The sound of the phone ringing in the girls’ apartment awoke Poisonous at 9:00 AM, on the dot.
She dragged herself up off the couch, and stumbled into the kitchen where the phone was ringing, demanding her attention by its insistent brrrring-brrrring… brrrring- brrrring.
“Hello?”
“Hi Poisonous.”
“Hi Cydnie. What time will you be over?”
“Give me a few minutes, okay?”
Poisonous laughed, imaging the heavenly soldier driving in a human car to the condominium. “You are truly a silly angel. I’ll see you then.”
The knock on the door woke her up, causing her to fumble off the couch where she had fallen back asleep, stagger over to the door, and look through the peephole.
“Oh, Cydnie! Hi!” She opened the door and let Cydnie in.
She couldn’t hold her excitement back. “Oh my gracious, Cydnie, I’m going to burst if I don’t get these thoughts out of my head.”
“Okay. So tell me... what gives?”
“You’ll probably find this strange, but Lord Yehovah and I talked last night. I’m not proud of this, but I was cynical. I wasn’t angry with Him. I think we just had an honest conversation, and I…” The smile came slowly out of hiding. Excitement filled her as she talked a mile a minute, briefly pausing to take a breath. “I feel like I’ve calmed down a bit. I think I’ve at least concluded that Lord Yehovah is a good listener. He seems to care about me. I’m still trying to figure out why anyone, especially Lord Yehovah would care about a…well, a demon like me. Boy it’s tough having a heart.” She paused, reflecting for a moment, and said, “I feel emotions I haven’t felt in a very long time, and those feelings are way more intense than any hatred for humans I felt before.” The heaviness slowly but surely began to lift from her. She found herself hugging Cydnie without giving it a second thought. “Thank you for being a friend, Cydnie. It’s very nice. I love you... and Evie.”
“Oh, Poisonous... I love you too, honey. I’m happy to hear such good news. You encourage me. Please consider me a friend. Your heart really is changing.” Warmth filled Cydnie’s smile.
Poisonous let herself smile as well. “I’m glad you’re willing to be a friend to me.” Tears filled her eyes. “I desperately need a friend right now.” Through her tears, she managed to smile anyway. Her face turned away shyly. Quietly, she said, “You and Evie are wonderful friends.”
Cydnie smiled back. “Thank you, sweetie.” Then Cydnie’s expression turned serious. “Okay. I need to get down to business. You’ll be working for Michael at his security agency. It’s at the corner of 4th and D Streets, Southeast. It’s an old white row house in a predominantly residential neighborhood. An old church, which has changed names and leaders, is next door, just across 4th Street. We figure since you have observed humanity so long, you would be a good private investigator. You can come in tomorrow, and we’ll let you have an orientation.” Cydnie walked over to the couch and sat down. She motioned to Poisonous. “Come on, honey. Sit down and make yourself comfortable.”
She did as Cydnie told her and sat down on the couch near her.
“We’ll go over some administrative details, get you to sign all the tax forms, and then you can go home, enjoy your weekend. You’ll start full time on Monday.
Friday October 3rd
Friday was a better day for Poisonous. She took a walk towards some of the touristy parts of DC, taking in the beauty of Lord Yehovah’s creation. The smells of the busy city: hot dogs boiling, barbecue smoke from oil drum grills and the perfume of the various types of greenery floated on the crisp Autumn breeze. Cooler weather settled upon D.C., but the warm sun encouraged people to be outside, enjoying a day without sweltering humidity. Memorabilia stands, birds flying by...even all sorts of kites flying in Mount Vernon Square painted a busy summer panorama; a truly lovely urban portrait. What Cydnie had been talking about had become a reality. Talking to... well... arguing with Lord Yehovah astounded her, but He did seem willing to listen. This surprised her at first, but she gradually accepted the idea that maybe He didn’t have it out for her after all. She had a lot to ask Evie that night.
She sat across from Evie on the couch. The questions came out of her fast. Nonstop. All the new feelings and emotions shot forth like a dam that had just burst.
“My goodness, my new human apprentice sure has a lot of questions!” Evie laughed.
All that she had been going through and felt better about came out in an excited verbal barrage as her fears and apprehensions slowly melted away.
“Say, Poisonous,” said Evie, “Why don’t you join Carlo, me, and my family for a Picnic? At least it will get you out of the house, so you won’t have to be stuck with your thoughts all day long.”
“Actually, that would be wonderful.” She smiled happily and without hesitation. “I agree that I need to think about something other than my troubles.”
“Well, let’s go to bed. It’s getting late, and we need to get up early the tomorrow to make last minute preparations for the picnic.”
“I’m looking forward to it.
She expected VD that night. She
