14

Giving Thanks

TheWednesday before the Thanksgiving Holiday was the 23rd. As the date approached, Steve began to have misgivings about the visit he had promised. He had not discussed it with anyone, especially anyone in his family as the wounds of the summer riots and a lost business were still fresh.

On Tuesday, Tim and Steve found themselves making plans to drive home together on Wednesday morning after an 8:30 a.m. class. You aren t still thinking about going down to Hough are you, Steve? Tim asked.

Actually, I m glad you brought that up. I want to ask you a favor, Steve started to say.

Tim extended his arms toward Steve as if to push him away. Uh-oh. Here it comes.

Look, I m a bit out of my element here. I m not comfortable going down there by myself anymore, and this guy is a well-known Christian preacher. I m out of my league. Besides, what if he starts asking a bunch of questions that I can t answer? How many times have you and I talked about religion, God, and

Okay, Tim interrupted. The truth is that I ve been super curious about this whole deal since you first let me in on it, and I admit that I was half hoping you d ask. Besides, someone needs to come along to protect you, you big coward. Aside from being Steve s best friend, Tim was also a world class smart-ass.

The next morning, they set out around eleven and drove directly to the church, where a small group of volunteers had assembled to prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday meal for the needy of the community. When they entered the church, they were met with the overwhelming smell of the next day s turkey dinner in the ovens. Members were hard at work setting tables in the great hall and preparing the meal in the community kitchen. The July riots had only made things worse for the area, and this year, the group of needy diners was expected to be larger than ever. As the only white people in the building, they drew stares from all t