Silent by Sara Alva Read Free Book Online Page B

approvingly as I set my fork back in the drawer. “Suzie said she’d be by early to talk to you. You have a little over an hour to read and shower, then it’s lights out. Don’t be keeping my boys up—they have chores tomorrow.”
    She and Ms. Cecily headed off to watch TV in the living room, their wide backsides taking up the entire length of a ridiculously orange couch.
    I followed the train of boys up the stairs, wondering if I should try to slip away during the night and make my way back home. It’d probably cause more trouble in the long run, but if I could at least warn my mom of what was going on, maybe she and Hector would have a chance to get their stories straight.
    Then again, if I caught Hector at a bad time, he might just beat me senseless and worry about the consequences later.
    “You wanna shower?” Brandon stood in front of a closet full of black metal crates stuffed with clothes. He tossed me a wrinkled t-shirt and a pair of faded gym shorts from some school I’d never heard of. “The boys go first, but they shower fast, ’cause they usually hate it.”
    Despite myself, I almost cracked a smile. I remembered that phase. “Uh, yeah, I guess.”
    Dwayne grabbed a book and climbed onto the bunk above Seb, who had somehow already managed to return to his cocoon of blankets. I sat on my bed and waited for further instructions
    “You need shoes for tomorrow?” Brandon asked.
    “Yeah. Sure.” If I did have to bolt, shoes would be a plus.
    “What size?”
    “Uh…like ten and a half.”
    More like nine and a half, but I wasn’t going to make the mistake of outgrowing another pair anytime soon.
    “Well, these are a ten.” A pair of scuffed-up, ratty-ass black Keds sailed across the room and landed by my feet.
    Fucking perfect.
    “You don’t have anything less…fucked up?” I picked up the shoes by their laces, noting a sour odor.
    “Hey, beggars and choosers, and all that shit.” Brandon laughed. I let him mock me without a fight, mainly because when he laughed it showed off his dimples. The skin in those dimples seemed a little paler than the rest of his face…like dollops of cream against some cinnamon.
    Time to distract myself.
    “So…uh…do they come up and check on you or some shit? Or do they mostly leave you alone?” I directed the question to Brandon, since he was really the only one talking to me.
    “If you do what they tell you to, they mostly let you be.”
    “How long you been here?”
    “Just six months. Dwayne’s been here the longest—almost a year now.”
    Six months to a year? Jesus, I hoped that wasn’t going to be my fate.
    “And what’s wrong with him?” I jerked my head over toward the mound of covers that was Seb. “I haven’t heard him say a word since I got here.”
    Dwayne rolled his eyes at me from his higher perch, turning a page in his book. “Seb’s retarded.”
    I glanced back at Brandon for a better explanation, and he arched his brows at me with a smirk. “I wasn’t kidding before. He really is. He don’t talk at all. They said there’s something wrong with his vocal chords or something, but he don’t write or do sign language, so he’s gotta be retarded.”
    “Oh.”
    I wondered if he were deaf, too, because he didn’t stir at the conversation.
    Scampering sounds followed by much more solid footsteps announced the younger boys and Ms. Cecily in the hallway. All three took a left into the room across the way.
    “Showers’re free,” Brandon said, and a towel hit me square in the face. “Best hurry up before lights out.”
    “Are you gonna go fir—” I peeled off the towel to find Brandon undressing.
    Oh, Jesus.
    My fingers locked into fists as I looked away and concentrated on the strands of Seb’s strange blond hair. “Uh, you first?”
    “There’s more than one shower.” Brandon’s laughter dragged my eyes back to him, but thankfully he now had his towel securely around his waist.
    Only that left his entire torso exposed.