Show Me the Sun Read online

  Show Me the Sun

  Miriam Shumba

  Genesis Press, Inc.

  Indigo Love Stories

  An imprint of Genesis Press, Inc.

  Publishing Company

  Genesis Press, Inc.

  P.O. Box 101

  Columbus, MS 39703

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, not known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission of the publisher, Genesis Press, Inc. For information write Genesis Press, Inc., P.O. Box 101, Columbus, MS 39703.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all incidents are pure invention.

  Copyright© 2010 Miriam Shumba

  ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-611-1

  ISBN-10: 1-58571-611-1

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  First Edition

  Visit us at www.genesis-press.com or call at 1-888-Indigo-1-4-0

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to Gabe Shumba,

  Agnes Denenga, Nathan Denenga,

  and my little miracle.

  Acknowledgements

  My first acknowledgement is to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who gave me the desire to write and to share his love with others.

  I am grateful to the publication community at Genesis Press for all their help.

  There are many people who have supported me through this writing journey by reading my work, encouraging, and inspiring me. First, I want to thank my love, my husband Gabe who is always there with encouragement and ideas. My sisters and brothers who believed in me and supported my dream—you know who you are! I am grateful to my friends from high school to adulthood who read my short stories and drafts: Joyce, Tendai, Stella, Maureen, Nellie, Vera, Maryam, Tanesha, Angela, Angelica, Nura, Madeline, Chaka, and Natsai. I am also grateful to those in my critique book club who are willing to listen and motivate: Marylyn, Carmen, Nicole, Oluwa, and Alyson. For help with my research on social work I would like to thank Celeste Butler for her enthusiastic answers to all my questions.

  I want to thank my mother, Agnes, who sent my comic books to publishers when I was ten years old. I didn’t even know what publishers were then! This is for you.

  Prologue

  Raven shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She wished she could be anywhere but here, sitting in front of this kind, beautiful woman with warm, understanding eyes. She didn’t want her sympathy, or pity, or anything. She just wanted a divorce. Quickly.

  “Raven,” Janice said softly, leaning forward on her pristine desk and clasping her piano player’s fingers on it. Raven noticed her exquisite diamond rings and a picture of her perfect-looking family, a handsome husband and three children. They were studio shots and they all looked like models, happy and perfect.

  “I would really like to help you if I can. I know this must be very difficult for you.”

  Raven nodded, not yet able to find her voice while trying to hide her resentment. She had wanted a family, too. She had wanted one that belonged to her. Her own family to love her and for her to love. Finally, she wanted to accept that it was not to be.

  She had walked in the office and declined a cup of tea or water and greeted Janice before settling down in the over-stuffed but comfortable chair.

  Raven was only here because her father had insisted, had set up the appointment and driven her there. She had resisted, and even now as she sat there with her back straight and shoulders held back by sheer willpower, her body language spoke volumes. What screamed loudest to Janice was that this woman was fragile, and if she said the wrong word, Raven would break into a million pieces.

  “Would you like to tell me what I can do for you?” Janice asked, her kindness seeming to be an endless well. Her gentleness flowed to her like rain, but Raven didn’t let it enter her heart.

  Raven pursed her lips harder, feeling the headache and the tension in her shoulders again. All the pain of the last few weeks was collected right there, almost stopping her circulation.

  “I really don’t need counseling,” Raven began, the tears coming into her eyes. She didn’t trust some of these church folks. This counselor was associated with her church, and she feared that what she would say would be heard by everybody she knew. She was already the subject of gossip and whispers, and she didn’t feel like spilling any more to a woman she barely knew, kind or not.

  “I think it’s good to talk to someone, don’t you think?”

  “I’m all talked out, Ms…”

  “Call me Janice.”

  “Janice. I have nothing more to say.”

  “It must be hard having all your life plastered in the media, but have you yet talked about reconciliation with your husband? Have you given it some thought?”

  Raven just shook her head and wiped the stray tears running down her cheeks. She wondered where they were coming from, because she had already cried oceans.

  “We usually like to try every other avenue before taking the drastic measure of terminating a marriage. Is there anything we can do to help you and your husband reach a new conclusion? Maybe counseling…”

  “No, Janice. I’ve made up my mind. I only came here to appease my father. As far as I’m concerned my marriage is over. Now I’m just waiting for the papers, the formality, but in my heart and physically we are already divorced.”

  Janice didn’t know what else to say. Raven seemed determined to end a marriage that had once been the talk of the city. A marriage that was now falling apart in appalling scandals and national media coverage.

  “Is there nothing that you can think of that can save it? Think back to how you met, how you felt then. If there is a sliver of any of that emotion, then maybe you should reconsider,” Janice insisted, though her voice remained patient and calm.

  Raven glanced behind Janice’s desk, at the beautifully framed copy of Charles Sebree on the gold textured walls. The whole room was peaceful, tranquil, like Janice Francis. Warm colors, structured and well lighted. The tranquility didn’t reach her at all.

  Yes, she could remember how it was when she met him. It wasn’t so long ago, but it seemed like twenty years instead of two. How things had changed. How trust had been destroyed so cruelly. Meeting him, marrying him, had made her feel like finally, she would be accepted, finally she could hold her head high. How naive she had been. Now she was worse than an outcast. No, she was the laughingstock of Detroit.

  Chapter 1

  “Oh no,” Raven muttered under her breath, as she looked in the review mirror and saw the flashing red and blue lights. “Stupid cops. Oh, God forgive me. I know he’s just doing his job, but I’m so late! Why did he have to stop me?”

  Raven stubbornly continued to drive, and then turned right onto a side street. How fast had she been going, and what was the speed limit? She angrily put her ancient Mini Cooper into park and sat back, taking deep breaths and trying to calm her beating heart. Only when she heard a knock on her window did she roll it down manually and stare at the officer, a tall, dark-skinned man dressed in the black uniform. Raven had never been good with authority, and cops were on her list of people she had little patience for. God was working on her, but right now she wished that the ground would just open up and swallow the man whole and his white marked car.

  “License and registration please, ma’am,” he said in a deep, authoritative voice.

  “Oh, yes,” Raven
responded, looking for her purse. She was late and didn’t even know if she had put her wallet in her oversized bag. Digging around her bag she pulled out the files from her social work office and then the binder from the Philips Center, where she was about to go to and have an important meeting with one of the Pistons. Their star, the point guard Amari Thomas. Her father, Pastor Philip Davies, had stressed how important it was that they impress this Piston guy so the center could get more exposure and funds. This was the second time the meeting had been set up. The last time Amari Thomas had called and cancelled, deepening her dislike of all athletes.

  The officer impatiently stood by her window while she searched. She knew that she should apologize for the delay but couldn’t bring herself to do so. He can stand there and freeze. Didn’t he have something better to do?

  Raven gave a sigh of relief as she pulled out her wallet and then started digging through the various credit cards and gym memberships to find her driver’s license. Without looking at the officer she handed it to him, and then began the arduous task of putting her things back in the bag.

  “Raven Davies,” the officer said as if tasting her name on his tongue. “Are you related to Pastor Philip Davies? Of Calvary Church?” Raven nearly rolled her eyes, but instead she nodded.

  “I thought I had seen you somewhere before.”

  “Please just give me the ticket so I can go. I’m really late for a meeting.”

  “I’ll just let you go with a warning, ma’am. Any child of Pastor Davies does not deserve a ticket. In fact I have seen you there before. I see your beautiful sisters more, but I certainly know you.”

  “Thank you,” Raven said, then reached out for the license. Officer Derek Johnson was taken by surprise at her lack of excitement that he had not given her a ticket.

  He gave her back her license and walked back to his car. She wished she could see his face as she pulled into traffic and sped away from him as fast as her beat-up car could go.

  Raven loved the heart of the city of Detroit and didn’t even mind seeing some of the run-down buildings mixed up with the tall Renaissance Center that gleamed in the early morning sun. Detroit was like an old lady who was now going for plastic surgery one part of her body at a time. Starting with the nose, then the eyes, and slowly working her way towards the breasts and stomach. Though sections were falling apart the facelift would be completed soon, and a new and gorgeous city was about to emerge. Raven could already see the beauty in the delightful Campus Martius Park with live bands, exotic waterfalls in summer and skating and drinking delicious hot chocolate in the winter. She could see hope in the people that walked to work with brisk paces and smiling faces. She could taste the city’s future in the air and it filled her with excitement. Maybe Detroit will one day shake off its negative image of being crime-ridden, poor and ugly.

  * * *

  When she arrived at the center, Raven looked in the mirror and didn’t like what she saw. Her skin seemed darker and her full lips too shiny and dark. She wished her hair was thinner and easier to manage. Some mornings she tolerated the way she looked, but not this one. How many women wished they looked a little different.

  As her mother, Clare, would say, “The world unfortunately is a beauty pageant. You are always being judged by what you wear and how you look whether you want to be or not.” Clare Davies always dressed like she was in a pageant, but Raven refused to compete. What was the point?

  The Philips Center for Children was located in the downtown area, a few blocks from Comerica Park and not even five minutes from her apartment, but somehow Raven had attracted the wrath of that early morning officer. Raven found parking in the street and made her way towards the front of the building. The entrance wasn’t that appealing, but the main concern for the center was raising money for kids, not for appearances. That would come later, but after many other important needs had been met.

  “Raven!” Kendra greeted her with a smile. Kendra’s early morning eagerness was contagious. Kendra’s smile was like the sun itself. Raven felt gaudy standing next to her. Even her dress was a lovely colorful blue number which showed a little bit of cleavage that begged for attention. She knew that any of the Pistons players would enjoy meeting Kendra.

  “Hey, Kendra,” Raven said. “I guess our benevolent basketball players haven’t arrived yet.”

  “Actually they are here. He’s here,” Kendra said with a gleam in her eye. The last time Raven had seen Kendra this excited was when she had won five thousand dollars at the Greek Town Casino. Raven was surprised and annoyed at the same time.

  He’s already here? Before me? She knew she was being unreasonable. If he was late she would have still been irritated.

  “He’s in the office,” Kendra continued, gesturing towards the only office in the building. Raven straightened her formal jacket and entered the office.

  A tall man stood up when she opened the door. Raven reached her hand out to shake his and was so bothered at the effect the man had on her. His looks startled her more than anybody ever before in her life. He was so gorgeous she almost didn’t find the words to start her greeting as she looked into his soft, brown eyes.

  “Good morning. I’m Raven Davis,” she finally said, wanting to take charge.

  “Amari Thomas. Pleasure to meet you.” Raven decided the only way she could get through the day was if she found him annoying. Why was he smiling like that? Did he expect her to fawn over him and ask him for his autograph or something? Hell would freeze over before she ever asked any celebrity for an autograph. To her that was the most demeaning thing to do.

  “I understand you would like to help our program? What made you interested in this center?” she asked, gesturing for him to sit down and taking her place behind the desk.

  “My cousin goes to the church that started this. I thought it was a great idea, and I want to be a part of what you’ll are doing here.”

  Raven didn’t want to say it was her father’s church that started the center. “It’s not an easy job to do. We work with very difficult students who are not motivated in school. It’s a place where they can get tutoring and after-school activities in a safe environment for free.”

  “I know. I read the plan, and I’d like to do more than just donate money. I want to get involved and bring awareness to the program.”

  “Fine. But I thought your team has its own initiatives?”

  “This is my own project. I don’t always do things with the team. I’m an individual, and the team is just my job.” They looked at each other. Raven could see Amari was getting a bit put out, and she knew she was being unreasonable. She had never seen anybody who just did things without wanting something in return, and she certainly didn’t trust Amari. Nobody that good-looking could be that good a person. It would be unfair.

  “Well, I have some time to show you around. I volunteer here, too, as do most of the staff here. What in particular would you want to do?”

  “Maybe some coaching and tutoring in math,” Amari replied as they left the office.

  “That’s good. We always need more math tutors. I struggle in math myself, so I can’t help there,” Raven said.

  “Do you need tutoring?”

  Raven stared at him like he had lost his mind. “Are you for real?”

  “Sorry. Just a joke.” Raven didn’t even crack a smile as they walked to the classrooms and then to the gym. Amari shook his head and whistled and got another frosty look from Raven.

  “This building used to be a preschool,” Raven explained.

  “It has potential. Where do the kids play basketball?”

  “We have a court outside. The vision is to build an indoor gym and also build a library, computer room and a cafeteria.”

  “You have a wonderful vision,” Amari said.

  “It’s not my vision. It’s my father’s,” she said, then covered her mouth as if she had let out a secret. “If you don’t have anything else, I have to go to work. Kendra can answer the rest of your questions.
She’s the only full-time staff here.”

  “That’s all, Ms. Davis,” he said, holding out his hand. She shook his hand then walked away, leaving him alone in the hallway. Amari felt more relaxed when he saw the gorgeous Kendra walk towards him with a smile.

  “So when is your next game, Amari? I watch you play all the time,” she gushed, taking him by the arm.

  Chapter 2

  Amari drove back home in his black Escalade. He had never seen a woman respond so coldly to him. Ms. Raven Davis was as cold as the North Pole. He had a good mind not to work with her center and find people who were more enthusiastic, but he liked their vision and the accounts he heard about them, all the wonderful things they were doing in Africa and in the inner city of Detroit with the Philips Center. The center was a spiritual haven for lost children who could find hope and inspiration from various successful people in Detroit.

  Now Kendra’s response to him was exactly what he was used to. He had experienced firsthand women slipping their numbers in his hand or waiting for him outside his hotel or writing obscene letters to him. He didn’t like it, but he was getting used to it. He now saw tossing the slips of paper aside as part of the job. Money and fame brought their own set of troubles.

  His life took a turn just last year when the Pistons signed him. He was surprised at how quickly the season had gone by and the incredible things that happened in that one year. He was now back in his hometown after not being drafted initially and playing a few years in Europe. To him it was like he had been roaming around in the wilderness and now he was enjoying his Promised Land, too. His mother wisely called the time of emptiness God’s way of making sure he didn’t get too much success too soon. Gloria liked to say, “God said he would give us little by little lest the horses go wild.” There were a lot of wild horses in the NBA.

  God had fulfilled all his dreams beyond what he imagined, even though it had taken a long time. He heard that God can restore in a day what was stolen in a lifetime, and this was the first time he had seen it first hand in his own life.