Lost Romance Found by Vanessa Winters - HTML preview

Lost Romance Found

Forty-four year old Debra Neville sat curled on her floral sofa. It was one-o'clock in the morning. The late-late show was on but Debra wasn't watching. Rehashing the past had robbed her of sleep. Finally, ending up out of bed and on the sofa, her thoughts continued. I wonder whatever happened to Tina? she pondered staring into space. It had been close to twenty years since she had seen Tina. But Debra vividly recalled their first encounter.

Sandy, Debra's best friend had been shopping for fabric that day with her sister,Tina when Debra ran into them at Beki's Fabric Store.  It was no secret that Tina disliked Debra making greetings awkward and the conversation short.  The following week found Sandy and Debra together in the same fabric store.

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"Tina wants to come with us the next time we shop for fabric," Sandy announced nervously as the two friends strolled through the Store. Debra stopped suddenly. In wide-eyed disbelief, she turned to Sandy.

"Why! She don't sew. She don't even know how."

Sheepishly, Sandy answered, her eyes shifting away from Debra's stare. "She says she wants to learn. I started teaching her a few things with the fabric she bought last week."

"Why now? I don't want her to come. Let her find somebody else to teach her to sew. Why it's gotta' be you who teach her?"

Sandy placed a hand on her dropped hip and cocked her head to one side. "Now, what kinda' sense do that make for her to go lookin' for somebody else to teach her when her own sister sews? Of course she'd come to me. That's why we were in here last week to get fabric so she could get started."

"I don't care. If she comes, I won't go," Debra shot back. The two friends had planned to make look-alike outfits for Sunday's service. Next thing we know, Debra thought. Tina will want to come strollin' in church dressed like me and Sandy.

"I hate that you feel that way," Sandy said with resolve. "But Tina's my sister. And if she can't come I guess me and you can't go shoppin' together no more."

Debra jutted her face forward, stretched her eyes wide, and looked hard into the face of Sandy. "I guess not," she answered. Debra then turned and marched away leaving Sandy to regret having stuck up so forcefully for Tina.

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Tina wore a smirk  as she shopped for fabric with her sister the following week. Can't wait to see Debra's face when me and Sandy walk in church Sunday dressed alike. Sandy is my sister she thought with a smirk.

Sandy eyed Tina sensing that her sister was pleased with the falling out between herself and Debra.

"Don't think you so smart. You been tryin' since we were kids to come between me and Debra. It ain't never worked and it won't this time." Sandy paused, looking hard at Tina.

"And wipe that smirk off yo' face or I won't sew nothin' with you."

"Don't act like this all my fault," Tina snapped. "Debra don't like me no better than I like her."  Tina's contorted face showed her contempt for Debra. "She think she so much just 'cause she got that light skin and that long hair."

"Don't blame Debra for her good looks just 'cause you got a problem with being dark and yo' hair won't grow." Immediately, the shock and pain of Sandy's words reflected in Tina's face.

"I'm sorry,Tina." Sandy reached for Tina's arm to console her. Tina snatched away sullen. She left the store and headed for her car with Sandy at her heels pleading. "Ahh-hh-hh, come on Tina. Let's get the fabric so we can go home and get started. We only have three days."

"Forget it!" I don't want to dress alike no more. Go on. Go make yo' ol' outfit with Debra!"

Tina pulled the cream colored old chevy that the two sisters shared into the driveway. They had traveled home in silence. Tina got out, slammed the car door and marched off to her side of the duplex. Sandy stood for a moment in the driveway massaging her temples before entering her own home.

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On the other side of town Debra lifted the receiver, put it to her ear, and placed a finger in a hole of her rotary dial phone. Without moving her finger, she quickly hung the receiver up. It had been two weeks since she and Sandy had exchanged angry words. She missed her friend  terribly. But maybe it was for the better. As long as Tina was around, their relationship would be like the up and down of a seesaw.

While Debra agonized over the spat with Sandy,Tina, speaking with a long-time acquaintance, Muriel, plotted the permanent dissolution of the friendship between her sister, Sandy and Debra.

"Yeah, I can get the money," Tina answered tilting her head back and blowing cigarette smoke into the air. "Only this betta' work!"

"Well, don't forget she stole Edward from me. I want to get her much as you do. Madam Zelda will give us a deal since we both want her to voodoo the same person," Muriel answered.  

"So when we leavin'?" Tina asked getting excited at the prospect of finally being able to watch Debra suffer. And just think, she won't even know what hit her. Tina chuckled to herself. Watching Debra go from having everything to havin' nothin' was gonna' be sweet.

"We'll leave in a couple of days," Muriel responded.

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On the day of their departure, Muriel and Tina made the final preparations for the trip from Jackson to Sardis, Mississippi. They had a three-thirty afternoon appointment with Madam Zelda. Muriel, remembering that she hadn't yet picked up the hamburgers for the trip, checked her watch and rushed off to Whitey's Hamburger Stand. There was just enough time to get the food before picking Tina up.

As Muriel entered the establishment, she spotted Debra and her heart leaped. She stopped short and squinted her eyes. You thank you done won, she thought. But jus' wait. When Edward leave you we gon' see who the winner is. Madam Zelda had promised she'd fix it so Edward would leave and never return to Debra. Madam Zelda's ad in Hap Magazine had boasted that she was the best for getting results. Her work was guaranteed. She had come from a long line of enchanters and workers of magic. There had been her grandmother, sister, and an aunt; they had all used their powers for revenge upon their clients' enemies.

"Hey Debra!" Muriel yelled out startling Debra who turned in the direction of the voice. "You thank you so smart." Muriel took long strides in Debra's direction, but stopped just short of reaching her. Muriel pointed a finger towards Debra who had remained silent starring at her "You thank you done won." Muriel dropped a hip and propped a fist on it as she continued. "Edward gone leave you. I'm seein' to it. And it ain't gon' be nothin' you can do 'bout it, my dear." She moved her head from side to side as she spoke. Patron's eyes darted from Muriel to Debra whose mouth was hanging open. Debra remained silent, keeping her eyes on Muriel. Muriel switched hips and continued. "You gon' know it was me that made him leave you. I may not have Edward but you ain't gonna' have him neither."

As abruptly as she had entered, Muriel turned and left without ordering the hamburgers for which she had come.  Humiliated, Debra had lost her appetite. She politely excused herself from the line of customers and left.

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Sandy watched from her living room window as Muriel pulled into the driveway and Tina exited with a small overnight bag. Her sister had mentioned nothing to her about a trip. Sandy moved swiftly from the sofa to catch Tina but she was too late. Muriel had backed out of the driveway and they were too far to hear Sandy call to them. Sandy went to the phone and dialed Debra's number.

"Hello?" Debra pondered if the call could have anything to do with her earlier strange encounter with Muriel. She was relieved and happy to hear Sandy's voice.

"I'm sorry Debbie," Sandy choked out.

"No, I'm sorry."  Just then, Edward walked up behind Debra, locked his arms around her waist, and planted a kiss on her cheek. "I guess I'll let you go, Sandy. The love of my life is here," Debra said turning her head to smile at Edward.

"Alright, I'm glad we had this little talk," Sandy responded laughing and hanging up the phone.

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"Did you bring the things I told you to?" Madam Zelda asked resting her brown hands on the table. She intertwined her plump fingers waiting for Tina to show her the things she had brought.

Awkwardly,Tina pulled the picture of Debra and Edward posed in an embrace from the overnight bag.  She looked at the photo a second before laying it on the table. Muriel picked it up and starred contemptuously at the couple before slamming it to the table. Next,Tina brought forth a clump of Debra's hair wrapped in a piece of plastic wrap. She thought back to the day she had taken the items right from under Debra's nose. Stupid woman. All I had to do was pretend my car was broke down in front of her house and ask to use her phone. Once I got inside, I just said I had to use the bathroom. There on a table in the hallway leading to the bathroom was the photo. The comb, with hair strands sticking from its teeth lay on the edge of the face bowl. Knowing where the items were was easy too, courtesy of unsuspecting Sandy. The day Sandy told me 'bout the 'nice' picture of Edward and Debra was the one time I got somethin' from Sandy that I could use against Debra.

Madam Zelda took the picture from the frame and cut right down through the middle of the couple. She then reached under the table cloth and brought up a glass jar where she placed the two pieces of the photo. She then stuffed the clump of hair into the jar. Next, she again raised the edge of the tablecloth and reached for something that looked like a bunch of plant roots. She pushed them into the jar, screwed on the lid, and handed the jar to Tina. You must believe that the moment you bury this jar, the fate of Debra and Edward's relationship is doomed for failure."

"But can't curses be broken?" Tina asked. She could hardly wait to see the curse take effect on Debra. And she didn't want it to backfire.

"Yeah. But the only way "this" curse can be broken is if Debra or Edward was to dig up that jar. She pointed to the jar in Tina's hand. They gotta' find it and destroy it.  Now, you tell me how either one of them gonna' find it buried out in a field somewhere here in Sardis?"

"When is Edward gone leave her? Muriel asked. Her eyes sparkled with delight while her lips curled into a smile. Nothing in this world would make her happier than to see Debra lose the man she had stolen.

"Not this Sunday, but next Sunday as they get dressed for church there's gonna' be an argument and Edward will simply walk out on her and never come back." Madam Zelda nodded her head in assurance. "That's a fact!" Muriel and Tina turned to face each other with broad grins plastered over their faces.

Muriel, her eyes squinted, turned away from Tina to stare into space. She shook her head slowly from side to side envisioning Debra crying herself to sleep every night once Edward left her. Afterall, she had cried when Debra stole Edward from her. Muriel relished the thought and wispered, "I just can't wait." They stood to leave and Madam Zelda held out her hand. Tina placed a wad of cash into her sweaty palm. Madam Zelda waddled to the front door with the women at her heels.

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Back in Jackson, Sandy and Debra took the emerald green silken fabric they had chosen and went off their separate ways hoping to finish their look alike outfits by the time Sunday rolled around again. They had missed their chance to finish the outfits in time for this week's service because of the spat between them. Debra, not wanting to wear her suit unless and until Sandy was finished with hers, called her friend.

"Did you get it done?" she asked hoping the answer was yes. She so wanted to wear it on the following day. But unless Sandy's was done, she'd have to wait 'til the next Sunday.

"Yeah, it's done. Girl it is sharp."

"I know. I think we both look good in that color. What if we wear our gold shoes?"

"I was thinkin' the same thing. Did you ever get a gold purse?"

"Uh-huh. Well, I better go wash my hair. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay."

Debra was combing out her freshly shampooed hair when Edward came up, grabbed her by the wrists and leaned over to kiss her neck. "How 'bout I go get us some Kentucky Fried Chicken and we kick back and watch a movie?" Edward asked.

"Sounds good to me. You know how I hate to cook."

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Sunday morning Debra rose early to find Edward already awake and up. "Why you up so early, Edward?"

"Didn't sleep good last night. Thinkin' 'bout going home to see my mother."

"Goin' all the way to Atlanta, Georgia! When? Today?"

"Yes, today!"

"You don't have to yell, Edward. I was just surprised 'cause it seem to come up all of a sudden." Edward was silent. Debra stood staring at him. What is up with him? she pondered with a wrinkled brow. Edward went to the closet, pulled a suitcase out, opened a drawer and started pulling clothes out. Debra stood beside him and rested a hand on his arm.

"What's the matter, Edward?"  He didn't answer. "Edward!"

He snapped the suitcase shut without a word and headed for the door. He turned and said, "Will you send my last check to my mother's?" With that he was gone. Debra stood there frozen. Her legs wouldn't move to run after him. Her mind wouldn't work. Surely, this was a nightmare. It couldn't really be happening. But it was—Edward was gone.

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Forty-four year old Debra Neville sat curled on her floral sofa. It was one-o'clock in the morning. The late-late show was on but Debra wasn't watching. Rehashing the past had robbed her of sleep. Finally, ending up out of bed and on the sofa, her thoughts continued. I wonder whatever happened to Tina? she pondered staring into space. It had been close to twenty years since she had seen Tina. But Debra vividly recalled their first encounter.

Sandy, Debra's best friend had been shopping for fabric that day with her sister,Tina when Debra ran into them at Beki's Fabric Store.  It was no secret that Tina disliked Debra making greetings awkward and the conversation short.  The following week found Sandy and Debra together in the same fabric store.                                                

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"Tina wants to come with us the next time we shop for fabric," Sandy announced nervously as the two friends strolled through the Store. Debra stopped suddenly. In wide-eyed disbelief, she turned to Sandy.

"Why! She don't sew. She don't even know how."

Sheepishly, Sandy answered, her eyes shifting away from Debra's stare. "She says she wants to learn. I started teaching her a few things with the fabric she bought last week."

"Why now? I don't want her to come. Let her find somebody else to teach her to sew. Why it's gotta' be you who teach her?"

Sandy placed a hand on her dropped hip and cocked her head to one side. "Now, what kinda' sense do that make for her to go lookin' for somebody else to teach her when her own sister sews? Of course she'd come to me. That's why we were in here last week to get fabric so she could get started."

"I don't care. If she comes, I won't go," Debra shot back. The two friends had planned to make look-alike outfits for Sunday's service. Next thing we know, Debra thought. Tina will want to come strollin' in church dressed like me and Sandy.

"I hate that you feel that way," Sandy said with resolve. "But Tina's my sister. And if she can't come I guess me and you can't go shoppin' together no more."

Debra jutted her face forward, stretched her eyes wide, and looked hard into the face of Sandy. "I guess not," she answered. Debra then turned and marched away leaving Sandy to regret having stuck up so forcefully for Tina.

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Tina wore a smirk  as she shopped for fabric with her sister the following week. Can't wait to see Debra's face when me and Sandy walk in church Sunday dressed alike. Sandy is my sister she thought with a smirk.

Sandy eyed Tina sensing that her sister was pleased with the falling out between herself and Debra.

"Don't think you so smart. You been tryin' since we were kids to come between me and Debra. It ain't never worked and it won't this time." Sandy paused, looking hard at Tina.

"And wipe that smirk off yo' face or I won't sew nothin' with you."

"Don't act like this all my fault," Tina snapped. "Debra don't like me no better than I like her."  Tina's contorted face showed her contempt for Debra. "She think she so much just 'cause she got that light skin and that long hair."

"Don't blame Debra for her good looks just 'cause you got a problem with being dark and yo' hair won't grow." Immediately, the shock and pain of Sandy's words reflected in Tina's face.

"I'm sorry,Tina." Sandy reached for Tina's arm to console her. Tina snatched away sullen. She left the store and headed for her car with Sandy at her heels pleading. "Ahh-hh-hh, come on Tina. Let's get the fabric so we can go home and get started. We only have three days."

"Forget it!" I don't want to dress alike no more. Go on. Go make yo' ol' outfit with Debra!"

Tina pulled the cream colored old chevy that the two sisters shared into the driveway. They had traveled home in silence. Tina got out, slammed the car door and marched off to her side of the duplex. Sandy stood for a moment in the driveway massaging her temples before entering her own home.

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On the other side of town Debra lifted the receiver, put it to her ear, and placed a finger in a hole of her rotary dial phone. Without moving her finger, she quickly hung the receiver up. It had been two weeks since she and Sandy had exchanged angry words. She missed her friend  terribly. But maybe it was for the better. As long as Tina was around, their relationship would be like the up and down of a seesaw.

While Debra agonized over the spat with Sandy,Tina, speaking with a long-time acquaintance, Muriel, plotted the permanent dissolution of the friendship between her sister, Sandy and Debra.

"Yeah, I can get the money," Tina answered tilting her head back and blowing cigarette smoke into the air. "Only this betta' work!"

"Well, don't forget she stole Edward from me. I want to get her much as you do. Madam Zelda will give us a deal since we both want her to voodoo the same person," Muriel answered.  

"So when we leavin'?" Tina asked getting excited at the prospect of finally being able to watch Debra suffer. And just think, she won't even know what hit her. Tina chuckled to herself. Watching Debra go from having everything to havin' nothin' was gonna' be sweet.

"We'll leave in a couple of days," Muriel responded.

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On the day of their departure, Muriel and Tina made the final preparations for the trip from Jackson to Sardis, Mississippi. They had a three-thirty afternoon appointment with Madam Zelda. Muriel, remembering that she hadn't yet picked up the hamburgers for the trip, checked her watch and rushed off to Whitey's Hamburger Stand. There was just enough time to get the food before picking Tina up.

As Muriel entered the establishment, she spotted Debra and her heart leaped. She stopped short and squinted her eyes. You thank you done won, she thought. But jus' wait. When Edward leave you we gon' see who the winner is. Madam Zelda had promised she'd fix it so Edward would leave and never return to Debra. Madam Zelda's ad in Hap Magazine had boasted that she was the best for getting results. Her work was guaranteed. She had come from a long line of enchanters and workers of magic. There had been her grandmother, sister, and an aunt; they had all used their powers for revenge upon their clients' enemies.

"Hey Debra!" Muriel yelled out startling Debra who turned in the direction of the voice. "You thank you so smart." Muriel took long strides in Debra's direction, but stopped just short of reaching her. Muriel pointed a finger towards Debra who had remained silent starring at her "You thank you done won." Muriel dropped a hip and propped a fist on it as she continued. "Edward gone leave you. I'm seein' to it. And it ain't gon' be nothin' you can do 'bout it, my dear." She moved her head from side to side as she spoke. Patron's eyes darted from Muriel to Debra whose mouth was hanging open. Debra remained silent, keeping her eyes on Muriel. Muriel switched hips and continued. "You gon' know it was me that made him leave you. I may not have Edward but you ain't gonna' have him neither."

As abruptly as she had entered, Muriel turned and left without ordering the hamburgers for which she had come.  Humiliated, Debra had lost her appetite. She politely excused herself from the line of customers and left.

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Sandy watched from her living room window as Muriel pulled into the driveway and Tina exited with a small overnight bag. Her sister had mentioned nothing to her about a trip. Sandy moved swiftly from the sofa to catch Tina but she was too late. Muriel had backed out of the driveway and they were too far to hear Sandy call to them. Sandy went to the phone and dialed Debra's number.

"Hello?" Debra pondered if the call could have anything to do with her earlier strange encounter with Muriel. She was relieved and happy to hear Sandy's voice.

"I'm sorry Debbie," Sandy choked out.

"No, I'm sorry."  Just then, Edward walked up behind Debra, locked his arms around her waist, and planted a kiss on her cheek. "I guess I'll let you go, Sandy. The love of my life is here," Debra said turning her head to smile at Edward.

"Alright, I'm glad we had this little talk," Sandy responded laughing and hanging up the phone.

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"Did you bring the things I told you to?" Madam Zelda asked resting her brown hands on the table. She intertwined her plump fingers waiting for Tina to show her the things she had brought.

Awkwardly,Tina pulled the picture of Debra and Edward posed in an embrace from the overnight bag.  She looked at the photo a second before laying it on the table. Muriel picked it up and starred contemptuously at the couple before slamming it to the table. Next,Tina brought forth a clump of Debra's hair wrapped in a piece of plastic wrap. She thought back to the day she had taken the items right from under Debra's nose. Stupid woman. All I had to do was pretend my car was broke down in front of her house and ask to use her phone. Once I got inside, I just said I had to use the bathroom. There on a table in the hallway leading to the bathroom was the photo. The comb, with hair strands sticking from its teeth lay on the edge of the face bowl. Knowing where the items were was easy too, courtesy of unsuspecting Sandy. The day Sandy told me 'bout the 'nice' picture of Edward and Debra was the one time I got somethin' from Sandy that I could use against Debra.

Madam Zelda took the picture from the frame and cut right down through the middle of the couple. She then reached under the table cloth and brought up a glass jar where she placed the two pieces of the photo. She then stuffed the clump of hair into the jar. Next, she again raised the edge of the tablecloth and reached for something that looked like a bunch of plant roots. She pushed them into the jar, screwed on the lid, and handed the jar to Tina. You must believe that the moment you bury this jar, the fate of Debra and Edward's relationship is doomed for failure."

"But can't curses be broken?" Tina asked. She could hardly wait to see the curse take effect on Debra. And she didn't want it to backfire.

"Yeah. But the only way "this" curse can be broken is if Debra or Edward was to dig up that jar. She pointed to the jar in Tina's hand. They gotta' find it and destroy it.  Now, you tell me how either one of them gonna' find it buried out in a field somewhere here in Sardis?"

"When is Edward gone leave her? Muriel asked. Her eyes sparkled with delight while her lips curled into a smile. Nothing in this world would make her happier than to see Debra lose the man she had stolen.

"Not this Sunday, but next Sunday as they get dressed for church there's gonna' be an argument and Edward will simply walk out on her and never come back." Madam Zelda nodded her head in assurance. "That's a fact!" Muriel and Tina turned to face each other with broad grins plastered over their faces.

Muriel, her eyes squinted, turned away from Tina to stare into space. She shook her head slowly from side to side envisioning Debra crying herself to sleep every night once Edward left her. Afterall, she had cried when Debra stole Edward from her. Muriel relished the thought and wispered, "I just can't wait." They stood to leave and Madam Zelda held out her hand. Tina placed a wad of cash into her sweaty palm. Madam Zelda waddled to the front door with the women at her heels.

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Back in Jackson, Sandy and Debra took the emerald green silken fabric they had chosen and went off their separate ways hoping to finish their look alike outfits by the time Sunday rolled around again. They had missed their chance to finish the outfits in time for this week's service because of the spat between them. Debra, not wanting to wear her suit unless and until Sandy was finished with hers, called her friend.

"Did you get it done?" she asked hoping the answer was yes. She so wanted to wear it on the following day. But unless Sandy's was done, she'd have to wait 'til the next Sunday.

"Yeah, it's done. Girl it is sharp."

 "I know. I think we both look good in that color. What if we wear our gold shoes?"

"I was thinkin' the same thing. Did you ever get a gold purse?"

"Uh-huh. Well, I better go wash my hair. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay."

Debra was combing out her freshly shampooed hair when Edward came up, grabbed her by the wrists and leaned over to kiss her neck. "How 'bout I go get us some Kentucky Fried Chicken and we kick back and watch a movie?" Edward asked.

"Sounds good to me. You know how I hate to cook."

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Sunday morning Debra rose early to find Edward already awake and up. "Why you up so early, Edward?"

"Didn't sleep good last night. Thinkin' 'bout going home to see my mother."

"Goin' all the way to Atlanta, Georgia! When? Today?"

"Yes, today!"

"You don't have to yell, Edward. I was just surprised 'cause it seem to come up all of a sudden." Edward was silent. Debra stood staring at him. What is up with him? she pondered with a wrinkled brow. Edward went to the closet, pulled a suitcase out, opened a drawer and started pulling clothes out. Debra stood beside him and rested a hand on his arm.

"What's the matter, Edward?"  He didn't answer. "Edward!"

He snapped the suitcase shut without a word and headed for the door. He turned and said, "Will you send my last check to my mother's?" With that he was gone. Debra stood there frozen. Her legs wouldn't move to run after him. Her mind wouldn't work. Surely, this was a nightmare. It couldn't really be happening. But it was—Edward was gone.

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For three weeks Debra did not answer her phone nor the door. She received official notice that she had been fired. It didn't matter--Nothing mattered. Edward had walked out on her for no reason. She couldn't show her face in Jackson again. She'd leave. That's it. I'll go some place where nobody knows me. To the town folk, it was as though she had vanished.

For twenty years, Debra asked herself and sometimes she asked God. Why had Edward left her? She wondered who he had married and if they were happy. She thought about how she used to attend church and how for twenty years she had not set foot in one. And then one Easter Sunday she decided to visit a church she had often listened to on the radio.  After the traditional Easter message was preached, Debra and the other parishioners were preparing to leave when the pastor who was still in the pulpit raised his hands, palms towards his congregation and every movement halted. His eyes were closed as though in deep meditation. Debra was puzzled but she did as everyone else, standing in quiet reverence with her head bowed and eyes closed. 

"There is a woman here," the pastor began, his eyes still closed. She is a visitor. I want that woman to come forth. She knows who she is." Debra felt a rumbling in her abdomen and became weak in the knees. She grabbed and held on tightly to the back of the bench in front of her to keep from dropping to the floor. She knew without a doubt that she was the woman. But what could the pastor possibly want with her? Debra, keeping her head bowed, opened her eyes and scanned the sanctuary letting her eyes come to rest on the pulpit. The pastor's eyes were still closed as he continued to call for the woman. "Woman, you are wearing a pink flowered dress with matching pink shoes. Please be obedient and come forth."

Debra's eyes filled with tears. She sensed it all had something to do with her twenty years of misery.  But what did it matter now that she was a woman in her forties. If there were some answer or explanation it should have come a long time ago. Why now when she no longer cared? She felt a hand from behind rest on her shoulder and turned to look into the face of a young woman in her thirties.

"Go forward," she whispered. "It means God has a personal message for you."  Other members, despite the presence of other visitors had  also sensed that she indeed was the woman for whom pastor was calling. They too, urged her forward. Squeezing past two parishioners, Debra made her way to the front weeping. After so many years she didn't want to deal with anything from her very painful past. Though she never prayed and asked God why He had allowed such a cruel thing to happen, she had asked Him while yelling accusations because she blamed God. He knew all she ever wanted from life was to g