Contingency (Covenant of Trust) (26 page)
Read Contingency (Covenant of Trust) Online
Authors: Paula Wiseman
“You carry this around with you now?”
“I had counseling today,” he answered, flipping through the pages. “Here it is. Proverbs seven.” Chuck held the Bible up to catch the parking lot lights. He scanned the chapter, deciding where to start. “Okay, let me paraphrase. Be smart and pay attention to what you’re doing, because there are women out there ready to destroy you, and they’ll use any means they can, especially sex.” He pointed and his voice rose in intensity as he spoke.
Brad held his hands up. “Dad, calm down. You’re not in court.”
“This chapter is exactly what happened to me. Exactly. Listen ... here we go, the stupid idiot—that would be me—’took the path to her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. And there a woman met him, with the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.’” He looked at his son. “I had no business being at her house after dark. I shouldn’t have been there at all, but especially not at night. Nothing good could come out of that.” He held his Bible up again. “‘So she caught him and kissed him; with an impudent face she said to him ... I got all this ready just for you. It’ll be okay. No one will ever know.’”
“What’s impudent?” Brad asked.
“It says shameless in the footnote. Believe me, she was.”
“Did she really talk to you like that?”
“Oh, yeah,” Chuck nodded, “and it worked, just like in this chapter.” He picked up his Bible to read again. “‘With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him. Immediately, he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter’. Immediately. Not even six months after I met her and I was ruined. ‘He did not know it would cost his life.’”
Chuck closed his Bible. “Committing adultery should have cost me everything. If it didn’t kill me outright, it should’ve cost the life I’d made for myself. Your mother should have thrown me out. You guys should have disowned me.” Chuck emphasized each point, tapping the gearshift. “I should have lost my job, my health, everything. And for a while, I was sure I had lost it all.”
“But you didn’t,” Brad said.
Chuck smiled at his son’s attempt to put a good spin on things. “No, and that’s grace. Grace from God, and grace from your mother.” Chuck stared off across the parking lot. “I’ve tried to figure out why God is like that, why He can put up with me that way. I think, maybe, it’s so I can plead with you and Joel.” He turned and faced his son. “Please, please do everything in your power to make sure you
never
,
ever
have to look into the eyes of the woman you love, confirm her worst nightmare, and say, ‘Yes, I betrayed you, I didn’t love you enough to walk away.’” The tears flowed freely now, and Chuck didn’t try to stop them or hide them. “I am so sorry,” he whispered. “I would give anything to take it back.”
Brad shifted in his seat. “I believe you,” he said at last. “It’s okay, Dad.”
“Thanks,” Chuck said, wiping his eyes and taking a deep breath. “But it’s all up to Mom now. She’s got to believe that I’ve changed, that she can trust me again.” Chuck sighed, “So we counsel, and counsel, and counsel some more.”
“Oh, you’ve changed,” Brad said. “I can tell.”
“How so?”
Giving a sly grin, Brad said, “You’re not as big a jerk as you used to be.” Brad gulped his Coke, muffling his laughter.
“Thank you, Gavin. Neither are you.” He gave Brad a shove in the shoulder.
“Why’d you call me Gavin?”
“Because that’s the kind of thing he always says to me. It’s like a gift with him.”
“Gavin has always been my favorite uncle, you know,” Brad smiled. “Seriously, Dad, if I’d gotten in a fight and been suspended
last
year, what would have happened?”
Chuck shrugged.
“If, and it’s a big if, you could have contained your temper long enough to talk, you would’ve stormed into Mr. McMillen’s office demanding somebody get fired. Then you would’ve been mad at me for a month.”
“That bad?”
“At least. Ask Joel.”
“It’s a God-thing, then. Grandma said I didn’t have it in me to change that much. She’s right again.”
They sat in silence for several more minutes. “Joel said you guys had a big fight last night.”
Chuck sighed. “Okay, let me explain. First, it wasn’t a fight. A fight means we disagreed about something.”
“Spoken like a true lawyer.”
“Thanks.” Chuck rolled his eyes. “There’s no disagreement. Mom’s right. Period.”
“But she’s still mad?”
“Well, yeah.”
“It never shows,” Brad said. “She’s very cool.”
“That’s for your benefit, and Joel’s.” Chuck took a long drink from his Coke. “Truth is, Mom ... Mom loves me, and she forgives me, even though I don’t deserve it. So ... she’s able to be civil ... well, more than civil ...”
“I’ve never heard you stutter like that.”
“I hurt her so much. Every time we talk, I find out there’s a new, deeper layer of pain there.”
“It’ll work out, Dad. I came around, and I never wanted to speak to you again.”
Chuck had to smile. “Yeah, it’s just a long process. I get impatient sometimes, so I think we’re farther along than we are.”
“Just be glad you’re not married to Aunt Rita.”
“Why’s that?”
“She hates your guts,” Brad said. “Game’s starting again.” He reached over and turned the radio back up.
Here to start the second half, Taylor will get the ball. Joe Dietrich set to kick it off for Canfield and Garrett Walker deep for the Eagles. Good kick ... into the end zone, and Walker will let it go. So, the Eagles will start first and ten from their own twenty yard line.
“
Kyle Kilburn brings his troops up to the line in a three-wide out set. Danny Heatley, defensive back, in on this one for Brad Molinsky. Brad didn’t dress tonight. All right. Kilburn’s calling the signal. Still calling, takes the snap, drops back in the pocket looking for his man ... throws it to Danny Heatley! Heatley’s got his man beat! He’s at the forty, across midfield. He’s got a man moving up on his flank ... Heatley sidesteps him, and he’s gone. Thirty, twenty, ten, touchdown Taylor! Eighty yards Kyle Kilburn to Danny Heatley!
At first Brad beamed, but then Chuck watched as deep dejection pulled his shoulders down, then his eyes, and erased the smile from his face. Danny played in Brad’s spot. That would have been his touchdown.
“Wow,” Brad whispered, blinking at the radio. “I wish I could have seen it.”
“There’s no guarantee you would’ve gotten a touchdown,” Chuck said. “Matson could’ve called a different play. Who knows?”
“Dad, the game’s kind of a blow-out. Is it okay if we take off?”
“Sure.” Chuck reached up and started the car. “It doesn’t help at all, but I’m so proud of you for being a man. Thanks for sitting with me, talking with me.”
“You’re right. It’s not helping.”
Chuck gave him a half-smile and headed out of the parking lot.
*******
“
You’re home early
,” Bobbi said when Brad shuffled through the front door. Propped in the corner of the sofa, she held a book in her lap, but couldn’t recall any of the plot from the hundred pages she’d read.
“Wasn’t much of a game,” he said, turning the deadbolt. “Where’s Joel?”
“Watching television. Is everything all right?”
He dropped into the recliner across from her. “Why does God make it hard to do the right thing?”
“You need somebody smarter than me for that one.” She closed her book and laid it aside. “What happened?”
Brad explained about Danny’s touchdown. “God didn’t have to let Danny do that. I feel like God slapped me in the face after I did the right thing. Why would I ever do things His way again?”
“I know what you mean. Right now, it seems like your dad is doing much better than I am, and he’s the one who committed adultery.”
“Do you believe him? That he’s sorry and everything?”
She weighed her answer carefully. “I’m trying to. If I say I believe him, then my actions have to back that up, and that’s where I’m struggling. I guess I don’t believe him enough to act like his wife again.”
“We had a good talk.”
“That’s good. You both needed that.”
“Can I tell you something else?” He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees.
“Always.”
“I’ve never heard Dad talk about you like he did tonight. It was the way a guy should talk about someone he loves.”
“Brad ...”
I don’t need this from my son.
“I don’t mean it to sound like I’m pressuring you or anything. It was just different. So is there something you’re waiting on? Some sign? Then you’ll know?”
“There are a couple of things hanging over us, yes.”
“That’s why you’re still in counseling?”
“Your father doesn’t understand why he cheated on me.”
Brad flinched when she answered.
“I’m sorry. It’s ... I can’t commit to him with that unresolved.”
“Yeah, he told me that, too.” He stood and stretched. “I’m going on up to bed. Goodnight.” He walked over and kissed her cheek, then left her alone.
Bobbi slumped against the arm of the sofa.
Lord, I feel like I’ve just moved into solitary. I’m getting further from the door rather than closer to freedom. It looks like you’re helping Chuck and leaving me to sort this out alone. What am I doing wrong?
*******
Sunday, October 16
Brad took several
deep breaths, and faking confidence as best he could, he stepped into the youth room to face his peers. A couple dozen teens in clusters waited for their worship time to start. Brad wiped his hands on his shirt and hoped his stomach settled before he tried to speak.
Danny Heatley crossed the room to meet him. “So, how’s life in the slammer?” he asked.
“I’ve had it worse. I’m grounded from everything, but I don’t get ‘the look’ every time I come downstairs.”
“Man, I can’t believe you hit Burcham. That’s like something I’d do.”
“I just lost it.” Brad shook his head and glanced around the room. “So it’s all over school?”
“Oh, yeah, but you’re a hero. Burcham’s needed that for a long time.”
“I’m not a hero. I punched a guy.”
“I know. I’m just telling you how it’s playing.”
“I wish I’d seen your touchdown,” Brad said.
Even though it should have been mine.
“I hadn’t played offense since junior high. I had an interception that I ran back last year, so this was just my second touchdown. It was awesome. Eighty yards, man.”
“I heard it on the radio.” Brad did his best radio announcer voice. “Heatley’s got his man beat. He’s at the thirty, the twenty, the ten, touchdown!” He raised his arms and Danny grinned. “I, uh, listened to the game with my dad.”
“Your dad? I thought you were never speaking to him again.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Guys, finish up your snacks, we’re starting in sixty seconds,” Cooper DeWitt announced. He caught Brad’s eye, and gave him a nod and a smile.
“Does Cooper know?” Brad asked Danny.
“Are you kidding? He’s got more spies at that school than my dad. I don’t know how he finds out everything.”
“Great,” Brad muttered as he and Danny grabbed seats against the wall.
The youth pastor strode up to the front of the room and raised his hands, signaling the start of the meeting. “It’s good to see everybody out tonight. Megan’s back with us.” Cooper pointed to a petite blonde girl off to his right. “You’re through with treatments for a while, right?” She nodded.
“I know the end of the quarter’s coming up, but all you guys are making straight A’s, so it’s no big deal.” Moans rippled through the group. “Somebody be sure and write that on the prayer wall, then.”
Glancing back through the room, Cooper said, “I almost forgot. It’s the third Sunday, so we’ve got Larry and Julie Ayers helping us out. She made those incredible pizza things you guys snatched up.” Spontaneous applause and whoops erupted from the teenagers.
Cooper let the clapping go on for a few minutes. “Now, we’re going to the throne room of God for an audience with the King. What are we bringing?” He got his notebook out to write down the prayer requests.
Brad listened as several kids shared about family members dealing with illness. He wanted to speak, but he felt like his mouth was filled with sand. He coughed and swallowed, trying to get sound out of his mouth.
“You okay?” Danny whispered.
Brad nodded and resolved to say something after the next request, but a kid started a long story about a friend stealing his grandparents’ medications. Brad bounced his leg and waited.
At last, there was a lull and Brad jumped to his feet. “Hey, I’ve got one,” he said, waving a hand. “Pray for my mom and dad. You know what they’re going through. They’re trying to do the right thing, but it’s still hard.”
