Color Me Blind (A Divine Love Story Book 1) (3 page)

Lisa hadn’t found sleep the night before
, but that was irrelevant because the sun was up letting her know it was okay to stop trying.  She had worried all night.  She worried about the lasting effect this would have on the kids.  She worried about her husband and if he was still alive.  Did he wrap himself around a tree? 

She hadn’t even thought about the fact that she was sending a drunken man to operate a vehicle.  She ha
dn’t thought about the innocent on the road.  She had only thought about protecting her son and Jasmine. 

She wondered if he would ever be in her life again.  She wondered if her son even wanted to see him again.  She wondered how many times
he’d abused their son right under her nose.  She wondered what it said about her maternal instincts that she hadn’t known. 

She worried that Vanessa would rip her eyes out as soon as she saw the marks on her baby’s body.  She had a mind not to even defend herself because if the tables were turned she would likely try and do much worse.  Mostly
, she worried about what the children worried about.  She sincerely hoped they could figure out a way for them to still be friends.  She looked at their sweet sleeping faces.  They were still holding hands.

She took this opportunity to get up, get showered and get dressed.  She had what would likely be the most difficult day of her life to look forward to.  Jasmine’s parents should be home by noon.  She felt a little better after she’d showered.  She put
on a pink sweat suit and sneakers.  She pulled her hair back in a ponytail and decided against makeup.  It was just one of those days. 

She was startled when she heard the phone ring.  She rushed quickly to the side of the bed before the phone woke the children.
 

She picked up the
phone, “Hello.” 

There was silence. 

“Hello.” 

“
It’s Frank.” 

Her heart sank. 

“Frank, where are you, are you okay?” 

He chuckled, “It depends on what you mean by okay.  My wife pulled a gun on me and kicked me out of our house.” 

Her temper was quick and cool.  Her sympathy was nonexistent.  She walked out of her bedroom so she wouldn’t wake the children. 

“You listen here you bastard,
you are lucky I didn’t pull that trigger after what I walked in on.  What the hell were you thinking?  Are you so unhappy that you have to take your racial frustrations out on a nine-year-old who has never done anything to you except be a friend to your son?  To the son you claimed to love but have been beating behind my back scarring his body and his mind.  If you come back here I promise you I will pull that trigger.” 

She hit the off button and leaned agai
nst the wall to calm her nerves.  What was happening to her world?  How could it be crumbling all around her?  What was wrong with her husband? 

“Mom?  Mom?” 

She took a deep breath and went back in the room. 

“Hi baby.  How do you feel?” 

He rubbed his eyes, “I’m okay.  Why were you yelling mom?” 

She closed her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. 

“I was talking to your father sweetheart. We are just having a really hard time communicating right now.” 

In a panic he asked,
“Is he coming back?” 

“He won’t be back until he’s better.  If he doesn’t get better then he won’t be back okay.” 

“Okay.”

The phone rang again, Lisa snapped, “What!” 

“Uh hello, Lisa. Is that you?  This is Vanessa.” 

Lisa cringed, “Vanessa I’m so sorry.  Please excuse my rudeness.  Are you guys heading back in town?” 

“Actually we’re home.  I was going to come and get Jasmine.” 

Lisa
wanted to panic.  This didn’t give her anytime to think. 

She said, “Actually she is still sleep.  I will get her up and bring her over because there is something I need to talk to you about.” 

“Oh okay, well that’s fine.  See you in a few minutes.” 

“Okay, bye.” 

Lisa hung up.

Blake was starting to shake Jasmine awake. 

“You guys go brush your teeth and wash your face.  Just throw on some shoes so we can get this over with.” 

“But mom we’re wearing our pajamas.”

“Baby please, just do what I asked.” 

He didn’t respond, ju
st pulled a sleepy Jasmine out of the bed and headed to his room.  Lisa took a deep breath and said a silent prayer for some help.

∞∞∞

Lisa rang the doorbell at Jasmine’s house.  She held the hand of a sleepy Blake who held the hand of an even sleepier Jasmine.  Vanessa’s pretty brown face had a puzzled look when she answered the door because the kids were not dressed but since Lisa looked a little worn she decided to table her comment.  They spoke their pleasantries and Vanessa bent down to kiss Jasmine’s cheek. She was alarmed by the bandage.

S
he asked, “Baby what happened to your face?” 

Lisa jumped in before Jasmine could reply, “Why don’t you guys go in the kitchen and eat a bowl of cereal while I talk to Vanessa.” 

They gratefully obliged and practically sprinted to the kitchen.  Vanessa looked after them and then locked eyes with Lisa. 

“What’s going on Lisa?
How did Jasmine get hurt?” 

“Uh
, can we sit down?” 

“
Uh no, you can tell me what happened to my baby’s face!” 

Lisa wanted to
run. Instead she took a deep breath and said, “Last night when I got home from the store I walked in on my husband beating Jasmine and Blake with a belt.” 

Vanessa let out an exasperated, “What!” 

“I know, I know.  I put him out the house and I tended to the babies.  I didn’t know. Blake told me last night that his father had hit him before but I never knew about it.  He’d never hit Jasmine before last night though.” 

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” 

“No, of course not. Vanessa, I’m so sorry. I know you left your child in my care and I failed to protect her.” 

“What could they have possibly done
to make him beat them?” 

“He said he saw t
hem kiss, but it doesn’t matter. What he did was inexcusable.” 

“That little boy of yours was kissing my
baby?” 

“Okay now wait a minute.  They weren’t kissing like that.  He kissed her on her nose.  Frank took it out of context.” 

Vanessa just stared at Lisa, so she explained why Blake said he kissed Jasmine on the nose.  Vanessa was heated. She knew better.  You could never trust white people. They would always show their true colors.  She was fond of Blake, but she was about to cut this off before it got any worse. 

Justin came into the room due to the commotion, “What’s going on?” 

Vanessa practically yelled out the recap of what Lisa had confessed.  A look of strong concern spread over his face.

Justin was a
spiritual man and he never jumped to conclusions.  He could feel the Holy Spirit giving him a sense of peace.  He knew he had to take a different approach to what was going on. There was something bigger at stake.  He tuned in to listen to the spiritual guidance. 

Justin asked, “Where is your husband now?” 

Lisa said, “I put him out of the house and I had the locks changed.  I honestly don’t know where he is.  I told Blake he wouldn’t be back if he didn’t get some help for his drinking and anger issues.” 

Vanessa was livid, “I don’t care what kind of help he gets
.  My baby is never setting foot in that house again.  As a matter of fact you can get Blake and get the hell out.  You’re lucky I don’t press charges on that bastard you married.” 

Lisa tried to calm the situation down, “Listen I know this is bad
, but we can’t stop them from seeing each other.  That’s the one thing they asked me is to make sure they could still be friends and Frank will get help.” 

Unable to stop herself Vanessa slapped
Lisa. Justin jumped to grab his wife.  He told her to calm down.  Lisa grabbed her cheek and accepted the slap.  In any other situation she would have returned the gesture but the guilt she carried made her unusually passive for the moment.

Lisa warned, “Vanessa, keep your hands to yourself.”

Vanessa replied, “Do not defend that racist prick to me.  Did you think we didn’t know he doesn’t care for black people?  We aren’t that stupid Lisa, but if I had known he would have the gall to put his hands on my child she would have never set foot in that house.  My child will never see any of you again.” 

Jasmine and Blake overhead everything as they
sat at the table with their untouched bowls of cereal.  Once the yelling escalated Jasmine grabbed his hand and pulled him to the pantry. 

“Okay Blake we are gonna have to run away.  My mom is never gonna let me
see you again.” 

She opened the pantry door and grabbed a grocery bag. 

She said, “Help me get some snacks.” 

They filled the bag with cookies, c
hips, crackers and juice boxes.  Then they took the back stairway up to Jasmine’s room.

They ran in
, but she didn’t close the door all the way.  In her rush she didn’t notice.  She sprinted to her closet and pulled out her little pink suitcase and she grabbed her book bag. 

Throwing everything on the bed she said, “Don’t just stand there
, we have to hurry.” 

“Okay what do you want me to do?” 

“You start getting clothes for us?” 

“For us, Jas
mine I can’t wear girl clothes!” 

She let out a frustrated sigh, “Blake we don’t have time to go back to your house.  Plus you’re always calling me a tomboy so just get some of my clothes that can pass for boy clothes too.” 

He looked at her like she was crazy.  She grabbed him and pulled him to her mirror. 

“Look at us
B.  We’re almost the same exact size.  I’m just taller ‘cause my hair.” 

“Jaz
, I really don’t wanna wear girl clothes and what about shoes?” 

She looked down
at their feet. 

“We will just wear the sneakers we have on now.  Come on
, we have to hurry.” 

He asked, “Okay well what about money?” 

She grinned, “My brother Shawn keeps his money in his sock drawer.  One time I saw and he has other monies besides one dollar bills.” 

Blake’s eyes widened. 

“Jasmine that’s stealing!” 

“I know
, but we will just leave a note that says we’re sorry.  When we get older we can find a way to earn money and pay him back.” 

“Jasmine
, we are gonna get in so much trouble.” 

“Not if
we don’t get caught.  I know it’s wrong, but we don’t have no choice and we need to hurry.” 

“
How long are we gonna run away for?” 

That was something she hadn’t thought about.  She
pondered it for a moment then said, “For two years and then everybody should be okay by then.” 

Blake thought that was a really long time but said, “
Okay Jaz.  I trust you.” 

He kissed her on her nose and they laughed.  They continued to pack clothes and put the snacks into her book bag.

Outside her room door her sixteen-year-old brother Shawn had heard every word of their plot.  He just happened to be walking out of his room when they ran by and he wanted to know what they were up to in such a hurry. 

Not only was h
e was pissed that Jasmine knew about his stash, but that she was planning on stealing it.  On the other hand it made him kind of proud that she had found a way to think on her feet.  He thought Blake was a cool little dude and he didn’t have a problem with him.  He realized them running away had something to do with all the yelling going on downstairs.

He left them to finish their escape plan and went to tell his other two brothers to go outside and watch for them as they made their exit
, but not to let them go any further than the end of the street.  He headed downstairs to talk to their parents.  He saw his dad holding his mom and Mrs. Lisa holding her face.  Whatever was going on it was bad because he was sure his mom hit her. 

“Hey guys, guys,” he yelled. 

They all looked over at him. 

“I don’t know what happened
, but whatever it is it made Blake and Jasmine decide to run away.” 

They looked
at him like he had two heads.  He explained to them what he’d overheard.  Vanessa was just outdone. 

“That sneaky behind little boy has convinced my baby to run away with him?  I knew he was a bad influence.”