When Friendship Followed Me Home by Paul Griffin Read Free Book Online

chill for a round or two of
Infinite Crisis,
but Flip and I had a date with Halley, except it wasn’t a date. “She’s a
friend,
” I said.
    â€œThat’s not what I asked,” Chucky said. He’d asked if she was a babe.
    â€œShe’s beautiful,” I said.
    Chucky rolled his eyes. “Compared to Mystique from X-Men,
beautiful
like that?”
    â€œThere’s no comparison. Mystique is completely blue and this girl’s a rainbow.”
    â€œMystique is also completely naked,” Chucky said. “Arainbow, huh? Dude, the way you talk sometimes? You’re a riddle wrapped inside an enchilada.”
    â€œEnigma.”
    â€œSee, like right there. Quit looking so bummed out.” We were at the corner where we usually split up, but I guess Chucky could tell I needed to talk, because he went with me up the block, toward my building. Turns out he should’ve just gone home.
    â€œI’m setting up this whole Read to Rufus thing, and in nine months I’m out of here.”
    â€œSo you set up another one in Florida,” Chucky said. “Of course the
rain
bow babe won’t be in Florida, but there’s still tons of chicks down there.” He slugged my shoulder. “Ow,” he said. “Bony shoulder you got there. Ow,” he said again.
    Rayburn had just slapped him in the back of the head. “Pockets,” he said. Angelina giggled and Ronda just looked mean.
    Chucky turned his pockets inside out: nothing but an empty Skittles wrapper.
    â€œLet’s go, Coffin,” Rayburn said.
    â€œNo,” I said.
    â€œWhat?” Rayburn said.
    â€œWhat?” Chucky said.
    â€œWhat?”
Angelina said.
    â€œCoffin, don’t be mental,” Ronda said.
    Rayburn shoved me, but I stayed on my feet. “No,” I said.
    â€œGood for you, Ben,” Chucky said.
    â€œShut up, Mold.” Rayburn cracked him across the mouth. I shoved Rayburn and then everybody went nuts. Rayburn was belting me and Angelina was kicking Chucky and Ronda was yelling for everybody to stop being mental and shoving everybody in sight. Half a minute later they were gone and my pockets were empty. The idiot took my headphones too.
    I don’t know how long it was before I could breathe anywhere near normal. I was on my back, looking up. The pigeons were looking down at me from where they hung out under the elevated train tracks and pooped on everybody. Chucky kept asking me if I was okay, I think. I had a hard time understanding him because his lip was stuck to his braces. We huddled behind the dumpster—always dumpsters for us—and got ourselves together. “Do I need stitches?” Chucky said.
    â€œNo, it’s just a fat lip. Quit crying,” I said. “Quit it!”
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    I wiped the blood from my nose and turned my sweatshirt inside out to hide the rest of it. No way was I telling Mom. She’d be on the phone with Mrs. Pinto before the words were out of my mouth, and things would be ten times worse in school. I’d explain away the fat eye with the old gym excuse, “I got nailed in dodge ball.”
    When I got home Flip wasn’t at the door waiting for me. “Flip? C’mon bud, let’s go see Halley.”
    He crawled out of Mom’s room real fast to my feet. I picked him up and boy was he trembling.
    This old lady was in my mother’s room, facedown on the floor. It took me a few seconds before I figured out who it was, even though she wasn’t supposed to be home from work for another two hours. “Mom?”
    She was cold the way you can’t be when you’re alive. It looked like she died in the middle of putting on her sneakers. That was the other reason we were moving to Florida—her health. Her heart acted a little fluttery in the New York winter, she said.
    The weirdest thing? I was kind of mad at her. What the heck was I supposed to do now?

14
    ITCHY