Point of No Return (9 page)

“Yes, sir.”

“Where did you put Donna's things?” Mary asked.

“In the garage. I put everybody's stuff in a box next to the garbage can,” Jimmy answered.

George shook his head as if he hadn't heard correctly. “
Everybody's
stuff? Which everybody's stuff?”

“Yours and Mom's,” Jimmy said.

Mary was on the edge of her seat.
“Our stuff?”
she asked. “You went through our stuff, too?”

“Yeah! You guys really oughtta be ashamed of yourselves,” Jimmy said.

But his words were lost in the commotion as George, Mary, and Donna raced to the garage.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Wednesday Afternoon

J
IMMY DIDN'T SEE
Tony again until the next day at recess. He had just finished a round of dodgeball when he noticed that Tony was sitting on the sidelines, watching him. Mr. Parks blew the whistle for everyone to go back into the building.

“Hey, Jimmy,” Tony said as he ran up to him.

Jimmy prepared himself another clash, maybe even a fight. “What?” he asked.

Tony walked at Jimmy's side. “Slow down, I wanna talk to you.”

“What about?”

“You know,” Tony said.

At a glance, Jimmy noticed that the punch in the nose hadn't done any damage. He felt a twinge of disappointment that he didn't have more power in his punch. “No, I don't.”

“What happened yesterday. Do I have to spell it out?” Tony asked.

At that moment, Jimmy realized that in all the years of their friendship, they had never had to say they were sorry to each other. Even when they got on each other's nerves or had an argument, apologies were simply understood, not spoken.

“Look,” Tony said, “I shouldn't have teased you so much. It's just that…well…I don't get this Christian thing. That's all.”

Dad was right
, Jimmy thought. Tony acted like a jerk because he felt Jimmy was rejecting him—leaving him behind by heading into a new experience. So that was it. That was Tony's apology. “Forget about it,” Jimmy said.

They walked silently to the door. “A bunch of us are going to the gazebo in McAlister Park after school,” Tony finally said. “Tim Ryan has something he wants to show us. He says it's real cool. You wanna come?”

Tim Ryan was well known for finding all kinds of neat things for Jimmy and his friends to look at. A few weeks ago, he had brought bullets from his dad's gun. But Jimmy said, “My parents said I have to go straight home after school. I'm still on restriction, remember?”

“Just tell 'em you stayed after school to do homework or something. You can figure it out,” Tony suggested.

Jimmy knew this was like offering him a peace pipe. It was a way to be friends the way they were before. If he said no, it would be the same as hitting Tony in the nose all over again. He had to say yes. “Well…okay. I'll try.”

“Good,” Tony said, and he spun on his heel to go to class.

The gazebo in McAlister Park was a popular place in the summer, even though it was out of the way. It was shaped like a large, round, wooden porch with open sides and a white roof. Bands often played there, politicians made speeches from it, and couples sat in it with their arms around each other while dreaming the warm days away. As the cloudy afternoons of September rolled into October, that part of the park saw fewer people come through. It was a perfect meeting place for a group of kids.

By the time Jimmy got there, Tony, Brad, and a few of their other friends were gathered in the center of the gazebo. “Tim's not here yet,” Tony explained when Jimmy joined them.

“What's he got?” Jimmy asked as he dropped his schoolbooks onto one of the benches that lined the gazebo.

“You'll see,” Tony said.

“There he is!” Gary Holman said, pointing.

They turned to look. Tim ran toward them, all smiles as he carried a brown bag. He took the stairs to the gazebo two at a time and was breathless when he reached the other boys. “Hi, guys,” he gasped.

“Did you get them?” Tony asked.

“Yeah!” Tim said. “My dad almost caught me, though.”

“What is it?” Jimmy asked.

“Here.” Tim opened the bag for everyone to look. Inside were strings of firecrackers, a small rocket, matches, and a small can of lighter fluid.

“Great!” Tony said.

“What's the lighter fluid for?” Cory Sleazak asked.

“Oh, just in case it's too windy to light the fuses,” Tim answered. “I figured it'll help keep everything burning.”

Tony took charge. “Gary, keep an eye out. We don't wanna set these things off when somebody's coming.”

“We're setting them
all
off?” Jimmy asked.

Tony smiled and said, “Yeah! Fourth of July at the beginning of October!”

“The noise'll make people come running. We'll get in trouble,” Jimmy said.

Tony frowned at him. “Not if we light the fuse and run, you idiot. We'll soak the long fuse in lighter fluid so it'll burn while we run. Then we can watch the fireworks from the woods.” He turned to Tim and instructed, “Let's get it going.”

“I don't think it's a good idea,” Jimmy said, knowing full well that he would look like a party pooper.

“Quit being a spoilsport!” Cory said. “Or should we call you
Saint James
?”

“Shut up,” Tony snapped at Cory. “He's not like that. Now come on, let's put everything on the floor and get it ready.”

Jimmy watched silently as Tony and Tim stretched the string of firecrackers along the wooden floor, paying careful attention to the fuse.

“What should we do with the rocket?” Tim asked.

“Put it at the end of the firecrackers so its fuse'll catch when they go off,” Tony said.

“Let's point it toward the field,” Cory suggested.

Tony grabbed the rocket. “Good idea!” he said. He positioned it so it would shoot through the opening between the banister and the roof. He tied the rocket fuse to the firecracker fuse so it would catch.

“Get back. I'm gonna pour the lighter fluid on it now,” Tim said.

Everyone took a few steps back. Tim poured the fluid onto the firecracker fuse.

He laughed as he said, “I'm spilling it.”

“Put some on the rocket fuse,” Tony told him. “Hurry or it'll evaporate.”

Tim laughed harder as he spilled more of the fluid. Finally he just turned the can upside down and poured it all over the firecrackers and rocket. “That'll help it go up faster,” he said.

Jimmy didn't know a lot about lighter fluid, but something told him this was a bad idea. Even if it evaporated quickly in the cool breeze, it might make the fireworks explode faster than they wanted and hit them before they could run. Jimmy was about to protest when Tony lit a match.

“Run!” he shouted and threw the match at the fuse. It caught immediately. The kids ran out of the gazebo and toward the woods about 25 yards away. Jimmy ducked behind a large tree with Tony and watched.

From where they stood, Jimmy could see the smoke—more than there should've been for just a fuse. “What if the gazebo catches on fire?” Jimmy whispered to Tony.

Tony looked as if the idea hadn't occurred to him. He shrugged.

Suddenly—
Pop!
—then another
Pop!
—then
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
as the string of firecrackers sparked and exploded like a gangster's machine gun. From behind various trees, the kids pointed and laughed.

“That's
better
than the Fourth of July!” Tony shouted.

The firecrackers were still banging away when the rocket hissed loudly and took off. But the trajectory was all wrong. Instead of shooting toward the field, it spun and spiraled upward into the roof of the gazebo. Jimmy watched in wonder.

Kaboom!
The blast echoed throughout the park. Smoke poured out the top of the gazebo.

“It's on fire!” Jimmy gasped. “It's on fire!”

“Get out of here!” Tony yelled and raced into the woods. The rest of the kids followed. Jimmy stood mesmerized where he was, not sure of what to do as smoke blew from the gazebo. “Jimmy! Run!” Tony screamed from a distance.

It was enough. Jimmy panicked and ran home.

“Oh, God, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry,” Jimmy puffed as he ran. He didn't know which direction Tony and the other kids went, nor did he care. He shouldn't have gone to the gazebo, he knew. He shouldn't have let them light firecrackers.
The gazebo's going to burn down, and it's all my fault.

What should he do? Tell his parents? Call the fire department? He didn't know. What was the
Christian
thing to do? “God, help me. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry….”

By the time he reached his front door, he knew he had to tell his parents.
They
could call the fire department. But Jimmy figured the gazebo would be burned down by that time. And then he'd be an arsonist and go to jail.

He burst through the front door on the verge of tears. In the living room, several heads turned in his direction. He stopped dead in his tracks. His mom and dad, Donna, Dave, and Jacob were sitting with very serious expressions on their faces.

They already know!
Jimmy thought.

“Jimmy!” his dad said. “Where've you been? We've been looking for you.”

As an automatic response, Jimmy nearly said he'd stayed late at school to do his homework. Then he realized he didn't have his books with him—he had left them at the gazebo, where they were either ashes or evidence for the fire chief. That was the end. His life was over. He began to sob.

Mary rushed to Jimmy and wrapped her arms around him. “Aw, that's all right, Jimmy. It'll be okay.” His ear pressed against her, he heard her say to the others, “I guess he got the message at school.”

Jimmy looked up at her through misty eyes. “Message?” He was confused.

“About your grandmother,” she said and stroked his hair. “She's taken a turn for the worse. We have to leave right away.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Wednesday Evening

T
HINGS WERE HAPPENING
too fast for Jimmy's mind to cope. Suddenly he had to jump from the gazebo to his grandmother.

“I need you to pack,” his mom told him. Then she glanced around and asked, “Where are your schoolbooks?”

“I left them—”

“You're going to need them,” she interrupted. “Your teacher told me what homework you can do while we're gone.”

“I'll drive you back to school,” his dad said.

Jimmy opened his mouth to tell them his books weren't at school. They were at the burned-down gazebo. But Dave spoke first.

“I know you have a lot of things to do,” Dave said. He and Jacob stood up. “How about if we take him to get his books? That'll be one less thing for you to worry about. Besides, I'd like to talk to him before you go.”

“If you don't mind,” George said.

“I don't,” Dave said with a smile. “Let's go, Jimmy.”

Jimmy felt as if he were caught in a strong current that carried him down a river. But whether he was headed for a peaceful lake or a rocky waterfall, he couldn't be sure.

Dave hugged Mary, then George, then Donna. “God be with you,” he said. “We'll pray for you.”

“Thanks,” everyone muttered.

With a hand on each of their shoulders, Dave guided Jimmy and Jacob to the door. “I'll have him back in a few minutes,” he said.