Force Out by Tim Green Read Free Book Online Page B

beady eyes scowled at Joey’s mom, who stood with her hands on her hips, listening intently.
    Between his forefinger and thumb, holding it up for Joey’s mom to see, the dreaded teacher presented the small ring of the silver clamp Joey used to shut down his fuel line.

17
    When his mom looked over at him, Joey thought he would melt. After losing the game the way he just had, he was already sick to his stomach. This, though, this added a heavy weight to the sickness, driving him into depths he never knew existed.
    Zach turned to see what caught Joey’s attention. “Oh, Christmas.”
    â€œYeah.” Joey’s voice was as flat as a pancake. “Christmas is right. I am so dead.”
    Zach faced him. “What are we gonna do?”
    Joey kept his eyes on his mom and Mr. Kratz. He marched toward them, like a zombie or a bug to a campfire. He sensed Zach behind him, groaning in agony over what was about to happen. “This is all my fault, bro. I’m going to take the fall here, not you.”
    Joey spun on him and spoke in a low, hissing tone. “No. No way. You are not taking any fall. If one of us has to go down, there’s no reason we both do, and I’m going down no matter what. Trust me. You didn’t know anything about this, got it? I wanted to win this game, so I did it. Not you. I’m already in trouble for the sleeping pill.”
    â€œBro, your mom will kill you.”
    â€œI know.” Joey turned. “But she can only kill me once, right? Then, I’m dead.”

18
    â€œJoey?” His mom had her police officer face on. “Mr. Kratz had his truck vandalized.”
    Joey opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He felt the gates of his tear ducts swinging open, and fought to keep them closed.
    â€œLook at this.” Mr. Kratz raised the silver clamp even higher. “You believe this? Crazy, right? Someone shut down my fuel line.”
    Joey nodded, but it was his mom Mr. Kratz was talking to.
    â€œI didn’t know if I should make a formal complaint or not,” Mr. Kratz said. “I came to throw the Frisbee with my dog and saw you up there in the stands. I hate to bother you, Officer Riordon, but you said anytime.”
    â€œMr. Kratz, your jam keeps my whole family happy. I meant it when I said anytime, and I’m glad you asked me instead of someone who’d just sweep it under the rug.”
    The tone of their banter didn’t sound to Joey like he was about to be thrown in jail or grounded for life, and he shared a puzzled look with Zach.
    â€œI know it sounds silly,” Mr. Kratz said, his low, rough voice sounding almost jolly, “but someone must have done this on purpose. I don’t even know if it’s a crime. Well, the crime is that we missed our field trip, but I mean a real crime.”
    â€œIt’s vandalism.” Joey’s mom smelled crime in the air the way a dog sniffed out a holiday ham. “That’s a crime in my book, and if you want to lodge a complaint, I’d be happy to swing by later this afternoon, or we could wait until I’m actually on duty Monday morning.”
    Mr. Kratz held up a hand. “No, I don’t want to mess up your weekend. I just thought maybe you’d heard of it happening around town with other people. Some kind of prank that’s all of a sudden popular with the kids. We used to tip over people’s cows. You know how kids can be.”
    Joey’s mom gave him and Zach a narrow-eyed look. “Oh, I do. What do you two know about it?”
    Joey didn’t like the look on Zach’s face. It was the look of a dead man walking.
    Zach opened his mouth. “We—”
    Joey stomped on Zach’s toe to cut him off. “We don’t know anything about kids doing that. Nope. That’s a new one.”
    Mr. Kratz turned the clamp over in his hand, studying it. “I don’t know if it even is kids. I can’t think why anyone else