The Shade of the Moon by Susan Beth Pfeffer Read Free Book Online Page A

sprawled unconscious on the pavement.
    “He’s drunk,” Luke said.
    “A bum,” Ryan said.
    “All grubs are bums,” Zachary said. “Don’t deserve to live.” He took a slug from his
     bottle of potka, then passed it around for the other boys to drink.
    Jon couldn’t remember ever being this drunk before. It was part of the fun of the
     night, that and grubber girls and breaking windows and getting in fights. It seemed
     like every man from Sexton was there, but the grubs were enjoying themselves, too.
     There was potka and girls enough for all of them.
    Zachary pulled out his knife. “Whaya think?” he asked.
    “I think it’s a knife,” Luke said. “Whaya think it is?” He laughed at his own joke,
     and the guys joined in, except for Zachary.
    “You know wha I mean,” Zachary said. “Let’s cut him up.”
    “Yeah,” Ryan said. “Teach ’im a lesson. Teach all the damn grubs a lesson.”
    “Good idea,” Tyler said. “Gimme the potka.”
    The bottle was passed around again. How many had they gone through? Three, Jon thought.
     Not that it mattered. There was plenty of potka left. That trip to York had been good
     for something.
    “Cut ’im up,” Zachary said. “Let ’im bleed. Let all the grubs bleed for what they
     did to my granddad.”
    “Wait,” Tyler said. “Gotta better idea.” He searched through his pockets and pulled
     out a small box of matches.
    “Where’d ya get that?” Ryan asked.
    “Stole it,” Tyler said.
    There’d been small fires burning all around White Birch. They must have been started
     by matches, Jon thought. Now they could start their own fire.
    “Burn ’im,” Tyler said.
    “I wanna cut him,” Zachary said.
    “Cut ’im first,” Tyler declared. “Then burn ’im.”
    Ryan laughed.
    “Not a joke!” Tyler said. “Cut ’im. Burn ’im. Grubber bum don’t deserve to live.”
    Jon wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t think cutting the bum and setting him on fire was
     a good idea. “Guys,” he said.
    “Wassa matter?” Ryan asked. “That your daddy, Evans?”
    “Least I know who my daddy is,” Jon said, relieved when the other guys laughed.
    Luke took another drink from the bottle. “So what if we kill him?” he said. “No one’ll
     know. He’s a bum. Let’s do something people will see. Not just burning a drunk.”
    “Do what?” Tyler asked. “Better be good.”
    Luke looked around. “Up the block,” he said. “The high school. Let’s trash it.”
    “Trash and burn,” Zachary said. “Set it on fire.”
    Ryan nodded. “That’ll make a difference. They’ll notice that.”
    The boys turned to Tyler. “Better than knocking off some bum,” he said. “People’ll
     talk about it. Let’s go.”
    Jon followed the others up the street. As they passed the bum, Zachary gave him a
     kick. The bum slept through it.
    “He wouldn’t’ve felt a thing,” Luke said. “Waste of matches.”
    Jon had never been to the high school. Mom taught there, but she had never bothered
     to show it to him. Talked about her students, though. Cared more about them than she
     did about her own son. Cried when they went to the mines.
    “Damn school should burn,” he muttered.
    Tyler slapped him on his back. “Burn the damn school down!” he shouted.
    When they got to the building, they found its windows had already been shattered.
     “Someone got here before us,” Zachary complained. “Let’s go back to the bum.”
    “Sure, they trashed it,” Jon said. “But we’re the ones who’re gonna burn it down.”
    Tyler leaned over one of the broken windows. “Someone brush the damn glass off,” he
     said.
    “Job for a slip,” Zachary said.
    Jon took his jacket off and used it to brush the slivers of glass away. Tyler hoisted
     himself through the window and the others followed.
    “Big mess,” Ryan said.
    He was right. Desks and chairs had been overturned, books ripped to shreds. The room
     stank of piss and puke. Might as well burn it, Jon