E love series box set, p.39
E Love Series Box Set, page 39
“What’s going on Uncle?”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought I heard Joseph talking to someone,” Aunt Lydianne said as she stood in the kitchen door. “You boys come on in here.”
Jacob saw relief in Uncle Joseph’s eyes and smiled so tenderly at Aunt Lydianne until Jacob thought even that was strange. Uncle Joseph wasn’t tenderly at all but Aunt Lydianne loved every bit of him. She’d threatened to leave him on more than one occasion but each time, he’d come to Shreveport and begged her back.
After she left the last time, she didn’t go back until he was in counseling and going to church faithfully. All the family could attest that he’d changed and now their marriage was as strong as ever.
But something was going on now and Nathan was going to get to the bottom of it.
“Auntie, how are you?”
“Nathan, I’m good. And how’s my son-in-law to be?”
“Aunt no Momma Lydianne, I’m well. I’ve been calling you Aunt for so long, I’ll have to get used to calling your mother.”
“Yes, you boys have been friends forever and it’s amazing that you’re now marrying his first cousin. And to thank we have never brought the girls to Shreveport, where you could have met but as soon as you all got grown, you found each other. If that’s not God.”
“You know, I wondered by they never came up when you all came,” Jacob said.
“Well, they were in private year around school. So we never saw a need to take them out. When my mother passed, your entire family came but the girls took the death so hard, they stayed closed in their room.”
“I remember. And they wouldn’t allow us to come in either.” Jacob said.
“Now, I remember,” Nathan replied, then continued, “Jamecia almost closed my hand in the door that day. Mom told us to leave them alone and we went to stay with my friend Taylor.”
“Yeah, and boy, did we have fun.”
“I know right. Now, enough of our memory lane. Uncle Joseph, tell me…what’s going on with y’all?”
“What you mean?”
“It makes no sense for us to beat around the bush, we all know something is going on with either you or Auntie. Now you both can tell us, or I’m calling mommy.”
“Nathan, please don’t call your mother. She’ll drive me nuts.”
“Okay, so are we talking or what?”
“Nephew this is blackmail,” Uncle Joseph said.
“No, it’s love-mail. I love you enough to know something is going on and enough to keep it from mother because I know she will go nuts and drive you nuts.”
“Let’s go to the den,” Lydianne said and slowly stood up.
Nathan immediately reached out to steady her because he could see the sudden movement made her dizzy. And Jacob saw it too because before Nathan could look up, Jacob had her by the arm on the other side.
They walked her to the brown leather doubled recliner in the den and Uncle Joseph followed closely behind, opting to sit directly next to her.
“Baby do I need to…?”
“No Joseph, I’ve got this. First, Nathan and Jacob, you must promise to tell no one. I do not want my girls alarmed by this and I will as planned talk to them after their wedding and honeymoon. Am I making myself clear?”
“Auntie, it’s clear but maybe we’re both putting Jacob in a bad predicament. Jacob, if you feel like you need to leave, do so. But I know the danger in keeping secrets from your soon to be wife and I don’t want the same hurt Regina felt by me keeping things from her, on you.”
“Either way, it would still drive me nuts just knowing there’s something wrong and Jamecia doesn’t know. I believe I’m too far in already, but I trust God to make the best decision for us all.”
“Fair enough,” Uncle Joseph said. He, in particular, had wanted to share everything with his girls but had been avoiding their calls to keep from lying to them. His daughters were some of the strongest, praying women in the world and he knew that telling them would better benefit them than not. But, he’d made the vow to his wife, and he was going to stand by it.
“Nathan, Jacob, I received a diagnosis of MS on Monday,” Lydianne said as tears began to fall from her eyes.
“Okay, Dr. Hayes is the best and I know he referred you to Dr. Bishara. She’s the best neurologist in the world. So what is your treatment plan.”
“As of Monday, they both agreed that since it’s already affecting my ability to walk and it was long after fourteen days since I felt the first symptom, that a steroid infusion would be best. He decided that Alemtuzumab and the generic is lemtrada, would be the best medicine. The nurse will come out here to the house five times this week.”
“Okay, so what else did he give you,” Jacob asked.
“They gave me omeprazole to help coat my stomach and I keep these,” she pointed at a bowl of hard candies, “to keep my mouth from tasting like I’ve been sucking on a piece of metal gum.”
“Good. So did he say anything about the side effects of the medication and therapy?” Nathan asked.
“Yes. They told me that I could possibly get a rash, have a headache, fever, a stuffy nose, nausea, and some joint pain. I’ve already had two treatments and the only thing I’ve noticed is the metal mouth, and a slight headache.”
“Okay, and therapy,” Jacob asked.
“He’s going to try a drug called Ampyra to help me walk, and I’ll do therapy three days a week.”
“Now that’s enough guys, she’s tired and I’m going to put her down for a nap,” Uncle Joseph jumped in.
“We understand,” Jacob answered.
Chapter Eighteen
By the time Nathan and Jacob made it back to the house, they both were exhausted. The talk in itself was enough to make them tired, but they chose to visit Lydia and Patrick at La’Shelle’s New Orleans and got stuck working in the kitchen. Of course, his sister was happy to see them come in the door.
One thing he and Jacob both knew, if La’Shelle’s needed them, they had to do what they had to do. Both had started at dishwashers, and worked their way up to waiters by the time they hit the eleventh grade. And to be honest, working kept them out of a lot of trouble.
The ride to La’Shelle’s was quiet because both of them were processing the information. The ride back, a different situation. The nephew and son-in-law to be faded, and out came the medical doctors.
They talked about everything from the medication to the therapy and both agreed that if there were no signs of the disease before four weeks, maybe if handled aggressively, it would die.
Nathan looked over at Jacob.
“What, I see it in your eyes?”
“You remember when Jesus was leaving Bethany and was hungry. He saw the fig tree but when he got upon it, it had no fruit. Now it did have leaves on it but the Bible explained because it was not the season for fig.”
“Okay I’m following.”
“Remember, Jesus still cursed the tree. Now, you would think it wasn’t the trees fault it had no fruit. The tree was in line with the seasons. But the fact is, it was operating but not as He ordained it too.”
“I’m lost now. You mean the tree could be used for something but not fig.”
“No, listen, before the fig tree grows leaves, it grows figs. The Bible told us it wasn’t the season for figs to make sure we knew no one had already picked the figs. Because normally no one pick figs if it was not the season.”
“Yes, I’m following.”
“But Jesus curse it anyway, to prove a point.”
“That if a tree grows but is not producing as it should it needs to be cursed. And because the tree is out of order especially if the leaves grew but the figs didn’t and anything out of divine order should not live.”
“Good now look at the rest. Peter said, “Rabbi, meaning teacher, look at the fig tree You cursed, it has withered. And Jesus says, ‘If anyone says to this mountain, Go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”
“I get it Nathan. And we have the power to speak to whatever mountain, in this case sickness, and tell it to go throw itself into the sea, the pits of hell, and if we have no doubt in our hearts, but believe what we say will happen, it will be done for us.”
“That’s it, Jacob.”
“Okay, so what are you thinking.”
“What did you just say?”
“Go curse the spirit of MS and tell the spirit to go back to the pits of hell from whence it came, and it will be done because it is not conducive to the tree, which is Aunt Lydianne.”
“Exactly. Are you with me?”
“All the way.”
Nathan pulled up in the driveway, he turned off the car and said to Jacob, “Let’s pray.”
They men grabbed hands. “Father in the name of Jesus. We come to You tonight not in our own power or might, but in the power of love, and boldly before Your throne. Father we come asking that You will use us in this moment. Not for the eight additional years of education it took us to become doctors, but in spirit and in truth, that You have given us to worship You in. We come asking that You will use us in this hour to do to MS just as You did to the fig tree. And we know that we receive of You, because we believe in You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
This time when he and Jacob got out of the car, they had one goal in mind. Nathan twisted the knob and the door was locked. He took his phone out of his pocket and called his uncle.
“Uncle Joseph, come open the back door.”
“I’m on my way. Is everything okay?”
“Just hurry.”
They could hear Uncle Joseph as he shuffled to the door. When he snatched the door open, Nathan almost tripped.
“Boy, you told me to hurry and you weren’t anticipating the move of the door.”
“My God, my God. We anticipate Your move,” Jacob said.
“Where’s auntie?”
“She’s in the room upstairs.”
“Is she dressed?”
“Yes, good enough for you all. I think she was waiting on the two of you to come back.”
“Where is your blessed oil Uncle?”
“It’s right here in the cabinet,” he said moving towards the cabinet and pulling out a vile of oil.
“Let’s go. But first. Uncle, can you believe God with us?”
“You better know it. This is my wife we talking about.”
“Let’s go,” Nathan said and move swiftly to the stairs.
By the time they made it to the bedroom, Aunt Lydianne was sitting up as if she expected them. She looked at Nathan and immediately threw both of her hands in the air.
Nathan took the oil, rubbed it on his hands, put oil in both Jacob’s hands and Uncle Joseph’s hand. Then he instructed Uncle Joseph to open the window.
Nathan told Aunt Lydianne to lay flat on her back, but keep her arms in praise position.
Although she was getting tired, she refused to put her arms down.
“Father, just as You cursed the fig tree in Bethany, I curse the spirit of MS in Lydianne. You said, if we speak to a thing without a doubt in our heart, believing, it will be done according to Mark 11:22-23. Then You said, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. According to Mark 11:24. We believe that the spirit of MS has to leave this house, this earthly vessels in Your name, and we command it to go back to the pits of hell or to the demon from whence it came, in the name of Jesus. We forgive, Auntie, forgives anyone she’s ever held an offense against and we forgive them that this prayer is not hindered. Let everything that is not like you fall now.”
Lydianne screamed because, at that moment, she felt the dream and exactly what God was showing her in the dream.
Chapter Nineteen
For the girls, the weekend seemed to have flown by. Jamecia and Jayla finished some last-minute details as Regina and Priscilla entertained them with what happens at the honeymoon. Thank God they both were saved because they knew exactly what to say and what not to say.
Time seemed to have flown by with all the laughing and clowning around.
One Saturday, Jayla suggested that they drove to Texas to Buckeyes to buy some special gifts for the bridesmaids that she wanted to buy. Before they knew it, they’d been in Terrell, Texas for five hours and all five was spent in Buckeyes. They even took what they considered a thirty-minute lunch break, and then went right back to shopping.
As pregnant as Regina and Priscilla were, neither allowed that to stop them from shopping. They both found some cute things for the babies and their husbands in Buckeyes.
Jamecia called Jacob but both times, he’d asked if he could call her back. She wasn’t worried about him doing anything crazy, but she did want him to hurry back.
Regina had the bright idea of them doing a sleepover at her house, and even Priscilla was able to come. She said that Steven told her to go get a break, and she packed her bags so fast…because she wanted to be out of the house before he changed his mind.
After their two hour drive back from Terrell, Texas, they ordered pizza and drove Jayla by her new home to retrieve herself a wig. No one else wanted to fool with their hair, so they opted out of swimming. But Jayla already had a plan. She was going to wear a wig to church.
She had just as many wigs as she had shoes and Dwight had even thought to accommodate her hair fetish when he created her closet. Each wig, sat on its own wing head, in a glass cabinet, with rotating shelves. She just used a remote to get to the wig she wanted and the machine lifted it off the head and sent it through the slide like a vending machine.
They all laughed at her getting the perfect wig for her outfit, but Jayla could care less. A real woman knows how to accommodate for any occasion and tonight it just happens to be a dip in the pool.
“Jayla, you have a beautiful home.”
“Thanks, Priscilla. I still haven’t spent one night here yet. Trying to do this stay saved thing, but I have to come by and get some things every now and then. I always make sure Dwight isn’t here though.”
“Why?” Regina asked.
“Girl, I already had to tell auntie Linda that the temptation is something else.”
“Tell us about it. We know first hand and I would be sweating bullets some nights.”
“Regina you crazy.”
“I’m real. One night I was in the kitchen and Nathan came up behind me and kissed me on my neck. I like to have lost it. Thank God Mother Linda came around the corner and said, ‘Boy leave that girl alone. She already struggling.’ I was so embarrassed but she was telling the truth.”
“I thought I was the only one.”
“Sister you could have asked me. I tell Jacob, don’t come anywhere near me for some days. Especially right before my ma’am comes to visit or right after.”
“Now that’s real talk,” Priscilla added.
“So Jamecia, have you heard from Jacob?” Regina asked.
“I called twice and each time he was busy.”
“Well, the same thing with Nathan. He asked if I were okay and then he hurried off the phone. I wonder is something going on down there?”
“I had the eerie feeling that something was wrong with mom or dad. Maybe, he’s been hanging out with them because whenever he goes to New Orleans, he always stays in the mother-in-law house behind my parents home.”
“That’s nice to know Jamecia. Well, I’m not worried. Nathan is always like this when he’s into something serious. Maybe he’s dealing with a patient out there. Who knows?”
“As long as he knows you’re with us, he knows you’re safe. And the same thing with you Jamecia. Jacob knows the only thing I can ever be guilty of is making you spend money.” Jayla said smiling at their facial expressions.
“All of us. Thank God it’s not just me. You do it to all of us!” Priscilla screamed and they all fell over with laughter.
Jayla dived into the pool to keep them from raging on her. She could admit, she loved spending other people’s money, but she only wanted them to look nice. She got no joy out of being the best dressed in the bunch, so she made them buy nice clothes that she’d wear.
Just because Jacob was away, didn’t give Jamecia permission to be late. She made sure that all of the women were up and dressed to leave the house at eight-fifteen. Service started at nine o’clock but she wanted to make intercessory prayer which started at eight-thirty.
They each moaned and complained but during intercessory prayer, Priscilla leaned over and thanked me for getting her up. Although Steven had to be at church for prayer, she would drive her car just so she wouldn’t have to leave so early. Now, she saw the importance of making prayer.
“Girl, I told you, just being in this atmosphere will take your voice to another level,” Jamecia whispered.
“I see why Steven’s been begging me to make intercessory prayer. Those sister ringing heaven like it’s a mandate.” Priscilla whispered back.
“I know right.”
“Jamecia, why didn’t you tell me prayer be off the chain like this?”
“Jayla, how many times have I begged you to get dress and come early with me?”
“A few.”
“No, a few means two or three. Try a lot.” Jamecia said rolling her eyes at her sister.
“Well, I can promise you this, from now on I’m going to be right here when the fire gets started,” Jayla said pointing at the floor.
Jamecia leaned over towards them and said, “Y’all think worship be so high for nothing. Or pastor is preaching like he’s tearing the house down. Baby, it starts right here in prayer and trusts me, it goes higher and higher and higher.”
“We see and I’m like Jayla, I’m in here for now on,” Regina announced.
Jamecia was so happy that her dragging them this morning showed them the importance of being early for service. She was so grateful for Jacob because had it not been for him, she would have been just like them. Still dragging in right before it’s time to take the mics.
