Kicking Eternity Read Online Free Page A

when he broke his femur playing football.
    They let go, and Drew sluiced his face with the crook of his arm. He shook his head back and forth at the guy who had been there for him every day of his life.
    Kurt rubbed his eyes with his palms and pulled himself together. “Call me on Skype when you can laugh, really laugh, again.”
    “I’ll call before that. ”
    The driver of an SUV laid on the horn behind them.
    Kurt shrugged into his backpack and hefted his bags off the gate. He pinned Drew with a look. “Call Samantha.”
     
    #
     
    Cool, damp sand pressed against the arches of Raine’s feet. The storm that had threatened in the evening had made land during the night. Fresh-washed air filled her lungs. Diamonds of sunlight glinted off the calm Atlantic. She’d spend her time with God on the beach every day. Could she store up enough beach fixes for a lifetime in landlocked Uganda?
    The faint strum of a guitar drifted toward her. Who would be on the beach at six a.m.? Was that Drew’s flyaway hair? He sat on the beach facing the surf, his body bent over his guitar.
    His hair had been short in high school, gelled and spiked as he belted out worship . He’d made her feel like only he and God were in the room. She and every other kid in junior high youth group had been forced to think about God whether they wanted to or not.
    She moved across the sand until she could hear what he was singing. His eyes were closed and his chin lifted toward the sunrise.
    “Ooo-oo Jehovah, Jesus,
    Rising on the morning sun.
    Reaching across the water.
    Filling the places where I’m empty.
    Giving me what I need.
    Bein’ the friend I need,
    Ooo-oo Jehovah, Jesus.”
    Pain poured out of his raspy, morning voice. She slipped away, feeling like she’d walked into his soul without permission. Did Drew write the song? Was he singing a prayer? Drew’s words followed her down the beach. Filling the places where I’m empty. Giving me what I need.
    Raine’s life was an empty room—unless she counted Eddie, hunkered down in one corner, his face buried in his hoodie. From inside the room she could hear the muffled sounds of the rest of her family and her college acquaintances living their lives.
    Jesse preached about three kinds of friends. She wasn’t stuck in an empty room anymore. She was at Triple S, and she would make friends.
    Her thoughts drifted to Aly’s temper tantrum last night. She’d fallen asleep before Aly came in, and Aly was in bed when she left for the beach this morning. What was she going to do to smooth things over, make a friend ?
    “Lord, Aly doesn’t know me at all. It was like she put somebody else’s words in my mouth last night.” All the things she’d like to spit back at Aly marched through her mind. Raine paced an arc around a beached jellyfish. Warily, she eyed the clear, gelatinous body.
    “Am I judgmental? Self-righteous?”
    Cal said she needed to learn to relate to people like Aly. But Aly’s accusations were false.
    “Okay, Lord, then what do I say to Aly?”
    She climbed onto the jagged rocks of the jetty. Below her waves crashed, misting her with fine spray. She closed her eyes to the morning sun. A kernel of an idea percolated in the pink light shining through her eyelids. Her eyes popped open. She knew what to do.
    “Thanks, Lord.”
    As she wandered back down the beach, she spoke Drew’s prayer, “Jesus, fill the empty places in me, give me what I need, be my friend.” If things didn’t work out with Aly, she had Jesus. Even if she didn’t make another friend all summer.
    A speck of a solitary ship barely moved along the horizon. Why had Drew sung those words? She couldn’t imagine Drew friendless. He was such a normal guy, easy to like. Whatever prompted Drew to sing those words, meet him where he feels empty.
    Her gaze drifted to shore. She was startled to see Drew sprawled on the sand watching her. Hadn’t she just left the jetty? Drew’s guitar rested in its case, his Bible lay