A Deal With God: The Power of One (4 page)

“Now comes the hard part,” said Deana. “I’ve always had trouble finding tops I like.’

“I have an idea, why don’t you try some dark colored tank tops? You can try a style that comes up a little closer to the neck with wide shoulder bands. If you stay away from the light colors the tank tops won’t be too revealing. Also, you have three additional cover up options. You can wear a short sleeve sweater over your tank top to be more formal. You can wear a short sleeve shrug to be less formal or my favorite; this short sleeve jacket that ties at the waist would be perfect for church.”

Deana bought the jacket which looked amazing on her. She also bought three shrugs, two sweaters and a variety of tank tops. When she took off the jacket and was left in just the skirt and tank top something didn’t seem right.

Gail excused herself and said she would be right back. “This happens all the time to women that gain or lose a lot of weight. This is called a T– Shirt Bra. It’s a 34C. This is the size you are now.”

Deana looked surprised. “I’ve been a 36C since I was thirteen.” Deana went into the fitting room and came out absolutely amazed. “This is so comfortable and fits perfect. You can’t even see any lines under the tank top. Thank you so much!”

“Glad to help.” Next, Gail sent Deana down to the cosmetologist. “Jenny is amazing. She’ll put make–up on you and it won’t even look like you have any on.”

Deana thanked Gail and spent an hour with Jenny learning make–up tricks. She bought a few items and headed for the shoe department.

Deana found a pair of beige sandals with clear straps she thought were really cute and quickly added them to her new wardrobe.

As she left the mall she had very little idea how beautiful she looked.

Two weeks later it was October 27th. The crutches and cane were gone and so was Deana.

CHAPTER 4
DOTHAN GEORGIA

Mr. McGee had a very good idea. Deana had called him that Thursday to confirm she’d be arriving at the duplex late Sunday afternoon. He said that would be fine. He suggested she have the movers drive up with her in tandem. She could drive a little ahead of the moving van and if something were to happen she’d have help.

Deana liked the plan. She asked the movers if they would be okay with the idea and they said it would be no problem. They spent all day Saturday at Deana’s Tampa apartment loading all her belongings.

Deana went to church Sunday morning. It was a very tearful and emotional good–bye for her. She had spent her entire twenty–five years in Tampa and had many friends and special relationships. She would miss the Wilsons, her old coaches, the other people at her church and a lifetime of acquaintances.

Deana met the moving van at 12pm at Bruce B. Downs and I75 North. They jumped on the highway and in just three hours she saw the signs for Valdosta Georgia. Valdosta is the first city in Georgia you go thru when you leave Florida and enter Georgia if you are driving north on I75. Good–bye Florida.

Just over three hours later Deana and the moving van pulled up to Mr. McGee’s duplex. He was there waiting for her. Deana appreciated his kindness. Georgia in late October was colder than she expected. There were vast mountains and hills. The terrain was very rough and spread out. She was used to the flatlands of Tampa. This was definitely different.

Deana had not been eating or sleeping well the past three weeks. There were times when she had started shaking as she was driving earlier in the day. Her nerves were frazzled. She had spent most of the day trying not to cry and being as strong as she could.

It took the movers over six hours to unpack her belongings. They helped her set her things where they needed to be. Her new place was almost the same size as her Tampa apartment so everything was a good fit. The movers were finished and left just after 1am.

Mr. McGee had stayed up to make sure Deana was all right. Despite her best efforts, Deana broke down and cried. Mr. McGee was compassionate and understanding. He did his best to console Deana and assure her everything would be all right.

“Tomorrow we can go to the restaurant and meet Delores and Mr. Vito.”

“Why are we meeting Delores at a restaurant and who is Mr. Vito?” Deana asked.

“Mr. Vito owns the restaurant where Delores waits tables. Vito’s is where you can work. You are a waitress aren’t you?”

Tears welled up in Deana’s eyes but she refused to cry again. “Yes Sir”, I’m a waitress,” she reluctantly replied. “I have four years experience being a waitress. Obviously this is what God wants from me.”

Deana thanked Mr. McGee and excused herself. She went into her new kitchen and fixed a small snack before heading into the new bathroom and then into her new bedroom. She sat on her bed. She stared into space. I went to school for seventeen years. I can put my diploma in the break room of the restaurant where I wait tables.

Deana was very unhappy.

Late the next morning Mr. McGee took Deana to Vito’s. It was bigger than she expected but not huge. Mr. Vito had intended it to be an Italian restaurant. But, to keep the customers happy in Dothan he was forced to put some barbecue and other southern specialties on the menu.

Deana read the menu and had to laugh. What a hodge–podge of different foods. Not too many menus have scungilli marinara and deep fried pickles on the same page.

Everybody at the restaurant was very pleasant. She liked Mr. Vito. Delores was nice and closer to Deana’s age than Peggy, the other waitress. Delores was in her early thirties and Peggy was in her mid forties. Robert was the cook; he looked young. Delores later told Deana he was twenty–two. He gave Deana a wink when they were introduced and she did not know if that was good or bad. Delores said he was nice and he did seem like he’d be okay to work with.

Dothan was small with a population just over one thousand people. The restaurant was only a few blocks away from her duplex. The church and downtown were both within walking distance. Only a couple of miles away, there was a beautiful national park with a beach.

Deana was starting to feel better about her move to Dothan. She would start work Wednesday night at 4:55pm. She would be working the dinner shift. She would have most of the day to work out, rehab and train. She would also have time to do whatever it was going to take to be the next Mrs. Samuels.

Dothan did not offer much in the way of stores. The bigger stores were in the next town over called Morrison. For the first time in her life Deana bought a scale. She knew she had lost more weight and was curious to see how much. She weighed in at just under 121 pounds. She knew she was thin. Her old yellow sweatpants were falling off of her. She really had to tighten the drawstring.

Wednesday night was pretty slow, but it gave her time to acclimate to her new job. She was told week nights usually were that way. Toward the end of her shift a mother with a boy in his early teens sat in Deana’s station. They were very polite, but the boy kept staring at Deana. When they were finished eating Deana put together their bill. As she dropped it off, she heard the mother tell the boy, “It’s all right if you tell her.”

Deana was expecting the worst. The butterscotch colored polyester uniform dress she was required to wear at work was ugly and didn’t fit very well.

“I think you are very beautiful,” the boy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well bless your heart,” Deana replied. She was enjoying how polite and warm everyone had been to her since she’d moved to Georgia. She just wasn’t used to getting compliments on her appearance.

Thursday night was slow which gave Deana a chance to get to know Delores.

Delores was thirty–three years old with a fourteen year old son. Her husband joined the military just after they’d married and had been deployed a good portion of their marriage. He’d recently left the military and taken a job in the private sector near Atlanta. Delores was enjoying a second honeymoon of sorts because it was the first time in a long while they’d been able to spend much time together.

Friday morning Deana woke up with butterflies in her stomach. It was November 2nd. In two days, she’d be meeting the Samuels at church. She had wanted to speak briefly with Delores about Leon Samuels the previous night at work, but Deana was afraid of revealing too much. Deana ended up saying nothing at all.

Intent on continuing her rehabilitation, Deana had gotten in the habit of jogging to the park, all the way to the beach. Today, however, she decided to take a leisurely walk to the front of the park and back home. Deep in thought, she realized her life would soon be completely changed. She felt like she was on a fast moving ride she couldn’t get off. She prayed it would be more like a carnival ride and not a train wreck.

When she got back to her place she watched a few country videos on TV then flipped on the contemporary Christian radio station. She went online and got the chords and lyrics to some songs she liked and practiced them on her guitar. The guitar was a gift from her soccer coach when she was living at the orphanage. Feeling better, she got ready for work.

Friday night would be the first real test of Deana’s table waiting skills. Before Wednesday she hadn’t waited tables in over a year and a half. It never got really busy, but stayed steady. All three waitresses were working the floor and helping each other as much as they could.

Late in the evening, one of Peggy’s dinner orders came up in the window. Deana brought the food out for her to a table of three high school guys.

Deana and the first two boys exchanged pleasantries as she gave them their food. The third boy just stared at her. “Whoa” was all he said.

“I hope ‘whoa’ means this food looks great and you want to eat here every night,” Deana joked.

“‘Whoa’ means you are DDG.”

“Why am I afraid to ask you what ‘DDG’ means?”

“DDG is like LOL or BFF. It means drop dead gorgeous. I can’t believe I’m the first guy to ever say that to you. You’re not from here are you?”

“Actually I’m not; this is my first week here. I just moved up from Tampa Florida.”

“Well you need to tell all your cute girl friends to move up here with you.”

“I’ll send them a text,” Deana said, walking back to her station. She had seen Peggy coming over to make sure the boys were all set.

Deana cleared her last round of tables, and then headed home for bed. She realized how close it was getting to Sunday morning November 4th.

Deana was too tired to think or worry anymore. Her head hit the pillow and she enjoyed the best night of sleep she’d had in weeks. Saturday morning she got in a brisk jog then drove to Morrison to shop for a few things.

At 4:55pm she was back at Vito’s ready for another busy weekend shift. Patrons came in steadily but it was slower than what she was used to in Tampa. Thank God for the settlement money and what her old boss had given her because she wasn’t making much money at Vito’s.

Deana was home by eleven so she watched the music video countdown on TV. She wasn’t that tired and knew it would be hard getting to sleep. She was right. By 7:30am she was up. She was too nervous to eat breakfast. The church service started at ten. She didn’t want to arrive too early because if the Samuels got there after her it would look strange if she moved to sit close to them. If they got there first, she could casually come in, sit near them and introduce herself after the service, before they left.

She slowly and deliberately prepared the new Deana. First, she put on her make–up just like Jenny had shown her. Next, she put on the outfit Gail had picked out for her along with her cute beige sandals. She finished off her look by styling her hair. Her hair had grown to a length of a few inches below her shoulders. Starting from her right temple she created a thick braid which she wrapped four times, creating a quadruple braid.

Deana hoped the quadruple braid would set her apart. The new Deana wanted to be unique and make an impression.

It was now 9:40am. She put a soccer ball, a football and a Frisbee in the trunk of her car. She loaded some hamburger, a big block of mozzarella cheese and a jar of spaghetti sauce in a large cooler filled with ice on her back seat. In a bag she had two pounds of uncooked ziti, olive oil and grated cheese.

Deana jumped in the Stratus and went to church. She parked the car at 9:50am and walked slowly towards the sanctuary. She was polite and said hello to everyone she could. To those that seemed interested, she introduced herself.

Deana had already met a few of the people during the week at Vito’s. She would try to meet a few more after the service.

When Deana walked thru the door at 9:55am she looked for any clue that would lead her to identifying the Samuels. After several minutes of scanning the church, she shook her head in utter bewilderment. All she could do was take a seat in the back and hope God would send her a sign.

At 10:05am, God sent her a sign all right. Four of the most unkempt looking individuals Deana had ever seen walked into the church, creating a ruckus. The nine and ten year olds were fighting with each other. The father looked despondent. His hair was long and uncombed; his beard was straggly and he was heavy set. He almost looked like a hillbilly. He was followed by a little boy who looked like something the cat had dragged in.

The father, Leon Samuels, picked up the little boy and walked into the only empty pew in the church. Leon entered from the left and put his youngest to his right. The nine and ten year old stayed to their dad’s left.

During the commotion, Deana moved to the far right of the Samuels’ pew hoping not to draw attention to herself. The little boy soon noticed Deana twelve feet away and immediately scooted next to her. She gave him a friendly hug. He smelt awful but was really cute at the same time.

Leon did not look happy. Deana with the young boy in her arms, shifted left about eight feet so the boy would be close to both his father and Deana. Hopefully this would make the boy happy enough to sit still.

It was a good idea that yielded mixed results. The little boy remained still only when Deana let him sit on her lap. Deana did not want to seem too presumptuous, but did not say a word. The oldest boy looked over and seemed intrigued by his little brother’s new friend. The middle brother, Mark, stared out the window as if his mind was elsewhere.