Point of No Return (13 page)

Jimmy told him. Whit went to the phone and had a brief conversation with George. He hung up, then turned back to Jimmy. “Your dad's on his way,” he said. He grabbed a chair and pulled it up close. “Do you want to tell me what that was all about? I assume you weren't being robbed.”

“No,” Jimmy replied. “Do I have to say who did it?”

“Not if you don't want to,” Whit said.

Jimmy thought for a moment, then said, “I don't know where to start.”

“Why did they beat you up?”

“Because I became a Christian.”

Whit cocked an eyebrow quizzically. “I heard about that. But I didn't think kids got beat up for it around Odyssey.”

“They do.” Jimmy sighed. “Mr. Whittaker, I became a Christian, and it's ruined everything. I'm driving my family crazy, I lost my best friend, my grandmother died, and Dave and Jacob left.”

Whit nodded slowly as if he understood completely. “I knew about Dave and Jacob. But I didn't know you were so close to them.”

“Dave was the one who talked me into becoming a Christian, and Jacob helped me this week,” Jimmy explained, then sighed again. “It's all gone wrong.”

“So being a Christian isn't what you thought it would be?” Whit asked, echoing the question Jimmy was asked earlier.

“I guess not. I thought things would get better, and they didn't.”

Whit took the ice pack, adjusted it a little, and put it back against Jimmy's face. “How did you think things would get better?”

“I thought that Jesus was going to change me—take everything, make it better, then give it back nice and new.”

“I see,” Whit said thoughtfully. “And you thought it would happen right away.”

Jimmy shrugged. “Maybe not right away. Dave kept saying I had to be patient. But I didn't think everything would go wrong while I was being patient.”

“So why don't you give it up?”

Surprised, Jimmy looked at Whit. It was the last thing he thought Whit would ask.

Whit chuckled and said, “Well, why don't you?”

“Because—” Jimmy began, but he didn't know how to go further. Finally he blurted, “Because I
can't
.”

“Why not?”

“Because my mom and dad would be upset,” Jimmy stammered.

“I thought they were upset with you already. What's the difference?”

“It's a different
kind
of upset,” Jimmy explained. “
That's
the difference. See, now they're upset because I keep making dumb mistakes. Before they were upset because I kept doing things to get in trouble.”

Whit's eyes lit up with laughter. His white mustache spread across his round face. “That's wonderful!” he said. “I've never heard it explained so well. So you're telling me you became a Christian to please your parents?”

“No.”

“Then what were you thinking when you did it? I mean, I'm sorry you had a bad week. And I'm
deeply
sorry you lost your grandmother.

Because of her poor health, though, I think you would have lost her whether you became a Christian or not. So I don't understand why you think it all connects to your becoming a believer.”

Jimmy thought about it for a moment. “It connects because it happened after I said yes to Jesus.”

“Because you thought He'd make everything all right when you said yes. Is that it?”

Jimmy nodded. That was it in a nutshell. He thought Jesus would make everything all right, and instead everything went wrong.

“Do you know what I think?” Whit asked. “I think everything
is
connected. It makes perfect sense—
if
you think about how God works sometimes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jimmy, God loves you more than anyone in this world ever could. He loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you. But Jesus didn't die so you could walk around with a smile on your face or so you'd never have a problem. The fact is, He died so you could be friends with God; so you could learn to love God the best you can; so you could be
changed
into the person He wants you to be. Do you understand that much?”

Jimmy said he did. It was another way of saying what Dave had said the night Jimmy became a Christian.

“Here's the next part,” Whit continued. “Jesus' death didn't come easily, and neither does our change. It's a struggle, a battle, against all the things inside us that want everything to stay the way it was. That's why we make a lot of mistakes. We do things we know better than to do. Our family might get annoyed at us. And I'm not surprised that your friends have turned against you, though I'm a little surprised they went as far as knocking you around. They want to keep you the way you were. But Jesus is inside you now and wants you to fight to be more and more like Him. Are you still with me?”

Jimmy nodded again.

Whit went on, choosing his words carefully. “Sometimes God strips away the things in our lives that keep us from relying on Him.”

A light went on in Jimmy's head, and he sat up straight.

Whit noticed Jimmy's change in expression but slowly went on. “Sometimes God strips away the things we think are important to make room for us to see Him more clearly. Only then can He make the changes He needs to make. That's what growth is all about. And, yes, sometimes it hurts as we lose friends or suffer the loss of those we love. Sometimes we feel completely alone and figure that no one else in the whole wide world knows how we feel.

“But that's wrong. God knows. And that's why you're never alone. God is there, first and foremost. Then there's your family—who love you even when you get on their nerves. And then there are friends you have who are Christians—or the friends you haven't made yet. Like me, Jimmy. I'm always here if you need to talk.”

“Thanks,” Jimmy said softly and hung his head.

“Oh, now, Jimmy,” Whit said with a smile. “Don't be too hard on yourself. You're only at the
start
of this new adventure. It's bound to be overwhelming for you.”

“You never met my grandmother, did you?” Jimmy asked.

“I don't think so. Why?”

“Because she said the same things you just said,” Jimmy answered.

“She must've been a very wise woman,” Whit said, chuckling.

“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “I'm going to miss her a lot.”

Whit took the ice pack from Jimmy and looked closely at his wounds. “Just remember, Jimmy,” he said, “that God never takes anything out of our lives unless He's going to replace it with something else—something that will help us the same way or more. You just have to keep your eyes open for it.”

Whit pressed the ice pack against Jimmy's face again. Jimmy looked into his eyes and saw heartfelt kindness looking back.
I need to hang around Whit's End a lot more
, he decided.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Monday

J
IMMY SAT DOWN
at a lunch table with his tray of food. At another table across the room, he saw Tony and his old friends laughing at a joke Jimmy would never be a part of again. He wished he could be friends with them. But at this point in his life, he didn't know how. He closed his eyes, said a quick prayer of thanks for the food, and hoped no one saw him.

He opened his mouth to take the first bite of his pot roast, and his lip stung. It was a cruel reminder of the day before. There wasn't a lot of swelling on his face, but it still hurt a little. “Okay, God,” he prayed, “it's just me alone at this table with a face that hurts. But it'll be all right if You'll help me.” He sighed. It had been another bad day so far.

Jack Davis came up to Jimmy's table with a brown lunch bag in hand. “Hi, Jimmy,” he said. “Okay if I sit down?”

Jimmy shrugged. He was afraid Jack had come over to tease him.

“What happened to your face?” Jack asked.

Jimmy self-consciously glanced over at Tony.

Jack must have noticed, because he said, “Never mind. You don't have to tell me.” He shook his head and continued, “Boy, you've really been through it.”

“What do you mean?” Jimmy asked.

“I dunno. It seems like a lot's happened to you lately. I've never seen a kid go through the wringer like that.” Jack bit into his sandwich. He kept talking, even with a mouth full of food. “I guess you and Tony are on the outs, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy said, wondering what Jack might be up to.

Jack silently chewed his food, swallowed, then said softly, “That happened to me—y'know, being friends one minute, then not being friends the next. You remember Colin.”

Jimmy did. He was a kid Jack had befriended who turned out to be an uncontrollable liar.

“Anyway, I was thinking that I know how you feel,” Jack said. Then he stayed silent for a while.

Jimmy gazed at Jack while Jack looked down at his potato chips. Could they be friends? Jimmy wondered. Did God send him over to be a replacement for Tony, as Whit said? But there was no way to replace Tony or the years they had as friends, any more than his grandmother could be replaced.

That didn't mean, however, that God couldn't bring someone
new
into his life.

“Jimmy,” Jack said, and Jimmy was suddenly embarrassed for staring him.

“Yeah?”

“I saw you at the youth group meeting that night, and then I heard a rumor that you became a Christian.”

“So?”

Jack scrunched his face up as if he didn't know how to ask what he wanted to ask.

“Well, I was wondering…I mean, what's going on? I think about Jesus sometimes because, you know, my parents are Christians, but…I can't make up my mind about what it means.”

Jimmy looked at Jack intently. “You want to know Jesus? I can tell you how to get to know Him. But it isn't easy, and it isn't always fun. In fact, right now it hurts more than anything I've ever done in my life. But you know what? It's all there is…and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Jesus'll get me through this. I don't know how, but He will.”

“I figured you'd say something like that.” Jack smiled and paused. “Y'know, me and Oscar and Lucy are going to Whit's End after school today. You wanna come with us?”

“I'll ask my parents,” Jimmy said.

The day didn't seem so bad after that.

Author's Note:
Most of the details in this story were taken from firsthand, factual accounts of slaves who worked in the South and escaped with the help of the Underground Railroad. Other details were provided by a variety of historical reference works, writings from the time period, and eyewitness sources. To convey historical accuracy and portray the true horror of the slaves' treatment, many words, phrases, and colloquialisms have been maintained.

CHAPTER ONE

BANG
!
T
HE DOOR TO
the hatchway slammed shut. The noise echoed down the dark tunnel and left nothing but a ringing in the ears of Jack Davis and Matt Booker.

“Oh no,” Jack said. The tunnel was so dark he couldn't see his friend at all.

Matt scrambled up the ladder-like steps, turned the thick, metal handle, and pushed as hard as he could. The door wouldn't lift. “Well don't just stand there,” Matt snapped. “Climb up here and help me.”

Jack felt his way up the splintered wooden steps and stopped when he was side by side with Matt at the top. “Quit breathing on me,” Jack said.

“You're the one with the bad breath,” Matt replied. “Now
push
!”

With grunts and groans the two boys pressed on the door with every ounce of strength they had. It refused to lift.

“It must've locked when it slammed down,” Matt gasped.

“What do we do now?” Jack panted.

If they had been in the afternoon light outside, Jack would've seen Matt scrunch up his nose as he often did when he was thinking. “Scream for help?” Matt finally suggested. He pounded on the door and yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Hold it! Wait! Stop it!” Jack called out to Matt. “Who's going to hear us?”

Matt groaned. Jack was right.

The two 11-year-old boys had been playing catch with a football behind Whit's End, a large soda shop and “discovery emporium” where most of the kids in Odyssey liked to hang out. Jack had gone long for a pass from Matt, but the ball flew over Jack's head and into a patch of woods nearby. While searching for the ball among the fallen leaves and dry branches, Jack stumbled onto a large, metal covering on the ground. It was half covered with leaves. A small sign bolted to the top said to “Keep Out.” For the naturally curious Jack and Matt, that meant “Get in if you can.” It was an invitation to a new adventure.

Jack had flagged Matt over and turned the latch while both of them yanked at the door. It creaked and opened. A large, black, square hole beckoned them.

“What do you think it is?” Matt had asked.