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%u00a9Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights ReservedHOW TO LEGALLY QUOTE FROM THIS BOOKWhat They Did to the Kid 85Kenny joined him. %u201cHey, Deak, come on in.%u201dNo head popped up in the boat.%u201cScrew it,%u201d Rip said. %u201cHe drowned.%u201d%u201cBull. He%u2019s laying in the bottom asleep...%u201d%u201c...passed out...%u201d%u201c...on the life jackets.%u201d Kenny kicked at the sand.I sat down on the beach and took a mental picture.%u201cHe%u2019s been a screw-up all summer,%u201d Rip said. He led Kenny back up to the table and rolled up one of his cigarettes.For a long time I watched the water lip-lap up on the sand. The glare darting off the waves was bright as Rip%u2019s squared-off opinions. Suddenly, way out from shore, Mike was sitting up in the boat the way you do sometimes when you%u2019ve been drifting for hours and have forgotten about people and motors and then all of a sudden you smell the exhaust of someone%u2019s outboard.I raced up the bank and beeped my car horn. Mike turned toward the shore. He saw me honking and flashing the headlights of my red Bug parked next to his car in the deep pine shade. He waved and started rowing toward us. %u201cRyan!%u201d Mike called. He handled the old wooden boat perfectly, nosing it on to the narrow strip of sand. %u201cRyan. Welcome.%u201d He ran up the bank. We shook hands. %u201cI didn%u2019t expect you till tomorrow.%u201d%u201cSurprised?%u201d I said. %u201cI phoned your folks this morning and they said come on today. I can%u2019t stay the whole holiday anyway. My pastor wants me back Sunday night for closing of Forty Hours Devotions. He crapped when I left this morning. What a tan you have!%u201d%u201cYou know I was lifeguarding at the city beach.%u201d He lit a cigarette. %u201cWhat you don%u2019t know is my pastor said hanging around a pool wasn%u2019t a fit job for a seminarian.%u201d%u201cIt%u2019s not,%u201d I said.%u201cSaving people?%u201d He blew smoke rings that floated up in the still air.%u201cNever stretch a metaphor,%u201d I said.%u201cRy, Ry. You%u2019ll never change.%u201dMike brought me to Kenny and Rip. %u201cTwo old buddies,%u201d he said.%u201cLike...I poured them into the car.%u201d%u201cWe all got peculiarities,%u201d Mike said. %u201cThey think they%u2019re beatniks.%u201d%u201cOne of you Deacons got a church key?%u201d Rip yelled.Was he maybe slamming me with some inside joke?%u201cThat%u2019s a bottle opener, Ry,%u201d Mike said.%u201cOh.%u201d%u201cWe lost ours.%u201d Kenny cupped his hand to his ear. %u201cLike I%u2019m waiting.%u201d