All the Bishop’s Children’s II — Episode #15
Chapter 43
Although he would not admit it, DJ had a fun time taking Jennifer out to eat. They sat in her driveway and talked for about an hour about future plans.
“You mean to tell me you’re not going to be a preacher like your father?” Jennifer said. “Almost every time my mother gets on the phone with your mother she ends up telling your mother how it would be great for you to follow in your father’s footsteps and how she would love for me to marry a preacher.”
“Oh really? I hate to burst their bubble, but that’s the last thing I want to be,” DJ said. “However, I am tossing up a number of other things.”
“Such as?”
“My mother wants me to go to pharmaceutical school to study to be a pharmacist, but I am interested in doing social work to help the black community out. And then I thought about becoming a dentist. What are your plans?”
“Oh, go off to college somewhere. Pursue a business degree,” Jennifer said. “Live a quiet life.”
“Sounds good to me. Well, I must say good night. I’m off to meet up with my boys and go party,” DJ said. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
“I’m sure,” Jennifer said. “See you in church tomorrow. Hopefully.”
DJ, Speedy, Ryan, and Slow Poke Pete went riding around town in Rosalind’s car after DJ dropped Jennifer off at her home.
“Still want to do what we talked about?” Speedy said.
“I’m still game,” the others said.
“Let’s make it quick. My mother wants me home early tonight,” Slow Poke Pete said.
“You’re a real mama’s boy for sure,” Ryan said. “DJ, did you cover the license plate?”
“Yep,” DJ said.
“I’ll go in the store with Ryan. I’ll grab while you distract. Two six-packs is all we need,” Speedy said.
“Get that,” Ryan said. “But also get two packs of Boone’s Farm wine, and a four-pack of Pink Champale if you can.”
“Do you have a preference of wine?” Slow Poke Pete said jokingly.
“Will do,” Speedy said. “Slow Poke, you be the look-out. Of course, DJ, you drive the getaway car. Let’s ride.”
DJ backed up at the far end of the convenience store. He left the car in park with the engine running. Ryan and Speedy went into the store. While Ryan conversed with the cashier, Speedy picked up two six-packs of beer and a bottle of wine and hurried out the door.
“Hey! You have to pay for that!” the cashier shouted after Speedy. “I’m calling the police.”
Ryan hurried out behind him. They jumped into the waiting car and slammed the doors shut. DJ took the car out of park and stepped on the gas pedal. The car drove backwards and slammed into the post causing that side of the roof and the post to collapse.
“Oh, man! You have the car in reverse. Put it in drive!” Speedy yelled. “Hurry!”
DJ nervously placed the car in drive, pressed the gas pedal to the floor and they sped down the street, and went past Jennifer’s house. After making sure they were safe, DJ stopped by the park where they consumed the stolen merchandise laughing at how easily they pulled off the crime.
“Nothing tastes better than stolen beer,” DJ said as he finished his second can.
“I second that,” Speedy said knocking cans with Ryan.
Slow Poke Pete finished off his second can of beer. “That’s it for me,” he said. “I don’t know where you’re all headed, but I got to get me home or my mama’s going to crown me for sure.”
“Let’s take the big baby home,” Ryan said in a baby voice followed by a chuckle.
“Man, the party’s just beginning,” DJ said. “You can’t come to the club with us for an hour? It’s barely 10:30.”
“I can probably come for about forty-five minutes. But that’s it. You got to get me home if you want to see me alive again,” Slow Poke Pete said.
“Let’s ride then,” DJ said.
“Put it in drive this time,” Speedy said.
They all laughed.
As Slow Poke Pete was getting out of the car at his house, he said, “Say, DJ, we’ve been so busy partying that we forgot to check your mother’s car for any damage. That was a concrete post you backed into. If you knocked part of it down you probably put some damage on the car as well.”
“Man, you’re right. I was not thinking about all that,” DJ said as he and the others climbed out of the car.
“Oh, man! Oh, man!” DJ said as they stared at the huge dent on the back fender of his mother’s car. “Thank God, the tail light’s not broken. Man, what am I going to tell my mother. This is her new car.”
The boys surveyed the situation.
“That can be fixed up like new,” Speedy eventually said.
“How? Even if I could take it to the mechanic, how am I going to do that without her knowing? Worse yet, how will I pay for it?” DJ said.
“My dad has a rubber hammer. We can beat the dent out with it,” Speedy said. “Do you think she’ll let you use her car tomorrow? We could take care of it then.”
“I doubt it,” DJ said. “She won’t let me use it two nights in a row.”
“No sweat. We can ride our bikes out to the Post Office once your mother goes in to work and perform our operation once the sun goes down. Hopefully she won’t notice it before then,” Speedy said. “Are you all with me on this?”
“Sure,” the others said.
“Bring whatever tools you think will help get us out of this mess,” Speedy said as they got back into the car. “DJ, maybe you ought to take your driving test again.”
I should have listened to Dad this time for sure, DJ thought after he dropped Speedy and Ryan off at their places. He checked the time on his watch. I could go back to the club and party all night and let Mom call Dad to come pick her up and pretend I lost track of the time. On second thought, that might make her suspicious and I may never get to use her car again. He turned the car around and headed to the Post Office. I can’t wait to get my own car.
When he pulled up at the back entrance for employee use only, Rosalind was waiting outside.
“Hey, Mom. Sorry I’m late,” he said exiting the car. “Here, let me get the door for you.”
“Why thank you,” Rosalind said. “You ought to go out more often with Jennifer. I see it leaves you acting like a gentleman.”
“You said that right. Jennifer Pearson is of a different cut,” DJ said. He asked his mother numerous questions about her job at the Post Office all the way home.
“Why the sudden interest in the Post Office?” Rosalind asked. “Are you rethinking my suggestion and deciding to get a job out there?”
“I’ve been tossing it up in my mind,” DJ said. “Will you be needing your car tomorrow? I was thinking of taking Jennifer out again, and I sure would like to use it. I don’t think right now Dad is too inclined to let me use his. Besides that, Dad’s car is a jalopy.”
“You already know you can’t use mine two nights in a row,” Rosalind said.
“Well, with Jennifer causing me to act like a gentleman, I thought you wouldn’t mind me using it again,” DJ said. “Well, let me get the door for you, and let me walk you to the door. You can go ahead on in and get a load off your feet while I clean out the car and have it ready for you for tomorrow. I’ll leave the keys on the dining room table.”
Rosalind walked into the house wondering about DJ’s niceness. Maybe all our prayers for him are finally being answered.
Chapter 44
The next evening as it was getting dark, DJ and his friends met up at the Post Office.
“What’s this? A rubber hammer?” DJ said to Speedy when Speedy pulled the hammer out of his backpack.
“Yeah, man. It will get the job done,” Speedy said. “You don’t want to make any noise and draw attention to what we are doing. Plus, you want to smooth the dent out. Trust me on this. This bad boy will do the job.”
“Whatever you say,” DJ said reluctantly taking the hammer.
The boys worked feverishly over the next forty minutes, taking turns, but not making any progress.
“It will get the job done. Trust me on this one,” DJ said mimicking Speedy. “Got any more suggestions?”
“You could use my hammer. It’s a real hammer,” Ryan said.
“Are you crazy! That would mess the car up worse,” DJ said. “Let’s just keep at it with the rubber hammer. Slow Poke, you keep watch.”
Rosalind, whose office was on the second floor, was taking a water break. She happened to walk by one of the windows overlooking the well-lit parking lot. She stopped to look out the window.
My eyes have got to be playing tricks on me, she thought blinking her eyes. I don’t believe this. It can’t be. DJ is beating on my car. What in the world is going on! Rosalind started to make a beeline to the parking lot but was intercepted by her boss.
“Mrs. Jacobs, please take a look at these papers for me. The figures are not adding up. They have not been adding up for the past three nights. If they don’t add up for the rest of the week somebody will be losing their job.”
“I will, Mr. Shrodes,” Rosalind said. Oh, man. She hurried back to the window, bewildered, as she helplessly watched the scene before her eyes.
“Don’t look, but I believe somebody is watching us. We’d better take off,” Slow Poke Pete said hopping on his bike. DJ took a quick look before hopping on his bike. Ryan and Speedy did likewise.
“Thanks for your help,” DJ said as they each peeled off to their individual places of residence. It was going on eleven when DJ arrived home. He parked his bike in its usual spot and quietly went inside the house. His father was so taken up with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Broadcast he just waved at DJ when DJ greeted him. I don’t know what my dad sees in that boring white man lecturing, DJ thought. After helping himself to a can of soda from the refrigerator, he went to his room, locked his door, and turned his television almost full blast. Kennedy banged on the door to get his attention.
“DJ, open up,” he shouted.
“Yeah, what’s up?” DJ said as he pulled the door open.
“Dad says to shut that noise up in here. And Mom called a couple times asking for you. She wanted to find out where you were,” Kennedy said.
“Did she say what she wanted?” DJ asked.
“No. She just asked for you.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” DJ said. “I’m turning in early so I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Alright. Good night,” Kennedy said pulling the door shut.
When Rosalind got home later that night, she walked past Dwight who had fallen asleep in his easy chair. She pushed DJ’s bedroom door open and flipped the ceiling light on.
“DJ, wake up! This is no time to fake sleep. Sit up now! We need to talk.” Rosalind snatched the covers off of him.
DJ sat up and waited for his mother to continue. Rosalind leaned against his chest of drawers with her arms folded across her chest.
“Look at me, DJ. How could you do that to me? I trusted you with my car. But what’s really disappointing is how you tried to deceive me. I saw you and your friends trying to beat the dent out of my car. I was so hurt. Why couldn’t you have just come to me and let me know? I thought we had a better relationship than this.”
DJ remained silent.
“You could have told me yesterday when you picked me up from the job. I was wondering why you were so talkative and so nice. And you have never shown any interest in my job at the Post Office, other than the food that my job brings in here for you to eat. It was all a cover up, wasn’t it? I’m more disappointed than angry. I couldn’t even get angry if I tried to. You want to be treated like a mature adult, but mature adults don’t do that. They don’t cover up their wrongdoing; they face up to it.”
DJ felt the hurt and disappointment in his mother’s voice. He saw the hurt and disappointment written on her face. That pained him more than any harsh rebuke could. Any words of apology, any words to comfort her that came to him seemed inappropriate, so he remained quiet.
“I don’t even want to know how it happened,” Rosalind said.
DJ remained silent.
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
DJ briefly closed his eyes, sighed deeply, then opened them again. Looking his mother in her eyes, he said, “I’m sorry, Mom. I could have and should have handled it better.”
Rosalind left the room. She was asleep when Dwight finally got in the bed.
“When did you get in? And why didn’t you wake me up?” Dwight said nudging her.
“I really don’t feel like talking and if you want to know why, here’s why.”
After Rosalind finished relating to Dwight the events of the night, he quietly said, “Didn’t I tell you I wanted him to stay home? I’ll talk to him in the morning.”
When they both awakened in the morning, DJ had already left.
“He said something about putting in overtime on his job,” Kennedy informed them.
At the end of the week when DJ received his check, he cashed it and gave half of it to his mother. “I know this is not much, but I hope it will help toward fixing the dent in the car,” he said.
“It will help some,” Rosalind said taking the money.
Chapter 45
Having only an eighth grade education, Dwight found studying the Bible a difficult and slow process, so he stuck to what he was most comfortable with preaching. No matter how he started his sermons, he always ended them on the love of God. “Go out and love on somebody with God’s love” were his parting words after nearly every sermon. Then, he would add, “Because love is what it is.”
For some months now he had been disturbed in his thoughts as to the direction in which he was taking the church.
“Dear God, I feel like I am not giving the people fully what You want me to give them. There is something missing and I cannot quite put my finger on it. Lord, please show me what to do. Show me what’s missing. I want Your will to be my will.”
This became Dwight’s daily prayer as he wrestled for understanding, discernment, insight, and wisdom to shepherd the flock entrusted into his care. He picked up every devotional or Bible study book he could get his hands on, but none seemed to unlock the door to his understanding.
“Lord, give me understanding that I may lead Your people in the right direction,” Dwight prayed.
“Rosalind, Billy Graham is holding an evangelistic meeting in South Carolina next week. As you know I’ve been wanting to go hear him preach live, so I’m planning on going up there to hear him,” Dwight said to his wife after hearing the meeting announced via the television following one of the radio broadcasts.
“Isn’t that kind of short notice,” Rosalind said.
“They have been announcing it for about a month now. I was debating whether or not to go, but my mind’s made up. I’m going to the meeting,” Dwight said.
“Why can’t you just listen to him on the radio or the television? I’m sure they’ll air it live as they normally do,” Rosalind said.
“I’m sure they will. But there is just something about being a part of a live event,” Dwight said.
“I hope you plan on going by yourself because I’m just not up to any long traveling especially on such short notice,” Rosalind said. “On top of that, I’ll need to give my boss at least a two weeks notice unless it’s a dire emergency.”
“You can get the two to three days off if you really want to. I was thinking of making it a mini-vacation. Just the two of us. The children can stay with Mother Randall. I know she would enjoy their company,” Dwight said.
“Going to a church meeting is not my idea of a vacation,” Rosalind said.
“I’ll just go by myself then. I’ll probably enjoy the ride better,” Dwight muttered.
“Yes. You probably will,” Rosalind said. “Anyway, if you had been listening to the weather report, a hurricane is on its way. It’s been sitting out in the Atlantic, but it’s slowly making its way towards Florida.”
“I’ll make it to the meeting and back before it hits land,” Dwight said. “Just make sure I take my weather radio with me so I can keep up with the weather.”
Dwight planned on pulling out early Tuesday morning. The weather was not looking favorable on Monday evening. The hurricane, unexpectedly, had picked up speed, and hitting the Florida coast, had started moving up the eastern seaboard causing some damage along its way.
“I think you should reconsider,” Rosalind said.
“I may never have this opportunity again especially with my health acting up as it has been lately,” Dwight said. “I’ll just have to go by faith. After all, the Bible does say safety is of the Lord.”
The hurricane showed signs of letting up by daybreak on Tuesday morning. Dwight pulled out around nine o’clock. He listened closely to the weather report over the radio as he prayed for traveling mercies the entire trip. A steady drizzle accompanied him. The hurricane seemed to hover over the Georgia-Florida state line causing more damage: power lines were down; people were flooded out of their homes; trailer homes were carried away by the wind. Residents were advised to move as far inland as they could.
If you’ll just hang where you are for a while I’ll make it to South Carolina safely, Dwight thought as he sped through Georgia.
With about two hours remaining to reach his destination, Dwight was forced to stop at a hotel as the hurricane had picked up in intensity and had started up the eastern seaboard at a rapid speed; it had expanded and was covering more ground inland. “We have never seen a hurricane move with such fervor,” the weatherman said.
Disappointed that he had to stop, Dwight turned on the television in his hotel room about thirty minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin hoping to pick up the first night’s meeting. The reception on the religious channel as on the other channels was unclear in both picture and sound. Dwight also turned on the hotel radio. As he kept turning the knob on the radio to get a better reception, a commanding voice grabbed his attention. Dwight was surprised at its clarity.
Hey, that sounds like Billy. I know the meeting hasn’t started yet. He glanced at this watch. This must be one of his old sermons to occupy our time until they can air the meeting clearly. Sitting up against the headboard with two pillows behind his back, Dwight made himself comfortable on the bed.
“As soon as the evangelist [Mordecai Ham] started his sermon, he opened his Bible and talked straight from his text. He talked loudly, even though there was an amplifying system. I have no recollection of what he preached about, but I was spellbound. In some indefinable way, he was getting through to me. I was hearing another voice, as was often said of Dwight L. Moody when he preached: the voice of the Holy Spirit.
“I became deeply convicted about my sinfulness and rebellion. And confused. How could this evangelist be talking to me, of all people? I had been baptized as a baby…I had gotten into mischief once in a while, but I could hardly be called wicked. I resisted temptations to break the moral code my parents had so strictly instilled in me…I was even the vice president of my youth group in our church (although, granted, it wasn’t a particularly vital organization).
“On that night, Dr. Ham finished preaching and gave the invitation to accept Christ. After all his tirades against sin, he gave us a gentle reminder: ‘But God commendeth his love toward us, that that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ His song leader, Mr. Ramsay, led us all in ‘Just As I Am,’ four verses. Then we started another song: ‘Almost Persuaded, Now to Believe.’
“On the last verse of that second song, I responded. I walked down to the front, feeling as if I had lead weights attached to my feet, and stood in the space before the platform.
“I checked ‘Recommitment’ on the card I filled out. After all, I had been brought up to regard my baptism and confirmation as professions of faith too. The difference was that this time I was doing it on purpose, doing it with intention. For all my previous religious upbringing and church activity, I believe that that was the moment I made my real commitment to Jesus Christ.”
Dwight listened intently. For the next hour the radio speaker had his attention so much so he forgot about the live Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade he was trying to get to.
