Part 6 (2/2)

Her heart began to race. That was only three weeks away. This could be her chance to prove everyone wrong, to silence the jokes that Cookie made, and erase the looks of disapproval from her parents' faces. She would do it. She would go down to the mall and audition.

Her only prayer was that her mother would not stand in her way. She looked out the window once more, and the last squirrel was nowhere to be found.

Chapter Twelve.

Tia left the sanctuary quickly after Bible Study was over. Not only was she still agitated with Lorenzo, but she was upset with Serenity for not coming home in time for church.

The frozen snow on the ground crunched and flattened under the weight of her car. She was driving too fast as she approached the sharp corner ahead of her. She put her foot on the brakes, and her car spun halfway around, leaving her facing the opposite direction of traffic. She heard the honking of a car horn as the driver behind her slowly maneuvered his way around her vehicle.

After making sure there were no other cars approaching, Tia put the car in reverse and slowly turned the car back around, being careful not to apply too much pressure to the brakes. It took her almost thirty minutes to get home-longer than she had planned. She was relieved when she finally drove her car into the garage.

After turning off the engine, she picked up her Bible and ran her fingers over the clear rhinestones that decorated the pale pink cover. She sighed, knowing her relief would be short-lived and would be replaced with agitation once she went into the house.

She got out of the car and entered the house through the side door. She walked past Lorenzo who appeared to be sleeping on the couch as Catch came running up to her. She stopped to give the dog several quick pats on the back.

Suddenly, Lorenzo sat up on the couch. ”How was church?” he asked.

You'd know how it was if you'd been there. ”Fine,” she said. ”You should have come.” He chuckled as he resumed his position on the couch.

Just then, Tia heard Serenity coming down the back stairs. Seconds later, they were face to face.

”Where have you been?” Tia asked sternly.

”I was at Cookie's house,” Serenity answered.

”Didn't I tell you to be home in time for church?”

Serenity was silent.

”Do you hear me talking to you?”

”Yeah,” she answered defiantly.

”And what were you doing at Cookie's house? Didn't you tell me you had to go to the library?”

Serenity lowered her head. ”Yes.”

”So you lied.”

”No. I was gonna go, but we changed our mind. I did my research on Cookie's computer.”

”If that's true,” Tia said, ”that still doesn't excuse you from not getting home in time for Bible Study. I'm sick of this mess!” she yelled. ”Every time I turn around, it's one thing or another. You do that again,” she said, pointing her finger at Serenity, ”and you won't be going anywhere for the next month!” She moved in closer to Serenity. Her breathing came rapidly. ”Do I make myself clear?”

”Yes,” Serenity whispered.

”You lucky I don't whip your b.u.t.t!” Tia said as she stormed upstairs to her bedroom.

Tia slammed the door behind her and sat on the edge of her bed. She stared at the slender bronze cross hanging on the wall in front of her. A pair of hands had been placed together in the center of the cross to represent prayer. A feeling of defeat crept into her soul.

Nothing was going right. Her husband had no desire for her in any capacity, her daughter had resorted to lying to her in order to get out of going to Bible Study, and she was still dealing with this ongoing battle, a struggle between her soul and her flesh. She didn't want to feel the way she felt about the other man, but it was hard not to when her husband didn't want anything to do with her physically or in any other way.

She closed her bedroom door and picked up her phone. She entered Scamp's number into her phone; then changed her mind and quickly disconnected the call. She rubbed her forehead as a scripture from the book of Ecclesiastes came to her mind: ”What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Nothing new. She sighed. The only thing new was the person, time, and place.

She opened her Bible to a random page and started reading. It was a verse from Romans, Chapter 6. ”For the wages of sin is death; . . .” She stopped reading. Such a high price to pay for her discontentment.

She flipped through several pages and stopped in the book of 1 Corinthians, Chapter 10. She had highlighted verse 13: ”No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And G.o.d is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

Hadn't G.o.d delivered her countless times before?

More turning of the pages landed her on a verse in James, Chapter 4. ”Submit yourselves, then, to G.o.d. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

She closed her Bible and looked up at the cross. It seemed as though every scripture she'd randomly chosen had a message pertaining specifically to what she was going through. Then there had been the message she'd heard at church earlier. She knew she needed to submit herself to G.o.d. He was the answer. Not another man. She closed her eyes and lowered her head.

”Father, forgive me of my sins,” she whispered. ”Purify my heart and renew my spirit.” She clasped her hands together. ”Give me the strength to resist unG.o.dly temptations, Lord, especially the physical ones.

”Lord, if You will, take all s.e.xual desires away from me . . . at least for a time. At least until You restore Lorenzo back to me,” she prayed.

”Strengthen me, Father. Renew a right spirit in me and in Lorenzo. Restore him back to You and to me. Keep Serenity safe from all harm, Father. And please . . . touch her heart so that she might have a desire to know You, Lord.”

She paused for a moment. ”I need You, Lord.” She cried out softly. ”I need You. Let Your will be done in me. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.”

She raised her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and went downstairs to warm up the beef ribs Lorenzo had baked earlier.

It was Thursday morning as Tia entered the small nurse's lounge at the hospital.

”Looks like somebody had a rough night,” Janelle, the third-s.h.i.+ft nurse, said as she prepared to give Tia a full report on the sixteen patients she would be caring for.

”I just didn't sleep well,” Tia said. And it was the truth. How could she sleep with all the turmoil going on in her house? She had tossed and turned all night, unsettled by the confrontations she'd had with Lorenzo and Serenity.

Janelle gave her an update on all of the patients she would be caring for except Francis, the patient in room 523 whom she'd just cared for yesterday.

”What about the patient in room 523?” Tia asked pouring herself a cup of coffee. ”Franny, I mean Francis Woodard?”

”Oh, the nurse on duty after you left yesterday had to call a code on her,” Janelle said nonchalantly. ”She's been transferred to ICU.”

”She was just admitted to our floor yesterday in stable condition,” Tia said surprised.

”I know,” her colleague agreed. ”When I got here last night, they told me that the nursing a.s.sistant went in to get her vitals, and she saw her lying in bed with her eyes closed and one hand on top of the phone. The nursing a.s.sistant said she called her name several times, but she was unresponsive. So she got the nurse and they called it.”

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