I just shook my head, still in disbelief I was about to live a fairytale life. “I love you so much. I am so excited.” I put the visor down and looked at myself in the mirror. Kev watched as I fiddled with my hair and gave a few model looks. He laughed to himself while watching me.
All of a sudden his phone started vibrating.
“Hello,” he answered.
“What’s good? You in Ohio?” a deep voice asked. His volume was turned up so high, I could pretty much hear everything the male caller was saying. I just hadn’t made out the voice yet.
“Who is this?” Kev questioned.
“It’s me, Jason.”
“This don’t sound like Jay, who is this?” Kev demanded.
“It’s me, Kev. I got a new cell. Maybe it’s because you don’t recognize the number or somethin’. I don’t know but it’s me, man. Where you at? You in the CO or what?” Jason asked.
“Oh, what’s up, man? Na, I’ll be back there in a few. What’s good?” Kev lied.
“Nothin’, man, just wanted to see where you are.”
“You in Columbus?” Kev asked.
“Not yet, I’ll be back in a few,” Jason answered.
“What is a few? Days? Weeks? Hours? What, man?” Kev replied.
“Hours. We just got to Florida.” Jason chuckled. “I’ll be there in a few hours. All right, man, I guess I’ll see you then,” Jason said.
“Yeah, I’ll see you then. One,” Kev said and waited for Jason to reply.
Silence fell between them, and then Jason answered, “Yeah, one,” and the line clicked dead.
Kev hung up the phone. I never said a word about the conversation, I just said softly, “Let’s hurry and get out of here.”
“Okay, babe, we will.” Kev reached over and touched my shoulder for comfort. After the call I was nervous again. I looked over at Kev and stared at him.
“Jason wants to ring my neck! Not to mention I’m married to the man of my dreams and can’t even share it with the ones I love. This is crazy!” I stared out the window as we got closer to my house.
“Baby, we have to be smarter than Jason. He has the whole crew behind him. It would be nice to ride off into the sunset, but in order for us to live normal lives, we need to bounce. Plain and simple, babe, bounce.”
Kev was getting anxious. And I didn’t blame him. I didn’t know whether we could trust Jason’s whereabouts.
Kev took me by the arm and pulled me over to him and hugged me. “We will be out this city within a few hours, babe.”
I nodded, trying to stay positive.
“You know, Reese, I gotta tell you, I’ve been really thinkin’ bout what you said about Jesus, and I think we need to get it right with Him too for real.”
“Kev, we have to. We have to change our lives around because if we don’t, nothin’ will work out for us. I don’t know about you, but I’ve done a lot of dirt that I ain’t proud of and I know better than doin.” I put my head down ’cause I felt horrible about leaving my walk with Jesus.
“I know what you mean, but we gonna get it right, okay? Don’t sweat it. My grandma always told me that God would forgive.”
“I can remember walking in the will of God and trusting Him no matter what,” I whispered as though I knew God was listening. I looked over at Kev as he drove, slowly turning into my driveway.
“I just don’t know what happened, or where I went wrong. I just don’t know,” I softly said.
“Don’t worry ’bout it, Reese. One day we’ll both be sharing testimonies to someone who needs to hear them.”
We both laughed.
“I just look back at my life and think how much my grandparents instilled in me about Christ, living right, and making the right choices, and here I am jacked up,” I cried.
“The good thing about Jesus is He forgives. That’s something you never need to forget,” he said.
“I don’t, but I understand that sometimes we wait too long. Sometimes we need to repent to Him a little sooner and cry out to Him a little more frequently before He decides enough is enough and He sends His judgment on us,” I said, then turned and stared out the window.
“Reese, don’t be so deep,” he said. “We’ll be in Arizona in a few.”
I watched his bottom lip curl up as he smiled and that made me feel a little better. “Yeah, you are right. God will forgive us. He has given us a new day! I’m gonna stop all this drama and go in the house and get everything together. I’ll probably be standing on the curb when you get back, ’cause that’s how bad I want to get out of here!” I laughed.
“That’s what I want to hear!” Kev replied. “Reese, before you go I want you to take this.” He reached under his seat and pulled out a gun and laid it on my lap.
I started trembling and shaking my head no. “No, Kev, I don’t want this. Please, get it off of me,” I screamed.
“But, Reese, just in case he shows up here actin’ silly.”
I stopped him. “Kev, I’m okay. Look around. Jason isn’t out here. By the time he gets here we will be gone.”
“Look it’s already ready. All you have to do is aim and shoot. Please, baby. Take it, please,” he begged.
