“Danielle!” he said, then smacked himself in the forehead, “Sorry, sorry, Dani! Come sit down.”
He pulled out the chair next to him. I quickly took my seat and avoided eye contact with the rest of the group. Caleb reached over and grabbed my plate and began piling food on it.
“Pancakes?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
Law entered the room and glanced over at me and nodded his head in acknowledgment. I gave a small wave. He sat himself down at the head of the table and began serving himself.
“I love family breakfast,” Caleb said, dancing in his chair a bit.
I grabbed a fork and shoved a slice of pancake into my mouth. It was delicious. Caleb glanced over at me with a smile.
“Do you want to pray for the food with me?” he asked.
“Do I have to?” I replied.
“Oh, no, of course not. I’ll pray for everyone’s food,” he said, still smiling.
“Okay,” I said and returned to my food.
“Dear Lord, thank you for allowing us to get together to enjoy this amazing meal, thank you for our opportunity to know and support each other, and thank you for delivering Dani to us safely. I pray that you will continue to protect us and help us do your divine work. Please let all of us do our part and let the people we help accept our offering. Amen.”
“Amen,” echoed the rest of the group, some already partaking in their meal.
I surveyed the table, as I consumed my food. Law noticed my surveillance.
“Why don’t we go around the table and introduce ourselves to Danielle,” Law said, motioning to the young man on his left.
“I’m Chad. Former prostitute and an Intuitive,” said the man in a light voice. He was quite thin and his bones protruded from his shirt. However, he had perfect bone structure in his face and gorgeous blond hair that was styled as if he was preparing for a fashion show.
“I’m Tanya. Former gang member and a Reader,” said the girl to the right of Chad. She had dark skin and thick curly hair. She was big and intimidating in appearance, but her demeanor came off quite pleasant and welcoming.
The girl next to her followed, “I’m Rebecca. Former drug addict, borderline personality, and Truth Discerner.”
Rebecca was short and had medium-length dark hair and tan skin. She had multiple piercings adorning her ears.
“I’m David. Former drug dealer, ADD, and a human computer,” said the next guy. He had dark red hair, cut close to his head. He was muscular and had a cleanly trimmed beard.
It was my turn at this point. I realized I hadn’t paid much attention to the structure of their response but made an attempt. “I’m Dani a Dual Soul.”
I glanced over at Caleb but someone interjected before he could begin, “The Dual Soul,” it was David, “There’s only one.”
“Oh. . . I didn’t know,” I replied. This sent a wave of laughter through the group.
“Well, you know me. I’m Caleb and I am a Believer,” Caleb said.
“Of course you are,” I said, “What’s your diagnosis?”
“I don’t have one,” Caleb said.
“I’m Jude,” came the words of a young Hispanic male on the other side of Caleb, with a tattoo stretching up his neck line. “I used to smuggle items for various people. I’m bipolar and a parasite.”
I scoffed louder than intended at his admission. This directed everyone’s attention to me.
“You have something to say?” asked Rebecca.
“I just didn’t realize anyone who was a parasite would be considered gifted,” I replied.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to feel self-conscious about it, Dani,” said Caleb.
“Okay. . .” I said, slightly confused.
I thought about how understanding and tolerant these people were, to handle my prejudice and accept people like Jude, someone whose only purpose was to drain life from people. They would think I was an angel.
“As you know, I’m Law. I established this community a few years ago. The purpose of being here is to not only grow as a person, but encourage the growth of others through community service. This is a safe place, where no one is bound to their past indiscretions. We help each other and support each other. You get a room and food. However, you are required to work. Work includes having a job and working on yourself as a person. The goal is to grow, to fine tune your gifts, to control them. We all contribute to the household. We clean, we cook, tend to the garden, complete any repairs needed, and we pay bills. We have limited time with technology and/or social media, but we do have a movie night once or twice a week as a family.”
“So what is your gift?” I asked.
“I am a Healer,” Law replied.
“Yeah, Dani, I took you straight to him after the incident with Caro,” said Caleb.
“Caro? You saw Caro?” asked Tanya.
“Yeah, right before she shot a hole through my stomach. Wait till I see her again, I’m going to fuckin’ kill her,” I replied angrily, dropping my fork to my plate.
Silence grew around the table.
“We all have to understand, Dani is new here, so she’s not quite savvy to our culture and way of doing things,” Law said, cutting through the silence.
“‘Way of doing things’?” I asked.
“Danielle, we, as a group, have a long list of
