The Next Day.

It was around 11 am in the morning and Sher had woken up to another surprise. Sher Trott Bailey could not believe it. This time it was from her twin sons, Keslev and Kultan.  Kultan and Keslev had finally showed up for the family reunion and more importantly, for the first time ever in their joint twin lives, had presented to their parents women they were interested in.

“What was going on? Was this the season of love? because surely something different was happening.” Sher thought to herself.

Now seated in the family’s more intimate living hall, Sher stared across at the woman seated next to her son Keslev. From the looks of things, Amara Kizoas had seemingly captured and branded her son Keslev’s heart. Meanwhile,Kultan and his new love, a red haired and perky girl named Pippy, had disappeared after a brief introduction.

” First Kaitou calls to say he’s finally married Zhannur, then I hear Kezideck is in love and now these two wild heads show up with their women.” Sher thought bemusedly.

” A wah this Jesus! (translated: What is this Jesus?)” Sher thought and chuckled internally.

Sher sure did admire the two wild heads for being so discreet. Usually, in this family, Keilah would have gotten wind of this a long time ago and of course, let everybody know. However, Keilah had dropped her guard with these two, who never showed much interest in women. Kultan and Keslev were two peas in a pod, these lightning & thunder twins. Keslev and Kultan ever since childhood were always chatting, fighting, and inventing stuff together; inseparable as brothers- even into adulthood, and always going on

wild adventures together. They would always joke that

“ No woman can keep up with us.”

Now out of nowhere, the hour glass had been flipped on its head.

Coming out of her bemused thoughts, Sher found herself asking the dark-skinned Latina that was Keslev’s girlfriend. 

” So Amara, where did you guys meet?”

Amara Kizoas looked across at Keslev’s mother asking her warmly about meeting Keslev. 

“What a presence!” Amara found herself thinking.

 Keslev had told her several stories about his mother and had tried his best to describe her but nothing had prepared Amara for this level of aura. Not only was Mrs. Trott-Bailey very beautiful, but the effortless peace and ease with which she carried herself was also in itself intimidating.

Mrs. Sher had been very gracious from the start of their greeting, yet Amara felt like she could not read the woman; which was unlike her,as she, Amara Kizoas, was very perceptive of people.

” We met at a wrestling match down in Colombia mom,” Keslev answered.

“Amara try some of this persimmon wine and cake. So your a pro wrestler yourself?” Sher asked Amara directly, giving Keslev a wary glance.

The boy had been answering every question that Sher asked Amara within the last twenty minutes. Which was so funny because Amara did not strike Sher as the type of woman that needed to be coddled or treated delicately else she would fall into tears. What Sher saw was a confident face and body posture staring back at her, that was trying to discern her. Sher internally chuckled again. 

” Ahh Holy Spirit, she wants to know if I like her or don’t like her. Why should it matter if I like her, it only matters if Keslev likes her, and judging by his protective behavior he really likes her.” She swiftly thought this thought.

“Does she like him genuinely?” Sher questioned in her thoughts. 

” Oh wow, this cake is really moist and delicious….” Amara was saying.

Before Sher knew it, the woman had finished her slice and asked for another. She instantly received a point in Sher’s food-loving eyes. Sher admired the full-bodied, curvy beauty in front of her eyes.

“Who would have known that Keslev liked big-boned, curvy women?” 

” Well, he did like Jenny at one point in his teens…” Jenny was the plump teenage daughter of Alison Aljira, the lead Agriculturist for one of the hundred acres of their estates in Ethiopia. Today, Jenny was happily married and following in her mother’s agricultural footsteps on her own estates. Coming out of her thoughts, Sher listened as Amara said,

” Some guys were heckling me after one of my fights…Keslev stepped in and shut them up.” Amara said quickly though she was not quick enough to hide the flit of hurt that passed through her eyes.

” What were these guys saying?” Sher found herself asking

“ Mom let’s not rehash that,” Keslev interjected quickly, the muscles of his jaw tightening.

” No it’s okay Kez…..Mrs. Sher they were calling me Amara the bull, saying I was two men in one, that I should spit out the men I had eaten, that a girl like me usually ends up lonely so I should accept their offer to have a “good” time with them.” Amara quickly summarized.

” So what did Keslev do?” Sher asked softly.

Amara practically beamed and radiated when Sher asked her the question. As if reliving the memory, Amara replied,

” Out of nowhere, Keslev, who every girl at the match had been admiring all day…comes up to the guys and says

‘ What the fuck are you saying to my girl? Say it to me so I can hear you, Say it if you got the balls.’

“So the bunch of guys said it again and Keslev beat up all four of them. He then came back, lifted me up like I was the daintiest woman in the world, and walked with me right out of there. Then he introduced himself and introduced me to Kultan and asked if I wanted to come to Papua New Guinea with them. He said they were going to meet up with some old friends. I did not know that Keslev literally meant that they were leaving Colombia that evening, that minute…it was spontaneous and spectacular. I said no.” Amara paused and chuckled happily.

Continuing her story,

“Then I find out that he had ordered a whole wardrobe of clothing for me and had it ready on the ship. How arrogant I thought, but how special! Seems he had been coming to my matches for weeks trying to find a way to talk to me. Then it turned out that Kultan also met Pippy. ” Amara said ending in laughter.

The woman practically glowed when telling the story. It was then that Sher knew the girl genuinely liked her son. Seeing how the woman could not contain her happiness once she started speaking,  Sher randomly thought…,  “Whatever my son is giving her at night is good too..”

The Holy Spirit quickly interjected into her thoughts and said to her,

” In his heart, he has found his wife and she, her husband. In Heaven’s eyes they are already married. Why shouldn’t Keslev give it to her every night?” 

” You know a lot of people reading this part of the book will take umbrage to them fucking before there is an official ‘earthly marriage’ Holy Spirit.” Sher coutered back to Holy Spirit.

” This union is Heaven’s doing…it’s already done. When it comes to your family who gives a fuck about people on the Earth and what they think.” Holy Spirit replied 

” Mhmm, well said as usual Top boss,” Sher replied to him in her mind. All this went on in a split second as Sher watched the beautiful pair in front of her.

” Thats my honorable son for you! Welcome to the family Amara, feel free to call me mom.” Sher said happily.

The two, Keslev and Amara beamed even brighter, while glancing at each other.

“ Mom, thank you. I’m going to show Amara around. When Dad comes back from his meeting we can catch up even more. How does that sound?” Keslev asked, looking back and forth between the two women .

Smiling Sher said,

” Sounds good to me.” Amara nodded in agreement.

When the two had left, the memory of her and her sons walking through a mixed fruit grove of Jackfruits, Guavas, Loquats,Plums and Tangerines came into her mind. They had been about ten at that time. That day they had been grilling her with questions about God and Satan.

FLASHBACK:

” Mom, why does Jesus appear with different looks sometimes? Sometimes he looks Mexican, sometimes like an Israeli, sometimes more Arabic?”

” Well Kultan, remember God made man in his image and you see that mankind has many looks right?  Black, white,  indian, various asian looks etc. So all those images or ‘looks’ of people on Earth came out of God. It’s his right to use as many looks as he wants.So don’t get caught up or thrown off by the various looks- it’s not about the specific look that Jesus uses” Sher explained

” So when some people say, but I saw Jesus and he was black, but others say no he was Mexican, they are all correct?” Keslev chimed in.

” Yes, they are. But they fall into foolish behaviour when they start to bicker about who is right and wrong about how God looks…how God “really looks”… from how he doesn’t look blah blah blah. Why would you wish to limit and contain God’s power of changing appearances? Even girls in makeup would be more powerful than God if the case were that he could only look one way all the time.” Sher answered.

The boys both paused to absorb what their mom was saying. Her simple point about girls in makeup being more capable than God really striking them.

Giving them time to absorb what she had said, Sher paused to pick a ripened guava. She wiped it off along the side of the pants she was wearing, sat down on a hump of grass under the tree and waited for their next questions. After some time had passed, and the twins had joined her in picking and eating guavas, she added this,

“What matters most when God comes to visit is not the body or look he chooses to come in…unless he is trying to make a point or teach us something based on the look he has chosen to use. It’s his presence that matters the most, you can’t deny the sweet feelings and excitement when he comes to visit us in a physical body.”

” Yeah, He’s awesome! Popsie always plays with us.” Kultan exclaimed.

” Mom, tell us the story of Satan again.’ Keslev, ever the more curious of the two, asked.

” Not much to tell my baby. You’ve seen the story over and over again in movies. There is a father or ruler that has a prized son and a favored servant. This servant gets it into his head that he is equal to the son just because he is treated so well, treated like the son almost. Yet Satan is even more arrogant- he not only thinks he is equal to the son but that he is better even than the father.  He thinks he can rule better. Such utter madness in that head.” Sher said shaking her head in disdain.

” And then what?” Kultan asked.

” And then he nurses these feelings of superiority, meditates on them, till he is utterly convinced of his greatness. He then goes around and starts to incite rebellion among other Sons or beings that God has created. He is able to convince some angels and some demons or whatever the demons were before they became demons to follow him and fight against God. So war breaks out in Heaven, can’t even call it a war really since Satan is absolutely no match for God- not even close, God of course easily wins the battle and throws the rebellious hoard out of heaven.“

“And us…humans?” Keslev continued to ask

” For our part in the rebellion, we are locked out of Eden on the Earth and cursed to work hard and to die. Men and women are cursed with conflict between men and women. Women want to rule men, men want to rule women, no one wants to work in partnership” Sher answered.

” But God forgave us right?” Kultan chimed in.

” Yes,” Sher answered

“ Why did God forgive us and not Satan?” Keslev questioned.

At that very moment, Sher had just plucked an overripe guava riddled with worms. So she decided to use an analogy to teach the boys.

‘ Take a look at this spoiled guava. It can no longer be eaten. It’s riddled with worms. The only thing it’s fit for is to be thrown out.” With that said, Sher threw the guava to the ground and crushed it under her feet.

” Now take a look at this guava, a bit bruised on the side here but this can be cut away. At the same time, Sher retrieved a knife from her pocket and sliced away a dented section of guava then proceeded to eat the remainder.”

” So you‘re saying there was still hope for us but no hope for Satan? ” Kultan asked

“ Exactly so my son. Remember we were deceived into rebellion, hence we committed the lesser evil, while Satan was the instigator or mastermind of the rebellion- he committed the greater evil.” Sher answered.

“So Satan will never be forgiven?” Kultan asked.

” İt’s hard to forgive someone who isn’t truly sorry about their actions Kultan,” Sher answered simply

“What would you do if you were God and you had someone like that walking around in heaven causing trouble all the time?” Keslev answered Kultan sharply.

Taking his brother’s sharp reply in stride Kultan said,

 ‘ Right it’s better to get rid of the troublemaker in order to stop the troubles. But why send him to the Earth though? why not just kill him immediately?“

At this question, both boys turned to their mother.

Pausing Sher looked at the boys as they looked at her keenly.

“ There is a way you can say something that is true but when said in the wrong timing or context or with wrong intentions it becomes a lie. This is Satan for you…the creator of lies and deception. He is so good at it that he convinced one-third of God’s angels to follow him into rebellion.” 

” So?” Keslev said with wrinkled brows

“ Isn’t that even more reason to destroy him immediately?”

“ No, because Satan had planted a thought into the minds of the sons of God. He said,

” God has chosen to forgive mankind and not me. He has made a way for mankind to come back but he won’t forgive the rest of us. Hence Satan implied that God was unfair.” Sher paused to let that sink in.

“So God in his wisdom and patience gave Satan time, only so all his sons: angels, men, other created beings, etc could look and judge for themselves whether God was truly unfair.”

The boys once again paused to take it all in. 

Finally, Keslev said,

” It’s just like mom said, he is a spoiled guava. He can’t be changed.” 

” Exactly my son. He to this day is still unrepentant. If God were to let him back into Heaven, give him a few seconds and he would be right back to incite more rebellion. Over and over again he has shown that he is hateful through his constant attacks against mankind. How can such a person live peacefully in Heaven or on Earth? He is like the guava with worms….utterly rotten and useless.”

End of flashback:

Kultan Trott-Bailey P.O.V

Kultan Trott Bailey felt great…he always felt great but today was extra sweet as he looked on the faces of his brother Kezideck and his sisters Keilah and Kaleeyon. He was introducing his future wife, Pippy and he felt so proud to have her. He thought to himself,

“Heaven sure does have a sense of humor.”

“here it had crossed my mind, when Keslev found Amara, that our brotherhood was over. Never knew that as usual, we do everything together…we found love at the same time.”

” You can never lose your brother Kultan but your wife is now your closest companion. This is the correct order of things.” Holy Spirit said to him deep in his heart.

“Mhmm,” he said whilenodding outwardly. 

While Keslev had swooped Amara off her feet and brought her back to the ship, Kultan had met Pippy in the park dancing and singing for money. Her voice had been the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. Her singing talent was so good that he found himself stopping and looking all around the massive park to locate the owner of that voice. When he saw a redheaded freckled-faced girl with a slight tan boldly singing and dancing to her own vibe, he couldn’t help the deep laughter and cheer that burst out of his heart.

His ability to create lyrics and beats in an instant rose its cheerful head. His own beautiful deep baritone voice created a quick smooth rap to go with her song. Before he knew it, they were singing for over an hour. Her pan to collect money was overflowing. Then when they were done, he saw a hoard of peoplep rushing towards him….he had forgotten that he was somewhat famous on this side of the world too. 

You see, Kultan and Keslev were massive acting and singing sensations in Asia.

Flashback, Sher’s teaching memory with Kaleeyon &Keilah:

Sher Trott-Bailey reminisced on another teaching moment, after Kultan and Amara had left to join the party outside. Keilah and Rajah had quickly organized a whole event to celebrate Amara and Pippy.

This time, Sher remembereda teaching moment with the girls. It was with her girls Keilah and Kaleeyon. 

” Mommy I asked uncle Jesus to send me some chocolates! But he didn’t!”  a now more chatty 7-year-old Kaleeyon shouted

“ How come uncle Jesus won’t just always give me what I want!” Kaleeyon complained.

Keilah, now a few weeks away from 12 years old, smiled and handed Kaleeyon the chocolate sticks made out of cocoa that she and mommy had just made. 

” Kaleeyon…. uncle Jesus knows what you need, how much you need and the right time when you need it.” Keilah said

” Yes, Kaleee..Uncle Jesus probably knows that it’s not the chocolate you need but the cocoa in the chocolate. Your body remembers that it got cocoa from the chocolates you once ate so your body is making you feel for chocolates. But really it’s the cocoa in the chocolate that your body is craving.”

” Huh?...”Kaleeyon asked squinting her eyes with one eyebrow upturned.

Keilah continued on to patiently explain,

” Those chocolates that you want do not have as much cocoa in them, at least not the amount your body is asking for, so Uncle Jesus has made it so that me and mommy feel like beating some dry cocoa beans in our mortar for you. This way you can drink some sweet cocoa tea using pure cocoa, rather than having to eat tonnes of chocolate bars.”

” Oh ok. I think I get it. One more time! One more time!” Kaleeyon exclaimed like she usually did when she wanted to understand something. Once again Keilah summarized her answer to Kaleeyon.

” Uncle Jesus knows that you need cocoa. So he made mom and me make cocoa for you. İt’s not really chocolates you want but it’s more the cocoa in the chocolate.” Keilah said.

” Yeah, these are the things Uncle Jesus knows. That’s how we learn to trust him.” Keilah said.

Sher marveled at the mature response given by Keilah. She had been telling Keilah about her uncle Jesus since she was three. Anytime Keilah wanted something new or that she had seen on the internet, which was often, Sher would just say,

“ Ask Uncle Jesus…”

İt had worked… because, Keilah started just saying out loud, all the things she wanted her Uncle Jesus to do.

” Uncle Jesus I want pizza, Uncle Jesus let’s go to the amusement park, uncle Jesus I want this toy and on and on and on…..”

Another one of Sher’s Flash back: This time, teaching Kezideck and Kayonai

“Mom how come me and Kayonai heard the same tongues yet got different interpretations? Whose interpretation is right?” Kezideck questioned, his brows knitted.

Kezideck was referring to his and his sister’s ability to interpret various heavenly languages. 

” Your both right. Even a small sentence in heaven’s language is so rich that many people can hear the same tongues and each gets a different interpretation.” Sher clarified.

” Ohhhhhh…” Kezideck replied.