Kindred Spirits

[aDRUfan4LiFe]

It was a dark, mild night with a warm breeze. He was walking down a dimly lit alley with old warehouses on both sides of the street.
He felt faint, but he continued to his unknown destination.
Just then a huge ball of fire came out of nowhere! A bright light was all he saw and it hit him hard in his chest right above his heart on his left side.
He couldn't move. He felt the fire, but he wasn't on fire.
He thought to himself, "I'm gonna die!"
Just then four lights came from above and two lights took his legs and the other two took his arms.
He was carried to the top of one of the old warehouses. He felt a peace come to him and the burning pain subside.
The four lights encircle him and he felt like he was getting a comforting hug.
Then he heard a whisper that swept across him like a cool breeze and it said

Do not faint

Do not lose heart

You will live

You will not die!

BBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!!!!
Tamir woke up from his dream in a start. He was filled with sweat and he turned to look at his phone lighting up as it rang.

"Boy where are you???" said the voice on the other line.

"Umm ahhh, what time is it?" Tamir said.

"Nine, man!" said the voice.

"Dang! For real? I had a long night Mira!" Tamir said.

" Are you coming in today? Aint nothing been going on, soooo if you wanna relax..."

"Naaahhh, Mira I'll be in!" Tamir said in a whining tone.

"OK! By the way Woody called."

"Woody?" Tamir thought to himself. I haven't heard from him in years.

"Alright. I'll see you in about 45 minutes." Tamir said.

"OK!" Mira said and they both hung up the phone.
***********************************************************
Tamir went through the little professional building that had two floors up to his office. He looked at the door, it was newly made up. It readTamir Ruffin, Private Investigator Services. "I like!" he said to himself as he opened the door. He spotted his cousin Tamira whom he called Mira at the front desk.
She had he back turned and she quickly spun around when she heard the door open.
" Hey!" Mira said.

"What's going on?" Tamir said. "What the heck you have on? You can't be representing my business like that!"
She had on jeans and a tee shirt.

"I can't help you be coming in here all spiffy!" Nokio looked down at his tan slacks and shirt that matched.

"This is place of business." He said in a fake authortative voice.

"Or lack thereof!" Mira said.
Tamir was about to respond when the phone rang.

"Hello." Mira said. Nokio smirked and gave her a look because of the way she answered.

"It's Woody, again." Mira said.

"Ok, I'll take it in my office. We need to talk about your phone etiquette." Tamir said.

"What? I said Hello!" Mira said.

"You didn't say the company name, duh!!!"
Mira looked Tamir with disguist.

"Okay, umm this is both our official first day, so we DO need to discuss some things." Mira said.

"Aight. Later. I got ya!" Tamir said and he opened the door to his office. There were still boxes everywhere and he had to take some boxes off his chair to sit down.

"Woody!!!!" Tamir said when he picked up the phone.

"What up Noke!" Woody said on the other line.

"Man, I haven't 'Noke' in long time! Tamir said.

"For real!" Woody said. "Umm man I need your help! I know we haven't talked in a while but...."

Tamir interruped. "I got you man, what's going on?"
I gotta see you in person, meet me at The Disciples of the Lord Church." Woody said.

"Man, you know me and churches don't click." Tamir said.

"Can you put your feelings aside and help a brotha out?" Woody said.

"OK, where is it?" Tamir said.
Woody gave Tamir directions and he hung up the phone. He gathered his things and hurried out of his office.
Mira saw how hurried Tamir was and asked him where he was going.

"The Disciples of the Lord Church." Tamir said.

"Oh yeah!" I heard that church is like that!" Mira said.

"A church being 'Like That'??" Tamir asked Mira.

"Yeah, you'll see!" Tamira said and she smiled.

"Well OK." Tamir said with a curious look.
Tamir was on his way.
************************************************************
Woody was standing outside of the church with an icepack on the back of his head. Somebody had hit him over the head while he was coming out of the church's office. When he gained back consciousness, he saw some broken pieces of equipment scattered across the floor in front of him. At that time of morning, around 8am, he is usually the only one there. So he thought.
He watched as he saw a dark blue BMW pull up in a parking space right in front of him. He wondered whether or not it had been Nokio.
When Nokio stepped out of the car, Woody immediately knew and he started to smile.

"Noke, my man!" Woody said as Nokio approached him and they did the ghetto hand shake they had back in the days.

"What happened to you?" Tamir said as he noticed Woody with the ice pack. Woody told him the story and Tamir listened.

"Did you call the police?" Tamir said.

"Yeah, they have came and gone." Woody said.

"But why did you call me?" Tamir said.

"I heard that you were a good policeman and detective and that you had just branched out on your own and I though you could help." Woody said to Tamir.

"I don't know what I can do?" Tamir said.

"Come to the service tonight and after that I'll tell you." Woody said.

"Service?" Tamir said and looked at Woody with a curious look.

"Yeah, C'mon man! When was the last time you came to church?" Woody said.

"Umm, sad to say it has been a couple of years!" Tamir said.

"Man, Tsk, Tsk, Tsk!" Woody said and both he and Tamir laughed.

"Seven-Thirty, alright!" Woody said as he look sternly at Tamir.

"Alright, man." Tamir said and he and Woody gave each other their infamous hand shake and they departed ways.

[aDRUfan4LiFe]

Tamir went back to the office where he told Mira he was going to the service tonight.

"Anything to help my brotha." He said to Mira.

"I'll go with you." Mira said.

"So should I go home and change?"Tamir asked Mira.

"Naah, you are alright, matter of fact you are overdressed." Mira said as she smiled.
Tamir looked down at his clothes."Overdressed?" he said.

"This aint you grandma's church, not even yo mama's!" Mira said and she laughed.

"Ummm....we shall see." Tamir said as he looked at Mira with a not sure look in his eyes.
***********************************************************
She wasn't lying! Nokio thought to himself when he walked in the church. The church was newly remodeled and Mira said that it used to be an old post office. He looked around at the people and saw that they were casual, very casual. Sweatsuits, jeans and the like and he did feel overdressed.
Not a big hat, no bling bling and big suits, and he was astonished. The church looked like a theater. It had rows that went up high and theater style seats.
As he looked around he saw big screens, one on each side of the church and two on the stage.
He nudged Mira as he sat down.

"This is definitely different!" Tamir said.

"I told you!" Mira said.

Woody spotted Tamir when he first came in and when both he and Mira sat down he made his way over to them.

"Noke, so glad you made it!" Woody said.

"Yeah." he said as he and Woody did their hand shake.

"This is Mira!" Noke said to Woody and he looked her way.

"Little Mira?" Woody said as he and Mira shook hands.

"Yeah that's me!" she said as she winked at Woody.

Just then a young man motioned over to Woody and Woody said that he would see them later. Woody went to the pulpit and said some annoucements. He mentioned something about the incident from earlier, but said that the Pastor would touch on it later. He annouced that the Praise and Worship Team would perform.

Nokio then though he saw Jazz. It looks like him, he thought to himself. "That's Jazz!" he said in a whisper to himself when he heard Jazz belt out a note.

"Wow! He definitely hasn't lost it! Tamir said as everyone around him stood up even Mira. It was an uptempo song, kinda contemporary,and he hadn't heard anything like it.

When he finally got the nerve to get up, he looked behind him and saw most of the church was full! It was mostly young folks!

"Wow and it aint even Sunday!" Tamir though to himself.

The Praise and Worship team did a few selections and then a young man came up at the pulpit.
Everyone sat down after he came up. This young man had on black jeans, a jacket to match and some black nikes. He also had on a white tee shirt.
The young man started to speak. He had a commanding voice, slightly deep. He was cracking jokes at first and then his face turned serious.

"As your Pastor I have to tell you what's been going on..."

"Pastor?" Tamir said to himself and then he nudged Mira.

"Pastor?" He asked Mira with a surprised looked on his face.

"Yeah!" Mira said and she smiled and then focused her attention on what the pastor was saying.

"But he looks so young!" Tamir said.

"He's about 36 or 37." Mira said. "SHHH! Hold up on the questions! I'm trying to hear what the pastor's saying!" Mira said to Tamir.

Tamir focused back to what the Pastor was saying.
After about 20 mins of the pastor talking about the situation and cracking more jokes, suddenly, the pastor said,

"Somebody in here has thoughts of killing me!"
People started looking around at each other, and Tamir was really looking.

"I want everyone to focus, We need to pray on this thing." the pastor said.

Everyone bowed their head, including Tamir, while the pastor said a prayer. He then asked everyone to stand up and join hands and say individual prayers.

Tamir felt weird. When was the last time I prayed? he said to himself, but he continued on anyway.

After the prayer, the pastor said that the prayers of the people overcame the persons thoughts and everybody started clapping and thanking God.

But he told them to always be prayerful and pray for him because he is in a good but dangerous position.

So the rest of the service went along and Tamir enjoyed it. It was definitely different, but he liked it.

After the service was over he and Woody met at the front of the church. Woody introduced him as pastor Devon. Tamir shook hands with him and told him how much he liked the service.

"Thanks!" Pastor Devon said.

"Woody told me you are gonna be helping us out?"

Tamir gave Woody the evil eye and said "I haven't decided yet." to pastor Devon.

"Well your expertise is really needed right now. I hope you make up your mind soon." pastor Devon said.

"He's on the job!" Woody said as he looked at Tamir.

"Alright, alright !" Tamir said

"Well nice meeting your Tamir! We will be meeting soon!" Pastor Devon said and he proceeded to talk to some other people.

"He's seems cool! " Tamir said to Woody.

"Oh yeah he is!" Woody said.

"So where is this meeting supposed to take place?" Tamir asked.

"Sisqo's!" Woody said.

"Sisqo's house?" Tamir asked.

"Nah man Sisqo's restaurant! It closes at twelve!" Woody said.

"Sisqo's got a restaurant?" Nokio asked.

"Yeah man! Where have you been? Oh that's right, you've been in Ohio for a minute!" Woody said.

"Yeah, I've been out of the loop for a minute." Tamir said.

"I'll lead the way!" Woody said and the were on their way to Sisqo's!

[CarolinaCutie]

This is very interesting...I like it! I'm ready to read more!!! ;D

[aDRUfan4LiFe]

Sisqo's was a live establishment. It had colorful walls, contemporary styled chairs and tables. It had a stage in the back for performances. It also had a bar when you first walk in and there were booths across from the bar. Woody and Tamir decided to take a seat in one of the booths.

"I'm so glad you decided to help me man!" Woody said.

"No problem!" Tamir said. "So what's going on?"

"Lots of weird things like, break-ins, television equipment stolen, freak accidents like plumbing problems in the bathroom and now this incident!" Woody said.

"Umm..." Tamir said and he scratched his head.

"He does a lot of outreach in the community, like plays and youth events, and I don't think a lot of people like that. I lot of people lives have changed." Woody said.
************************************************************
Sisqo was in his office at the back of his restaurant. It was about 10:30 and he was tired. He told the manager that he was leaving and packed up his stuff.
As he was leaving he spotted Woody and he was talking to a person.
Woody spotted Sisqo and asked him what was up.
Nokio turned around and was surprised to see Sisqo.

"Noke?" Sisqo said with surprise in his eyes.

"Yeah, it's me!" Tamir said and he stood up.
Tamir and Sisqo was not on the best of terms before he left for Ohio, but they still were cordial. Tamir didn't know how to react, when Sisqo grabbed him and gave him a hug.

"Man it's been a while!" Sisqo said to Tamir.

"Yeah!" Tamir said as he loosened up and gave Sisqo a hug back.

"Let me pull up a chair and chit chat with ya'll!" Sisqo said.
Woody told him of all that was going on at the church, being that he was a member.

"Aww dang Woody, sorry that had to happen to you!" Sisqo said with hurt in his eyes. " I had no idea all of that was going on. I just got back in town, I was gone about two weeks!"

"Yeah man!" Woody said.

"I'll do all I can to help!" Sisqo said.
************************************************************
Scola was sitting in front of his computer, trying to figure out what was wrong. He was looking at his workbook and glancing at his project. He surely had wired something wrong, he thought to himself.

Frustrated, he closed his book and put his project to the side. He rubbed his hand over his face to shake the tiredness he was feeling. Then he felt it again.
That feeling that overwhelmed him, that depressing feeling.

He prayed, not letting it overtake him. He had just gotten out of jail three days ago and served a year for a crime he didn't commit. Guilty by association he was, at least that is what they said. He had got caught up in a bad business deal with the wrong partner.

He was trying to start his computer business and needed a little help, not know that this person wasn't what he was cracked up to be. He made the wrong decision, and he had to pay the price.

But as he thought to himself, the time in jail wasn't all bad. He was able to get more training and God had kept him from drama. Also the people of his church The Disciples of the Lord Church, visited him and encouraged him,and prayed with him. If it wasn't for them coming, he told himself, he wouldn't have made it.

He felt a peace coming over him. Then it came again!
He had a strong urge to call Jarrell the weed man down the street.

"What's going on with me?" Scola said.
He looked at his phone.
"Nah, I can't ! Scola said and he looked away. He took a few minutes and feelings still did not go away.

"Man!" He said as he picked up the phone.

He had Jarrell's number on speed dial so he pressed the #2 button on his phone.

************************************************************
Jazz heard his phone ring while he was in his homebuilt studio composing music and writing songs.
He was right in front of his computers monitor looking at the notes he programmed when he scooted his chair and grabbed the phone. He didn't look at the caller ID, which he usually does.

"Jazz." he said when he picked up the phone.

"Jazz?" Scola said. He thought is was Jarrell's number.

"Yeah! It's he! Jazz said.

"Umm man this is Scola. I didn't mean to call you..."

"Scola! You home? When you get out, man?" Jazz said.

"Three days ago." Scola said. He couldn't get out of this situation.

"Aww dawg! How are you?" Jazz said.

"I'm hanging in there! You know what's funny?" Scola said.

"What?" Jazz said.

"I was calling this dude so I can get some weed, but I called you number by accident!" Scola said and he laughed.

"Well God works in mysterious ways, man!" Jazz laughed.

" Ummm....I am kinda hungry, but I aint got a ride!" Scola said.

"Well man, I aint tired, we can grab a bite at Sisqo's." Jazz said.

"Cool." Scola said and Jazz told him he would be there to pick him up in ten minutes.

***********************************************************
Jazz and Scola arrived at Sisqo's and they walked through the front door. Sisqo, who doesn't missed anything, saw Jazz and Scola walk in.

"Scola my dawg! You home!" Sisqo said in a loud voice.
Woody and Nokio turned to see them take a seat at the bar.

"Yeah man!" Scola said as he stood up and gave Sisqo a hug. Sisqo also gave Jazz a handshake.

"Pull up a chair!" Sisqo said to Jazz and Scola.

"Our man Nokio is back!" Sisqo said to Jazz and Scola.

"What!" Jazz and Scola said at the same time.

"What up?" Tamir said to them.

They gave each other handshakes and Woody filled them in on what was going on. Of course Jazz knew a little because he at the church often.

"Dang Pastor D getting played like that?" Scola said.

"Yeah man, it's a shame!" Jazz said.

"We need all the help we can get!" Nokio said as he looked at Jazz, Scola Sisqo and Woody.

"I'm in!" Jazz said.

"Anything for pastor D!" Scola said.

"Alright Pastor D is supposed to have a meeting tomorrow, I'll let ya'll know. Woody said.

They sat and reminisced on old times and how they used to sing together. They joked, they laughed and talked. When they had ate a little something, they got tired and they all gave each other handshakes and hugs and they went home, anticipating tommorrow.

************************************************************Part II Soon!

[DruAngelAKAShelle]

I'm loving it so far!!!