Free From – Chapter 24 – July 24th

I hope you will join me this month as we JOURNEY each day through our short story. It is about finding FREEDOM in the midst of all the captivating pieces in life that steal our peace which we need FREE FROM!

FREE FROM
July 24th, 2021

John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the Glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.’ (MSG)
Chapter 24

Annie seemed to know right where they were going as she expertly weaved in and out of weekend traffic. She reminded Legend she had history of retrieving the little boy from Human Services. They had followed the freeway for a long time and then exited in a rough part of the city where the deeper they adventured, the sketchier it felt. Vivid drug hazes toyed with Legend’s head. There wasn’t any part of him that desired his old life, but it felt like yesterday while venturing along streets he once awoke along after bender days.
“What happened to Breize?” He had asked as they navigated away from the jail. Annie was silent, as if choosing her words, the shortest straw edition. “It’s ok,” he added. “You don’t have to sugarcoat it for me; I want to know what happened so maybe I could help find a solution.” He was reminded how Annie had been left with the whole deck, not just the Jokers and Wild cards.
“We happened.” Eventually, she answered. “Breize was so angry. Angry with you, angry with me. She felt we both betrayed her and Blayze. We knew she always had anger issues anyway, and we magnified them. Her friends made fun of you because you became the town drunk; Breize was horrified. She felt it was my fault, that I caused it. I don’t know if I ever heard another kind word leave her mouth. She became impossible to parent. I had my own struggles…so I gave up.” Annie shrugged her shoulders, her forlorn act of yielding. “Technically, I did cause it.” Her voice was tiny, almost non-existent.
Legend had shaken his head vigorously. “No, that’s not true. It takes two to make it or two to break it.” Suddenly the kids were small and demanding, and Annie was pining for her job back and a life and some help and a break, and what did he do? He took every extra responsibility Buck had to offer with the guise they needed the money. But, really, it was just so he didn’t have any extra slack to pick up. He liked to brag about his excellent children, loved claiming their abilities and attributes but didn’t want to take on any of the work. “I should have been there to help you,” he admitted. Then he whispered, “If I had been, maybe you wouldn’t have looked elsewhere.”
Annie was quiet. Legend didn’t know if she was concentrating on her navigating them to the government building where Trace was or if she were reflecting, remembering something good or maybe bad. He was surprised when she broke the silence. “Do you think it was written in the stars, we would fail? Like heredity? We didn’t stand a chance?” The tears began to fall, slipping down her face. When she turned watercolor eyes to Legend, she looked haunted and ravaged with decades of grief. He wished he could hold her, heal her. He wished they’d done better, done right, had a do-over. He knew there were no do-overs though, not like this.
Tentatively, he slowly reached a hand toward her, resting it on her shoulder. She used to love when he ran his fingers over her skin, causing goose flesh. “Annie, I failed you. And the kids. If I had been the man God intended me to be, we would have overcome every obstacle the world threw at us, that our childhoods inbred in us. With God, I have learned, all things are possible, even excising demons from a past.
“Without Him, nothing is possible, we will end with the same death sentence we began with. I’m sorry, Annie. I failed you. I failed us. And our children will be charged the penalty we should pay.” He was crying so openly, he couldn’t see, but he felt the car slow and pull to a stop. He watched Annie put it in park, and as he closed his eyes and held his breath, he felt her hands take his in her own.
“You met Jesus in prison, didn’t you?” she accused. Momentarily, he wondered if he should confess or deny, and then grinned through his tears.
“Yes ma’am. I did. He showed up looking a lot different than what I had pictured,” he laughed, the memory like fresh paint, “but once we got properly introduced, I realized I had been expecting someone else altogether all my life. Do you want me to tell you about the Jesus I met?” he asked hopefully.

To Be Continued…