Favor From Above

Chapter 13 ~ Mission

"And here I was thinking that you're deaf. You're blind too?"

Lily rolled her eyes. Couldn't he be a normal human being for once? Anyway, Lily didn't have time for his questions. She didn't want to lose Jack.

"Well, now you know. If you'd kindly  excuse me." Lily said as she moved past him.

That's when Matthew noticed Lizzy behind her. His eyes widened in shock.

"Shouldn't you be in a mental institution?" Matthew asked.

"And you should be in jail but you ain't. Life doesn't work to please you. "

Lily could see that Matthew was boiling with anger. Lizzy wouldn't let things get too far this time around.

"Lizzy, we gotta go. We might lose him." Lily said.

"Tread carefully." Lizzy warned Matthew.

They were going along with their journey when Matthew stopped them.

"Lose him? What are you up to?" Matthew asked.

Congratulations Matthew. You just managed to ignore Lizzy's warning Lily thought.

"Nothing." Lizzy sneered.

"Well I'm not staying here. I'm going with you." Matthew stated.

Lizzy looked at him up and down and frowned.

"Suit yourself." Lizzy said.

The three rushed after Jack but he wasn't there. They headed into the mall and looked around. There were a few people so it wasn't difficult to find one person. They scanned each part of the mall for him.

"Isn't that him?" Lizzy asked when they got to the food court.

"That's him but what happened to the bag?" Lily asked.

"I think we would know if someone," Lizzy bore her eyes into Matthew "hadn't interrupted us."

Lily was now in thought. Whatever happened to the bag happened very quickly. They only lost Jack for a couple minutes. Lily didn't know what to think. What if it was just an innocent trip. At least she was hoping it was.

The trio walked to the parking lot. They were now on the other side of the mall and it would take some minutes to get back to their car.

"You have lots of explaining to do." Matthew said.

"No we don't." Lizzy said.

"You owe me an explanation."

"We don't owe you anything."

Lily was enjoying the little exchange. The bickering between the both of them was funny to her. Besides, it kept Matthew busy and he wasn't bothering her.

Matthew followed them all the way to the car.  Lily why he wouldn't give up and go home. Rachel was pacing up and down when they got there. She looked relieved to see them.

"Are you guys okay. I saw Jack leave and when I didn't see you come back, I assumed the worst."

Rachel was very nervous. The palm she placed on Lily's hand was sweaty. Her voice was cracking and she was jumpy.

"We are fine Rach and nothing happened." Lily reassured her.

"Oh. Are you sure he didn't see you?" Rachel asked.

"Very sure. " Lizzy said.

"Okay then but did you find out anything about the bag?"

Lily sighed.

"No we didn't. We lost him and by the time we got to him the bag was gone."

"Oh. I think we all better leave now. We'll figure this whole thing out later." Rachel suggested.

"Yeah." Lily agreed.

Rachel finally realized Matthew was with them.

"Where did you get him? Are you stalking her or something?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. Explain to us." Lizzy said whilst folding her hands.

"Okay girls that's enough!" Lily shouted. She turned to Matthew. "You go home and I'll see you tomorrow at bible study." She turned to the girls. "And you should leave him alone."

"Whatever." Lizzy said.

"Y'all are crazy." Matthew said.

Lily was the only one who heard that since the rest were in the car. She was relieved that only she heard it because if the girls had heard it there would be narrating a different story.
 
                      ★★★★★★★

The girls had practice that evening. There was a youth conference coming up and everyone was in a buzz. Every youth in the church would present something during the course of the three day conference. Most people were working in groups of three or more but Lily was working with Zach only. They were both fantastic spoken word artists and they decided to collaborate for a piece.

Lily had not made it to practice the previous week. She was dreading attending even then because she was a little low on creativity. During the past two weeks she had written less than five lines. The conference was a month away which meant only four  more weeks of practice. It was Pastor Justin's idea for them to practise at church so that they do things on time and avoid any last minute hiccups.  Lily wondered how she was going to tell Zach about her dilemma.

"Hi." Zach said as soon as she arrived.

Rachel and Lizzy had went to their respective groups when they came in.

"Hey. What's up?" Lily said.

"Nothing much. With you?" Zach asked.

"Same old." Lily sighed.

"That's fantastic then. Let's get started." Zach laughed.

"Uhmm about that..." Lily stuttered.

"Yeah?"

"I have a writer's block Zach. I can't write anything at the moment."

"That's terrible. So what are we going to do?" Zach asked.

"I don't know for now. I'm still trying to figure this out."

"Okay. Why don't I do the writing and we'll perform together." He suggested.

"No." Lily quickly said. "I mean no, you know how I feel about presenting something I didn't write myself. It wouldn't feel like, well, me. Give me two weeks." she said

"That's fine. In the meantime we should memorize and practise the presentation of the material we already have."

That is how practice started and continued for the next ninety minutes. By the time Lily got home she was tired. After eating and spending some time on her phone, she finally prayed. Towards the end of her prayer she added a few things.

"Lord I also thank you for Matthew's life. I pray that you lead him through the path of salvation. Reveal yourself to him God and let him know you. I thank you for answered prayers. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."

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8/07/2017