Free Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe Page A

hard.”
    â€œI guess so,” I said.
    â€œIt might help to fill in the blanks on that day.”
    It doesn’t matter anymore. Jason is dead, so whatever happened in the shed doesn’t matter.
    Scene Three.
    Erased.
    Jason.
    Erased.
    Now it’s my turn to fade out.
    Â 
    When I got home from Dr. Matthews’s, Mark and Mr. Allison were waiting for me.
    â€œI’m here. I’m not happy. Remember what I said?” Mark asked.
    â€œUm, not really.”
    â€œAs long as you stay in line, you and I won’t have problems. Your performance at the funeral yesterday isn’t what I consider staying in line.” Mark snapped his gum. A blue vein bulged across his temple every time he clenched his jaw. Snap, bulge, pop…snap, bulge, pop .
    â€œKyle, Mr. Grimes is talking to you. Please look at him.” Mom brought out a pot of coffee for everyone. Dad had picked up a dozen donuts. Grease seeped through the box.
    â€œWe need to talk about your behavior.” Mark sat down.
    Eight days had gone by. Eight days of meetings with Mark, Mr. Allison, Gollum, and Igor. Eight days of Dr. Matthews and gray pills. Eight days of nothing but tick, tick, tick. And we had finally gotten to Sunday morning.
    Mr. Allison paced back and forth. “Kyle, we need to talk about everything. Tuesday we stand before the court and Juvenile Master Brown. This is your future—your life.”
    Some life.
    â€œYou know that the Bishops can speak at your disposition. They have the right to address the juvenile master,” Mark continued. “This can be good or bad. I don’t know the Bishops very well, but after the stunt you pulled yesterday at the funeral, I don’t suppose they’re going to talk very favorably.”
    â€œKyle, this is really important,” Dad said, sitting next to me.
    Snap, bulge, pop…snap, bulge, pop. Mark spit his gum out into a napkin and took a bite out of a greasy donut. Glaze stuck to the corners of his mouth. “A homebound teacher will be with Kyle until after the disposition. I don’t see how it would do any good for him, at this time, to go to school. My recommendation will be probation—no time served—until he is eighteen years old. This probation, though, can be successful only if he has heavy psychological counseling. I don’t see why Kyle should go to a detention center.”
    How can I not be sent away?
    â€œSo he’ll be able to come home? For sure?” Mom asked. She had chewed her nails down to nothing.
    â€œIt’s ultimately up to the juvenile master—the judge—after she reads through all statements. Usually, she’ll sway toward the PO and psychiatrist’s recommendations. But there are times when things don’t necessarily go the way we believe they should. That could happen, for instance, if the DA and the Bishops put forth compelling reasons why Kyle should serve time.”
    â€œOh, God.” Dad’s voice was just a whisper.
    It was like I had broken something inside him.
    â€œLet’s not even go there for now.” Mark clapped Dad on the back. God, he had to get this back clapping under control. “I have faith in the system,” he said. ObviouslyMark hadn’t seen The Shawshank Redemption or The Count of Monte Cristo.
    â€œThese things happen,” Mark said.
    These things happen.
    â€œBut what about college? Getting a job? Voting? Will Kyle be a felon?” Dad rubbed his temples.
    Voting? Dad’s worried about me voting?
    â€œJuvenile records are sealed. No future employer will have access to Kyle’s past. What happened here stays here.”
    Buried with Jason.
    Dad sighed. Relieved, I suppose. Good thing murder won’t get in the way of a college education.
    â€œOkay, then,” Mark said. “I’d like to have a little time with Kyle.”
    Everybody went to the kitchen. Mark and I sat in the living room, the box of donuts between