A Deal With God: The Power of One (6 page)

“Dinner was absolutely amazing,” Leon said. “You definitely know your way around a kitchen.”

Deana appreciated the compliment. “Thank you, I’m going to do the dishes and clean up. Why don’t you go relax in the living room? There is something I’d like to discuss with you when I’m done.”

“I’ll help you with the dishes, and the boys can help clear the table.”

“I promised the boys they could play the video game after dinner. You worked hard all day. Go relax. Me and Luke can knock this out pretty quick. She turned the radio back on. Luke and Deana laughed and danced, as she cleaned. Half an hour later, Deana asked Matthew and Mark to let Luke play too so she could talk to Leon in private.

Matthew and Mark wanted to know what she was going to ask Leon.

“If your father agrees to my suggestion, I’ll buy the Sony baseball and football games and spend more time here with you. Please let me talk to your dad in private. I promise I’ll explain everything to you before I leave tonight.”

Apparently the boys were okay with this. They let Luke into the game and Deana walked into the living room. It was just her and Leon. She sat down next to him on the couch. “Leon, I’ve been praying you won’t hate me for what I’m about to suggest. At my restaurant, policemen come in all the time. Delores overheard them saying the other night that you are headed for trouble because the boys aren’t in school. Sometimes they go into town during the day and there have been complaints from the store owners.”

Deana paused before continuing. “Will you let me watch Luke during the day? You wouldn’t have to give me anything in return, except to let Matthew and Mark go back to school. Tomorrow, I can get all the paperwork, take the boys to the doctor for their check–ups and bring home the papers you need to sign. I can have everything pretty much done by the time you get home tomorrow night.”

“I’d welcome your help” Leon said. “Rebeccah, my deceased wife, always did this every fall. When she died this past August it all overwhelmed me.”

“Another thing,” Deana added. “The boys will be a little behind in their schoolwork. I would like to tutor them. At the orphanage I grew up in, I used to tutor many of my foster brothers. I just graduated college a year and a half ago so most of the subjects are still pretty fresh in my mind.”

Leon did not know what to say other than ‘thank you’ to Deana.

That was the answer Deana was looking for. Now she had to tell the boys.

“How did your talk go with my dad?” Matthew asked. “Are you really going to buy the baseball and football games?” Mark added.

“My talk with your father went well. We are on the same page. Yes, I will buy the baseball and football games, but you are going to have to earn your playing time.”

“What does that mean?” Mark asked.

“It’s early November and you two should be back in school, I’ll help tutor you with your classes until you’re both caught up. I’ll watch Luke during the day and help with your meals the best I can. If you go to all your classes and do well, you’ll be rewarded with playing time.”

The boys weren’t thrilled about going back to school, but they did not complain. Luke, however, started to cry when he heard that he would no longer be with his brothers during the day.

Deana asked Luke to go with her to his bedroom so they could speak in private.

“Luke, when children are a certain age they have to go to school. Your brothers are that age. You will be that age soon. For now, I’d like to pay you 25 cents a day to be my helper. When I go for my jog, you’ll ride in the stroller so I can push you. We’ll go to the park and the beach every morning. You’ll hang out with me and kick the soccer ball with me.”

Luke’s face brightened as Deana spoke. He liked what he was hearing. It sounded like fun.

Deana told the boys she would be back tomorrow at 9am to pick them up for a trip to Morrison. The school and their doctor’s office were both in Morrison. She bought a car seat for Luke that morning so the four of them would fit perfect in the Stratus.

The following morning they drove to the boys’ school first. Deana filled out forms, grabbed the school bus schedule and picked up the paperwork Leon would need to sign.

Next, they swung by the doctors’ office and got more forms for Leon to sign. They’d have to come back tomorrow for the boys to get their school physicals.

Deana took the boys out to lunch, followed by haircuts. They went to the video game store and bought the baseball and football games. They couldn’t start school until Thursday, so hopefully the games would keep them in the house and occupied until then.

They stopped by the grocery store to pick up items for tonight’s dinner. She decided to do Mexican food. She had a unique version of quesadillas she liked to make.

They got back just before Leon returned home from work. The meal was quick to prepare. Deana made 20 quesadillas. Thirty minutes later the food was gone. Once again, Leon seemed more than pleased with Deana’s cooking.

“The way you guys eat is definitely a compliment to my cooking.” As she started to clean the table there was a knock at the front door. The two policemen that frequented Vito’s were talking to Leon. Deana went to her purse and got all the paperwork from earlier.

She knew why they were there and she was prepared. “The boys start school on Thursday. We spent most of the day at the school dealing with paperwork and it’s all either started or finished,” Deana replied.

The officers were surprised to see Deana there. They knew she had moved in next to Mr. McGee, but weren’t aware she was friends with Leon.

“Feel free to call the school on Thursday morning, Matthew and Mark will both be in attendance,” Deana said.

Relieved, the policemen thanked Deana and Leon for resolving the issue.

As they drove away Leon went to the mailbox. He brought back a large handful of mail. Deana got the impression he did this only once or twice a week, not every day. He set the mail inside on a ledge without looking at it.

Deana had set a big pile of his mail in a basket next to the table during her cleaning the previous day. “Leon, do you want me to help you sort through the mail? I can throw out some of the junk mail and give you what looks important.”

“I feel guilty making you do all this work,” Leon said. “If you could just help me figure out what Rebeccah used to do, and show me how to organize everything, I’d be very grateful.”

“If you promise not to laugh too hard, I’ll tell you what my major was in college. I’m a finance major. I specialized in personal finance so I’m pretty sure I can help you.”

Two–thirds of the mail was junk, which Deana quickly tossed out. “Leon, you have several urgent looking statements from Georgia Mortgage. Have you been paying them every month?”

Leon was embarrassed to admit the truth to Deana. The mortgage had not been paid since August when Rebeccah mailed them a check. In October, the electricity and cable had been shut off. He had to find out from a neighbor where to go so he could pay in cash. He immediately went down and had them turned back on.

“I’m going to take your silence as a ‘no’,” Deana said. “May I open some of these statements so I can figure out where you’re at?”

“Please,” Leon replied.

Deana opened a few of the envelopes from Georgia Mortgage and found out August 15th was the Samuels’ last received payment. Leon was only a few days away from being 90 days past due.

“Leon, you need to make three payments of seven–hundred and twelve dollars. Do you have that in your checking account?”

“I have about six hundred dollars. I get paid this Friday.”

Deana went to her purse and got one hundred and fifty dollars out. “Leon, take this cash and invoice to your bank. Have your bank manager direct wire the money into the Georgia Mortgage account I circled. You may have to pay a small wire service fee, but you need to do this tomorrow. You can pay me back next week. When you get paid again on the twenty–third, you need to make another payment.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’m saving quite a bit of money not having to buy takeout food two or three times a day. But now I have a new problem.”

“What is it?” Deana asked.

“Including this one hundred and fifty dollars, which I’ll pay you back on Friday, I’m running up quite a bit of debt to you. Why are you doing all this for me?”

Deana answered quickly. “It’s something God laid on my heart.” She didn’t say another word. Leon nodded in the affirmative, but remained quiet.

There was an awkward silence.

Finally Deana elaborated. “Other than Delores, you guys are my only friends in Georgia. I just feel real comfortable with you.”

Leon gave her a look that said he didn’t quite believe her.

After another long pause Deana continued, “Fine, Leon, here’s the truth. I’d like us to eventually become more than friends. And, I’ve been hoping and praying that you might feel the same way about me.”

Embarrassed, she quickly ran into Leon’s bathroom and closed the door. If God wanted her to marry this man, he needed to believe she had strong feelings for him.

She went back into the living room and apologized to Leon. “I’m sorry for acting so immature. I just wasn’t quite ready to express my feelings for you yet.”

“It’s my fault,” Leon replied “I didn’t mean to press you.”

Deana did her best to give a little half smile, half laugh. Leon did the same; his smile filled with genuine warmth.

Deana excused herself and hugged the boys goodbye. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning, Leon, please don’t forget to sign the papers I brought you.”

CHAPTER 6
SEASON’S CHANGE, HEARTS CHANGE

Deana woke up early so she had time to work out before picking up the boys for their physicals. Dothan was much colder than Tampa, which made it challenging for Deana to breathe while jogging. After finishing her run and getting in some push–ups and sit–ups, she took a hot shower. If the weather was this cold in early November, what would it be like in January?

Deana arrived at the Samuels’ house just after 9am and waited for the boys to get dressed. Leon had all the paperwork signed.

As she looked around the living room, she made a mental note that it really needed a good cleaning. What a mess. There were stacks of old photographs by the television; most were of the boys. One picture, however, stood out. It was a picture of Leon, Rebeccah, Matthew and Mark. Leon and Rebeccah appeared to be in their mid twenties.

Deana had never seen Leon look so happy. His hair was cut and groomed; his beard was trimmed. He was thinner. In fact, Leon looked surprisingly handsome; Deana was both shocked and pleased. He reminded Deana of the lead singer in the country group Alabama back in their early days.

The boys were now ready. They wanted to get the physicals over with so they could get back home to play the new video games.

Both physicals were done in less than 40 minutes. On the way home, they swung by the grocery store and picked up supplies for dinner.

They got back just after 1pm and had lunch. Deana set out the sandwich fixings and made a sandwich for herself and Luke. Like last time, the boys assembled their own.

After lunch, Matthew and Mark played video football. Luke stayed close to Deana as she cleaned the living room and did more laundry; they were quickly forming a strong bond.

As it was getting close to 4pm, Deana was only three–quarters finished. Nonetheless, she needed to start dinner. She had an idea for a lasagna dish that should please all of the Samuels.

From what she’d observed Sunday, Mark and Luke preferred the macaroni and cheese. Matthew and Leon liked the meat and sauce. So, on the left side of the pan it was almost all macaroni and cheese with very little sauce and no meat. On the right side she mixed sausage and hamburger with extra sauce.

Deana was about to call Matthew to explain what she was doing. She was working that night so she would not be eating with them.

It was at that moment she overheard Mark gloating. “I KICKED YOUR ASS AGAIN MATTHEW, YOU SUCK!!!”

“Mark, I thought we had an agreement.” Deana gave Mark a stern look. She walked over to the console, disconnected the system and took the set and controllers out to her car.

She went back into the house to explain her lasagna dish to Matthew, but Mark was waiting for her.

“You can’t do that, it isn’t fair.” Mark clenched his hands in anger. “We aren’t finished playing.”

“Mark, I explained to you there were rules involving the games. I brought you the games for two reasons. Reason 1 was to have something to reward you with when you do well. Reason 2 was to teach you good sportsmanship. Do you think what you said to Matthew shows good sportsmanship?”

“No ma’am,” Mark answered.

“If you do well tomorrow in school and come home and study while I cook dinner, your video game privileges will be restored. But, I expect you to follow my rules even if I’m not here to enforce them. Do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Deana had her uniform with her. She changed in Leon’s bathroom as dinner cooked. When it was almost done, she explained the lasagna dish to Matthew. “When your dad gets home it should be ready to serve.” She gave Matthew and Mark a goodbye kiss on their foreheads. She had never kissed the older boys before.

Deana was becoming more of a parent figure. The boys had mixed feelings about this. Regardless, they knew their quality of life was much better with Deana around.

That night at work Deana’s thoughts kept drifting to the boys first day of school. Not too many students start their school year on November 8th. But better late than never Deana thought as she and Luke walked the boys to the bus stop. She said a quick prayer for Matthew and Mark as they hopped on the bus that would drive them to school.

Back at the house, Deana put Luke in his car seat and said, “It’s time for us to go to work.”

They drove over to Deana’s and went inside. First came the sit–ups. She was teaching Luke to count as she trained. Next were her push–ups. For her next exercise, she laced up her running shoes and brought out the jogging stroller. She put Luke in the three wheel stroller and gave him a soccer ball to carry on her jog thru the park to the beach.