Down to the Bone Read Free Page A

happen.
    My hands won’t stop trembling. I’ve got to pee. Sweat drips down my back from my neck as I wait for Mami to come through the door. No one is talking to me. But they’re talking about me with my cell in hand. They’re desperately trying to figure out Marlena’s name and number so they can call her parents.
    “The callback number was turned off. This is preposterous. We can’t allow two bad apples to spoil our private school’s impeccable reputation. We won’t let such indecency here.”
    In a quavering voice, I raise my hand. “May I please use the restroom?” I’ll make a mad dash out of this dreadful school and run for my life after I pee.
    Mrs. Superior-Sicko grits her teeth. She scratches her bulbous nose. “The restroom? You should have thought about the consequences of these atrocious texts, young lady.” Her ears and neck flush a dark pink. A thick blue vein on her forehead pops out. Her eyes drill holes into mine. “Hold it until we resolve this matter.”
    I try to sit but they won’t let me. My legs are weak.
    Before you know it, my mom rushes through the door and they’re reading the texts to her.
    . . . your breasts on my . . .
    Mami’s face goes from rosy to deathly pale as she burns holes into my pupils with her stare. “Those texts are obscene. This is so embarrassing. How dare you have a relationship with a girl in this school behind my back?”
    Mrs. Superior-Sicko glares at me. She points a fat finger toward the middle of my forehead. “If you’d like Shai to stay in our school, you must keep watch over her so she doesn’t meet up with that girl again. They must end this sexual relationship and filthy texting, today.”
    “It’s not disgusting like you all think.”
    Fart Face comes to me, shoving the cell in my face. “Shai, you know this school accepts homosexuality. We even have a Straight and Gay Alliance. This isn’t about sexual preferences. The same rules apply to straight kids. This issue has to do with having sex at your age. Reading, writing, sending or receiving these types of explicit texts during class is not allowed. Who’s the girl you’re having sex with? You’re both responsible for this unacceptable behavior.”
    I want to blurt, “It’s your favorite niece, Alicita, the perfect genius you’re always yacking about.” But instead, I zip my lips tightly.
    My mom digs holes in my eyes. “I didn’t even know you liked girls.” She looks to Fart Face. “Shai wears dresses. She slow dances at parties with boys. As far as I knew, she loves the opposite sex. I’ve been fooled by my own daughter?” She turns to me. “We were so close.”
    Mrs. Superior-Sicko gives me an ultimatum: “Tell us who the girl who wrote those texts is, or you’ll be expelled.” I’m still mute. She continues with hatred in her eyes. “Whoever she is, her behavior needs to be stopped. I won’t allow girls, boys, gays, straights, giraffes, whatever, to write or read graphic, explicit, sexual texts in class.”
    The ticking sound of the grandfather clock blasts out like a bunch of loud shots, over and over again, driving me crazy.
    “Who is the nasty girl?” My mom’s jaw tenses. “Go bring her to us right now.”
    “She’s not nasty!” No one’s going to find out it was Marlena. I’ll let them keep believing she’s in this school. I don’t give a royal banana if they keep me prisoner here for years. I’ll never talk!
    Mami utters, “I’m deeply sorry. I raised her to be polite. She’s never given me trouble. Shai’s been a great girl and, as you know, an A student. I don’t know what’s gotten into her and why she won’t cooperate.”
    “I’m not shocked,” Fart Face affirms. “This type of sexual behavior shouldn’t be happening at such a young age, but unfortunately, it’s common.”
    Mrs. Superior-Sicko’s jaw is tight as she digs holes into my pupils. “Well, Shai Amores, I see that you will not cooperate. You’re lucky today is the last