Free Bang! by Sharon Flake Page A

b-ball, and jump rope, or just lying across somebody’s lap, getting their hair braided. All the stuff we used to do round our way, till the killings started four years ago.
    We head up a dusty trail that winds around the lake and lets you out near a field of trees so thick it shuts out almost all the light. We climb over rocks that look rusty from too much rain. I lie on my stomach. Look over the edge and drop stones into the muddy water. Kee-lee lights up a blunt. I lay my ear on the rock and listen. He shakes his head like I’m nuts. I take a hit. Hold the smoke in till I spit it out and cough my head off. Then I check out the water some more. It’s just sitting there. Still. So gray you can’t see to the bottom; so quiet it seems dead. I stand up and push Kee-lee in.
    “Ma-a-ann!”
    I dive in behind him. The water’s warm, at first, like a nighttime bath in the wintertime. But the deeper I go, the cooler it gets. Stuff’s floating and swimming past me. Sticks and string. Soft-shell turtles. Snakes. Go down some more, I tell myself. So I kick harder. Move my arms faster. Feel my baggy jeans get heavier when I go deeper.
    Get yourself some air, I’m thinking. But the water’s nice and cool now. I wanna bring myself something back from down here. So I pick up a slimy green rock and stick it in my pocket. Grab a little brown turtle and stick it down my drawers. Snatch a black baby snake that slides out my hand.
    My lungs burn like hot wax got dripped on ’em, so I head up—fast. My mouth’s trying to open. My nose is trying to suck in air. You gonna die. I’m telling my head to stop saying that. You gonna drown. My feet kick, but they don’t get me nowhere. My arms are dropping as fast as books out a second-floor window. My eyes close and my nose is doing what it wants to—breathing.
    “Mann!”
    I’m coughing. Choking.
    “Boy, open your eyes.”
    Kee-lee’s laughing. Sitting on the short cliff, watching me cough up snot and spit.
    “You wasn’t down that far. I seen you the whole time.” He kicks my sneakers in the water. “It’s a lake. Not no ocean.”
    I grab my sneakers, walk over to the sand, and sit down. I unzip my pants and feel around in my shorts for the turtle. It’s gone. I lie on my back and look up at the sky, watching a crop plane pulling a sign: BUY ONE GET ONE FREE, MASON’S GROCERY STORE.
    Kee-lee’s kicking sand. “Move over.”
    A spider crawls in between my fingers. A yellow jacket flies next to my ear, buzzing around my legs and feet. Me and Kee-lee just watch it. Then we both fall asleep, right there by the water—outside in public, not worrying about nobody bothering us.

Chapter 23
    WE SLEPT ON the ground last night. We were in sleeping bags. Had us some pillows too. But a pillow don’t make the ground no bed. That’s what I told my dad. He said for me to quit complaining. We been here two nights and I’m ready to go home. The bugs bite. The grill burns the eggs, and I’m tired of seeing trees and swimming in water that leaves your underwear brown.
    My dad says not to complain, but he’s still in the tent, sleeping. He tells us it’s our turn to make breakfast, then he pulls the sleeping bag over his head. “Look around the place some more.”
    We saw everything already. Yesterday we swam in the lake. We walked until our feet hurt. Then we ran into a woman grilling corn on the cob, red potatoes, and shrimp. Kee-lee wasn’t gonna pass that up, so he walked right up to her and introduced hisself. She and her sister liked him right off and set paper plates on their picnic table for us. We ate and drank till our stomachs hurt. Then we thanked them and left. Soon as we could, we found us a place to go to sleep. When we woke up four hours later, we were bored all over again. That’s when Kee-lee came up with this idea—race up the tallest trees we could find.
    I said okay. I mean, if he can do it, so can I. We shoulda went back to our tent, though. It was getting dark