They got back to church and he backed in the van so that he could take the coolers off. Then he saw Bishop walking up to him. He put one of the coolers down.
“What did you say I won’t do?” Bishop said.
“I don’t know what you are talking about?” Adrian replied.
“Yea, you know what I’m talking about.”
“No, I don’t.” Adrian answered as he went to pick the cooler back up to finish working. Bishop acted as if he was turning to leave him but in that instance turned back around and punched him in the face. He dropped the cooler and they started to fight. I could not believe what he was telling me, but I knew it was true. How could a Bishop put his hands on someone? But it wasn’t surprising. It is just works of the Devil because my Jesus didn’t walk like that. When I got home I dreaded walking into my room because I did not want to witness what a Bishop had done. I turned the knob, opened the door, and there he was lying on my floor, fast asleep. He had visible bruises everywhere. It was not as bad as I had imagined but it was bad enough to cause me to pause. I took my camera out of my dresser drawer and began to take photos of his body. I woke him up and asked him to let me see the ones that had been dressed. Then I had to clean his wounds so that they wouldn’t become infected. He had gashes, cuts and a black eye. I asked him if he had spoken to his mother and he said no.
“I’ll call her now. I’ve just been in so much pain,” he said. He called his mother and he wanted her to talk to me. I took the phone. This was my first time speaking to her. She asked me if her son was ok and I said yes ma’am. She thanked me for letting him stay with me.
“He did the right thing by reporting it to the police,” she said. “This did not just start with him.” She told me that she used to be in a restaurant they use to own and she worked as the choir director in one of their churches and a Sunday school teacher in another. She said that they always had some type of dysfunction, whether it was just mess, turmoil, or problems with payroll. She said that it was always something going on with them and that she had to quit working for them herself before she did something that she regretted. I told her that as long as he keeps up the good attitude and continues to show me that he wants more that, he was going to be ok. I could only imagine how it hurt him to be victimized by his aunt’s husband, a man who calls himself a leader that claims to preach the Gospel, and the fact that his own family wants to keep him down. It has to weigh heavy on him. I believe that he was placed in my life for a reason. I pray that he will succeed if given a chance. I was blessed to bless others!