Free Kick by Walter Dean Myers Page A

us.
    â€œTerrific plays, guys, I like the teamwork! Kevin, way to draw the defender out for the assist. Good unselfish play!” Coach yelled.
    We went on to win the game 3–1. It felt great.

Chapter 09
    â€œCarolyn, I started this little adventure with a clear head and as much patience as I could muster,” I said, looking at my half-finished breakfast. “Now my head isn’t clear, my patience is gone, and this kid is jeopardizing my job.”
    â€œJerry, how is Kevin—”
    â€œIf something had happened to him while he was playing Sherlock Holmes yesterday, it would have looked bad on me because I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on him,” I said. “What I think I want to do is to pack it in. I’ll just call Judge Kelly and tell him that this kid needs to be in custody.”
    â€œYou went into this thinking that these kids don’t always think things through, but that they deserve a chance,” Carolyn said. “Isn’t that right?”
    â€œI’m going to talk to him today,” I said. “And if one answer is shaky, I’m finished with him.”
    â€œIs he coming here?”
    â€œNo.”
    I knew I didn’t want to bring Kevin to the house or any other place where we would be sitting down talking like normal people, because the boy wasn’t normal. He had called me at half past eight, all excited, to tell me that he had followed the woman who worked for the McNamaras to her house and into her building.
    If there had been something fishy going on, if what we had suspected about illegal aliens being mistreated was true, he might have found himself in a situation he couldn’t have come close to handling.
    Human Resources had posted a notice of state physicals down at Sea Girt. It was a bit of a trip, but I knew I needed time to cool off. I called Buddy Wright and asked if I could bring Kevin down and let him take a physical.
    â€œHe a good candidate?” Buddy asked.
    â€œNo, he’s just a kid, but I want to bust his chops a little,” I said.
    â€œBring him over,” Buddy said.
    There hadn’t been any mistaking my anger when Kevin called. The conversation had started with his bubbling over about how clever he had been to trail Dolores from a distance and had ended with me yelling into the phone. When I picked him up in front of his house, I just unlocked the door and didn’t even look at him.
    We drove for ten minutes with him leaning against the passenger’s side door, as far away from me as possible. When we reached the Garden State Parkway, he finally spoke.
    â€œWe going to juvenile prison?”
    â€œWhat were you thinking?” I asked. “Just tell me what you were thinking so I can try to wrap this old head around it.”
    â€œI was thinking . . . ”
    â€œYou weren’t thinking!”
    â€œI thought I was thinking that you were trying to help me,” he said. “You were telling me good stuff about how to stay out of jail and you talked to Mr. McNamara. I just wanted to do something that was useful to you.”
    â€œBy playing junior detective and putting yourself in danger?” I asked. “Or by alerting anybody who might have been doing something illegal that the police were watching them?”
    â€œI thought you said that the investigation had ended.”
    â€œIf there’s possible criminal activity going on, we don’t stop investigating until we know it’s not going on,” I said. “That shouldn’t be too hard for you to understand.”
    We pulled off the Garden State and took 34 into Sea Girt. I knew being mad didn’t help anything, but I was furious with Kevin. I parked and he followed me into the front door of the Sea Girt Barracks.
    I signed in and found Buddy in the gym. He and his staff were putting some applicants for state trooper through their physicals. I told Buddy what I was facing with Kevin.
    â€œPut him on the