Free Zee's Way by Kristen Butcher

Chapter One
    I pushed open the bedroom window and stuck my head into the night. The rain had stopped right on schedule, and the clouds that had brought it were already scudding away. It had been like that all summer—hot sunny days, humid evenings and then—just after midnight—an hour of rain. Perfect conditions for a war.
    Not that I wanted a war. None of the guys did. All we were after was a place to hangout. It was the merchants at Fairhaven Shopping Center who were looking for a fight.
    As I stuffed the last of the cans into my pack, I thought back to the day Horace and I had visited the half-built mall. In an old neighborhood like ours, any kind of construction was worth checking out, but the guys and I had a real stake in this development. Before the dozers had come in and leveled everything, it had been our hangout. Maybe only an abandoned warehouse and parking lot to everybody else, but for us it was a place to chill. We could skateboard there, toss a baseball, kick a soccer ball or just get out of the rain.
    At first we were super-ticked at being evicted, but after we got over the initial shock, we started thinking a shopping center might be just as good—even better if it meant an arcade or a fast-food joint. The thing is, we never got to find out. Two minutes after we stepped onto the site, some lunatic came after us with a crowbar.
    For what? All we were doing was having a look around. Since when was that a crime?
    â€œDon’t get all bent out of shape about it,” my dad said when I told him what had happened. “That shopping strip has been financed by the businesses moving into it. Those merchants are just protecting their investment.”
    I shook my head and walked away. I should have known my dad would take their side.
    I zipped my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. Then I boosted myself onto the window ledge, swung my legs over the sill and dropped to the ground. Staying in the shadows, I peered at the old, shingled houses crowding the street. If any of the neighbors saw me taking a midnight stroll, my dad would know about it before breakfast. Then I’d have some explaining to do. But aside from the streetlamps, Barrett Avenue was dark. Mrs. Lironi’s living room light was on, but that didn’t mean she was up. SheKristin Butcher just kept the light on to discourage burglars. Everyone knew that—even the burglars.
    I jogged across the yard and hurdled the hedge. My shadow stretched along the road beside me, bent arthritically where it climbed the curb. From the corner of my eye, I could see it matching my pace, and I was grateful for the company. I ran past a soggy flyer plastered to the sidewalk. It reminded me of the one the shopping center had put out for its grand opening.
    That had been a huge event. Everyone in the neighborhood had come out for the bargains. Two for one at Oscar’s Video Emporium, no GST at The Loonie Bin and 25 percent off all prescriptions at Fairhaven Drugs. Mario’s Coffee Bar was selling large cappuccinos for the price of small ones, and there were free deli samples at Jackman’s Market.
    There was stuff going on in the parking lot too. Barbecues were sizzling up hot dogs and hamburgers. A clown with size thirty shoes was making balloon animals. Another onewas painting faces. There was even a marching band. The local radio station was there too.
    The guys and I showed up around one o’clock. By that time the place was so packed we could barely move. I squinted up at the white banner stretched across the storefronts. Fairhaven Shopping Center— Grand Opening! Something for Everyone, it said in huge blue letters.
    But the second we arrived, the party was over. Oh, the festivities didn’t stop; we just weren’t allowed to be part of them.
    It was discrimination, plain and simple. Not that the merchants came right out and told us to get lost. They just acted like we weren’t there. Except when they