And the measures and matters of The Truth of the "time" we are in ...how "man" ..."thought to change time and times ... thunder clap...and rain bow Dearly beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, how that one day is with the Lord, as a thousand year, and a thousand year as one day. The Lord is not slack to fulfil his promise, as some men count slackness: but is patient to us ward, and would have no man lost, but would receive all men to repentance. Roberta
About a few years after the Great Quake, it was time to become a
teenager. And being a teenager growing up in the urban parts of
Oakland, you can expect all sorts of trouble around the corner.
As a young lady I had friends who knew friends of friends. But one
incident that came across my path, seemed to be the beginning of a
bigger and greater event.
It all began with a blind date. The young man I was going to meet was
about my age or so. I was picked up one day by my friend's boyfriend
Michael. We'll once in the car; I was in the middle between him and a
young man who kept very quiet and said nothing to me. There was also
an older guy in the passenger seat and the driver, who looked to be
about the same age or younger. I was used to hanging out with boys
all my life so I wasn't really worried about it. So I figured they
were going to take me to go see Chris.
Michael and these young men lived near and in the Oakland hills. I
was a bit familiar with the area since me and my friend went to visit
Michael one time. As I was in the car, I totally didn't expect what I
was going to see next. As Michael sits next to me, he pulls out of
his pocket, a little, red handled Swiss army knife. As I look at it
more closely, I notice as though something red in color and dry upon
the blade. He had told me that he had stabbed someone earlier on. So
I assumed what I saw was blood. Okay, I was a little nervous but I
kept my cool.
A little while later, the next thing I know, the guy in the passenger
seat suddenly turns around and places his hand around my neck towards
my jaw bone, and tries forcing me to kiss him. I can't remember if I
was breathing but I sure did struggle with him, and did not give in,
for I turned my head towards the side to get my face away from him as
he creeps closer and closer towards me. Michael does nothing and the
young man to my right, who I now know was Chris, does nothing, nor
does he talk to me for the duration of the ride.
The only thing I remember moving was my head, for the grip of this
guys hand seemed to have held down my whole body somehow. I don't
even understand why I wasn't able to fight back with my hands and
legs. Come to think of it, if I did, I may have gotten myself into a
bigger mess since I was surrounded and all. After struggling and
struggling and trying to get my face away from his, the guy gives up
and lets off from trying to kiss me. Everyone in the car acts like
nothing happens. I kept as silent as they did. But we continue
driving till Michael was dropped off somewhere, and Chris, the guy I
was to be on the blind date with was let off too. So I'm left alone
in the back seat while the driver and the guy who tried to kiss me,
drive around.
As we're driving, I remember the guy as he sees two young teenage
girls sitting down near what looked like a bus stop, say, "Aww!
They're fine!" When I looked, they didn't seem much different from
me, but maybe had on better threads then I did, yet for some reason,
the guy was so in aw with them at that moment. As we keep driving, it
seemed I became of little interest so they decide to take me back on
home. They drop me off at my house, but not directly in front of it
since they seemed to have forgotten where I lived. From that day on,
I never saw them again. I was so glad to be home though. It's a
possibility after they dropped me off they went to see what those
girls were up to…or to be mischievous with another young woman…I have
no idea.
This incident kept silent in the back of my mind for some time, and
was like I totally forgot about it. I did not know the extremity of
it and what could have happened to me till now. However, one day,
October 20, 1991, and not very long after the problem I encountered
with the guys. On a Sunday afternoon, quit unexpectedly, my mother,
who had come back from a church gathering, rushes into the house and
says with a cry, "Oakland's on fire!" I'm like, "What?" I remember
calling my friends seeing if they were alright, since I had no idea
where the fire was at. When she said, Oakland, I literally assumed
the whole city was going down. I learned a little later that the
upper hills were on fire.
I remember later on, being with one of my friends during the days of
the fire. I remember being on my front porch, looking up into the
sky, and the sky was dark as though night, and the sun was red in
color, and the smoke in the sky was high above our heads. I remember
walking with my friend up a little hill near our house looking
North/East at the red glow of fire that lit up in the night. I
actually felt the heat of the fire on my face as I stood there
looking. I had never felt anything like it before, and it was
especially unusual since the fire was a great distance from where I
was standing.
I also remember checking out the scene one of the days after the fire
broke out. I also remember the streets which we passed that were off
limits, even the same streets where Michael lived, since where he
lived was like the beginning of the entrance to the hills. The back
road areas leading towards his house were also blocked off. So I
imagine that his boys who lived higher up were surely affected in some
way by the kindled fire.
My mother recalls a relative of hers who lived in the hills, whose
house was untouched but very close to being burned, even about one or
two houses away. She remembers how grateful to God her relative was
that everything she had was not destroyed by the fire. I'm also
grateful to God and Christ that the smoke of the burning didn't reach
our home and especially thankful that the winds changed its course as
it did. If not, the whole city, as I first thought, could have
literally gone down.
As I look back on the struggle I had with that guy, I was very lucky
to have not been injured or harmed in any way. I realize the mistake
I made of hoping in the car so quickly. And like so many other young
women and children, I unknowingly became victim to something...that
could have been much worse. I also recall hearing at that time in the
areas and freeways where the fires broke out, of young women's bodies
being dumped off in thick brush and other places in the hills that
were kidnapped or raped.
I remember hearing a word that described the area where the poor
peoples of Oakland live…the word flatland. One thing I can say about
living in the flatlands, I'd rather see a fool act a fool in the open
then to come face to face with a murderer in the wilderness…for these
smile in your face, become your friends, then next thing you know,
stab you right in the back.
The fact is, just because someone has money or has a high position in
the world, does not make them high and mighty. Remember what the
devil said to Jesus upon the exceeding high mountain: "The devil took
him up again and led him in to an exceeding high mountain, and showed
him all the kingdoms of the world, and all the glory of them, and said
to him: all these will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship
me. Then said Jesus unto him. Avoid, Satan. For it is written, thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
Again, wolves in sheep's clothing. True evil, most vile evil is evil
masked in good. That is a true saying.
The Oakland/Berkeley Firestorm links ...
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