Damsels in Distress by Nikita Lynnette Nichols

turned out that way. Portia couldn’t lean on them to talk her out of doing what she knew was the wrong thing to do. Her friends had become her enemies. But Portia knew there was one person who would never turn His back on her.
    She placed her face in her hands and cried out to Him. “My Lord, please help me.”
    * * *
    Celeste walked three blocks from Ginger’s house and sat on a bench to wait for the next bus. Tears ran down her face as she thought about what had just happened back at Ginger’s house. She and Portia had gone there to see about Ginger because Celeste had awakened with Ginger’s well-being heavy on her heart. When Diane told Celeste that Ronald had called off for Ginger that morning, Celeste knew her friend was in trouble and she had to get to her.
    Celeste went over the events in her mind to try to figure out just how the situation had gone so wrong. At what point did a caring visit turn into an all-out brawl between her and her two best friends? The words that were said had cut each other deeply. Celeste knew that fight was worse than any other they’d had. Scabs had been snatched off of sores and old wounds had resurfaced. Too much damage was done and Celeste knew, deep down inside, that there was no turning back.
    Suddenly she felt her menstrual cycle begin to flow. It was proof that no baby had been conceived over the weekend, and confirmation of what Celeste already knew but had yet to tell her husband. She was living a lie and her marriage would soon suffer if she didn’t confess to Anthony what had happened years ago in a dark, dingy, cold basement.
    Celeste couldn’t cry on Ginger’s or Portia’s shoulders anymore. They weren’t there to console Celeste and encourage her to keep her head up and to keep the faith that her womb would someday bring forth a child. Celeste placed her face in her hands and cried. She called on her Heavenly Father. “My Lord, please help me.”

Chapter 4
    The Secret She Kept
    It had been three weeks since Portia and Celeste stood in the middle of Ginger’s living room and the three of them cursed each other. In church they didn’t acknowledge one another whatsoever. For the past twenty-one nights, unbeknownst to them, Ginger, Portia, and Celeste cried themselves to sleep, missing one another.
    In the past, comforting and holding Celeste as she sniffled off to dreamland after an argument with her best friends was nothing new to Anthony. When he married Celeste six years ago, he also married the relationship she shared with Portia and Ginger. It had been many a night since he vowed to love, honor, and cherish Celeste that Anthony listened to her side of an argument after a heated fellowship with her best friends.
    Celeste once came home angry and upset after spending a day at Oakbrook Mall with Ginger and Portia. They had been shopping in Lord & Taylor when Celeste laid eyes on a white silk dress she just had to have. The dress was so beautiful; Ginger decided that she’d get it in black while Portia opted for the same dress in red. The idea of the three of them buying the same dress didn’t sit well with Celeste. Considering the fact that she had seen the dress first, Celeste thought that she should be the only one to get it. She explained to Ginger and Portia that anyone with morals wouldn’t buy the same outfit as their friend.
    â€œWell, I guess we don’t have any morals,” Portia said as she and Ginger carried their dresses to the cash register.
    That following Sunday, each wanting to be the first to wear the dress, the three of them came to church dressed alike. Celeste couldn’t believe they had the gall to wear the dress to a place the three of them frequented weekly. But what really pushed her over the edge was when a church member approached her and said, “You, Portia, and Ginger look cute today. Portia said your dresses cost one hundred twenty dollars. I think I’ll go