by Jill Penrod
Chapter 16
Saturday started out humid. It wasn’t unusually warm, but by nine Shawn was ready to go home. The air was so full of water he decided there was no room for oxygen, and it almost hurt to breathe. His arms were tired from the painting, and his friends’ talk on Thursday still weighed on his mind. The entire week had been draining, and he wished for a day off, a day to be alone with himself and his thoughts, a day to do nothing but read the Word and pray and let God soothe his troubled heart.
He’d also been wakened again by a nightmare, but in this one he was on trial for harming Becky, for killing his father, for many things he hadn’t done. It left him feeling rattled, definitely not focused enough to be in charge of a construction site. Fortunately, the high school group hadn’t shown up, and the Porter kids were so familiar with this work they could do it with very little help.
“So, do we have a plan?” Julie asked as she got out of Jenny’s car. Jenny followed, smiling but looking a little uncertain.
“I’m not sure. I want to get the deck done today, and we could mud the drywall in the house down the street. Can either of you handle decking?”
“I’ll do it,” Julie said. “I can take a good-sized group, too.”
“Good. I want to roof. I’ve been dying to get up there all week.”
“Is it dry enough?” Jenny asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll check later, when the sun’s had a chance to dry things a little. Even then, I’ll just take one or two surefooted people up there.”
“Sounds good,” Julie said, adjusting her headband as some hairs loosened and fell into her face.
The group split, and they worked in silence for thirty minutes. It took concentration to work in such stifling conditions, and Shawn quickly decided it was inhumane to ask everyone to do this.
“Jenny,” he said, coming alongside her. “It’s nasty in here. Let’s go outside and spend some time cleaning sites.”
“Good idea. We didn’t take enough time to do that last week. Maybe we’ll have it done before the next group comes Monday.”
“Hey, everybody,” Shawn said, calling them together. Mark, Seth, Steve, Violet, and Amanda came into the living room. “Does anyone else think it’s unbearable in here?”
“Amen,” Seth said, and everyone else added their loud agreement. Shawn had to laugh.
“Okay. Let’s get back outside and clean up the sites. We’ve got five houses going, and they’re a mess. I’ve got bags in the truck for nails and general garbage, and wood scraps go in a pile behind each house. We get some really young kids in here, and they don’t always pay attention to the ground. Let’s keep things safe.”
Everyone spread out to do this, and soon Shawn and Seth walked down the street together with a bag toward one of the sites.
“I’m not enjoying this today,” Shawn admitted. “Of course, I’ve had one day off all summer. No, two. I spent one in a cave and one on the couch with my leg on a pillow.”
“I wondered,” Seth said. “You don’t seem yourself today. You’ve had a rough week.”
“So have you. You never said how it went with Violet.”
“I prayed about it. For hours. I looked up every verse in the Bible about confession and forgiveness. I kept hoping it would say I could just confess it to God and be done with it. But it says not even to make an offering to God until we’ve confessed and gotten our human relationships in order. So, since God was making himself very clear, I went to see her. She was great. She accepted my apology. She said she always knew we weren’t right, but she kept hoping she was wrong. Just like I did. We lied to each other a long time.”
“I think you learned something about yourself,” Shawn said, picking up some nails and tossing them in the bag. “You understand areas where you fall into sin. Like me and my temper. When Mr. Johnson was accusing me of molesting Becky, my first desire was to flatten him. But I remembered that verse that says I should do what I can to keep peace. I even shook his hand at the end, and I wasn’t angry. It was small, but it was a victory. Unlike losing my temper with you and driving you to Springville.”
“Maybe we’re growing,” Seth said. “I’d forgotten how hard real growth can be.”
“True.”
“I was worried when Jenny called Thursday and said you needed me. I was afraid something had gone wrong with that knee of yours. Of course, I suppose what did happen was almost worse.”
“Definitely worse. I just stood there, and Mr. Johnson accused, and Mr. Clearwater watched, with those eagle eyes of his. I was afraid Jenny and her dad would believe him.”
“But they didn’t.”
“No, of course not. I felt bad for worrying. On Monday I almost enjoyed the attention of eight girls. Then I felt entirely smothered. By Friday, though, they had decided to be my friends and not try to impress me. It was nice. I’ll miss them. I never had sisters.”
“Well, if you ever need sister advice, you know where to go.”
Shawn laughed and held the bag while Seth tossed some junk into it.
“You know, Shawn, you really have a gift for this job. Regardless of my feelings about you and Jenny.”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you. Yesterday Mr. Clearwater offered me a job with Hope for the rest of the summer.”
“Did you take it?”
“Sure. I’m always on loan here anyway.”
“But it means long hours with Miss Clearwater.”
“I know. I talked to her. I don’t know, Seth. If I just knew more; if I’d become a Christian fifteen years ago like all of you…”
He shrugged, and Seth smiled. They filled their bag, and then they started to move wood scraps. Some were large and hard to move, and Seth pulled off his shirt when it was wet with sweat. Julie soon called lunch, and the group united again over sandwiches.
“How’s the deck?” Jenny asked, sitting between Seth and Julie.
“Great,” Julie said. “What’s with the weather today? It can’t be over eighty degrees, but it just feels awful. Like we’re swimming.”
“Yeah,” Shawn said. “We couldn’t stay inside, because no air is moving.”
“Did you check the roof yet?” Jenny asked Shawn.
“No. After lunch. Do you all still have work to do on the sites?”
“We haven’t even gotten to two of them, and we haven’t finished any we started,” Jenny said. “You do the roof. Take Tom and Seth. We’ll stay plenty busy down here.”
Shawn nodded, and they ate in comfortable silence. Alex pulled up just as they finished.
“Well, put me to work,” he said. “I only had a short day today.”
“Hey,” Julie said, giving him a hug. “Come work with me. We need somebody like you on the deck site.”
She whisked him away, and Shawn laughed. The rest of the group finished and split up, and Shawn looked at his team. He was the only guy still wearing a shirt, and it was soaked and smelled so bad he could hardly stand himself. He thought of Becky, for whom hiding wasn’t an option, and he slipped his shirt over his head. There would be stares, but only for a time. Maybe it was time to let his fears go. He could help people like Becky; maybe at some point he would help others.
“Wait,” Jenny said. “Shawn, come with me a minute.”
He followed her, unsure what she wanted. They’d seemed comfortable enough today, so he figured it was something related to the work. She led him to her car and took out a bag from the trunk.
“What is it?” he asked when she dug into the flowered bag.
“Sunscreen,” she said, smiling. “Six years without sun—you’ll be baked in minutes. Do the scars burn worse than undamaged skin?”
“I have no idea. I’m sure they told me, but I had no intention of ever being in the sun again.”
“Turn around,” she said, and he obeyed, waiting for something bad to happen. He tensed as she rubbed the cream on the skin, and she tickled his side.
“Relax,” she said, laughing. “What do you think I’m going to do?”
“Nobody’s really ever touched it.”
“It feels strange. Kind of neat.”
He had to laugh. It electrified his skin to have her small hand on him, rubbing the cream in with such care. But he stayed still until she finished, and he took the bottle and applied it to his chest himself. She smiled, and then she hugged him.
“I’m glad you’re here, Shawn Carpenter. I’ve been thinking about what you said. Thanks for telling me. I wish we could be friends like we were, but you have to be true to God’s leading in your life. Thanks for worrying about my heart.”
He didn’t know what to say, and she laughed.
“Even with the sunscreen, I’d say you only have about thirty minutes before you’re toast, if you should have that skin out here at all. I’ll round up a shirt for you. One of the guys must have an extra wadded up in the back of his car.”
He laughed at her and went toward the roofing site.
Seth’s eyes grew large when he saw Shawn without his shirt, but then he laughed. Everyone else tried not to stare while they stared, but it didn’t bother him as much as he had expected.
“So, let’s get on the roof,” Seth said. “I love to roof.”
“We need to make sure it’s safe,” Shawn said. “Hang on while I get the hatchets, okay?”
“Sure,” Seth said. Shawn walked across the site to the toolbox and grabbed roofing hatchets for Seth and Tom; he carried his own at his waist. When he got back, Seth had gone ahead, and for a minute Shawn was aggravated that he’d been ignored, but he let it go and mounted the ladder, stopping at the top.
“How is it?” he asked.
“Not too bad,” Seth said. Shawn climbed off the ladder and looked around. He wasn’t sure about Seth’s assessment. It still looked pretty wet.
He was brought back to attention by Seth’s yelp of fear. His tall friend’s feet went out from under him, and he hit on his side with a groan. He reached across his body and held his shoulder, his face twisted in pain.
“Seth,” Shawn said. Any more words died in his throat as Seth slid toward him. He leaned down, hoping to catch him before he went off the roof, but his knee tore as he jumped in front of him, and Seth’s body slammed into him. Seth managed to stop, but Shawn couldn’t regain balance, his knee throbbing. He fell backward, whirling his arms to right himself, but he suddenly didn’t know which way was up. He dropped toward the ground, hearing a yell of fear, not sure if it came from him or Seth, and then he hit.
For a moment everything went black. His lungs screamed for air, and he choked and gasped to fill them. He tried to sit, but his body didn’t seem to be paying attention.
“No, no, just lay back,” Seth said, suddenly at his side. Seth looked at him and then looked up.
“Tom, call an ambulance. Mark, get Jenny and Julie. Violet, round up a blanket. Come on, everyone, don’t just stand there.”
Seth quit yelling and looked down at Shawn again, his eyes full of tears. He gripped Shawn’s arm.
“What hurts?”
“I don’t know,” Shawn said. His voice sounded small to him. Everything beyond Seth was fuzzy. “My head hurts. Nothing else really feels anything.”
“It will be okay. Just relax, okay?”
“He’s bleeding,” Alex’s voice said from somewhere above.
“Where?” Seth asked, a panicked edge in his voice.
“His hip.”
Seth moved away, mumbling and shifting Shawn a bit.
“A nail,” he said. “We were supposed to have cleaned up this site. Who was so careless to leave this here?”
“Seth,” Shawn said quietly, “this was our site.”
Seth threw the nail away and leaned close to Shawn again. “How are you doing?”
“I think I tore my knee.”
“Well, from the amount of swelling going on, I think I’d agree with that. Does it hurt?”
“Yes,” Shawn said. “Not so bad, though.”
“Shawn, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been up there. I knocked you down and—“
“Hey, hey,” Jenny’s voice said. She appeared beside Seth, wrapping one arm around him and holding Shawn’s hand with the other. Smiling, she brushed a hand through Shawn’s hair.
“What happened?” she asked Shawn.
“I guess I gave up the flashlight,” he said quietly. She smiled a broad smile.
“Help is coming. Does it hurt?”
“Not much. That’s bad, isn’t it?” he asked. He thought he should be scared, but he didn’t feel anything.
“Remember what you told Becky? About what made me beautiful?” Jenny asked, now stroking Shawn’s face. “The same goes for you, Shawn Carpenter.”
Shawn smiled, but he saw the looks on his friend’s faces. Seth, especially, looked almost green with fear. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. It hurt.
“Shawn,” Seth said. “Come on, buddy, stay with us here.”
“I’m here,” Shawn said. “Seth, don’t worry.”
“I’m supposed to be telling you that.”
“You need to pray,” Shawn said. “You always find the right words when you talk to God.”
“Right. We’ll do it now.”
Seth took a deep breath and started to speak. Shawn closed his eyes and listened to his friend’s rich voice, knowing he wasn’t alone. His friends were here, gifts from the Father, and now they were lifting him to the courts of heaven itself with their prayers. He was touched and even a little embarrassed to be at the center of this much concern.
“Dear Lord,” Seth said, his voice trembling, “we want Shawn to be okay. We want your will to be done, but the desire of our hearts is that he will recover entirely from this fall. Calm us as we wait. Jenny and I are more scared than he is, I think. Send the ambulance quickly, and let the medics and doctors do everything right to make his healing go quickly and smoothly. It’s clear you gave him a special calling to do what he’s doing this summer. Please let him be back here quickly. This is my best friend, God. Please let him be okay.”
Shawn squeezed Seth’s hand as he stopped, clearly having trouble controlling his emotions. Jenny let go of Shawn and held Seth a long while. When she turned back, she leaned down and kissed Shawn’s forehead. He heard a siren in the background, and as it neared she stayed close to him, her hand in his; her touch was comforting and welcome.
“Seth and I will get your mom,” she said. “We’ll be at the hospital. It will be okay. They’re here now to help you.”
He nodded a bit, but it hurt his head. The fuzziness around him had been darkening for the last few seconds, and he closed his eyes when his friends moved away, replaced by paramedics. He let himself relax and drift into a quiet place while they worked.