Page 14 of Jael

“She’s too old for him.”

“Exactly. As for me, I’m much more content inyourcompany, compliments or not. I think it’s good when a woman doesn’t have to be fawned over. You know who you are. I like that.”

“You think so?”

“Don’t you?”

She knew who she was all right. “Do you ever wish you could be someone different?”

“You mean am I unhappy with my life?”

“Not necessarily. But do you ever want to escape?”

“People with as much money as you and I have can do that whenever they want,” he said. “I would never want another life than this one.”

She nodded. “I guess you’re right. We have everything we could ever want.” And also nothing worth having.

Chapter 5

Danny Fletcher’sshoulders were stooped. An unusual look for a guy who always walked with purpose and strength, even before coming to Kenya to find it. But it had been a hard morning, and he’d spent the last few hours on his knees praying—no, begging God to do a miracle. So far, there had been no sign from above.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for,” he muttered, straightening his back as if that could change anything. “The evidence of things unseen.” The verse was gritty in his mouth. Words spoken out of rote more than because he believed them at that moment. But the words out of his mouth and the rigidness in his posture couldn’t change the sourness in his stomach. He kept his shoulders back anyway because, in the last few years, he’d learned a lot about standing on truth. He’d spent a lot of years in darkness, so when he’d finally stepped into the light, he’d tested the reality of those words. And time and again, he’d always found that the best way forward was to not rely on how he felt as an indicator of anything beyond his own frivolity.

“That’s no guarantee.” It was a reminder to himself that God’s plan was not always what he hoped for. He may not getthe miracle he wanted today, but God had given Danny more than his fair share in his younger days. He should be dead about a dozen times over from when most of his decision making had come from compulsion or adrenaline. Back then, he’d pilfered as much from life as he could before it all came crashing down on him. But that expected demise had never come. Now, at thirty-six, he had a lot of years left to live—God willing—and he’d do his best to live them right.

He tugged his cap lower over his eyes against the glare of the sun, then glanced at the swirling pattern of the tattoo wrapping around his arm as he squeezed his hand into a fist, watching the muscles in his forearm shift the pattern of the ink—a reminder of what he’d once been and everything that could have happened but didn’t, thanks to his salvation. He needed to remember the power of God now more than ever.

Loud shouting brought his focus back out in front as a group of boys ran toward him. He forced a smile but knew they’d see through it.

More than a dozen kids, all between the ages of eight and sixteen, were sprinting at full speed, their white-toothed grins making him blink in the fierce sunlight. Most of the smiles had disappeared by the time they reached him. He wasn’t sure how, but they could always read him.

The oldest of the group, Ekele, stepped forward. They’d celebrated his sixteenth birthday the week before, choosing an arbitrary day to celebrate his birth because no one knew for sure. “Did you see him?” he said.

“No,” Danny said.

“You said you prayed.Sielewi,” Ekele finished in Swahili.

Usually, Danny would make them translate anything they said in their native tongue into English. He wanted them to be ready for any opportunity God opened up for them. But this wasn’t the time.

“I don’t understand either,” Danny said with a sigh. “But sometimes, God has other plans.”

“You’ve been telling us your god is powerful,” another of the boys said, crossing his arms. “Or maybe he’s just anothermzungu. Making promises he can’t keep.”

“My God is not a man. Black or white,” Danny said. “He’s God. And He decides what’s best better than any of us can.”

Ekele nodded solemnly. “You believe Adisa has to pay for his sins?”

“I’ve explained this before.” Sometimes it was so hard for them to accept things that were contrary to everything they knew. “Adisa’s sins have already been paid for. Jesus died so we don’t have to. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for our actions. One thing I do know about Adisa is that he’s prepared to face what comes to him. He knows what he did in the past is wrong.”

“Unakata tamaa,” another boy said.

“No. I won’t ever give up on him. I won’t stop praying. I know Adisa has changed. And he trusts in God. No matter what, his soul is at peace.”

They were empty words to most of the boys who didn’t yet believe. The few who did didn’t look hopeful. It would be a test for them all. In Danny’s mind, this would be the perfect opportunity for God to display his power, but that was Danny’s own wisdom speaking. Only time would tell if it lined up with God’s.

“There’s nothing we can do right now,” Danny continued, “so how about we get back out onto the field and keep practicing?”

They were all reluctant to head back. Adisa was well liked, but they didn’t want to let Danny down, either. And he knew better than anyone that sitting and sulking when you were feeling down was the wrong way to move forward. He’d climbed into too many pits only to find that the only way out was to climbback up again. He’d rather skip the whole process and keep his head above water.

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