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Hot n' spicy messages overflowed my sinuses. Sounds blurred around me as one voice chimed in over and over. "Lord help me." I said unknowing.

"It's going to be ok Shay." I came to as Jon's hand found a place on my shoulder.

"I'm such an idiot!" I repeated softly over and over. I dug my hands hard into my eye sockets hoping to pull them away and wake up from this dream., no luck. I needed to find a phone. I had no money, and not a clue as to where a pay phone was. I was lucky enough to find an open restaurant at twelve o'clock in the morning in downtown Denver.

"Do you have a phone I could use?" I tried to pull my lips back in a smile. The older Chinese man behind the counter looked confused at first, so I repeated myself. "Is there a phone I could use?" He just smiled, turned and walked away. I wanted to run into the wall.

"What are you looking for?" I looked up, another Chinese man stood in place of the last. At least this one could speak English.

"A phone. I need to call long distance." I tried to sound nice, but I didn't feel it.

"I have a cell phone." The man smiled, I looked at his dirty apron from a day of cooking as he pulled out a small phone.

"It's long distance, thanks anyway." My heart dropped, I turned to return to the table with my friends.

"It's ok, just don't take long." There had to be some kind of a twist.

"I don't have any money to give you for it." I explained. He just smiled at me.

"It's ok, just not long." His thin arm stretched over the counter. I reached over and took it.

"Thank you, thank you so much." Now not only did I feel stupid, I felt guilty.

I slowly dialed in the numbers, trying to think of any other way to get out of calling my father. I punched in the last number and no new ideas had come.

"Hello?" Mom's tired voice drained into the receiver.

"I need to talk to Dad." I asked quickly.

"Where are you?" Dad's groggy voice swallowed my heart.

"Still in Denver, I don't have much time to talk, see my car kind of got towed." I hurried, in hope to get less of a verbal beating.

"Where did you park, did you not take enough money?" His voice got heavier.

"I don't have much time to talk, I know for sure it's towed. I just $200 cash to get it out." The Chinese man hung over my shoulder like a vulture, but he was still smiling. "I'm using a guy's cell phone long distance, I'm really sorry, please just come help me?" I begged in my most sorry voice I had.

"Stay inside until I come, I'll be there in a little bit." I could hear the disappointment in his sigh.

"Ok, thanks, bye." I hung up and handed the phone back over. "Thank you so much." I almost caught myself bowing to the man like I had seen in the movies. Making my way back to the guys at the table, I sat down with a sigh. "My dad's on his way."

The Chinese restaurant was closing, and Dad was still not there. We were pushed out, with smiles, back onto the street. Walking back to the front of the Fillmore, where the concert was held only hours before, I kept the guys close. I could imagine now, three years later, a 20 year old walking down the sidewalk of downtown Denver at one in the morning, but a bunch of kids?

Myself being the oldest, at the age of 17, felt like I had to protect the others. While trying to act older and not scared at all, I was becoming paranoid of everything and everyone. On top of that I started trying to figure out how I was going to prove to my friend's parents that I really wasn't that irresponsible.

The muffled sounds of the bar across the street soon spilled out of the door as it was closing, pushing out all the drunks. Groups of three and four hung their arms around each other in hope of finding some center of gravity when the person next to them was just as drunk as the next. Swaying back and forth they sang a song at the top of their lungs and wandered their way into the intersection. I imagined them as Irishmen coming out of a pub after a hard days work.

Huddled close together, the guys seemed to move in closer to me as we watched some come our way. Watching the drunks our attention was drawn to the opening doors of the auditorium, where out walked a few of the guys from the starter band and Wuv from P.O.D.

"How's it flyin' brother?" Wuv asked my brother, shaking his hand.

"Not bad, just waiting, my sister's car was towed." Thanks bro! If I wasn't paying for it already with guilt and stupid, you've got to tell one of the guys I've always looked up to.

"Sorry bro, this guy over here got his car towed too. You goys gonna be alright out here?" Wuv asked, I didn't bother to look up.

"Yeah, my dad's on his way. Awesome concert man!" Travis, my brother, said shaking Wuv's hand again as he left.

After what seemed like a couple hours more of waiting on the cold sidewalk, my dad showed up. His silence only began to tell of his unhappiness. Dad drove to the tow place and paid the $200 to get it out, only seconds after the last person turned off the last light to close for the night.

On the way home, Jon talked about how awesome the concert was. How blessed we were to get to go, and how God had blessed P.O D. with talents to be able to reach out to so many people with the gospel.

I had forgotten all about thinking of the Lord. I had asked him in the Chinese restaurant to help me without even realizing. I came to find that the concert hadn't been the coolest thing that night, but all the blessings the Lord had given me. He protected a bunch of teens in the "rougher" part of a city. He blessed us with the Chinese man who willingly gave up his cell phone so that we could call long distance. Blessed me with a great dad who came and picked us up at two o'clock in the morning. And then least of all, with the moving experience of the concert.


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