Flash Point by Nancy Kress Read Free Book Online

is all that matters. The tech is interesting, sure, but let me tell you yet again, since you seem to have forgotten it, that the heart of this thing is—”
    “We can do it,” Myra said. “And I think Mark is right. We should. Then if we edit all night, we can show Taunton something on Monday.”
    “Aren’t you going to be a little busy on Monday, Myra?” Alex said. “Think again. That’s the day the kids all report for ‘work.’” His fingers made little quotes in the air.
    “Alex, don’t you ever get tired of throwing up roadblocks?” Mark said.
    “Mark’s right, Alex,” said Myra. “We can do it if we have to. And we have to. Taunton needs to see something spectacular. We’ve got forty-eight hours to pull this together.”
    “Shazam,” Mark said.

Six
    S ATURDAY
    AMY WAS HAVING a suspiciously good Saturday morning.
    Gran felt much better; she even got out of bed and sat at their tiny table for breakfast. Kaylie woke early enough to join them for breakfast, a rarity. Kaylie folded up the sleep sofa without being asked. Amy had turned up the thermostat and made a big pot of coffee. If you didn’t look at the peeling walls and exposed overhead pipes, it was almost like old times.
    “Yum,” Gran said, carefully setting down her cup. “Good coffee. What are you girls’ plans for the day?”
    “I have a lot of homework,” Kaylie said.
    Amy and Gran stared. Homework?
Kaylie?
    “Don’t look at me like that,” Kaylie snapped. “I have to graduate, don’t I? Two stinking months and twelve days left.”
    Amy recovered herself. If Kaylie was voluntarily doing homework, there was some ulterior motive. Carefully monitoring her tone—not too eager, not too big-sister, not too anything—she asked, “Do you want some help?”
    “Yes,” Kaylie said promptly. “You can do all the math assignments.”
    “I didn’t say—”
    “Kayla Jane,” Gran said, leaning forward, “what’s going on? Are you in trouble at school again?”
    “No. Really, I’m not. But I want to compete in All-City with the band, Friday night at the Arena. A ‘talent show’ might be lame but what the fuck, it’s publicity, and I can’t be in it unless my grades are ‘current.’ Bunch of bullshit.”
    Amy had heard Kaylie’s band, Orange Decision. Amy, with her lousy ear for music, had no idea if they were good or not. They were certainly loud. But anything that got Kaylie doing homework was terrific. She said, “We can start right after I make an appointment for Gran at her old doctor’s.” Full medical benefits!
    “How are you going to do that? On Mrs. Raduski’s phone? She won’t let you. And incidentally, Buddy nearly bit me when I got in last night. Fucking dog. Oh, sorry, Gran—sweet misguided canine.”
    “With fucking bad genes,” Gran said, and Kaylie nearly choked on her coffee, laughing.
    Definitely a good day.
    “No, not on Mrs. Raduski’s phone,” Amy said. “I have just enough left from the job advance to buy three of those cheap cells with prepaid minutes. But they’re only for emergencies, Kaylie. There won’t be many minutes on any of them.”
    “Good idea,” Kaylie said amiably. “I’ll stay with Gran while you go buy them. Gran, maybe you can help me with this essay I have to write for history?”
    Kaylie must really want this All-City gig.
    Amy bounced down the stairs and through the vestibule—no Buddy—into a warm, clear spring day. She tilted back her head to let the sunshine fall on her face. Some children tore past in a grade-school pack, chasing a soccer ball in some made-up street game of their own. One little boy flashed her a smile as rich and sweet as chocolate cake.
    Mr. Fu stood sadly behind the counter of his cramped store. Amy bought three of the cheapest prepaid cells. “Still no bananas,” Mr. Fu said. At the print kiosk three blocks over, Amy printed a flimsie of the
Post-Herald
for Gran. When she returned home, a truck blazoned CALLAHAN MOVERS stood across the