Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack Read Free Book Online Page A

back tomorrow because the trouble was all quieted down around the airport. ‘He says it looks worse on TV but sweetie everything does’ Mama said.
    Bigger news here Anne. I can hardly believe it. At lunch Whitney told me she was in the office this morning and Lori came in and went right into Miss Taylor’s office. She couldn’t hear what they were saying. After a few minutes Lori ran out and left the building.
    This afternoon when I got home before she told me about Daddy Mama said ‘Oh sweetie you haven’t seen or heard from Lori have you tell me you have.’ ‘I haven’t’ I said. ‘Miss Taylor called Lori’s mother this morning and told her she’d suspended Lori and now Lori hasn’t come home.’ Mama said. ‘Why was she suspended?’ I asked. ‘Darling she tried to pull a fast one. She wasn’t in school yesterday was she?’ ‘No’ I said. ‘This morning she came in and gave Miss Taylor a note but it was a forgery and not a very good one it seems. She suspended her right then and there and Lori didn’t go home and now nobody knows where she is.’ ‘Is Lori in trouble?’ I asked. ‘The biggest sort of trouble’ Mama said and her eyes were wide as mine.
    Well Anne if you’re going to skip school you have to figure out how not to get caught. I’m sure Lori thought she had but obviously not. Anytime she’s caught she tries to lie and she’s the worst liar. I’ve never skipped school myself. I don’t see why I would but if I ever did I wouldn’t get caught. They always believe me at school when I’m fibbing but they never believe Lori even when she’s telling the truth.
    So now nobody knows where Lori is. I called Tanya and Susie. Whitney had told them what happened but nobody’s heard anything from Lori. Maybe she’s gone home by now. I hope nothing’s happened to her but you never know. Like Mama says it’s hard to believe how many perverts are out there waiting to get their hands on tender geese like us. She was probably with Simon if she could find him and get her paws on him.
    Boob went back to school today and they gave her her shot. She’s got a bruise twice as big as mine and it’s swollen a little. She’s such a baby. ‘It’ll fall off Boob’ I told her. ‘Quit it hurts’ she said. ‘It’ll stop hurting once the gangrene sets in. It’ll turn all black and fall off unless you die first’ I said. ‘Stop’ she started yelling and then she stopped crying. Then I did stop. It’s a good thing the swelling started going down because if it had kept getting bigger we’d have neverheard the end of it. She’d have wanted us to amputate it after all.
    A credit agency kept calling us tonight. Mama looked very sad when she got off the last time they called. ‘Did they say something mean to you?’ I asked. ‘Yes darling but that’s what they’re paid to do so you can’t take it personally’ she said. ‘Why not?’ I asked. If somebody says something mean to me they don’t get away with it that’s for sure. She just shook her head.
    Tonight I studied civics and how the government works even though everybody says it doesn’t anymore. I haven’t prayed for a long time but I prayed for Lori tonight. Night night Anne.
    MARCH 12
    After I wrote you last night I went to sleep. Then about an hour later I heard loud noises outside so I got up and looked out the window. A huge gang of kids were running down 86th Street with policemen and cop cars coming after them. When they got to Lexington they ran north. They broke out windows in HMV and turned over the newsstand in front of the movie theater. The police kept chasing them and I guess they caught some of them though there wasn’t anything about it on the news. The stores were boarded up this morning but