Free Shadows of Caesar's Creek by Sharon M. Draper Page B

place to stop for hamburgers and French fries”
    â€œOr pizza”
    â€œOr tacos”
    â€œOr chocolate-covered spaghetti, mon”
    At that, they all grabbed dry leaves and grass from the yard to throw at Ziggy, until he ran laughing and shouting through the backyard.
    â€œNot to worry, mon” they heard him yell in the distance, still laughing. “I’ll bring my own”

THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY DAWNED BRIGHT AND clear. Jerome, wearing his uncle’s tall black hiking boots and black leather vest, waited in the parking lot with his grandmother and his two little sisters, Temika and LaTonya. They were still sleepy and a little grumpy that they had been made to get up just so Jerome could go on a trip. But nobody argued with Granny. When she said get up, that’s what you did.
    Jerome’s backpack and sleeping bag, which were a faded army green, had belonged to his grandfather, who had fought in the Vietnam War. Jerome woredark sunglasses and tried not to look excited as the camp bus pulled into the lot.
    Rico’s mom drove a dull brown car that badly needed a muffler and a paint job. It rattled and sputtered and coughed into the parking lot, just behind the bus. Rico grinned at Jerome and hopped out almost before the car stopped. He was dressed in blue jeans and a matching blue shirt, which was, as usual, neatly tucked in. He even had a matching blue sleeping bag and backpack.
    Jerome knew without looking that Rico’s backpack would have neat rolls of clothes, with a toothbrush in a plastic holder and extra plastic bags for wet socks. The others sometimes teased Rico about his organization, but they knew they could depend on him to build anything they needed—from clubhouses to tree bridges.
    The other kids who were going on the trip quickly began to fill the parking lot. Tiana was a tall, pretty girl who always had a smile for Rashawn. She had once helped to save the Black Dinosaurs when they were trapped in an underground tunnel. Mimi,a petite, coffee-cheeked girl with long black braids, “ate math problems for breakfast,” her classmates said. She never got anything less than an A in any math class and had already skipped to the seventh-grade book.
    Liza was the fastest runner in the school, and everyone knew that she could also beat up any kid in the school—boy or girl. She smiled easily and would give her last gummy bear to a friend, but she had a quick temper and had once broken a window with her fist. Her best friend, Brandy, wrote poetry. She always carried a pencil and paper with her to jot down ideas. Brandy had a fondness for jelly beans and always kept some in her book bag.
    â€œIs everyone here?” asked the bus driver.
    Rico looked at Jerome and started to say, “Ziggy—” when a police siren screaming in the distance pierced the silence of the morning. Everyone in the parking lot turned to look as the sound of the siren got closer. Speeding around the corner, a police car suddenly roared into the parking lot, with lights flashing, siren blaring, and Rashawn and Ziggy waving from the two back windows.
    Everyone cheered and crowded around the police car, which was driven by Rashawn’s dad. Rashawn was proud that his dad was a cop, and even prouder that he had broken the rules to drive them to the parking lot in such a blaze of glory.
    â€œThanks, Dad,” he whispered. His dad put his arm around Rashawn and smiled.

    Ziggy got out of the police car slowly, grinning and waving to the cheering crowd of his friends. “Not to worry, mon Ziggy is here” he said dramatically. He was dressed in his favorite red jeans and a huge purple coat that came almost to the tops of his new green tennis shoes. The coat had belonged toZiggy’s cousin and was filled with large pockets, small pockets, zippers, and flaps.
    â€œWhere’s your backpack, Ziggy?” asked Rico. “It’s right here, mon,” replied Ziggy with a