Read Online Forever Blessed (Women of Prayer) by Darlene Shortridge - Free Book Online

giving me this chance.” Laney stood and shook Vanessa’s hand. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
    Laney waited until she was a block away from the accounting office before she did the happy dance on the sidewalk. She composed herself then continued walking the couple of miles that would take her to Keisha’s place. She missed her friend and wanted to share the good news in person.
    The door was slightly open. That wasn’t a good sign. Then she heard the familiar voice that she had come to love. “I ain’t kiddin’ around, Junior. I said no more games til’ your homework is finished. You hear me?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Laney couldn’t help but grin. “Hello. Anyone home?”
    “Look who's knockin’ on my door! Laney-girl, is that you? Get yourself in here so I can see you.” She closed the door behind Laney.
    Laney hugged her friend. “Man, I missed you! You look good.” Laney looked her up and down. “You’ve been losing weight?”
    Keisha looked sheepish. “Yeah, I’m tryin.’ She changed the subject. “Look who’s talkin’. I bet you ain’t had a case of the uglies a day in your life. Now what are you doin’ in my neighborhood girl? I know you didn’ come all this way for nothin’.”
    Laney couldn’t contain her joy any longer. “I have good news and I had to tell you first. I got a job!”
    Both women were ecstatic. They spent the afternoon talking and carrying on like teenage girls.
    Looking at the clock, Laney knew her visit was almost over. The kids would be back from school shortly and Ms. Ella would need to hand Melanie back to her so she could help with supper. Ms. Ella was teaching some of the ladies to cook and had started helping with that particular chore.
    “Keisha, I’m going to have to get going pretty soon. I’m going to miss you.”
    “Oh Laney-girl, you know I’ll be right here. You can come over any time you want. You don' even have to call. Most nights me and Junior just be watchin’ us some TV and workin’ on homework. He was sick today. Stayed home and gimme grief.” She looked toward her son’s room. “That boy’s gonna be the death of me.”
    “You haven’t talked with Jamal have you?”
    Keisha looked down. “No, but I been thinkin’ bout it. He ain’t bad all the time. Maybe now he’ll see me workin’ and losin’ weight and he be lovin’ on me the way he s’posed to. You know?”
    Laney knelt down in front of her friend and held her hand. “You listen to me. That man is nothing but trouble. Don’t you go calling him. Do you hear me? And another thing, when I got here, your front door was open. Keisha, you have to make sure you and Junior are safe. You can’t be leaving your front door open for the whole world to just walk in. You have to be more careful.”
    “Yes, ma’am. But why would the whole world be walkin’ inta my little ole apartment? They ain't gonna fit!” Keisha grinned, amused by her own wit.
    “You know what I mean. I’m not playing around with you. I want you to be safe. I want Junior to be safe. You need to be locking your door, whether you are home or not. I don’t want to come over here and see that again. Ever.”
    “Ok, ok, I hear ya. I’ll make sure to close the door better next time. I only ran out to get the mail and I musta not shut it all the way. I’ll do better next time. Promise.”
    It was hard to stay mad at Keisha. It was also hard to get her to take anything seriously. You’d think all the times that man hurt her, that she’d understand how dangerous little things like that could be. A woman in her circumstances couldn’t be too careful. “You better be. Or you’ll have me to deal with, capice ?”
    Keisha scrunched her nose and eyebrows, “ capice ?”
    “It means, ‘understand’?” Laney shook her head and smiled. “Now come on over here and give me a hug. I gotta get going or I’m going to be late. We both know how the buses run.”
    Laney arrived home just before the kids came running