Chapter Seventeen

 

Two days and she was out. She couldn't stay with Tiffany for more than three nights. The Dean of the Girls Dorm had personally come to escort her off the dorm. The dean had looked at her sympathetically and then had her sign up a form to board there next year.

Deidra pulled her bags along the pavement leading up to the business center. They had a hotel called the Oasis. Problem was, she couldn't afford to stay there more than a night.

Besides, when she had called today the place was booked out. Apparently, there was a pastoral conference going on and all the visiting pastors were staying there.

She bit her lip. Her calls to her aunties and uncles came up with nothing. Apparently, there was a family wide strike against her.

Even her stepmothers were unsympathetic to her. Aunt Mattie, Charlene's mother was a softie to the core and even she had told her no. The no from Aunty Mattie hadn't stung too badly though. At least she was crying when she said the no. Then she had asked Deidra if she had an account. Deidra didn't have one. She had told her to get an account and give her the number.

Aunt Marcie had laughed at her outright and told her to man up, she could get through this tough time.

She stopped at a bench in front of the business center and sat down. Her two bags beside her. She felt like the prodigal son after he had lost all his money and was eating with the pigs, had no friends and no one to turn to except his father. Forget it, her story was not like the prodigal at all. Her father was the one who had kicked her to the curb.

It was late evening and the breeze was blowing colder by the minute. Deidra went to her clothes bag and pulled out a thick sweater. It had taken up almost one third of the space in the suitcase but at least it made her warm.

She contemplated putting on another pair of socks and rummaged through her bag for them. Students were passing and glancing at her furtively but she didn't care. She found a pair of her wooly socks wrapped around her tiara—her fake gold tiara. She had no idea why she packed it. Maybe she wanted it as a reminder of what she had achieved so far. She yanked her socks out of the small groove on the tiara and it broke.

It was as if something broke in her when the tiara snapped and she found herself sobbing uncontrollably. Big drops of salty tears just poured down her face unchecked.

A hand took the tiara from her and held her hands gently.

She glanced up slowly to see who it was and saw that it was Micah. He had his locks down and around his shoulders and one of his inappropriate white t-shirts and jeans. He looked so handsome and casual. Her heart broke afresh. Micah was a principled guy who lived his life the right way and she had tried to punish him for it.

He looked at the tiara. "It looks tattered."

"I just bro…broke it." Deidra hiccupped. "My life is bro…broken, just like it." She sniffed and swiped her hand across her runny nose.

Micah handed her a kerchief. His eyes were brown pools of sympathy and he sat quietly while she sobbed. She was sure her face was swollen beyond all recognition because her eyes felt so raw she couldn't cry anymore.

"So what does two suitcases and a tearful Deidra mean?" Micah asked her casually.

"Means I got kicked out of the house and I have nowhere to go."

"Saw you on TV this morning," Micah said quietly, "that was a nice piece of nugget you did on the Fruits of The Spirit. You said, 'the out-working of a life controlled by the Holy Spirit is: "Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control. May we each day say, No to our flesh, and Yes to the Spirit.'"

Deidra nodded. "I just read what they give me."

"It was a good reading," Micah said. "And I am about to demonstrate a fruit of the spirit," He laughed disparagingly, "I even prayed about it. Can you believe it? When I saw you lugging your two suitcases up the walkway I said Lord, I am not over the thought of watching Deidra suffer. I actually like it Lord but I was prompted by that unseen force to be kind, so I decided to be kind. I guess I am saying yes to the spirit."

Deidra sniffed.

He pulled up her chin and looked into her eyes. "Don't let me regret it."

Deidra nodded. "I must look a mess."

"Yes and I have never seen you look more beautiful. Let's go. I asked my mother to put you up for a while."

Deidra warmed at his compliment.

"I can't stay at Doctor Bancroft house," Deidra said. "He must hate me for what I did to you."

"You wish," Micah said grabbing one of her suitcases effortlessly. "Dr. Bancroft is hardly at home and will probably not blink an eye if he sees you at the house. My father expends minimal energy on hate or love. Usually, he is too busy to bother about either. My mother is the one you should be concerned about! She is putting you up on one condition."

"What?" Deidra asked cautiously.

"You have to give her ten hours of volunteer time at the golden age home that she runs. She has a theory that working with old people will reform you."

"Let's go." Micah headed for his car.

Deidra hobbled after him, dragging her bag.

When she got into the car, Micah turned on the CD player. The song playing was Coldplay's Fix You. He hummed along to it.

Deidra listened to the words, too tired to talk to Micah and then she realized that she had never really talked to Micah. She just leered at him, flung herself at him, offered him her body—like she was some kind of sacrifice. A man as sensitive as Micah must have found her overbearing and repulsive. She offered no intellectual stimulation; she had been no better than a prostitute in her approach to him.

When he turned into his parent's driveway a light drizzle had begun and she was happy that Micah had helped her because a cold and drizzling night on campus with nowhere to go, and a rapist running loose would be the beginnings of a horror story.

He stopped and the porch lights came on, illuminating the evening with its glare.

"Are you going to try to fix me?" she asked referring to the song.

Micah shook his head. "You are going to fix yourself. I am looking forward to it."

He pulled her bags out of the car and held an umbrella over her head as she made her way up the steps.

The front door opened and Micah looked at her. "Here you are."

"Thank you Micah." Deidra said tremulously.

Micah nodded. "Just a favor for a former fiancée." He grinned at her. "Be good."

He left her standing on the front porch and headed back to his car with a confident swagger.