Point of No Return (10 page)

In the car, Jimmy confessed to Dave that his books weren't at school but at the gazebo.

“Gazebo! In McAlister Park?” Dave asked.

Jimmy nodded.

“What were you doing at the gazebo? I thought you were on restriction. Weren't you supposed to come straight home after school?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy answered. “But I didn't.”

From his place behind the steering wheel, Dave glanced across the seat at Jimmy. “Then you didn't get the message about your grandmother.”

“No,” Jimmy said.

“So you weren't crying about her. You were crying about something else.”

Jimmy's chest tightened. “Yeah.”

“Why were you so upset?”

“You'll see,” Jimmy said.

They parked the car at the edge of the park and got out. Jimmy looked around for some sign of the fire department or police, but everything seemed quiet as usual. They walked down the path through the woods to the gazebo.

It was still there.

Dave and Jacob both noticed Jimmy's wide-eyed expression as he approached it. “Jimmy?” Dave inquired.

“It's still here,” he whispered.

They mounted the steps. “Of course it's still here. What did you think?” Dave asked.

“There're your books,” Jacob said. They were still sitting on one of the benches that lined the gazebo's banister. Jimmy picked them up. There was no sign that they had been touched by the fire.

“That's a shame,” Dave said. He pointed to the floor of the gazebo.

Jimmy looked down. There were bits of paper, black powder, and scorch marks where the firecrackers had been. The marks led to a large black mark—a black circle that looked as if someone had dropped a bottle of ink on the floor and it had exploded.
The rocket
, Jimmy knew. He glanced up at the roof. It was also scarred with black marks like those on the floor. Other than that, the gazebo looked the same as it always did. Obviously their prank caused a lot of smoke but no fire. Jimmy slumped onto the bench with relief.

“What do you know about this?” Dave asked.

Jimmy gazed up at Dave and confessed everything.

“You have to tell your parents,” Dave said as they drove home.

“I know,” Jimmy said.

“Don't make excuses. Just tell them what happened.”

“Okay.”

“I'm sure they'll understand,” Dave said.

Jimmy wasn't so sure of that.

“They'll probably make you pay for the damage,” Dave said. “Maybe your friends'll help.”

Fat chance
, Jimmy thought.

Dave stopped at a traffic light and studied Jimmy. “This isn't unusual, you know. You're going to have battles with your old friends. They're going to want you to act like you always did, and you won't be able to. It'll cause a lot of conflict—more than you've had already. Jacob knows.”

Jimmy turned in the seat to look at Jacob, who sat in the back.

“My best friend wasn't a Christian,” Jacob said. “And he didn't care when I became a Christian. But he thought I'd keep doing all the stuff we used to do, and I couldn't. I mean, we weren't
bad
kids, but everything changed. I wanted to do more things at church, and he wouldn't come with me.”

“What happened?” Jimmy asked.

“He stopped being my friend,” Jacob said sadly.

“But Tony and I have been best friends since the first grade!” Jimmy said. “I don't have to stop being his friend just because I'm a Christian, do I?”

“If he expects you to do the kind of mischief you did today, how
can
you stay friends with him?” Dave asked.

Jimmy settled back in his seat and thought about it. He didn't have an answer.
There has to be a way for us to stay friends
, he thought.

“You need courage,” Dave said. “We'll pray that God will give you the courage to do the right thing. Go on, Jacob.”

Jacob prayed for Jimmy, for him to have courage, for Tony, and for Jimmy's family as they went to visit his sick grandmother. It was a simple, heartfelt prayer that sounded strange to Jimmy's ears, particularly since it came from someone Jimmy's age.

How come it seems so easy for Jacob to talk to God?
Jimmy wondered. “I wish I could pray like that,” he said after Jacob finished.

“You will eventually,” Dave said. They pulled into Jimmy's driveway.

“When?” Jimmy asked.

Dave chuckled. “Be patient,” he said. “You've only been a Christian for a few days. Give yourself a chance to grow.”

“Does that mean I'll be like Jacob—or you?”

“Wait a minute,” Dave said. “I don't think you'd want to be like either one of us.”

“But I do! You guys are so smart. You always know the right thing to do.”

Dave tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. “No, Jimmy. That's not true. We make a lot of mistakes. You only get to see us when we're on our best behavior. Right, Jacob?”

Jacob nodded.

“I don't believe you,” Jimmy said.

“Don't do this to us, Jimmy,” Dave said with a sudden seriousness. “Keep your eyes on Jesus. If you look at us, you'll only be disappointed. We have problems; we make mistakes. Keep your eyes on the One who saved you, okay?”

Jimmy said okay, but his heart wasn't in it.

Dave playfully pushed at Jimmy. “Now go on. And don't forget to tell your parents about the gazebo.”

“I promise,” Jimmy said and climbed out of the car.

He watched Dave and Jacob drive away. He had no idea it would be the last time he'd see them.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Wednesday Night and Thursday

W
ITH A FOUR-HOUR DRIVE
ahead of them, Jimmy decided it would be better to tell his parents about the gazebo after they were well on their way.

When he broke the news, his mom was instantly upset and couldn't believe he'd do such a thing. His dad said he appreciated Jimmy's honesty, but that Jimmy would have to pay for any damage
and
plan for an extra punishment when they got home.

Donna rolled her eyes and said, “It seems you're getting in more trouble now than you did before you became a Christian.”

Jimmy hadn't really thought about it, but now that Donna brought up the idea, he had to agree. It seemed
everything
started going wrong after he went to Dave's youth group meeting. He said yes to Jesus and had since made Tony, his other friends, and his family mad at him, and now his grandma was sicker, too. It was as if he couldn't win no matter what he did. What was the point of being a Christian if things weren't going to get better?

These thoughts swirled in his head as the lights from passing streetlamps and buildings mixed the shadows in the darkness of the backseat. They lulled him to sleep.

“Jimmy,” his dad said, bringing Jimmy back to consciousness.

“Yeah?” Jimmy looked up to see his dad's eyes in the rearview mirror.

“You have no idea how thankful to God I am for your newfound faith. Hang in there.”

They arrived at Grandma Barclay's house in a town called Newberry just before midnight. It wasn't the house George or his brother and sister grew up in. Grandma had sold that house after Grandpa Barclay died.

This was a smaller, cottage-sized house in the middle of a village for retired people. George identified himself to the security guard at the gate and was allowed to pass. He used his key to get in the house itself. There was a note from Mildred, one of Jimmy's grandmother's friends, saying that she'd made them sandwiches and would call in the morning. Grandma Barclay was in the intensive care section of the hospital, the note finished.

The Barclays sleepily ate the sandwiches and organized who was sleeping where. Mom and Dad slept in the guest room. Donna got the couch in the small living room. Jimmy used his sleeping bag on the floor. No one wanted to sleep in Grandma's bed.

The next morning, Mildred arrived as they were having breakfast in the tiny kitchen. She was a lively old woman with wild, silver hair and dancing, blue eyes. She told them Grandma Barclay had collapsed the morning before, with a sharp pain in her abdomen. Her doctor at the hospital said there was no doubt about it now—the cancer had returned. This time there would be no therapy. There was nothing anyone could do but pray.

Jimmy remembered that he had prayed for his grandmother a few days before.
A lot of good it did
, he thought.

They drove to Rock Creek Hospital. Jimmy didn't like hospitals much. They had a peculiar smell, the nurses seemed unfriendly as they rushed around, and patients sometimes moaned from their rooms. Hospitals gave Jimmy the creeps.

Intensive care was a quiet area with a lot of softly beeping equipment and gadgets Jimmy couldn't identify. The nurses and doctors looked tired. After George assured the nurse that they were all family who'd traveled a long way to see his mother, she said she'd bend the rules a little and let them all in to see Victoria. Jimmy wondered who Victoria was, then remembered that was his grandmother's name. He'd forgotten that grandparents once had first names like that.

As they walked toward Grandma Barclay, Jimmy caught sight of other patients in the ward. They were young and old. Most of them lay very still. One man with white skin looked as if he had died. Jimmy hoped the nurses knew.

They came to Jimmy's grandmother. He hardly recognized her. Her normally clean and styled hair was matted and greasy. Her skin was a pasty color, and without her makeup, she looked a hundred years older than she was. She had tubes and wire hanging from her face and dangling from odd angles under her sheets.

Mary's eyes filled with tears. Donna put her hand over her mouth. George touched his mother's arm tenderly. Jimmy watched with a mixture of wonder and fear. He was far, far away from any of the things that gave him comfort: his room, his school, his Odyssey, his youth, his future. There his world didn't include the old and the dying.

“If you were to die tonight…” the booklet said.

Grandma Barclay slowly opened her eyes. A shadow of a smile moved across her lips when she saw George. “You came,” she whispered in a distant voice.

“Hi, Mom,” George said. “We're all here.”

Grandma tried to adjust her head so she could see them. “Mary…Donna….” She lifted her hand weakly. “Where's Jimmy?”

Jimmy moved toward the bed so she could see him.

“Ah,” she coughed. “I knew it would happen. I always knew it.” She wiggled her fingers for Jimmy to come closer. He did. She touched his hand. “I've been praying for you since before you were born. I knew you would meet the Lord. I prayed every day.”

Jimmy felt tears burning at the back of his eyes. “Thanks, Grandma.”

“I want to talk to you,” she said. “There are…things…I want to say to you.”

“When you're stronger, Mom,” George said.

She smiled and closed her eyes. “No strength until…later.”

George quietly ushered the family out of the room.