Payback Read Free Page B

partner with Him.
    So I attempt to sort the vision out. For starters, the boy being picked on was totally unfamiliar, and although I couldn’t see the faces of the bullies clearly, they didn’t seem familiar either. Of course, every school, including Brighton, has guys like that. The type who pick on others for no reason except that they can. And I suspect they usually get away with it too. Before I start working on my charcoal sketch, I pull out my notebook and write down exactly what I remember aboutthe vision. It doesn’t seem like much, but if God gave me that vision, there must be a reason for it. It’s possible that it’s connected to the shooting dream I had last night. But the general feeling of the vision, as well as the setting, the people, the time of day, the level of seriousness—it all seems dissimilar. My inclination is that these are two totally separate situations.
    After seventh period ends, I walk slowly back toward the main building. I look all around as I stroll along, and I have my cell phone on and ready to make a call. I am seriously hoping to spot the group of thugs, hoping to catch them and to stop them before they have a chance to pounce on the sandy-haired kid with glasses. But I make it all the way back to the locker bay without seeing one single thing that’s even slightly out of the ordinary.
    “Everything okay?” asks Olivia when I join her at our locker.
    “I guess…”
    “What’s up?” she asks with curiosity.
    I quickly explain my latest vision.
    “But you didn’t know any of the guys?”
    “No. I got a look at the kid being bullied, but I couldn’t really see the others too well. The guy getting beat up was totally unfamiliar.”
    “Still, you don’t know everyone in this school.”
    “Obviously not. And I’m sure there could be someone like that around here that I never noticed before.”
    Just then Olivia nods over to where a short, blondish guy is shaking the handle of his locker like he can’t get the thing open. He glances over his shoulder as if he’s embarrassed to be observed having this problem—especially when everyone should know their locker combination by now—and notices uslooking at him. I toss a casual smile at him, but that only seems to embarrass him even more as he refocuses his attention on the stubborn lock.
    “That’s not him,” I tell Olivia.
    “That doesn’t mean he’s not around here somewhere,” she points out. “Want to walk around school and see if we notice anything?”
    “Sure.” So we get sodas from the machine by the cafeteria and casually stroll around the school grounds, just sipping our drinks and talking. Who would ever guess that we’re out here looking for trouble?
    “Seems fairly quiet,” Olivia says as we finish our rounds.
    “Pretty dead, if you ask me.” I glance at my watch now. “And I need to meet with Ebony, so I should probably get going.”
    “I’ll catch a ride home with Alex today I was going to his track meet anyway.”
    “Tell him good luck.” I wave to her and then head out to the parking lot, still looking right and left and expecting to walk up on a group of thugs at any given moment. But there aren’t any to be seen. I know I should be relieved or even happy about this, but I’m not. I feel as if I’ve missed something. And I’m even more concerned about the kid getting picked on or brutally beaten. Still, I know better than to obsess and worry. Instead, I pray for him as I drive across town to the precinct. God knows who this kid is and how to help him. I’m just a small part of that process.
    “How are you doing?” asks Eric as I enter the police station. Eric is a good-looking guy who works with Ebony sometimes. He doesn’t wear a uniform, and if you saw him on the street,you’d never guess he was a cop. In some ways he reminds me of my brother, Zach.
    “Okay,” I tell him.
    “Ebony’s in her office,” he says with what seems a knowing smile. Eric is one of the few officers