The Veil (29 page)

It was the end of October and Misha had not heard from Bernard since the morning after the incident in the restaurant. She continued her daily routines occasionally thinking about him and praying for him. She did not want to ask Sherrell about him for fear she would think she was interested in him. She was interested in him. There was something special about him that she could not put her finger on. It bothered her on occasion. She continued to ask God to show her what it was.

Being alone and pregnant was getting hard for her. She had to get her extra bedroom cleaned out to get it ready for the baby. Justin had promised her he would help her move some of the boxes in there but he had yet to do it. She walked into the room, feeling overwhelmed with the task that faced her.

She heard a knock on the door and when she answered it there was a man delivering roses to her. She looked at the card. It was from Bernard. He was going to be in Atlanta on Friday and wanted to have dinner with her. Friday was a bad time for her. She had promised one of her students she would attend the homecoming game at Westdale. The Eagles were having a winning season and they could possibly make it to the playoffs. She wanted to call him. Having never saved his number in her phone, it was automatically deleted after he called. She set the big vase of roses on her small table and returned to the task at hand when she heard another knock on the door.

“Well what about Friday?”

She smiled when she saw Bernard standing in front of her.

“You just drop by without calling? Look how I look. You could have given me a chance to put on some clothes.” She ran into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her and pulling off the scarf that covered her hair. In record time she pulled off the torn sweatpants and oversized T-shirt with paint stains on it and put on jeans and a pull-over top.

Bernard was standing outside with the front door wide open when she returned to the living room.

“Why didn't you come in?” she asked.

“You didn't invite me.”

“Come on in here. You should have called first. I was getting ready to clean my spare room to get it ready for Miracle. Goodness, I look awful.” Misha smoothed down the wrinkled blouse.

“You look beautiful. Well how about it?”

“Oh so you think you can come into Atlanta and I'm going to drop everything and go with you. I had plans for Friday.”

“Oh yeah, what?”

“I was going to Westdale's homecoming. I ran into one of my students and she invited me. I'm going. They're having a winning season. Besides you only gave me twenty-four-hour notice. You should have said something earlier in the week.”

“I'll go to the game with you. Then we can have dinner.”

“You attract too much attention. What are you in town for anyway? Before I forget, thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful.” They sat down at the table and continued their conversation.

“You're welcome. I'm here for the Empowerment Day Parade.”

“Oh I love that parade.”

“You want to go with me?”

“Are your associates going with you?”

“No, not this time.”

“Sure, I'd like to go with you.”

He looked around her apartment. “Don't you have class on Thursday?”

“The professor cancelled the class today. I'm glad. I really need to clean out my spare bedroom.”

“Maybe I can help. I don't have any plans today.”

Sounded like a good idea to her. Since Justin never showed up, she decided to take him up on his offer. “The bedroom is across from the bathroom.” She stood up and took his leather jacket and hung it up in the hall closet. He followed her down the short hallway into the spare bedroom.

“Whoa. You need some help with this. You can't lift these boxes,” Bernard said, eyeing the large number of stacked boxes in the room.

“My brother was supposed to help me. He didn't show up and the clock's a-tickin'.” Misha rubbed her belly.

“Well, I'm here. What do you want me to do?”

For the next several hours they worked in the room, separating items into three different piles—donations, keepers, and trash—while Bernard told stories of his travels around the world. Misha sat in a chair, or the royal throne as he called it, listening to him and admiring his passion and commitment to ministry. Bernard took the trash to the Dumpster outside her apartment and placed the items to be donated in his car to take to the charity on his way back to his hotel.

Afterward, she prepared lunch of ham sandwiches and canned soup for them and they sat down at the table to eat.

“You live in DC?” Misha asked him.

“Yeah. How did you know?” he said in between bites of his sandwich.

“Well, the last time you called me, I saw it was a DC number.”

“If you had my number, why didn't you call?”

“You said you were going to call me. Besides, I didn't want to bother you.”

“You could have called me. To be honest, I was disappointed you didn't call me.”

“I thought about it. Once I got up the nerve to phone you, but my cell had already deleted your number. I wanted to know how you were doing. How are you doing?” she said, placing her hand on top of his. He stopped eating.

“I've been busy.”

“That's not what I asked you.”

He sat back in his chair and sighed. “I'm thankful we met.”

“I'm thankful we met too. You don't realize how much you ministered to me the last time you were here.”

“Ministered to you how?”

“Well, several ways. Most importantly you're teaching me how to minister to my child. You look troubled. Anything wrong?”

Looking toward the spare bedroom, not wanting Misha to see his pain, he asked, “What are you going to put in that room?”

“I'm saving my money to buy a bed I saw at the Baby Mart. Hopefully, my family will buy the rest or I can buy it on credit.”

“Is that where you're registered?”

“Yes. I just did the registry last week. I still have about three months to go. Thank you for your help today. I don't know if I would have gotten it done without you.”

“I'm glad I could help. What are you doing the rest of the day?”

“I don't have any plans.”

“You wanna hang out with me?”

“And do what?”

“I don't know. Maybe we can go to a museum or something.”

“Okay. You'll have to let me get presentable first.”

“You look fantastic,” he said, taking his fingers and lightly moving the strand of hair that fell from under her scarf. “I'll take the donations to the Goodwill and come back and pick you up. Will you be ready in twenty minutes?”

“I think so.”

“I'll be back.”

Bernard left the apartment and Misha ran into her bathroom to take a shower and put on some nicer clothes. Bernard attracted a lot of attention and she wanted to look good when she was around him.

She picked up the remote and flopped down on the sofa to take in a little television while she waited for Bernard to return. An hour passed and he was not there, nor did he call. After the second hour she gave up on him returning. Three hours later, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and Bernard was standing in front of her.

“Before you say anything, I know I'm a little late,” he said, holding up his hand. He held a small box in the other.

“A little late?”

“I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I brought a peace offering.” He handed her the box wrapped in baby paper.

“What's this?” She held the beautifully wrapped gift in her hand.

“Open it.” He smiled.

Misha invited him in and they sat down on the sofa. She pulled the ribbon off the box and lifted the top. Inside was the baby intercom system that was on her registry.

“Thank you. But, you didn't have to do this.”

“I wanted to. Before I forget, I have something else out in the car.” They walked outside and down the stairs to a moving truck waiting in front of her building. Bernard lifted the back door. Misha's mouth flew open at the sight of baby furniture, and what looked like all the items on her list. “Surprise.”

“Bernard, I . . .”

“You're welcome. I was so late because they had to put some of this together and I had to find a truck.”

“I don't know if I should accept all this stuff.” She looked at the items stacked inside the truck.
Did he purchase everything in the store?

Bernard stepped up into the truck and began shifting the packages closer to the door.

“Bernard, I appreciate all this. I really do. But, I don't think I can accept it.”

He stopped and walked to her and hugged her. “I wanted to do something special for you since you did something special for me.”

“What did I do?”

“You don't treat me like everyone else. You treat me normal.”

“Normal?”

Misha's neighbor walked out into the breezeway between the two apartments and stopped at the sight of Bernard Taylor. He volunteered to help Bernard carry in the items from the truck. Bernard thanked him by promising to stop by his apartment to surprise the man's wife.

 

Misha walked into the nursery and looked at all the stuff Bernard purchased for her, not knowing how to take his generosity. No one had ever treated her this nicely.

Caressing the expensive bed she wanted but did not have the money to purchase, she could not imagine having a nursery this nice. God had truly blessed her even before this child was born. She knew this child was special.

She hoped she looked like her. She did not need the constant reminder of the rape staring at her daily. She prayed for the unconditional love a mother should have for her child.
God, I know this is selfish, but please let this child have all my features,
she prayed silently.

Bernard stepped into the room. “We can put all this away tonight or tomorrow.”

“Bernard, this is too much. You shouldn't have.”

“I wanted to. Looks like you're ready. Let's go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“You'll see.” He held out his hand. She reached for it and he led her to the door.

They left the apartment and drove to a small restaurant near Lenox Mall. He escorted her to a private dining area in the back. The people in the restaurant treated them like royalty. He had already planned everything. The meal was perfect. He entertained her like he did on stage. But she could see he was covering up. He was standing, acting out his jokes and laughing like nothing was going on. She stared at him but she could not laugh. She could feel his pain.

“You don't have to entertain me.”

He stopped and stared at her.

“You don't have to entertain me.” She stood up and took his hand. “You don't have to entertain me.” He hugged her and Miracle began moving around. He stepped back.

“I don't think she likes me.”

“When Mary and Elizabeth came together, the Bible says the babies in them leaped because of the spiritual connection. Miracle only leaps when you're around. It's spiritual. Now, what's wrong?”

He shook his head as if nothing were wrong. But Misha knew differently. She knew something was up. “Come on. Let's go.”

They arrived at Misha's apartment and Bernard remembered his promise to the neighbor. They walked to the man's apartment. Apparently, he had not told his wife Bernard would be visiting. When she opened the door, the lady started screaming. Misha watched as Bernard jumped into his “Bernard Taylor, gospel superstar” routine. They took pictures with him and their family. The neighbor repeatedly thanked him for surprising his wife as they left the apartment.

When they arrived in her apartment, Misha excused herself to go to the bathroom. When she came out, Bernard was sitting on the sofa watching television.

“You know, people ought to live right,” Bernard said.

“What are you talking about? What are you watching?”

“The news. Some bishop is being sued by a lady saying he fathered her two children.”

Misha focused her attention on the screen. There on the television was an old video of Bishop Moore at a City Development League rally. Then they showed the woman. It was the same woman Misha had seen in her visions before she talked to Bishop. She picked up the remote and turned the television off. Once again God had confirmed something He showed her. However, right now her focus was on one man: Bernard. “You've been avoiding something all day. What is it?”

“My sister, Brea. She's leaving the ministry.”

“Why?”

“She and her husband are starting their own ministry. She said the Lord told them to leave.”

“You know they have to be obedient to what God says. You shouldn't try to stop them.”

“But, what am I going to do when I have to travel? Who's going to stand in for me? I need their help. Why would they do this to me? After all I did for them?”

“Aren't you being selfish?” Misha sat beside him on the sofa. “You think it's all about you, don't you?”

“I'm not being selfish. It's about God and how He's working in our lives.”

“If it's about God, then why are you upset that they're doing what God told them to do?”

“I'm not upset.”

“Yes, you are.”

Bernard stood up and headed for the door.

“Do you always run when people are trying to talk to you? Stop being stubborn and sit back down.” She patted the seat next to her. He returned to the sofa. “I know you're feeling uncertain about change. But you can do it. Hasn't your sister helped you thus far?”