Stay in the Game by Megan Atwood

Author:Megan Atwood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group

James sighed and shook his head. Was it just him or were these tasks getting harder? But not doing them . . . well, his aunt had paid a price for his stupidity. He couldn’t let that happen to his grandpa too.

He thought of his grandpa. The tubes in his nose. His grandpa’s gravelly voice and wheezy, contagious laugh.

He’d do just about anything to keep that laugh in this world.

CHAPTER 9

Burnett’s Hardware was a tiny store scrunched between two other tiny stores in North Minneapolis. The windows had bars. Sales signs in neon splashed across the windows. When James walked in, a bell rang.

A tired-looking woman came out through a door behind the counter. She smiled warmly at James. “Can I help you find something?” James immediately liked her. But behind her he could see a door she’d just come through. This had to be the office he needed to get into. A pang of guilt shot through him—a now-familiar feeling.

He said, “I’m looking for a bag. Like a backpack or a messenger bag or something. Do you carry those?”

She nodded and smiled. “We sure do. Come on back here.” She led him down a row filled with school supplies. Several backpacks and other types of bags lined the walls, plus paper and pencils and notebooks. James couldn’t help it, he had to ask. “How come you have school supplies at a hardware store?” He quickly covered up and said, “I mean, I was hoping you did, but I wasn’t expecting it.”

The woman beamed. “Well, I have two kids. So we’ve always stocked a few school supplies.” Her smile turned sad. “It was my husband’s idea, actually. He died years ago, but I still keep this up. Even though one of my kids is grown and the other is almost there . . .” She seemed to remember James and brightened up again. “Here you go! I hope you find one you like.”

James’s shoulders dropped. He was going to steal from a nice lady whose husband had died. This seemed way too personal. He wasn’t sure he could go through with it.

At least he could buy a backpack. He grabbed the cheapest one and walked to the register. The lady seemed surprised. “Well, that was quick!” She gave him that huge smile again.

He shrugged and smiled back. “I really need a bag.” He eyed the office door directly behind her. How was he going to get in there anyway? He just didn’t think he could get through this task.

Just then, the sound of glass breaking startled him out of his thoughts. The lady frowned and said, “Just a minute,” and then ran to the back of the store.

James tensed. It was now or never.

He ran around the counter and slipped through the door to the office. He found the file cabinet right away. As quietly as he could, he grabbed the file that said “Insurance” and ran back out. He put it in the backpack. Just as he finished zipping it, the lady came back.

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