“Robin, I cannot put into human words what happened to me when I heard that pastor’s message of salvation. It was like a dam burst and a floodgate of love poured into and out of my heart. The message that God loved me, that I wasn’t alone, that no matter how cold I got or how hungry I got, He would provide a way for me. I’d been alone my entire life and suddenly, someone loved me. Me. A bad kid with a chip on his shoulder the size of the bay. A low life thief.”
One of his eyebrows raised to emphasize his next words. “A liar.” He paused as if to let that sink in; as if lying were worse than stealing or thuggery.
“And I learned the most important thing of all, that no matter what I did up until that moment, I was forgiven. The almighty, all powerful, all knowing God who created the universe and time knew everything I had ever done, every thought I ever had, and He still loved me and forgave me. As if I had never done any of it, as if I had never thought any of it. He forgave ME and he loved ME.”
He put his hands on her shoulders. “It’s hard for those of us who never had any good parenting models to grasp, but we are His children and He loves each one of us so much that He sent His own Son to die for us. And, Robin, He loves you as much as He loves me.”
CHAPTER 9
OBIN felt a tingling in the back of her chest, near her stomach. She took a deep breath hoping the cool evening air would still whatever strange sensation flooded her body. It didn’t. Hearing that God, a being whom she didn’t even know whether she believed existed, loved her made her want to cry and beg, but she didn’t know why she should cry or for what she should beg. So, instead, she ignored the intensity of the feeling and refocused on Tony’s story. “What happened?”
Tony saw her fight the battle inside herself, the battle between flesh and spirit, and witnessed her flesh win. He knew Robin didn’t win though. Fighting back against the knocking of the Holy Spirit did nothing but place her on the losing side. He fervently prayed while he gently put a hand on her elbow and continued walking.
Robin could sense Tony’s disappointment, but it confused her. She thought maybe he regretted telling her the story. She had never told anyone, ever, how she had lived, what she had endured. As far as it concerned her, nothing that happened to her before today had anything to do with anyone else. She wanted to rub his arm and tell him that she could forget everything he said and they could go back to the lighthearted fun they’d had all week.
They reached the church again but instead of taking her back to the car, he steered them onto a tree-lined residential street. The street didn’t fit in the neighborhood. The freshly painted houses sported cute little lawns and picket fences. Kids’ toys and bicycles sat propped against trees and chalk drawings decorated the sidewalks.
Rather than tell her what happened next, Tony decided to let her experience a small taste of it. He gestured. “The church owns this street. The staff lives here. Surprisingly, the crime in this neighborhood has never made its way down this row. I think the church does so much that no one wants to hurt the people who help.” He winked at her, “Or there’s an angel guarding the entrance. It could go either way.”
Dusk settled around them and porch lights carved through the twilight. They walked about halfway down the street and Tony stopped Robin and unlatched a picket gate. How many times over the years had he reached down and lifted that latch? Thousands? When he felt overwhelmed, he came home to this place. When he felt frustrated, he lifted that little latch and walked down the little stone path. When the darts and arrows of the world overcame him, he would find solace and comfort beyond the picket fence. He suddenly realized that never, in all of his years, had he brought a female guest with him. Especially a female for whom he had such strong feelings. He realized that they would see it right away, and he grinned at the thought.
He led the way down the little path to the front door. Instead of opening it with the key in his pocket, he rang the doorbell and stepped back. The sounds from inside made him smile. Every single thing in his life might change, but everything here would always remain the same.
As he rang the bell, Robin could hear laughter, loud voices, running feet. A woman opened the door. Tendrils of hair escaped her ponytail and tickled the large freckles scattered across her cheeks, forehead, and nose. She had her long dress covered by an apron and fuzzy pink bunny house slippers on her feet. She looked maybe ten years older than Tony.
“Buona sera,” Tony said.
“What in the world are you doing ringing the doorbell?” She asked, her eyes skimming over Tony then resting on Robin. “Ah. I see.” She put her hands on her hips and smiled at Tony while she tried to act stern. “I don’t see you or hear from you all week and you show up when I have on bunny slippers and no makeup!”
Tony smiled. “You’re beautiful, amico.”
She blushed and laughed before opening the door wider. “Please come in.”
He stepped aside and put a hand on the small of Robin’s back, steering her in front of him. “This is Robin Bartlett. Robin, allow me to introduce Caroline O’Farrell.”
Caroline held her hand out in a very welcoming manner. Robin couldn’t help feeling that she genuinely liked meeting her. “Pleasure to meet you, Robin.” She looked wryly over Robin’s head toward Tony. “Tony’s never brought a girl home before.”
Robin didn’t know what to say and tried to resist Tony’s pressure on her back to step forward. She lost that momentary battle and finally took her offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled into the house. “It’s nice to meet you, Caroline. Sorry to pop in without calling first.”
“Don’t be silly. Don’t need to announce Tony. He’s one of us.” They went from the small entryway into a good-sized living room. Books and puzzles spilled out of a bookshelf onto the carpeted floor. Framed pictures of children in various ages and ethnicities and general kiddish cuteness covered the walls. A white teenage boy and a younger black teenage girl sprawled on a sofa in front of a television. A little boy with tawny hair and round glasses carried plates to the table that filled the other half of the room. A little girl of Oriental descent came darting from the open kitchen door screaming, “Uncle Tony! Uncle Tony!”
He grinned as he bent to pick her up, swinging her around and kissing both cheeks. “Little Angel Dove. How are you?”
“I have a loose tooth,” she said, then promptly bared her teeth and pushed her front tooth forward with her tongue. “I’ll get a dollar when it comes out!”
Tony showed exactly the right amount of interest. “A whole dollar?”
“Yep!”
“What will you do with a whole dollar?”
“Well,” she said, rolling her eyes to look at Caroline, “mom says that a whole dime of it has to go to church. But that will leave enough for at least a pack of gum, she said.”
“At least.” He kissed her temple before setting her down. “Haven’t I taught you the art of negotiation?”
Caroline laughed. “We started at fifty cents.”
Smiling, Tony patted Angel’s head. “That’s my girl.”
A tall thin man with salt-and-pepper hair and black framed glasses came out of the kitchen and walked straight toward them with a smile on his face. His white apron sported giant red lips and the words “KISS THE COOK”. In one hand he held grilling tongs and the other a bottle of barbeque sauce. He set them both on the table as he passed by it and had his arms out before he even reached them.
“Tony, my brother!” he said with great enthusiasm.
“Peter, mi fratello, it’s great to see you,” Tony said. He stepped forward. With interest, Robin watched the two men embrace and pound each other on the back as they broke contact. The smile on Tony’s face removed the last of the traces of harshness the neighborhood had brought earlier. “I’d like you to meet someone,” Tony said, turning to bring Robin into their fold. “Robin Bartlett, this is my good friend and brother, Peter O’Farrell. Peter, this is Robin.”
Behind the black rimmed glasses, Pet
er’s brow lifted with a keen interest but he didn’t say anything except, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, my dear. You two will be staying for dinner, then.” He didn’t ask, merely stated, and despite the fact that she had just recently inhaled a bread bowl filled with chili and half a slice of pecan pie, Robin found herself following the adults into the kitchen and out the back door to a little patio looking out over a back yard strewn with balls and bikes. On the small concrete slab, a large charcoal grill smoked away.
This yard wasn’t fenced like the front yard. Similar patios stretched out on either side, and in the fading light, Robin could see church buildings in front of her. Between the church and the rows of houses, she could make out a large children’s playground and a volleyball net. Well tended and somewhat worn bricked pathways led from the church buildings to the playground.
Peter had collected his supplies on their way out of the house. He lifted the lid on the grill and used a set of tongs to poke at some chicken thighs that lay spread out on the hot rack. As he fussed with the meat, he spoke to Tony. “Haven’t heard from you all week. Figured you’d headed south a bit early.”
Tony offered Robin a plastic chair. As she and Caroline sat next to each other, he made his way to Peter’s side. “I’ve been otherwise occupied,” he said smiling.
Peter glanced around Tony to Robin. “With work?”
“Not exactly.” Tony put a hand on Robin’s shoulder. She didn’t realize how tense she felt until his touch drew it out of her. She slowly relaxed. “How was the conference?”
Caroline answered. “Antonio, it was wonderful! The more we can get the word out there, the better it will be for all of the children.”
Tony caught Robin’s eye and explained, “Peter and Caroline, on top of all of their other duties at the church, run a non profit corporation that helps people financially with adoption.”
“What do you do at the church?” Robin asked.
“I teach the youth,” Peter said.
Caroline snorted. “Don’t let him be modest with you. He runs the youth department. He has about 900 children.”
Robin’s eyes grew wide. “Wow. What do you do?”
“As our department has grown, I have less time for a lot of hands-on and spend most of my time in administration, managing the pastors and teachers of the kids,” he said, poking at a thigh. “Back when I first met Tony, we had about a third of the numbers we have now, and I actually taught down in the trenches.”
Tony interjected. “Peter and I met the night I was saved; the night I was just telling you about. He took me to the gymnasium, let me grab a shower and gave me a change of clothes.”
Peter laughed and interrupted. “That’s because you smelled so bad.”
Tony laughed and continued, “And then brought me here. Caroline fed me…”
This time Caroline interrupted. “Corned beef and cabbage. Food fit for a man.” She looked at Robin with a wink. “About the only thing I can cook and not burn.”
“…then they gave me a bedroom.”
Robin looked up at Tony, who still had a hand on her shoulder. “Just like that?”
Caroline answered again. “When we’re Spirit led, it’s often just like that.”
“Spirit led?”
Caroline’s questioning eyes shot toward Tony, who ignored her. “Peter got me a job as a janitor at the church. I lived here and worked for a year.”
This time Peter interrupted. “I appointed him as a custodial engineer. And when he wasn’t working, he was in the church library reading. I think he only came here to sleep.”
Tony smiled. “And eat.”
“As only a teen aged boy can,” Caroline said with a laugh.
“What did you read?” Robin could not help feeling intrigued by Tony’s past, by his path.
“Anything and everything. I read the Bible three times that year. I read every word I could get my hands on to explain what I’d read. I watched every documentary they had on the shelves and went to every service I could go to.”
“Hungry boy,” Caroline said.
Peter finally finished prodding and started turning the meat over. “He saved every dime he made, too. Wore clothes out of the clothes closet so that he wouldn’t have to buy any, even.”
Tony remembered. Ill fitting pants and baggy shirts on his skinny frame. “My eighteenth birthday was fast approaching. I had to save.”
“How did you…” Robin stopped short of asking, but Tony knew what she wanted to ask. How did he go from skinny waif to healthy and muscular, wealthy and successful, polished and proper?
“He took everything he made,” Peter started, but his wife interrupted him.
“Prayed over it,” she said.
Peter continued, “then put it all into a computer company on the stock market.”
“You made your money in the stock market?”
Tony moved until he stood in front of her so that she wouldn’t have to crane her neck to see him. “No. I made quite a bit of money off of my investment and then used that to buy a book store. The store was floundering, badly, and I got it for a fraction of its worth. Very quickly, I turned it around and used the profits from there to buy a bankrupt auto parts store. Very soon, I could buy a franchise of a fast food restaurant and…”
Caroline stood. “Everything that man touched turned to gold. Before a decade passed, he probably couldn’t even tell you all of the different companies and corporations and franchises he owned.”
Tony cut his eyes to her. “Sure I could.” He looked back at Robin. “I stayed faithful to God, and He stayed faithful to me. I tithed with passion, studied the Bible with passion, prayed over every business venture I made, and God continued to bless me.”
Robin opened her mouth to speak, but Tony didn’t let her ask the “why” question he could tell was on her lips. “He continued to bless me because there’s work to be done. Unfortunately, in order to work, you need to have money. He must have trusted me not to make an idol of money, and to pour forth as much as I could back into work for His kingdom.”
He could tell she didn’t understand. “My objective has never been to be rich and powerful. It has merely been to never be cold and hungry again. God took my drive and my faithfulness and used both to help others through me. To fiscally help this church and a dozen others like it, to donate to charities, to get kids off of the streets and into proper homes.” Forgetting his friends, he knelt next to her chair. “If only you and I had ever had access to what my foundation does today, how different would our lives have been, eh?”
Robin felt that swirling, tingling feeling in her stomach again. She didn’t know if it was Tony sitting so close to her or this deity to whom they all referred and appeared to revere. “But then, if you’d had access, you wouldn’t have drive and we wouldn’t be here today, would we?”
Caroline slapped her knee as she stood up. “Ha! That is a good point, there.” She went to her husband and slipped an arm around his waist. “Need a platter for the bird, love?”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Before long, Robin found herself sitting at a table with the entire family. She learned that Caroline and Peter adopted all but the oldest boy. After the entire table held hands and Peter said a long prayer over their food, they ate the chicken with potato salad and baked beans that came from a grocery store deli. Despite the size of the meal she’d had at Hank’s, Robin found herself enjoying this one immensely. She had no experience with interacting in this setting of family dynamics, but she enjoyed observing them.
The biggest mystery she kept coming back to, though, was that Tony fit in with them. Never in a million years would she have guessed that he came from such humble roots. Never would she have thought that he spent Sunday afternoons after church in this living room with this family. She had always imagined him wining and dining in penthouse apartments or yachts on the Bay or mansions on the hill. But here, in this little home with the picket fence out front, here is where
he fit – perfectly fit – his hand tailored shirt and twenty-four karat cuff links not withstanding.
After the meal and after children were dispatched to the kitchen to tackle the dishes, the adults moved to the living room with cake and coffee and talked. Robin enjoyed while Caroline and Peter bombarded her with stories of young Tony. She watched him interact with them, watched him completely relax as he leaned against the cushions and smiled at some story about him trying to learn Greek so that he could read the Bible in Greek.
“Turns out, I’m more inclined toward Latin,” he punned.
She sat next to him and he turned his head slightly, looking away from Peter and toward her. As their eyes met, his smile slowly and gradually left his face. He looked very solemn, very serious. Robin felt pulled into his stare until even Peter’s voice came from far away. Tony gently ran a finger down her cheek then took her hand in his. Robin felt a flutter in her heart. As soon as Tony broke eye contact with her and laughed at something Caroline said, the room came back into focus. She tried to pick up in her mind where the conversation left off, tried to pull her fingers out from his grasp, but he just entwined their fingers and squeezed.
It felt right to sit with him like this so she settled back into the couch and enjoyed the stories, and the company, and the … love … that just flowed all around her.
CHAPTER 10
OBIN found herself very restless on Sunday. She’d hoped she would spend the day with Tony, but after leaving the O’Farrell’s with him Saturday night and getting dropped off at her apartment door with nothing more than a smile and an invitation to attend church the next day – which she declined – she didn’t hear from him.