“One More Chance” — Episode 4
Chapter 10
Over the past week, Ronald Rayburton thought frequently about Martin Barrett and the suggestion he had offered at their meeting earlier in the week. He called his best friend, Ryan, to get some advice.
“Hey, Ryan. How’s it going?” Mr. Rayburton asked after getting Ryan on the phone
“So far so good this week. I got a promotion on Friday. Now I’m the chief insurance adjustor at Heilmon Insurance Company,” he said proudly.
Mr. Rayburton laughed. “That is great news. I just knew you would get that promotion one of these days. It sure came faster than what we thought. Knowing how good you are in sales and marketing, you could be president of that company one day.”
“Well, I hope to get to that point. If not with this company, I may start my own company. But I wouldn’t want to be in competition with Mr. Heilmon. So I guess I would have to move across town or to another city.”
“I guess so. You know Mr. Heilmon likes being the only one in the business around here. He prides himself on offering services folks can’t get anywhere else,” Mr. Rayburton said.
“Yeah. I’ll think about that when the time comes though. Well, enough about me. What are you up to?”
Mr. Rayburton squared his face and straightened in his chair in his home office. “Well, we have a lot going on right now as you can imagine, particularly trying to get back on our feet financially. But I was calling to seek your advice about something.”
“Okay, what is it? You know I’m always willing to help,” Ryan replied.
“It’s about Martin Barrett and our finances,” Mr. Rayburton began.
“Uh-huh,” Ryan murmured knowingly.
“You know when we had our identity stolen, he attempted to help us keep our house, but that didn’t go too well in our favor. He did help us get a loan to pay off some debts and to cover some immediate needs. That worked out fine or so I thought. Now, we are in a bit more of a constraint so I went back to him last week to see about getting another loan, and something just doesn’t seem right. He’s grown cold and seems to know something that I don’t know. It’s just an uneasy feeling,” Mr. Rayburton said.
“If I recall correctly, Martin Barrett isn’t the most honest banker in the world. In fact, he is the same one who was involved in a ponzi scheme about a decade ago,” Ryan said. “If my recollection isn’t failing, he got a really good lawyer to get him off and he didn’t spend one day in jail. Some other folks did go to jail, a few of them for many years.”
“I heard about that,” Mr. Rayburton said thoughtfully. “But I had no idea he was that involved with it.” His voice trailed off.
Ryan continued emphatically, “My advice in this situation is a loud and clear NO. Just stop that train before it even gets going good.”
“Alright, I guess there is no choice in this matter,” Mr. Rayburton said.
“You don’t want to get tied down with Barrett and his scheming ways. As they say, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Mr. Rayburton chuckled, “Yeah, that’s true.”
“Besides, have you prayed about this whole thing?” Ryan asked quizzically. “I mean God has better ideas than I could give you any day and could help you if you just ask.”
“I hear you,” Mr. Rayburton replied as he hung up the phone. I’m not so sure He wants to hear from me now.
Chapter 11
Ronald Rayburton thought long and hard about his conversation with Ryan. Though Martin Barrett was greedy when it came to money, in a million years, Ronald would have never imagined him being involved in something so egregious. How he got away with it was more a result of his scheming shenanigans than a mere lawyer’s efforts to get him off. Whatever it was, Ronald Rayburton didn’t want to know. He had other concerns now and his gut feeling and assumptions of two weeks prior were confirmed.
What am I going to do now? he thought to himself as he drove slowly along. After a long day of looking for work, he was supposed to be headed home, but wasn’t particularly making an effort to get there. His mind was filled with so many thoughts: What are we going to do? I am just about out of options. In fact, I am out of options and it will only be a matter of time before we are in the tank again.
He pulled over into a gas station, wrapped in his own thoughts, and just sat there. He knew he would take Ryan’s advice and move away from Martin Barrett as quickly as possible, but he wasn’t all too sure about Ryan’s second suggestion. God had been out of his life for the past twenty years, or better said, he had refused to let God into his life. He sat in the car, staring out into the nearly dark sky, reflecting on when he left God.
As a child, his family was poor. There was never enough money to pay all the bills, buy food or clothes, and have nice things like other kids his age had. As he grew older, he was determined to be successful, to get a good job, make a lot of money, and have all the things he never was able to have. For the most part, he did just that. He studied hard, made good grades, and went on to college at seventeen. He majored in law and criminal justice, graduated in the top five percent of his class, and two days after graduating landed a job with a top law firm. Within three months, he bought his own house and was promoted to senior counsel. Money was good, times were good, and he was able to bask in his success that afforded him the opportunity to have the finer things in life. Then their identity had been stolen and he had been laid off.
Every Sunday and once during the week, his mother and father had taken him and his three siblings to church. At church, he heard about Jesus, the miracles He worked, and learned how to pray. His faith was strong, at least that is what he thought and what his parents aimed to encourage in his life.
He got what he didn’t have, but he forgot what he did have.
Chapter 12
Ronald Rayburton sighed and got out the car. He didn’t need the gas but he got it anyway. He listlessly filled up the tank and stood there staring at the gas meter. His world was falling apart again right before his eyes. And he didn’t know how to fix it.
Back in his neighborhood, he rounded the corner on to a lighted street to get to his house. Nothing at all seemed normal or right anymore.
“Hey, Dad,” Reese greeted him, with his back turned and his eyes glued to the video game screen in front of him.
“You should be in bed by now, shouldn’t you?” Mr. Rayburton inquired.
“I guess so but I was just finishing up this game,” Reese said.
Mr. Rayburton said nothing and walked up the stairs to the room he shared with his wife. Without thinking, he kneeled down by the bed and put his head down in position to pray.
Lord, I don’t know how to approach You or tell You anything about my life and our situation. My mother always said You already know everything even before it happens and that you’re never surprised or shocked by anything. I don’t know how true that is. It seems to me that if you know everything already, you would have done something for me, for us. You would have not allowed us to get into this position in the first place. Maybe You could have stopped all of this from happening.
He paused for a moment wondering if it was right for him to blame God. We are in deep financial trouble, Lord, and I don’t know what to do about it. I thought I had the solution, but I don’t. So I am asking You, if You can hear me, and if you can help me, please do so. Show us the way out. Bless my wife and my children. Please don’t let them suffer any more.
I know I haven’t always done what’s right. I didn’t talk to You when things were going good. In fact, I turned my back on You. I am sorry for this. If You can find the power to do so, please bless me again.
Without saying Amen, Mr. Rayburton got up and sat on the bed. A sense of peace and a renewed hope came over him. He didn’t know what would come next or even if God would do anything for him. But strangely, he didn’t worry about that. For the first time in a long time, he felt everything would be alright.
