Nightwitch by Ken Douglas Read Free Book Online

with his father tomorrow for sneaking out, but he had a friend who needed him tonight.
    He pulled his flannel pajama pants out from between the crack in his buttocks, then pulled them down. For an instant, naked from the waist down, he wondered about what to wear, then he dropped the thought and pulled on the same underwear he’d worn to school. His mother never would have approved. Then he went to his dresser and pulled out a faded pair of Levi’s from the second drawer.
    Breathing heavily and already sweating, he stuffed his feet into the same white socks he’d worn earlier. If he was violating his mother’s rule about never wearing anything he’d taken off till it was washed again, he might as well go all the way. But not the white tennis shoes, he’d never wear those again. He rummaged in his closet and came up with his new Nikes and put them on.
    He took a deep breath, to calm himself, after he’d laced them up. He scratched the back of his neck, to chase away the chilly willies, and took another breath, before opening the second from the top dresser drawer and taking out an old sweatshirt. He put it on over his pajama top. He knew how cold it was outside.
    Now he had to get out of the house. There was no way he was going to get down the hall, through the kitchen and out the back door. His mother spent every night sitting at the breakfast table, alone, reading. And he wasn’t going to get out the front way either. His father spent every night in front of the television, also alone. That meant he had to go out the window. Something he hadn’t done since he was younger—and leaner.
    He pulled the curtains aside and raised the window. The squeaking sound it made going up caused him to jump back. He held his breath and waited. But nobody came.
    He stared at the open window for a long half-minute. Outside meant danger, excitement, a friend. Inside was his mother in the kitchen, his father in front of the TV and Arty alone in his room. He blanked his mind, putting tomorrow and his parents out of the picture and his leg through the window.
    Fifteen minutes later he was huffing up the sidewalk in front of Carolina’s house. He jogged up to the front porch without thinking, grabbed a lungful of air and knocked three times. The door opened immediately.
    “ Boy am I glad you came.” The relief in her eyes made whatever his father decided to do to him tomorrow worth it.
    “ I got here as fast as I could.”
    “ Come in, quick. I think someone’s been looking in the window.”
    “ You didn’t turn the lights on,” he said. “We gotta do that.”
    “ You sure?”
    “ Yeah, how many movies have you seen where the bad guy comes into the dark house?”
    “ Okay.” She walked over to the couch and turned on the lamp.
    “ Where’s your mom?”
    “ On a date. Follow me.” She led him over plush white carpet, across a living room filled with a bright orange and yellow overstuffed sofa with matching love seat and chair. “My mom likes bright things,” she said. “My room is this way.”
    “ I can’t go in your room.”
    “ Why not?”
    “ I don’t know,” he said, but he knew the answer and he didn’t feel like holding it back. “My mother wouldn’t like it.”
    “ So, don’t tell her.” She turned on the light as she entered her room.
    “ It’s nice,” he said. “I’ve never been in a girl’s bedroom before. Actually, I’ve never been in anyone’s bedroom but mine. My parents won’t let me in theirs and I don’t have many friends.”
    “ That’s too bad,” she said.
    “ How come you got two beds?”
    “ They were on sale when my mom bought the furniture for the house. She thought it would be a good idea, in case I had friends sleep over.”
    “ You got many friends that spend the night?”
    “ Not yet.”
    “ The bedspreads are different,” he said. Then he screamed.
    “ Sheila,” Carolina said, sounding cross and trying not to. “Come here.” She laughed as the ferret jumped