The Veil (15 page)

That night, as she worshipped, the Holy Spirit began to minister to her and she finally had some peace with what had happened that day. She tried to focus on a television show when she heard,
I am sending you back to Washington and you're going to be there awhile.

“Washington? Why do I need to go back to Washington?” Misha was curious of the thought. After graduating from Howard, she never expected to return except for reunions. Why would God send her back to Washington? She had no desire to live there. But, if that's what God wanted she knew He probably had a plan.

“God give me peace with moving back to DC,” she prayed. The self-doubt began to walk through her mind again. She struggled all night to get rid of the negative thoughts. She prayed to God for strength, which was something she found herself doing quite a bit lately.

Misha was looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with her grandmother. Her family always gathered together this time of the year. She looked forward to playing with India and Asa, her brother Justin's children. More than anything, she looked forward to the time off she had during the holidays. She couldn't wait. She already had it planned out. She was going to spend Thanksgiving Day at her grandmother's and try not to get into an argument with her mother. On Saturday, she was going shopping with Judy and her kids. Then on Sunday, she was going to church. She didn't know where. All she knew was she was going to church Sunday and nothing was stopping her.

Misha sighed, listening to yet another class complain about the football team's losing season. She wished Mr. Davis had not announced the Eagles lost their last game by a whopping thirty-six points. This was their seventh losing season and they had the reputation around town of being losers. The lower classmen on the team were vowing next year would be different. One of her students told her his father was hiring a pro football player to train them in the spring. He wanted to graduate with a winning team. With all the talk about the football season and the upcoming holidays, it was hard for her to get her students focused.

After school, Misha walked into her apartment with her arms filled with groceries and her mail. She placed the bags down on the kitchen countertop and began to sort through her mail. She saw an envelope from Clark Atlanta. She threw the other envelopes on the table and tore open the letter. She screamed when she read the first line.

Congratulations, it is our honor to welcome you to our School of Education, Master of Education program.

Misha jumped around the room. She didn't expect to get accepted so quickly. She read the letter over and over. She screamed when she realized she was able to start school in January. She picked up her phone and called Judy to give her the good news. Then she called her grandmother with the news. She wanted to celebrate and she knew exactly how.

Misha jumped in her car and began to drive to Whole Foods. She wanted chocolate cake and ice cream. She was really a party animal now. Misha laughed. It was not too long ago she would have celebrated at a club. Instead she was celebrating alone with a rare treat. Besides, to her it was a holiday week, a major pig-out holiday, so it didn't matter if she started on Monday or Thursday. She would think about her weight after the holidays.

Misha stood at the bakery counter waiting for the clerk to finish packaging her cake when she saw a man she knew approach her.

“Hey, Misha. How you doing?” It was Carlos Witherspoon, someone she knew from Kingdom Faith.

“Hey, Carlos. How are you? Look at you. You lost weight.” They embraced each other. Misha was happy to see him. He was one of the few people she trusted at Kingdom Faith. “How's Bishop?”

“I don't know. You know, Nicole and I decided to leave Kingdom Faith a couple of months after you did. We couldn't understand what Bishop did to you. After he did that, rumors started all over the church. A number of people left. With all the confusion, we decided we wanted to go somewhere where we could hear the Word of God. Hey, Nicole's pregnant,” Carlos said with a smile.

“You're kidding. You guys are going to have a baby? That's terrific. Congratulations. When is she due?”

“In about three months. We're happy and nervous at the same time.” Carlos stood with his hands on his hips.

“I'm sure you are. I know it can be exciting.”

“You'll find out one day.”

“If the Lord's willing.”

“Well, Misha, where do you go to church now?”

“Nowhere really. I'm still looking.”

“Why don't you come to our church? You'll love our pastor. You'll love the church. It's in the country, but it doesn't have all the drama.”

“Are you the minister of music?”

“No, but I do play keyboard for one of the choirs. Why don't you come? I'm sure you'll enjoy it.”

“I think I will. You'll have to give me directions.”

Carlos reached on the counter and picked up a napkin. Misha handed him a pen. He began writing directions to his church on the napkin when Misha spotted Roger walking toward the deli counter. Carlos turned to see who she was looking at.

“You two still seeing each other?” he asked her.

“Goodness no. I don't even know what I saw in him in the first place.”

He handed the pen back to Misha. “You know, we were all wondering the same thing. We were praying you find him out before you got hurt. Nicole grew up in that church. She has known him for years. She said he was a user and loser. I stopped fooling with him. He lied too much for me.”

“Well, it's too late for that. I don't want to talk about him. Let's talk about your new baby. Is it a boy or girl?” Misha took her cake from the counter and continued her conversation with Carlos.

Carlos received a call from his wife and he left to get her the Italian food she was craving. Misha walked to the freezer aisle to get her ice cream.

“Hey, Mimi.” She heard Roger's voice behind her.

“Don't talk to me. I don't know you.” Misha walked away from him.

“Come on. Don't act like that. We're not at school.”

Misha continued walking as if she didn't hear him talking. She paid for her food and drove home. She prayed she would not have any drama at work the next day. She prayed for peace on her job.

By the time she arrived home, she had lost her appetite for ice cream and cake. As she placed her items in the refrigerator and freezer, she asked herself why Roger still had control over her. It had been over a year since they broke up and it shouldn't have bothered her anymore. But it did. He had a way of turning a good day into a bad one and she was sick of it.

That night she began to pray that God release her from every man she ever connected with who was not her husband. She asked God to release every physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual connection she had with any man outside her husband. She asked God to cleanse her from the sins of her past.

The next day she dreaded going to work. She fully expected Roger to say something about her. If she could get through the day, she would only have Wednesday to deal with him and then time off for the Thanksgiving holiday. She avoided Roger all day by staying in her classroom. Thrilled that the day went by uneventful, she took a long sigh of relief.

That night she read her letter from Clark Atlanta again. She was at peace as she ate her ice cream and cake from the night before for dinner. Sorting through the mail from the previous day, she noticed another letter from Clark Atlanta. Opening the letter, she screamed when she saw it was a scholarship offer.

She leaped as she praised God for blessing her. This time she would not have to take out another student loan. Her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. She did not recognize the number. Her hand reached out to pick up the receiver.

She drew her hand back and waited for the machine to get it. Her hands flew to her mouth when she heard Gloria's voice.

“I want to let you know Roger is not interested in you. He doesn't want to be with a crazy whore. He is with me now. Stop calling him and don't call me either. If you don't leave us alone, I'm going to Mr. Davis and the superintendant. Get a life. Fake Christian.” The connection was broken.

Misha chuckled. How could this woman be so vulnerable? Roger was lying to her. She had not called Roger since they broke up. He had called her numerous times and she did not return his calls. But, this phone call signaled one thing—Roger was up to his old tricks again. Probably mad because she did not speak to him at the store.

Her phone number was unlisted, which meant she probably got the number from Roger. It was time to change her phone number. Not only would it keep Roger from calling, it would keep the few Kingdom Faith people who called her from time to time from calling her with gossip. She took the tape out of her machine and labeled it in case she needed it in the future.

The next day she tried to avoid everybody by staying in her classroom all day. If she could make it to the end of the day she would have freedom, at least for a few days. She rushed to her classroom without speaking to anyone, including Judy. She did not go to the staff Thanksgiving breakfast that morning before school, trying to avoid Roger and Gloria. However, when she opened the door her classroom, Gloria was waiting inside, sitting on her desk.

“Gloria, what are you doing here?” Misha stood in the doorway.

“I'm trying to save your job.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Did you get my message?”

“If you're talking about the message on my answering machine last night, I got it.” Misha left the door open as she walked into the classroom and set her bag on the desk, refusing to be intimidated by the tall woman sitting on her desk. She watched as Gloria got up to close the door. “Don't close that. Leave it open.”

“Whatever. If you want everybody to know your business, that's you,” she said, waving her hand in the air.

“Gloria, what is it? I have a lot to do before class starts.”

“Roger told me what happened at the grocery store.”

“What happened?”

“Yeah, he told me he ran into you at the store and you attacked him. He said the store security had to escort you out of the store.”

“I know you don't believe that.” Misha started laughing and sat down at her desk. She opened the drawer and began to move her hands in it like she was searching for something. “Where does he get that stuff?”

“You're laughing. I don't think it's funny. If I go to Mr. Davis, you could lose your job. Roger told me you're on probation for the last incident.”

Misha couldn't help herself. Her head flew back and she laughed even harder. However, she kept her hand in her drawer. “Please don't tell me anything else he said. I can't take this. He's using you. Don't be stupid. You're his little messenger girl. If you're not careful, he's going to do the same thing to you too.”

“I know you're jealous because Roger is with me now. You know when he's with me, in my bed, he doesn't even think about you. He's mine. All mine.”

“So you're telling me you and Roger are having a sexual relationship? Is that what you're saying?” Misha removed one hand and pointed at Gloria.

“You heard me. That's exactly what I said.” Gloria walked closer to Misha's desk.

“He's a minister.”

“He's a man. He loves me and I love him. We're going to get married. I go to his church with him.”

“You ride in the same car with him?” Misha kept her hand in her drawer and continued her conversation with Gloria.

“I drive my own car because he has to be at the church early. You know he's a pastor. But, that's none of your business. The bottom line is if you don't stay away from him, I'm going to—”

“To what, Gloria? Are you threatening me?”

“All I'm going to say is you better stay away from him or you're going to be sorry.”

Misha pulled her hands out of her desk. She held up a small handheld tape recorder that she kept in her drawer. “I'm sure Mr. Davis would love to hear this tape of you threatening me, Gloria.”

Gloria stood there, shocked. “You heifer! You were recording me? Give me that tape.” She lurched toward Misha, trying to grab the recorder.

Misha ran around her toward the door. “If you and Roger don't leave me alone, I'm taking this tape to Mr. Davis and Frank Wright at the City Development League and telling them how both you and Roger are threatening me. I'm also going to the police to get a restraining order on both of you.”

“You think you're smart. You just leave Roger alone,” she said as she walked out the room and down the hallway.

“Have a nice Thanksgiving,” Misha shouted down the hall. She walked back into her class. She laughed as she looked at the tape recorder. It didn't have a tape in it. Gloria never noticed.

Misha walked to her desk and began unpacking her bag. “God, thank you for helping me defeat this enemy who tried to ruin my day.”

“God, please let both of them find a new job. They are thorns in my side and they need to leave this place,” she prayed. “God, I don't know why Roger's doing this to me. But, if he has to stay, please make him stop. I need my job. I know he needs his. I don't know why he's lying so much. You know. I can't help him. I know you can. Let your peace be with me and let everything covered be uncovered.”

The rest of Misha's day was uneventful. Her students were just as anxious as she was for the day to end. By the time the last bell rang, she had already packed her bag and was standing with the students at the door of her room. When the bell rang, she stood back to allow her students to push their way into the hallway. She followed the last student into the hallway.

“Hey, Misha, you in a hurry?” Judy called out from her classroom.

“Not really. What's up?”

“I hate to tell you this. Randy decided he wanted to spend the holiday at his parents' this year. So we're going to Memphis for the holiday. I wanted you to know I can't go shopping Saturday.”

“That's okay. I need the rest anyway.”

Misha and Judy walked down the hall toward the parking lot. They spotted Gloria turning on to the hall. She looked up and suddenly disappeared around the corner. They began to laugh and Misha told Judy about the phony tape. They laughed all the way to their cars.