"Get down here; you'll miss the school bus!" Delilah's mother hollered from the bottom of the spiral staircase, somewhere in suburban America. Delilah moaned and rolled over in her bed; pulling the covers over her ears. An hour later she appeared half-way down the stairs. "Well you missed the bus again!" her mother screamed.

"BUS! Please mother! Even if I went to school do you really think I'd take the bus with all the tweebs?! I would've had my boyfriend, Mick pick me up on his Harley or in his Camaro!"

"Stop screaming; the whole neighborhood will hear you!"

"YOU stop screaming! You're giving me a pounding headache!"

"Or beer gave you a pounding hang-over," her mother mumbled.

Later that afternoon; Delilah went outside and smoked a cigarette.

"Lord, please help! I don't know where I am going wrong. God please help me!" her mother prayed on her knees. Then she saw Delilah go into the kitchen to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "So what did you do last night?" she asked; following her.

"Nothing, just hung out with Mick and Monica, Jill and some other friends." "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, in fact, I better start getting ready; Mick's picking me up in like half an hour."

"So that's why you're skipping school....to see some guy?! How old is he anyway?"

Delilah just ran upstairs. Forty-five minutes later, Mick still hadn't shown up, so she called a taxi. She got to his hangout: "Bikers' Meet" and ordered a beer with her fake I.D. She sat down; her long dreadlocks draped over her shoulders. When she stood up to look around, her favorite leggings, the ones that covered tiny rips and runs in her designer jeans, caught the eye of several older men. "Mick!" she suddenly shrieked; spotting him approaching her. "Why didn't you pick me up?" She demanded. Mick shrugged his shoulders, with a faint smile. "You're no fair," she said hesitantly.

"Chill.....I'm here now," he said; his smile widening.

"Well.....just don't let it happen again," she replied, with a grin, as she fell into his arms. Later that night; she danced with her friend Tiffany, while Mick was outside.

"I know you won't believe it, but I see angels all around you!" Tiffany exclaimed, out of nowhere and then Delilah felt a tap on her shoulder, it was her friend Jill.

"Come quick! Monica's been attacked! Jill shrieked. "She's been curled up in a ball behind the bar for like an hour. I wouldn't have even known, but I heard her moaning when I went outside just now for a smoke. I already called 911."

Delilah ran with Jill to Monica's side. The police arrived and began questioning the men at the bar. Then one of them started questioning Delilah about Mick. "He said he was just grabbin' a smoke, but now I'm getting a sick feeling in my stomach."

"Why, what do you mean?" the officer asked. "Ummm....nothing....just let me go," She said; pushing past everyone. Fifteen minutes later, she got into a taxi and headed home. That night Delilah dreamt that Mick raped her AND her mother. That woke her up, so she went downstairs for some warm milk. Then she went back to sleep and dreamt that angels were watching over her. 'Interesting, that's exactly what Jill was describing last night,' she thought. The next morning, the same officer knocked on her front door.

"We think Mick is the rapist who attacked your friend last night." Delilah ran to her mother's room. "Mom, I need you!" she pleaded through the closed door.

"What is it?"

"The cops are here saying Mick raped Monica last night!"

Her mother opened the door. "You have no idea how much I've been begging God to watch over you and bring you back home to me."

"I'm sorry Mom," Delilah replied. Then she and her mother went into the kitchen to talk to the officer. "Will you be arresting Mick?" Delilah asked, after the interview.

"Yup," the officer replied.

Delilah and her mother went back upstairs as soon as he left. "Jill said she saw angels around me; right at the time of the rape," admitted Delilah.

Her mother grabbed her bible: "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10.19),* she read aloud.

"Hh...hh...hhh," Delilah cried in revelation; falling into her mother's desperate arms.

 NKJV

Linzy is a certified Bible Counsellor, with countless republications on her viewers blogs, Bible Studies, Ezines and the like. Her portfolio includes, non-fiction articles, short stories for all ages, and Christian poetry.