Abide with Me (44 page)

Kyle paused and Raymond, with his eyes closed tightly, felt a peace settle over his body, like all his worries were being magically lifted from his shoulders. And then he heard Kyle’s voice again, serious and soft this time, speaking from his heart.

“Now, Raymond, I’m not going to tell you this again, but save some joy for yourself. Stop listening to the rain. All those voices telling you what you should and should not be doing.
Listen to the snow
. That silent voice you hear when you are totally alone, where there are no media, bosses, father, mother, brother, or lovers telling you what you should do. When you listen to the voice of snow, it will never lead you wrong. It will make a difference in your life. If you want to go back to New York and help Peaches, do. But don’t do it because you think Peaches needs you. That ol’ girl will be just fine and so will her kids. They will survive things I couldn’t. And you know, my mama, Peaches, is like a project roach, you can’t kill her,” Kyle announced triumphantly.

Then there was silence. Raymond waited to hear Kyle’s voice once again, but after several moments he opened his eyes and saw Kyle walking across the field. Twilight had come. The dusk that covered the stadium looked so extraordinary that Raymond knew there was a God and a heaven.

He stood up and called out Kyle’s name. Kyle turned and smiled.

“Kyle, can I ask you something?” Raymond asked as his voice echoed across the field.

Kyle nodded his head in the affirmative.

“What’s the best thing about heaven?”

“Everything in heaven is wonderful,” Kyle said.

“But what’s the best thing?” Raymond asked.

Kyle leaned his head to the left, turned, and started his journey out of the stadium. Then in a voice that sounded like it was announcing the final game score over the stadium loudspeaker, Kyle said, “In heaven … you can hear snow.”