NOTE: This is a fictional retelling of a Bible story. See the footnote at the bottom of the narrative for
the scripture passage that inspired this modern version of the biblical account.
Addy Rocksford knew that it was wrong to
spend a romantic evening at a local restaurant with her married boyfriend,
Jarod. Though Jarod Pharon was the manager of a large Christian bookstore in
town (Mt. Olivet), his excuse for this affair was that his wife didn’t
understand him like Addy did.
She had changed for the worse after fifteen
years of marriage. He wanted a divorce from his cranky, sarcastic wife at the
soonest possible time. Jarod loved Addy, and wanted to marry after his first
wife was out of the picture.
A furious female tornado headed through the
front door of the Messiah Israeli Restaurant breaking the ambience for the
couple. It was Diamond, Jarod’s wife.
The accusations started immediately with her.
“Jarod, so I finally caught you red-handed
with this little home wrecker.” She pointed towards Addy angrily with her left
hand. “The detective I hired from Columbus, OH, to follow you was the best
investment I ever made. So how many of those late nights at work were actually rendezvous’
with Addy? Your lies have caught up with you. As far as I’m concerned this
marriage is over, and I want a divorce immediately (as I assume you do).”
Jarod tried quickly to recover this meal with
a lie, but with no success. “This is not what it looks like. We were having a
business meeting.” Diamond looked at the
man she once loved with hatred in her eyes. “How stupid do you think I am? This
doesn’t look like a business meeting. Now I have a few choice words for this
woman that doesn’t concern you.”
Jarod threw some cash on the table for dinner,
and slunk away like the coward he was. Addy quickly realized she was in this
alone with Diamond.
“Addy, I thought my husband was safe from
women like you at a Christian bookstore. Obviously, I was wrong. Women like you should be stoned at the high
school stadium. Let’s get an early start on that.”
Diamond quickly grabbed small decorative
rocks from a nearby planter before her hand was caught mid-air by the pastor’s
wife (Justina Stone) of her church, Sinner Sanctified Sanctuary in Oaksdale, OH.
There was some kind of meeting going on at a nearby table. Diamond’s scene was
interrupting.
“Mrs. Pharon, we are here for our monthly
Pastor Wives’ Association luncheon. Jarod deserves your forgiveness though you
wish to do the opposite. Jesus says you must turn the other cheek. Look what I am
spelling on the carpet with my right foot.”
Diamond’s face turned pale as Justina
continued writing the words “Daryll Wright” with her foot on the floor. She
left the restaurant immediately. Three years ago she had an affair with this
man. The pastor’s wife looked at Addy.
“Where is the woman that condemned you?”
“Diamond is gone.” Addy spoke tentatively.
The nice woman looked at Addy, smiled, and
put her arm around her, and soothingly uttered, “I don’t blame you either for what
you have done out of loneliness. You need to make amends to Diamond, and don’t
date Jarod anymore. If you’ll leave your job at the bookstore, we have a job at
the church you’d be perfect for.”
“But
you know, there's still an argument. There's still ten states that outlaw
premarital sex, and many more states where adultery is still outlawed and a
crime.”
(Liam Neeson)
[i]
[i] Adapted from: All for One: The Towns of Ohio
Completer Trilogy by Robert Kinker, Book Two: Chapter Nineteen ”An
Affair to Remember,” John 8:3-8
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