Free If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko Page B

Walk raises his hand like he's taking an oath. "I'll be nice," he says.
    "Do you like rabbits?"
    "Yes, very much." Walk tries hard to keep a straight face.
    Her mouth curls to one side like she's thinking about this. "Okay." She opens the door. "You can come in."
    "Hey, Walk." Kirsten comes down a big staircase. The little girl turns to Kirsten and whispers, "I checked him out. He's okay."
    "Nice work," Kirsten says. "That's my little sister, Kippy."
    "Hi," Kippy says to Walk, then she whispers to Kirsten, "Mom wants you in the craft room."
    The craft room? What is this, the YMCA?
    They go to the kitchen. At least Walk thinks it's the kitchen. There are three sinks. "One sink, two sink, red sink, blue sink," Walk says.
    Kirsten looks like she never counted how many sinks she has in her own kitchen.
    "Okay, I give up. Where's the refrigerator?" Walk asks.
    Kirsten yanks on a large white wood cabinet. Inside the refrigerator is big enough to hold bodies. Bathroom like this, too? Gigantic toilets that sink into the floor?
    But it's the living room that busts Walk's eyes out of his head. Big windows looking out at the whole of San Francisco across the Bay.
    "Whoa," Walk says.
    Kirsten smiles. "Nice, huh?"
    Walk snorts. "You could give tours of this place."
    In "the craft room" they sit in wicker chairs at a wicker table with wicker baskets—each labeled SCISSORS, BEADS, MARKERS .
This is kindergarten,
Walk thinks. Any minute they'll crank up the
Barney
song and a purple dinosaur will come in and shake his hand.
    "You bet. Let's talk tonight." A fine-looking woman with long white-blond hair and tight jeans walks in. She flips closed her cell.
    "I'm Walk." Walk reaches out his hand.
    Mrs. McKenna stares at him like he has burrito dribbled down his shirt. Her hand is cold in his.
    "You have a beautiful house, Mrs. McKenna. Thanks so much for inviting me over." Walk lays it on thick. That's why he's here, right?
    "Uh, thank you." Mrs. McKenna's eyes zip from Walk to Kirsten and back. "You're in the same class, you two?"
    "History," Kirsten says. "Walk and Matteo have more points than anyone in the whole class, Mom."
    "Points?" Mrs. McKenna asks.
    "It means they're the head of the class, Mom. Really smart."
    "Oh. That's nice. Well, I see you're working," she says like she can't get out of there fast enough.
    Walk looks at Kirsten. "Not much of a third degree."
    Kirsten shrugs. "One look at you was all she needed."
    "You tell her something about me?"
    "That you're nice. She'll come back and ask more. My mom's gotta know everything. She leaves the door open when she pees so she won't miss out on the conversation while she's in the bathroom."
    "Remind me not to walk by the bathroom."
    "This is our favorite subject, you know."
    "Hey, don't look at me. I'm not the one brought it up."

    While they're doing homework, Kippy brings them dinky cups of nasty-looking green juice that she claims is just pineapple juice plus a secret ingredient, but it smells strange, like boiled spinach water. Then she needs help with a word in
Fifty Ways to Make Ooze,
and after that she asks, "When is it going to be time to feed the bunnies?"
    Then Kirsten's father shows up. Guess the whole family has to check Walk out. The guy kind of looks like his wife. Blond handsome with blond bushy eyebrows, a square jaw, and small round glasses. He's tall and lean like a tennis player and he walks like he knows he looks good even in his scrubs. Wait. He looks familiar. It's the hippie-sandals guy, only he's in real shoes now.
    "Dad," Kirsten says. "What are you doing home?"
    "I'm on my way to the hospital. Thought I'd stop by for a minute."
    "Oh, okay, well, this is Walk."
    "We've met," Walk says, taking Mr. McKenna's outstretched hand. "At the Open House."
    "That's right. Nice to see you again." He shakes Walk's hand.
    "Daddy!" Kippy pops in. "Look! I've read all the way to page fifty-three today!"
    "Very good, Kip." He messes up her hair. "My little chemist."
    "Yep,