Chapter 5
I swerved down the curb, heading toward the deeper, darker areas of the town, lost in thought. The sun had set, the area almost pitch black. I noticed the skateboarders behind me since I left the skate spot, which was about fifteen blocks away from where I was, and I was starting to freak. I saw a bench under the glare of a street light and stopped there, resting for a minute. The skaters caught up with me and I counted about fifteen skaters, who looked like they were from the West Side. I rolled my eyes and reached into my pocket for my knife before realizing that I had given it to Wolf for him to hold on to. My eyes widened as I started to actually panic. Wouldn't you if you were surrounded by fifteen skaters without any defense and only your strength and skateboard for attack? Thought so. I heard one jump behind me and I whirled around to see a skater dude above me, his knife raised above his head. Then, in the background, I saw a Monster can fly through the air and hit the dude in the back of the head, giving me time to roll over and stand up, get my bearings together. I looked up and saw a tall, lanky skater with blonde hair and shadowed eyes barge in, his black hood flying off his head. He was wearing a black hoodie with a pair of ripped jeans covering his black and white Vans. He jumped off his board, grabbed the board, and brought it down on the other skater's head, the crack splitting the night as the others charged at the kid. I ran over, drop-kicking a big, burly dude. Then the Monster dude, (What was I supposed to call him? Dude? I mean, come on now!) came over to me and signaled a back-to-back stance, and I nodded, both of us whirling around and backing up 'til I felt his back leaning onto mine. I whirled my skateboard to whack a skinny, short dude, which dropped like a rock. I saw a knife drop out and I grabbed it, standing back up to cut a kid in the leg, slicing the back of his calf wide open. He hollered and fell, holding his calf as blood poured out of it like a river. He laid down on his board and a dude pushed him away, down the hill. I grinned and whirled around to see the other attackers gone and the dude who helped me was standing up, swearing. I looked down to see his board broken in thirds, little chips lying around the board. I walked over to him and laid my hand on his shoulder. He looked over at me and grimaced. "Hey, dog. I know where to get a new board for free. Come on." I picked up my board and we walked fifteen blocks to the skate spot, where we went into the store and got the dude a new deck, trucks, and wheels for his new board. We sat down on the bench and started assembling the board. "What's yo name?" His voice was clear in the night sky. "KC. Yours?" "James, but everyone calls me Death. I'm new around here. Came searchin' for somethin', but I don't know what. Heard this is the town where the Wild Grinders reside. They're famous at my hometown. My dream is to join, but, just to talk with their leader would be awesome. I mean, I hear the leader is a girl. That's pretty sweet! I don't know her name, though. Heard she's Christian, too. Skater knows where to put her faith. Have you met her?" I smiled. "Yep. I know her better than everyone else." Death's eyes widened. "Really? You're a Wild Grinder?" "Dog, I'm their leader." His face brightened and he gasped. "Wow! Cool! I helped you, too! Sweet! I didn't know... wow." I grinned. "You wanna join? We're in middle of a war with the West Side, though. Yo have some pretty sick moves." He nodded, smiling. "This is the Wild Grinder skate spot. We built it and managed it 'til the county started cleanin' it. So, welcome to the gang, Wild Grinder!" We fininshed the board and I grabbed a blue Sharpie, signing the bottom. "Follow me." I lead Death to Chris's house, where I let him in. Death sat down on the couch, where he was gonna sleep for the night. "Hey, man, do you have anythin' to eat?" I nodded. "Yep!" I went over to the cabinet and opened it, pulling out a box of Cheez-its and some Cokes as Chris came downstairs to pause at the base. "Hey, who's the guy on the couch?" I looked behind me to see Death staring at the TV. "He's a new recruit. Apparently, we've been inspirin' a whole lotta kids, even in the other towns! He's from Charlotte. Name's Death. He came here, followin' his dream- to join us. So, I let him. Dude's got some pretty sick moves! He helped me fight some West Side dudes tonight. I gave my knife to Wolf for him to clean, but he never gave it back, so... yeah." He nodded as Wolf come tearing upstairs. "Hey guys! New Halo 4 movie! It's EPIC! Hey, dog!" Death jumped up. "Wolf? Man, wassup?" They high-fived and ran downstairs, chatting like there's no tomorrow. "Stormgliders are gonna hang with us. That cool?" I nodded. "Sweet. So... no Cheez-its?" We laughed, Chris grabbin' the Cheez-Its. "Hey, Chris. I'm gonna go skate, you know, to think about stuff. Where's my knife?" Chris pulled it out of his pocket, flipping it around to hand me the handle. I grabbed it. "Thanks, man. I'll also see if there's anyone else like Death. KC out, dog!" I barged out of the house, my skateboard clashing onto the concrete. I rode to the other skate spot that the lesser gangs skated since they weren't brave enough to ask us to join. We pick some skaters to join, since they were really great skaters. I skated around, pullin' off a eggplant on the halfpipe. I heard some skaters holler in amazement. I rolled over to them. "Hey guys! Wassup?" Their mouths were hanging wide open and I smirked. "Dudes. Snap out of it. Guys?" I waved my hand in their faces. Then one snapped out of his daze and smiled. "It's actually you, man. KC, the top dog. Dang. What's new?" "Recruiting, right now. Yo wanna grab yo guys and head to the other skate spot tomorrow?" He nodded. "Sweet! I'll grab 'em!" He skated away, his homies following him. They were the only ones there, so I skated downtown to where graffiti was sprawled on the wall everywhere. I could tell it was a skateboarder, since there was skateboards in some of the graffiti. I've wondered many times who it was and where he was 'cause I wanted to meet him. I whirled around the corner to see a dude in a black hoodie with a marker drawin' graffiti on the wall, and I smirked. I rode over to him. "Hey, man, wassup?" He looked over at me, his black eyes catching me by surprise. I could see his short, black, spiky hair poking out of the shadows of the inside of his hoodie. His thrashed board lay on the sidewalk beside him, a blue marker on top. He nodded his head. "Yo, wassup?" I shrugged. "Nothin'. You doin' the graffiti around here?" He nodded. "Cool, dog. Hey, I was wonderin' if you're in a gang." He shook his head. "Nah, man. I wish. There's no gang acceptin' a skater graffiti artist from the hood." I smirked. "Hey, our gang's open. We're acceptin' ANYBODY. Yo interested?" His eyes brightened. "Yeah. That'll be cool. Wait...what gang are yo in?" I jerked my head toward the north. "The Wild Grinders. We're in middle of war, so if yo still interested, then lemme know. I'll give ya time, so meet me at our skate spot tomorrow. I'll be there all day tomorrow, so meet me there. K?" He nodded and turned away. "Oh, hey, dude, I never caught yo name." He looked at me. "Erick, but call me Drept." I nodded. "Name's KC. See ya tomorrow!" He turned away and resumed markin' the wall as I turned and skated away, heading home.
I barged into the house, the boy noise drifting from downstairs. "Dude, stop killin' me! I'm tryin' to get an achievement!" Then I heard laughing and Thunder groan in exasperation. I smirked and grabbed a bottle of Sun Drop off the counter, covering the lid to quiet the hiss that snuck out of the bottle when I turned the lid. I took a swig and sat down on the top stair, no one noticing me. "So, do you guys have girls?" I heard Wolf ask. "I have Alex." That was Derek. "I got Tiff." That was Jake. I heard Ryan, Ben, J.B., Death, Vincent, Flare, and Flame all say "Yeah." I smirked. Wolf sighed. "I don't." Then it sounded like someone moved. "It's a'ight, dog. I don't, either." Wolf snorted. "If I could pick someone, then it would be KC. Girl's different. I like a girl that, when she steps into the room, you know she steps to her own tune." Then Chris, the one who was talking, said something that I couldn't hear. Then his voice became clearer. "I wanna ask her out to prom next Friday, but I'm actually scared to ask." Heh. Join the club, man. "Do you guys think I should ask?" I heard them all reply in agreement. "Chris, I'll teach ya how to treat a girl, show her how she's special to you. You can tell that she's the one is if you actually feel something deep inside. Symptoms of the love disease are: 1) Can't stop thinkin' about her. 2) It feels different than earlier relationships that you've had. That thing missing in those that you were tellin' me about will be there with the one. 3) You start to always talk about her. 4) You'll never want to leave her side. You'll want her safe. There's four symptoms, but there's a lot more. Now, here's a few tips on how to treat a girl. One, you're pickin' a hard egg. This chick isn't your normal girl. She's been through a lot, and the only thing she has left is us. So, show her you care for her. Think about what you like about her." There was a silent moment before Chris spoke again. "Well... She's determined, Christian, kind, loving, caring, dangerous, strong-willed, and she's just... beautiful." I froze, my throat closing up. Woah. Mace in my face. No one- well, other than my dads. Yes, I have two. We all do.- has NEVER EVER EVER EVER-wait for it- EVER called me "beautiful" in my life. EVER. I bit my lip and took a gulp of my soda as Chris continued. "We've been friends since she came over here, and I've been meanin' to ask her out for the past few years. I just can't pull myself together enough to do it. There's been many opportunities, but I miss them." Mental Note: Watch for opportunities. Don't miss them. VERY VALUABLE!!! "I'm also afraid that I'll screw the whole thing up. I mean, it's either a hit or a miss." "Well, dog, that's where G-O-D comes in. God will lead you, just as long as you are willing. Just ask!" Wolf pointed out. "I guess so. But... when?" Wolf thought for a minute, then gasped. "At the prom! Ask her to the prom Saturday, and then we'll send the girls to go shop Friday while we go shoppin' ourselves! And then, during a slow song, ask!" "Yeah. That sounds like a plan!" I jumped up silently, tip-toed to the door, opening and slamming it while shaking my Sun-Drop. Then I opened it, makin' it sound like I had just grabbed it. The boys thundered upstairs as I kicked off my shoes, pushing my skateboard toward the stairs. "What's up?" Chris said, high-fiving me. "Found a gang who's joinin' us, and I also found the cat who's been doin' the graffiti downtown. His name's Erick, a.k.a. Drept. He'll be there tomorrow, as well. I'mma be at the skate spot all day tomorrow, hangin' out. Givin' autographs, not because I'm a star, but cause a lil' bit of nice goes far. You can love my style, love my car, and I'll show you how I love my God!" I LOVED quoting my favorite people, like Group 1 Crew. And Manafest. And tobyMac. And... I think you get it now. "You guys comin' tomorrow?" Everyone nodded. "Cool! So, what'cha doin'?" Chris and Wolf glanced at each other and then looked back at me. "Playin' the XBox. Modern Warfare." Thunder stepped forward. "They keep on killin' me, dog! I'm tryin' to get a freakin' acheivement, but I turn around and -POW!- I'm a gonner. Freakin..." I snort, hardly able to keep it in. He muttered under his breath as he headed back downstairs. "Well then. You go do that. Wow. That was random." Chris nodded. "Yep." I looked over at Derek and cleared my throat. "Hey, dog. Alex's lookin' for ya. You might want to hurry. She seemed ticked." He grabbed his board and shot out of the house, tearin' down the moonlit road. I shut the door and took another swig of my drink. The clock on the microwave is showin' 9:29 with all it's green glory. "Who wants to play the game?" We went downstairs to see Thunder earn his last acheivement on Modern Warfare. "Woo-hoo! Did it! Beat THAT, son!" JB grimaced, his eyes poppin' out of his head. "What?! Lemme see that controller, dog." Thunder handed him the other controller and then it was the battle of the blacks, not to be racist or anything. Hey, we are a skin kaleidoscope. dc Talk. Of course. Hey, don't be hatin'. I got my Sun Drop and sat in my bean-bag of a chair, takin' a swig of my drink. The battle was heated, Thunder in the lead by one kill. "Come ON, man! I was reloading! NOT COOL!" I looked up to see the attack dogs devour JB's dude. I smirked. Yes, I'm a nerd. Play Modern Warfare the next chance you get. Old, but it's pretty fun! Black Ops is WAY better, though. Zombies.....don't care what critics say. Haters gonna hate. I looked over at Chris, who was chatting with Wolf. Then I looked down and saw my old black composition book. I picked the book up and opened it, reading the little things I wrote in it and little preaches and songs I either made up or I fell in love with. Something fell out of the book and into my lap. I picked it up and had to stop the tear that almost rolled down my face as I realized what it was. It was a picture of my parents and me when I was learning about Christ at our progressional church. My dad would drink his heart out, and then he would beat my mother. He was rarely sober, and when he was, he was either annoyed or tired. Then Mom shouted at him to stop drinking for the sake of their precious daughter, and I just sat there, in my crib, tears streaming down my face. It was the first time I had cried. That's when we all went to Living Waters Progressional Church. My dad never touched another Bud Light again. The picture was when I had created a small cross necklace out of a little cross-shaped carved stone and some black rope. I'm still wearing it, in fact. I wrapped my hand around the cross, remembering that day. My parents were so proud and I felt great. I'm going to church tomorrow, since the preacher has asked me to talk to the people tomorrow, so it was a great thing I found this book. My best sermon is in here, and tomorrow is the best time to use it.
I swerved down the curb, heading toward the deeper, darker areas of the town, lost in thought. The sun had set, the area almost pitch black. I noticed the skateboarders behind me since I left the skate spot, which was about fifteen blocks away from where I was, and I was starting to freak. I saw a bench under the glare of a street light and stopped there, resting for a minute. The skaters caught up with me and I counted about fifteen skaters, who looked like they were from the West Side. I rolled my eyes and reached into my pocket for my knife before realizing that I had given it to Wolf for him to hold on to. My eyes widened as I started to actually panic. Wouldn't you if you were surrounded by fifteen skaters without any defense and only your strength and skateboard for attack? Thought so. I heard one jump behind me and I whirled around to see a skater dude above me, his knife raised above his head. Then, in the background, I saw a Monster can fly through the air and hit the dude in the back of the head, giving me time to roll over and stand up, get my bearings together. I looked up and saw a tall, lanky skater with blonde hair and shadowed eyes barge in, his black hood flying off his head. He was wearing a black hoodie with a pair of ripped jeans covering his black and white Vans. He jumped off his board, grabbed the board, and brought it down on the other skater's head, the crack splitting the night as the others charged at the kid. I ran over, drop-kicking a big, burly dude. Then the Monster dude, (What was I supposed to call him? Dude? I mean, come on now!) came over to me and signaled a back-to-back stance, and I nodded, both of us whirling around and backing up 'til I felt his back leaning onto mine. I whirled my skateboard to whack a skinny, short dude, which dropped like a rock. I saw a knife drop out and I grabbed it, standing back up to cut a kid in the leg, slicing the back of his calf wide open. He hollered and fell, holding his calf as blood poured out of it like a river. He laid down on his board and a dude pushed him away, down the hill. I grinned and whirled around to see the other attackers gone and the dude who helped me was standing up, swearing. I looked down to see his board broken in thirds, little chips lying around the board. I walked over to him and laid my hand on his shoulder. He looked over at me and grimaced. "Hey, dog. I know where to get a new board for free. Come on." I picked up my board and we walked fifteen blocks to the skate spot, where we went into the store and got the dude a new deck, trucks, and wheels for his new board. We sat down on the bench and started assembling the board. "What's yo name?" His voice was clear in the night sky. "KC. Yours?" "James, but everyone calls me Death. I'm new around here. Came searchin' for somethin', but I don't know what. Heard this is the town where the Wild Grinders reside. They're famous at my hometown. My dream is to join, but, just to talk with their leader would be awesome. I mean, I hear the leader is a girl. That's pretty sweet! I don't know her name, though. Heard she's Christian, too. Skater knows where to put her faith. Have you met her?" I smiled. "Yep. I know her better than everyone else." Death's eyes widened. "Really? You're a Wild Grinder?" "Dog, I'm their leader." His face brightened and he gasped. "Wow! Cool! I helped you, too! Sweet! I didn't know... wow." I grinned. "You wanna join? We're in middle of a war with the West Side, though. Yo have some pretty sick moves." He nodded, smiling. "This is the Wild Grinder skate spot. We built it and managed it 'til the county started cleanin' it. So, welcome to the gang, Wild Grinder!" We fininshed the board and I grabbed a blue Sharpie, signing the bottom. "Follow me." I lead Death to Chris's house, where I let him in. Death sat down on the couch, where he was gonna sleep for the night. "Hey, man, do you have anythin' to eat?" I nodded. "Yep!" I went over to the cabinet and opened it, pulling out a box of Cheez-its and some Cokes as Chris came downstairs to pause at the base. "Hey, who's the guy on the couch?" I looked behind me to see Death staring at the TV. "He's a new recruit. Apparently, we've been inspirin' a whole lotta kids, even in the other towns! He's from Charlotte. Name's Death. He came here, followin' his dream- to join us. So, I let him. Dude's got some pretty sick moves! He helped me fight some West Side dudes tonight. I gave my knife to Wolf for him to clean, but he never gave it back, so... yeah." He nodded as Wolf come tearing upstairs. "Hey guys! New Halo 4 movie! It's EPIC! Hey, dog!" Death jumped up. "Wolf? Man, wassup?" They high-fived and ran downstairs, chatting like there's no tomorrow. "Stormgliders are gonna hang with us. That cool?" I nodded. "Sweet. So... no Cheez-its?" We laughed, Chris grabbin' the Cheez-Its. "Hey, Chris. I'm gonna go skate, you know, to think about stuff. Where's my knife?" Chris pulled it out of his pocket, flipping it around to hand me the handle. I grabbed it. "Thanks, man. I'll also see if there's anyone else like Death. KC out, dog!" I barged out of the house, my skateboard clashing onto the concrete. I rode to the other skate spot that the lesser gangs skated since they weren't brave enough to ask us to join. We pick some skaters to join, since they were really great skaters. I skated around, pullin' off a eggplant on the halfpipe. I heard some skaters holler in amazement. I rolled over to them. "Hey guys! Wassup?" Their mouths were hanging wide open and I smirked. "Dudes. Snap out of it. Guys?" I waved my hand in their faces. Then one snapped out of his daze and smiled. "It's actually you, man. KC, the top dog. Dang. What's new?" "Recruiting, right now. Yo wanna grab yo guys and head to the other skate spot tomorrow?" He nodded. "Sweet! I'll grab 'em!" He skated away, his homies following him. They were the only ones there, so I skated downtown to where graffiti was sprawled on the wall everywhere. I could tell it was a skateboarder, since there was skateboards in some of the graffiti. I've wondered many times who it was and where he was 'cause I wanted to meet him. I whirled around the corner to see a dude in a black hoodie with a marker drawin' graffiti on the wall, and I smirked. I rode over to him. "Hey, man, wassup?" He looked over at me, his black eyes catching me by surprise. I could see his short, black, spiky hair poking out of the shadows of the inside of his hoodie. His thrashed board lay on the sidewalk beside him, a blue marker on top. He nodded his head. "Yo, wassup?" I shrugged. "Nothin'. You doin' the graffiti around here?" He nodded. "Cool, dog. Hey, I was wonderin' if you're in a gang." He shook his head. "Nah, man. I wish. There's no gang acceptin' a skater graffiti artist from the hood." I smirked. "Hey, our gang's open. We're acceptin' ANYBODY. Yo interested?" His eyes brightened. "Yeah. That'll be cool. Wait...what gang are yo in?" I jerked my head toward the north. "The Wild Grinders. We're in middle of war, so if yo still interested, then lemme know. I'll give ya time, so meet me at our skate spot tomorrow. I'll be there all day tomorrow, so meet me there. K?" He nodded and turned away. "Oh, hey, dude, I never caught yo name." He looked at me. "Erick, but call me Drept." I nodded. "Name's KC. See ya tomorrow!" He turned away and resumed markin' the wall as I turned and skated away, heading home.
I barged into the house, the boy noise drifting from downstairs. "Dude, stop killin' me! I'm tryin' to get an achievement!" Then I heard laughing and Thunder groan in exasperation. I smirked and grabbed a bottle of Sun Drop off the counter, covering the lid to quiet the hiss that snuck out of the bottle when I turned the lid. I took a swig and sat down on the top stair, no one noticing me. "So, do you guys have girls?" I heard Wolf ask. "I have Alex." That was Derek. "I got Tiff." That was Jake. I heard Ryan, Ben, J.B., Death, Vincent, Flare, and Flame all say "Yeah." I smirked. Wolf sighed. "I don't." Then it sounded like someone moved. "It's a'ight, dog. I don't, either." Wolf snorted. "If I could pick someone, then it would be KC. Girl's different. I like a girl that, when she steps into the room, you know she steps to her own tune." Then Chris, the one who was talking, said something that I couldn't hear. Then his voice became clearer. "I wanna ask her out to prom next Friday, but I'm actually scared to ask." Heh. Join the club, man. "Do you guys think I should ask?" I heard them all reply in agreement. "Chris, I'll teach ya how to treat a girl, show her how she's special to you. You can tell that she's the one is if you actually feel something deep inside. Symptoms of the love disease are: 1) Can't stop thinkin' about her. 2) It feels different than earlier relationships that you've had. That thing missing in those that you were tellin' me about will be there with the one. 3) You start to always talk about her. 4) You'll never want to leave her side. You'll want her safe. There's four symptoms, but there's a lot more. Now, here's a few tips on how to treat a girl. One, you're pickin' a hard egg. This chick isn't your normal girl. She's been through a lot, and the only thing she has left is us. So, show her you care for her. Think about what you like about her." There was a silent moment before Chris spoke again. "Well... She's determined, Christian, kind, loving, caring, dangerous, strong-willed, and she's just... beautiful." I froze, my throat closing up. Woah. Mace in my face. No one- well, other than my dads. Yes, I have two. We all do.- has NEVER EVER EVER EVER-wait for it- EVER called me "beautiful" in my life. EVER. I bit my lip and took a gulp of my soda as Chris continued. "We've been friends since she came over here, and I've been meanin' to ask her out for the past few years. I just can't pull myself together enough to do it. There's been many opportunities, but I miss them." Mental Note: Watch for opportunities. Don't miss them. VERY VALUABLE!!! "I'm also afraid that I'll screw the whole thing up. I mean, it's either a hit or a miss." "Well, dog, that's where G-O-D comes in. God will lead you, just as long as you are willing. Just ask!" Wolf pointed out. "I guess so. But... when?" Wolf thought for a minute, then gasped. "At the prom! Ask her to the prom Saturday, and then we'll send the girls to go shop Friday while we go shoppin' ourselves! And then, during a slow song, ask!" "Yeah. That sounds like a plan!" I jumped up silently, tip-toed to the door, opening and slamming it while shaking my Sun-Drop. Then I opened it, makin' it sound like I had just grabbed it. The boys thundered upstairs as I kicked off my shoes, pushing my skateboard toward the stairs. "What's up?" Chris said, high-fiving me. "Found a gang who's joinin' us, and I also found the cat who's been doin' the graffiti downtown. His name's Erick, a.k.a. Drept. He'll be there tomorrow, as well. I'mma be at the skate spot all day tomorrow, hangin' out. Givin' autographs, not because I'm a star, but cause a lil' bit of nice goes far. You can love my style, love my car, and I'll show you how I love my God!" I LOVED quoting my favorite people, like Group 1 Crew. And Manafest. And tobyMac. And... I think you get it now. "You guys comin' tomorrow?" Everyone nodded. "Cool! So, what'cha doin'?" Chris and Wolf glanced at each other and then looked back at me. "Playin' the XBox. Modern Warfare." Thunder stepped forward. "They keep on killin' me, dog! I'm tryin' to get a freakin' acheivement, but I turn around and -POW!- I'm a gonner. Freakin..." I snort, hardly able to keep it in. He muttered under his breath as he headed back downstairs. "Well then. You go do that. Wow. That was random." Chris nodded. "Yep." I looked over at Derek and cleared my throat. "Hey, dog. Alex's lookin' for ya. You might want to hurry. She seemed ticked." He grabbed his board and shot out of the house, tearin' down the moonlit road. I shut the door and took another swig of my drink. The clock on the microwave is showin' 9:29 with all it's green glory. "Who wants to play the game?" We went downstairs to see Thunder earn his last acheivement on Modern Warfare. "Woo-hoo! Did it! Beat THAT, son!" JB grimaced, his eyes poppin' out of his head. "What?! Lemme see that controller, dog." Thunder handed him the other controller and then it was the battle of the blacks, not to be racist or anything. Hey, we are a skin kaleidoscope. dc Talk. Of course. Hey, don't be hatin'. I got my Sun Drop and sat in my bean-bag of a chair, takin' a swig of my drink. The battle was heated, Thunder in the lead by one kill. "Come ON, man! I was reloading! NOT COOL!" I looked up to see the attack dogs devour JB's dude. I smirked. Yes, I'm a nerd. Play Modern Warfare the next chance you get. Old, but it's pretty fun! Black Ops is WAY better, though. Zombies.....don't care what critics say. Haters gonna hate. I looked over at Chris, who was chatting with Wolf. Then I looked down and saw my old black composition book. I picked the book up and opened it, reading the little things I wrote in it and little preaches and songs I either made up or I fell in love with. Something fell out of the book and into my lap. I picked it up and had to stop the tear that almost rolled down my face as I realized what it was. It was a picture of my parents and me when I was learning about Christ at our progressional church. My dad would drink his heart out, and then he would beat my mother. He was rarely sober, and when he was, he was either annoyed or tired. Then Mom shouted at him to stop drinking for the sake of their precious daughter, and I just sat there, in my crib, tears streaming down my face. It was the first time I had cried. That's when we all went to Living Waters Progressional Church. My dad never touched another Bud Light again. The picture was when I had created a small cross necklace out of a little cross-shaped carved stone and some black rope. I'm still wearing it, in fact. I wrapped my hand around the cross, remembering that day. My parents were so proud and I felt great. I'm going to church tomorrow, since the preacher has asked me to talk to the people tomorrow, so it was a great thing I found this book. My best sermon is in here, and tomorrow is the best time to use it.
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