The Makeover by Vacirca Vaughn Page A

him.  “Go now, before I knock your lights out!  Go!” Her
shrill voice ricocheted around the room as she bent to retrieve the baseball
bat from the floor.
    “I’m
going, Fe.  I’m going.”
    “I hope
God forgives you, Cedric, for using me all this time.  You need to pray.”
    Cedric
laughed.  “Being a hypocrite makes you even less attractive than you
already are, Fe.  When I met you, you said you were a Christian and was
always going to church.  But that sure didn’t stop you from letting a
little attention from me change your mind really quick!  You slept with me
on our second date and let me move in with you, didn’t you?  I had my
reasons for all this, but I never pretended to be something I wasn’t to impress
you.  Shoot, you give up God just to be with a good- lookin ’
dude.  And it was just that easy too.  Maybe you’re the one
that should pray for forgiveness.”  He picked up his three garbage bags of
belongings.  “I’m going.”
    And so
he did.  Taking all of Phoenix’s youth, hopes, dreams, and plans with him,
Cedric walked out the door and out of her life.
     
     
    ***
    By the end of
the “movie,” Phoenix was fully resolved with the idea of taking the rest of the
pills and drifting off into a place where she was no longer ugly, no longer
alone, and no longer worthless.  But a strange thing happened as she
attempted to bring the bottle of pills back to her lips to swallow what
remained.  They slipped out of her grasp and the pills scattered around
her.  Her eyelids grew so heavy and her head began to swim.  She was
forced to lie back on the floor, unable to move, unable to retrieve the pills
from the ground.  She wanted to.  She wanted all of the pain, the
loneliness, the fear to end.  She struggled to lift her arm again to
reach, but her arms felt like they weighed several metric tons. 
    And the voices
and images in her head that had been leading her to do the one thing she could
never take back, faded away.
    Phoenix fell
asleep drugged and drunk…
    Satan became
enraged as he watched Caliel knock the bottle of
pills out of Phoenix’s hand, as Uriel lulled Phoenix
into deep sleep.  It was impossible for her to take the pills
now.   Satan was enraged and wanted to pummel the angels, but could
not get close because there was a wall of light surrounding them.
    “I will get her
somehow!” Satan roared as he disappeared.
    Once Satan and
his army were gone, Uriel and Caliel ,
left as well, certain that she, for now was safe. 
    It was true
that her demons had a small victory for her drunkenness and her severe
depression.  But the battle had been won by Lord.
    Sure she’d have
a hangover straight from Hell when she woke up the next morning.
    But Phoenix would wake up the next morning.
    Thank God
someone had been praying for her.

 
    Chapter 4
     
    The LORD
is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 
    (Psalm
34:18)
     
     
    Almost
twenty-four hours later, the shrill ring of the phone caused Phoenix’s head to
jerk up off the floor.  Her left jaw was covered with the pasty veil of
dried drool.  Lying next to her on the musty carpet was an empty bottle of
vodka and a pile of pills.  Phoenix stared at the mess with a puzzled
frown until the phone rang again, causing her to groan.  The pounding in
her head caused the noise to become as shrill as an ambulance siren.  She
clutched her ears. 
    “Stop ringing!”
she hissed at the phone. 
    She sighed when
the call went to voicemail.  She reached over and picked up the bottle,
prepared to take a few sips to clear the cobwebs in her head, but realized the
bottle was empty.  Discouraged, she tossed the bottle towards the silver
trashcan that was already overflowing with bottles labeled with her preferred
brands—Smirnoff, Hennessey, Jack Daniel’s, and for those times she was low on
cash, Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
    Struggling to
stand, she gripped the side of her bed and pulled herself off