Free The Wild Kid by Harry Mazer Page B

honey?”
    He shook his head.
    â€œI don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come back.”
    â€œI’m back.” Sammy went to his mother and hugged her. He wanted to tell her not to cry. He wanted to say it was not so bad, not all the time. Scary things happened, but mostly it was just things happening to him that had never happened before. “We killed a rabbit,” he said.
    â€œDid you really eat it?” Bethan wrinkled her nose. “How can you eat a bunny rabbit?”
    â€œYou can, if you’re hungry enough.”
    Carl was nodding his head. “That’s right. You get hungry enough.…”
    â€œHe should have brought you right home,” Sammy’s mom said.
    â€œA friend would have done that,” Carl agreed.
    â€œHe took care of me,” Sammy said. He didn’t like it when his family criticized Kevin. “Kevin is my friend.”
    â€œIt was good that he took care of you,” Carl said. “I’ll give him credit for that. And he went for help. That was a big thing. A little late on the uptake, but…”
    â€œA little late!” his mother said.
    When Kevin came, Sammy thought, his mother would find out how good he was. He was only bad sometimes. Not all the time. Sometimes bad, sometimes good. Mostly good. Like Sammy, he was two ways, too. Everybody was two ways. Carl wasn’t just one way. Even his mom wasn’t always good.
    â€œJust because you’re not always good doesn’t make you bad,” he said.
    Carl and his mom looked at each other. “The kid’s got a point,” Carl said. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
    *  *  *
    When Sammy brought the folding cot from the garage into his room, his mother helped him move it in. “Your room is too small for another bed,” she said, but the cot remained because Sammy wanted it there. When he woke in the morning, the first thing he did was look over to see if Kevin had come yet.
    He had put a string of Christmas lights in his window so Kevin would know which room was his. And he kept the window ajar at night so if he was sleeping when Kevin came, he could climb right in. He knew Kevin would come at night. He didn’t like going out during the day.
    *  *  *
    â€œAll you talk about is Kevin,” Bethan said. “Is he a real person?” She sat down on the cot. “You can tell me.”
    â€œHe’s real, Bethan. Kevin is my best friend. He’s going to live with us in our family.”
    â€œSome of my friends say you made him up. The wild kid! They say it was something you saw on TV.”
    Sammy gave a big laugh like Kevin, like K-Man. He made his hands into fists. “Ha-ha-ha!” He pointed to his shoes, the laces tied. “He taught me that. He taught me, Bethan. He held my hands and did it with me a million times. He said, ‘They baby you!’ He said, ‘You can do this, Sammy!’ And I did it, and—”
    Bethan made the time-out signal in front of his mouth. “Okay, okay, I believe you.”
    â€œWait till Kevin comes. You’ll see. He’ll tell you himself.”
    â€œDoes he know where you live?”
    Sammy hadn’t considered that. It worried him till he thought of the telephone book with their name in it. “Kevin will call me up,” he shouted at Bethan.
    She put her fingers in her ears. “I hear you, Sammy. Does he have a telephone?”
    Sammy thought that was very funny. “No! No telephone. No toilet. No TV.” He looked around his room. “No lights. No beds. No bureau. No desk. No chair. No toothbrush. No…no—”
    â€œTime-out,” Bethan yelled. “Okay, he’ll call you from a pay phone. What will he say?”
    â€œHe’ll say, ‘Hello! Can I talk to my friend, Sammy?’ He’ll say, ‘I’m coming to visit you.’ No, not visit. Live! He’s