Cut Back by Todd Strasser Read Free Book Online Page B

going?” Bean asked Kai while they watched Shauna dig for the wave.
    â€œShe’s getting there,” Kai said.
    Shauna caught the wave at an angle, planted her hands on the deck of the board, popped up and instantly did a header right into the trough.
    â€œBig improvement,” Bean quipped.
    â€œGive her some time,” Kai said. He looked back at the beach. The strange guy was still standing at the waterline. “You guys know who that is?”
    â€œThat’s Spazzy,” Booger said. “He and his sister come here every summer.”
    â€œWhat’s the story?” Kai asked.
    â€œI don’t know. People say the wiring in his head is messed up.”
    Kai was about to look back to see what Shauna was doing when he saw one of the guys from Lucas’s crew walking out of the water and up onto the beach with his board. Itwas Runt, the red-haired kid who always tried to act so tough. Runt put his board down and started to walk toward the weird guy.
    Maybe it was the agro posture of Runt’s body, or the expression on his face. But something told Kai that there was going to be trouble.

Ten
    W ithout waiting for a wave, Kai started to paddle in. That weird guy, Spazzy, or whatever they called him, had seen Runt by now and was starting to back away up the beach. Meanwhile Runt bent down and picked something up from the sand like he was going to throw it.
    Aw, crap
. Kai truly couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Garbage like this wasn’t supposed to happen in real life. It only happened in those dumb made-for-school movies about bullying that everyone felt compelled to show ever since those two nutcases went berserk at Columbine.
    The spazzy guy started to back away fasternow, stumbling and almost losing his balance as he turned to run. Runt wound up, and threw whatever he’d picked up. Because of the way the spazzy guy was jerking and flailing, Kai couldn’t tell if anything hit him or not.
    â€œGet the hell outa here, you freak!” Runt shouted, and bent down to pick up something else to hurl. Kai reached the shallows and jumped off his board. He ripped the leash off his ankle, tore up the beach, and blindsided Runt just as he was about to throw.
    They both went down. Kai had the advantage, since Runt didn’t know what had hit him. But now he had to wrestle him in the sand. Of course, Runt had to fight back, so they rolled around, Kai getting sand in his mouth and eyes before he managed to grab Runt’s arm, twist it around his back, and force him facedown in the sand.
    â€œLeggo!” Runt tried to fight loose.
    â€œJust chill,” Kai said, holding him down, but not hurting him. He spit the sand out of his mouth and tried to blink it out of his eyes.
    â€œLet go!” Runt kept struggling.
    Kai twisted the kid’s arm up behind his back a little more. Runt yelped, then laid still.
    â€œWhat’s your problem?” Kai asked.
    â€œFuck you, what’s
your
problem?” Runt growled back.
    â€œI don’t have a problem,” Kai said. “And I’m not the one throwing stuff at retards.”
    â€œI’m not a retard,” someone said.
    Kai swiveled his head around in surprise. The spazzy guy was standing there, blinking, licking his lips, jerking around like someone was zapping him with a stun gun. Yet the words had been spoken with perfect clarity. Kai stared at him, totally confused.
    â€œI have Tourette’s syndrome,” the guy said.
    Whatever it was, Kai had never heard of it. Runt squirmed again. Kai let go and stood up. Runt leaped to his feet, spitting sand out of his mouth and scratching it out of his hair. He brought up his fists like he still wanted to fight.
    â€œYou want to go at it? Come on, let’s go!” Runt danced around, waving his fists, ducking and weaving like he was in the first round of a heavyweight fight. Kai and the spazzy guy glanced at each other and the spazzy guy actually