I Will Love You Forever Pt. 2 Ch. 14

She looked at Bella to see if she was seeing the same thing that she was, but Bella wasn't paying attention. She stared at the back of Saul's head not believing what she was seeing. She then decided that her eyes were deceiving her. The person that she was looking at was more than likely someone of mixed blood. That would explain the hair texture.

Isadora was distracted by the call to worship. She stood along with everyone else when the minister invited them to join him in prayer. Isadora closed her eyes and said a prayer of her own. She thanked god for giving her a chance to pursue her goals and for Lenny, Bella and their girls. She prayed for the safety and wellbeing of her family and friends back home. What she didn't pray for was for the capability to forgive those who had wronged her. She still needed the anger and hatred to keep her moving forward. She wasn't sure that she would ever be able to forgive them or even if she wanted to.

The song ended and the minister recited Psalm 122:1. From that point on, the service sped by. Before she knew it, they were singing the last song and saying the closing prayer.

"Now don't run off!" The minister said after the prayer. "There's a fellowship meal and from what I can see, there's plenty of food! I'm going to ask Brother Joshua to say the blessing and then we're dismissed."

After the blessing for the food was said, the sound of many people talking filled the room. Saul stayed where he was and waited for Joshua and Cora. He found the church service enlightening and enjoyable. It was a far cry from the services that he attended as a child. To his relief, it was as Cora said; people soon forgot about him or they accepted the fact that he was there.

As the service wore on, he found that he was no longer thinking in terms of being the only white man in the congregation. Instead he felt as if he finally fit in somewhere. He had watched and listened to the minister and was impressed with the confidence in his voice and words. The minister wasn't as well-spoken as Joshua, Cora or Jacob, but his words and the conviction behind them were powerful. He found himself clapping and tapping his feet to the music. He liked it here, he felt at peace here even though there were those who didn't want him there.

As he waited for Joshua, the minister approached him.

"Good afternoon and welcome to the house of the lord!" He said offering his hand. "I'm Pastor Micah Rollins."

"Thank you sir." Saul replied accepting the man's hand.

"So you must be the young man that Brother Joshua took in."

"Yes sir, my name is Saul."

"Well Saul, it's a pleasure to meet you and I hope that you come back."

"Yes sir." Saul replied. He had already decided that he would be coming back every Sunday that he was off from work.

For the most part, Saul was welcomed to the church. There were a few who didn't try to hide their displeasure that he was there. They didn't say anything, they didn't have to. It was in the angry glares that they gave him when he looked their way.

"Let's get into line." Joshua said after he finished his conversation with another church member.

Saul thought about going home, but his stomach was rumbling. Not only that, neither Joshua or Cora would have let him go. He stood in line behind them and tried not to look around too much. He didn't want to give the appearance that he was staring.

"I hope you're hungry." A voice from behind him said.

Saul turned to the speaker to face a young man not much older than he was.

"My name is Lucas Walker." The young man said as he held out his hand.

"I'm Saul; it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Welcome to our church, but how is it that you're here?" Lucas asked.

Saul sensed genuine interest in the question and found that he liked the black man even though he had just met him.

"I live with Joshua and his wife." Saul replied. "I happened to be off from work and they invited me to come to church with them."

"They're good people." Lucas said. "By the way, make sure that you get a slice of my mother's sweet potato pie."

"Alright, but how will I know which one is hers?" Saul asked.

"I'll tell you." Lucas said with a grin.

**

Isadora watched as Saul made his way down the food line. She had been wrong; he wasn't mixed; but all white. At first glance, she thought he was one of them. Her heart had begun to pound and she felt dizzy even though she knew that it couldn't have been him... he wouldn't be caught dead in a black church. But even so, she didn't begin to relax until she got a better look at Saul. Saul was bigger than he was in both height and build and Saul's hair was a darker shade of brown. Aware that she was staring, Isadora looked away and concentrated on serving potato salad to the next person in line.

***

Saul was so engrossed in his conversation with Lucas that he didn't notice that he was being watched by more than one person.

"What are you studying?" Saul asked when Lucas told him that he was a college student.

"I'm going to seminary next year." Lucas replied.

"You're going to be a minister?" Saul asked.

"I sure am!" Lucas replied proudly. "I hope to have my own church someday. What about you? What are you planning to do?"

"I don't know yet." Saul replied evasively. He didn't want Lucas to know that he was still in the process of learning how to read better and that he hadn't graduated from school.

"Well, the world could always use another prophet of the lord." Lucas said. "Oh hey we're in luck! There's still a couple of my mom's pie left! "

Saul looked in the direction in which Lucas was indicating and felt eyes on him. He looked around and saw the same men that were staring at him all morning, but they weren't paying attention to him. He continued to look around until he met the cool, but curious gaze of Isadora. He looked back at her, blushed and then quickly looked away.

Every so often he would look up and see that he was still being watched by Isadora. He was almost tempted to introduce himself to her, but didn't. For one, he didn't know how he would be received by her and two; he had no desire to create a problem.

By the time the meal was over, he was sneaking peeks at Isadora when he thought no one was looking. He had also begun to wonder about something else; his future vocation. He wanted to think about it a bit more before he talked to Joshua about it, but something that Lucas said had struck a chord with him.

After the meal Saul helped clean up and put the tables and chairs away. Once he was close enough to speak to Isadora, but he didn't. It wasn't so much because of fear or nerves that he didn't speak to her, it was because he got the feeling that she didn't want him to speak to her. He gave her the briefest of nods and moved on not staying to see if she responded.

****

Monday morning had arrived before Patricia knew it, but she was anxious to get back to school. Abby was going to stay with the children until Hana arrived. When she and Kenji got back from school, they would talk to Hana about babysitting so that Patricia could take more classes.

"Come here pretty one." Kenji said to Marie who had just finished her breakfast.

When the little girl reached him, Kenji bent down and picked her up.

"I want you to promise me that you will behave yourself." Kenji said gently but firmly. "You are to obey Aunt Abby and grandma Hana. Do you understand?"

"Yes papa." Marie said softly.

"Do I have your promise that you will behave?" Kenji asked as he looked into Marie's eyes.

"Yes papa." Marie replied.

"Good." Kenji replied. "I am trusting that you will keep your word."

Even as young as she was, Marie knew that Kenji expected her to do as she promised. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"I love you papa."

"I love you too." Kenji replied as he kissed her cheek.

Of their two children, Kenji was most worried about Marie. She was the most impulsive and more prone to cause mischief. He loved her spirit and in so many ways she reminded him of Patricia; but her stubbornness could be and was often a source of trouble.

He sat her on her feet and looked for Ralph. His admonishments to the boy would be different than the one that he gave Marie.

"Be sure to help Aunt Abby and Grandma Hana." Kenji said.

"Yes papa and I promise to help look after Marie too." Ralph said.

"Thank you Ralph." Kenji said hugging him. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ralph replied. "Papa?"

"Yes?"

"Will anyone try to hurt you today?" Ralph asked.

"I do not believe so." Kenji replied. "Andrew Kelly is in prison."

"But doesn't he have friends?"

"Yes he does, but I don't think that we need to be worried about them." Kenji replied as he reached for his wallet. "Here is my handkerchief; will you keep it safe for me?"

Ralph took the handkerchief, held it for a brief moment and put it in the front pocket of his jeans. He hugged Kenji again and went to the kitchen to say goodbye to Patricia who was waiting by the door leading to the garage. They left a moment later after once again admonishing the children to behave.

Patricia was as excited as if she was the first time she had gone to school. She really couldn't explain it and felt no need to. Kenji reached over, took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. He was happy for the both of them, but still felt that caution was in order.

"Kirei, be careful. Just because Andrew Kelly is gone doesn't mean that there aren't others. We will proceed as we always have. You will wait for us in the library and go nowhere alone."

"I figured as much." Patricia replied. "You and Joel watch yourselves too."

*****

Ernie felt light hearted as he got ready for school. He felt bad for Andrew's family even though he was glad that Andrew was in prison. The visit with Andrew's parents had been one of the saddest things that he had ever encountered. He couldn't even begin to imagine how they felt. The lighthearted feeling evaporated when he remembered Andrew's mother asking if Andrew had really been the leader of a hate group. As much as he had wanted to soften his answer, he knew that he couldn't. They deserved the truth.

"Yes ma'am he was." He had replied. "I know because I was a member of the same group."

"You were?" Andrew's father had asked.

"Yes sir I was."

Ernie could still feel the oppressive silence that occurred after that revelation. When he closed his eyes he could still see the resignation on the faces of Andrew's parents. It was the last question that Andrew's mother asked that still brought a lump to his throat-

"You got out, why didn't you help Andrew?"

The fact of the matter was, he was so relieved to be out of the group that he hadn't thought about helping anyone else. Then there was the matter of what Andrew would have done to him. He didn't answer the question, he had no answers other than that he had been relieved and afraid.

The visit lasted for almost an hour with his parents praying with Andrew's parents and offering support in any way that they could. Andrew's mother particularly appreciated the offer as none of her friends would have anything to do with the 'mother of a murderer'.

As they prepared to leave, Andrew's father finally spoke. He had said very little during the visit and if he did, his voice always had a tremor to it.

"Thank you for coming." He said. "We appreciate the support." He then turned to Ernie and gave him a long, sad look. "I understand why you didn't say anything to Andy- he would have killed you."

That absolution did little to ease Ernie's guilt, but Andrew's father was right; Andrew would have killed him. Now as he got ready for school, Ernie realized that he had a choice to make. He could go back to things as they were, meaning that he ignored Kenji and Joel or he could make a statement not in words; but in action.

He couldn't help but wonder about the rest of the group. Of the remaining core members, Duke was the most likely to succeed Andrew. It was a chilling thought. Duke was much more action oriented than Andrew had been. Had Duke been running the group one of the 'melting pot' would have been dead and he would have used Patricia to get to Kenji.

Ernie's mood changed dramatically at the realization of the new threat. It made his decision much harder to make. He finally decided that he had to do the right thing and that was to make his statement and hope for the best.

*****

Isadora packed up her books for school, ate a quick breakfast and waited for Lenny to give her a ride to school. She was anxious to find out if Maeve would accept her invitation to dinner. As she waited, she thought about the white man that she had seen at church. Apparently Bella and Lenny knew who he was, but had never met him until church.

"He lives with Brother Joshua and his wife." Bella told her when she asked. "He comes from South Carolina."

"How did he meet them" Isadora asked.

"He was on the same train as Brother Joshua and they started talking." Bella replied. "He seems to be nice enough."

Isadora didn't reply. She didn't care how nice he was, as far as she was concerned; he was an interloper. She immediately felt guilty. She had just done what the whites had been doing to the blacks for years. He had as much right to go to church wherever he chose as she did.

She then realized that issue wasn't so much that he was as the church; the issue was that he was a white man. She remembered her initial reaction when she saw him; the first person she thought of was... She pushed the name from her mind. She didn't need to remember him right now. She was on track.

"Are you ready to go?" Lenny asked disrupting her thoughts.

"I'm ready." Isadora replied.

There was very little conversation during the drive to school. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts, but finally; Lenny spoke.

"Bella says that you want to invite someone over for dinner."

"It's the girl who helped me get caught up with school." Isadora replied. "Is that a problem?"

"No, not really." Lenny replied after a brief hesitation.

"I feel a 'but' coming." Isadora said looking at him.

"I just want you to be careful." Lenny replied. "I'm sure that you think that this girl is your friend, but Isadora...

"Her name is Maeve and she is my friend." Isadora said interrupting him. "She sat with me when no one else would. She helped me when no one else would."

"I understand that." Lenny said gently. "I'm just thinking about the story of that white boy at school, the one who ran the hate group. I'm not saying that your friend is a part of something like that, but I am urging caution."

Isadora's irritation diminished as she understood that Lenny was speaking as the protector of his family.

"I understand." She finally said, "But Lenny, Maeve isn't a part of that group or any group like it. However, if it will make you feel better; I won't make the invitation."

"I'm not saying don't invite her." Lenny said. "I'm just saying be careful. People aren't always as they appear."

Isadora had to admit that Lenny had a point, but her gut was telling her that Maeve was a true friend.

"I agree with you there." Isadora replied. "Thank you."

"Isadora, I know that Bella already told you this, but we consider you a member of our family. Our home is open to any of your friends and we're available if you want or need to talk about anything."

"I know and thank you." Isadora said softly. "I consider you family too."

The drive ended with Isadora and Lenny setting a pick up time.

"Good morning!" Maeve greeted when Isadora took the seat next to her. "How was your weekend?"

"It was fine." Isadora replied. "Have you made any headway on your paper?"

The expression on Maeve's face told Isadora what she needed to know.

"I don't know what the problem is." Maeve said. "It isn't like I've never written a paper before."

"Maybe you're thinking about it too much." Isadora offered. "I mean maybe you're making it harder than it really is."

"Maybe... but how do I stop doing that?" Maeve asked. "We've known about this assignment for a week and I haven't written one word. How about you?"

Isadora blushed. She didn't want Maeve to feel any worse than she did, but she couldn't lie.

"I'm finished." She said softly.

"Damn!" Maeve exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

"Well, I not looking after my sick mother and helping to raise my brothers and sisters." Isadora replied.

"True." Maeve conceded. "I would give anything for just one night to be able to study without interruptions.

"Maeve... would you like to come home with me tomorrow? We can work on your paper and you can eat dinner with us."

Maeve looked at Isadora, but didn't reply for a few seconds.

"I... I don't know about that." She replied.

"Why not?" Isadora asked. "You just said that you would give anything for a quiet evening to study uninterrupted."

"I know, but what about the people that you're staying with? Won't they mind?"

Isadora was beginning to understand what was happening. Maeve was what her father called a 'sometime friend'. They were friends only when it suited Maeve.

"If you don't want to come home with me just say so." Isadora said her tone matter of fact. "But don't give me a bunch of excuses."

Maeve blushed as she tried to explain her position.

"It isn't that I don't want to come to your house, but Isadora haven't you been reading the papers? There's a racist group right here on this campus!"

"So I've heard." Isadora replied dryly.

"I'm just saying why invite trouble? Maeve asked.

"Maeve, you sit next to me in class." Isadora said. "We share our lunch; don't you think that people have already noticed? I think that it's a little too late to be worrying about inviting trouble."

"Yes but..." Maeve started and then she began to giggle. "I am such an idiot!" she said between her giggles. "I'm sorry. I know how my response must have seemed to you. But, you're right. I would love to have dinner at your house. Maybe we can get this stupid paper done."

Isadora smiled, but was skeptical as to whether Maeve would really go home with her the next day.

*****

Ernie walked into the classroom and looked around. It was decision time. When he saw Duke, he started go to his usual seat. He stopped, looked around again and saw Peter watching him. With a pounding heart, Ernie made his way to the empty seat to Kenji's right. To his surprise, neither Duke nor anyone else in the group paid him any attention.

He slid into the empty seat next to Kenji and nodded at him.

"Good morning." Kenji said softly.

"Good morning." Ernie replied noticing that Joel was ignoring him. "Thanks for helping me the other day, it makes sense now." He said to Kenji.

"You are welcome." Kenji replied. "As long as you remember what the basic concept is, you will be fine."

"But still... you didn't have to help me." Ernie said. "You could have let me fail."

"To what purpose?" Kenji asked. "All that would have happened is that I would have denied the world a good doctor. But more importantly, it is time to let go of old hatreds and anger."

Joel looked at Kenji when he heard the comment. He knew that Kenji was right, but Ernie and his friends could have ended his medical career if he had wanted to be a surgeon. On the other hand, he was awed by Kenji's capacity to forgive. Something that Kenji attributed to Patricia.

"It is she who taught me about true forgiveness." Kenji told him one day. "She not only speaks of it, she lives it. If not for her I believe that I and my father would still be at odds."

Joel then looked at Ernie and for the first time saw him differently. He didn't think that they would ever be friends, but he was beginning to understand something about Ernie. While he was a member of Andrew's group, he wasn't and had never been a true believer. If he had, he wouldn't have apologized to them at Milt's funeral and he wouldn't be sitting with them now.