My Name Is Not Easy (31 page)

Father Mullen had told Sonny and O’Shay that they could skip class while the other kids got tested because they’d been such good guides. Th

e way he said it made Sonny squirm.

But it was okay to have a few moments of freedom, even if it was almost lunchtime. Maybe they could eat lunch with the general, Father had said, smiling that cold smile of his.

O’Shay had warmed to this idea because O’Shay liked being a big shot. O’Shay, in fact, was already on his way down to the cafeteria. But Sonny had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and when he thought of eating lunch with the general, that feeling got heavy as a rock. Maybe he’d skip lunch today.

Th

en he thought of his mom and how proud she’d be to see
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M Y N A M E I S N O T E A S Y

him eating lunch with a real live general, and he decided that he’d just go back to his room for a few minutes fi rst.

He saw Amiq as soon he turned the corner. Amiq was

standing by the entrance to the dorm wing. He was acting funny, tucked up inside the dorm hallway, his back pressed up against the wall, not moving. Not hardly breathing, even.

Not acting at all the way that little loudmouth usually acted.

Down the hall, the general was advancing like a tank. He had a stack of papers in his hands, and his head was bent so far into those papers, he didn’t even see Amiq. Amiq looked like he wanted to disappear, but there was no place to hide, and the general was closing in fast—but he was studying those papers so hard, it looked like he might walk right on by Amiq without even seeing him. And you could tell for sure that’s exactly what Amiq was counting on.

All of a sudden, Sonny realized that he was counting on the same thing, holding his breath right along with Amiq. As if he, too, were standing there right next to Amiq, hiding from the general. Th

e general walked by Amiq and kept right on

walking, walking without even looking up. Like he couldn’t even see Amiq standing there, trying to act like a wall. Th en,

without any warning, the general stopped short and looked up. Like a hunter who’s heard the sudden crack of a branch.

Something about the idea of the general as a hunter was really creepy and without thinking about it, Sonny started to walk fast. Toward Amiq. He could hear the general’s voice now.

“Aren’t you one of the Eskimos?” the general was saying.

“Aren’t you supposed to be there with the rest of them?”

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T H E M E A N E S T H E A T H E N S / S o n n y a n d A m i q
Sonny couldn’t ever remember seeing Amiq get speechless, and if it weren’t for the wolfi sh look on the general’s face, he would have enjoyed it. As it was, Amiq’s silence felt suff ocat-ing.

Without knowing he was going to do it, Sonny smiled right at the general and said in a loud, fi rm voice, “It’s okay.

He’s my brother, sir.”

Th

e general turned, surprised, but when he saw who it was—
his
Indian guide
—he smiled real big. Sonny smiled right back at him with what Sister Mary Kate always called his million-dollar smile.

Amiq stood there by the wall, practically gasping. Like a fi sh out of water.

“Th

is one’s no Eskimo, sir. He’s my brother . . . my kid brother,” Sonny added for emphasis, grinning down sweetly at Amiq. Even though they were about the same age, Amiq was still nearly a head shorter than he was.

Amiq was starting to revive now, and Sonny half expected him to get mad about being called a kid—and by Sonny, too—but instead he just grinned up at the general with that big, goofy grin of his.

“Yes, sir,” Amiq said. “Just waiting here for my big brother.”

He gave Sonny a look.

“Father Mullen gave us permission to write home,” Sonny added, because it was the fi rst thing that came into his mind.

“Our mother . . .”

Suddenly Sonny didn’t have the slightest idea what he should say about their mother.

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“Our mother’s not doing so well,” Amiq said quick, starting to rev up like he always did in class discussions. “Her dog team took sick, and it’s going to be a tough winter for them with all the dogs down and all.”

He smiled real big, and Sonny had to turn away quick to keep from laughing. He stole a quick glance at the general.

Th

e general was frowning as though he were starting to catch on. Amiq’s smile died, like he knew he’d gone too far.

“She traps,” Sonny said quickly.

“She has to be able to run a trapline this time of year. It’s critical, sir,” Amiq added.

Critical?
Where in the heck did that kid get his words?

Sonny watched the general to see if this word surprised him, but the general just glanced at his watch like he wasn’t even listening anymore.

“All right then, gentlemen,” he said. “Well, it’s nearly lunchtime now, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir,” they both said brightly.

“Maybe we’ll see you and your brother at lunch,” the general told Sonny. Th

en he bent his head back into his papers

and moved on.

As soon as the he was out of earshot, Amiq slumped back into the wall like all his muscles had melted. Th

en he looked

Sonny square in the eye and smiled. Sonny’d never seen him smile a real smile like that. Not at him, anyhow.

“Let’s split,” Amiq said, and for a moment it seemed like they really were brothers.

Sonny thought briefl y about lunch, lunch with the general.

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Th

en he nodded his head and smiled. “Th

at guy sure gives me

the creeps,” he said.

Amiq smiled, too. “No shit.”

Without hardly thinking about it, Amiq took Sonny to that spot in the woods that looked like a little room made of trees, the one that Luke and Bunna had found. Th