Point of No Return Read Online Free PDF Page A

Davis, who was in the same grade as Jimmy, sat down next to him. “Hey, Jimmy, what’re you doing here?” he asked.
    â€œI don’t know,” Jimmy said with a shrug. “I got tricked into coming. What are you doing here?”
    â€œI come every week.”
    â€œReally? Your parents make you?”
    â€œAt first they did, but now I come because I want to. It’s a lot of fun,” Jack said. “There’s Lucy and Oscar! I’ll see you later.” And Jack took off to greet his friends.
    Jimmy was surprised. Jack’s answer wasn’t what he would have expected. As he looked more closely at the expressions on the faces of the kids mingling around, saying hi to one another or talking about how they had spent their Saturdays, he realized they didn’t seem dejected like him. They didn’t look as if they minded being there at all.
    Jacob walked in, saw Jimmy, and waved. Jimmy nodded. Jacob looked as if he might come over but was distracted by his dad whistling through his fingers to get everyone’s attention.
    As they quieted down and took their seats, Dave took hold of a microphone attached to a portable podium. He welcomed one and all in a voice made thin by the cheap speaker. He asked any visitors to stand up and say their names, and a couple of kids scattered through the crowd complied. Jimmy didn’t. Dave realized it and, not to be undone, announced that Jimmy was there. Jimmy blushed and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, wishing he’d never agreed to that stupid basketball game. He didn’t belong here. He didn’t belong with any of these people. He belonged with Tony somewhere at Allen’s Pond, spying on Tony’s older brother. But it was too late now. All he could do was hope the evening would slip by as quickly as possible.
    Dave introduced a guest speaker, Mr. Lucas, one of the church’s deacons. Jimmy recognized him from the times he got up to pray in the services.
    Mr. Lucas talked for almost 15 minutes, and about halfway through, Jimmy realized he was having a hard time understanding a word the man was saying. A couple of times he mentioned having an abundant life and calling on some sort of power and being born again by being washed in the blood of the Lamb for remission of something or other and inheriting some kind of eternal thingy in a kingdom of a lot of big words in a fullness of time affixed before Adam fell in his garden and….
    Jimmy felt as if he were drowning in a sea of weird words. He had a vague idea of what Mr. Lucas was trying to say, and Mr. Lucas was obviously sincere, but Jimmy got so lost that he could only stare at the pattern of marking tape on the floor.
    Mr. Lucas finished his talk on a loud and excited note and stepped away. Dave took the podium again and announced that it was time to split up into various grades for games. Jimmy was relieved to find himself in a game of dodgeball with Jacob, Jack, Lucy, Oscar, and a few other kids he knew from school. He was especially proud when he held out the longest and was the last one in the circle to get hit.
    Then they played a beanbag toss, ran a relay race, and played a game Jimmy had never seen before where they lay down on their backs and kicked an enormous ball from one side of the room to another. The idea was to score by hitting the other team’s wall. Jimmy alternately screamed and laughed through all the games. Time slipped away. He was shocked when they stopped for snacks and drinks and he realized it was after nine o’clock.
    All the kids gathered again for a few final words from Dave. Jimmy braced himself for another sermon with a lot of words and expressions he didn’t understand.
    Dave spoke simply, however. “I can’t let any of you out of here tonight without making a few things absolutely clear,” he said. “We try to have a lot of fun when we meet like this, but we’re not here just for fun. We’re