A Sad Soul Can Kill You Part 23

Chapter Forty-four.

Shari sat in front of the television set listening to the World Wide News anchorman. Although the city of Chicago had experienced their fair share of snow and below freezing temperatures, it was incomparable to the unprecedented snow and ice storms affecting the southern part of the country.

According to the anchorman, one of the largest airline carriers in the country had to cancel over 2,000 flights because of the storm. There had been twenty-two weather-related deaths, and over a million homes and businesses were now without power. According to reports from the utility company, more than 500,000 customers were still in the dark.

Shari looked at the $700 utility bill she was holding in her hand. Even though she and Tony still didn't have the money to pay the bill, and the moratorium would be ending in six weeks, her concern about her own family ending up in a cold, dark house seemed trivial in comparison to what she was hearing on TV.

A preview from the six o'clock news appeared on the screen, and Shari's jaw dropped. She picked up her cell phone and called Tia.

"Hey," Tia answered.

"Tia," Shari said urgently. "Turn to Channel Six. Hurry up. The news is about to come on."

"Why?" Tia asked as she pressed the down arrow on the remote control until she got to the channel.

"It's about our neighbor. I just saw the preview."

The theme song for the six o'clock news began playing as Tia turned up the volume. She sat glued to her seat as the words Breaking News Update spread big and bold across the screen. Then the female reporter began talking.

"Good evening, everyone," she began. "We've just received an update on the arrest of a man in his early fifties who had been posing as a teenager online in order to lure young girls to undisclosed locations."

A picture of the man who'd been arrested appeared on the screen, his frozen stare drew attention to his hazel eyes, and Tia cringed. She hated that she'd ever been drawn to them in the first place.

"Homer Woodard," the anchorwoman continued, "the man who is accused of allegedly kidnapping his neighbor's daughter, is now also being charged with child enticement and using a computer to facilitate a child s.e.x crime. The charges were issued against the suspect after police combed through his laptop and discovered multiple online conversations he'd had with several underage girls.

"Police aren't providing any information pertaining to the nature of the conversations," the anchorwoman said, "but the suspect is believed to have met with several of the girls he met online. Currently, he is being held in the county jail on a $5,000 bail. We aren't releasing any of the victims' names due to their ages."

Tia remained speechless. To think Serenity had been held hostage by this monster! Her stomach began to feel queasy as she thought about how she had allowed herself to be intimate with Homer.

"In addition," the anchorwoman continued, "the suspect's mother is believed to have pa.s.sed away in his home just days prior to the kidnapping incident."

"Mother?" Shari and Tia said at the same time.

"I didn't even know his mother lived with him," Shari said. "I never saw her."

Tia moved the phone to her other ear. She didn't bother to tell Shari that she had taken care of Homer's mother in the hospital, and how surprised she'd been when he'd shown up to take her home. She just wanted to put the memory of him and everything else that had to do with him behind her.

"I wonder when she died," Shari said. "I never saw any ambulance or anything."

"Well, obviously it happened while we weren't at home," Tia said. "Otherwise, I'm sure we would have seen or heard something."

"Lord have mercy. You just never know who's living next door to you, do you?"

"No," Tia said sadly, "you don't."

"I feel sorry for those other girls and their families, but let's thank G.o.d Serenity was able to escape!"

"Oh, I have," Tia said a.s.suredly. "Believe me. I have."

"How is she doing anyway?"

Tia turned off the television set, thankful that the focus was s.h.i.+fting away from Homer. "All things considered, she's doing okay, I guess."

"How long are you going to keep dropping her off at school?"

"I'm just trying to give her some time to recuperate before I start letting her stand outside and wait for the school bus again. I just want her to feel safe."

"You probably need some time to feel the same way, huh?" Shari asked.

"Yeah, I do."

"Thanks for dropping Cookie off too."

"Well, they go to the same school so it only makes sense. And Lorenzo is finally making himself useful now by watching for the school bus when they come home."

"That's good," Shari said. "It's a start, don't you think?"

"I guess." A wave of sadness came over Tia as she recalled the conversation she'd had with Serenity the night she'd escaped from Homer's bas.e.m.e.nt.

"Serenity thinks I don't care about her."

"Oh, no," Shari said pressing the mute b.u.t.ton on the remote control, "that's just her adolescence talking. She knows you love her."

Tia looked outside at the frozen stillness. She would be so happy when they got past this cold front. "I don't know," she said. "We're not as close as we could be . . . should be. But I'm going to start spending more time with her."

"You haven't forgotten that all things are possible with G.o.d, right?"

"Right," Tia said. But how could she expect G.o.d to make everything right when she had done so much wrong?

Chapter Forty-five.

It had been four weeks since Lorenzo had begun attending group therapy sessions. He had finally found the courage to break his own vow, and had decided once again, to divulge what had happened to him as a boy. It hadn't been quite as hard as it had been when he'd told his parents; mainly because several of the men and women in the group of twelve had also been molested when they were younger. Lorenzo was finding out that his situation was not as isolated as he'd thought it to be for so long.

Lorenzo sat in his group therapy session listening to a female client talk. "Once you forgive your perpetrator," the woman said, directing her comments toward him, "G.o.d will take care of the rest."

She had just finished talking about her own childhood experience but Lorenzo could tell by the creases in her forehead and the way her jaw clenched while she spoke that she still had some forgiving of her own to do.

He tensed up. "You know this is supposed to be a group of transparency and truth, right?" he said.

She blinked and turned her head slightly. "What does that mean?"

Lorenzo leaned forward on his elbows. "That's what the counselor said." He hunched his shoulders. "I'm just saying."

"Saying what?" she asked defensively.

Lorenzo looked at the woman briefly, and then glanced around the room. "Well, you got your face all torn up like you're still mad. I'm just saying, are you sure you don't have some more forgiving to do?"

"Maybe I do. But what about you?"

A short man sitting next to Lorenzo turned to face him. "You know, man, the Lord can help you with your anger," he said. "But you gonna need to forgive the man who abused you just like G.o.d is willing to forgive you."

Lorenzo looked at him like he was crazy.

"He's partially right," Evan, the counselor who was facilitating the group, said. "G.o.d can help you with your anger." He scooted to the end of his seat. "You see, right now, you're being held hostage by your own dark emotions. You got this pent-up anger inside that you're walking around with every day, and," he leaned forward, "you got to deal with an unforgiving spirit on top of that."

"I bet the man who molested you probably don't even think he did anything wrong," another man in the group said. "He might not even have enough sense to ask for your forgiveness."

Lorenzo stood up, outraged by the comment. "What do you mean, he didn't do anything wrong?"

"Sit back down," Evan said calmly, "and listen. That's not what he said. He said the man probably doesn't think he did anything wrong."

Lorenzo sat down slowly.

"And he's right. The majority of molesters come up with what they think are justifiable reasons for doing what they do. And they try to twist the reality and make it seem like the ones they abuse were somehow willing partic.i.p.ants. But the truth is they're sick individuals." Evan looked at all twelve clients in the room. "And the victim is never at fault. None of you are to blame."

Lorenzo's eyes gla.s.sed over. This was the first time he'd been told that what had happened to him was not his fault.

"Let me tell you something, man," Evan said. "Suppression can be a deadly thing. For me, it had me sniffing something up my nose every chance I got; for you it was popping pills." He continued to look at him. "You're not alone," he said. "Every one of us in this room has had to deal with the same emotions you're dealing with. We might have different situations that caused them, but we've had to deal with them just the same."

Lorenzo's eyes raced across the faces of the other clients. Almost every head in the room was nodding slowly.

"It's hard," Evan said. "I know. But when you turn it over to Jesus He takes the load from you."

Evan paused, and Lorenzo saw that familiar glow emanating from his face. This was the second person whose face seemed to transform into some kind of light whenever they began talking about Jesus and deliverance.

"G.o.d makes a way when you think there is no way," Evan said.

"Uh-huh," the man next to Lorenzo agreed.

"Just think about." Evan grabbed the Bible on the table and began flipping through the pages. "I don't know how much you know about the Bible," he said, "but there's a story in here about Jesus feeding more than 5,000 people with just two fishes and five loaves of bread. I believe that was put in there to show us how He makes a way out of no way."

"That's right," another member of the group said softly.

"He gives you strength you didn't even know you had," Evan said. "And it's G.o.d's kind of strength you're gonna need in order to forgive. Then, my brother, you can be set free."

Lorenzo s.h.i.+fted in his seat as an unwanted teardrop landed on his thigh. G.o.d, how I want to be free!

"What's done is done," the same woman who had been speaking earlier said. "When are you going to stop being so angry?"

Lorenzo looked at the woman's hands. They were curled up so tightly that they resembled the size of two small oranges. "I don't know," he said. "How about I'll get better when you get better?"

"I am better . . ."

"All right," Evan intervened. He scooted his chair closer into the circle. "Everybody, let's get ready for our closing prayer."

Everyone in the circle held hands and lowered their heads as Evan began to pray.

"Father, how thankful I am to You on this day. I'm still here because You brought me out of the darkness and into Your light. Your Word tells me that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And I believe.

"It's my prayer today, Father, that everyone in this room will surrender their souls to You so that You can do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Give them the strength to turn to You not only for deliverance and healing but for the salvation of their souls, Lord.

"Set them free, Lord. Remove the bondage that's been holding them hostage. Right now. In the name of Jesus, I pray, amen."

Lorenzo wiped his eyes and raised his head.

"Step into the light, my brother," Evan said patting him on the back. "Let Jesus deliver you."

Lorenzo nodded his head.

Chapter Forty-six.

It was Wednesday evening, and the green neon-colored numbers on the digital clock read 7:30 p.m. Tia had been in bed all day, paralyzed by an increasing feeling of sorrow and regret that had rendered her unable to rise up and get out of her bed.

It had been quite a month. Between Lorenzo's escalating addiction and Serenity's kidnapping it was a wonder she hadn't lost her mind. Although Lorenzo was finally getting the help he needed, they weren't in the clear yet. And there was still the infidelity she'd committed with Homer.

Infidelity . . . Tia hated that word! G.o.d forgive her but she hated Homer as well. She pulled the comforter over her shoulders. Did she really hate him or was it what she had allowed herself to do with him that she hated? She wondered if she would hate him any less had he not kidnapped her daughter.

She gripped the edges of the comforter and pulled it closer to her neck. The guilt was beginning to take a toll on her. Tia knew that what had happened to Serenity had not been her fault, still she felt that if she had never become intimate with Homer she would not have had to reject him later, and he would not have kidnapped Serenity in retaliation. Everything that happened had been caused by a domino effect, and Tia had knocked over the first tile.

The phone began to ring, and she opened her eyes.

She looked at the caller ID and answered the phone.

"h.e.l.lo, Granddaughter. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Tia lied.

Tia had told her grandmother and mother about what had happened to Serenity. Both of them, of course, were thankful that Serenity had escaped and that the perpetrator had been caught.

"How was work?" Mavis asked.