Free Mamba Point by Kurtis Scaletta

Media Resource Center.” That meant she was the
Thorn Birds
lady. “I was looking through some new donations this afternoon and, what do you know, there’s a big book on drawing. I just thought I’d let you know. You can even pick it up tomorrow if you want.”
    “Oh, wow. Thanks.” It was nice of her to call, even if she wasn’t Eileen.
    After I got the book the next morning, I went to the embassy, mostly hoping I’d run into Eileen. I nodded at Charlie but didn’t stop to talk. I had bigger fish to fry. I flashed my ID card at the guard by the back gate and went in, finding myself right by the swimming pool. I went up the steps to the pool area. Law was there, talking to some girls, and there was Eileen. She waved as I walked over.
    “Hey, that’s my little bro,” Law said with his practiced nod.
    “Linus,” I added.
    “Where’s your blanket, Linus?” one of the girls asked. She was curvy and had wavy hair like Farrah Fawcett.
    “That’s Michelle,” Eileen told me, “and that’s Ann.” She pointed at the third girl, who glanced at me and went back to talking to her friends.
    “Is there a Coke machine around here?” I suddenly wanted a cold soda.
    “You can buy stuff at the
palava
hut.” Eileen waved her hand, and I craned my neck to see there was a hut down a path. “It’s like a snack bar.”
    “Is that what it’s made of?
Palava?”
    “It’s not like cassava,” she said. “It’s not a plant. It’s, like, where you sit and talk. They have
palava
huts in all the bush towns, you know?”
    I didn’t. It’s not like I’d been to any bush towns yet.
    “Do you want to get a Coke?” I asked her.
    “Why not?” She got up and put on her flip-flops.
    “Go for it, Linus,” Michelle said with a laugh. I didn’t like how she said it. If Eileen was putting on her flip-flops to join me for a soda, though, what did I care?
    “So what do you like to do?” she asked after we got our sodas. “I mean, besides read about snakes?” She had a ginger ale, which seemed like a really grown-up thing to drink, but I’d already asked for an orange Fanta, which seemed like what a little kid would drink. I wished I could go back and do it over.
    My mind raced. What did I like to do? Especially that didn’t make me seem like a little kid, which scratched Pac-Man and comics off the list. I tried to think of something more grown-up. “I like drawing.” I showed her the book to prove it.
    “What kind of drawing?”
    “I don’t know. People. Animals.”
    “I’d love to see your drawings sometime,” she said. I’d painted myself into a corner, I realized. All I had to show was a notebook with a few drawings of superheroes and pirates. Kid stuff. I decided to change the subject.
    “I also like skating.” That was something, but I wished I’d signed up for tae kwon do classes like Joe.
    “Oh, I miss skating,” she said.
    “I guess they don’t have a roller rink here, huh?”
    “Ha. Right.”
    “Well, I skate outside, too.”
    “It’s not the same. I like the music and the lights and everything.” Her eyes twinkled.
    “I know. We had a lot of skating parties back in Dayton.”
    “Do you have skates?”
    “Um, not yet. Our sea freight hasn’t come yet.” I wouldn’t see them for weeks.
    “That’s too bad. We could go skating sometime.”
    “Maybe I can borrow some.”
    “Really? Who from?”
    “Oh, I know people.”

CHAPTER 8
    Of course, I only knew about five kids in Liberia. I banged on Matt’s door first, since Gambeh and Tokie were even less likely to have roller skates.
    He swung the door open. “Do you want to play the game?” he asked hopefully.
    “Actually, I was wondering if I could borrow some skates.”
    “Skates? Like
roller
skates?”
    “No, ice skates,” I joked. “Yeah, roller skates.”
    “Wait here.” He left the door open and ran down the hall. I waited, like he asked.
    “Keep ’em as long as you want,” he said, giving me the skates and swinging