Point of No Return by Paul McCusker Page B

Christian now? Would God let him change his mind?
    â€œHey, Jimmy.”
    Jimmy nearly jumped out of his skin. Tony stood directly in front of him.
    â€œWhat’re you doing here?” Jimmy asked.
    â€œI was gonna ask you the same question,” Tony said. “I stopped by your house, and your dad said you took a walk. I thought you were on restriction.”
    â€œThey let me off today.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you come over?”
    â€œI was going to, but…” Jimmy sighed and started to walk again. “I’m confused.”
    Tony stayed at his side and took the lead in setting their direction. “Really?” he asked. “About what?”
    â€œEverything,” Jimmy said. “You don’t know what it’s like. It’s a big mess. My grandma died, and Dave and Jacob left, and I keep getting in trouble, and…I didn’t know it would be like this.”
    â€œBe like what ? What’re you talking about?”
    â€œYou know,” Jimmy said, “being a Christian.”
    â€œI could’ve told you that was a dumb idea,” Tony said.
    â€œI don’t know if it’s a mistake. I mean…” Jimmy faltered. “Oh, I don’t know what I mean.”
    â€œYou’re saying it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, right?”
    Jimmy thought about it for a moment, then said, “Right.”
    â€œSo why don’t you give it up?” Tony asked. “You joined the club, and now you wanna unjoin it. It’s not against the law.”
    â€œI know, but—”
    â€œLooks to me like it’s nothing but trouble. You never punched me in the nose before,” Tony said with a laugh.
    Jimmy smiled and answered, “Huh-uh. And…you know, I’m…you know.”
    â€œForget about it.”
    Jimmy looked at Tony and couldn’t imagine why he thought he could give him up as a friend. “Tony, I—” He stopped himself when he noticed where they had walked to: the gazebo.
    â€œWhat’re we doing here?” Jimmy asked.
    â€œJust walking,” Tony said. “So, what are you going to do? Are you gonna keep doing this Sunday school stuff, or are you gonna get things back to the way they used to be?”
    â€œI don’t know, Tony,” Jimmy said.
    â€œI think you have to make up your mind. A lot of the kids at school are talking about you. They think you’re weird. Some of the guys are saying you’re a tattletale.”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œI don’t believe it, but they’re saying you told what happened with the firecrackers. Did you tell anybody?”
    â€œNo!” Jimmy said, then remembered he had confessed everything to Dave and Jacob and then his parents.
    â€œOh…”
    â€œYou did , didn’t you?”
    â€œOnly Dave—and then my parents,” Jimmy said.
    â€œYou got us in trouble,” Tony said, his voice stiffening.
    â€œHow? We’ve been gone! My dad didn’t say anything to anybody.”
    Tony poked Jimmy in the chest with his finger. “Yeah,” he accused, “but it turns out your friend Dave played racquetball with one of the guys from my dad’s office, and he told him all about the firecrackers. My dad found out, and he was furious. So we all got in trouble—and there’ll be more trouble later.”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Jimmy saw Gary walk around from behind the gazebo. Then Tim came around the other side. Cory stepped out from behind a tree and headed toward them. Jimmy didn’t know for certain what they planned to do, but he figured it wouldn’t be very nice.
    â€œLook, Jimmy,” Tony said, “as long as you wanna keep playing the religious nut and getting us in trouble, we don’t wanna be your friends anymore. Okay?”
    At that moment, Jimmy knew that if he promised Tony and the guys that he would quit being a Christian, they might leave him alone. Maybe