Free Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson Page A

station.”
    â€œYou go.”
    Ty’ree switched on the light and I jumped up. My head felt like it was gonna fly off from all the brightness.
    â€œNah, man,” Ty’ree said. “Brother to brother.”
    I wanted to say, Brother to brother my butt, but I was too tired. Ty’ree handed me my pants and shirt at the same time. He was still wearing the clothes he’d had on the night before.
    â€œPolice got him for what?” I asked, pulling the pants on over my shorts. “The dog?” Things in my head were all fuzzy. Charlie was holding a dog. I was fishing. Had he stolen the dog? Is that why the police had him?
    â€œWhat dog?”
    I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said, remembering. “It was a dream, I think. What’d they get him for?”
    â€œI don’t know. He just called, said I need to go down there.” Ty’ree cursed and went back into his bedroom. I could hear him opening and closing drawers. The hallway light was on, and I saw him walk back past my room on his way to the living room.
    â€œHurry up, Laf,” he said.
    When I came into the living room, Ty’ree was pulling his keys off the nail by the door and pulling on his raincoat at the same time. I hadn’t noticed before, but now I saw that the rain was coming down hard and steady. I went back to my room and got my rain slicker. The sleeves were too short, but otherwise it was fine.
    We walked out into the early-morning darkness without saying anything. I wanted to tell Ty’ree that Newcharlie always found a way to mess up, but he had his head down and his hands in his pockets. His face was all bunched up like he was thinking the exact same thing, so I walked beside him and kept my mouth shut.

FOURTEEN
    I’D NEVER BEEN INSIDE A POLICE STATION BEFORE, and when we got there, I felt like I was gonna be sick. There were fluorescent lights everywhere, but the place still seemed dark, like the inside of a cave. I tried to breathe through my mouth—there was a smell to the place, like something or someone had died inside its walls. Everywhere I looked, there were desks that were so huge and dark, you could barely see the people sitting behind them, and people moving in and out of offices—mostly cops. It felt like a place where it was always gray and rainy. Like it was always Judgment Day.
    A skinny man sitting high up like a judge looked down at me and Ty‘ree and asked if he could help us. Ty’ree told him why we were there, and the man pointed us down a hall.
    Ty‘ree reached to take my hand and I snatched it back. He blinked, like he was realizing I was twelve, not six, and walked ahead of me. Phones were ringing and people were calling out information to each other. A woman at the end of the hall said Newcharlie’s name. Me and Ty’ree walked faster.
    Once I saw a woman faint on the subway, and when I saw Newcharlie, that’s just what I felt like doing. I felt my head get light and my arms go numb. Ty’ree saw him at the same time and broke into a run down the hall. Newcharlie was sitting on a bench curled up into the corner like he wanted to disappear. His lip was busted and one of his eyes was swollen completely shut. His hands were trembling like he was cold. The right one was cut and swollen big as a bear paw.
    That’s my brother, I wanted to shout. What’d y’all do to my brother?
    Instead, I bit my bottom lip and stood back while Ty‘ree went to him. When Ty’ree sat down on the bench next to him, Newcharlie tried to move away, but there wasn’t anyplace to go.
    â€œYo,” Ty’‘ree whispered.
    I heard something jangle and looked at Newcharlie’s hands again. He was wearing handcuffs.
    He looked at me out of his one good eye. I looked at him back, and for a long time every sound in the world disappeared. Don’t die on us, Charlie, I wanted to say. I wanted to run to him and throw my arms around