Promise Kept (Perry Skky Jr.) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the mass of confusion I saw a bloody silver knife in the hands of the gang leader. Savoy dropped to her knees and my heart stopped. I couldn’t even recognize her brother’s face, and knew from the bloodstain on the left side of his belly that the thug’s knife had pierced Saxon’s stomach. I was so torn I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to let thug dude get away with it. I wanted to go after him, fight a fair fight and kill his behind. He had waited until his boys tore Saxon up and then he took him out—it just wasn’t right.
    But as soon as I turned, Savoy called out, “Perry, help me! Help me, please. You’ve got to help me stop the bleeding. My brother, I don’t know if he’s going to be okay. Please, I’m scared, help me!”
    “I’m going to go get the police,” Deuce said.
    Part of me was wishing I hadn’t been such a knucklehead in the beginning—in terms of Savoy—and all of this could have been prevented. But it was facing me now. When I touched Saxon’s body he wouldn’t even move, scream out in pain, or cry for help. My body started shaking as if I was in an ice cold freezer. It was déjà vu. I remember the paramedics trying to save Collin Cox, our other suitemate. Though his prospects had been bleak, he pulled through. Seeing Saxon’s frail body in front of me, I just didn’t think that he would be so lucky.
    “We’re going to lose him,” Savoy said, reading my mind.
    Instinctively, I said, “No, no. He’s going to get through this! He’s going to get through this,” as I rocked her in my arms.
     
     
    I was so sick of hospital waiting rooms that if I had stock for every time I had been in one over the past couple of years I’d be rich. It was a good thing we were here for the bowl game, because Savoy’s parents were still in Miami and met us at the hospital. I didn’t know how to console her. She stayed in the arms of her mom, as her dad and I paced in opposite directions so we would stay clear of one another. I knew deep down it was useless to hold out much hope. Saxon was in real bad shape and if this was the end for him I didn’t even know if he was saved, and that killed me. I cried out, Lord, give me another chance! Help me make sure that my friends know You. You want me to be a fisherman of men, alright. I’ll put down my shoulder pads. I’m here. I’m available. Save my friend. Dang, I know we can’t do it without You. This is a lot—dealing with trouble.

Clinging to Hope
     
    I was in such a daze, hoping everything would be okay with Saxon, that when my cell phone rang it startled me so that I almost took a leak in my pants.
    “There you are, son,” my dad said. I hoped he hadn’t called the hotel and checked up on me. I had told him and my mom that I was going to go sleep off my depression over the horrible game. Before I could explain the night, he took my breath away by saying, “Son, this isn’t good news.”
    What in the world did he have to tell me? What wasn’t good news, what was so bad? With Bilboa’s aunt and uncle’s accident early in the year, I couldn’t take it for granted that just a mere car ride across town would always prove to be a safe one.
    “Are you and mom okay?”
    He took a deep breath. “It’s Grandma.”
    “What’s wrong with your mom?” I said, feeling very angry at the Lord. He told me that he would never put more on me than I could bear. I couldn’t bear losing Saxon, and now my dad calls me at 3 AM to talk about my grandma. For real, this is too much.
    “Are you at the hotel or not, son? We talked to your coach—he said you could ride back with us. Grandma’s at the hospital. We drive back tonight, we’ll be back there by midmorning.”
    “Going back with the team won’t be quicker for me?”
    “No, Coach said y’all weren’t pulling out until about ten.”
    “Dad, I’m not trying to stress you but I’m not at the hotel.”
    “Boy, you hooked up with some girl?”
    “No sir, I’m at the