Free Nothing to Lose by Norah McClintock

didn’t do anything.”
    â€œBut you told the police that you saw someone push him. He must have done something. It’s always something with Nick.”
    â€œHe didn’t do anything,” I said again. Then I backtracked a little. “I’m not one hundred percent sure what happened,” I said. “I was on the other side of the street. I just told the police that from where I was standing, it looked like he might have been pushed. Nick will be able to tell them for sure.”
    Glen broke away from the other officers and went to the information desk. I held my breath and tried to read the expression on his face, but it was impossible. Finally he came over to where we were waiting. He sat down beside Nick’s aunt and took one of her hands into his.
    â€œThey’re going to tell us the minute they know anything,” he said. His voice sounded almost gentle, which surprised me. The only time I had met Glen, he and Nick had been in a fight and Glen had gotten physical. I had taken an immediate dislike to him. He looked at me now. “It’s Robyn, right?”
    I nodded.
    â€œI know your father.”
    I already knew that. My father had told me that Glen was a good cop. He’d also said that he wasn’t surprised that Glen and Nick didn’t get along. According to my father, a lot of cops get used to being in charge. But Nick didn’t like to be ordered around. Another problem, according to my father, was that Glen had probably seen too many kids like Nick, and Nick had had too many run-ins with cops. They were predisposed to dislike each other.
    â€œI understand you were with Nick when it happened,” Glen said.
    â€œRobyn says it was an accident,” Nick’s aunt said.
    I stared at her. That wasn’t what I had said at all.
    â€œI’d like to hear it from Robyn,” Glen said. He turned back to me. “They said you told them Nick was pushed. Who’d he piss off this time?”
    I glanced at Nick’s aunt. She was shaking her head.
    â€œRobyn?” Glen said.“You saw the whole thing.What happened? Did someone push him or not?”
    â€œI—I don’t know,” I said. But when I replayed the scene in my mind, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been pushed. “It happened so fast. One minute he was on the curb, the next he was on the street. I thought he must have been pushed, but now I don’t know. He didn’t do anything. Why would anyone push him when he was just standing there minding his own business?”
    â€œMaybe he mouthed off to someone. You know how that kid can be,” Glen said. He glanced at Nick’s aunt.
    She nodded unhappily.
    â€œOr maybe he was trying to cross against the light,” Glen said. “You have any idea how many kids I see doing that every day?”
    I didn’t know what to say. Glen seemed genuinely concerned about Nick’s aunt, but he hadn’t changed at all where Nick was concerned.
    Glen stood up. “I could use a coffee,” he said. “You want one, Bev?” She nodded. “What about you, Robyn?”
    I said no thanks.
    After he’d gone, a woman came over and asked Nick’s aunt about her relationship to Nick. She said there were forms that had to be filled out. She handed Nick’s aunt a clipboard and a pen.
    Glen was on his way back with coffee when the woman behind the information desk pointed him out to a man in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. A doctor. When Nick’s aunt saw the doctor talking to Glen, she stood up and went over to him. I trailed after her.
    â€œâ€”extremely lucky,” the doctor was saying. “His left ankle is broken. He’s got a lot of bumps and bruises. He also got a nasty bang on the head when he hit the pavement. We’ve x-rayed him, and we want to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t get a serious concussion. But other than that. .