#7 Ski,The Jamie Foxx Look-A-Like & The Squirrel...

19-year-old Squire "Ski" Reynolds sat up straight in his hospital bed and craned his neck to the right to look at a western gray squirrel scurrying up the large maple tree outside of his hospital window. He noticed that the animal seemed to show up when he was at his loneliest times. Ski often left blueberries, pecans, and sunflower seeds from his daily salad on his window ledge for his new friend that he nicknamed Agile Ninja Turtle. 

Ski was in a drug rehabilitation program for a major steroid addiction. He was embarrassed about his addiction, dealing with grief, and being negatively influenced by a new set of friends, so he impulsively decided to end his friendship with his high school best friend, Ahanu "Nu" Kind Heart, and forcefully told Ahanu to leave him alone.

Ski felt bad about how he had treated Ahanu the last time that he saw him, but it had been the 7th anniversary of his parent's passing, and the roids had gotten the best of him that day. 

Ahanu's life was picture perfect! How could he understand what being an orphan felt like? Also, he loved Paw Paw Reynolds dearly, but Paw Paw didn't understand what being relentlessly teased because of his "Rubberband Man" physique by classmates during PE each week of primary and junior high school as well as for the first three years of his high school career, felt like, nor did he know what it was like to be an only child that had not had his parents since the age of twelve. Ski thought to himself.

On a brighter note, Ski's doctor, Dr. Taylor, had just informed him that his jaundice, acne, and roid rage would resolve as soon as his body detoxed and that it was good that he was stopping his steroid usage early because they can cause major liver injury, permanent kidney damage, and can stunt a person's growth. 

Ski certainly wanted a healthy liver & kidneys and clear skin, but he shuddered at the thought of stunted growth. He was only 5'8"; he could use all of the height that he could get. He wanted no part of being a "Short King."

Ski heard a light tap on his hospital room door and saw a middle-aged Black man with a gray walking cane in his right hand, who resembled the singer/actor/comedian Jamie Foxx, holding Agile Ninja Turtle in his left arm.

Ski almost yelled out Jamie Foxx's popular "Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol" song lyric when he saw Jamie's doppelganger, but he managed to refrain and to keep things classy in front of his elder.

"Hey young man. My name is Neddie Angell. I found him outside of your window napping," Mr. Neddie said as he nodded his head toward the lively squirrel that he was holding.

"Is he yours?" Mr. Neddie asked with a inscrutable glare in his sepia brown eyes.

"No, I just met him," Ski replied matter-of-factly.

"What's his name, son?" Mr. Neddie asked with interest.

"I named him Agile Ninja Turtle," Ski responded with a half-smile because of the juvenile name that he had chosen for the squirrel based on his favorite Ninja Turtle cartoon. The Agile portion of the animal's name came from the squirrel's lively personality and all of the acrobatics that Ski witnessed the squirrel do in the tree directly in front of his hospital window.

Agile Ninja Turtle seemed to recognize his name instantly, for when he heard Ski say it, he immediately climbed out of the elder gentleman's arms then expertly dove onto the end table next to Ski's bed, and then unexpectedly leaped into Ski's arms.

"Unc, please come get him. I'm too young to die. I don't want 40 rabies shots in the stomach from this little guy!" Ski said in a panicked tone.

"First off, Son. You are safe. He is clearly from the local squirrel sanctuary. If you look closely, you can see that he has a cleft lip that is being rehabbed and that he has a special yellow rehab tag around his neck. Also, squirrels are a low-risk species for rabies. If he were acting aggressively toward us, then we may have something to be worried about," Mr. Neddie replied with a raucous chuckle.

The panicked look on Ski's face slowly dissipated as he took in Mr. Neddie's words. 

"Secondly, and on a serious note, I am here to deliver a special message to you. Please allow me to finish before you speak, okay, son?" Mr. Neddie commanded gently.

"Uh, okay," Ski replied a tad bit apprehensively.

"There are two roads, son. Read Matthew Chapter 7, verses 13-14, from the Holy Bible to learn more about them." 

"The broad way/road leads to destruction, while the narrow way/road leads to life."

"You were baptized at seventeen. Please remember whose you are and return to the narrow road of spiritual vitality before you meet an early demise caused by your poor choices and keeping poor company. The companions that you've been entertaining are steeped in self-absorbed darkness and destruction. Scrape sells poison to the youth and lies with married women. He will eventually reap what he has sown."

"Don't continue to conform to Scrape and his crew's foolishness. Be your own man. Ask yourself, have you really had a happy day since you began drinking and drugging with them?"

"The answer is no. I know deep down that you're tired of proudly carrying anger around in your arms like it is your firstborn child. Aren't you tired of street fights outside of night clubs & physical confrontations at those money-draining gentleman's clubs as well as spending time with money-hungry young ladies with selfish ambitions who are just using you to get to Scrape?"

"Many saints have been praying for you to return to the right path, but the truth is that this is your final warning, son."

"Also, I realize that grief can make humans behave in unexpected ways, but please apologize to Ahanu."

"Evil-hearted agents of chaos like Scrape and his crew will try to convince you that bad is good and good is bad. Don't allow them to bamboozle you and to hijack your destiny of greatness and unity with God with their foolishness."

"Scrape is a destiny blocker who will disappear in your time of need. Ask yourself has Scrape been to visit you in rehab?"

"Ahanu is one of your destiny helpers that will aid you with your divine calling; don't shoo him away. Heed his counsel, son."

Shouldn't this man be doing a Vegas residency as a Jamie Foxx impersonator and singing his greatest hits instead of being concerned about me? Ski thought to himself as he looked to the ceiling in exasperation.

When Ski turned to ask Mr. Neddie how he knew so many personal details about his journey, Mr. Neddie was gone.

Ski had only looked at the ceiling for 5 seconds maximum. There was no way that Mr. Neddie could have walked out of the room in that short amount of time without Ski hearing the click of his cane and the squeak of the tan, men's rubber rain boots that he was wearing.

As far as Ski was concerned, he had just witnessed a miracle.

"I think that Mr. Neddie was an angel. What do you think, A.N.T.?" Ski asked his new squirrel companion with a smile. 

Agile Ninja Turtle nodded his head up and down in agreement, then hopped up on one of Ski's shoulders and curled his entire body around Ski's neck like a furry scarf and went to sleep.