House Arrest by K.A. Holt Read Free Book Online Page B

cheese.
What are these? My voice was loud.
Mary just looked at me
with cow eyes.
Where did the chains go? More cow eyes.
Then, her high-pitched voice:
The chains are against regulation. My loud voice just kept coming:
The chains keep him happy.
The chains keep him dry.
The chains prevent infections on his neck. My face is hot, my breathing hard.
Mom comes in, takes my hand,
pulls me away
and while I stand in the kitchen
hating Mary
(Yes, James. Yes, Mrs. B. Hating her.)
I hear Mom say,
He’s just a boy, yes,
but he loves his brother very much. Are we back to Levi being a screaming burrito
so many many many times a day?
Erasing Marisol’s smart idea of the chains?
That’s when I thought about punching the wall
right there in the kitchen.
Pow.
But I didn’t.
I just walked out.

    I walked out
and went to the only place I can go,
even though technically
I should have told Mom
where I was going,
and even though technically
I should have told José’s mom
that I was coming.
But here I am.
I won’t stay long.
I just need to catch my breath.

    Only ten minutes
ticktock ticktock
until Sofia needed to start writing her paper,
until I needed to go back home.
Isa leaned over my shoulder,
her hair as the curtain next to my face
instead of Mrs. B’s curtain.
The Google box was blank.
I couldn’t type.
My brain was a black hole
pulling every particle of Isa
into it
and forgetting everything else.

    Look. Isa stood behind me, her arm reaching over my shoulder.
She pointed to the screen
but I looked at her arm,
at the freckle just above the inside of her elbow.
It’s a really nice freckle.
Round
but slightly gross.
There’s a hair in the middle.
A really long hair.
You’re not looking. My eyes traced her arm to get to the screen.
Isa tapped the monitor.
It’s not a touch screen , I said.
I know, dummy. She smacked the back of my head with her other hand.
LOOK. I looked.
Dr. Samuel Sawyer
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
specialty: airway Accepting new patients
We did it!
We found someone!
But wait.
Cincinnati?
Uuugh.
Might as well be Antarctica.
And of course he’s the only doctor
in the whole freaking country
who does this surgery.
    I dropped my head on the desk.
A hand patted my shoulder.
I peeked open my eyes
saw the freckle one more time,
so pretty
so gross.
Nothing is perfect, is it?

    Reckless is the word Mom used.
How would I know you were going to José’s house?! she asked, slamming her hand on the table.
How would I know you wouldn’t be
wandering the streets getting into trouble
getting picked up again
getting sent to juvie for real?!
How do we know anything? That’s what I said.
Maybe I should have said
But I found him!
I found the doctor who can save Levi!
But I didn’t.
I didn’t say anything else.
I just stared at the table
while my mind went crazy
saying Cincinnati
Cincinnati
Cincinnati
over and over and over again.
Timothy! Mom grabbed my arm.
Are you even listening to me?
You have to be responsible now.
You can’t go back to juvie.
You just can’t.
And she started to cry.

WEEK 2 4
    I can’t tell Mom about Cincinnati.
Not until everything is perfect.
This won’t be one of those things,
the things that Timothy screws up.
This won’t be one of those things,
the things that Timothy thinks are helpful
until they aren’t.
This will be the thing.
The thing that makes up for everything.

    No, Mrs. B.
I do not think my hopes are too high.
I will make this happen.
No matter what.

    Yes, James.
I realize that making something happen
no matter what
is what got me into this mess
in the first place.

    For real, though.
You guys.
You have to read these stories.
See these pictures.
Little dudes just like Levi,
who couldn’t breathe
who couldn’t eat right
who are now all grown up
playing baseball
eating tacos
laughing
talking
all because they wouldn’t take no for an answer.
All because when they heard let’s wait and see