Dirt Road Home by Watt Key

Author:Watt Key [Key, Watt]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781429933353
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Published: 2015-05-02T16:00:00+00:00

21

Paco slid down the fence and sat. I did the same and waited for him to tell his story.

“When I arrived here,” Paco began, “Caboose was the leader of the Ministers. He was the one person no one touched. The Hounds were nothing but quivering cur dogs against the fence. It did not take me long to learn how the system works in this place. I saw an opportunity and picked my side wisely and took my fight. It was not difficult. The Hounds were weak and broken-spirited. I put a rock in my fist and walked up to their leader and hit him in the face with it until he fell to the ground and spit his teeth into the dirt. I have not been in a fight since. The Hounds regained their spirit when they saw what I had done to their leader. They straightened their backs and raised their voices and began to challenge the Ministers. I was ignorant and I enjoyed this.”

“Did you think you could outfight Caboose?”

“Personally?”

“Yeah.”

“Perhaps. I was foolish enough. But it didn’t matter. I was a general, you see. I had no concerns.”

“He could tear your arms off.”

“You should listen to the rest of the story.”

“Fine,” I said. “Go on.”

“So the Hounds became bold and agitated the Ministers. Day after day, the tension built. Then, one day, the Hounds attacked. It started much like what you witnessed a few days ago—silence and then the disappearance of the guard and then a rush. The dust rose in the yard and boys beat on one another. This went on until the guards came with their clubs. The boys are so worked up that they continue to fight and do not notice the guards. Perhaps even if they did notice they do not believe what is about to happen.”

“So the guards attacked?”

“Yes. The clubs are rising and falling and the boys are screaming and crawling away. Soon it is over, and the guards have just about everyone that can walk or crawl up against the fence. But there are several boys lying on the ground. One of them is not moving. This is Marty. This is Caboose’s younger brother.”

“His younger brother?”

“Yes. Marty had come to Hellenweiler just before me.”

“What did Caboose do?”

“He is kneeling beside his brother, screaming at him to get up, but it is the screaming of a person who already knows what he asks is impossible. And then I hear Mr. Pratt ask Caboose to move to the fence. And, you see, Mr. Pratt does this like a whisper to a roaring lion. And he only says this once. Of course Caboose does not leave his brother. And this is what they want, you see. Like me, he had been a spectator and they had no excuse to beat him. But now he does not hear them. So the guards close in and I hear the clubs hitting his back like punches to a side of beef. Slowly, after many blows, Caboose becomes silent.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.