The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psalm 51:17
Redemption and forgiveness? I have always been taught that the only unforgivable sin is the rejection of the Holy Spirit. That, of course, means Heavenly forgiveness. What about humans? When Jesus's disciples asked Him how often they should forgive their brothers, He replied, "Seventy times seven." That does not mean 490 times. That means as often as they ask. How much can a person endure before s/he cannot find it inside to forgive? We are, after all, human, not divine. I know there are a couple of people in my life that have hurt me so deeply that I have a hard time forgiving them. One of them, just when I think maybe he's given up being a horse's ass, he does something else just to rub salt into the already deep wounds. Of course, none of them have ever asked for forgiveness. This is a struggle we all have. We've all been hurt, some more than others. How do my characters in Broken deal with asking for forgiveness and/or forgiving?
"Kim, take
off," ordered Kyle.
"No. I'm
not gonna let you and your slugs hurt
Christopher. There are five of you."
Kyle snarled, "Kim,
take off!"
"What part
of no did you not understand, the N or the O? I'm not leaving."
"Beasley,
get her out of here," ordered Kyle. One of his cohorts started toward Kim.
"Touch me.
I dare you." Kim held up a can of pepper spray that was attached to her
keychain. She stood and aimed for the boy's face.
"Man, this
is getting out of hand. That asshole doesn't have to know we failed," said
the one called Beasley.
"Kyle, you
forced me into this," Christopher said, shaking his head and looking at
the water. "Did you five skin-heads beat, rape, and leave Neely Rivers for
dead?" He stood beside Kim.
"Who is
Neely Rivers?" asked Kyle.
"She owned
a tattoo parlor in New Orleans."
Kyle took a
step back. "Everybody, leave!" he commanded. "Go!"
After the other
four boys walked away, Kyle asked, "What do you know about that?"
"The
victim lived and identified your tattoo." That's why I had the creepy feeling when Kim told me you got a tat like
your dad's. He pointed to the other boy's chest. "The other twelve
women died."
"Kim, I
wish you'd leave," Kyle mumbled.
"Not a
snowball's chance in Hell." She put one hand on her hip.
Kyle gave his
twin a desperate look.
She shook her
head firmly and puckered her lips. "This is worse than I dreamed. God!
Kyle, talk to me."
He huffed. "I
don't know anything about any other twelve women. That was my first job."
He pointed toward where his friends had walked. "They weren't even there. I
didn't kill the woman although I was supposed to. A cop named Lloyd gave us
money to do it. He also gave us money tonight to find you and beat you to a
pulp." He shook his head. "I can't do that to the guy that was
kissing my sister."
Kim snorted.
"Warped, Kyle. Warped," she muttered.
"Kyle, you
have no idea what you're really mixed up in, do you?" Christopher said.
"Maybe you
should tell me because"—He widened his eyes that looked like the early
morning sky and sought matching ones—"I'm not quite the slug my sister
thinks I am."
Brow furrowed,
Christopher said, "Kyle, this Lloyd guy has killed five law enforcement officers, my aunt included. Obviously, my dad
was right. He was behind the art thefts and twelve dead women. He's Latrice
Descartes's son."
"L…Latrice?
That crazy woman my dad talked about?" He put a hand to his lips and
mumbled through his fingers. "The one that tried to summon a demon?"
Christopher
nodded and Courtney put clenched fists to her mouth, eyes wide with fear.
The look on
Kyle's face was thinly veiled terror. He started rubbing his tattoo as if
trying to get it off. "Oh, God! What have I done?" He sank to the
sand and sobbed, "What…Have…I…Done?"
The temperature
moderated to the balmy coastal spring night.
Kim and
Christopher went to Kyle. "Kyle," Christopher said, "come with
me to my grandparents' house. My dad can fix this."
"I'll go
to jail. That'll kill my mom."
"Trust me,
Kyle. My dad'll help. He's your godfather,
after all. This man wants to kill him, too. Are you sure he was a cop?"
"Yeah, a
state trooper."
"Please,
go with Christopher, Kyle," begged Kim. "I'll go with you."
Christopher
reiterated, "Please, Kyle. You can save lives now. You have to help."
Kyle nodded. The
three teenagers headed back to the Reynolds's beach home...
Larkin
slammed the front door and threw her purse onto the entry hall table before she
screamed, "Christopher Lance Reynolds!"
Although
Christopher was nearly a foot taller than his mother, he shrank in the wake of
her fury. He looked at her with her big doe-like eyes and said, "Momma,
take it easy."
"Don't you
'Momma' me! How could you put yourself at risk like this?" Larkin stopped
her tirade as she noticed the other two children present. "What is going
on?" she demanded.
Christopher
said calmly, "I think I'll wait for Daddy to get here."
"How did Ray
know you had sneaked out? Did the officers call him?"
"No ma'am."
Christopher shook his head. "I did."
Larkin looked
at the other two teenagers. "Kim?"
"Hello,
Dr. Reynolds."
"Kyle?"
The person who
seemed to be in the most distress in the entire room looked at Larkin. She
thought, Lord! The boy looks just like
Robert. He did not speak but sat on the fireplace hearth and dropped his
eyes back to the floor.
Larkin demanded,
"How are the two of you mixed up in this?"
"We are not," said Kimberly, "except
that Christopher sneaked out to meet me. Don't be too mad at him. It's hard
being under such scrutiny. I still remember how hard it was having so much
security around before Dad died. Kyle, well, I guess he would rather talk to
Chief Reynolds."
Larkin got
closer to Kyle. She took in the boy's appearance and could not help but notice
his tattoo. "No," she breathed as she knelt beside him and lifted his
chin. "Please, tell me it wasn't you."
Kyle tried to
turn away from Larkin, but she held his chin firmly. "Look at me,"
she said softly.
Kyle choked, "I
can't. It was me. I did it."
Deanna
Blackwell looked tired as she came into the room where her son and her late
husband's old friend sat. Saul Blackwell accompanied his wife and carried Tate
asleep on his shoulder.
"Okay,"
Deanna said in great irritation. "Let's get to it."
Ray stood. "Deanna,
sit down."
"It's that
bad, is it?"
"Please,"
insisted Ray. He stepped to the foot of the stairs and called, "Larkin, I
need you."
Larkin came
down the stairs. "What do you need?"
"Put Tate
somewhere to sleep. This is gonna take a little while." He looked back at
Deanna. "You should know Kim is upstairs with Courtney."
Deanna looked
confused. "She was spending the night at a slumber party."
Ray grunted,
"She was meeting Christopher and now she is asleep in the room with
Courtney, but Kim is not the issue right now."
Larkin took Tate
from Saul. He sat down beside his wife whose knuckles were turning white from
the grip she had on the arm of the sofa.
Ray turned to
Kyle. "Kyle, New Orleans is out of my jurisdiction. The only thing I can
do is take you back there. However, by now, you realize you're mixed up in
something far worse than one attack on one woman. Kyle, I can't help you if you
aren't totally honest with me."
"Why would
you want to help me? I'm a horrible person. I'm as evil as this wicked
two-headed serpent." Kyle hit himself in the chest.
"No, you're
not. You're a lost boy who happens to be the son of an old friend of mine. You're
my godson."
Kyle laughed a
hollow laugh. "Mr. Reynolds, you have no idea what my father actually
thought of you."
"Yes, I
do, Kyle. I know. We can talk about that later. We need to deal with your legal
problem first. Tell me about Lloyd."
"Okay."
The boy heaved a heavy sigh. "I guess I've been driving Mom crazy for a
couple of years now. I started getting in trouble at school, fights and stuff."
Ray turned to
Deanna. "Why didn't you call me?"
She sighed. "I
wanted my family to work it out. Saul wanted to be a father to the twins."
"I
understand, and you were completely correct. Kyle, why didn't you call me?"
The boy
shrugged.
Ray huffed. "Tell
me your story."
"Then, I
started hanging out with older guys. To get into their little gang, I had to
get this ugly haircut and a ghastly tattoo. Although most of them had the
ugliest bald eagle I've ever seen, I couldn't think of one worse than Dad's, so
I got a duplicate. Then, they took me to New Orleans where we met up with this
older man. He was as skin-headed as all of us. He wore a state trooper's
uniform and said his name was Lloyd. He paid us to rough up and…" Kyle
stopped.
"Go on,
Kyle. Just say it and get it over with," encouraged Ray.
Kyle breathed
deeply. "Rape the lady that owned Timeless Tattoos. He took me to the side
and told me if I really wanted to be in, I had to kill her. I couldn't do it. I
couldn't kill her. I guess I'm not a killer." He sighed. "And she was
so beautiful. How could anybody kill something so lovely? All I could do was
stare at her. And I heard this voice telling me to stop."
"Kyle,"
asked Deanna in tears, "are you saying you beat and raped that woman?"
Kyle groaned, "Yes."
"Oh, my
God! Ray, what do we do?" Deanna asked in distress.
Ray looked at
Kyle. "Kyle, what do we do?"
"Put me in
jail. But that's not all about Lloyd. He was here tonight, and he found me with
some other guys that are a part of this group. He paid us to find Christopher
and beat him up. He didn't want him dead, just hurt."
"Why didn't
you do it?" asked Ray.
"When we
found him, he was kissing my sister. I would never hurt somebody that Kim likes.
I love my sister."
"Of
course, you do," Ray said. "You're twins. That's a very special bond."
"Christopher
said you think this Lloyd guy is the one who killed Detective Gautier and the
other cops and that he might be Latrice Descartes's son. I swear I didn't know
anything like that, Mr. Reynolds."
"I believe
that, Kyle. I think he deliberately sought you out, too. The only way he could
get even with Robert was to corrupt you."
Kyle snorted.
Ray asked, "Is
there something else, Kyle?"
"I can't
tell you this in front of my mother. I just can't. Dad hurt her enough when he
was alive."
"Kyle,"
Deanna said, "I knew everything about your father."
"I doubt
it," Kyle said.
"Me too,"
agreed Ray.
"Can it be
any worse than his being a philandering son-of-a-bitch?" asked Deanna.
"Yes,"
Kyle and Ray said together.
"Then, you
had better tell me now."
Kyle hesitantly
said, "New Orleans wasn't the first time I interacted with Lloyd. He was
younger, and he had hair; but it was the same state trooper. He used to guard
Dad.
"I caught
Dad having sex once, Mom. It was in his Baton Rouge office when I got dropped
off after baseball practice. Practice got called off because a storm came up. I
was a lot earlier than I was supposed to be."
"Dear, God!
You could only have been ten at the most," cried Deanna, holding both
sides of her head with its now short dark hair. "Of course, some of his
bodyguards would've had to have known about his sexual exploits. How could he? Which
one was she, the one who was killed with him?"
Kyle looked at
Ray for some sign of encouragement and received a slight nod. As if holding his
breath Kyle said, "Mom, it wasn't a she. It was Lloyd."
"No,"
said Deanna. "A whoremonger, yes, but no. Ray?"
"The boy's
right. I didn't know who he was involved with, but that letter you gave me at
the wake"—Ray puffed out a long breath—"it makes sense. This guy
planned to ruin Robert politically. That's where it would hurt him the most,
but Mia put a kink in that plan."
Deanna asked while
grinding her teeth, "Did either of them do anything to you, Kyle?"
Kyle laughed
sarcastically. "Other than threaten me and swear me to secrecy? If Dad had
ever even hugged me, it might have shown he cared. He did confess to me that he
had only ever loved one person in his whole life."
"And who
was that?"
Kyle shook his
head. "I can't. I just can't."
"Well, you
had damned well better!" Deanna's voice rose.
Kyle shook his
head again.
"Me,"
Ray said barely above a whisper.
Deanna looked
flabbergasted. "Ray, you and Robert?"
"No."
He held up his hand in a stop motion.
"No, Mom,"
said Kyle. "It was definitely unrequited
love." The bitterness in his voice was not lost on the adults.
"Oh, God,
Kyle, what do we do? Saul?"
"I'm not a
criminal attorney, honey, but I can find one."
Kyle seemed to
ignore his stepfather. "Mr. Reynolds, Christopher said you would help me. Please,
tell me what to do. You're my godfather. You said at Dad's wake if I ever
needed you…"
"All right,"
he cut the boy off. "First, you stop disrespecting Saul. He's trying to
help you right now." Ray glared
at Kyle.
"Yes, sir."
"You turn
yourself in and tell the New Orleans police exactly what you told me. Can you
give a description of this Lloyd to a sketch artist?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do that. Kyle,
do you swear that Neely Rivers was the only attack you were involved in?"
"Yes, sir.
Why?"
"All the
other women died, Kyle"
"I swear
to God I didn't kill anybody!" Kyle looked toward his stepfather. "I
swear," he repeated. Saul nodded at the boy.
Ray continued, "All
right. Kyle, you were fifteen when this happened, right?"
"Yes, sir,
barely."
"Technically,
you were, and are, a juvenile, but the crime was very heinous. If you help
catch a cop killer, I'm sure your sentence can be lightened. However, a lot
will depend on what Neely wants done to you. Kyle, Neely just married my brother.
You'll have to face her."
As Raif slowly
revolved around the dance floor with Neely held close to him, his phone rang. Raif
laughed. "My brother has the worst timing ever."
"How do
you know it's Ray?" asked Neely.
"Nobody
else would be calling."
"We were
only dancing."
"Maybe you
were only dancing, but I was planning what I wanted to do to you in about five
minutes."
"In that
case, talk to your brother, and I'll meet you in our room."
While Neely
scampered off to put on something to make sure Raif followed through with his
plans, Raif answered his phone, "Yes, Ray?"
"I think
you need to come home for at least a day or so."
"What's
up?"
"We have
one of Neely's attackers."
"What? You
actually caught one?"
"Sort of. Christopher
caught him. The kid, and I mean kid, can identify Lloyd. He paid them."
"Kid? How
old?"
"When it
happened, he had just turned fifteen."
"What aren't
you saying?"
"I hope you're
sitting down."
"Ray, stop
stalling."
"God! It's
Kyle LaFontaine."
"What the hell
did you say?"
Raif and Neely
walked into an expectant crowd, none more anxious than Kyle LaFontaine. When
Neely walked into the room, their eyes met. He could not break his gaze.
Neely said
softly, "Everybody, leave us." She held Raif's hand firmly. "Not
you. I need you to stay."
Everyone except
Neely, Raif, and Kyle left the room. Still, Kyle was transfixed by Neely's face.
She let go of Raif's hand and walked to the boy who sat at the end of the sofa.
She sat beside him. She looked at his angelic face and wondered, is this really the same face I saw a year
and half ago?
Neely said
softly, "We never officially met. I'm Neely Rivers Gautier. I understand
you're Kyle LaFontaine." Kyle dropped his eyes to the floor.
"Kyle,
look at me," she ordered.
"I can't. I'm
too ashamed. I'm so sorry." The boy started to cry.
"Look. At.
Me," Neely said assertively. "You had no trouble looking at me once. You
can look at me now."
Kyle raised his
eyes to Neely's. "All right," she said. "Now, Kyle, tell me what
you did."
"Do I have
to say it all again? I just want to throw up."
"So, throw
up, but I want to hear you say it."
Kyle complied. "I
came into your shop with four other guys. Lloyd paid us to beat you up and rape
you. I was supposed to kill you. We told you we wanted 'MOM' tattoos, and you
asked to see cash up front and I.D. You asked if we had any particular style in
mind. I told you yes and grabbed your wrist. When you started to scream, I hit
you. While some of the others locked the door and turned off your lights, I
dragged you behind the counter with the help of one of the others. You fought
hard; we kept hitting you. I'm the one who tore off your clothes. I was first. We
all raped you. We kicked you and I started to strangle you, but I couldn't do
it. I couldn't kill you. I guess you passed out. We ransacked your shop and
left. I'm so sorry."
Neely said, "Kyle,
what do you want me to do?"
"Forgive
me, but do whatever you need to do. I deserve to go away forever."
"Yes, you
do." She stood and walked to the window to stare out at the darkness.
"Part of me wants to let you rot in jail. You know, for what you did, you
most likely would be tried as an adult. You would be somebody's plaything for a
long time."
The boy gasped.
"No. Not that. No."
She turned back
from the window and stared at him. "Kyle, do you believe in Jesus?"
With a look of
utter confoundedness Kyle asked, "What?"
Neely repeated
her question.
"I used to
when I was a little boy," Kyle said.
"Do you
remember what He said about the people who crucified him?"
Kyle shook his
head.
Neely said, "He
asked God to forgive them because they didn't know what they were doing."
"They didn't
deserve to be forgiven."
"None of
us do, Kyle. Have you asked Him to forgive you?"
"Why would
He?"
"Because He
said He would if we ask. You need to seek His forgiveness before mine. But,
Kyle, an evil man used you. He manipulated an angry, sad, lonely little boy
into doing a wicked thing. However, you're still responsible for your own
actions." She took a deep breath.
"I've
thought about this all the way from Hawaii. This is my proposal for you: If you'll
help put this evil man away, and if
you'll go into intense counseling, I'll hold off on testifying against you. You
do realize that there is no statute of limitations on forcible rape in
Louisiana?'
He shook his
head, eyes filled with fear.
Neely nodded.
"I also want you to give up the names of the other members of the gang. Some
of them are over eighteen. I'm sure Lloyd used some form of coercion on the
kids, but, Kyle, one of the older ones came to Hawaii to do something else to
me—the one that did that last thing to me. I know you remember it."
He blurted,
"I tried to stop him."
"I know
you did. That's why I'm offering you this one chance."
"Are you
serious?" His pale blue eyes stretched wide in amazement. "You won't testify
against me?"
"Yes.
Kyle, there's nothing I can do if the state still charges you, except refuse to
testify. I think if you help them, they'll cut you a lot of slack. We're
talking about a cop killer." She took another steadying breath.
"Kyle, I can't remember any of their faces but yours. I didn't recognize
the guy's face in Hawaii, but his voice. I know that if I don't testify against
you, I can't testify against them either. It's up to you to help me now. Help
me put these evil people away. Please?"
"Of
course, I'll do it. I'll do whatever you ask. Mrs. Gautier, may I ask something
else of you?"
"What?"
she said with a scowl on her face.
"You're a
tattoo artist." Kyle pulled off his shirt. "Do you know how to get this
evil thing off me?"
"I do."
"Will you
take it off?"
"It'll
hurt."
"I don't
care. I want it gone."
She rubbed her
hand across her lips. "Yes, Kyle, I'll help you."
Raif stared at
his wife in amazement as he asked, "Are you and Larkin two sides of the same
coin?"
"Why?"
She looked up at him as he stood behind her.
"I heard
what you proposed to Kyle. I know what Larkin forgave Dupree and me."
"Maybe we
are. Maybe I'm your side of the coin while Larkin is Ray's side of the coin."
The judge
called court recessed for the day. "It's my understanding the prosecution's
next witness is a minor. I won't have this child subjected to what in my
opinion is tantamount to torture on different days. Court reconvenes at nine A.M.
tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be no cameras or sketch artists in my courtroom. The
minor witness will be protected as much as possible."
"What kid
is testifying?" whispered Lloyd to Chambliss.
"The
LaFontaine kid. Don't worry about the little hoodlum."
"Is he the
one who brought that last charge?"
"Yeah. Don't
worry about it. It's your word against his."
"Have you
seen that kid?"
"No, and
neither have you. Shut up."
"Kyle, we're
about to go back further. You said earlier under oath that Officer Palermo
raped you. Is that a true statement?"
"Yes."
"We need
to hear what happened. Do you need a break before we start?"
"No. I wanna
get it over with."
"Very well.
Please, tell the court what happened when you were ten years old." Desmond
again blocked Lloyd's line of sight with Kyle.
"One day
our baseball practice got cancelled because of rain. My coach was supposed to
drop me off at my dad's Baton Rouge office. He dropped me off an hour early. Nobody
was in the outer office, so I went on to my dad's inner office. I didn't knock."
He shrugged. "I was ten. When I walked in, Officer Palermo was having sex
with my dad."
The murmuring
started again. The judge pounded his gavel and ordered, "Bailiff, clear
the courtroom. Kyle, is your mother present?"
"Yes,
sir."
"Point her
out."
"Mrs.
Blackwell." Kyle pointed toward Deanna.
"Mrs.
Blackwell, you may stay."
"Please!"
begged Kyle. "Please, let Courtney stay? I need her here. Please?"
"Courtney!"
snapped the judge.
"Yes, sir?"
Courtney replied.
"Are you
the ginger ale girlfriend?"
"Yes, sir."
"Have you
already heard Kyle's story?"
"Yes, sir."
"Stay with
Mrs. Blackwell. Everybody else, out! We will resume at one o'clock. Kyle, even
if you don't need a break, I do. If you need to vomit, do it during the break." I might have to myself. "Jurors,
have lunch, and return with a jacket. I don't know why it's so cold in here."
The judge stomped from the bench. He himself felt nauseous. He had voted for
Robert LaFontaine. The thought of him possibly being present when another
person sexually molested his child turned Judge Gillette's stomach...
After Lloyd was taken back to
his cell, Chambliss visited him. He said, "Show me your abdomen, Lloyd."
Palermo
shrugged. "I don't have a baphomet." He showed his midsection to his
lawyer. "You already knew that from photos."
"You have
some scarring. Tattoo removal?"
"I was
knifed. Check the records."
"Lloyd,
either you're innocent, or you're the best damned liar I've ever met."
Lloyd smirked. "My
friends have paid you to make the jury believe the former."
Chambliss
turned to leave but looked back. "Why is it always so damned cold near you
until you began bawling your eyes out in court? Do you know how guilty that
made you look?"
Lloyd shrugged.
"Maybe it showed I'm not a heartless rapist and killer, but a man who
could show compassion for a child such as Kyle."
After several
days of deliberation, the jury delivered its verdict. Judge Gillette read the
slip of paper handed to him. He looked strangely at the jury. He addressed the
jurors, "Madame Foreperson, is this the unanimous decision of the jury?"
"Yes, Your
Honor," replied a middle-aged professional-looking woman with short dark
graying hair.
"And there
is no dissent?" Judge Gillette scanned each juror and made eye contact
with each person.
"No, Your
Honor," replied the woman again.
Judge Gillette
looked a bit dismayed as he addressed Lloyd Palermo. "Will the defendant,
please, rise and face the jury?"
Palermo and
Chambliss stood and turned toward the jury.
Judge Gillette
asked, "Madame Foreperson, in the matter of the State of Louisiana versus
Lloyd Palermo how do you find?"
The room became
icy. There was total silence as the woman replied, "Not guilty on all
counts."
Judge Gillette
asked once again, "So say you all?"
"Yes, Your
Honor."
There was still,
stunned silence in the courtroom as Judge Carter Gillette turned to Lloyd
Palermo. "Mr. Palermo, consider yourself lucky that I was judge and not jury.
You're free to go."
"Kyle, you'll
be eighteen in a couple of weeks, and I'll be eighteen in a couple of months. Technically,
we'll be adults."
"Technically,"
countered Kyle, "you'll always
be your daddy's little girl. Frankly, I'd like to be with you forever, not piss
off your dad and have him kill me."
"He's
right," said a deep masculine voice as Lloyd Palermo slid in beside Kyle. "Listen
to him." A cold wind accompanied his arrival.
Both young
people uttered gasps, and Kyle's eyes misted. Courtney pulled out her phone.
"Put the
phone up," commanded Palermo. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just wanna
talk to you, Kyle. I have to talk to
you."
"And say
what—'I'm sorry?'" asked Kyle, quirking an eyebrow and dipping one corner
of his mouth.
"All
right," said Palermo. "I'm sorry. Now, please just talk to me without
making a scene. I promise after this you will never see me again. I've sent
letters to everyone else, but you I needed to see face to face."
"Why? Do
you believe confession is good for the soul?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps
both you and I need closure."
A Broken and Contrite Spirit
Dear Mr. Gautier,
What a blessed man you are! You should've died
at the hand of my mother, but you were her biggest mistake. Grandmomma also
warned her not to use a twin. Court records showed she thought that meant a
Gemini, but you're a Capricorn. You've had a Hand guiding you forever. Who am I
to usurp that Authority? Yet, I tried.
I regretted killing your wife. She was
exquisite and formidable. Her death was meant to make your brother suffer. You
were to follow her; however, the more I watched you and the more I saw you
handle whatever was thrown at you, the more I admired you. In all the years I
planned my revenge, many wanted to kill your brother, but not you. Does anyone
hate you? I have never found one. I have found a few who resent you for having
a black son-in-law. Deep-rooted prejudices die hard.
I'm sorry to cheat you of the satisfaction of
seeing your pain end. Nevertheless, you have nothing to fear from me anymore. I
hope your life with the beautiful Rose Tattoo is thorn-free. You deserve it. You
have endured as heroically as Job. You are a man of true faith. Remember that
God restored Job, plus much more. May your fate be the same!
Lloyd Palermo
"A broken
and contrite spirit," whispered Raif. "This is much better than a
jury conviction and death sentence."
Ray asked, "Raif,
are you all right? How can this be better?"
"He was
penitent, Ray. Maybe, just maybe, in those final seconds he was forgiven."
Kyle and Raif
made eye contact. Kyle gave a slight nod, and Raif smiled at him.
Ray shook his
head. "You truly do have the capacity to forgive even him."
"Don't
you, Ray?" Raif said with wide blue eyes. "When I pray, 'Forgive us
our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,' I mean it. I'm
asking God to forgive me the same way I forgive others. If I can't forgive, how
can I expect to be forgiven? My sin, as much as Lloyd's, pounded those nails
through the hands of Christ. I pray that he prayed to be forgiven." Indicating
with his own folded piece of mail, Raif said, "Read your letter, so this
nightmare can be over."
Cover by Christopher Chambers.
The characters as I see them: Raifords, Larkin, Neely, Deanna, Saul, Kyle, Courtney, Christopher, Kimberly, Lloyd.
Yes, at the end of the day, it all should come down to forgiveness and love. This crew? Not sure. The end of the nightmare?
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