Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
—Proverbs 6:27
“I’ll be back in a little while,” Edwin yelled as he walked out the door.
Desiree came out of the kitchen just as the front door closed. She had been here before. In the past when Edwin went to the race track, he never told her that’s where he was headed. It was always “I’ll be back in a little while,” which he never was.
Edwin had been doing so well. Desiree was praying after a month of him not gambling that he wasn’t slipping back to his old ways.
She was asleep when he came home. Edwin tried to be really quiet so he wouldn’t wake her, but Desiree was a light sleeper and she heard him when he went into the bathroom. She opened her eyes and glanced at the clock: 1:17 A.M. Edwin had been gone since a little after seven o’clock, over five hours ago. There was no question now in her mind where he had been: at the race track.
The next morning she awoke and was getting ready for work. Edwin got up, walked up behind her while she was in the bathroom, and placed a kiss on her neck.
“Good morning, Baby-cakes,” Edwin said in his most pleasant voice.
Desiree couldn’t understand how he could wake up acting as though last night never happened. “Where were you last night?”
He stopped and looked at her. “No good morning back?”
Desiree turned around completely and stared at him to let him know she was not in the mood to play. “Edwin, where were you last night?”
He smiled. “See, you just can’t help but ruin my surprise. Okay, since you just have to.” He pulled a wad of money out of his bathrobe pocket and placed it in her hand. “This, my dear, is for you.”
Desiree looked at the money he’d just given her. “What is this?”
“Wow, it’s been that long since you’ve seen the real thing, huh? I suppose that’s what happens when everybody goes electronic. Direct deposit, debit cards, charge cards, checks, on-line bill paying. That, Baby-cakes, is what is called cash.”
Desiree cocked her head to the side without cracking a smile. “I know this is cash. Where did it come from?”
“It came from me to you. I want you to take it. That’s three hundred dollars you hold there. Buy yourself something really nice. You’ve worked so hard and lost quite a lot of weight in the last month. I think that deserves some kind of a reward,” Edwin said.
“Once more. Where did you get this from, Edwin?”
He huffed and walked into the bedroom. “What difference does it make where I got it from? The point is I’m giving it to you.”
She followed him. “The point is you’re not supposed to be gambling anymore. And this is a lot of money, which I’m sure if you’re giving me this much it means you have even more than this. Which means, you probably went to the dog track last night.”
“Do you want to know what your problem is? You’ve become such a nag, you don’t even know when to turn it off. Okay, so I went to the track last night. It’s been over a month, and I haven’t gone anywhere near a track or anywhere else where I could gamble. But yesterday, I kept running into the same numbers: six, one, eight. Everywhere I turned those numbers were popping up in my face. I took it as a sign. And you know what, last night I won! And I won big, too. I played those numbers and ended up hitting a trifecta.”
“So why was it after one this morning before you got home?”
“Because, as it turned out, I had to play almost every race in order to hit it. But I didn’t use a lot of money. And the only thing I played was those three numbers. I boxed them and played them straight. It cost me six dollars a race to box them and two dollars to play them straight: eight dollars all total. But I promised myself I was not going to veer from my plan. I also made a deal with God that if those numbers didn’t come in, I was through with gambling forever.” He grabbed Desiree’s hand and took the money he’d just given her out of it. Holding the bills up to her face, he said, “But I won! Can’t you see? And the only person I was thinking about was you and how great you’ve been even through your own problems. You stuck to your guns. You haven’t smoked, that I know of anyway, and just look at you…slimming all down. What did you tell me? Two whole dress sizes?”
Desiree walked away.
“Woman, what is your problem? You’ve worked so hard to stop smoking and overeating. Look at yourself, Baby-cakes. Just look at you. We’ve walked together almost every day. I’ve seen how hard it’s been for you to resist things that aren’t good for you. I wanted to win this money for you. I wanted you to know how proud I am of you and just how much I love you.”
Desiree stopped and turned around. “You didn’t do that for me, Edwin. So don’t try and make yourself feel better about having taken your first official slide back, possibly to your old, destructive ways.”
“Look, I went one time. It’s been over a month. Going to the track one time doesn’t mean I have a problem. Can’t you just give me credit for all I’ve accomplished, like I’ve done with you? Do you have any idea how hard staying away from the track and the casinos has been for me these past weeks?”
“Which only proves my point, Edwin. Anytime something is that hard, it means it’s a stronghold. Sure, I’ll give you credit. I’ll be the first one to give you your due. You went a whole month without gambling. It was hard, but you did it. And I was so proud of you. But the fact remains: you couldn’t resist going last night. What’s going to keep you from going again tonight or tomorrow night or the night after that and the night after that?”
“It was for fun! It doesn’t mean I’m going back into any trap. If God had wanted me out of it for good, He could have ensured I lost. But I won with numbers that came to me as though they were from God. I won!”
“Edwin, don’t put God in this. You had some numbers. You went to the track. You won with those numbers. Think about it: if I were your enemy trying to pull you back into something that will hurt you later down the road, what would be the best way to do that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying if I were Satan and I wanted to get you back into the same trap I knew you’d prayed about getting out of, I’d do just what happened last night. I would put thoughts in your mind. Convince you to take a step to see if it would work. I’d ensure you won that time, because one leads to two.” She walked back over to him and took the money he’d given her. “Edwin, why don’t you just keep this money. Because I have a feeling if you continue on the path you’re on now, you’re going to need this a lot more than I will. And just for the record: I’ll be handling the bills from here on out. So if you get yourself in too deep, you won’t end up taking us both down with you this time around.” She crammed the money into his hand and walked out of the room.
“You are a trip!” Edwin said. “A trip! I don’t have a problem, Desiree. I go to the track one time in a month and you blow everything all out of proportion. You don’t want the money? Fine! I’ll keep it then.” He shoved the money back into his bathrobe pocket. “I don’t have a problem. Do you hear me?” he yelled at her as he watched her disappear down the stairs. “I might have had one earlier, but I have things under control now.”
He walked back into the bedroom. “Women!”