Free The Planet of Junior Brown by Virginia Hamilton Page B

you,” Buddy told him, looking him in the eyes. “You use that for whatever will do the most for you and Nightman in the next few days.”
    Stunned, Nightman sucked in his breath. He looked from Buddy to Franklin and back to Buddy again. “You’re not going to make me go—you’re not going to make me steal with him!”
    â€œSee what you’ve done?” Buddy said to Franklin. The boy looked down, turning his head away from them.
    â€œTell Nightman you won’t steal,” Buddy said, “and don’t come on with how this is the first time. I’ll break your arm, man, if you come on with how you haven’t ever done it before.”
    Franklin turned angrily to Buddy. “You just now stole yourself twenty-five dollars,” he said. He shook with triumph. “You ain’t nothing but a thief yourself.”
    â€œI took some money out of a wallet you stole,” Buddy told him. “I took only enough to give you all a chance to make it until Monday when I get paid.”
    Buddy was tired, for it had been a long day. He was taking too much time here and he had to have it over with quickly now. “Nightman,” he said, “Franklin is going to show you how you can take from this town just enough to get you through each day as it comes around. Every morning you’re going to wake up hungry and with nothing. By the evening, you’ll be hungry again and with nothing. But before dark, you bring yourself back here and wait for me. When I get here, you’ll eat.”
    â€œYou still got yourself some twenty dollars,” Franklin said, “not even counting the wallet with the rest of the stuff. Why you need it if you going to get paid on Monday?”
    Buddy studied the boy a moment before bringing his shoes and socks from the other side of the debris. His feet were aching from the freezing cold. Hurriedly he pulled on his socks. They were cold and filthy, stiff with dirt and sweat. He slipped into his tennis shoes.
    â€œI’ll mail the wallet off when I can find an envelope and some stamps,” Buddy said. “But I need the twenty dollars. Not for myself, though, but for kids like you two who maybe will need it.” He paused. “You don’t have to believe me.”
    â€œI don’t,” Franklin said.
    There were some kids, Buddy knew, who you never could like and Franklin was that kind of kid. Buddy was so used to the younger boys doing exactly as he told them. The safety of the planets depended on the trust the boys had in their Tomorrow Billys. But Franklin didn’t trust Buddy because he was untrustworthy himself.
    You have to work with him, Buddy thought. You can’t turn him loose. With what he knows, he could come down on all the planets. He could take his time cleaning them out one by one of what little they had. Then if the Billys got rough with him, he could blow the lid on them. No, you had to turn him around and get his distrust working for you.
    â€œYou want me to put all the money in the file? You want me to put the twenty dollars back in the wallet and mail it back to the cat it belongs to?”
    Franklin struggled with himself. Even if he was a thief, he had been with the planets long enough to have a heart for the lost kids. He wouldn’t take a few dollars away from them. But how was he going to be sure this Tomorrow Billy was straight?
    Buddy could almost hear Franklin’s mind clicking. He won’t be able to work it out, Buddy thought. How will he, when he can’t even trust himself?
    â€œHow about you, Nightman?” Buddy said. “You want me to put the twenty dollars back in the wallet?”
    Nightman was frightened. He could look at Buddy but he couldn’t bring himself to look at Franklin. But beyond the fear in Nightman’s eyes, there was something dark. “I want you to put back the five dollars you give to Franklin.” Nightman laced his fingers together and