Generation M by Scott Cramer Read Free Book Online Page A

swear?” Lisette held out her pinky.
    Sandy gave her a serious look. “Pinky swear.”
    Locking pinkies with Sandy, Lisette felt much better.
    Sandy was right about the mess. Her office in Heisenberg Hall was stacked tall with boxes, and fat books piled high on her desk. She cleared the books off the desk so it could serve as an examination table. Lisette hopped up.
    Sandy listened to her heart, looked in her ears, pressed around her stomach with her fingertips, and took her temperature and her blood pressure.
    Lisette, dangling her legs off the side of the desk, said, “Ahhh” as Sandy peered inside her mouth with a flashlight.
    Sandy wiggled her tooth. “It will fall out soon. I hope you put it under your pillow when it does.”
    Lisette scrunched her face. “My pillow?”
    “How else is the tooth fairy going to find it?”
    “What’s a tooth fairy?”
    Sandy widened her eyes as if everyone should know about the tooth fairy.
    “She takes the tooth while you’re sleeping and leaves you something nice in return. When I was your age, the tooth fairy left money. I don’t know what she leaves now, but I’m sure it’s still something good.” She glanced at Lisette’s profile. “Unit 2A, bed six. I’ll make sure she knows where you sleep.”
    “What does the tooth fairy look like?” Lisette asked.
    “I’ve never seen her, but we talk.” Sandy tapped the walkie-talkie in her coat pocket. “Tooth fairies communicate on a special frequency.”
    Just then, Doctor Hoffer’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie. “Doctor Hedrick, do you have the results for Lisette?”
    Sandy pressed the button and spoke into the two-way radio. “I’m just finishing up. You’ll have the report within thirty minutes.”
    Doctor Hoffer thanked her and signed off.
    “That,” Sandy said with a wink, “was not the tooth fairy.”

1.10
BROOKLYN
    “I’m supposed to meet Toby here,” Abby said to the girl who, a moment earlier, had threatened her with a knife.
    Lexi pointed to a lump under the covers on a nearby mattress — someone sleeping — and brought a finger to her lips. “We have to leave.”
    Lexi’s mattress pulled on Abby like a magnet. She desperately wanted to lie down and rest after lugging the fish. If she could lie down and draw her knees to her chest, it might ease the pain in her stomach.
    “I’m staying,” Abby said.
    Lexi strapped on a leather belt with a sheath and slipped her knife into it. “Toby said you were stubborn.”
    Lexi navigated the narrow pathway among the mattresses and was soon outside.
    Abby decided to join the girl, but only to ask about Toby. If she didn’t get a good answer, she’d return inside.
    With one last look at the mattress, she struggled to heave the pack over her shoulder. A cloud of flies flew up, and then landed back on the fish to continue feasting.
    Abby took a step and grunted when her right thigh muscle cramped. She took another step and her left thigh cramped just as forcefully. Gritting her teeth, she kept moving, hoping the knotted muscles would relax.
    The crowd outside had grown bigger and noisier. Abby put the pack down and tried to massage her legs without being obvious about it. “Let’s talk here,” she said to Lexi.
    Lexi glanced around and leaned in closer. “Toby has a lot of enemies.”
    “Enemies?”
    All of a sudden, Lexi pulled out her knife, and Abby stumbled back, ready to protect herself the best she could.
    “Back away,” Lexi growled.
    She directed the threat at a boy reaching for Abby’s pack. He withdrew his hand, but otherwise stood his ground, eagerly staring at the fish. Abby recognized the look of desperation in his eyes.
    Lexi, still gripping her knife, picked up Abby’s pack. “We’ll go meet Toby.”
    “I’ll carry it,” Abby said, concerned that Lexi might want to steal the fish too.
    “You have the Pig,” Lexi said.
    “No,” Abby blurted. But by responding so quickly, she had all but admitted she was