In Camouflage, one journeys with CJ, a wealthy suburbanite who only knew easy. CJ’s first love of baseball grounded him. When struck in the head with a loose pitch, everything changed. A brutal accident removed his beloved father far from his side. Bankruptcy wrapped around his distant mother; CJ found himself homeless, school less, and rejected. Everything he took for granted was taken away from him. He now was the one others pitied and scoffed. His one treasure his violin was spared. His inner music rescued his outer misery.
The streets tried their best to spit him out but he and his mother trudged on. Other cultures embraced them. A Rabbi opened CJ’s heart to hope through the Lord’s word and praise. Kindness reached out to them in the most unexpected places. CJ learned to give. His inexperienced heart cried out to others. The cold almost triumphed but street tunnels gave them a dwelling place. Warmth wasn’t free even under the streets. Drugs alcohol and pride did its best to persuade CJ but he chose life and all its complexity. An unexpected audition wanted CJ to portray himself. Would he answer that still quiet voice? Would CJ have the courage to open up his eyes?
“Look out! It’s coming right at you, jump!” the screaming voice called out. Out of the corner of his eye, Polo suddenly saw it and jumped with every ounce of energy that he had, lifting both of his legs. But it wasn’t fast enough or high enough. The cold, wet metal sliced through his right leg as he watched himself being hurtled through the unforgiving air. Landing in muddy gravel, Polo reached down to take hold of his throbbing leg, but much to his horror, it wasn’t there. In an instant Polo’s world vanished. He destroyed anyone and anything that stood in his way, including his wife. The lonely professor isolated himself, pushed her away, and Sara couldn’t find her husband. He wasn’t there. He wanted only darkness. In Lifting the Veil, S. S. Simpson unravels the cruelty of Polo’s fate and how his Mexican-American barrio pride fueled his anger and resentment. Join Sara in discovering how light was brought back into Polo’s life and what it was that finally caused the veil to lift.
“I can see that you are very upset. But you have to try and understand that you have stumbled into something that is strong and unyielding. It is not of this world. It does not fear God.” Then I understood what was wrong; the priest was afraid. But how could a priest, a holy man of God be afraid? If the priest were reluctant, what were my chances?
A very faint voice whispered, “He isn’t going to be able to help you. No one can.”
The wind interrupted Leon; it had formed a pack with the waves. Wood from the ferry’s deck was lifted and hurled in all directions. Garrard was slammed in the head. Blood trickled down his face. He tasted blood; his eyes glazed over. If this were the end, he didn’t want to go down with strangers. He cared too much. He needed too much. Crawling on his hands and knees toward Sara and Leon, he collapsed a few yards away. Within a minute, the outlawed ferry lurched ahead, and water gushed over the bow like a broken fountain. Hurled into the unforgiving waves, the numbing screams were silenced.
