Drive-By by Lynne Ewing

Author:Lynne Ewing [Lynne Ewing ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062028334
Publisher: HarperCollins

12

Lamar stared at me.

“You and me, we got business,” he said.

Then the door banged open again, hitting the same tile Lamar had broken seconds before.

Dust and pieces of tile fell to the floor.

Ice Breaker Joe jumped into the rest room, grabbed Lamar’s arm, and jerked him out.

Sirens broke the morning air.

I had forgotten that when you dial 911 and leave the phone off the hook, computers give the location to the police department.

Tires squealed outside.

Sirens grew louder, then more distant. I guessed the cops were chasing the blue Olds. I waited with Mina. I didn’t know what to do.

Mina solved the problem.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said.

“Now?” I asked. Dumb question. “Okay. I’ll wait.”

I figured if I left the women’s rest room now, I’d be in trouble anyway.

Mina entered a stall, and I sat on the sink counter.

I began to think maybe I was imagining all kinds of things. Was it just an overactive imagination? Did Lamar really ask me about Jimmy’s business? What did that mean?

What kind of business did he have with me?

Maybe the words didn’t mean what I thought they meant. Gangbangers make up new meanings to words. That way no one but their own gang members can understand what they’re talking about.

The door to the women’s rest room opened.

I’d forgotten where I was. I jumped off the counter and was face to face with Lisa Tosca.

“Oh, excuse me,” Lisa said and walked back out. She looked at the door and came back in.

“Hi,” I said like this was perfectly normal. I had never planned on meeting her in the women’s rest room in Big Molly’s Diner.

How could my life get more messed up?

Mina flushed the toilet.

Lisa stared at me while I helped Mina wash her hands. Even with her mouth wide open, Lisa looked pretty.

“’Bye,” I said; then we left.

When we got outside, I screamed with frustration.

Mina jumped.

I didn’t mean to frighten her.

“Sorry, Mina,” I said. How could I explain it to her?

One block from school, Gus jumped from an alley and grabbed my backpack.

“Give it back, Gus,” I said.

“It’s mine now,” Gus said.

He teased me, holding my backpack away from me like he wanted me to chase him for it. He hadn’t done something that stupid since first grade.

“Give me back my backpack,” I said.

I wasn’t going to chase him.

Finally he came back.

“Here,” he said, and handed it to me.

I swung the backpack over my shoulder. It felt really heavy.

I unzipped it and looked inside.

A gun sat on top of the peanut-butter-and-pickle sandwiches I had made that morning.

“You know what to do with it,” Gus said. “You got to get revenge for Jimmy.”

My hands started shaking.

“Take it back,” I said. “I don’t want it.”

“You’ll need it when the guys in the black Chevy come looking for you again,” Gus said. “It’s a gift from me and my homies. With Jimmy gone, you need us. Use the gun to show us what you got.”

I shook my head. I felt like my heart was pounding so fast that my lungs couldn’t breathe.

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