Joey suppressed a sigh of relief. "Were you out, Jacob? Because I've been trying to call all day... well since four."
"Oh...um, no – I was just kind of sitting in my room, and I don't have a phone there. I didn't feel like answering...and my sister was, um, busy. What's up?"
"I miss my sister. Thanks for the email – I made it into a poster. I think I am glad no one answered until now. Any earlier...well I've been teary all day."
"Mmhmm."
"I don't normally like talking on the phone."
"It's okay. But I didn't feel like it today."
"I noticed." A comfortable silence. Something was keeping Jacob preoccupied. But then, Joey was preoccupied, too. They both sat a little longer, connected by a plastic receiver and a cord, lost in thought, then Joey said, "Do we have Youth Group this week?"
"Hmm? Oh...I think so."
"You going?"
"Yup. You?"
"Yes. It's too quiet around here. I need something to distract me."
"Mmm. I should try to get Naomi to come."
"That'd make Brandon happy."
"I know." Joey hadn't thought about how much he hated the telephone before he called Jacob. But now he did, and he noticed they were struggling to make conversation.
"Well I'd better go."
"Seeya."
"Bye." Joey hung up, and looked at his calendar. Three days until Youth Group. Before that, two days until he saw Amy's face for the last time. And then, so many years until he faced the same fate, as everyone did.
He picked up his camera. Just yesterday, he and Amy had been fooling around in the back yard taking goofy (and not so goofy) pictures on his digital camera. Amy was so photogenic. Joey hooked his camera up to the computer, and proceeded to print out every single one, and make another poster to put on his wall.
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Jacob left his parents in the dining room. He had to cool down before he talked to them about this again. A lot of good it does to talk about not fighting, then practically start an argument. He went upstairs to his room, with his Bible, and laid it open. Before he did any reading, he thought of Naomi. Knowing she didn't have a cell phone and probably wouldn't answer anyway, Jacob could only pray earnestly for her:
"God, Naomi is almost as dead to me as Amy is to Joey. Soon, she very well could be. I pray you'd protect her, please. Oh God, I'd be so upset if she harmed herself bad enough that she died.
"My parents don't realize the influence they have on her. She's always been so easily influenced. So why, God, why couldn't she have been influenced by me? By the Youth Group? By Brandon? If only she'd turned to Brandon when she wanted a boyfriend. She'd probably still be with him, where as she's been through five boyfriends in one year.
"God, I know you know this, but she's more serious with this boyfriend than she's ever been. God..." Jacob broke off. He thought back to the phone conversation he'd had with Joey. Normally, he loved talking on the phone. It was odd, but he did. –There's so much you don't know about me, Joey.- With that, he turned to his Bible, seeking comfort in the Word of God. Quietly, so quiet you could hardly hear it, Jacob finished his prayer: "Keep her safe."
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"Grandma, Jacob's spirit is grey...and so is Joey's." Amy is back to watching her brother and his friend.
Grandma looks up. Well, down. She has just been lost in thought. "They are not just sad, then. They are absolutely mournful. Too bad it is not in our power to give them joy. Being grey too long can have bad effects."
Amy sighs. Just as she is beginning to feel sad about the state of her brother and Jacob, she smiles. "Well, at least they can talk to each other..." She pauses, then says, "Grandma, why does that keep happening?"
"Being happy all of a sudden? I suppose because we are supposed to be joyful, and this is a joyful place, and sadness is, of course, the opposite of that. We should go do something else, to keep our minds off of it." So the two of them turn pointedly away from the boys, and walk to where people are singing all sorts of hallelujahs and other made up praises to God.
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A/N: I suppose it does a lot of good to plea for more reviews in the middle of a story. But anyhow...I'm going to hope that by now you've figured out that Amy is dead? I sure hope so. Because i do believe the next chapter is going to be a big Joey chapter, and will explain how Amy died.
A person: sorry it was vague. I have a bad habit of making tons of cliffhangers. And I have a short attention span sometimes. I'm trying to work on that. Thanks for the review!
The other two of you: Thanks for the reviews...there's not too much detail (or too little) I hope?