Forever Blessed (Women of Prayer) (8 page)

Sheila continued talking with her best friend, the one who comforted her and held her. When she longed for some strong arms to hold her, to impart a sense of security, she turned to her Lord. He was what she needed. He was her strength and all the security she would ever need. He would lead her now and if the Holy Spirit was indeed speaking to Sheila’s heart, she could easily see her new volunteer finding the healing that her heart was crying out for.

             
             
             
             
Chapter Ten

Laney looked at the woman across from her and crossed her fingers. She had gone to three different interviews and each time she was told she was not qualified. How could she not be qualified? She had a college degree in accounting. True, she had been home for the past twelve years, but she still knew numbers. And she had graduated at the top of her class.

She put her hands in her lap. This was her second interview at this accounting firm and she needed this job. This job meant security for her and her children. It meant she could make it on her own without taking a dime from her husband. It meant she would no longer need to depend upon others for her families’ needs.
Oh God…if you really are there…please give me this job.

Laney watched as the woman looked through her paperwork. She hoped having the shelter’s address wasn’t keeping her from getting the job, but there was no other address to list. Hopefully the beautiful brown-skinned woman sitting across from her wouldn’t notice the address, or more specifically whose address it really was.

“Laney, I called you back for a second interview because I felt impressed to do so. I realize you have no practical experience, but my husband and I are Christians and we try and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in every decision we make. Both of us have prayed over all the applicants and both of us feel you are the person God wants in this position. I am familiar with where you are living. Do you plan on staying in this area? Or do you have plans to move on? I guess that is our only question. We don’t want to put a lot of time and effort into training you if you plan on leaving soon. We would appreciate your honesty.”

She hadn’t really given a lot of thought to her long-term plans. Is this where she wanted to live? It would be nice to be near Sheila and have her support
. Come on Laney…this woman won’t wait all day!
“Yes, this is where I’d like to set up permanent residence. After I find a job I’ll begin looking for an apartment for me and my three children.”

Vanessa Jacobs studied the woman sitting across from her.
Lord, this is the one? Ok, Lord. I will be obedient.
“Well, that settles that. Can you start on Monday morning, say nine o’clock?”

“Yes, I will be here at nine on Monday. Thank you for giving me this chance.” Laney stood and shook Vanessa’s hand. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

Laney waited until she was a block away from the accounting office before she did the happy dance on the sidewalk. She composed herself then continued walking the couple of miles that would take her to Keisha’s place. She missed her friend and wanted to share the good news in person.

The door was slightly open. That wasn’t a good sign. Then she heard the familiar voice that she had come to love. “I ain’t kiddin’ around, Junior. I said no more games til’ your homework is finished. You hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Laney couldn’t help but grin. “Hello. Anyone home?”

“Look who's knockin’ on my door! Laney-girl, is that you? Get yourself in here so I can see you.” She closed the door behind Laney.

Laney hugged her friend. “Man, I missed you! You look good.” Laney looked her up and down. “You’ve been losing weight?”

Keisha looked sheepish. “Yeah, I’m tryin.’ She changed the subject. “Look who’s talkin’. I bet you ain’t had a case of the uglies a day in your life. Now what are you doin’ in my neighborhood girl? I know you didn’ come all this way for nothin’.”

Laney couldn’t contain her joy any longer. “I have good news and I had to tell you first. I got a job!”

Both women were ecstatic. They spent the afternoon talking and carrying on like teenage girls.

Looking at the clock, Laney knew her visit was almost over. The kids would be back from school shortly and Ms. Ella would need to hand Melanie back to her so she could help with supper. Ms. Ella was teaching some of the ladies to cook and had started helping with that particular chore.

“Keisha, I’m going to have to get going pretty soon. I’m going to miss you.”

“Oh Laney-girl, you know I’ll be right here. You can come over any time you want. You don' even have to call. Most nights me and Junior just be watchin’ us some TV and workin’ on homework. He was sick today. Stayed home and gimme grief.” She looked toward her son’s room. “That boy’s gonna be the death of me.”

“You haven’t talked with Jamal have you?”

Keisha looked down. “No, but I been thinkin’ bout it. He ain’t bad all the time. Maybe now he’ll see me workin’ and losin’ weight and he be lovin’ on me the way he s’posed to. You know?”

Laney knelt down in front of her friend and held her hand. “You listen to me. That man is nothing but trouble. Don’t you go calling him. Do you hear me? And another thing, when I got here, your front door was open. Keisha, you have to make sure you and Junior are safe. You can’t be leaving your front door open for the whole world to just walk in. You have to be more careful.”

“Yes, ma’am. But why would the whole world be walkin’ inta my little ole apartment? They ain't gonna fit!” Keisha grinned, amused by her own wit.

“You know what I mean. I’m not playing around with you. I want you to be safe. I want Junior to be safe. You need to be locking your door, whether you are home or not. I don’t want to come over here and see that again. Ever.”

“Ok, ok, I hear ya. I’ll make sure to close the door better next time. I only ran out to get the mail and I musta not shut it all the way. I’ll do better next time. Promise.”

It was hard to stay mad at Keisha. It was also hard to get her to take anything seriously. You’d think all the times that man hurt her, that she’d understand how dangerous little things like that could be. A woman in her circumstances couldn’t be too careful. “You better be. Or you’ll have me to deal with,
capice
?”

Keisha scrunched her nose and eyebrows, “
capice
?”

“It means, ‘understand’?” Laney shook her head and smiled. “Now come on over here and give me a hug. I gotta get going or I’m going to be late. We both know how the buses run.”

Laney arrived home just before the kids came running through the door. She was scared to enroll them but she didn’t have much of a choice. Kids have to be in school and she had too much to take care of to consider homeschooling them, namely getting a job and making enough money to support them. One thing down and a whole list to go. At least one of the biggies was taken care of. Next would be a place to live.

It wasn’t easy being dependent upon someone. Relying on someone for the food to feed your children and the shoes they wear just wasn’t sitting easy with her. She wanted to support them. A few weeks on the job and she should be able to afford a place of her own. That was a day she was looking forward to. She also knew with each step she took toward independence, she was more likely to be found. Her new employer had her social security number. Her landlord would have to run a credit check and possibly a background check. Every little bit was more clues to her whereabouts. Yes, the internet helped in all manner of ways, but it also made it easier for a person not wanting to be found to be found.

She pushed her thoughts away and took the squirming little girl out of Ms. Ella’s hands. “I cannot thank you enough. And, I got the job.” She smiled at the older woman standing before her and she pulled Melanie into a close hug. “Pretty soon, baby girl, we’ll have a place to call home.”

Ella didn’t want to pry but at the same time she wanted to help. “Laney, my next door neighbors have a little three bedroom house on their property for rent. It sits just behind their house, kind of out of the way and it shares an address with theirs. Would you like to see it? I can ask them how much they are renting it for.”

“I would love it see it. I won’t have any money until I started getting paid from my job, but who knows? Maybe it will still be available.”

Sheila popped her head out of her office. “Did I just hear you right? You got the job?”

“Yeah, I did. I am so excited. I’m not sure why they chose me. They had a whole pile of applications.”

“We know why, don’t we Ella?” Sheila gave Ella that all-knowing kind of look.

“Prayer works, Laney. I don’t know that I’d be here before you today if it hadn’t of been for the Lord working in my life. Sounds to me like these new employers of yours had a little help in choosing their new employee. A little Holy Spirit help maybe?” Ella was starting to open up around these women. They had a lot in common, even if they didn’t know it yet. Ella continued. “Well, it seems to me we have something to celebrate tonight with you getting a new job and all. Why don’t we have something special for supper? I’m thinking some homemade chicken and noodles and some biscuits. Sound good?”

Laney rubbed her stomach. She was going to have to diet as soon as she got out on her own. All this good cooking was going straight to her waist line. “I can’t wait. I didn’t eat lunch and I’m famished.”

“Well then, I’d better get into the kitchen and see who is helping tonight. We’ve got some noodles to roll out.”

Sheila put her arm around Laney, “Ms. Ella is right you know, prayer changes everything and you have a whole lot of people praying for you. Maybe not by name. But they are praying nonetheless. Ms. Ella attends the church down the street and her whole church has been praying for the women of this house. They are also committed to helping where they are able. There is a whole storage shed of household items that have been donated to help get our women on their feet. When you find a place, let me know and we’ll see what we can do in getting you set up. There might even be some funds to help with a security deposit.”

“Really? They would do that to help us? To help me?” Laney couldn’t believe her ears. The only Christians she had been familiar with would never help a woman who was being abused by her husband. She wasn’t sure what to say. Was this for real?

“I know, it seems incredible, but it is true. They really do care, Laney. These are good people. People who know what it means to be in tough situations, to be hurting and to need help. I guess their pastors haven’t always been on God’s good side, if you know what I mean.”

Laney wasn’t sure she knew what Sheila meant, but shook her head and agreed anyway.

Sheila continued, “I think I am going to visit there next Sunday. Do you want to go with me?”

“I’m not sure. Let me think about it. I can see where God might be working in my life, but I’m just not sure yet. I’ll let you know.”

It wasn’t too long before the house was full of women’s laughter and the sound of children running and playing. The smell of chicken broth drifted from behind the kitchen door and had everyone’s stomach growling.

The long table was set. Bowls of steaming mashed potatoes, corn and green beans and homemade buttermilk biscuits surrounded the star of the show, a huge bowl of homemade chicken and noodles.

Everyone held hands and bowed their heads. Sheila sat at one end and Ms. Ella sat at the other. Sheila led the prayer and thanked the Lord for every good thing that flowed from the Father to his children, including Laney’s new job and the wonderful supper that sat before them. Regardless of where they had been, every person seated around the supper table was forever blessed. Dishes were passed, plates were filled and stomachs were sated.

Laney looked around the table at her new family. Truly she was blessed. Blessed with dear friends like Sheila and blessed with a surrogate mother like Ms. Ella. If Laney wasn’t mistaken, it looked as if Ms. Ella was happier than she’d ever seen her. Perhaps she had been in need of a new family too.

             
             
             
             
Chapter Eleven