From Stripping to Salvation

•Two•

•Malcolm's World*
(Boys will be boys)

I watched my older brother, Byron, who was panicking and frustrated as he paced around his penthouse like a hurricane. The place was already grand, luxurious, and spectacular, but Byron's nerves were pushing him to make every detail perfect.

"Byron, seriously, you need to relax," I couldn't help but laugh. "It's just a Bachelor's party. Everything's going to be fine."

Byron shot me a quick look. "Mal, you have no idea how important this night is for me. I can't afford any mistakes."

My brother was always a perfectionist. He would never settle for anything less than perfect. He lived life on the edge, while I tended to be more conservative and cautious. The thought of spending the evening with his wealthy and occasionally wild friends wasn't something I looked forward to.

I asked him "So who's all coming to this party of yours?"

Byron paused then said, "Daniel, Brandon, Keith, Trenton, Mikey, and Latrell."

I replied, with a voice of disapproval, "I'm sorry are you trying to throw a party or rob a bank!? You invited a whole mob of con artists to this party!"

Byron smiled and shrugged, "They know how to throw a party, Mal. You don't have to stick around them all night if you don't want to."

I asked him "Who else will be attending this party?"

Byron grinned, "Strippers!"

"Strippers, really!? You know that's dangerous and anything could go wrong. What about your fiancée? What's she going to say about this?"

Byron leaned in, with a mischievous face. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, she won't be the one to control me in this marriage; it's going to be the other way around."

I shook my head, my concern growing. "Byron, that's not how a marriage should work. It's a partnership, not a power struggle."

Byron chuckled, clearly not taking me seriously. "Little brother, you've known me for twenty-three years, and you still don't get it. Any woman who's beneath me is practically asking to be treated as such."

I sighed, trying to make him see reason. "Then why are you marrying her if you think she's beneath you?"

Byron simply shrugged, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Only because she's been begging me to for seven years. It's time to give her what she wants."

As a devoted Christian, I couldn't help but feel disappointed in my brother's perspective on marriage.

I asked, "Why hurt a woman who loves you deeply? She wants to be your wife to be your equal, not to be belittled and treated as a housemaid."

Byron leaned back, sipping his drink, and replied, "Until she starts making more than six figures a year, I don't see the point in treating her as if she's all high and mighty. Besides, Malcom where is your wife? If you know so much about marriage then how come you're not married?"

I gazed off and answered, "Because I'm waiting for a woman who deserves the title of a wife. When I find her I won't make her wait seven years or longer to make her my bride. I want a woman of God, the woman I've been praying to God for all these years. A woman I can actually submit to and she can submit to me as well with no problems."

Byron snapped his fingers, "Now, we're getting somewhere! You're finally understanding my point doesn't your Bible say that only the woman is supposed to submit to her husband? Now you see why I'm marrying Alicia."