Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper Read Free Book Online Page B

of guy. Likes jazz. He was really glad to get a good sax player, and he even asked me to try out for jazz band next week.”
    “Cool. Meet any girls?”
    “Naw, there’s no Latina girls here, and I’ve been too stressed to worry about that kind of stuff. I talked to a girl on the Internet once who seemed really cool, but she thinks I’m some kind of sexual pervert, so I haven’tbeen able to find her again. She was kinda special.”
    “I’m never too stressed to find women, man. If this little lady turns you on, then keep trying,” suggested Diego.
    “Yeah, but she might end up being some kind of nine-hundred-pound witch!” Julio exclaimed.
    “So what. You’re never gonna meet her anyway. The Internet is for pretending, man. Don’t worry about reality.”
    Julio sighed again. “Yeah, I got enough reality here. There’s gangs here at this ‘super-safe’ school that my folks brought me to, seven million miles away from home.”
    “For real?” Diego seemed astonished.
    “Yeah, I almost got jumped in the bathroom already.”
    “Why you?”
    “Why not? I’m new. That’s all the reason they need. But you know why they only stared me down and didn’t try to punch me out?”
    “Your strong right hook on kids with green hair?” Diego laughed.
    “Yeah, right. No, they think I belong to a gang from home called the Texas Tejano gang. You ever hear of them?”
    “Yeah, man. They’re really bad. Guns and a big body count.”
    “No wonder they just pushed a little. But when they find out I’m not in that gang, and they will, I may have to fight the battle of my life,” Julio said with concern.
    “Your fist won’t stop a bullet, Julio.”
    “I know. Got any ideas?”
    “Join the track team,” joked Diego.
    “I’m not running away. My parents ran away to bring me here.”
    “Be careful, Julio,” Diego warned him.
    “Yeah, man. I will. My other line is ringing. I’ll catch you later.”
    “Peaceout.”
    Julio clicked the phone to get the other call. “Hello,” he said, expecting someone for one of his parents.
    “Hey, Julio, what’s up, my
amigo
with the strong right hook?” asked Ben’s cheerful voice.
    Julio smiled. “Hey, Ben, what color is the sky today?”
    “The sky is blue and so is my hair. Sky blue. It’s my message to spring to hurry up and get here. I’m tired of cold, wet weather.”
    “What about me? I haven’t been warm since I left Texas!”
    “I’m starting to lose sympathy for you!” Ben teased.
    “Hey, Ben, let me ask you something,” Julio said seriously.
    “Hit me.” Ben was rarely serious.
    “What do you know about gangs in the school?”
    “I know they’re there. Most of the students and all of the teachers pretend that they aren’t,” Ben replied with derision.
    “Yeah, been through that stage before. They close their eyes and think it will go away. That’s the way itwas at my old school until one of the teachers was killed. Then they started to pay attention, but by that time, it was too late.”
    “I hear you. It’s been getting worse here, though. Fights in the halls, in the bathrooms, at the bus stops. One girl got beat up real bad because she broke up with her boyfriend from The Family,” Ben offered.
    “I almost got jumped in the bathroom today,” admitted Julio.
    Ben didn’t seem surprised. “Dudes dressed in purple?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Hooded sweatshirts?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You got pushed by the bosses of The Family. They’re the strongest at school. Probably about fifty members. Most of them only wear something with purple on it. Only the leaders wear the sweatshirts with hoods.”
    “The Family,” remembered Julio. “Yeah, that’s what they called themselves.”
    “Their real name is the Devildogs. It’s supposed to be a secret, but everybody knows it. Were you scared?”
    “I was so scared, I coulda peed in my pants, but they didn’t know it.”
    “You watch your back, Julio. These dudes play with real guns,” warned