Grace (BWWM)

Chapter Thirty-One

"Lord, I need You. You know that I need You every second of my life, but I really need You now. Please bless me with patience and help me out here," I say and sigh, staring at the house I'm parked in front of. It's been over a month since the incident with Grace and her sister, and Victoria has been giving her the silent treatment this entire time. None of us have been able to see Rose, as Victoria has made sure that she won't be "influenced" by us. Rose calls every week, but that's not the same. This is ridiculous.

I feel that anger return but I say another prayer, trying to erase it, not with my own strength, but with reliance on the Lord. It's taken me weeks to come to a place where I even wanted to bring this to God. I wanted to hold onto this anger, I thought that Victoria deserved it. But I saw the effects of holding on, and just like Grace said, it turned into hate. Through prayer, the Lord has helped me to see through it, but I know that it won't be settled for me until I make one major move.

So that's how I find myself in front of Kayode and Victoria's home. I came to talk to her. I'm not here to start a fight, but I know that if I don't watch myself, it could easily become a fight. She needs to know that what she is doing is causing damage, and not just to her sister, but to all of us. I also want to know if she would like to come to our even smaller church wedding. Plans have changed, and it's just the most immediate family. The reception and larger church wedding will come later, but we want to get married as soon as yesterday.

Praying just a few more prayers, I finally hop out of my truck and make my way to the front door, but I'm stunned to see it fly open before I even get there. Victoria's eyes are narrowed as she stares me down with a wooden spoon in her hand. If I didn't know better, I'd say that it was to beat me over the head, but I think she was just about to make pounded yam or something.

"Victoria-"

"Go back to your car, Joe. I do not want you here."

"Just listen for a second. Please. I know you and your sister are in a tough place right now-"

"Take yourself and go. You are not welcome here."

"I have no problems with that, but what I do have problems with is the fact that-"

"It is only for the little respect that I have left for you that I will not embarrass you," she says, squinting one eye and waving that spoon in my direction. Gee, thanks. I feel annoyance build within me as she continues to interrupt, but I try to remember to extend grace. If her sister can do it after those vile words then I can, too.

"I do not want to embarrass you like I embarrassed that sister of mine." And there goes that grace.

"Victoria, you're talking about your sister here, not some stranger." My voice clearly shows my irritation, but I don't care.

"I would have rather it was a stranger! Not my own sister. Ahn!" Her exclamation gives me pause, and I don't know where it comes from, but an odd peace comes over me, erasing the irritation that is building. I approach Victoria and I'm surprised when she doesn't chase me away but watches me closely instead.

"You're hurt," I say, and her eyes narrow. She looks at me as if I said something suspicious.

"And so what?"

"And you're handling it like this because you're hurt." There are a few beats of silence before she looks behind me, looks back to me, and then motions me inside.

"You're allowing the warm air to escape," she mutters, as if to explain why she let me in. I merely nod, taking off my shoes and waiting. She eyes my shoes and then me before beckoning me further into the home. She heads into the kitchen, resuming what she was doing and there's silence between us as I wait for her to speak. Although the two sisters are different in various ways, they are also similar in this way. She won't jump to talk about how she feels, but given a listening ear, she will talk.

"What did you come here for?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About the marriage, ehn?"

"About the situation at hand. So tell me your side, Victoria." She goes mute, just continuing her actions. I'm almost afraid she won't say anything, but then she turns around, eyeing me. I don't know what she's looking for, but I guess she finds it because she speaks once more.

"I am angry that I entrusted Rose to you and my sister and yet you both allowed this to happen in my sister's own home."

Immediately my eyebrows raise.

"In Grace's home?"

She looks at me as if I asked a stupid question.

"Yes. If not my sister's home, what other home?"

"Victoria, have you spoken to Rose about this?"

"What are you asking?" Her eyes narrowas she takes offense to my question.

"I'm not asking to insult you. I'm not saying that you can't talk to your own daughter. I'm asking because that's not what happened at all."

Her eyes harden."What are you saying?"

"This didn't happen under our watch, Victoria."

I watch as her expression changes, various emotions playing over her face like a movie. It reminds me of Ty when he realized that Rose was not violated. I see that same realization dawn on Victoria as well. She seemed to think that Austin took advantage of Rose, or that he manipulated her in some way, and it happened in Grace's home while we were there. But this couldn't be further from the truth.

There's horror, and then shock, regret, and disappointment. Her shoulders, which were up high before, now sag as she seems to realize she was wrong, and what the truth is. Even though I'm not happy with how she handled things-and this is an understatement-I feel for her. But I think part of why she has fallen so hard now was because of her denial. She didn't want to see or hear anything else and that is what caused her to hurl such insults at her sister. I don't know if it is because she has a set image of Rose or because this suggests to her that she failed as a mother. Not that she has, but to her this may seem so. I think it's a mixture of both.

But even with this being said, she is responsible for her own actions. She hurt Grace deeply and can never take those words back.

"I would advise you to talk to Rose. Talk to your daughter and hear her out. Not only that, you need to talk to your sister, as well." I walk towards her and place a hand on her shoulder. Lost in her own thoughts, she doesn't seem to notice. "I pray the Lord gives you wisdom on how to approach this." She only blinks at that. I stick around for a minute more before saying goodbye, then see myself out the door and head to my truck, amazed and thankful that things went much better than I thought they would.

Well, at least this part did. Things will be tough for Victoria, and the same goes for Rose, as well. I don't know how things will go between her and her mother, but they truly need to sit down and talk with one another as mother and child. Rose needs to get closer to her mother, and Victoria needs to get closer to her own daughter. I sure hope things go well for their sake. I pray for it.