PODCAST: Whyte House Family Spoken Novels #400: “All the Bishop’s Children II” – Chapter 40

Welcome to the Whyte House Family Spoken Novels podcast episode #400. Today we are reading chapter 40 of the novel “All the Bishop’s Children Book 2” by Daniel Whyte III with Meriqua Whyte.

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As DJ jogged off the football field with his teammates after one early morning practice one of the students who was watching them practice called out to him. DJ almost did not respond as the student addressed him by his formal name, Dwight, which he reserved for the classroom.

“Hey, Dwight! Got a minute?” the student shouted at him. “Dwight! DJ! Do you have a minute?”

“Hey! Do I know you?” DJ said as he stopped to acknowledge the student who was about his age.

“You may,” the fellow said. “By the way, my name’s Dwight also, and . . . well . . . I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’m your brother.”

“My brother? Man, get outta here,” DJ said. “This has got to be some joke. Right?”

“No. I’m serious. I’m your brother. Your father Bishop Jacobs is my father. My mother said she met him in New York when she used to live up there. She moved here to Fairhope and was surprised when you all moved here some years after she did. She didn’t tell me anything until about a year ago and asked me not to say anything as she did not want to tarnish Bishop Jacobs’ good name.”

A likely story, DJ thought. “Well, why are you telling me then?”

Young Dwight shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess I’m curious about meeting my brothers and sisters.”

“Well, as far as I know, I only have one brother and his name is Kennedy. And by the way, if our paths ever cross again, call me DJ—not Dwight. Okay, Dwight? Or whatever your name is,” DJ said jogging towards the locker room.

“You can ask your father,” young Dwight called after him. “I have nothing to gain by lying and my mother is not a liar. I couldn’t even make up anything like that if I tried.”

“What do you think about that?” DJ asked Kennedy later that evening in the privacy of his room after sharing with him the exchange between him and this new brother of theirs.

“I don’t think there’s any truth to it. Dad’s just not that kind of person,” Kennedy said. “Why would he not say anything to us about it?”

“Well, it supposedly happened up in New York. I don’t think Dad even knows they are down here or if he even knows he has a son, that is, if there is any truth to it.”

“Yeah,” Kennedy said thoughtfully.

“I don’t recall seeing this Dwight person coming to the church,” DJ said. “Not that I pay any attention to who comes to the church.”

“If there’s any truth to it, it’s probably best they stay away from Love and Peace,” Kennedy said. “Do you think we should ask Dad?”

“Nah. Dad does not need to be bothered with anything like that. He probably does not even know he has a son out there. And we definitely don’t need for Mom to hear of anything like that. You’d see the tiger coming out of her for sure,” DJ said.

They both laughed.

“On a serious note, though, keep it quiet,” DJ said.

“I will. What’s this about you and Marsha? Word is getting around. Does Mom and Dad know anything about it? Kennedy asked.

“Yeah, man. It’s all true. Mom and Dad already know about it. We did it one time, and she fooled around and got pregnant.”

Kennedy chuckled. “She fooled around? How about we fooled around?”

“You know what I mean,” DJ said. “At least I got a job to help feed her some money. I’m going to be working full-time at the restaurant during the summer and throughout this my last year in school. I also got hired to help out at the fair the two weeks it’s going to be here in July. Thank God she’s not pressuring me about any money or anything else.”

“I’m going to be getting me a little something at the grocery store. Dad put in a good word for me and the manager decided to take me on part-time because I still have a few months to go before I reach the legal working age. I begin the first week school is out,” Kennedy said. “I’ll be saving up every penny to get me out of here fast. If the church is paying Dad a good salary, and Mom is getting paid well from the Post Office I still don’t see why she’s complaining about not having enough money.”

“That’s because she spends every dime she gets trying to live above her means,” DJ said.

“And Dad’s always buying cheap no-brand name soda, no-brand name food. The only brand name stuff he buys is his Lorna Doone cookies,” Kennedy said with a chuckle.

DJ laughed. “Where have you been going on Saturdays all day? Nobody knows where you are,” DJ said.

“I have been pursuing my new interest—politics,” Kennedy said. “I’ve been reading up on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the King days, Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition, this new Black Power Movement started by Malcolm X, the NAACP, and all of that. There’s a lot more going on with this black / white issue than the white folks want us to know. Just because black folks got freed from slavery and they signed desegregation into law, that does not mean it is happening across the country. Racism is still thick here in the South. People are just more subtle with it.”

“It’s going to take a long time to do away with—if it ever goes away because it’s a heart thing. Putting a law into effect does not mean it will affect the people enough to bring about a change in their hearts,” DJ said.

“Tell me about it. I went into Joey’s convenience store to buy a six-pack of coke. I walked up to the register with money in hand ready to pay. This white man walked up behind me and he was willing to wait. That white cashier looked over my head and attended to the white man even though I was there first. I said, ‘I was here first.’ The lady ignored me. The man said, ‘I’m sorry. I thought you were waiting on something. I’m sorry.’ Then the lady acting as though she was straightening up the cigarette cartons said, ‘If you’re going to pay for that just lay the money on the counter.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not paying for anything.’ I pocketed my money, left the six-pack on the counter, and walked out. She thought because I’m young I wouldn’t notice what she was doing.”

“You got to still watch folks. But at the same time, you make sure that you respond right so as not to give them cause to point a finger at you,” DJ said.

“Yeah, I know,” Kennedy said.

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Thank you for joining us for this episode of Whyte House Family stories. You may purchase a copy of this novel and any other Christian fiction books read on this podcast from Amazon.com.

Now, dear listener, please know that God—the divine Author of all things—wants to write a great story with your life as well. But first you must give Him the pen by trusting Him with the life He gave you and surrendering your heart to Jesus Christ as Savior. Here is how:

1. Accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23 reads: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

2. Accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

3. Accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

4. Accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2: 8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

5. Accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

6. With these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

May God bless you until next time.