Free I Rize by S.T. Anthony

a letter to Adny. He had no idea that she could not read them. He had no idea that she was struggling to survive.
    Jace and his parents were talking to the local people about Christianity. As his dad repeated scriptures from the Bible, he had a moment of relapse. A frown formed when he began to think about the night they won their cross-country meet. The memory formed a veil of anger and frustration around him. He distanced himself from his parents’ conversation.
    His dad pulled him to the side because he noticed Junior’s face becoming paler. “Son, you haven’t been acting like your usual happy self since we’ve been here.”
    Jace began rubbing his temple. “You remember the girl named Adny I have been telling you about?”
    His dad chuckled briefly. “Yes, I do. Every single day your mother and I hear something new about this girl. When will we meet the special girl?”
    Jace looked down at the ground and said, “You probably will never meet her now because I think I messed up.”
    His father stood a few inches taller than him. He lowered his eyes to meet Jace’s. Talking about Adny further would worsen Jace’s already dampened mood, so he responded with, “God forgives us. The hardest part is forgiving ourselves.”
    Jace looked back down at the ground with a defeated look. When he didn’t respond, his father reached into his pant pocket and handed him some pain medication. Jace went to the cramped room where he slept and saw the oldest son of the host family, Mosi, looking through his letters. He tapped on Mosi’s broad shoulders to get his attention. Mosi immediately jumped back, dropping a handful of letters on the cold floor. “It’s okay, buddy. I don’t mind if you read them.”
    Mosi reached down to pick up the letters and asked, “It’s for a girl?”
    Jace plopped two pills into his mouth and titled his head back on the cotton pillows. “A girl I have been falling in love with since the day I met her at my school. I was a sophomore when we met for the first time.” He moved his body back and forth against the wooden frame searching for a comfortable spot.
    “She love you back?”
    “I doubt it, because I was mean to her friend.”
    “My teacher told us, do bad things, say sorry. You say sorry?”
    “No, I haven’t, but you’re right. I just feel so guilty about the situation.”
    Mosi picked up one of the letters from the desk. “I read letter. Nice words. She will love.”
    A smile spread across Jace’s face as Adny crossed his mind. He envisioned her soft touch playing in his hair, her heavenly smell that always made him want more, and her long black hair flowing in front of him. His moment in fantasyland ended when Mosi nudged him to answer a question.
    “Why you close eyes when talk about her?”
    Jace closed his eyes again before responding, “I want to savor each precious minute she crosses my mind.”
    Mosi opened his mouth as his eyes widened and Jace chuckled at the confused look.
    “You see her again?”
    “I haven’t seen or heard from her in a long time.” Jace picked up a letter, losing his train of thought. He began envisioning the first moment their hands touched on the bleachers and how he wished he'd asked for her number.
    When Mosi kept jumping on the edge of the bed, Jace knew he was getting restless with all the love talk. Jace followed him outside where he spent a few hours playing with many of the local children, watching the sun set—enjoying the simplicity of his surroundings.

SIX
FRIDAY, JUNE 7 TH
    T HE CAFETERIA lines were full of eager, hungry students during the afternoon. The usual wait time was between ten to twenty minutes. The menu was switched every other week, but after a semester of eating at Valley High, students memorized what would come next. Mickey looked down at the menu while waiting in line, and everyone around him groaned at the sight of it:
    • Tasty soft tacos
    • Sweet kernel corn
    • Broccoli
    • Orange wedges
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