Page 13 of Saved By the Game

“Oh, I see you’re showing out Mr. NBA player!” Victor, a player on the opposing team shouted. Then Victor elbowed Brian abruptly. Brian didn’t appreciate the elbow, so he fouled him back. He fouled him so hard that the guy fell on the court. They began to squabble, and a huge fight broke out among the two teams.

The prisoner acting as the referee shouted to break it up. It didn’t work and the men fought each other harder. Several French prison guards broke up the fight by spraying pepper spray at those involved. Other guards used their batons to isolate the other prisoners gathered around the fight. The guards close by grabbed Brian and the prisoner he was fighting and put them in handcuffs.

“Victor, you know better than fighting during rec-time. You’ll have to miss rec-time for the next month. Mr. NBA player it looks like this assault can cause the judge to add more time to your sentence if you’re found guilty of this assault.” The guard announced as he walked them back into the jail.

“Man, what am I supposed to do? This man picked a fight with me. I wasn’t going to let him beat me up. My lawyer will get me out soon. I’m not worried about anything.”

The chaplain walked by and heard the commotion. He looked at his watch and stopped in his tracks. After the guard secured the inmates involved, he began to document the incident. “Guard I know the protocol is to put inmates in the hole for confinement. I request special permission to take these two men with me to group therapy. The Warden gave me these privileges as a part of my calling here.”

“Yes, sir. I don’t see any problem with it, Chaplain Jones.” The guard responded as he instructed them to follow him. He led them to the small jail chapel. It was about one thousand square feet. The small chapel held an altar, a small pew, podium, and a small gathering area.A small bulletin board listed meeting times for Sunday services. It also listed names of prisoners who’d joined the prison church. Along with the prisoners who were up for the upcoming baptismal.

“I’m Chaplain Jerrell Jones. Welcome to Chapelle des Girondins. Many of our prisoners visit for Sunday services. When prisoners join the chapel services, they participate in prayer, worship, and listen to messages of rehabilitation. We have fellowship together and share testimonies about how God saved them. They also confess their sins and give their lives to God through baptismal.”

“Why are you in here, sir?” Chaplain Jones asked Brian.

“I was trying to get my girl back. They’re charging me with kidnapping and aggravated assault.

“So, did you hold your girlfriend against her will and assault her?”

Brian looked around before he answered Chaplain Jones, he didn’t want anyone to hear him. “I may have held her against her will, but I needed her to see everything my way. She shouldn’t have run out of our hotel room into the lobby. She started talking crazy to me. She said she found someone that made her happy. I slapped her for saying it. I wanted her to tell me she missed me. I wanted her to come back to me. Instead, she spoke to me in a way that suggested her feelings about me had changed.”

“It sounds like you just wanted her love. God forgives your mistakes Brian. God’s love is greater than any love a woman can offer. His love is unfailing, unconditional, and eternal because you are his priority, and his love should be the one that defines your worth. You didn’t care how your actions impacted others. I’ve seen you play basketball on the television. God gave you a gift. You didn’t use your gift of playing basketball to uplift others; instead, you misused it for the wrong purposes. Tell me about a time in your life that made you unhappy.”

“When my father went to prison for abusing my mother. My father had been in and out of prison most of my life. All I can remember is him drinking until he was drunk and hitting on my mama. I didn’t like to see it or hear my mama cry. I couldn’t shake the memory-it kept replaying in my mind. The most devasting time was when I was seventeen. My dad cut a piece of my mom’s ear for not listening to him. She screamed so loudly the neighbors called the police. Once the police got there it was so much blood on the floor he was handcuffed immediately.” Brian held his head down in disappointment,a tear falling from his eye.

Chaplain Jones walked towards him and gave him a brotherly hug. “I want you to know that your Father is proudof your accomplishments. The best is yet to come for you, Brian. I want you to hug yourself and say you’re fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Brian looked off to play it cool. He took a deep breath and followed the Chaplain’s command. “I’m fearfully and wonderfully made.”

“Now I want both of y’all to repeat after me. “I am the head and not the tail. I am above and not beneath.”

Brian and Victor looked at each other. After contemplating, they both repeated the affirmation given by Chaplain Jones. “I know it’s probably too much to ask y’all to give each other a hug but give each other a handshake. I know it’s rough in jail, but y’all need to change. You can’t stay the same version of yourselves if you want to be released.”

Brian took the lead and gave Victor a handshake. “God is pleased.” Chaplain Jones smiled, his gold teeth glistening. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to pray for you both.” The guys both nodded their heads in agreement. “Bow your heads please. Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, O Lord, could we ever survive? We ask that you forgive our sins and help us forgive anyone we’re holding a grudge against. Lord, we lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, we have sinned and rebelled. We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, devasted, and ruined. Lord, we ask that you set these men among me free. Fill their heart and spirts with love. In Jesus name, Amen!

“Amen.” the men said in unison. “I’ll speak to the guard about forgiving this fight. Since this jail is where prisoners are housed before trial, I’m sure your awaiting your trial date. I will discuss the implications of the altercation with the correctional officer. I need you to do me a favor and help someone else.”

“Thank you, Chaplain Jones . I’ll help someone else. I also want to serve in the chapel. The emptiness I’d been feeling left my body in the brief time I’ve been in here. I feel lighthearted.” Brian smiled.

“Seems like the prayer helped. God’s Holy Spirt filled the gaps. The best is yet to come.” Chaplain Jones walked off and approached a prisoner that walked into the Chapel. Brian took a seat and continued to pray. As he prayed, he heard God’s voice.Brian, I need you to do this for me. Follow my commandments.

Brian raised an eyebrow in confusion. Darkness was cast out. He no longer wanted to seek revenge on anyone. He understood what he needed to do but he hoped it wasn’t too late. Instead of continuously revisiting the trauma of his mother’s abuse, he began focusing on healing and moving forward with his life. He kept hearing the Chaplain say,the best is yet to come. The guilt of the murder for hire was weighing heavily on his conscious. He paced the chapel back and forth, contemplating stopping it. One part of his conscious believed since he wasn’t the killer that the blood wasn’t on him. The other part of his conscious believed if Adonis was killed it would be his fault since he’d ordered the hit. Brian took the palm of his hand and hit his head. Then he asked the guard to take him back to his cell.

Once he made it, the guard unlocked his handcuffs. “Have a good night. Oh, I forgot you don’t even sleep at night. Don’t let the bed bug’s bite.” The guard announced with a chuckle.

As he walked into his cell, he noticed Bourbon was busy reading a book. He didn’t even look up to speak to him. So, he cleared his throat to get Bourbon’s attention, causing him to look up. “Hey, Bourbon. I was thinking about calling the hit off. Can you cancel it? I changed my mind.”

Bourbon looked at Brian with a blank stare. “Are you crazy? I told you that once the hit was set up with my guy that there were no cancellations. You can’t forgive and forget now. It’s too late. I told you yesterday the hit was already in motion.. My hitter has already caught a flight here to look for Adonis. He’s already been paid half of his fee for the job, He will be paid the other half after the job is completed.” Bourbon chuckled loudly and went back to reading his book.

Brian prayed to God that the plan to kill Adonis was unsuccessful, even though Bourbon told him that Joey had a ninety five percent success rate. Hopefully, this time Joey failed at his job. If Bella were to find out that he had Adonis killed, then he would never win her back.

9

Adonis Ferguson (Game)

“Okay, you can open your eyes, Bella.” Her eyes bulged with surprise and her mouth dropped in amazement at the beautiful red roses in every area of their hotel room. Roses stood over her in an arch that led the way to his bed. Red balloons appeared from the ceiling and Adonis gifted her with a gigantic human size teddy bear. While he held the teddy bear, she embraced him with a warm hug and a seductive kiss. “Everything looks amazing. Game you didn’t have to do it all for me.”

“Wait, I have more gifts for you.” He held his hand out to display a bed loaded with stylish clothes. “I had my stylist bring you some more clothes to wear. I hope you like them. I want you to wear the cute little jersey dress with the Balenciaga tennis shoes today. I want my lady comfortable and stylish for our last evening in Paris.”

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