cash with you.”
“For what?”
“Because I’m not Reneé, It’s gonna cost you to see your son. All those years of missed child support adds up.”
“You’re gonna charge me to see my own child.”
“I still have to feed your son. I still have bills to pay. Electric. Food. Heat. You lucky I’m not charging you double because Blair eats enough for two people.” Garrett rolled his eyes to the sky. “I’ll need at least seven hundred dollars,” she said. “I’m behind on my bills. My sister’s life insurance barely paid for her funeral.”
“Fine.” He turned to leave and that’s when he noticed his truck was gone. “My car. Where’s my car?”
Everyone who was standing around looked away as if they hadn’t seen anything.
“Don’t worry; you can borrow my bus pass.” Raquel laughed at him as she entered the house and shut the door behind her.
Chapter 13
Garrett stood in his office and stared out the window as a stray umbrella flew by. That morning the weatherman reported that a huge wind storm was moving straight towards the city. Throughout the course of the day the winds were gradually picking up speed. Periodically he would glance out, just in time to see a young man chasing his hat down the sidewalk.
A group of young boys, around Blair’s age, strolled by. Garrett couldn’t help but wonder if one of them were Blair. Lately, every young person he saw made him look a little closer at their face; searching for any family resemblance. He couldn’t wait to get to know his son, he was sure they would have a lot of things in common.