Free Darkness Before Dawn by Sharon M. Draper Page B

trance.
    â€œAnd Mr. Simpson would drone on about slopes and angles,” Rhonda continued, giggling.
    â€œAnd that would be just the first five minutes of class!” B. J. laughed triumphantly.
    â€œThen Leon would walk in,” I reminded them.
    â€œLate, as usual,” Tyrone added.
    â€œWithout his homework!” Rhonda continued.
    â€œBut with the best excuses in the world!” I added, laughing. “What was that long one you gave Mr. Boston last year?”
    â€œI don’t have my homework because I left it in my dad’s truck,” Leon started to say.
    â€œâ€˜So bring it tomorrow,’ the teacher says,” B. J. continued, laughing as he remembered.
    â€œAnd I say sweetly to old man Boston, ‘I can’t bring it tomorrow.’” Leon loved to drag a story out.
    â€œâ€˜And why not?’ old Boston says, with his high-water pants, bad teeth, and bad breath,” B. J. added, continuing the suspense.
    â€œWell, my dad is a long-distance truck driver, sir,” Leon said, “and he’s on his way to California! And he won’t be back for three weeks! So I’ll give you my homework next month! It’s not my fault!”
    Everyone in the car cracked up. It felt good to laugh.
    â€œDid you call Gerald?” I asked Rhonda.
    â€œGerald wanted to stay home with Angel. She’s really doing lots better,” Rhonda reported happily. “And lately, Jalani stays pretty close to wherever Gerald happens to be.”
    I grinned. “I just talked to Jalani. That’s where she was headed. I’m glad for them. Remember how scared he was of her?” I noticed that Leon had become unusually quiet.
    B. J. added, “We’ve got one more stop. I thought it would be nice to ask Joyelle. With Angel sick, Joyelle is really lonely.”
    â€œThat’s nice of you, B. J.,” I told him.
    We pulled into Joyelle’s driveway, and she waddled out to the car. Her mother had made her put on so many clothes, she could hardly walk. She climbed in the back and began to remove scarves and gloves and extra jackets, as everybody laughed. Joyelle knew better than to complain—her mother was extra sensitive to her daughter’s health and safety since she had lost Rob.
    â€œWhat about Monty?” I asked Jonathan. “Can we take one more?”
    â€œSure,” he replied easily. “Use my cell phone and call his house.” Monty, of course, was thrilled. He met the car in the driveway; his mother waved from the front door.
    I sat in the front seat between Jonathan and B. J. I was conscious of my leg touching Jonathan’s, but I couldn’t squeeze very far away in the crowded car. The roads were surprisingly clear, for the salt trucks had been out all night.The sky was a vivid blue, and the snow-covered trees looked bright and shiny in the sunlight.
    We pulled up to the lodge, piled out, and paid our fees and rented skis. Jonathan, of course, had his own skis, sleek and glossy in a custom case. As he reached down to snap them, I noticed that something tiny and metallic clinked to the tiled floor beneath his boots.
    Now I’m a good skier, but this was my first time this winter, so I started on the gentler slopes. The air bit my face like tiny knives. I hated to admit it, but my mother, as usual, was right.
    I took Monty down a small hill, called Little Bluff, and even though it was his first time on the slopes, he did well and didn’t fall once. The expression on his face as he reached the bottom of the hill was worth the effort of getting him ready to do it. He was exultant. “Let’s do it again!” he cried. So we took the lift back up. That’s when B. J. offered to take him down another, bigger hill, so Monty left me in an instant, excitedly following B. J. I smiled as I watched him go. It was good to see him happy.
    I saw Leon in the distance, and noticed he was heading my way, but just then,