GOD HEALS
It had been three long weeks since Sinclair flipped out on Kingston and three weeks that Sinclair refused to speak to or see him. He had left several messages but she never returned any of his calls. He felt like his world had come crashing down on him yet he was the cause of everything that had happened. Kingston was totally lost without Sinclair he didn’t know what to do to repair the mess but he knew he had to do something because he couldn’t let her lose her business.
Kingston’s head was pounding with such a headache that he thought he was going to pass out from the pain. He had missed Sinclair so much that he just could not bear the pain that he inflicted on her. The pounding still went on until Kingston realized it wasn’t his head pounding that hard but rather someone pounding on his front door.
“What took you so long? I have been ringing this bell and knocking on your door for ten minutes,” Calvin said as Kingston opened the door and he slipped right in.
“Pop, what are you doing here?” Kingston asked looking disheveled with his tee shirt hanging half way inside his pants.
“What do you mean, what am I doing here?” Calvin asked looking at his weary son. “It’s third Saturday, it’s fishing day, Son.” Calvin replied as he walked into the living room to find it a complete mess.
His once clean house was now the total opposite of its normal stage. Clothes, dirty dishes and papers littered his living room, kitchen and family room and even the dining room too.
Kingston took a seat on the couch in the family room and held his head in his hand. “Pop I have a pounding headache and I am not in the mood to go fishing today, I’m going to have to skip it this time.”
Calvin moved a shirt off a chair and took a seat himself. “Well, that’s not an option because Jamison is home sick, so it’s just you and me and I do plan on getting some fish today.”
“Pop, I really don’t feel like going. I will make it up to you another time just not today.” Kingston pleaded as he leaned his head back on the sofa.
“When is the last time you actually cleaned this house, it looks like a pig sty? And since when did you start growing a beard? You look like you haven’t slept in days because you have bags under your eyes, you look horrible.” Calvin asked as noticing the physical changes in his son.
“Pop, I’m fine.” Kingston lied barely opening his eyes because the light made his head hurt even more.
Calvin dropped the clothes he had started to pick up and took Kingston to his mirror in the hallway. “This is not the face of a man who is fine.”
Kingston almost didn’t recognize his own self. His normal gray eyes were dark and he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, just like his father had said. He had begun to grow a beard and even his bald head was now covered with hair from lack of shaving. He couldn’t even stand looking at himself in the mirror and so he backed away.
“Stop lying to yourself. You’re not fine; I see the way you have been walking around here looking like you lost your best friend. The fact is you did lose your best friend and I can see it hurts. There is a huge difference in the way you are now compared to the way you were before Sinclair left you.”
“Pop, I have done all that I can and I don’t know what else I can do.” Kingston walked to the kitchen and took a seat at the counter, with his father following him.
“No, you haven’t, you look like you have already accepted defeat.” Calvin said going into the refrigerator and grabbing the glass pitcher of orange juice.
“Top left,” Kingston said pointing to where the glasses where in the cabinet.
“Thanks. Your mother and I have had our share of problems so I understand. I have learned that if you give up before you even try your relationship is doomed. It’s doomed because you didn’t try hard enough to make it work.” Calvin said while he poured two glasses of orange juice and handed one to Kingston.
“I failed her and all I ever wanted to do was to protect and lover her. I mean I wanted for her to never, ever have to suffer the way she did growing up. The last thing on my mind was to hurt her. She is a beautiful person inside and out and does not deserve what I did to her. No one deserves that, not even Satan himself.” Kingston said as he sipped on his orange juice.
Calvin finally found what he was looking for in the draw next to the counter. “Take these they should help that headache.” Calvin said holding out two pain killers to Kingston. “I don’t believe you meant any harm to her in any way. It was Dunbar who schemed and lied his way into your lives. You should have done a background check on him before doing business with him. Had you taken the time to check him out thoroughly you would have known he was a con artist.”
“Stop trying to make me feel better. This was my fault any way you look at it. I should have checked out all the information but I didn’t and I made a foolish mistake.” Kingston said as he held his head down. “I feel so guilty about the whole thing. The doctor said she might be dependent on crutches or a cane for the rest of her life and I feel responsible for that. It’s because of me that she might not walk again on her own. The whole time she was in the hospital all I did was pray that she would be all right.”
“You can’t blame yourself for any of this especially the car accident. That had nothing to do with you.” Calvin said as he took a gulp of his orange juice.
“If I did not let her get into that SUV she would never have gotten into the accident,” Kingston said shaking his head.
“No Kingston.” Calvin said touching his shoulders causing Kingston to look up at him. “One of the officers suggested that I have the SUV checked out because of the way the accident happened. The officer said he had seen tons of car accidents, but none like Sinclair’s. I took his advice and had it towed to my mechanic while you were at the hospital with Sinclair. I knew you said she was having problems with the radiators but it was never that, it was her engine. The engine blew and caused a small explosion under the hood that in turn caused the SUV to catapult into the air and flip over. So the accident was not your fault.” Calvin explained to a surprised Kingston.
“What?” A confused Kingston asked.
“No it wasn’t your fault. So you can stop beating yourself up about it.” Calvin reassured Kingston.
“That’s one problem solved. Now, I just need to convince Sinclair that I really didn’t know Chad Dunbar was scamming me.” Kingston said, taking a gulp of his juice.
“Speak it into existence that she is coming back and watch God bring her back. Now I’m going to clean up this mess down here while you go take a shower and for God’s sake shave already.” Calvin said as he finished his juice and picked up the pile of clothes he had dropped.
“But Pop. I’m not…” Kingston began but his father cut him off.
“I told you I was getting me some fish today, didn’t I? Now hurry up and get ready I know this little spot not far from here where we can get some grits and fried fish for breakfast.” Calvin said as he plucked clothes off the floor.
“Thanks Pop.” Kingston said walking over to his father and hugging him.
“You’re welcome. Now go clean up yourself; you look like a caveman with all that hair.” Calvin said as he continued cleaning.
Kingston had agreed to go to breakfast with his father but little did he know it would turn out to be lunch and even dinner as well. They spent all day shopping for new fishing equipment and things for the boat. They even stopped at the men’s store where Kingston bought a new suit. Kingston had not expected to be out all day, but he had enjoyed every minute of it. He had needed to get out and get some air.
It was three am and he couldn’t sleep yet again. He sat in his office staring blankly at his computer screen. Kingston could have any woman he wanted because they were constantly throwing themselves at him but he didn’t want any of them, he only wanted Sinclair back in his life. She had brought so much joy to his lonely bachelor life and finally he had someone worth bringing around his family and church too. Sinclair had blended in well with everyone and everyone adored her. They loved her so much that when he asked for help taking care of her everyone was eager to volunteer.
It made Kingston mad that Sinclair would break off their dates to work but seeing her smile after he brought her candlelit dinners made his anger fade away. She clearly had a purpose in life which she worked extremely hard for. Sinclair didn’t have much but she shared every little thing she had. Her past struggles had shown him just how much hard work could make a huge difference in one’s life. He was truly in love with Sinclair and yet he had messed up the best thing that had ever happened to him. He had to find a way to win Sinclair back because he needed her back in his life.
“Lord I need a miracle, I need Sinclair. I need to get the woman back that is to be my future wife. I need her Lord, I need her.” Tears started rolling down his face and he didn’t even care to wipe them away. He was hurting so bad all he wanted to do was hold Sinclair in his arms.
Kingston had let his head fall onto the computer’s keyboard when he looked up and realized he had work to do. He had remembered that his father called Mr. Dunbar a con artist and he knew con artists never played only one game, they played many. He typed Chad Dunbar’s name into the computer and was shocked at what he saw.
“Thank you Jesus for saving me!!” Kingston exclaimed as he took the paper out of the printer and reached for the telephone.
********************
Green draperies hang alongside the floor to ceiling windows in this large living room that was covered with a light gray paint on the walls. A smoke gray sofa and love seat set sat surrounding a square travertine top coffee table with pops of magenta in the flowered vase that sat atop it. A large framed picture of the Eiffel Tower hung on one wall while one of Sinclair’s own paintings hung on the adjacent wall.
“I can’t believe you did that Robyn? That pregnancy of yours has you eating some crazy foods.” Sinclair said looking at Robyn as she sat eating pickles that she had dipped into her ice cream.
“It tastes good to me, you should let me have some of that banana pudding to add to this,” Robyn, said trying to reach over to Sinclair.
“Nope, you know I’m not sharing this.” Sinclair said as she turned away from Robyn.
“With all the different people helping you, do you even know who made your food?” Robyn asked while she and Sinclair sat with their feet up in Sinclair’s living room.
“I know Kingston made this and all the food that is in my refrigerator because I’m used to his cooking now. The church members have been cleaning, doing my laundry and running my errands for me too. Mr. Parker has even taking a liking to Miss Hazel who has been tending to the garden. They look like they are getting very comfortable together.” Sinclair said smiling at Robyn.
“Wow!” Robyn said looking at the rows of movies sitting on the rolling shelf near the sofa. “Think you have enough?”
“When Kingston brought me home from the hospital those were there. There is even more in my bedroom. He had packed my refrigerator to the brim and he moved all the furniture so I could get around without bumping into anything.” Sinclair was still upset with Kingston but thought it was nice of him to get her apartment ready for her.
He had said he would take care of her whether she liked it or not and he had. She didn’t need anything and if she did there was always someone for her to call. He had cooked her three meals a day and had them delivered every day. He even hired a car service to take to her where she needed.
“Nice. That was so thoughtful of him.” Robyn replied as she dipped another pickle into her ice cream.
“Anyway, how is my agency? What is going on there?” Sinclair abruptly changed the subject.
“Nope. I won’t do it.” Robyn said waving her spoon across from Sinclair on the sofa. “Nope. I promised Kingston I wouldn’t tell you anything about the business. I can however, tell you that Ronald Witherspoon was sentenced to time served and one year probation.”
Sinclair’s face lit up with joy. “That’s great to hear, now what else is going on.”
“It’s not final,” Robyn said to a puzzled Sinclair.
“What is not final? What the heck is that supposed to mean?” Sinclair asked in an agitated voice.
“I’m not at liberty to say.” Robyn said as she started going through the movies on the shelf.
“You know, I am so not liking you right about now Robyn.” Sinclair said in a sarcastic voice.
“Well, I’m so not liking you right now either,” Robyn retorted as she put down the movies. “You are sitting up here being pampered from head to toe, not having to lift a finger and it’s all because of Kingston. He put the Take Care of Sinclair Plan into motion, everything from Sasha, Oliver and I running your office to the people coming here to help take care of you, he set up this plan. This is the same man that makes you three hot meals a day so you don’t have to eat fast food since you don’t know how to cook. Now you’re mad at me because I won’t tell you about the business that you need to be resting from. You can’t be serious Sinclair.”
“I should have let you check him out.” Sinclair said with her head down.
“What? What are you talking about Sinclair?” Robyn was totally confused now.
“Remember the creepy realtor that came to my office to try and buy me out?” Sinclair asked and she started playing with her curly hair.
“Yes?” Robyn asked. “What about him?”
“His name is Chad Dunbar, he and Kingston were the one trying to buy my business. The night Kingston gave me my cooking lesson we stayed up all night watching movies. Before I went to bed in the guestroom downstairs, I was working on a few things and I must have picked up his papers with mine when I packed my briefcase. And that’s when I found it.” Sinclair said staring out the window. “I found a document with both their names on and my agency as the property to be purchased.”
“That can’t be right. That doesn’t even sound like Kingston, he would never do something like that to you or anyone else.” Robyn could not believe what Sinclair just said.
“I felt the same way too so I rushed over to his house to ask him about it. Sitting in his living room was none other than that sneaky low life Chad Dunbar. I asked Kingston about the paper and he claimed he didn’t know it was my property. And the creepy Chad had the nerve to say to me, it was just business. I was about to give him a piece of my mind when Kingston stopped me. I told you when he came to see me that something didn’t feel right with him. I should have let you have him checked out.” Sinclair felt like she had let all of her clients down.
“Look, I don’t care what happened. I still say that doesn’t sound like Kingston to me. There is more to that story than it seems but you just have to sit down and talk to Kingston. Has he called you at all?” Robyn just couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I haven’t returned his calls.” Sinclair said as she continued playing with her hair. “Robyn if I lose the business I worked so hard for I couldn’t live with myself. It would seem like I let Miss Marjorie down and I can’t do that, but with Kingston being behind this whole thing, I can’t I really can’t.” Sinclair said as she broke down and cried. Robyn rushed over to Sinclair’s side and hugged her while she cried into her arms.
“That’s not going to happen. You are a good person and God knows your heart. Trust me God is going to work this out, trust me. God is an on time God and He will work this out.” Robyn reassured a crying Sinclair.
********************
A few hours later Sinclair sat in her living room watching a movie when there was a knock on her door. “Come in Miss Annabelle,” Sinclair yelled to the door expecting to see the older woman from the church.
Louise Carter stepped into Sinclair’s living room looking fresh and vibrant while dressed in a casual blue shirt and jeans. Her long hair was pulled into a high pony tail making her look years younger.
Sinclair was shocked to see who walked through her door. “Mrs. Carter what are you doing here?”
“I have come to take you out of this house today,” Louise said as she put her purse on the coffee table and sat right across from Sinclair.
“Mrs...” Sinclair started.
“Miss Louise will do fine as I told you before. Now if you would just tell me what you would like to wear I will help you get dressed.”
“Miss Louise, I really don’t feel much like going out, but thank you for the invitation.” Sinclair spoke in a soft voice.
“Look Sinclair, I did not drive all the way over here to ask you if you wanted to go out.” Louise said as she leaned to get closer to Sinclair. “I am actually going to kidnap you so you can get some fresh air. You have been hiding out in this house since the accident and you need to get out. The only time you have been out is to go back and forth to the doctor’s office and that’s it.” Louise said to Sinclair who had her leg on the coffee table.
“But Miss Louise,” Sinclair protested.
Sinclair now knew where Kingston got his demanding side from because this was the second time that a Carter had spoken to her in a harsh tone, even though it was for her own good.
“You have been through a tremendous amount of things in a short period of time and you need to start the healing process. It starts here and now with me taking you out of this apartment. Now if Kingston never told you I used to be a missionary at one point but if you got on my bad side I would turn into a mercenary.” Louise said in a stern voice surprising Sinclair.
“My jean skirt is hanging in the front of my closet and my purple blouse is in the back. My purse is by my nightstand and the only shoes I can wear are by the door.” Sinclair did not want any of what Kingston told her she had dished out in the past.
Being a sweet lady also made Louise vulnerable to people trying to take her kindness for weakness. On several occasions she had to take her first lady hat off and put a few people in their places, Sinclair did not want to be one of those people.
An hour later the two arrived at the beauty salon to get their hair done.
“Hi First Lady Carter, good to see you again. You are right on time for your appointments,” greeted the receptionist at the desk of the large hair salon. The twenty something year old said to Louise.
“Appointments?” Sinclair asked.
“Yes, I took the liberty of scheduling us appointments.” Louise said to Sinclair then turned back to the lady at the desk.
“Nice to see you again, Sophia. This is Miss Sinclair Madison; you should have her name down as the other appointment.”
“We sure do. Hi Sinclair. Now if you two would just follow me everything is set up for you.” The Asian woman said as she walked to the stylists who were waiting for them.
“Miss Louise you didn’t have to do this.” Sinclair said as the hair stylist helped her into the chair.
“I didn’t have to do this, I wanted to do this.” Louise replied as she got comfortable in her chair next to Sinclair.
“I know how much my son loves and cares for you. I also know how much you love and care for him as well. Honey, I know this is a hard thing you are going through right now but you have to get up from it. You are not the same person I met so many months ago, the woman whose smile lit up any room. Where is the Sinclair Madison that stole my son’s heart? What happened to her?” Louise got right to the point.
When the stylist took Sinclair’s hair down from her pony tail, she stared at herself in the mirror and she couldn’t even recognize her own self. Her eyes were withdrawn and her dimples looked like they had completely faded away. She felt so bad on the inside that it had started showing on the outside.
“I honestly don’t know, she is simply lost somewhere,” Sinclair confessed. “No one will tell me what is going on with my agency. I don’t know whether I have to shut it down or move or what.”
“Honey your agency is fine and we are making sure you don’t have to close the doors to your business. What you have built is a one of a kind thing here in this area and it serves so many needy people, there is no way we will allow it to close.” Louise said to Sinclair as the stylist started combing her long gray hair.
“If it weren’t for the pain killers putting me to sleep I would not sleep at all. I worked so hard to make my business what it is and to sit back and do nothing makes me feel completely helpless.” Sinclair said staring at her undone nails.
“You’re not helpless; you just are down right now. You have walked into the walls of Jericho and just because you can’t get over it doesn’t mean you can’t get around it. I believe when you get up and you will get up, everything will be fine. I know what my son did seems like the cruelest thing anyone could do to another human being, but I believe him when he said he didn’t know Mr. Dunbar was a crook I am not just saying that because he is my son, I say that because he is an honorable man like his father. Now he is not perfect by any means and he does make mistakes because he is only flesh. I bet you he never even asked you about your life in foster care.” Louise said while showing the stylist what she wanted done to her hair.
“No, but how did you know that?” Sinclair asked Louise while looking through a magazine to find a nice hairstyle.
“The Carter men don’t care about your past, they only care about your future. Whatever they can do to make your today and tomorrow better than your yesterday, that’s what they do period. It may seem that he doesn’t care about it but he does, he is just waiting for you to be ready to tell him your story.”
“What does this have to do with anything?” Sinclair was totally lost at this point, she thought her medicine had her delusional.
“It has everything to do with this. He knows he messed up and he is sorry for it. He is giving you the time and space you need to clear your mind. With time all wounds heal, he is just giving you that time.” Louise explained as she waved to the receptionist to come over. She whispered something to the Asian woman who then walked away.
“I remember my mom taking me to the fire station, telling me to count to one hundred and then ring the doorbell. She had gotten back in the car and left me there with a note pinned to my shirt while I held onto a broken doll. I was five and I never forgot that. I can’t even begin to tell you how many foster homes I had been in by the time I aged out. However, I can tell you I changed schools almost every year because no one wanted a kid with emotional and attachment problems. When I aged out the system I hitched hiked from Oregon to Washington DC with the clothes on my back.” Sinclair began when the woman came back with two glasses of lemonade and a plate of cookies on a rolling table which she placed between the two of them.
“I traveled through eight states with less than fifty dollars to my name. Some people said DC had better services for aged out kids, but when I got here I found out that it was a lie. Everything was exactly the same as in Oregon. While I was homeless I saw some many horrifying things no one should have to see but I refused to accept my conditions so I did something about it. I realized when I was a kid no one would help you better than you.” Sinclair paused and took a sip of lemonade.
“I met Miss Marjorie after spending so much time using her public computers in her bookstore while trying to find resources to help myself. She was my first real friend ever and she genuinely cared about me. Before she died she told me to turn the store into a place to continue to help aged out people like myself. I have honored her dying wish but if I lose the agency I will feel like I failed her and I can’t do that because she did so much for me. Miss Louise, I love Kingston from the bottom of heart but because of him I might fail Miss Marjorie.” Sinclair said as the dam finally broke and tears came rushing from her eyes.
Louise jumped out of her seat and hugged Sinclair while one stylist grabbed a box of Kleenex for her.
“Honey, it’s okay. But what you just told me you need to tell Kingston. He needs to know why you are so hurt. He needs to know.” Louise said as she comforted Sinclair.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to start crying like a big baby in the salon.” Sinclair said while drying her eyes with the Kleenex the stylist handed her.
“Don’t worry about it. Why do you think I scheduled the appointment so late in the day? I knew the salon would be empty this time of day and that would be perfect.” Louise said looking into Sinclair’s tear stained face. “I am so glad God put you two together because you both have hearts of gold. This is just something you have to go through to make your relationship stronger.” Louise said as she handed Sinclair her lemonade and took her seat to finish getting her hair done.
“I met Pastor Carter on a bus stop in 1968 in Philadelphia when I was nineteen years old. He was stopped at the light and he asked me why I was on the bus stop so I asked him why he was driving.” Louise said as both the ladies chuckled. “I didn’t want to tell him I was just resting from my one mile walk and I still had another mile to go. I was raised by my grandparents because my mother had so many other kids that she couldn’t care for me. I knew money was really tight so I took the bus to school in the morning and walked home afterwards. With the bus fare I saved I used that money to buy food for the house.” Louise said as she took a cookie off the tray.
“Anyway, I would see Pastor Carter every day and he would offer me a ride but I always turned him down. Then on one day I didn’t see him pull up at the normal time and I actually thought something happened to him. I heard what sounded like a doorbell and I turned around to see Pastor Carter riding his bike while pushing a pink one with a bow on it for me.”
Louise remembered that day just like it happened yesterday. “I married him six months later. He saw I needed more than just a ride every now and then so he went and did something to help me. I rode that bike until the tires literally fell off and Pastor Carter put them back on again. Kingston is just like his father in every aspect and his intentions are only to help you, not hurt you. He sees you carrying so much around that he wants to help alleviate your load. My son is deeply in love with you because of the special person that you are. You may be hurting, but you need to get up and fight for you man if you love him as much as I know you do.” Louise explained a she took her lemonade off the tray.
“Thank you,” Sinclair said as she reached over the table and grabbed Louise’s hand and just held it.
“I know that you didn’t have someone to guide you as you grew up but I am here for you now. Any time you need to talk to me I am here for you. Now you can thank me by allowing the manicurist to do something with those raggedy nails of yours.” Louise said while smiling at Sinclair.
“Yes Ma’am. I really needed this, thank you.” Sinclair held her head back to let the stylist do his magic. This was the first time in weeks she actually felt relaxed and not just because she was getting pampered, but because she actually felt good.