Free Watch Me by Norah McClintock Page B

few blocks away.
    Finally Drew came out.
    â€œYou hungry?” he said.
    I was always hungry. We picked up a couple of pizza slices. Drew said, “There’sa park down that way. You want to hang out for a while, or do you have to go home right away?”
    Neil usually gets home from work before my mom, so I was in no hurry.
    â€œLet’s go to the park,” I said.
    Another old lady came out of the bank while we waited for the light. She was wearing a black coat with a big pink flower pinned on it, and she was carrying a black purse. She was also wearing thick glasses. She walked down the street in front of us.
    Drew finished his pizza slice and dug in his backpack for his Frisbee.
    â€œGo out for a pass,” he said.
    The old lady was still ahead of us. She had already reached the park and was walking alongside it. I ran past her into the park. Drew’s arm arced back and over his head. He sent the Frisbee sailing through the air. But it didn’t come straight at me. Instead it curved to the left. I ran for it. I was in the clear too—until the old lady in the black coat suddenly started down the path that cut through the park. She mustnot have been paying attention. I yelled for her to look out, but all she did was turn and stare at me. Maybe she hadn’t heard what I said. Then,
boink
, the Frisbee hit her on the side of the head. I saw the startled expression on her face. She staggered a little to one side. Her foot slipped off the path. Her ankle twisted. Then she crashed to the ground and just lay there.
    I ran over to her.
    â€œAre you okay?” I said.
    Her glasses had fallen off, and her purse had slipped off her arm and was lying on the path. She reached out a hand so that I could help her up. And that’s what I was going to do. I totally planned to help her. After that, I don’t know what I was thinking.
    No, that’s not true. I do know.
    I bent down to help her, and, all of a sudden, I thought about the stupid hockey equipment I got for my birthday because my mom and Neil thought it would be good for me. I thought about the games system I had asked for—and imagined Neil talkingmy mother out of it. I thought about my dad and how everything would be different if I lived with him instead of with my mom and Neil. I also thought about what Drew had said—that all those old ladies stood in line at the bank to take out money. Instead of helping the woman, I grabbed her purse.
    Then I looked at Drew.
    He stared at me like he wasn’t sure what I was doing. He started toward me.
    The old lady opened her eyes. She saw me with her purse in my hand. She tried to get up, but she couldn’t. Drew was standing closest to her, and she grabbed him, startling him. He tried to shake her off, but she must have been stronger than she looked, because he had to really work at it. Finally, he shoved her. She fell backward onto the path. I heard a cracking sound and saw her head hit the cement. After that she didn’t move.
    I stared at her. Was she even breathing? I didn’t know. I tucked the purse under my hoodie and ran.

chapter three
    Someone grabbed my arm and yanked me to a halt.
    Drew. He’d been pounding down the sidewalk behind me.
    â€œThere’s a bus coming,” he said, panting. He pointed up the street. We raced to the bus stop and got there just in time to jump on. Neither of us said a word all the way home. I didn’t want to talk about what I’d done. I guess Drew didn’t either. But as soon as we got off the bus, he grabbedmy arm again and dragged me into an alley behind a bunch of stores and restaurants. After checking to make sure that no one could see us, he said, “So, let’s see what you got.”
    By then I was shaking all over. I couldn’t believe what I’d done. If Neil had been there, he would have been in the middle of a big lecture about how I never thought before I acted and how I got into trouble