Zee's Way by Kristen Butcher Read Free Book Online Page A

didn’t have an answer—at least not right away. My graffiti days were over, but I didn’t want Feniuk to know that.
    I shrugged. “Just don’t sell it to me, I guess.”
    He shook his head. “You’d just get it somewhere else. I suppose what I’m really asking is what it’s going to take to end the war between us.”
    This was unreal! The old man had zinged me again. I stared hard at him, trying to decide if he was serious. He looked like he was. I couldn’t believe it. This was the chance I’d been waiting for. Finally somebody was willing to listen.
    The only problem was that my thoughts were spinning so fast I couldn’t sort themout. The guys and I had a lot of beefs. Where was I supposed to begin?
    I must have been taking too long to decide, because suddenly Feniuk was talking again. “I know you and your friends think you’ve been treated unfairly, and in some ways you have.”
    â€œIn
some
ways!” I went off like a fire-cracker. “How about in
every
way? You storekeepers have had it in for us from the very beginning. You never even gave us a chance. You just took one look at our clothes and hair and decided we were no good!”
    Feniuk sighed. “I know it seems that way.”
    â€œIt is that way!”
    He shook his head. “No, it isn’t. Not completely. I admit we kept an eye on you, but we were just being careful. The newspapers are filled with stories about women and seniors being attacked by teenagers. That’s all we were thinking about. You may not realize it, but when you boys are together,you’re a pretty intimidating group. The gang of you parked outside a store scares people away.”
    â€œBut we never did anything,” I argued. “We never hurt anybody. We don’t do that kind of stuff.”
    â€œWhat about the broken window at Jackman’s Market? Are you going to tell me you didn’t do that?”
    â€œThat was an accident.”
    â€œSo why did you run?”
    I shook my head in disgust. “What choice did we have? We knew you wouldn’t believe us. And you didn’t, did you?”
    He seemed to think about that for a while. Then he said, “What about the graffiti?”
    â€œThat was after,” I grumbled.
    â€œAfter what?”
    â€œAfter you banned us from the shopping center. After you sicced the police on us. After we knew you were never going to listen.”
    Feniuk frowned. “Never’s a long time. I’m listening now.”

Chapter Eleven
    The angrier Mike got, the faster he walked. The rest of us practically had to run to keep up.
    â€œIt’s a crock!” He took his temper out on a stone. It ricocheted off a lamp standard and skittered onto the boulevard. Mike ignored it and kept walking. He hung a left at the corner.
    â€œWhy do you say that?” Danny called after him.
    Mike didn’t even bother to look back. “They’re not going to change their minds.”
    â€œWhat makes you so sure?”
    Mike spun around. “Have you forgotten? They hate us!”
    â€œMaybe not,” Horace said. “Maybe they’re just afraid of us. If what Feniuk told Zee is true, Jackman and the others didn’t intend this thing to snowball out of control any more than we did.”
    Mike’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’re on their side now too!”
    I felt my back stiffen. Mike still thought I was a traitor for painting the mural.
    I decided to turn the tables. “You act like you don’t want this war to end.”
    He shot me a dirty look.
    â€œFeniuk said he’d talk to the other merchants—explain our side,” I pointed out for at least the fifth time. “He understands that we’re not hanging around to cause trouble. Any stuff we’ve done was either an accident or self-defense. Feniuk is pretty sure he can make the other merchants see that.”
    I looked around at