chapter 33

The police all aim their guns at the giant as he laughs at them chillingly. The police were shaking in their boots.

Joe spoke,"Do it, I dare you!"

The officers all jumped into their paddy wagons with the unconscious police chief being carried along with them.

Joe had went to work after several weeks of being absent. He had little choice since he

had completely run out of money. He knew that he had a full check waiting for him back at the factory and he had to go to work to get it. He wondered if even had a job left for him, yet alone a check. He feared that he would be fired and his boss would tear up his paycheck right in front of him.

It was not like Joe to miss even one day of work, yet alone over one month of work. The only reason that he had stayed away so long was because he fear that his beloved neighborhood would be attacked in his absence. He did not know who would be behind the attack: do the gangs have any survivors or what about the police. Both groups had hated him with a passion as one would have for killing a rat that ate their last ounce of food. Both groups, Joe had humiliated all too well.

The neighbors did all they could to help Joe, his grandmother, and Bertha. The entire hood was

glad that finally someone had stood up to the corruption of the local gangbangers. They all had been far too fearful to stand up, instead they had just laid down and took it. The hood hated what was going on, but they would do nothing to get themselves out of this mess. They were already defeated in their troubled minds. It was sad that the hood took all the raping and pillaging, as a battered house wife would be get beaten by the evil husband.

Joe was not afraid of violence, since he feared only the one who could single handily destroy both the body and the soul. That power only God had possession of, since He and only He could send someone to a heaven or a hell. He had only a normal fourth grade education, but he knew the Good Word from cover to cover. The great shadow ruled by fear, but his day was coming any moment now. That much Joe knew from a young child sitting in Sunday school.

That night before Joe had went back to work was a church night. The church's pastor gave a powerful sermon on God's divine protection. It erased the fear of retaliation from all the church goers minds. Joe had all the men of the church lay hands on him and prayed, until they all danced in the Lord's spirit.

The church service had been a long one since it lasted to after midnight. One did not know where the preaching ended and the worship service begun. The spirit of God just moved that night and everyone had just made the decision to go with the flow, as they had done for many a night long since past.

Joe was confused to if he had needed to stay or go back to work the next day. He had finally received an answer from the Lord himself; "Go Joe, go!"

So, Joe had made the decision to walk by faith and trust in The Lord's decision. He felt the strength of the Lord upon him as it had been all so many a time in his countless battles.

Bertha was still suffering from the loss of her family, that had been murdered in front of her

eyes. Joe and his hood had cared for her like blood relatives or not even better. They gave her all that she had needed beside the fixing of her broken heart. She could had easily been a victim of rape by some lustful gang members. All this had come upon her because of some perverts' evil desires.

Bertha had not done nothing to deserve such abuse and to be victimized in such a way. Yet, she felt somewhat responsible for her kin folk's death. She had been suffering from survivor's guilt.

Why was her family slain and she was left virtually untouched?

It just did not make since to the young adult and it caused her to suffer from sleepless nights and frequent nightmares. She relived the day of the attack over and over in her mind, until it about drove her to insanity.

Some nights, alone in her room at night the great shadow would tell her,"Just kill yourself, it would make the pain go all away! You can be with your family again! Just do it! Do not wait another heart shattering minute! Go in the kitchen and slice your wrists with a butcher knife or how about overdosing on pills in the bathroom?"

Those ideas haunted Bertha's mind constantly she finally had a nervous breakdown at church that night and fell unto the floor bawling her tender eyes out.

Grandma and all the women in the church stopped what they were doing and gazed in utter amazement at the sorrow which Bertha was going through. They moved with a strong sense of compassion that transcended humanity's carnal nature and prayed over the young woman as they had never done before in their entire lives.

The church were praying over Bertha as the rest of the church started to pray for the troubled woman as well. They were asking God to intervene for this wonderful young lady that they had grown so fond of. Bertha could had sit at Joe's house and just allow herself to heal, but she could not sit idle for very long. She had helped Grandma with the house chores as well as helping the nearby neighbors, as well.

Bertha had done errands for the less fortunate in the humble hood and even done babysitting as well. She would not accept any cash or other forms of payment. She felt it was her duty to help those that had helped through this hard time. A virtuous woman was said to be worth more than rubies.

Even without any repayment from Bertha, the feeble hood would pray for her just as hard. It was the Christian thing for the hood to do. This woman had lost all things, except the clothes on her back, which were nearly ripped off of her ebony flesh. Her family was gone and she was living with perfect strangers. Her whole life had been shaken up like an earthquake had hit it.

The great shadow liked to prey on the weak in a situation like what Bertha was suffering through. This great evil doer was in the life shattering business and too often he pulled his victims over to various vices, such as sex, drugs, liquor, etc,. Bertha had dodge the bullet that was prostitution by the grace of God.