"Choice Not Chance"

"I could kill you so easily and dispose of your body.  No one knows you; you have no friends so no one will miss you!"  Keith coldly threatened.

Gemma's eyes widened in panic as she gasped for breath and tried to extricate his hand from over her mouth.  He slapped her hand away and instead wickedly whispered in her ear through clenched teeth while violently shaking her head and cruelly bouncing it up and down on the bed.  "I have to control you, I have to keep you in your place, I have to make you respect me," Keith arrogantly tortured but Gemma was not listening or paying much attention.  One idea bombarded her mind - Escape!  Escape from that monster who had brutalized her for the last time.

How could something so sweet, so beautiful, something she had fought so hard to nurture grow so bitter, so evil?  Love was supposed to heal not hurt, it was peaceful not violent, it was warm and shed rays that brought lovers closer to each other not cold and distant from each other.  A man was supposed to cherish and protect the woman he loved in response to the love which she lavished upon him.  That's what Gemma believed because that's what she was taught since she was a small girl.

Gemma had grown up in a large family, the eldest of seven children.  She had spent a lot of her young life caring for her brothers and sisters and even though she was well loved by classmates, coworkers and members of her church, she never nurtured a large following of friends.  By the time she was twenty years she had come to regard herself as a loner.  She did not have a boyfriend, had never been on a date and had never as much as been kissed by a man.  Her mother occasionally teased her: "You live like a nun, maybe you should become one!"  She knew nothing about the nunnery and harbored secrets thoughts about getting married and having a family but none of the men she knew measured up to her expectations of what her husband should or should not be.

It was not surprising to her parents and family when, at age twenty-four Gemma announced that she was leaving home to become a nun.   She did enter the convent and joyfully became a servant of God and his people.  Much use was found for the many and varied talents and skills she possessed.

She did not always agree with everything she heard or saw or was told to do in the convent.  In her deep confusion or unhappiness she resorted to prayer or lost herself in work to overcome her turmoil.

Something was missing in her life and she could not put her finger directly on what it was.  To fill that profound void Gemma lavished immense love on her family, especially her three nieces and all her students, generously giving of her time, her care and even gifts when she could afford.  That was the kind of person she was - totally giving, not thinking of or caring for herself, totally selfless.  Her motto was: "To bring joy to others!" and that she did abundantly.

After eleven years as a nun Gemma was chosen to pioneer a mission to the far off country of Africa.  Although she had traveled extensively, she had never been to that part of the world and enthusiastically looked forward to going there and accomplishing God's work.  Civil war erupted in that country the very year Gemma and her two companions arrived.  Like three strong soldiers they remained throughout bravely facing all the hardships and terror associated with war.  They were threatened, faced starvation and death but did not waver in their faith nor their intent to do God's work where they were sent.

It was in that environment and under such conditions that Gemma met Keith.  She was the Administrator of the high school in the town in which they lived and that fateful day when he shyly entered her office seeking special permission to use the school hall for a social event, Gemma knew she had met her soul mate.  The dream she had had in her senior year at high school unfurled before her very eyes.  This was the young man she had dreamt about.  Her country was experiencing civil uprising between the various races.

She and her mother had been caught in a fracas and this was the person who appeared like their savior and led them to safety.

Gemma treasured her privacy, asked people to respect it and therefore afforded others that privilege of guarding theirs.  She knew nothing about him and didn't ask, allowing him the freedom to tell her in his own good time.  She did not have any close friends there and so did not divulge her personal information.  As their friendship grew, Keith eagerly shared his family with her.  He told her all about his numerous brothers and sisters and what life was for him as he grew up.  He told her stories of how his father would brutally beat and punish him and his brothers but especially him, for the minutest wrongdoing.  Gemma recognized that Keith loved to talk about himself, he loved to hear himself.  She felt that he needed to talk, to share inner hurts and pain.  She was a good listener so instead of criticizing or thinking him arrogant or selfish, she