Kick Read Free

can do it in front of twelve other people who couldn’t care less about you.”
    â€œSo, why do you care what happens to me?”
    Sergeant Brown raised his eyebrows. “Judge Kelly said you needed some straightening out. He asked me if I wanted to help you and I said I’d give it a try. But you need to be honest with me. With some straight answers and a little luck, you might, just might, not have to stay in here. You are interested in getting out?”
    Sergeant Brown spoke in a voice that meant business. He looked at me, waiting for my answer.
    â€œAll I want to do is go home,” I said.
    â€œIt’s not that simple, young man,” Sergeant Brown said. “You’re going to have to go to the judge’s chambers and explain a lot of things to him. And tell them in a way to make him think you deserve to leave here tonight.”
    â€œI’m not that good at explaining things,” I said. “The cop who handcuffed me didn’t believe me.”
    Sergeant Brown kind of puffed up, shook his head a little, and exhaled. “Just what are you good at?” he asked.
    â€œI don’t know. Soccer, I guess,” I answered. “But that’s not going to help me in here, is it? The tournament lottery is tomorrow.”
    â€œWhich means . . . ?”
    â€œThe lottery for the State Cup. That’s the most important soccer tournament in New Jersey. The brackets will be posted tomorrow, so we’ll know what team we’re playing first round.”
    â€œYou’re in jail for a bunch of felonies and you’re thinking about soccer?”
    â€œI don’t know what to think about,” I said. “I don’t even know if I’m thinking straight.”
    That shut him up for a few minutes.
    â€œSo, Kevin, what position do you play?” Sergeant Brown asked me.
    â€œStriker,” I said.
    â€œIs that defense or offense?” Sergeant Brown asked.
    â€œYou don’t know anything about soccer, right?” I asked.
    â€œNot really,” he answered. “And you don’t know much about the law, so maybe we can both learn something. What do you think?”
    â€œSounds okay, I guess.”
    Sergeant Brown stood up. “Now we’re going to talk it over with your mom,” he said. “Then we’re going to meet with Judge Kelly and see if he wants to keep you in here.”
    â€œKeep me in here!” Maybe I should have been a little nicer to this man. I wanted to throw up.
    The door to the room inched open, and my mom and grandma slowly came in. Mom’s face was stained with tears. Abuela, my grandma, seemed smaller as she walked behind Mom. They took seats across from Sergeant Brown and me.
    About four years ago my abuelo died. That’s when Abuela came from Colombia to live with us. I loved her almost as much as I loved Mom. Mom worked six days a week as an assistant in a doctor’s office. Abuela had been taking care of me since I was nine.
    â€œAy, mi nieto.” Abuela sounded so sad. She put her hands on my cheeks.
    I could see that tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes. I felt like crying, too, but I didn’t want to cry in front of Sergeant Brown.
    â€œMom, this is Sergeant Brown,” I said softly. “He wants to talk to you.”
    â€œNice to meet you,” my mom said politely, her voice cracking.
    I hated to see my mom sad. She’d already been through so much.
    â€œAbuela, le presento al señor Brown,” I said, introducing Abuela to Sergeant Brown in Spanish.
    Sergeant Brown turned to my mom. “Ma’am, I’m a police officer and also a friend of Judge Kelly. He asked me if I would look into Kevin’s case. We’ll be talking to the judge in a few minutes, and I’m hoping that everything will turn out all right, but there are a lot of unknown aspects to this case. Most important is that Kevin needs to explain what