Single Ladies (5 page)

Chapter 6

Karla

"You have to be strong, Deanna.  You don’t have to accept a man putting his hands on you.  Think about Ryan, and Alyssa.  You don’t want them to grow up thinking this is the way of life do you?" Karla held her client's thin hand and stared into her lost eyes.

She sniffled and blotted her running nose with a kleenex. "No, of course I dont.  I'm just scared to leave him, Karla."

"I know. That's why I'm going to refer you and the kids over to the safe women's shelter.  It's an unknown and confidential location.  He could never find you there.  Here's the gift card that you can use at any major grocery for food.  We usually give vouchers, but I trust that you will do the right thing with it, so it's okay.    There's also a bus pass for you and the children, that's good for just today and tomorrow, okay?"

Deanna looked grateful. "Okay."

"Alright, I just have to make a few phone calls for you. Are you still active with your drug counselor?"

"Yes."

"And what is your case manager's name?"

"Uh - it was Jill Carmichael, but now it's Tracy Hart."

"Yes, I know Tracy.  She's a very kind person.  Just let me make provisions for you and the children and I'll give you buss passes for the week."

"Thank you so much, Karla.  For everything", Deanna became emotional.

"No need to thank me Karla.  I am in this thing to help you.  I want nothing more than to see you and the children be safe.  You have no idea how many people have walked into this office with a black eye or bruise and a couple of weeks later, I was attending their funerals, or getting locked up for retaliating on an abusive husband and being held on charges for murder or attempted murder.  It's just not worth it, babe.  My mother died at the hands of an abusive boyfriend before I was old enough to even know what was going on.  I grew up feeling like a part of me was missing.  Like I was incomplete.  I went through some counseling myself.  That's why I got into this field, because not only do I enjoy helping other women, but it's also very therapeutic for me.  It helps us all.  But we have to want the help, Deanna.  You have so much to live for.  You have no reason to stop now.  Your husband being a heroin addict, beating you, and neglecting the children is terrible.  But when you let fear take charge in your life, you will shut down and fail.  When I first met you, a year ago, I didn't know if you were gonna make it. You are still here, hon.   See, sometimes the bad things that happen to us, aren't so bad after all.  Sometimes it's just the Lord's way of making sure we get where we need to be in life.  He will allow us to come down to help us come out, Deanna.  We overlook, so many blessings, like waking up everyday and being able to look at our children and hear their laughter.  You are alive.  You still have a chance to start over."   There was a long pause.

  "Now, I know I can ramble on, but I just needed to tell you that, hon.  You are the strong kind.  You are built like that.   I didn't mean to bring religion into this, because I'm not religious.  I am spiritual.  I have faith.  I don't live a perfect life at all, but I have faith."  Karla felt herself about to ramble again.  "Okay,  I'm going to refer you to the shelter.  When you get there, I want you to get acquainted with my associate and friend, Gaile Nelson.  She is the social worker on site there, and she can assist you with making sure that you and the children get to appointments, if you dont feel safe taking public transit.   She's really resourceful, too, so anything you would ask me, you can ask her and I'm sure she'll be on it.  Okay?"

Deanna smiled and nodded.  Her long, ash blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, revealing a purplish bruise on her left cheekbone, and a stitched cut on the right side of her neck.   She turned her head to see her children playing in the kids room, next to Karla's office.   She appeared to be nervous or high, Karla couldn't tell.

"Hey, Gaile!  It's Karla.  I was just talking about ya!", she laughed. " Hey, listen, I have Deanna Warren here with me.  I need a family room.  Two children-.  Oh okay."   She placed her hand over the receiver.  "Just a minute hon, she put me on hold."

"I'm gonna get me and the kids some water from the lobby", her voice was shaking.

"Uh-okay. I'm just waiting for her to come back to the phone."

Deanna grabbed the voucher and bus pass and quickly exited the office and got her children from the kid's room.  She held both of their hands and walked swiftly to the vending area.  Karla couldn't see them, once they passed the kids' room.  They were walking so fast, it was almost animated.  Karla looked at her watch.  It was a quarter after four p.m. 

At 4:56, Karla was sure that she wasn't returning.  She probably needed the gift card for her husband.  He would probably give it to a drug dealer in exchange for a couple hits of heroin, and their kids would go hungry.  She sighed and shook her head.

Her co-worker, Marsha McAllister entered her office.

"Hey, you know that client of yours.  The one you see regularly, Diana, Deanna, or whatever her name is, she walked past the reception area with the children and ran across the street to where some guy was waiting on her."

Karla rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling and whispered a silent prayer for her and the children. "Tall, slim, dark haired guy?"

Marsha nodded. 

"I knew she wasn't coming back after about five minutes.  She claimed she was going to the lobby to get some water for her and the children.  I should've known.  She looked so spaced out."

"Karla, you gotta stop taking these clients to the heart so much.  You get in too deep and you lose sleep at night.  I keep telling you that."

"Yeah,"  Karla sighed, gathering her things to go home for the day.

"See you in the a,m", Marsha gave her an empathetic smile, then walked out.

"Yeah...I know, Marsha." she was still sighing and shaking her head, all the way to the parking lot.    "Lord please watch over her and those kids." she whispered, as her cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey girl!  It's your sister."

"Hey, Syd.  What's going on?"

"Not much. Just thought I'd call and say hello.  I been out in Jersey since last week.  Lisa's pregnant, you know.  I wanted to be the first to tell you!" her sister's voice was so loud.  She turned the volume down on her cell phone to the lowest audible, and could still hear her if she took her ear off the phone.

"Really?! Finally, huh?  How far along? And what does Jerry say about it?"

"Oh, he was thrilled.  Um- I think she said she was like two months."

"Yeah. That's great.  Send them my blessings.  Has anyone been going to see Gary?"

"Yeah. He's still the same.  Not saying anything. Staring into space.  He looks good, though.  Been eating.  But Tina is still doing nothing out here.  I heard she's stripping again."

Karla had enough stress for the day.  The last thing she wanted to hear about was her younger sister's wild escapades and risky things she did for money.  She was a true lost cause. 

"That's no surprise.  She's always been stubborn as a mule.  Grandma let her get away with too much before her and PawPaw left this Earth.  Nobody can tell that girl anything.   Well, I wished I could talk more Sydnie, but I gotta rush home and get showered and dressed for this church service tonight.  I joined the new church I was telling you about two weeks ago, and they are having a prayer and testimony service tonight."

"Oh! Well, praise on sista.  You need to pray for you a man in your life."

"There are two reasons why I didn't curse you out right now, girl!" Karla laughed. "One, is that you're my older sister who I love dearly, and the other is that I know you didn't mean any harm."

They giggled in unison. 

"Talk to you soon, my love", she said.

"Alright Karla, I'll be back on business soon, so I wont be calling a whole lot the next month, but I love ya!"

"Me too.".

After getting dressed in a crème colored dress, that came below her knees, brown closed toe sandals with a heel, and an olive, brown, and crème necklace and bracelet.     She was moderately attractive, standing at five nine, with a slender, yet curvy physique.  She'd cut her shoulder length permed hair in college and grew dredlocks. The auburn colored, small and well kept silky coils came to the nape of her neck.  She'd pulled them back and secured them with a brown clip.  Her choice of Earth tone colors drew attention to her cinnamon brown complexion and hazel eyes.

The church service of prayer and testimony would be relaxing to her mind and spirit.  She decided to put her clients, the fact that her sister Sydnie was the only one who seemed to call her from her family, and the fact that she didn't have or want to be bothered by a man, aside.   She focused on how the prayer service would bless her.

"Lord, let there be a blessing for me, this evening.  Whatever you see fit." she whispered as she started up her white Toyota Camry.  The sound of "Where do broken hearts go," by Whitney Houston was the song that blared from her speakers. 

"Oh, what a pathetic song for such a beautiful voice, Whitney," she said as she pushed her Lalah Hathaway CD into the disc player. 

It had always been a mystery why the seated people in a church, always turned around and looked at the person coming in.  Karla found herself forcing a big, nervous smile on her youthful face, as she walked into Serenity Church of God in Christ, and people of all walks of life, seemed to zoom in on her face.  If she had a booger in her slender nose, she was sure somebody in the church saw it.  Once seated, a young lady next to her handed her a flier with the date and time of an upcoming Youthful praise and prayer convention.

"Thank you", she whispered to the young lady.

"And now, we're open for testimonies", the heavyset, Caucasian woman announced. 

It seems as if people were extremely eager to stand up and testify that night.  Karla could think of many things to be thankful for in her life, and she felt like sharing them.  After a few people, and the amen's after their speeches, she stood up and cleared her throat. 

"First, giving thanks to the Most High, honor to the pulpit and my brothers and sisters in Christianity, I rose this evening to testify on the wonderful mercy and grace of the Lord.  I am new to this service and have been coming for the last two weeks.  I really feel comfortable here at Serenity", the Amen's started immediately.  She thought of telling the women there about her job and the services she offered, but decided against it, because the members may get the wrong idea and think she was just another person who goes to different churches and religious functions, just to gain new clients.  She decided to wait until she was a member of the church for awhile before telling them.  She continued, "  I feel his presence each and every day that I wake, and I know he is with me from the time I step outside my front door, and until I return home for the night.  I am so grateful that I am alive, healthy, and of a sound mind. I ask that you all pray for me, and call my name out in your prayers, so that I may grow stronger."  There were several amen's and nodding heads as she took her seat.  The lady beside her gave her a friendly rub across her shoulder when she sat down.  A man, sitting adjacent from the pew that Karla was on, was observing her through the service.  Tony Mitchell, the grandson of the Pastor, was amazed by Karla's charisma.  He'd watched her over the last weeks that she'd attended morning worship and evening services.  His slight physique, looked nice in his beige dress pants, and Moximo shirt to match.  He wasn't that tall; about 5'8, slim, with a dark copper complexion.  He knew he had to say something to Karla.  If it wasn't anything but hello, he just wanted to make eye contact and strike a conversation, if possible.  Her beauty was striking and her the sincerity of her words intrigued him even more.

After service, everyone was invited to stay for refreshments.  Karla was approached by several women, young, and old, who gave friendly, small talk and words of encouragement.  When she finally had a moment alone, Tony approached her.

"Praise the Lord, sister.  I'm Tony Mitchell," he extended his hand and she gave him a firm handshake.

"Praise the Lord, Tony.  I'm Karla Gill."

"I see you have been here a couple weeks now.  I am glad you enjoy the services."

"Indeed, I do!  It's so refreshing and wonderful to network with such lovely people." she smiled.

"Yes, it is", he agreed, smiling.

"I see there aren't many young people here tonight."

"Well, I'm here!  I'm young!" he laughed.

She laughed. 

He went on, "Well, it's been like that the last year or so.  We get a lot of the younger members to come out for regular Sunday morning worship, but a lot of them work or are in school, so they don't attend a lot of the other services.  If you don't mind me asking, what kind of work do you do?"

"Well, I'm a social worker for women and children.  I handle domestic violence victims and things of the sort.  I'm a community activist, also."

"Wow.  That's amazing.  Do you have a business card with you?"

She gave him a slightly questioning expression.

"Just so that I can reference you, because I am the mentor for the male youth of the community center in rural areas of Atlanta.  It's similar to the Boys and Girls Club.  I'm an advocate for the youth, try to keep young men focused on goals, school, and give them plenty of afterschool activities and things to keep them out of trouble.   I'm also a peer support specialist for African American men, too.   I was thinking, when you said you are a community activist, that maybe we could collaborate and make a bigger and much more positive change in our community," his dark brown eyes were light with passion.