God Has Spoken

by Theresa A. Campbell

Genres: African American; African American Christian

Synopsis

HOW HARD IS IT TO FORGIVE? After finding the biological mother who abandoned her as a baby, learning the identity of her birth father and her biological brother, Dupree is left distraught and betrayed. Like a volcano about to erupt, she vows to have nothing to do with her newly discovered family--so help her God! However, if Dupree's mother, Tiny, has anything to say about it, Dupree won't be able to keep that vow. How does a former teenaged runaway become a wealthy, sophisticated business executive? Tiny's quest for happiness and independence in Kingston, Jamaica, has taken her on a life-altering journey through hell. After a vicious attack and a serious sickness that leaves her fighting for her life in the hospital, Tiny prays for death . . . but then God speaks. Will she listen to His voice? What exactly is He saying?

Release date: December 1, 2014

Publisher: Urban Christian

Print pages: 288

Sample

“Tiny!” Aunt Madge shouted, her squinted eyes looking out the window into the darkness of the night. “Tiny! Chile, you better get in this house right now.”

Her small voice echoed over the small boarded houses sitting on the outskirts of Falmouth, Trelawny, before disappearing into the night. Aunt Madge paused and listened but only her heavy breathing filled her ears.

“Lord, please, give me the strength to deal with that chile,” Aunt Madge mumbled as she moved away from the window and anxiously paced her small one-bedroom home that she shared with her niece. “I swear she is going to be the death of me. I bet she is with that little force-ripe woman, Dolly.”

Oblivious to the calling of her aunt, a few miles away, fifteen-year-old Tiny and her best friend, Dolly, sat on Dolly’s dilapidated house steps sipping orange juice and rum from two big, chipped enamel mugs without a care in the world.

It was almost midnight, and the countryside was pitch-black except for the small flittering lights from the peenie wallies that danced in the humid air. Dolly Bell aka Rockin’ Dolly as she liked to call herself was also fifteen years old. She shared a home with her thirty-year-old absentee mother, who spent more time at her boyfriend’s house than home with her only child.

Dolly was a big-boned, light-skinned girl with a voluptuous figure. She had men of every age, shape, and size panting after her, and she used this to her advantage. She slept with numerous men for money and material goods and changed her lovers as frequently as she did her underwear. Tall or short, fat or slim, young or old, leg or no leg, Dolly wasn’t partial. But her specialty was older, married, or committed men, who did anything to be with the overgrown child and everything to keep her silent. This earned her the nickname “Battabout” in the small community. Battabout was a Jamaican term for a loose woman.

“Old Jezebel!” the bitter women who had shared their men with Dolly would shout from afar when they’d see her in passing. This, meant as an insult, was taken as a compliment by Dolly.

“You got me confuse as ain’t nothing old about me,” Dolly would respond, spinning around to show off her bootylicious body. “Ask your man and he’ll tell you.” Dolly laughed and sashayed away in her four-inch platform sandals, her huge behind held hostage in the tight miniskirts or booty shorts she favored, rolling from side to side in victory.

“Aunt Madge is probably having a fit that I’m out so late.” Tiny giggled and belched loudly. “Oops. Sorry.”

“You are so drunk.” Dolly threw her head back and laughed out loud. “The warden is definitely going to kill you when you get home,” she said in reference to Aunt Madge.

“Oh, please.” Tiny sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes before taking another sip from the mug. “This is some good stuff right here.” She lifted up the mug in salute.

“Yeah, we just finished two bottles.” Dolly giggled and daintily swung her long braids over her shoulder. “Tomorrow I’ll get some more from my baby, Blacker.”

“Your baby, huh? Wait until Mrs. Blacker catches you,” Tiny said and doubled over in laughter. The alcohol that swam in her veins made everything even funnier.

“Girl, I’m not scared of Mrs. Blacker,” Dolly replied. “She’s the missus, and I’m the mistress. It’s all good.”

“Chat bout!”

The girls high-fived and whooped until tears ran down their faces, their loud laughter disturbing the silence that blanketed the night.

“Okay. Now let’s get back to your lesson of love,” Dolly said when the laughter died down. “Look at me and learn, girlfriend. Professor Dolly is here for you.”

Tiny giggled and gave Dolly her undivided attention.

“Now when a man looks at you, bat your eyelashes like this.” Dolly flicked her eyelashes rapidly as she demonstrated. “Then you slowly swipe your tongue across your lips and flash that bright smile.”

Tiny blushed and hung down her head in embarrassment. “I won’t be able to do anything like that,” she mumbled.

“Tiny, look at me,” Dolly demanded in a stern voice. “This is nothing to be ashamed of,” she said after Tiny’s doelike eyes met hers. “Remember, you are doing this so things will get better for you and the warden.”

Tiny nodded shyly and glanced away. Dolly had been giving her these lessons of love for a few weeks now.

“Do you want to get away from this boring back-a-wall place?” Dolly asked Tiny as she used a match and lit the marijuana spliff she held in her hand. She slowly took a long drag and blew the smoke in the air. “Well, do you?”

“Yes,” Tiny said in a meek voice. “But I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Well, there has to be a first for everything,” Dolly replied. “I’m going to Kingston as soon as Big Dread sends for me.” Her eyes lit up as she stared off into her make-believe future. “I’m going to become an actress and star in plays at the National Pantomime.”

The Jamaica National Pantomime was located in the Ward Theatre in Downtown Kingston since 1776. The Pantomime depicted bright, colorful costumes, upbeat music, festive, magnificent sets, supertalented casts, and uplifting themes.

“I want to go to Kingston too,” Tiny whispered.

“There is nothing wrong with doing what you have to do to get a better life.” Dolly continued to lecture her eager student. “This is survival of the fittest. A girl has gots to do what she gots to do. You better take my word.”

Tiny gazed adoringly at her wise friend as Dolly’s words left their prints on her immature, impressionable heart. Like a dry sponge in a bucket full of water, Tiny sucked up everything.

And that was why Aunt Madge did everything in her power to end the budding friendship between the two girls. She had tried unsuccessfully to set Dolly on the straight and narrow road.

“Baby, the Lord loves you and is very displeased with your behavior,” Aunt Madge said to Dolly one day when she saw her in town. “You must remember that your body is the living temple of the Lord, and you should keep it holy.”

“It’s a temple all right,” Dolly remarked with a smirk. “I have men bowing down in worship.” And she rudely sucked her teeth before she walked away, leaving Aunt Madge staring at her back, her eyes filled with pity.

“I have to keep that girl away from Tiny before she corrupts her too,” Aunt Madge mumbled. “I can’t afford for my niece to go astray. Please help me, Lord.”

Aunt Madge’s sister Ellen died while giving birth to Tiny and since the child’s father had also passed away before she was born, it was left up to Aunt Madge to take care of the baby. She raised Tiny like her own daughter.

“I want you to stay away from that girl,” Aunt Madge warned Tiny. “She is bad news.” But her words went in one ear and out the other. Tiny thought Dolly’s life was exciting, unlike her own, so she ignored her aunt and clung to Dolly. This was a very big mistake that would cost her more than she bargained for.

“I’ll catch you later, Dolly.” Tiny waved good-bye before she floated light-headed up the dark, narrow track toward the main road. She and Dolly had spent most of the evening and night drinking rum and smoking marijuana, so she was as high as a helium balloon.

As Tiny walked in the shadows of the night down the main road toward the dirt track that would take her home, her firm behind peeped out of the very short shorts that Dolly had lent her earlier that evening. She was too wasted to remember to change back in the long, wide, floral dress that Aunt Madge had made for her.

“You are a lady, and I want you to dress like one,” Aunt Madge often reminded Tiny. “You don’t need to expose your body for every Tom, Dick, or Harry to see. You must always keep your body properly covered.”

Tiny hummed a song as she took slow, calculated steps on the side of the road. Suddenly, bright lights illuminated the blackness, and she stopped and turned around, shielding her blinded eyes with her hands. The car slowly drove up and stopped by her feet. Unafraid, Tiny strolled over to it and leaned in through the open window to peek inside. Her eyes instantly lit up as she stared at the handsome young man behind the wheel.

“Well, hellooo, Officer,” Tiny greeted, her smile spreading wide from one ear to the other as she gazed at his uniform.

“Good night to you,” the police officer replied. “What are you doing walking by yourself this late at night?”

“Oh, I’m not scared.” Tiny giggled and batted her eyes at him as she had just been taught.

He laughed out in amusement and surprise as he looked at the tall, beautiful young girl. He knew that Tiny and her aunt attended his church. Although he had never spoken to her before, Tiny seemed like a quiet, respectable girl. This was clearly not what he was seeing before him.

“Get in and let me give you a ride.” The police officer pushed the front passenger door open and Tiny giggled as she slid into the seat.

“Promise you won’t arrest me,” Tiny said as she turned toward him, the short shorts riding further up her slim, toned thighs, exposing more skin.

The police officer stared for a brief moment before he shook his head as if he was getting out of a trance. He then started the car. “I’m Officer Gregg,” he introduced himself after they drove off. “Officer Anthony Gregg.”

“I’m Tiny, and I loveeee a man in uniform,” Tiny flirted. Officer Gregg blushed and laughed nervously. He knew what Tiny was doing and as a thirty-four-year-old man, he should have put a stop to it. After all, she was only a child, but he felt flattered by the attention.

“So are you going to give me a ride tomorrow night as well?” Tiny leaned into him, her breath stank of the marijuana and rum.

“You know I could arrest you for smoking and drinking, right?” Officer Gregg grinned at her.

“Arrest me, please,” Tiny said in a baby-like voice as she held up her small wrists to his face, giggling uncontrollably.

Officer Gregg laughed and slapped her playfully on her naked thigh. “I think this is your stop,” he said moments later. He pulled over beside the track that would take Tiny home. The two sat in silence and stared at each other before Officer Gregg cleared his throat and glanced outside his window.

“Well, good night,” he said as he avoided Tiny’s eyes, missing the disappointment that reflected in them.

“Bye.” Tiny popped the car door open and stepped out. As she bent forward and opened her mouth to say something else, the car sped off like a bat from hell, disappearing into the night. Officer Gregg was trying to run away from trouble, but would he be fast enough?

“What do you mean what do you do now?” Dolly looked pointedly at Tiny. “Tiny, this is it! This is the break you have been waiting for. Don’t you see?”

Tiny stared at her innocently. Today she was sober and terrified out of her mind as she recounted her encounter with the dashing police officer the night before.

“Dolly, I’m not seeing anything right now. Aunt Madge was so mad last night when I came home practically naked and stoned out of my mind,” Tiny said.

Dolly laughed out loud. “I’m surprised the warden didn’t have a heart attack and die.”

“That’s not funny,” Tiny snapped. She was very disobedient to her aunt, but she loved her unconditionally and could not imagine a life without her.

“Sorry. Sorry. Shoot, a girl can’t even make a little joke.” Dolly pouted and rolled her eyes at Tiny.

“Don’t joke about anything happening to Aunt Madge. She is the only family I have, and she loves me,” Tiny replied.

“Okay. Let’s get back to you and your police boyfriend,” Dolly said excitedly.

“He is not my boyfriend. Dolly, the man is more than twice my age, and you know he’s married,” Tiny said. “For heaven’s sake, he and his wife attend my church.”

“That’s even better for you,” Dolly replied eagerly. “Now, listen to me, and you and the warden will be set for life. I have seen Officer Gregg, and the man is fine like wine. Plus, he is rich. Tiny, the Lord has answered your prayer.”

“He has?” Tiny asked naively.

“Yes, He did. This is what you are going to do.” And Dolly laid out the foolproof plan in great detail.

The next day Tiny went to the public phone in town and called Officer Gregg at the police station. She told him she wanted to meet up and talk to him later that night. Instead of putting Tiny in her place, he agreed to the meet the young girl in the first classroom of Building One over at the high school.

“I’ll just go and have a talk with her,” Officer Gregg said to himself. “The poor child looked as if she is going through some stuff and probably just needs some fatherly advice.”

But advice was the last thing on Tiny’s mind that night. Arriving at the high school before Officer Gregg, she cautiously crept through a small opening that someone had cut in the wire fence at the back of the school, then hurriedly entered the semidark classroom. The moonlight streaming through the open windows reflected the shadows of the trees on the wall. High on the strong weed that Dolly had given to her earlier and slightly tipsy from the cups of cheap wine that she consumed to boost her courage, Tiny sprang into action. She spread a flimsy blanket on the teacher’s desk, before slipping out of the borrowed minidress she wore. As hollow footsteps grew closer, Tiny hurriedly went and lay down on the desk, showcasing her birthday suit.

“What are you doing, girl?” Officer Gregg asked in surprise as he stood by the open door of the classroom. “Are you crazy or what?”

Tiny smiled as his bulging eyes roamed hungrily over her bare body.

“What do you think I’m doing, Officer?” she replied with a wink and swiped her tongue seductively across her glossed lips as Dolly had shown her. Her glazed eyes beckoned him to come closer.

“I’m leaving now,” Officer Gregg whispered, still rooted to the same spot he stood, his eyes fixed on Tiny. “I thought you just wanted to talk. Looks like this right here says it all.”

Officer Gregg closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head from side to side, mumbling incoherently to himself. Finally, he turned to leave. “I’m out of here,” he said loudly and took a few steps away from the classroom. But suddenly he stopped and almost in slow motion, turned back around. As if they had a mind of their own, Officer Gregg’s feet quickly took him back to the classroom door. He knew he should have just turned around and gone home to his wife, but he became a victim of his lustful flesh as he stepped into the classroom, closing the squeaky door behind him. As he looked at Tiny’s perfect young body, he knew he just had to have her. So against his better judgment, he went to her.

Tiny giggled as she watched him approach as if in a spell. The plan was in action.

As Officer Gregg hurriedly stripped off his uniform, Tiny watched him in fascination. However, her eyes grew wide in alarm when the tall, masculine, naked man walked toward her. Fear washed over her exposed body, instantly evaporating the alcohol and marijuana out of her system. She began to tremble slightly. Tiny was now a scared, innocent, virgin girl, playing a grown-up game with a very sexual, mature man.

“Hmmm, maybe this wasn’t such . . .” her voice trailed off when she felt the heavy weight of Officer Gregg weighing down on her. With her eyes tightly closed, Tiny flinched at the sharp pain that swept through her body, frightened out of her mind. This was no longer a game.

Early the next morning, Tiny dragged her sore body over to Dolly’s house. “I did it.” Tiny looked at Dolly solemnly.

“Girl, I’m so proud of you!” Dolly replied enthusiastically, oblivious to Tiny’s dreary mood. “Welcome to the club.” Dolly grinned sheepishly. “You are a grown woman now.”

Tiny hung down her head, shame plastered on her face. “I think I made a big mistake, Dolly.”

Dolly stared at Tiny. “No, you didn’t. You are just feeling that way because it was your first time,” she informed her friend. “Things are only going to get better from now on.”

Tiny nodded her head, ignoring the feeling of apprehension in her gut. “You are right. Everything will be just fine.”

“You better believe it, girl,” Dolly replied amusingly, and the two friends high-fived each other. “Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.”

Tiny did exactly that and what a ride it was. “So, will I see you tomorrow night?” Tiny asked Officer Gregg a few nights later as they both hastily pulled on their clothes after having sex.

“Not tomorrow. My wife and I are having dinner with my in-laws who are visiting from New York.”

Tiny pouted like the child she was and sucked her teeth in disappointment.

“Hey, don’t be like that.” Officer Gregg, now fully clothed in his stiff police uniform, crept up behind her and kissed her lightly on her neck. “I’ll see you the day after, and I’ll have something special for you as always.”

Tiny’s eyes gleamed like fireworks, and she smiled in anticipation. After giving her virginity to the dashing policeman almost two months prior, the need to be with him had only intensified with each passing day. So like clockwork the two would meet for their quick, nightly sex encounters in the same classroom in the high school.

For this, Officer Gregg rewarded Tiny with nice gifts and money. Some of the money Tiny hid at home for her move to Kingston; the rest was spent by her and Dolly on weed, alcohol, and skimpy clothes.

Officer Gregg, on the other hand, knew what he was doing was wrong and that he had a lot to lose, including his wife. Also, as an officer of the law, what he was doing went against everything his profession represented, but he couldn’t stop himself. Tiny was like a drug, and he was addicted to her. To have such a beautiful, young girl vying for his attention and who wanted to be with him every day was a big boost to his ego. It was almost like he was back in high school, sneaking out of the house to be with his girlfriend.

Aunt Madge watched in horror as her little girl changed for the worse right before her eyes. “What’s gotten into you, chile?” she asked Tiny one night when she came home wearing a tight bodysuit and stank of weed. “Where did I go wrong with you?” Tears ran down her face as she looked at her niece trying to act like a woman.

Tiny’s eyes welled up as she watched her aunt’s small shoulders shake as she cried. She knew her recent behavior went against everything Aunt Madge had taught her, but she was young and having fun. What was the harm in that?

“I’m sorry, Aunt Madge. But I’m just having a good time,” Tiny informed her.

“Good time? Is this what you call having a good time?” Aunt Madge asked. “I guess you are also going to stop going to school like your partner in crime?”

“No!” Tiny quickly assured her aunt. “I’ll never do that, Aunt Madge. I promise.”

And Tiny kept her promise. How she did it was a mystery, but she managed to be a good student by day and a hellion by night.

“Remember, what tastes sweet in your mouth burns the belly.” This was one of Aunt Madge’s frequently used Jamaican proverbs that sliced through Tiny’s worried mind a few weeks later. The silence filled every creak and cranny of the pitch-black classroom as Officer Gregg’s labored breathing slowly returned to normal.

Tiny felt his body moving away from her, but she quickly wrapped her small arms around his neck and forcibly held on to him. She knew she couldn’t allow him to leave until she told him her news. With her eyes tightly closed in fright, Tiny stuttered as she tried to speak, but no words came out. She wished she could take a draw from a strong marijuana spliff right about then. Where was Dolly when she needed her?

Now impatient and frustrated with her actions, Officer Gregg reached up to unclasp her hands from around his neck and was surprised at her strength as Tiny held on.

Still visibly shaking but determined to be heard, in a small but clear voice she whispered softly in his ears, “I think I’m pregnant.”

Officer Gregg froze in shock as he saw his entire life flash before his eyes. He was as good as dead, for surely his wife was going to kill him.

“You’re what?” he shouted. “You can’t be pregnant. Weren’t you on the pill?” he asked.

Tiny looked at him blankly. She had no idea what he was talking about. Dolly didn’t tell her anything about any pill.

Officer Gregg stared down at the naïve naked girl under his body and felt sick to his stomach. It had just dawned on him that he had been abusing this young girl for a few weeks now. And to make matters worse, he never took the necessary precaution to protect them both. Now here she was, a child who was going to have a child: his child. But maybe, just maybe, there was a way out of this awful situation.

“You can’t have this baby. I’ll give you money to go to Kingston and get an abortion. No one has to even know you were pregnant.”

Tiny looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Her mother had lost her life to give her life, and she would rather die herself than to kill her baby.

“I am not killing my baby,” Tiny screamed. Her anger gave her the courage to go against his wishes.

And then it happened.

Officer Gregg snapped and changed into a terrifying animal right before her eyes. In a flash he jumped to his feet, reached over, and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her small naked body like a ragdoll high into the air.

“Oh, yes, you will,” he growled. “One or both of you will have to go, some way, somehow, and I am going to make sure of it.” Then he began to squeeze the life out of her, literally.

I’m going to die now, Tiny thought as she kicked wildly and scratched at his face. Things had not turned out the way Dolly said they would.

Tiny thought back to the conversation she’d had with Dolly earlier that day.

“Pregnant? Oh my God! Girl, you done hit the jackpot now,” Dolly screamed excitedly as she jiggled around her yard. “I bet he is going to divorce that old goat he is married to and marry you.”

“You think so?” Tiny asked in a small voice. “I love him so much, Dolly. I know this started out as a plan to get money, but I really do love him.”

“What’s love got to do with this? As long as you get the paper, it’s all good,” Dolly replied.

But Tiny shook her head stubbornly. Without the weed and booze, her naivety shone through like a full moon on a dark night. “I love him,” she repeated forcefully. “And he loves me too.”

Dolly looked at her and shook her head. Tiny still had a long way to go in this business, but she was a good student and Dolly refused to accept defeat. “Fine, you love him. Listen, tonight you must tell him about the baby. I bet he is going to suggest you move to Kingston until his divorce. As a matter of fact, we can both move as planned. I’ll be like y’all’s nanny or something.” Dolly squealed in excitement. “This is so cool. It will be you and him and me and Big Dread. Hey, maybe we can all be roommates. What do you think?”

Tiny rol. . .