No Wasted Tears (3 page)

After what felt like hours, Destiny was on the plane, seated, and prepared for take off. One of her biggest regrets was the woman she’d become after her decision to move in with Stanley. It was one of the main reasons why she’d decided to pack up and move to Seattle. She needed a fresh start, a chance to start over in a place where the memory of Stanley’s abuse and infidelities wouldn’t be constant reminders of her own failures. She had heard her Bishop say, “that although we may have aborted our dream, destiny, or purpose, God had the power to speak life to it because he impregnated us with it in our mother’s womb.” That was reason enough to rejoice about her future. Seattle was exactly what she needed, a place where no one knew her and, furthermore, no one cared about her
past.

Her pulse thudded in her ears as the gravity of the situation finally hit her. Her skin broke out in a sweat, the palms of her hands were hot and moist caused by fear. Was she dreaming? She was actually going to start over in a city where the only people she considered important in her life knew her. Since she’d made the decision to move months ago, she’d tried not to think about what would come next. Sure she had a good sum of money in the bank and a house, but then what? Her possibilities were
endless.

Destiny stared out the window because she was nervous—not about being on a plane, but about the thought of him coming on board to drag her off. Crazy thoughts were coming from all over the place, and it felt like she had more than one hundred demons fighting against her. Auntie always said that the Lord had angels who defended her on a daily basis. She had to admit her angels must have won the first part of the battle because she was on the plane safe and sound. She had learned from Bible study that fear was just false evidence that appears to be real. The only way to conquer a fear was to tackle it head on with faith. Today she had begun to do just that because everything had gone according to plan. All she had to do was relax. All the drama from earlier was now
over.

Despite the pain and her frantically thumping heart, she could still hear his accusatory voice yelling because she didn’t have his dinner prepared on time. Just thinking about the way he hit her made her angry. The physical pain had almost been unbearable but there was nothing to be done about it now. All she wanted was to get away. The depression that she had fallen into during her senior year in college had consumed her.
Her thoughts had become bitter and angry. Then, Stanley had offered her a job and a home, some sense of security. At the time Destiny had desperately wanted something normal and steady in her life, someone who could be strong for her when her world was suddenly so off balance. So she had accepted his offer and then literally overnight, he had changed. He began finding fault with everything she did, even raising his hand to hit
her.

Earlier he had stood there looking at her with his eyes rolling around like a deranged man. “You know you made me do this, right?”

Too weak to do anything, she scrunched her eyes closed and forced herself to concentrate, but her head pounded sickeningly as she tried to recall the last few days. It was all a blur, a foggy indistinct blur that made little, if any sense. What had she done now to trigger this? She had just lain there, balled in a tight knot. Trying to nod her head, Destiny had wanted to tell him anything so he would leave her alone. As if by looking at her made him sick, he straddled her already aching body once again. With the full force of at least ten men, he began to throw blows to her
head.

Covering her face the best she could with her hands, she finally let the tears fall. She moistened her lips again, trying to find a way out of the confusing labyrinthine of her mind. “I’m sorry…Please stop…I’m
sorry…”

Speechless with rage, he just looked at her, his wide nostrils flared and his breathing blasted out in ragged spurts. His top lip lifted in a movement that should have been a wry smile but somehow Destiny suspected it wasn’t. “Where’s the God that’s supposed to be your shield and buckler? All I do for you, and you can’t even get dinner on the table when I get home.” Chuckling, he began again. “I told you before nobody wanted your sorry behind but me. Why did you come back? I never wanted you! I was supposed to marry Denise. Now she’s marrying the man that was my best friend before I met you. You ruined my life. It’s funny now.” He laughed like a deranged person. “I befriended you in hopes of making Denise jealous, and now three years later she’s marrying Curtis Watson. Now get up and fix me something to eat, and act like you’re glad to do
it!”

Reaching out with both hands, he grabbed her bloodied face and kissed her swollen lips and then whispered in her ear, “Don’t make me have to do this
again.”

Nodding, Destiny just wanted him to leave. Her head hit the floor with so much force, and then he walked out of the kitchen. When he got to the door, he turned
around.

Panicking, thinking he was coming back, Destiny covered her
face.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you I’m hanging with the boys tonight. I’ll get something to eat while I’m out! But let this be a lesson to you that when a man gets home, he wants his food. Now get up and clean your nasty-looking self up before you make me sicker than I already
am.”

Knowing that laying there would only make him angrier, she got up, resting on her knees. Too frightened to submit to the exhaustion she felt, Destiny tried once more to slowly
get up. Lifting her hand slightly, she wiped the stray tear that cascaded down her
face.

Silently, thoughts were running through her head. Why did she stay with this fool? She had a degree and a good job. A recent promotion had just put her in the six-figure
range.

She put her hand against the window and looked down, reflecting on the last six months. Destiny shivered. Her eyes burned with tears and her whole body ached. She’d been so busy being an obedient boxing bag that she hadn’t had a chance to figure out who she was or what she wanted from life. But now she had all the time in the world…and it scared her to
death.

Her chest tightened uncomfortably, and her breaths came quick and shallow. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t the type of person who could start over. She should get off this plane right now. At least then she wouldn’t have to face the uncertainty of the future and the possibility of
failing.

Her eyes watered, and she curled closer to the window, staring at the woman she’d become, asking what happened to the Destiny who once was so full of life. She pulled her ponytail holder out of her hair and ran her fingers through it. It had been too long since she had a life she could call her own. Shaking her head, with the realization that she’d given up everything for him, it never got better like he’d promised. It just got worse. In the beginning, before they’d moved in together, he had been so charming and so very attentive. He was protective, not possessive, forceful, not dominating. He was constantly telling her how much he loved her. It was all so
flattering.

Destiny, however, had had no illusions about her feelings. She didn’t love Stanley. She’d liked him well enough and thought that, perhaps, she would grow to love him. He always said, “Baby, you know I love you. It hurts me when I have to do this. I’m a good man, and any woman would be glad to have a man that drives a Bentley and lives in this neighborhood with a salary like
mine.”

Suddenly a claustrophobic wave overcame her, causing her to heave deep breaths. She tried to calm her racing heart, which seemed to match the roar of the plane’s engine. It felt as if the plane was beginning to back up. It was at that moment she heard a voice in her head similar to Stanley’s saying,
Where do you thin
k you are going?
Then the speed on the plane picked up.
It
’s not too late to s
ay stop, you made a
mistake, and get off
.
Rubbing her head, Destiny was starting to wonder if she did the right thing. Her head was pounding. What she needed to do was pray.
Lord, am I doing t
he right thing? I wa
nt a life. I deserve
a life of happiness
and joy. Please, Lo
rd, give me a sign.
In Jesus’s name, amen.”
She struggled to contain her composure by clutching at the armrest of the seat as if to anchor
herself.

A hard thigh brushed against her hand, causing her to
jump.

“Sorry.” The voice was deep and filled with
apology.

She gasped, hand clutched over her heart. Wiping the tears from her face with the back of her other hand, she said, “It’s all right.” Turning, she looked at the face of the voice she’d just
heard.

“I can hold your hand if this take-off is making you nervous. I could even join you in prayer. It must be your first
flight?”

Looking up, Destiny saw the man who was sitting next to her for the first time. Instantly, she noticed his warm brown eyes
she felt tiny beads of sweat on her forehead while he appeared completely calm. His relaxed state eased some of the uncertainty she
felt.

“Perhaps I should introduce myself,” the man said, breaking through her tortured reverie. “We may as well get acquainted because for the next four-and-a-half hours we’ll be seated next to each other. My name is Adam Wheeler, and what, may I ask, is
yours?”

She never experienced the sensations floating around in her stomach. It felt like a flutter of joy, something that was reaching way down deep in her soul. It took her so long to answer him, he finally said, “At least let me hold your hand until we get in the air.” She held out her right hand. After noticing it trembling, she hid it in her lap. She didn’t want him to think she was a frightened little girl; her emotions were all over the place especially after everything she’d endured to make this flight. She was a big ball of confusion.
Closing her eyes briefly, she inhaled, allowing the stored air in her lungs to slowly escape through her pursed lips before reopening her eyes to look at
him.

Adam saw the trembling of her hand before she quickly hid it under her jacket. “It’s Destiny…” she said after a moment, her spirits instantly lifting as she turned to looked out the window. Silence filled the air as the plane finally leveled off rapidly moving them toward their destination—the place where all of Destiny’s hopes and dreams would come to fruition or dissipate into
nothingness.

He could not believe his ears. “Excuse me…what did you say?” he asked. Destiny smiled lightly, in response to the astonishment that had crept into his expression despite his best efforts to conceal it. “Destiny. My name is Destiny Harper, and it’s nice to meet you, Adam.” She responded, sitting back and reflecting for a moment on what about her name seemed to excite
him.

Chapter 2

There was something about the look on Adam’s face that Destiny couldn’t get out of her mind. Something about the sound of his voice—a contagious warmth that radiated from him, and she envied the peacefulness of it that she felt almost immediately. The cabin of the plane was dark now and the light above her seat cast a small circle around her. There were a few other lights on throughout the cabin. She was feeling some kind of way—almost a nagging sense of discontent. Adam must have had the same problem because he had been squirming in his seat, trying, it seemed, to find a comfortable position; he must have because his eyes were now closed. Shutting her own eyes she let herself sink into a mental fog, neither awake nor
asleep.

It seemed she had been carried back in time. Time had healed some of the wounds, but nothing was ever going to be the same again. She was twenty-five and on the verge of turning twenty-six and two months ago her whole life changed. It was a regular Saturday in January. The weather was unusually warm for Charleston, South Carolina. Destiny should have known that a storm was brewing. The house was quiet when she returned home late following her trip with her aunt. Stanley must have left the hall light on for her after he’d gone out; she wasn’t surprised by his absence, he never greeted her at the door so she wasn’t expecting that but it would have been a nice
change.

Picking up her suitcase, she headed up the stairs to their bedroom only to find all of her things scattered throughout the room in disarray. Immediately her survival skills kicked in as she tried to remember her last conversation with Stanley. It had been on the Thursday before she was scheduled to leave. She had been in her office taking care of some last-minute details before leaving for the annual pig pickin’ held by her relatives every year on the third of January. A coworker came into her office to ask if she had heard the
news.