The Believer Read online

  Since being in prison, Leon had gotten more love letters, photos and money from women than he’d ever received in his life. He placed an envelope of nude photos in front of Kelvin.

  Kelvin looked away. “Pastor, I’m trying to change. Looking at stuff like that was part of my old self and I don’t want to go back to him. I want to go to heaven.”

  Leon pulled the pictures away from Kelvin. I’ve obviously underestimated the man. “Well Kelvin, I don’t know why women send me the things that they do.”

  “It’s disappointing to know that women wouldn’t respect a man of God or themselves by sending trash like that in the mail,” Kelvin said.

  Leon shrugged. “Kelvin, I don’t hold this against any of the women. I can only pray for them. None of us are perfect.” Leon rolled his eyes, unbeknownst to Kelvin.

  Kelvin sighed. “You know Pastor, I know what they said you did but I don’t believe it. I think that the devil set you up and God turned it around. He allowed you to be in here for a reason.” Kelvin grinned, revealing that the few teeth he had left were surprisingly white illuminated next to his black skin, “And he allowed you to be my bunkmate. That’s awesome.”

  “He does work in mysterious ways Kelvin,” Leon said and cleared his throat. “I hear those boys that attacked me that night were transferred.”

  “Yeah, moved ‘em right on out of here, Pastor.”

  Leon began placing some of the mail and a new toothbrush in his bottom cabinet. “Has there been any talk about who ordered that attack?”

  Kelvin shook his head. “Honestly, Pastor, I haven’t heard any talk. But if I do, you know I’ll look out for you.”

  Leon rested his elbow on Kelvin’s top bunk. He believed him. Kelvin wasn’t bright by any standards and the dumb look on his face at least looked honest. Leon hit the bunk then smiled. “I appreciate that, friend.”

  Motioning to sit on his bunk, he noticed a newspaper placed on top. “Whose paper?”

  Kelvin leaned his head back on his pillow and adjusted his headphones. “I don’t know; it was on your bunk when I came back in, Pastor.”

  Leon threw his letters aside, grabbed the newspaper and then lay back onto the thin mattress that covered the squeaky, metal framed bunk. The newspaper was folded back to page 15. Leon scanned the page and there it was, an article circled; titled The Comeback Church.

  In front of him was a photo of Greg and Evan. Leon stared at the picture of the two with a giant shot of JMC in the background. They looked happy. Smiling as if they hadn’t stolen everything from him and publicly humiliated him.

  Pastor Greg brought JMC back from the pinnacles of destruction with his humility and determination to put the charge of Jesus Christ, which is to win souls, as JMC’s first and foremost goal. The sentence jumped off the page and down Leon’s throat, nearly choking him. Leon closed his eyes, trying to contain his fury against the backstabbing twosome, but he couldn’t. He let out a series of curse words as he balled up the newspaper and threw it across the cell where it hit the concrete wall.

  Kelvin immediately looked up. “Pastor, you alright?”

  Leon didn’t respond. He didn’t know who or what he hated more: prison or those two. It was a hard choice.

  Chapter 5

  The knock at Greg’s door pulled him from his studies. His office phone was turned off and all calls were forwarded to Ms. Tingly who was under orders that he not be disturbed for at least another hour. Being as protective as she was, he knew that not one call could get through so it was a surprise when he heard the knock.

  “Come in,” Greg said writing a side note on his pad so as not to forget his thought.

  Ms. Tingly stuck her gray head in.

  “Excuse me; Pastor Greg,” Ms. Tingly said with a distraught look on her aged brown face. “I’m so sorry for disturbing you.”

  “Ms. Tingly? Is everything alright?” Greg asked looking at the normally cheerful and rambunctious woman who now appeared nervous and disheveled.

  “You know that I know you’re busy and I wouldn’t bother you otherwise…” she rambled.

  Greg looked down at the papers on his desk then back up at her. He nodded. “Ms. Tingly, it’s okay, what’s wrong?”

  Ms. Tingly walked into Greg’s office. “Delilah Rice reported her son missing a couple of days ago and they believe that they found him this morning.”

  Greg had to think a moment to recall Ms. Rice’s son. With so many members, it sometimes took him a minute and it was even harder when someone attended regularly but never joined like Ms. Delilah. Then he recalled Devon who rarely attended services but often picked his mother up from bible study.

  “I remember him; is everything okay?” Greg asked.

  “No,” Ms. Tingly answered, “They’re telling her that they found a body.”

  Greg lowered his head thinking about how devastated Ms. Delilah must be. “Devon’s body?”

  “We don’t know but they asked her to come down to the morgue, Pastor.”

  Greg stood up and walked over to remove his jacket from the coat stand. “Where’s Ms. Delilah now?”

  “At home.”

  “Ms. Tingly, please call Evan and let her know that I’m headed over to pick her up.” Greg swept past Ms. Tingly and out of the office.

  The sterile, cold basement of the hospital forced Greg to take a hopefully unnoticed deep breath before walking in with Evan and Delilah. As a pastor, he’d experienced the death of parishioners, even tragedies but it never got any easier. As they entered into the quiet room where only a window separated them from the white-coated attendant, Greg stood close to the window to protect Ms. Delilah if at all possible. He looked back at the woman whose large body visibly shook with fear as Evan tried to hold onto her.

  “This can’t be happening to me. That can’t be my baby,” Delilah cried behind Greg. Greg reached behind him and took hold of Delilah’s hand. She latched onto it, squeezing it tightly as they waited.

  “Ms. Delilah, God is with you,” he said before looking at Evan, “baby, please lead us in prayer.”

  Evan closed her eyes and prayed aloud, “Father, in Jesus’ name, I ask that you please strengthen Delilah now, Lord.”

  Greg turned back toward the lanky male technician whose emotionless affect made it clear that this was business as usual. Greg’s heart thumped as they waited to see if the body was that of Delilah’s son. After placing tight latex gloves on his hands, the man unzipped the body bag, revealing a young man’s stone cold face.

  Greg could feel Delilah’s grip tighten, causing pain to shoot through his fingers.

  “Is it my baby?” Delilah asked Greg.

  Greg stared at the young boy and swallowed before he closed his eyes and prayed silently. “It’s Devon, Ms. Delilah,” he answered quietly, taking a step back.

  Delilah moved forward, stared at her son’s still face through the window and let out a loud scream before collapsing, causing Greg to catch the heavy woman before she hit the floor.

  Chapter 6

  Evan sat at her desk at Sundi’s Courage finally able to breathe a little. She opened her laptop deciding to go through the last three days’ worth of the center’s emails that she hadn’t had the chance to open and read. After having gone through two pages of them, her vision began to blur and she tired of reading; she had to decide which ones were urgent, which needed a quick response, and which she could forward to Mimi to handle.

  Evan yawned and leaned on her arm on her desk as she tried to read as many emails as she could, skipping over those that seemed like a waste of time. On the fourth page of emails, she noticed one from a sender marked Pastor#1. She recognized the email address and it caused her to sit up straight numb with fear that the email might actually be from Leon. Maybe it wasn’t from him; it could have easily been someone pulling a prank or maybe just spam. Either way, it wasn’t funny. She clicked on it.

  Evan, I hope this email reaches you. I bet you are wondering how I got your email address and I wi
ll tell you that it took some digging but I always find what I’m looking for. You remember, right?

  For a moment, Evan sat frozen, unable to read the next sentence. It is him. In a panic, she looked up from the laptop and around her office. Maybe she was looking for a hidden camera in her office or something; she wasn’t sure. She just knew that she felt violated, watched.

  She looked back at the email, placing her hand on her chest. Attempting to catch her breath, she looked at the email again; she was afraid to continue reading and afraid not to. She grabbed her desk phone to call Greg. She paused, and then placed the phone back on the receiver. He hated even the mention of Leon.

  It seems that you and Greg are doing well and so is JMC. Even after everything, you are still First Lady of JMC. How is that possible? How could you lie on me, accuse me of hurting you, and then divorce me and still be First Lady? It was your plan all along. I guess the joke was—

  There was a knock on the door that caused Evan to jump. Startled, her eyes looked toward the door. She felt caught.

  “What are you doing?” Mimi asked, standing at Evan’s door with an amazed look on her face.

  Evan took a deep breath looking at her best friend who was standing in her doorway. “Nothing, why?”

  Mimi scrunched her eyebrows as she walked into Evan’s office. “Because you look like I just caught you stealing cookies. Why?”

  Evan stood up, trying to pull herself together. She began moving items on her desk but she assumed that she probably looked exactly like she felt: stunned and dazed. There was nothing she could do about that. She had worked so hard recovering from her abusive marriage to Leon and the insecurity and low self-esteem that he invoked in her. Instead of just going away, he was back to torture her and it was hard to hide her emotions.

  “No, I...I...I was just going through some emails,” Evan stuttered. Mimi was her best friend and no doubt would see right through her.

  Mimi glared at Evan. “What email has left you like this?”

  “It was nothing,” Evan lied, then pressed her palms flat on her desk to steady her hands. “What’s up?” Mimi stared at her a moment. Evan knew that there was no way Mimi believed her. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Evan asked.

  “You know why. You can’t lie.”

  Evan’s heart was still racing from the email and her mother had always told her that her face always told on her when she lied.

  Mimi shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway, Nina’s here to see you.”

  “Really?” Evan’s eyes widened in excitement. “Where is she?” she asked, coming from around her desk.

  “Right outside. Do you need a minute or should I just send her in?” Mimi asked.

  “Mimi, just send her in.”

  Mimi rolled her eyes as she walked out of Evan’s office. Out of all the times that Nina could choose to drop by, she had chosen this moment. Evan hoped that she looked better than she felt.

  Nina walked into Evan’s office with a loud outburst, ecstatic at seeing Evan. Wearing a bright yellow sundress, gaudy gold jewelry and a new short cut that flattered a beautiful brown face, she embraced Evan tightly. By the time they were done hugging each other, both women had tears in their eyes.

  Nina stood back admiring Evan. “First Lady, you look beautiful and vibrant. It’s so good to see you.”

  “It’s so good to see you too. I’ve missed you so much,” Evan said.

  “Well,” Nina looked around. “I saw Sundi following Mimi around and it looks like Mimi is really putting her to work.”

  Evan wiped her eyes. “She’s having a great time being here. I think it might be something about the center being named after her.” Evan winked. “But she’s so helpful.”

  Nina’s eyes lit up. “She’s grown so much; it’s such a testimony to God’s grace.”

  “They moved out of state but her mom brings her to visit occasionally. I really think she comes to see Gracie. They adore each other.”

  Nina looked overjoyed to hear of Evan’s happiness. “I’ve got to see pictures of your little one.”

  Evan picked up a framed photo of Gracie off her desk and handed it to Nina. Nina placed a large turquoise leather purse on a side table and stared at Gracie’s picture.

  “Wow,” Nina said looking up at Evan then back at Gracie’s picture, “she’s so beautiful. She’s got your eyes but definitely Greg’s smile with the dimple and all.”

  “Thank you Nina. By the way, I love the new look, the cut is beautiful. You look like a movie star, darling.”

  Nina laughed. “Am I working it or what?” She smoothed out the back of her head with one hand then placed the frame back on Evan’s desk. “The older I get, the better God helps me to look, can’t shake off that blessing.”

  “You know it.” The women high-fived each other. “I’m so glad you’re here so we can catch up,” Evan said.

  “Me too.” Nina sat down in one of the office chairs. “You look like you’re doing very well and the center is thriving.” Nina opened her arms wide as she looked around. “Look what God has birthed out of pain.”

  Evan sat in the twin chair beside Nina’s. “God has been amazing to me. I’m so full right now. The center is helping so many people and personally I could have never imagined being blessed with Greg and Gracie in a million years. It’s overwhelming.”

  Nina reached out and touched Evan’s arm. “I can tell, it’s written all over your face. You're beaming with God’s glory.”

  Evan laughed, “I do feel like God has smiled on me with a second chance. I never knew that a man could love me like Greg does. And he’s such a great dad.”

  “I’m so happy for you,” Nina leaned over and hugged Evan. “We all miss you and that is why I’m having dinner at my house for the First Ladies, because we need to catch up.”

  Evan was excited at the thought; it had been far too long since she had enjoyed fellowship with the First Ladies. “I don’t think I’ve seen the Ladies since Candy’s funeral. I just don’t know how it’ll be without her.”

  Nina’s smiled faded. “We’re all still feeling the pain of losing her and that’s why we can’t lose touch with each other.”

  Evan took a breath. “How is everybody?”

  “You’d know if you’d answer their phone calls. They were so concerned when everything happened and then you left without a word.”

  Evan propped her arm on the chair and leaned her head into her palm. “I know; it was just a difficult period in my life.”

  “We know; we’re very forgiving.” Nina winked.

  “In my defense though, I checked in occasionally on everybody through social media.”

  “Social media doesn’t take the place of the telephone or a visit,” Nina chided, “but I digress.” Nina flipped a piece of her obtusely cut bang out of an eye. “Anyway, that’s water under the bridge. I’m so excited at the thought of us all being together again and I’ve invited another First Lady.”

  “Really?”

  “Prophetess Taylor Light. You two are around the same age and she’s got a great story of God’s faithfulness toward her. She and her husband are building a new church here. She’s awesome and I know you two will hit it off.”

  “I’m sure we will,” Evan responded.

  Nina reached out and placed her hands on Evan’s. “I’ve got big news and a big favor to ask. I’m organizing a seminar for women of First Lady speakers and I was wondering if you could share your story and testimony of deliverance and overcoming.”

  Evan groaned, causing Nina to squeeze her hands just a bit. “I don’t know, Nina.”

  “Evan, I know that you’ve gone through a lot but I also know that God has given you a testimony from those tears,” Nina said. “I believe that women will be delivered and blessed from you sharing your experience.”

  Evan closed her eyes. She used to speak quite frequently at JMC but hadn’t in a while and the thought of sharing her story put her in a panic. She exhaled and looked at Nina whose big
smile and puppy dog eyes made it hard to say no.

  “I’ll pray about it,” Evan said.

  Nina smiled. “That’s all I ask. And one more thing, I’ve met with my committee and we’d like to donate 60% of the proceeds from the seminar to Sundi’s Courage.”

  Wow. How can I say no now? “Nina, that’s amazing.”

  Nina threw her head back and looked around the room again. “I’m just so impressed by this place. It’s awesome and God is using you to do wonderful things.” Nina looked at her watch then stood up. “We’ll talk about it at dinner; I’ve got to run.”

  Evan stood up and placed her hands in the pockets of her white slacks. “Thank you for coming to see me. You’ve always been a great friend and I appreciate it.”

  “You’re my little sister in the Lord and I love you.” Nina hugged Evan then released her and looked her in the eye. “Is everything okay? You had this look when I first walked in here.”

  Evan wasn’t nearly as close to Nina as she was to Mimi but Nina still read her easily. “I’m fine. It’s one of those days.”

  “Would you like to pray about it?”

  Evan shook her head; she was tired of Leon occupying her life and she certainly wasn’t going to waste a prayer on him. “No. God will work it out, he always does.”

  Nina grabbed Evan’s hands. “Yes, He surely does.” Nina squeezed then released Evan’s hands as she picked up her purse and headed toward the office door. “I’ve got to go baby doll, remember I’ll call you about dinner.”

  Evan walked Nina toward her office door. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  Chapter 7

  With sweat dripping from his brow, Chief of Police James Mason dribbled the ball around Rick then passed the basketball to Greg who shot the ball into the net. Game. James clapped his hands loudly then high-fived Troy who was beside him. Exhausted, Greg sat down on the basketball court then pulled his sleeveless gray t-shirt up to his face and wiped off the sweat.