Dunk by Lubar David

Author:Lubar, David
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clarion Books

21

“COME ON. YOU DON’T WANT TO KEEP YOUR FATHER WAITING,” Officer Manetti said. “He looks mad enough already.”

“My father?” No. It couldn’t be. Not him. Not now. No way he was ever going to get a chance to be any kind of hero to me, no matter how much trouble I was in.

“Hey, you’re lucky somebody cared enough to come for you.”

Feeling like I’d gotten lost in another person’s dream, I followed Officer Manetti down a long corridor. “What about my friend?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Sorry. All I know is the ambulance took him to Mercy General.”

“But I can go?”

“There’s that little matter of assaulting an officer, but I’m going to assume it was a misunderstanding. You didn’t intend to grab me—you were trying to grab your friend’s arm. Right? And you missed.”

“But I was—”

“You missed,” he said again. “Right?”

“Uh, yeah. Right. Thanks.”

“Just stay clean,” he said. “Really clean. Understand?”

“Yeah . . . yes, sir.”

“Look, kid, I got a son your age. I know what it’s like. It’s tough being a kid. Especially now. But guess what? It’s a lot tougher being a parent. Either way, that’s not what matters here. What matters is I gotta do my job. You break the law, I’ll bust you. We clear on that?”

I nodded. It was just about the only thing I was clear on right now.

We reached the front desk. I saw him in the waiting area across the room. The words spilled past my lips before my mind figured out what was really going on. “He’s not—”

“He’s not what?” Officer Manetti asked.

My father. I barely managed to keep the words in. “He’s not going to understand,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing. “I’ll be grounded for the rest of my life.”

Officer Manetti sighed. “That’s between you and him.” He led me past the desk. “Here you go, sir. No charges are being filed. The boy was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Thank you, officer,” Malcolm said, his anger barely under control. He glared at me, then looked back at Officer Manetti. “I can assure you that he will never be any place at the wrong time again.”

“I hope not,” Officer Manetti said.

Malcolm grabbed my arm and said, “You are in big trouble. Do you have any idea what it feels like to have the police come to the house? Do you have any idea? What am I supposed to say to the neighbors?” He dragged me toward the door, ranting the whole time about what sorts of punishment I could look forward to and about how much grief I’d caused him.

We stepped outside into air that had grown hot and humid. But it was better than the air in the cell.

“How was I?” Malcolm asked when we reached the sidewalk. All signs of anger melted away from his face and his voice. “Convincing? Realistic? Did I sell the role of the furious father to the audience? Do you think the part about the neighbors was too much?”

I yanked my arm loose and took a step away from him.

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.