Excerpt of "The Lord's Work" Coming soon!

...Smiling gently at her he went straight to the dining room and began setting up her breakfast. Her mouth watered as one by one he revealed what was under the silver covers. There was a large plate of exotic fruits, some breakfast pastries, also scrambled eggs with turkey bacon and a large carafe of coffee with cream and sugar and mango juice. He also placed a large vase of fresh hibiscus and Jamaican orchids before her in the center of the table. He also pulled out a long velvet jewelry box out of his pants pocket along with a small envelope and placed them beside her flowers. Leaving the cart there he bowed to her and began to walk to the door.

“Wait! “Rosalie yelled stopping the man “what’s that? Tell me” she asked him her voice coming out shaky as tears sprung from her eyes again.

The man turned around “I truly don’t know madam you must open it” he said kindly as if he sensed how fragile she was at the moment.

“He’s really gone isn’t he” she whispered flopping into one of the chairs as she tried to admit to her rebelling subconscious that he truly was gone.

 

Baltimore 2004

Blinking Rosalie slowly came out of her daze as the ding from the computer indicated she had a message. Frantic and not thinking straight she automatically assumed it was Robert her hand trembling uncontrollably as she clicked on her AOL messenger. Cursing she jumped out of her seat when the phone rang almost giving her a heart attack. Twisting in her chair she grabbed her cell pressing the answer button without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Hey there Rosalie I know it’s late but we both know you’re up. I just messaged you on AOL but I figured it’d be better to call” Bishop Wright’s deep soothing voice spoke through the phone disappointing her and soothing her at the same time.

Smiling sadly she’d been stupid she thought to herself as she clicked on the blinking message confirming it was indeed Bishop Wright that had just IM’d her. “Hi Bishop Chucky” she greeted him finally not able to quite cover up the disappointment in her voice but she hopped anyway that he wouldn’t be able to hear it.

Chuckling for a few seconds “Don’t be so happy to hear from me Rosalie it’s great for my ego” he laughed again much to her dismay. Getting serious “you know why I called you seemed really bad today at church I want to know how you’re doing and no lies” he said sternly.

Sighing Bishop Wright always seemed to know exactly when to call her and it always seemed to be when she broke down while checking to see if Robert got in touch with her finally. She’d known the Bishop for longer then she could count and he knew her like the back of his hand no, she could never lie to him. “I don’t know how much more I can take” she said in a quiet voice fresh tears springing down “it’s been almost three years in a few weeks and nothing. I haven’t heard from him since the first month he was gone he doesn’t even know he has a child. When we got married we were supposed to be a team, he tried to convince me that he did this for us but the truth is he just left me to take care of everything by myself” her voice turning bitter.

“No I refuse to let you think like that we both know that Robert is a good man. I don’t agree with how he did it but everyman understands the desire to take care of his family. You are a strong woman the Lord has gotten you this far and he will get you further. I believe in my heart that he will bring your husband back to and you have to believe that too. No doubts we both know you’re a woman of faith these are the key moments when you call on them” Bishop Wright’s words of encouragement made her feel marginally better. “I know it’s tempting but you can’t torture yourself with checking the computer every night you can’t handle it Rosalie. This ritual you have going every night isn’t healthy and you’re not healthy you’re no good to that little boy that needs you” the compassion in his voice brought even more tears to her eyes.

“I just fell so alone” she began crying into the phone “and I miss him so much” she went on allowing herself to finally break down for the first time since he’d left. “And I’m so damn angry with him it’s always with me festering and I don’t know what to do with it. It’s so hard being a single parent and that wasn’t my plan it wasn’t our plan. I get no breaks, no moments to just exhale to many people count on me…Little Robert, my Mother, even Robert’s mother needs help these days. Thank god I at least get his checks every month or we would all be on the street. The only chance I get to try to get a moment is on Sundays when we go to church and that’s become a dread. No disrespect to you Bishop…but it’s the stares and whispers people don’t know why he’s been gone for so long without contact they’ve gossiped, and the ones that know the whole story give me no peace. You say I’m a woman of faith but Bishop I think I lost it and I don’t even know when. I’ve cried and prayed and meditated to God and have gotten no answer. I’m a good person, I follow rules, I honor my mother, I go to church what did I do that he thought I deserved to go through this…” her heartbreaking sobs cut off the rest of what she was going to say as she put her head down on the desk with the phone still to her ear.

Sighing wearily it was in moments like these that broke his heart that he wished he had all the answers that he wished he could just magically fix it… but alas that wasn’t the way of the world if it was people like him wouldn’t be needed. “Child I want you listen to me okay” he tried to talk over her sobs wishing either he or his wife where there to comfort her this moment was a long time coming he hated that she was alone when it happened. “Are you listening?” he asked again after a few minutes when her sobs subsided a bit to a manageable level.

“Y…yes I’m listening Bis…Bishop” she answered through her tears.

“YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I want you to understand that. You have family, friends, and more importantly you have God. God doesn’t allow good or bad things to happen he’s given us free will to decide that all on our own. But sometimes you have to go through tests and trails and no one knows the reason and while you’re going through things can sure look bleak but I’ll tell you this. If you just trust God a show some faith there’s a major blessing for you on the other end…cause that’s really the true test within ourselves if you can trust him when everything is dark and nothing in life makes sense. He wouldn’t put more on you then you can handle even if that’s what it seems right now and when you are feeling that way you come to me or someone you trust and we’ll talk just like we’re doing now”.

Sniffling as she wiped her tears a smile finally broke out on her face as she listened to Bishop Wright’s words and began to feel a little better. “Your right I’ll do just that. Thank you for calling me. You always seem to know just when I need you” she confessed.

“No God knows that I just follow his orders child” he answered “It’s getting late now and you need your rest. Get away from the computer and go to bed okay”

“Yes sir I will”.

“Good, good I love you more then you love me Rosalie” he told her softly hanging up the phone.

“Love you too Bishop” Rosalie spoke to the phone softly putting it back on its cradle as she shut the computer off forcing herself not to check her three messages.