Divine Encounters

Chapters 81-90

Mother Divine. The hour was late but both of them were famished. So, the couple had gone to Whataburger for food and was finishing up eating in the kitchen. "You feel like getting a little work done?" she asked, a twinkle in her eye. "I know it's late, but we're way behind and it's so hard to pin you down, I have to take advantage of whatever time I have with you."

"I'm game if you are," Chalk said, while clearing all the trash off the table. They retreated to the living room and got started. "Let's do it a little different tonight," Amaya said, grabbing a large pillow and making herself comfortable on the floor. "How about you just talk to me? Start wherever you want and I'll just take notes. No recorder, no interview questions. Just you and me, having a conversation."

Chalk took his time and processed what she said. Then without further ado, he began to tell his story.

"I have no desire to try and make anyone understand me. Half the time I don't even understand myself. But like most people, I've had a few life-altering events that are etched into my memory. There's one particular incident that changed me forever. I'll just tell you what happened and then you can work your magic as far as how you put it down on paper."

Chalk sighed deeply and swallowed hard. "I'm not sure if I'd had a particularly harrowing day of teasing and cruelty or if this incident was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Either way, I crumbled." Though some of the details were fuzzy, Chalk would never forget that day in his personal history. "I was about nine or ten..."

He walked in and slammed the door. His mother looked up, but said nothing. Her attention was on the news blaring from the small television sitting on the card table that served as their dining table.

"Is there any way we can move?" he asked, breathing hard, his nostrils flared.

"Treat it like you would if it didn't hurt," she said, while spreading peanut butter on bread for their dinner. "Do you want soup or chips or both?"

He completely ignored her question. "What about when it does hurt, Mama?" he shot back, trying but failing to choke back tears. Chalk went to the living room and fell face down on the floor, wailing. "I can't take it anymore! I don't bother them and I never call anyone names or anything... but every day they tease me and call me every black, ugly thing they can think of." As he lay there sobbing, he felt her hands lift him from the floor with ease. Eva Divine was tall and slightly overweight but carried it well because of her height. Her skin was the color of brown sugar and her long, dark hair was always worn in a single braid that hung down her back. Only much later in life would Chalk realize how attractive his mother was. She had a pleasant face and the personality to match. He honestly could not ever recall seeing her sad and he definitely never saw her cry. But she was somewhat slow. Men took advantage of her simplemindedness and she, unfortunately, lacked the savvy necessary to see that. So, his mom had never married or even obtained side-chick status with the men she dated.

Mother Divine sat him on the couch and opened her bible. It was actually a Children's Bible complete with pictures because the regular ones were too hard for her to understand. She read Luke's account of the crucifixion out loud. "Pastor Benton always says that when Jesus was on the cross he was in a lot of really bad pain. His body was naked and all tore up for everybody to see. People was calling him names, but he still asked God to forgive them. Only a person who could overcome the pain could do that. God had great things in store for him but he had to get through the hard part." Mother Divine stopped speaking and smiled at her boy. "You're gonna be a doctor, son," she declared proudly. "You always tell me you're gonna be a heart surgeon. Maybe some people is just smart and can learn to do that kind of stuff just by going to school, but you're smart and called. Just like God called Jesus to save the world, He called you to work on people's hearts." She reached over and placed her hand on his chest. "But yours has to be strong if you're gonna help people with theirs. Doin' that kind of work, you'll see people so scared they have no hope. Son, your inner strength is gonna be as important to their healin' as your schoolin' is. That's why you have to treat this little stuff like it don't hurt because that will help prepare you for the big stuff. So, no more of this cryin' and carryin' on! Pray for them that's teasin' you and keep walkin'. You're a Divine and these divine encounters are sent from God to make you strong and get you ready to be one of the greatest doctors this world ever saw."