The next morning, while Lizzie was sitting on her bed reading her bible, she was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.
"Come in," Lizzie said.
Kate's face appeared in the opened door. "I'm not bothering you, am I?" Kate asked.
"No! Kate, this is still your room as much as it's mine. Please, come in," Lizzie said, standing up. Kate closed the door and sat on her former bed. Her belly was showing more and more everyday. Lizzie sat down across from Kate, facing her. "What's up?"
"We haven't talked in a while. You know, since I got pregnant and all."
"Yeah. So how's the pregnancy coming along? What's the doctor been saying?"
"Doctor? Lizzie, you know as well as me that nobody leaves this pace except for Sal and Derek. Sal said that God will take care of me, and that's all I need to make it through this pregnancy."
Lizzie was astonished. "Do you believe that God will take care of you?"
Kate paused. "Well…first Peter five seven says, 'Cast all you anxiety on God because her cares for you,'"
"Is that what Sal told you?"
"It doesn't matter who told me. It's in black and white in the Bible. It's a direct quote. Sal's the messenger, telling us all we need to know. I mean, don't you believe God will take care of us? Isn't that sorta the point of being a Christian and all?"
"Well, yes, but I think that your idea of how God will take care of you isn't exactly how I think of it."
"What?"
"Well, I suppose Sal told you what context it was in."
"What are you talking about, Lizzie? Maybe I'm just crazy, but are you contradiction Sal?"
"First Peter five verse six: 'Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.'" Kate was silent. "Verse eight through ten: 'Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
'And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.'"
Kate scowled. "Are you calling my husband, and our savior the devil?"
"Sal didn't save us from anything." Lizzie's voice was growing dangerously loud. "Jesus saved us from sin. All Sal is doing is saving us from God's calling to be Christians."
"And just what is our calling?" Kate snapped.
"To tell every nation about Jesus. Look, Kate, the point was to warn you that there is suffering in the world, and being a good person won't save you from pain."
"So what you're telling me is that God won't take care of me, and the only way I will have a healthy baby is if I see a doctor?"
"No! What I'm saying is that God cares about us, but we're a fallen people, so we will suffer. I just wanted to clarify what God was saying in first Peter. That one verse didn't give a clear enough picture. And as for the doctor, I think you should see one, but that's really none of my business."
"Lizzie, you're scaring me. Let's just pretend this conversation never happened, okay?"
Lizzie could feel her chest grow tight. She wanted to explode. How could Kate just throw away everything Lizzie just said? "So what I said means nothing to you?" Lizzie asked in a dangerously quiet voice.
"Lizzie, no matter what happens, I'm not leaving this place. Where would I go? This is my life, whether I like it or not. I'll see you at lunch." Kate stood up, walked out the door and quietly shut it behind her.
Lizzie stared at the door, blurred by the tears running down her cheek into the open bible on her lap. She was alone. The people didn't come to Lamb of God to follow Sal or worship Christ. They came to Lamb of God because they felt that they had absolutely nothing to lose. Lamb of God was the easy way out of life.
After lunch, Sal pulled Lizzie aside and asked to meet with her in an hour.
Lizzie took in a shaky breath as she knocked on Sal's door. Lizzie had just met with her bible study, so she had her ratty bible in her arms.
"Come in," Sal's voice commanded through the closed door. Lizzie timidly opened the door into Sal's intimidating office. Sal motioned for Lizzie to sit in front of his large desk. Sal rose from his chair on the other side of the desk and walked around to the side that Lizzie was on. "Good afternoon," he said, but clearly he had an agenda.
"G-good afternoon," Lizzie stammered. She wondered if Sal could see her heart beating. Sal had a way of making Lizzie scared of him. As he took a breath to speak, Lizzie quickly, in an attempt to defer Sal from his agenda, sputtered, "Congratulations on you and Kate. I know you'll make a great father. You are such a great example to this place by getting married and then having children. I mean, wow, you and Kate are perfect for-"
"Thank you, Lizzie," Sal cut in.
"You're welcome," Lizzie mumbled. She felt ashamed. Not only had she made it clear that Sal had the advantage in the conversation, but she had just told a whole slew of lies in only a few sentences.
"I noticed that your bible is starting to fall apart," Sal said, clearly back to his agenda. He sat down across from Lizzie.
"Yeah."
"You must be spending a lot of time with it. Not even the first people who came here have nearly that much war and tear on theirs."
"I guess you could say that I find it to be a fascinating book." Lizzie wasn't sure whether or not to keep her guard up. It seemed to be almost a friendly, casual conversation.
"Yeah. Maybe a little too fascinating."
"What?" Okay, clearly this wasn't a casual conversation.
"What I mean is that you just don't seem to be fitting in, and maybe you bible is getting between you and making friends here. You've got the rest of your life here, and I don't see how you can truly be happy without at least one close friend."
The thought of Lizzie spending the rest of her life at Lamb of God made her sick. "I have Kate."
"Lizzie, Kate is married. Her husband is her best friend."
"You're her husband."
"Yes."
"So you don't want me to be friends with Kate anymore?"
"This morning, Kate came into my office looking very upset. I asked her where she had been, and she said she had been chatting with you."
"You know, you're pretty sneaky," Lizzie said. Maybe this was her chance to tell Sal how wrong he was. "You knew that if you asked Kate if she was okay, she would have said that she was fine. So instead you asked where she was so you would have a better idea as to what she was up to, and by acting like you didn't notice that she was upset, you got out not only where she was, but what she was doing. You obviously don't trust her, and I bet you thought she was with me, so I'm assuming that you don't trust me, either."
"That was very Sherlock of you, but not true. However, by what you just said, I can safely say that you do not trust me, because you're questioning a simple question."
Lizzie was stumped. She may find Sal to be a manipulative jerk, but that didn't make him, by any means, stupid. "What do you want from me?" Lizzie asked, afraid that she was caving.
"I want your Bible. I think, and God thinks, that your Bible is being very, say… counterproductive. I'll give it back after you've made some friends and fit in here a little better."
Lizzie couldn't believe her ears. "You want my bible?"
"Yes."
"No. No, you cannot have it. It's my only connection to God."
"NO!" Sal yelled, suddenly bursting out of his usually cunning self. "I'M YOU'RE CONNECTION TO GOD!" As he said it, he stood up and pounded his hands on his desk.
Lizzie wanted to hide, but she couldn't just give up. "It's funny that you should mention that, because I was starting to think that you actually came before God."
Sal walked around his desk to where Lizzie was sitting. She was scared, but she couldn't give up, no matter how badly she wanted to run. "Give me your bible," Sal said through clenched teeth. "Now."
Lizzie stood up and looked Sal in the eye. She was still gripping her bible. " 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.' "
"Give me your bible," Sal repeated.
" 'He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.' "
"Now."
" 'He restores my soul.' "
"Lizzie, you're trying my patience."
" 'He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.' "
"I'm not kidding."
" 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' "
"Give me your bible."
" 'For you are with me; your rod and your staff the comfort me.' "
"I SAID GIVE ME YOU DAMN BIBLE!" Sal grabbed Lizzie's arm and wrenched her bible from her grasp.
"No!" Lizzie cried, trying to grab it back. Sal slapped Lizzie's face. As her head turned from the flow, she saw Mary, one of Kate's close friends, standing in the door, eyes wide. Sal saw Mary too.
"Leave," he commanded Lizzie. Lizzie ran. She ran past Mary, down the grand staircase, through the front door, across the lawn, all the way to the front gate. She grabbed the bars and shook them with all of her might, but they didn't budge. Lizzie kept on shaking until she was so tired and frustrated that she just fell to the ground in a heap of tears.
"God, help me," Lizzie pleaded. "Help me, please."
A/N: Thanks for the reviews from the last chapter. Six is definitely an improvement, and I thank those of you who said something, and I hope that you keep letting me know what you're thinking.
Also, I have a question. I'm brain-storming ideas for another story. I was wondering what you all want to read. What is the ideal Lizzie McGuire story to you? I need all of the ideas that I can get, and I know that a lot of you wish that somebody would write a story about what you want.
