Street Love by Walter Dean Myers Read Free Book Online Page A

bench
    His legs as restless, as aimless
    As his restless, aimless tongue
    She caught her breath when she
    Saw him, turned quickly
    Away.
    Melissa peered wide-eyed around her
    Sister’s shoulder.
    “Memphis is a special place,” the old
    Man said, remembering a distant brawl
    Of nights and thinking it might have
    Been Memphis. “Good people fall in
    That town, but only strong people rise again.”
    Damien sat next to Junice
    Knowing she could feel his warmth through
    The space between them.

DAMIEN and JUNICE
    Junice
    Damien I don’t want to see you.
    I’m so glad you came.
    I don’t want you to say good-bye. Good-bye
    I need to be brave, now. I’m so scared
    I’m going with you
    You’re not strong enough. Go back
    Home. I love you, but go back home.
    You belong in a safer place. There’s
    So little for me in Memphis, a distant relative,
    A life I don’t know. You need to be safe.
    It’s all I want for you. Don’t kiss my fingers.
    Junice, there’s no leaving in me.
    No gentle grieving and going on
    This is a forever moment
    We hold in our hands
    Yes, we’re in a storm
    But it’s a storm we can stand
    As one, as Damien and Junice
    And Melissa
    Wherever your heart rests
    There I will live and be blessed
    I’ve tried to line up the things I
    Needed to say but now my feelings just
    Tumble from me. I am half foolish,
    Half drunk with wanting you
    With wanting to take your hand
    And leap into the darkness of whatever
    Life will bring. Love makes me
    Brave and without love I’m made
    Nothing.
    Aren’t you afraid?
    Trembling. A bird on a leaf
    My hands are numb, my knees weak
    With resolution. I am Adam, reeling
    From the Garden
    Can I be your Eve?
    Can you really leave
    Yesterday’s Damien behind?
    I’ll never find him again if I search a thousand years.
    They’re getting on the bus, Melissa says.
    We’re getting on the bus.
    Yes. Yes.

JUNICE with DAMIEN and MELISSA on the BUS to MEMPHIS
    As Damien sleeps, I lie with my cheek against
    His side. His clothing smells of nervous sweat
    The sound of his heart is comforting.
    The occasional highway lights flicker through
    The half-empty bus. A ghost White woman with
    Dark, shiny eyes presses her face against a window.
    Damien has written a letter to his parents
    I imagine him typing, searching for words
    Thinking again and again how useless words can be
    “I will call you soon,” is all that I left for Miss Ruby
    What would I add, that it is crying time?
    I am crying for Miss Ruby, and vow to find
    A place for her, as I will find one for Melissa
    In this fearful moment I am crying for Mama
    Vowing to forgive her. One day. Some day.
    Melissa woke and came from her seat to
    Where Damien and I huddled. I smiled
    At her and she didn’t smile back. But she
    Lifted my hand from Damien’s shoulder,
    Kissed it, and put it carefully back.
    I am crying for Damien. He is so beautiful with
    His gifts of love, so wise in his reasoning, but I
    Wonder if I can be strong enough for him.
    And then…And then…And then I am not
    Crying. I am not on a bus but a captain
    Battling the tossing sea and I am peering
    Straight ahead through the fog and darkness
    Knowing that somewhere there is safety,
    Somewhere there is a land where we can
    Build and plant and grow.
    Damien tells me that he has withdrawn
    His savings, but worries that it will not
    Be enough. I don’t answer.
    Damien, I am Street, we will make it.
    Damien says that we must have a plan to succeed.
    Damien, I am Street, I plan to survive.
    His voice dropped when he said…perhaps…we should
    Marry, his arm pulling me closer.
    “We’ll see, my love,” I answered.
    As Damien sleeps, I lie with my cheek against
    His side. His clothing smells of nervous sweat
    The sound of his heart is comforting.

About the Author
    WALTER DEAN MYERS is the renowned author of AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MY DEAD BROTHER , a National Book Award finalist; SHOOTER , a Children's Book Sense Summer Pick; MONSTER, the first winner of the Michael L.