Free Bang by Norah McClintock Page B

someone rings the bell. I peer through the peephole. It’s JD. The cereal starts to roll around in my stomach like it doesn’t want to be there anymore, like it wants to get out,
now
.
    â€œHey, Q,” JD calls through the door. “Open up.”
    I unlock the door and swing it open. JD looks as calm and cool as he always does. It’s obvious he’s slept well. It’s obvious he doesn’t have a care in the world. He looks me over and says, “The main thing is you have to relax. If you relax, if you act normal, it’s gonna be okay. No one saw anything. We’re in the clear.”
    Act normal? The guy died, and JD wants me to act normal? I think he must be crazy. But you know what? Even though the guy died, I remember to take the brown paper bag containing my lunch out of the fridge and put it in my backpack. I remember to grab my geography homework off the end of the dinette table. I put it in my backpack too. And just as I’m going out the door, I remember that even though school started only two weeks ago, my history teacher has already planned a field trip to the museum. This is the last day to hand in the permission slip. So I go back into the kitchen and get it off the fridge door where my mother stuck it after she signed it. I lock up after myself. We take the stairs instead of the elevator because at this time of the morning, with everyone headed off to school or work, the elevator takes forever.
    At school I’m kind of surprised to find that no one is talking about the only thing that’s on my mind. I say that to JD whenwe’re at the far end of the football field at lunchtime. I say, “You don’t think it’s weird that no one’s even mentioned it?”
    He looks out across the field and says, “Why would they? I bet you no one here even heard of the guy. Stuff happens to people all the time and no one notices, not unless they know the person it happened to.”
    That’s when I start wondering about the dead guy. Someone must have known him. Maybe a lot of someones. And
they’re
probably talking about him. They’re probably wondering who did it and why. Some of them are probably crying. Was he married? Did he have kids? Maybe he was looking after his old granny. Or maybe his mother is sick and he was looking after her and now there’s no one to take his place. I think about all that and I start to shake.
    JD says, “What’s the matter with you?” like he can’t even begin to imagine. Then he says, “You better smile right now because here comes Leah.”
    And there she is, swinging along toward us, wearing a T-shirt and a short skirt.Her long legs are still tanned from the summer.
    â€œJD,” she says, smiling at him, “what are you doing way over here? Up to no good, I bet.” If she only knew.
    â€œHey, Leah,” I manage to say, practically choking on the words because my mouth is so dry.
    â€œWhat’s up?” JD says as smooth as ever.
    â€œI had to pay Melissa back the money I borrowed from her last week, and now I’m broke. Can you lend me some money? I want to stop by the mall on the way home. They’re having a sale.”
    JD digs in his pocket and brings out his wallet. He’s got a few twenties in there, a few tens, and some fives. He always has money on him, and it’s always more than I make in a week. JD doesn’t have a job, though. He doesn’t need one. He has both a father and a mother. They both work, and they both make good money. JD is always telling me, “My parents say we have plenty of time to look for work afterhigh school. They say in the meantime we should concentrate on school and have a good time. They say that, after high school, things get more serious.”
    We still have another year after this one. If you ask me, things are already as serious as they’re ever going to get.

Chapter Three
    I’m restocking the soup