“Chase do you have a religion, faith, practice or anything that you hold on to? Or even just something that you have with your morals or anything?” Corine looks innocently at Chase. She hoping that there is something that can give her an understanding to why he seems to want to bring understanding to this all that is more than a court order.

  Chase just stares at her and he gets annoyed that she never shows emotion. Yes, he can tell when she gets annoyed with him, hut all he can think about is how he’s told her awful things and she has never shown any sort of emotion. Not even the slightest bit of sadness or a look of disgust what do I have to do to get her to tear or laugh or say I am repulsive. 

 “Corine, I have told you some of the worst things and you never show an emotion, either you have thick skin or a God, now I am a Christian.”

“Well, doesn’t Christ say to forgive?” Corine leans back in her chair and watches the changes in Chase’s face. He squints his eyes at first then looks around the room. He goes for the snow globe on her table and picks it up. He’s focused on this but Corine lets the silence bring a peace to the room. She doesn’t want to change or push him. 

“Yes. He does but, he doesn’t say anything really towards those who actions can’t be explained does he?” Chase only watches the ball moving in the globe. Speaking softly and slowly.

“No I guess he doesn’t.”

“That, that is what I cannot understand or give action or reason to. I walk into my house and days will pass and I cannot think of things to say, or I feel like I am talking and not one is saying anything to me.” Chase puts the globe down and sits back. Then he moves forward puts is hands on his knees and looks up. “You know, this one time, I was fighting with my wife. If was before this situation. I couldn’t understand why she was acting the way that she was. She was going crazy and screaming, I was scared. I was honestly scared of why she was acting the way that she was. I even wrote about it and make precautions with my daughter as a safety measure. I gave her a bunch of cash with a letter to keep it safe incase anything happened to me.

I go back and I read these entries and that these actions happened, that’s not me. I shouldn’t be scared of my wife. She’s a foot smaller than me. I read these things and think, what was happening? My memories are all jumbled and I know that my thoughts are not exactly what is happening.” Chase has been holding his hands and just looking at his hands as spreads them out. moves them as he talks, and brings them back together. He continues to look at them, breathes in deeply then looks at Corine. “How can I ask God to explain these things to me? I can’t follow everything when I don’t know what I’m being asked to.”

“Then are you relying on your own power to make yourself better?” 

Chase goes back to looking at the coffee table then gets up and looks at the books on her self. He’s deep in thought, wondering why Corine is saying these things? The wall seems to be closing in around him. He runs his fingers along her shelf also as a distraction or something to settle him. Some of the books are old and worn. He lingers on one and it’s a book by C.S. Lewis. He has his books at him, he wife read them, he’s read them, and when his kids were young his wife would read the Chronicles of Narnia to his kids. He can’t help but think as to why this woman is helping him.

“How long have you been a psychologist?”

“Umm, probably since I was born, it was sort of just a natural instinct I guess.” Chase looks back to Corine. He nods and walks back towards the couch but simply stands in front of the couch.

Corine watches him and he seems to be having his own conversations. “Is everyone else the problem?”

“Yes.”

“What makes you say that?” Chase goes back towards the book shelf.

“I ask for help and support. Even understanding, but no. It’s simply too much for them.” Chase runs his fingers along the books again and this time he takes out the C.S. Lewis book. “Have you read this?”

Corine looks at the book and gives a small nod and smile. “Yes, it’s one of my favorites. When I started college my father gave it to me. It was his and he wanted me to have it.” Chase smoothes his hands over the cover, Mere Christianity, this was one of the first books he read when he became a Christian. He slides it back into the shelf and moves back to the couch.

    The garage door opens and tension suddenly builds throughout the home. Chase gets to return home after his ten days removal from the home. Only his wife is home. Chase enters the home, makes his way to the bedroom. He puts down his belongs on his bed and looks around the room. “There is an unwelcomeness here.” Chase opens up his bag and begins to unpack the contents of it. There are some hotels soaps, his clothes he packed, and the bit of work he thought to take with him. He picks up the soap and think how he, would not have these if he wasn’t forced to be removed from his house. He clenches the soups in his hands that the bar begins to crack a little.
    “I can’t stay here. It’s not safe.” He whispers to himself putting the contents back in his bag. A door is shut downstairs and this makes Chase stop. He puts his bag down and begins to tip toe to his door. He doesn’t hear any voices but he does hear footsteps. He makes his way down to the kitchen and there is his wife. She looks worn out and tired. Chase cannot handle seeing her and begins to back away. He heads back up to his room, he goes into his closet looking for clothes to pack.
    “I saw the car out front. I guess dad’s back.”
    “Yes, I believe he is, I haven’t seen him yet, have you?”
    “Nope.” Chase over hears his daughter speaking to his wife in the kitchen. The house is so open that voices easily travel throughout it. Returning back to his bag to finish packing Chase leaves his closet and goes into the hallway, looks down the staircase and waits to see if he can hear any voices or movement. There is only silence so he returns to his mission of leaving. When he reaches the bottom of the steps he sees his wife and daughter sitting in the living room.
    Chase stops and looks at them, he just sees complete sadness in their gaze. Christine has stopped eating and his wife just freezes.
    “Hey dad.” Christine manages to get out.
    “I’m going to stay in a hotel. It’s not safe for me to be here.” Chase then turns and leaves.

“Yes I know I was asking for a life changing thing to come a long but I could have never expected this.”

“It’s the cards you were dealt my dear.” This conversation sticks with me everyday. Why was this life given to me and what do I do with it. I could look at my surroundings seeing all these people suffering and starving, or I can do what I came here to do. I have been blessed with a home, clothing, settler, never gone hungry, and a family that loves me. They may not eat for days, shelter is tin roofs cramming fifteen people into it, clothes is a ragg they wear till they find the next rags, and they’re family needs them to work or sells them. Families love their children here but cannot suffer themselves or their children.

This is my journey to a world of a mission to help those here in India. Join me as I share the stories of others experiences and what I see to be a life for myself to come.

This is the last post for this story! Hope you've enjoyed!

Taisha begins driving like a mad women. She left Desiree with Zola saying she had to do something for work and would be right back. Desiree didn’t even mind she was so distracted but Zola gave her a good long lecture of being careful knowing all too well she was not going to do something for work. Zola heard the gossip about Zola and Andre, then Zola and a younger man named Jeremy. Now that Desiree was pregnant and the fathers name was Jeremy.

Taisha reached Jeremy apartment in record time. She goes storming up to his apartment and doesn’t even bother banging on the door. She uses her key and barges right in. “Jeremy, what the hell!”

Jeremy comes out of the bathroom in just a towel brushing his teeth. “Excuse me.” He looks absolutely dumb founded. Goes back in spits out the tooth paste and rinses his mouth. 

“Okay sleeping with me is one thing. But my daughter?! She is a minor!”

“Whoaahh wait a minute. I never slept with your daughter. The only time I meet her was when I was naked in you bathroom and she came to chase me and ask what I was doing. I never slept with your daughter.”

“Then how is she pregnant and saying your the father?”

“Jeremy is a common name. Sure you got the right one? Are you sure she’s even pregnant because I remember you saying she had a lot of issues and always wanted attention.”

“Jeremy she wouldn’t make up being pregnant!”

“Well did you just share big news with her?”

Taisha looks at the floor shying away from the truth Jeremy is saying. “Yes.”

“Maybe you should go back home because she knows where you are and she might do something.”

“What?”

“Trust me. She knows where you are and she’s probably freaking out right now and will do something.” Without thinking Taisha gets in her car and drives home. Pulling down her road there are all these fire trucks, police. She throws her car in park and begins running down the street to see Zola’s house on fire. Zola’s on a stretcher being put in an ambulance but Desiree is no where to be found.

“Where’s my baby.” Taisha just crumbles. Screaming over and over, “Where’s my baby!” The fire fighter comes a long and picks up and and carries her away.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

The next morning Andre comes to Taisha bed room and just holds her. “Zola is doing better today they said by the end of the week she should be out of the hospital.” Taisha moves a little to just see the disaster left behind from the fire. Knowing not everything can be saved. “Taisha we need to go. The service starts soon.” Taisha can barely get up to move. But refuses to wear black. Instead she wears a white dress, sun hat, and dark sun glasses. “Are you sure you want to do this.”

“It’s about time I did some changing.” With that she headed out to the limo with a her daighter following in a casket and a limo saying ‘Just Married’.