The Wild Kid by Harry Mazer Read Free Book Online Page B

said.
    â€œThat’s right.”
    Before they left, Kevin looked Sammy over and told him to wash his face. He gave Sammy one of his black T-shirts to wear under his jacket and watched while he tied his shoelaces. He wore a black T-shirt, too.
    â€œExactly two thirty-eight in the P.M. ,” Sammy said when they left.
    â€œPerfect,” Kevin said.
    They went up over the rocks, but when they got to the dead trees, Kevin went a different way.
    They came out of the woods in the back of a cemetery, where the grass mowers were kept. There was a garbage heap of clippings and discarded ribbons and empty flowerpots.
    â€œIf I say duck,” Kevin said, “you duck. If I say run, you run. If I say don’t breathe, you don’t breathe.”
    Sammy practiced not breathing. He could hold his breath a long time.
    They walked through the cemetery. A line of cars were parked along the curving road, and people were clumped together under a canopy. “Funeral,” Kevin said. “That’s good.”
    Were they going to a funeral? Was that the special thing Kevin had promised him? But, instead, they returned to the back of the cemetery.
    â€œYou wait here,” Kevin said. “If anyone comes, just duck into the woods. Don’t talk to anybody. Got that?”
    Sammy nodded. “Got it.”
    â€œWe’re partners, right?” Kevin held out his hand, and Sammy slapped it. Kevin left his knapsack and jacket with Sammy and ran down the road toward the cars.
    Sammy folded the jacket carefully on top of the knapsack, then sat down to wait for Kevin. The sun was shining, and the wind chased the leaves around in little circles.
    Kevin appeared suddenly behind him. “Come on.” He grabbed his jacket and knapsack, and they ran back into the woods. Kevin threw himself down on the ground and pulled a wallet from his pocket and another wallet from his other pocket. He took the money from them and buried both wallets under leaves. Then he led the way out of the woods.
    Sammy followed. He was holding his breath, practicing swimming underwater. Or the dead man’s float. Maybe somebody gave the wallets to Kevin. Some nice person who said, “Take the money and throw that dirty old wallet away.”
    They walked along the edge of the woods, past some big old buildings, then followed a long driveway to the main road. Kevin ran his fingers through his hair and tucked his shirt in. Sammy did the same. He looked at the pocket where Kevin had all the money. He knew nobody had given Kevin the money. Maybe Kevin was going to give it back someday. Or he would. He’d just go up to the person and say, “Sorry, my friend made a mistake.”
    There were six lanes of cars going in both directions. Sammy had forgotten there were so many cars in the world. He almost got dizzy. Cars, cars, cars. “Boy, oh boy,” he said.
    They went halfway across, then waited on the divider for a break in the traffic. On the other side, they ran across a half-empty parking lot to a huge mall. Buses were lined up in front of one of the entrances.
    Sammy stopped to read the numbers. “One oh four. That’s my bus,” he said. “That one!”
    Three boys sitting on a bench looked at him. “One oh four,” one of them repeated. Sammy got a sick, scared feeling in his stomach. “Hey, baby!” they mocked. “Hey, one oh four. Here’s your baby bottle.”
    â€œHey!” Kevin glared at them. “Shut up!”
    He made them stop. Sammy looked up at Kevin admiringly. “They were bad boys, weren’t they, Kevin?”
    â€œJerks,” Kevin said. He let Sammy hold his hand.
    The inside of the mall was like a barrel of light and noise and big, echoey voices. Sammy hadn’t been inside a real building in—how long was it? He started counting, then stopped to look and sniff. The smell of food made him dizzy.
    In a bathroom they used the toilets and washed up.