by Mary Wingfield Bell
Chapter Two -
When Wink jumped from his bed at 7:30 in the morning, Knuckles
was sitting on the back porch waiting for him. His fishing pole
leaned against the steps.
Aunt Gracie was at the stove in the kitchen making breakfast.
She did not just scramble eggs with a fork; she whipped them with
a wire beater, adding pepper, milk and cheese. Looking out the
door, she called to Knuckles, "Had your breakfast, boy?"
"Not yet," Knuckles replied.
"Come in and eat with Wink," Aunt Gracie invited.
Knuckles came in quickly and sat down at the table. The good
smells of breakfast made him anxious to eat.
Wink's friends liked his Aunt Gracie. She was a tall, slim
woman with a brown mole on her left cheek. Her hair was brown with
streaks of gray. Her pleasant smile and kind ways welcomed the
neighborhood boys to her house.
This was not the first morning that Knuckles had come for
breakfast. His nine brothers and sisters were probably eating corn
flakes, or whatever would get breakfast over in a hurry.
"Wink, are you going fishing?" Knuckles asked.
"Maybe," Wink said, as he had not made up his mind. He really
liked fishing and Aunt Gracie looked surprised when he answered
Knuckles as he did.
Wink was hungry. He ate a second helping of eggs and four
biscuits. The little pains in his stomach had disappeared but the
memory of yesterday's mishap was still there. If only he could
slap his head and make it go away.
Knuckles was enjoying the breakfast and waiting for Wink's
answer.
"Guess I might's well go fishing; we got to do something
today," Wink said as he grabbed his cap and put it on with the
visor on the back of his neck.
"Good eatin', Ma'am," Knuckles said as he pushed the chair
under the table and followed Wink out the back door.
"Let's walk," Wink suggested. His bicycle reminded him of last
evening.
The two boys left the yard, headed toward Finger Creek. There
was a good bank there for sitting while they fished.
They passed old Mr. Winterfresh's place on their way to the
creek. The elderly man was raking his yard and waved to the boys
as they went by.
The old man was a very good friend to Wink and his buddies.
The guys often stopped by the front fence to chat with the
gray-haired man. Mr. Winterfresh was eighty-six years of age but
he walked around as briskly as a man of forty. He did not look
very old except for his gray hair and a few lines around the
corners of his mouth.
When they had passed his house Wink said to Knuckles, "Let's
catch some fish for Mr. Winterfresh."
"Yeah, let's. He's about the nicest person I know anywhere,"
replied Knuckles.
When the two reached Finger Creek, the boys found a patch of
green grass on the bank and deposited themselves there. Each boy
threw out his line with hook, bait and sinker and sat ever so
still. The only sound to be heard was leaves rustling when a
breeze blew by. It was a high blue-sky day with not a cloud in
sight.
Suddenly there was a tug at Wink's line. Almost at the same
time a fish was biting for Knuckles. Each lad pulled in a fish and
dropped it in the blue plastic bucket. After the first two fish,
there was a long wait to catch more. When they had caught five
fish between them, the boys were ready to quit for the day. It was
getting too hot for more fishing.
On their way back they stopped at Mr. Winterfresh's front gate
and called him. He came out smiling and opened the gate for Wink
and Knuckles to enter.
"Come in, boys." invited the senior citizen, "It's hot today
and I have just made some cold lemonade. Have a glass with me. I
do like company."
Following Mr. Winterfresh onto the porch and through the
house, the boys gave him a nice fat fish.
"Fine! Fine!" The old man was delighted. It had been a long
while since he had eaten fresh fish.
Mr. Winterfresh lived in a long house and it was quite a ways
to the kitchen. Wink and Knuckles noticed there were only two
separate rooms inside his place - the bathroom and the Kitchen.
The rest of his house was open - something like a furniture store.
There was a sofa, television and chairs in one corner. Another
corner had a beautiful bedroom set. And there were two more beds,
two tables and dining room chairs.
"Why, Mr. Winterfresh, I didn't know your house was made like
this inside," remarked Wink.
"It was never finished, son," returned Mr. Winterfresh.
"Didn't you want a regular house?" asked Knuckles.
"No, my wife died before I finished the work," explained the
old man. "I had wanted it nice for her. This is good enough for
me, the way it is. I don't need anything fancy."
The thought of Mr. Winterfresh's wife having died reminded
Wink of his father's death in an automobile accident, and the
automobile reminded him of the broken windshield. Oh, if he could
only forget it. He had thought of himself as a tough kid, but this
thing he did not know how to handle.
Son, you look a mite troubled," the old friend said to Wink.
"Do you want to tell me what is bothering you? I am a good
listener."
"Well-er, I need to tell someone," Wink admitted. "Yesterday I
knocked a baseball too far and it hit a car's windshield. It
bothers me because I can't forget it."
"Oh, I see," Mr. Winterfresh was sympathetic. "You do have a
problem, don't you?"
"Yeah, I didn't mean to break the windshield," confessed Wink.
"It just happened."
"Of course, you didn't. I understand and so does my friend,"
the old man said gently.
"Your friend?" Wink was surprised. Who else knew about the
broken windshield except the gang?
"Yes, I have a friend who understands everything," Mr.
Winterfresh said with assurance. "I can talk to him about any
problem that I may have."
"I wish I had a friend like him," said Wink.
"Me, too," added Knuckles. "He sounds like the greatest guy
ever."
"He is the greatest! He is super! You can have him for your
friend if you choose," promised the old man,
"Who is he?" asked Wink.
"His name is Jesus," said kindly Mr. Winterfresh.
"Jesus? I've heard about him, but I didn't know you could talk
to him like you talk to your friends," Wink responded.
"Where can we meet your friend?" asked Knuckles.
"Here. Right now," said Mr. Winterfresh. "I'll tell you how,
but first let me read a little from the good book."
Their old friend took the Bible from a table in the corner of
his house and read:
"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus
is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and
are justified and it is with your mouth that
that you confess and are saved. As the scripture
says, 'Everyone who trusts in him will never
be put to shame.' ''
Romans 10:9-10, NIV
Then he read to them:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:l6, NIV
"You see, boys, God knew that we all would do things we are
sorry for. Everyone has done wrong. So He gave his only son,
Jesus, to die on the cross that we can be forgiven and have peace
in our hearts," offered Mr. Winterfresh.
"Boy! That's what I need is peace," Wink said hopefully. "I
want to know that everything will be all right."
"Now, pray with me," the old man said as he bowed his head to
begin. The boys bowed their heads.
Slowly Mr. Winterfresh began, "Jesus, I am a sinner. I am
sorry for all my sins. I want you to come into my heart and
cleanse me from all wrongs. I believe you died for me on that
cross and I ask for your forgiveness. Now come in, Lord Jesus, and
take over my life. I will live for you and be your friend. I want
to live forever with you."
Wink and Knuckles repeated each sentence after Mr.
Winterfresh. When the prayer had ended, they both smiled.
"Jesus is here. I feel good," said Wink.
"I didn't know he was so wonderful," was Knuckles'
response.
The old man said, "Praise God! The angels are writing your
names down in Heaven."
"Really?" said Wink. What a pleasant thought.
"Yes, really, God will build your mansions right away," the
kindly man told the lads.
"Does that mean we will die soon?" asked Wink.
"Most likely not. You'll probably live to be an old man like
me, but it will be ready for you when you arrive in Heaven,"
replied Mr. Winterfresh.
The boys' old friend poured more lemonade into their glasses
and served them oatmeal cookies. The lads asked him many questions
and he had answers for all of them.
Wink looked at the clock on the wall. "It's 3:30. We had
better go, Knuckles, Aunt Gracie might be worried; we've been gone
so long." Then he turned to Mr. Winterfresh, "Thank you for
letting us know your friend Jesus. The rest of the gang must get
to know him soon. Can we bring our friends next time we come,
maybe tomorrow!"
"Sure, boys, Jesus wants everyone to know him and have his
peace," the kindly man said, delighted that the other boys might
come to hear about his friend.
Wink and Knuckles took their fish from the refrigerator and
headed for home. This has been a very good day, not at all like
yesterday. The fishing had been successful. Mr. Winterfresh was
pleased with the fish they gave him and he was so generous with
his lemonade and oatmeal cookies. Best of all, the elderly man's
friend had become their friend, too.
Aunt Gracie was glad to see the smile on Wink's face when he
came up the driveway. She could see the fish - no wonder he was
happy.
Knuckles had gone home. He hoped someone would listen when he
talked about Jesus.
"Aunt Gracie, the best thing happened to me today." Wink said
to his aunt. "The worst thing happened to me yesterday. I have a
lot to tell you."
"Sit down, Wink. I'm ready to listen," Aunt Gracie said.
"Have you heard about Jesus?" asked Wink.
"Certainly. The Bible tells us about Jesus. He is the Son of
God," replied Aunt Gracie.
"Do you know Him, Aunt Gracie?" Wink asked.
"Well, not really. I know about Him," his aunt said.
"I know Jesus," Wink continued. "He lives inside of me
now."
This information startled Aunt Gracie.
"Heavens! How'd you find out?" she asked, curious.
Wink told Aunt Gracie about Mr. Winterfresh and his friend
Jesus. His eyes sparkled with joy when he told of Jesus coming to
live with him forever.
His aunt could see there was something different about Wink
and she liked what she saw. She thought of the night before and
how tired he had looked.
"Now, dear, what was the worst thing that happened yesterday?"
"Oh, Aunt Gracie, I wish it had not happened. Yesterday we
went to play ball at the ball field and the Little Leaguers were
playing so we had to find another place to play. Big Squirt knew
of a field out near Blue Lake. We went there and had fun playing
until I ended the fun. It was terrible," Wink sighed.
"What was terrible?" she asked.
"Well, I hit the ball so hard it went flying far and high and
it landed on someone's property. It broke a car windshield," Wink
confessed. What was Aunt Gracie going to say?
"Oh dear! Oh dear! That was real bad. I am sorry it happened.
You know that we will have to figure out a way to pay for the
windshield. I have fifty-seven dollars, but I don't think that is
nearly enough." She tried to be cheerful about the situation.
"Do we really have to pay?" Wink said, but he felt
uncomfortable with that statement. "No one but the gang saw what
happened. The fuzz don't know who did it."
"I think your friend Jesus would want you to do something,"
Aunt Gracie said. "Don't you?"
"Yes, you're right," Wink replied. "I realize I must pay for
it, but I have to figure out a way. Maybe the guys will think of
something."
About that time Jeff and Big Squirt walked up the driveway.
Wink came out to meet them. They saw that he looked happy but said
nothing about it. Big Squirt asked Wink, "How about let's collect
some souvenirs? It'll be easy. There's lots of folks in town today
- a convention or something. We can swipe a load, O.K.?"
"Nope I am not collecting any more treasures by stealing. My
friend would not like that." Wink suddenly realized how wrong it
was to steal things.
"Your friend!" Jeff exclaimed. "Great guns! All your friends
steal. You know that. Dog it! What's with you, Wink? Ain't you
going to be fun anymore?"
"Not if it means stealing," replied Wink. "Jesus is my new
friend and I know He doesn't want me to steal."
"Where did you learn about Jesus and how come He is your
friend?" asked Big Squirt.
"Mr. Winterfresh told me how to know Jesus. He was right."
"That old goat," snarled Jeff.
"He is a good guy," Wink said, and he was glad he knew Mr.
Winterfresh.
"Anyway, you broke a windshield." reminded Big Squirt. "That's
the same as stealing."
"It's not the same. That was an accident," Wink replied.
"Anyway, I'm going to pay for it soon's I get the money. Aunt
Gracie said she will give me fifty-seven dollars but I need much
more. I want you guys to help me find a way to make more
money."