Good morning! or afternoon! or evening!  I’m not really sure what time it is since my days and nights are mixed up like a newborn’s.  It all started last Thursday when Crock texted me.  He was in Southern California at a 21-day summit.  His text was short and to the point:

Do I have health insurance?

Alarms began going off in my head.  If you know the animal, “the young male,” then you know health insurance is not at the top of their “to-do” list or any list for that matter.   It would only interest them if they were in the emergency room.  

I texted back:    Where are you?    

His text back:      Emergency Room 

Dux and I were on an airplane within a few hours and heading down to warm sunny Los Angeles…the airport that has more people in it than the Republic of China. After a 45 minute stop-and-go-diesel-smelling bus ride to the car rental, I got to stand in line all over again for another hour.  The cheapest car rental was $100 a day!!!!  Just so happened that Crock decided to have an appendicitis the same weekend the International Surf Festival was taking place… second busiest weekend next only to Thanksgiving.  

So after maneuvering the maddening freeways of LA and the traffic grid that was caused by a “still-deciding-if-I’m going-to-be-a-jumper-off-the I-5 freeway-overpass” (these were the headlines in the newspaper the next morning:)

5 Freeway Reopens in East Los Angeles After Confrontation With Man on Overpass Ends

The would-be jumper was actually afraid of heights and got down….three hours later.  

We finally made it to our poor Crock.  They took his guts out, and Dux and I ate Tootsie Rolls on a vinyl couch and watched him groan in his sleep.  

By day three, we decided it was time to leave, but after a series of unfortunate events like not being able to find a pharmacy after 5:00 on a Sunday night, the countdown began on whether we would make our flight on time.  Finally, after getting Crock back to his dorm, we merged onto the freeway with the pedal to the metal heading for the airport.  

Dux was doing his best at reading directions and listening to Maggie, our GPS guide, but poor Maggie just couldn’t seem to get it right!  There were too many freeways and off-ramps and on-ramps and bridges and jumpers….

 

So Dux said to get into the furthest left lane, so I did.  Unfortunately, the merge from this freeway to the one we needed was actually on the furthest right…so I missed it!  So I pulled my $100-a day-rental off the freeway onto the first exit, and suddenly realized we weren’t in Oz anymore….

 

 

I told Dux, “Sag your pants and start drawing tattoos on us…otherwise we gonna die.”  We were in the heart of East LA.  And it was dark.  And we were lost.  And we looked like tourists.  And we were tourists.  And we were scared.  

It seemed we went around and around, and I wasn’t sure if I should mean-mug people to fit in or flash a gang sign??

I finally got back on the freeway and turned off on the next exit… and we were in East LA again!!!  

By the way, I’m in a gang now.  

But back to Mama’s story!  On day 2 of being in Los Angeles while Crock slept heavily sedated, I took my $100-a-day car out and decided to follow Dave’s footsteps.  I went down Highway 1 along the coast and retraced all the scary places he went.  I tried to place myself in his shoes, leaving his new bride, leaving his church, his friends, his home, and being on the run from his father-in-law/pastor!  

Up must have seemed down, and left must have seemed right.  I have no doubt he felt completely abandoned and was probably questioning God.  Read on:

Sabotage:  It comes in all shapes and sizes.

Little did poor Mika know the night she helped her new husband get out of the house with his few possessions that it would be the beginning of the end.  She loved Dave and Dave loved her, but the wave of sabotage that was overtaking Dave swept into their marriage and ruined that too.  Dave and Mika were only playing out a part in Sal’s demented orchestrated ruse to help further along his agenda.  And his agenda was to ruin Dave…publicly.

Dave was on the run.  And Sal was right behind him with his lynch gang.

The first person Dave called was Sammy.  Sammy was up in the green lush mountains on a sabbatical.  Dave, through tears and anger, replayed for Sammy everything that had happened and even John’s account of what when on at the retreat with the board members.  Sammy insisted he come to him immediately, and so Dave headed that way, fully expecting Sammy to fix all this.  But the one thing that Dave didn’t expect to happen was that he had walked into a place where the Spirit of God was.

He first felt it as he pulled his car into the parking lot and grabbed his backpack.  Walking toward the center of this campus, he felt the breeze rousing his hair.  A calmness seem to transcend upon him, and his focus began to fade on the last 48 hours and settle on his surroundings.

As he pulled in the parking lot, he saw the large striped tent set up and could hear all the people singing.  Walking closer, he saw the sun setting over the edge of the ocean and the lush palm trees swaying as if to the music.  He spied Sammy and slipped in next to him.  Sammy never looked up, only reaching out and putting his hand on Dave’s shoulder, eyes still shut.  Before Dave knew it, his head had cleared, and he was on his feet singing to the Lord.   The sweetness of the Lord rested on the crowd.

A small Korean man took the stage and started prophesizing in the name of the Lord, speaking of the greatness of God.  The spirit was working in the crowd and people were crying out to the Lord.

It was then that Dave looked up and saw them.  The three elders from church.  They had followed him!  He saw one in the back talking on the phone.  Dave cried out in his spirit for help from God.  As he started to grab his backpack and take off, he felt Sammy’s hand stop him.  He looked frantically at Sammy who still stood with his eyes shut.  Sammy gently held on to his arm as his lips moved in prayer.

 It was then that Dave saw the most incredible thing he had ever seen!  As the three men approached the tent in their black suits with determined faces heading straight toward Dave, the spirit of God descended upon them and they were all three on the floor.

 

Dave watched in awe as they lay prostrate on the ground and wept and praised God.  It was the most incredible thing he had ever seen.  Though Dave was still nervous and never took his eyes off them, he stayed under the tent.  He saw other men go over and kneel and pray with the men.

Within an hour, the mesmerizing scene turned to panic for Dave once again as he saw out of the corner of his eye the silhouette of a man marching toward the tent.  Sure enough, it was Sal.  With clenched teeth and long determined strides, Sal’s eyes were on his three flunky board members who were outstretched on the ground.

No sooner had Sal’s feet touched the edge around the tent, he went down as well.  Dave looked to Sammy who seemed unaffected by it all and was still praying.  Dave marveled at what he saw with hope that maybe this encounter would change Sal.  He watched as Sal lay prostrate with both arms reaching out to God.

Dave turned, words choked in this throat with stinging tears running down his face as he embraced Sammy.  Sammy hugged back and hung on for longer than normal.  Patting Dave on the back, he turned back to the worship and shut his eyes once again.

Dave reached for his backpack, never taking his eyes off Sal.  He discreetly made his way to the side of the tent and quickly headed for his car, constantly looking back.  Once inside, he pulled out of the parking lot onto the highway and headed south along the ocean.  He hoped for the best but was planning for the worst.  He was glad that Sal had been in God’s presence, and he knew that Sammy could talk sense into him if anyone could.  But he still had the gut feeling that he better be on the run.

His mind constantly replayed what Mika had confessed to him, that the night she helped him escape, she lied to her dad and told him she was afraid of her new husband and that was the only reason she had helped him leave.  Dave could not believe it!  She knew the whole story, yet when pressured a tad, she lied just like her lying pop.  Betrayed.  That stung. 

More tears fell to his lap as he drove alone on the windy two-line road above the ocean.  He had loved her and was excited about being her husband and one day a father.  But now those dreams were smashed.  He realized that he was a pawn all along, that Mika may just have been in love with love.  He had truly loved her and would have done anything for her…she, on the other hand, ditched him at the drop of a hat.  Like father, like daughter.

 

He knew Sal would use that lie to his advantage and smear that gossip all over town.  He would pretend his anger toward him was because he was protecting his daughter.  Nothing was further from the truth.   His phone rang and he looked down to see Mika’s number pop up.  He tossed the phone in the backseat so he wouldn’t be tempted to answer it.  If he couldn’t depend on her now, he never could.

Dave fought against the fear that kept rising in his chest.  He had lost his job, his house, his wife, and by the hug he got from Sammy, he feared it was the last time he would see even him.  He wasn’t sure where to go, but knew that Sal would once again be after him.  After driving for hours and praying, a thought came to him to go to Renath.  It was an area on a hill above the sea where he had done a documentary while in college about the monks that lived there.  He knew they would welcome him, and he could get some rest.

With renewed energy, he drove the curving road until he found the turnoff. He headed up the gravel road which was darkened by the overgrown trees. The road twisted and turned as he climbed up the mountain.  Moonlight broke through the canopy of trees, and he pulled into the circle driveway and parked.  Before turning off the car, he saw Moeke heading toward him with a smile amidst his shaven head.

The short dark-skinned man was draped with bright red cloth and stone beads were around his neck and both wrists. The monastery was very small and old.  The hallway’s burning candles forced shadows on the cement walls throughout the damp building.  After greetings and catching up, Dave explained he needed a place to hide.  That was all Dave had to say.  Moeke escorted Dave out to a set of cottages that were a long walk away.

As Dave prepared for bed, he looked around at the modest room he was allowed to stay in.  The bed was pushed up against the cement wall, but the sheets looked clean and inviting.   Dave had a lot to think about, but before his head even hit the pillow, he was fast asleep.

It was the muffled voices that awoke him.  He tried to adjust his eyes and get his bearings, but his mind was foggy.  As he sat up in bed, fear crept up his spine. He recognized the voice, it was Sal’s.

Dave jumped out of bed and ran over to the high window and peered through the small stained glass arch.  There he saw Sal and three of his board members circled up and quarreling.  They seemed in a panic and were trying to quiet their nervous voices.  Dave turned and grabbed his backpack and slowly opened the back door.  He was hidden by the building, and he began to backtrack through the trees toward his car.

As he got further from the group, he picked up his speed and began to run, his bare feet flinching with pain at every step.

 

Out of breath, he came upon the corner of the monastery. He held onto the corner of the brick building as his eyes searched for any clues.  It was unusually quiet.  He felt for his keys and slowly crept toward his car.

Sal’s Lexus sat behind his car with the driver’s door still opened.  As Dave hurried over to his car, he noticed what looked like a sweatshirt on the ground next to the Lexus.  He passed up the safety of his car and headed toward the sweatshirt.  Sure enough, it was Sal’s.  

It had “The Shepherd’s Gate” on the back, and ” SHEPHERD” in bold blue letters on the front.  It had been a gift from the board members, and Sal loved wearing it.

Dave’s hands trembled as he reached for it, and then he remembered the camera in his backpack.  Quickly looking around, he squatted and searched his backpack quickly for the camera.  Pulling it out with shaking hand,  he re-positioned himself and snapped a picture of the sweatshirt next to Sal’s car with the monastery behind it.  He grabbed the sweatshirt and tucked it in his backpack.  Then he headed back to his car.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, he threw his backpack into the backseat, and then noticed his feet were bleeding.  He put the car in drive and slowly drove down the road as quietly as possible, looking back in his rear-view mirror, wondering where the heck Moeke was.

As soon as he rounded the corner, he punched the accelerator and tore down the windy shaded lane.  He headed south on Hwy 101 and turned off at the first exit to the ocean.  He realized they must have put a tracker on his car. He had to ditch his car and his phone.  No better place than the sea.

 

I would say things are getting out of hand!  Ditching your car into the sea???? Really??  I would say that Dave’s fear was beginning to get the best of him.  I would never ditch my beloved Betsy… no matter if a madman was chasing me… which actually might be happening.  

I know something that you don’t know.  Guess.   Come on….  

No, incorrect.  Try again.  

You, in the corner, go ahead.  

Nope.  

And you?  

Wrong again.

I’ll just say it…..GEEZ, I can’t get myself to write it!!!!  

I’m saying it out loud as I type this, but I can’t seem to get myself to write it.  I guess that is why it’s called a secret.  

But once I write it and I’ve told the secret…I’ll be in as much trouble as Dave.  I’ll be living like the Mafia is hunting me. I’ll be marked with a big huge bull’s eye on my head.  My nickname will be Vinny.  

But, on the other hand, if I don’t say it, am I willing to live with this dark secret????

Ok, I’ll tell you.  (Hint: It has to do with that no limit of statuations thingy…)

Wait a sec, I have to put on my running shoes first.  

Okay, oh boy…. here it is:  Remember Moeke?  The friend of Dave’s at the monestary?  He was… he was…..murdered.