Free Blue Vengeance by Alison Preston Page B

crabapple, but too big for a spot that had no space for it.
    â€œBecause I just want to practise with my slingshot, and he wants to do other stuff, like we used to. It’s kinda my fault.”
    â€œMaybe you can be friends with him again…after.”
    â€œYeah, maybe.”
    â€œDon’t you have any other friends?”
    â€œI did. But they might not be my friends anymore either.” He thought of Stu and Stubby and the way they all vied for Paul’s attention. The fist inside his chest clenched.
    â€œWhat kinds of suppers do you make for your dad?” he said.
    He didn’t want to think about things that hurt his insides.
    â€œNothing special. He has his favourites, but they’re simple, and he’s easy to please. Why do you ask?”
    â€œI have to make stuff for my mum and I never know what to make.”
    â€œWhat does she like?”
    â€œNothing.”
    â€œHmm, that makes it hard.”
    A dog barked from somewhere far away. Russell’s ears twitched and then settled down. Danny stroked her stiff coat and wondered if a dog of the same size and breed as the one barking now had sounded the same a thousand years ago. He suspected so.
    â€œShe needs a bath,” said Janine.
    â€œYeah, I guess.”
    â€œWhy is she called Russell if she’s a girl?”
    â€œShe’s mostly Jack Russell terrier, so we figured on either Jack or Russell and finally chose Russell.”
    â€œWho, you and Cookie?”
    â€œYup.”
    She rubbed one of Russell’s ears and the dog closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Janine wiped her hand on her shorts.
    â€œShe’s kind of big for a terrier, isn’t she?”
    â€œThere’s other stuff in her too, Lab, we think, because of her size and her floppy ears.”
    Russell knew they were talking about her and shifted her gaze from one to the other and back again. She looked doltish, and Danny hoped Janine didn’t think so.
    â€œWhat are you makin’ for supper tonight?” he said.
    â€œBeans and toast probably. I make that at least once a week.”
    â€œHey, I forgot about beans. I could make that. She used to like beans, I think.”
    â€œWhat’s the matter with her? I mean, is there something more than Cookie dying?”
    â€œYeah, she’s got fibrositis.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œIt’s a disease that means everything hurts, and you don’t sleep and you sometimes have trouble swallowing.”
    â€œSheesh. That covers a lot of bad stuff.”
    â€œShe can’t stand it if you touch her because even the lightest touch hurts.”
    â€œJeez, your poor mum.”
    â€œYeah, I guess.”
    Danny stood up. There were beer bottles strewn around the area, and he took a few shots, this time with stones from his pockets. He missed two out of five.
    When Janine said she better get going, he asked her which house on Lyndale was hers.
    â€œIt’s on the other side of the street from Rock Sand’s house,” she said, “and not as far east.”
    â€œWho’s Roxanne?”
    Janine looked at him sideways.
    â€œRock Sand,” she said and spelled it for him. “You’re kidding, right?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œHe’s a guy. I can’t believe you don’t know who he is.”
    â€œWell, I don’t. Why would I?”
    â€œEveryone knows who he is.”
    â€œI don’t.”
    A vertical line appeared on the smooth skin of Janine’s forehead between her brows.
    â€œHmm. Maybe he’s more of an eastern Norwood phenomenon,” she said.
    Danny was sick of the conversation. He didn’t want to think about which way was east and some guy whose house was probably full of sand that got under your fingernails even right after a bath and turned up inside your sandwiches.
    â€œSo who is he?” He didn’t want to care, but he did.
    â€œWell, he’s kind of a rebel, for one