Living Rough (2 page)

I felt the residue from their insults but brushed them away as I continued searching for Inna. Thankfully she was waiting outside the office, looking more embarrassed than afraid.

“I…sorry,” she said.

“No problem. Come with me.” The halls were nearly empty now. Only a few late students straggled to their rooms. We walked up the stairs and stopped outside her English class. The door was closed.

“This is your room,” I said.

“Tsank you.”

“At the end of class…wait here.” I pointed to an open space in the hall. “I will get you…here.” I pointed again, and she nodded. I hoped she knew what I meant.

I knocked on the door. Ms. Carfax opened it and gestured for Inna to enter the room. I could hear her telling the class that Inna spoke little English. As I turned to leave, I caught Inna looking back at me and smiling. I felt an energy surge through me. I couldn't wait for the end of class so I could see her again.

I was usually careful
not
to let anyone get under my skin
.

What is it about her?

As I opened the door to social studies, Mr. Brock gave me the evil eye but didn't send me for a late slip. Paul, another troublemaker (the school's not short on them), tried to trip me as I passed him. Their games were so old. They'd been doing this since I arrived last fall. I ignored Paul and slipped into my desk.

Seventy-two drops of rain slid down the window while Mr. Brock told us what we'd be studying next. I only half listened. I never sweated much because I usually got decent grades. And that's good. Even though it's a long shot, I hope to enroll at university when I finish high school. I'm not sure what I'll take, but I know I don't want to end up like my dad.

Mr. Brock mentioned an article he wanted to share with us, and I was brought back to reality. Something he said made me panic. I looked up. He was staring straight at me.

Did he know my secret?

Chapter Three

Mr. Brock asked us to turn to page seventy-two. He opened a newspaper story on the computer and projected the image onto the screen. My palms were sweating, and the pages of my textbook stuck to my fingers. This was going to be tricky. A few kids were looking at me.

Why are they staring?

Do they know?

Mr. Brock tapped my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my seat.

“You're being paged, Edgar. One of your classmates can help you to catch up when you return.”

Jeez, I hadn't even heard the announcement. I'm glad I didn't blurt anything out.

As I moved down the hall, I wondered who I needed to thank for the getaway?

For a moment, I considered returning to class to grab my books. Then I could bail on socials. But I figured Mr. Brock would wonder why I was back so quickly. So I headed toward the office, where I found Inna waiting for me.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

“Go home…I go home.”

“You have to go home? But school isn't over…”

“Her parents are here. They have to sign some paperwork, and Inna needs to be with them.” The secretary pointed to the door leading outside. I could see a silver Buick waiting with its engine running.

“I tell you I go home. Tsank you for today.” Inna smiled. Her eyes danced like they were smiling too.

I couldn't believe what I was thinking.
Eyes dancing
…where did that come from?

But her eyes had this warmth that drew you into them. It was almost hypnotic. “Can I see you tomorrow? I mean, can I
help
you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow. I…here…meet…here?” she asked.

“Yes. I will be here tomorrow. Good luck,” I said as she turned toward the door. I let out the breath I'd been holding as I watched her car pull away from the school.

Mrs. Norris looked at me strangely. I realized my mouth was hanging open.

My insides felt strange. I couldn't get the image of Inna's smile out of my mind. I never bothered with girls. Most of them were too busy with gossip to notice anyone but their little groupies. And the rest were so preoccupied with how they looked that I wouldn't be included in their busy schedule of self-adoration anyway.

So why this girl?

“Mr. Reed.”

“Mr. Johnson,” I answered as I turned to face his six feet of principalship.

“Thank you for helping our new student today. I understand you were called down to speak with her again?”

“Yeah…Yes. She was picked up by her parents and wanted to let me know. So I wouldn't wait at her class.”

“Well, your help has been noted. I also wanted to make sure you're aware that if you need to talk with someone, Mrs. Bailey is always available.”

“Thanks.” I loved how he slid out of actually helping me. As principals go, he's not that bad. He was pretty cool earlier, but when it came to what a student was struggling with, well, he left that to the counselors.

“You check in with Mrs. Bailey, okay?” He moved off in the direction of the gym, where I could hear a scuffle in the hallway.

I wasn't worried that Mr. J. knew what was
really
going on—he wasn't too good at noticing the signs. His comments were probably about the bullying he saw today. But still… I needed to take some extra precautions.

Chapter Four

Thankfully, with Mr. J.'s chat and a
loooong
walk back to class, I managed to return minutes before the bell. Mr. Brock gave us four pages to read for homework and sixteen questions to answer, then let us talk among ourselves until the bell rang.

“Hey, Poe, where's the new girl?” Ben asked during math.

“She took off for the rest of the day. Wish I had a reason to leave.”

“I don't mind staying for drama class, but I'd rather be
anywhere
else than here.” Ben continued, “Inna sure is pretty. Need an extra hand with her?” He ran his fingers through his mop of brown hair. Ben didn't have a way with the girls either. That was part of why we were friends. The main reason, though, was that we both like reading. These days book readers are rare—especially ones who read classics.

That's why Ben gave me the nickname Poe. My dad loved the guy's writing and named me Edgar Allan, but he never used the nickname. Ben thought I was lucky to be named after a writer like Edgar Allan Poe. His favorite story is
The Tell-Tale Heart
. I like
The Masque of the Red Death
. I bet Stephen King read all of Poe's works when he was growing up.

As our math teacher wrote a quadratic formula on the board, Ben sighed. He's not a numbers guy. Numbers stress him out. Ben shuffled through his backpack, pulling out papers and pencils and an old cookie that had a few bites out of it. He finished it off and rummaged in his pack again. This time he pulled out a graphic novel. He held it out of our teacher's sight and read while Mr. Pender continued with the lesson.

After distracting himself for the first half of the class, Ben leaned over and whispered, “I don't know how this stuff is going to make me a better actor. Shouldn't it be enough that I know how to keep track of my huge earnings once I'm a movie star?”

“I guess, but…”

He cut me off. “Isn't that what calculators are for?”

I smiled. He had a point.

For the rest of the period he let me help him with the equations. When the bell rang, we still had five questions to finish.

“Guess this will be for homework,” said Ben. “Any chance you can—”

“Give you a hand?” I finished for him. “No problem.”

After class, Ben wanted to grab lunch at the Happy Mart Food & Gas. They had a self-serve coffee bar in the store, and their Grin and Win contest was on. A happy face always adorned their cups during the contest. The tongue became a pull-tab that you peeled to reveal prizes, like $1000. I didn't have much cash, but what money I had, I used to buy coffee. I hoped to win something in the contest. I was aiming for the car, but even the $100 gift card would be all right.

As we approached the entrance, some guy nearly took us both out as he squeezed his Mercedes into the No Parking spot. He pushed through the door without holding it for us.

I stood by Ben at the cooler while he decided what he wanted. In the mirror above us, I could see the guy fixing his beverage at the coffee station. He placed two extra Grin and Win cups under the one he already had.

“What a creep,” I said loudly. I glanced at the cashier.

She eyed me suspiciously. I wanted to say,
Save that look for him!
I nodded toward the guy, hoping she'd catch my drift. But she shook her head at me, like
I
was a loser, and then went back to reading her paper.

As I poured my coffee, I realized there weren't many prize cups left. The contest was nearly over. I could take extras too. My dad and I really needed the cash. I didn't think Mr. Mercedes was that desperate. But I knew it was wrong to take more than I'd paid for, and I didn't want to throw off my karma.

As the Mercedes driver left the store, I yelled, “Next time use a sleeve, buddy!”

He slid into his vehicle and slithered out of the parking lot.

“What was that about?” asked Ben as we left the store.

“Nothing, just another privileged
jerk
that doesn't know how to appreciate it.”

“Sometimes, Poe, I think I should call you Mr. Philosopher.”

I didn't answer. I felt riled up. Thinking about how hard this winter had been for my dad and me made my temples burn. Images of cold nights and hunger blurred my thoughts. I pushed them aside by counting one, two, three…986 steps back to school.

I finished my coffee as we reached the north doors. Several students were hanging around the entrance. “Let's chill a minute. Wait for the bell.”

“Right,” said Ben. He moved over to the wall, away from the group. “I have English next. We just started our Shakespeare unit.”

“Which play are you doing?” I asked.

“
Macbeth
,” he replied, pulling his collar up to keep his neck warm. “It had this awesome scene with witches.”

“Right on,” I said. “In my old school we read
Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury. Pretty cool stuff with a witch in that book too.”

“Hey, that title comes from a line in
Macbeth
.” Ben's eyes wandered to three girls near the door. His cheeks flushed as one of them looked his way. “Maybe Saturday we could find movie versions of both? We can hang at my place and see if my folks will order us a pizza?”

I nodded as the bell rang. Before heading for our separate classes, we agreed to meet after school to do our homework together.

Chapter Five

The whole time we worked on our math at the coffee shop, trucks passed by and distracted me. Some were filled with dirt. Others had tree trunks and branches loaded in the back. It looked like heavy-duty clearing was going on nearby. Not that I'm surprised. It seemed like the trees on every patch of land disappeared in the blink of an eye. As long as the trees around my place stayed put.

“So what do you think it's like in the Ukraine?” asked Ben, slurping his drink.

“I dunno. I wonder what made Inna's family move here,” I said. I watched a kid from our school take a bite out of a sandwich. My stomach growled.

Ben followed my gaze. “Hey, I'm still hungry,” he said. Wanna share a sandwich with me?”

“Naw…that's okay.”

“Dude, I'm really craving one, but if I eat it all, I won't have room for supper. Then my mom'll get after me, for sure.” He headed toward the counter to order.

I have to admit, the sandwich filled a void that was getting bigger and bigger every day.

I tested Ben with questions from our lessons. “Think you're ready for the exam?” I asked after I'd been quizzing him for twenty minutes.

“Yeah. No…I guess.” We laughed. I thanked Ben for the food, then started home.

Twenty-six suvs passed me before I reached our place.

As I rounded a curve in the road, the air was sucked from my lungs. What I saw totally caught me off guard. I swallowed and took a deep breath.

The trucks I'd seen from the coffee shop must have come from here.

I stared at a gaping hole that had been a forest this morning. Now bulldozers pushed dirt into piles. Trees were ripped right out of the ground. Men in hard hats stood around talking and pointing.

There'd been no warning this was coming.

A hand on my shoulder made me jump.

“Easy, kid. It's just me.” My dad climbed off his bike. He put his hands over his eyes to block out the sun as he surveyed the devastation.

Even though the rain had stopped, I felt as though I needed to find shelter.

“When did this start, Dad?”

“After you left for school. I don't know what time, but it was definitely early. Made an awful lot of noise.” My dad shook his head. “You hungry?” he asked.

“Naw. Ben and I shared a sandwich. How about you?”

“Oh, I had a fabulous lunch,” answered my dad.

He probably hadn't eaten.

“Since there was such a racket going on here,” he continued, “I headed over to the library. I got a couple of books you might like.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I'll check them out after I finish up my homework.” I left my dad surveying the damage.

When I got settled in, I found it tough to concentrate on my social studies assignment. The subject matter was heavy-duty. And my mind wandered to the problem of the trees being cleared so near our place. I felt the beginnings of a headache, so I decided to go for a walk. I was just heading out when my dad came in.

“Leaving so soon? I thought we could play cards or something.”

“Cards?” I felt my temples squeeze together, like Theo had my head in a vise grip. My dad had this delusion that things were all right. He thought that if we acted as if everything was normal, it wouldn't matter where we were. I didn't have the energy to argue with him, so I agreed to keep him company.