Free Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Page A

not that I think he's
    especially serious. What I think
    is, he likes knocking people down--
    smashing them into the ground.
    *
    Glad he seems to like me. Booze
    isn't his only bad habit, though.
    Pot. Pills. Crack. Probably other
    stuff, but that's all I've seen. And
    that's plenty. I so do not want to know too much about Vince Carino.
    154
    Vince and I Have Shared
    A bottle or two, a fistful of doobs, pipes and pipes and pipes. Tonight, we'll pass around all three at his regular Friday poker game. Not sure
    how I reached the heart of his inner
    circle so quickly. Suppose it could
    *
    be because I'm usually the one
    supplying the weed. Anyway,
    I know zip about poker, but it sounds like a hell of a lot more
    fun than staying home, listening to Jack cough and Mom sigh.
    *
    Before I go, I guess I should
    brush up on the rules a little.
    Punch a few words into my
    search engine and I come up with... whoa. Way too much
    information. Let's start with
    *
    the basic what hand beats what?
    One pair, two pair, three of a kind.
    Easy enough to remember. Straight.
    Flush. Full house. Four of a kind.
    Straight flush. Royal flush. Together, do those equal a hetero queen's toilet?
    155
    Damn It, Jack
    You've cursed me! You're the one who's supposed to be coming up with corny jokes.
    I'm supposed to laugh at them, whether or not they're funny.
    Now I need to check up on you.
    *
    He's in the living room, adrift on anonymous painkillers. The TV is blaring, and his eyes are aimed at it, but vacant. Dread shoots through my body on a wave of adrenaline.
    "Hey, Jack. How's it going?"
    *
    He jumps a little. Huh? Oh.
    Hey, Cody What's up, son?
    His speech is slurred, just
    barely coherent. Fucking
    meds. Where's your mom?
    Is she home from work yet?
    *
    Damn. For a minute, I really
    thought he might be dead. But
    why would I think that? He's
    only got indigestion. Jeez, man.
    Talk about jumpy. Freaking
    crack is famous for that.

156
    But I've got to admit I like the way it makes every nerve
    come alive. Just like Ronnie
    said it would. She's got a tidy
    little habit. I have to be careful
    not to let my own toking get
    *
    so out of hand. I swear I never
    had a clue she had made friends with the pipe. Best thing about it is what a little horndog she turns into when she's smoking. Boo
    frigging yah! Whatever I want.
    157
    Jack Coughs
    Pulling my mind away from
    Ronnie's superior body, back into the present, toward the sofa.
    I go sit next to Jack. Boy, is his face pale. "Mom's not home
    yet. Can I bring you something?"
    *
    He turns toward me, eyes wet with tears. (Tears?) No, Cody,
    I'm okay. Where are you off to tonight anyway? Got a hot date?
    Before I can answer, a door slams.
    Must be Cory. He's the only one
    *
    who comes into the house like that. Sure enough, he stomps into the room, grinning like a goat.
    Damn, even from here he smells like a brewery. Hey! What's up?
    Why you look sho--so serious?
    *
    Jack takes it in. Turns to me.
    He's messed up, huh? I could
    say no, and Jack might even
    go for it. But Cory's way too young to start down this ol' road. I nod.
    You been drinking, Cory boy?
    158
    Cory's face flushes, from beer and defiance. So what? Cody
    drinks all the time. You never
    sh--say nothing to him! Fingers
    knotting and unknotting, he waits for someone's next move.
    *
    If he's expecting me to deny
    it, he's drunker than he looks.
    I don't want the situation to get out of hand. I'll try humor.
    "'Never say nothing' is a double
    negative. What you said means--"
    *
    Suddenly Cory wobbles.
    Weaves. Drops face-first to the floor. Holy shit, says Jack, trying to get up, and wobbling
    almost as bad as Cory before he took his literal nosedive.
    *
    I nudge Jack back down on the overstuffed cushion. "No
    worries. Other than a lump or two, I'm guessing he'll be fine
    once he sleeps it off. I'll get him to bed." Like when he was little.
    159
    I Pick Him Up
    Off the floor, haul him to his room, thinking about when we were younger, before Jack