Kick Read Free Page B

so sorry.” There were things I couldn’t really explain.
    Judge Kelly frowned at me. He could frown at me all he wanted, but I still didn’t want to get a friend in trouble.
    â€œI’d like some time to look into the matter if the court will allow that.” Sergeant Brown spoke up. “Kevin has good family ties, and as his attorney points out, he has a clean record.”
    â€œIt can’t take forever, Jerry,” Judge Kelly said. “Our calendars are crammed. I don’t have to tell you that.”
    â€œNo, sir,” Sergeant Brown said, crossing one leg over the other.
    â€œI’ll either dispose of the case in three weeks or send it to another judge,” Judge Kelly said. “In the meantime, I’m going to release young Mr. Johnson to his mother.”
    As soon as I heard that, I wanted to thank Judge Kelly and Sergeant Brown over and over again.
    I had to pick up my clothes and Mom had to sign a bunch of forms at the detention center so I could leave. I couldn’t believe I was out so quick.
    In the car on the way home, I could feel the tension.
    My mom finally broke the silence. “Kevin, if you get yourself into any trouble at all, even if you’re just with someone who gets in trouble, you’re going to be sent back in there. You have to be careful who you hang around with. Do you understand that?” Mom was so upset, she didn’t even turn around to look at me as she was talking. “I can’t believe this is happening to our family.”
    That was about as close as my mom ever got to raising her voice. “I’m so sorry, Mom,” I answered. And I meant it. Even though I had only been locked up for one night, I never wanted to go back to that place again.
    Abuela always talked too much, but she had nothing to say to me now. That was almost worse.
    We made one stop at a bakery to pick up some almojábanas —Colombian breads filled with cheese. This was my favorite food. Even though she was mad, Mom was being extra nice, but I wasn’t hungry.
    On our way home, we drove downtown. It wasn’t the weekend, but there were groups of kids from my school hanging around. I closed my eyes and slumped down in my seat. I knew they would have heard about me getting arrested and I’d have to answer a million questions from them.
    I thought about Christy. I wondered if she was as scared as I was. I remembered that when the cop had pulled us over, I had turned to her and she hadn’t said a word. The cop that had arrested me thought she was just too scared to talk, but I knew there were things that were just too hard to say. Sergeant Brown seemed all right; at least he got me out of juvie. And he didn’t feel sorry for me like my mom and grandma did. I liked that.
    As we drove along, I saw the green turf of Highland Field shining under the lights. The facility had been built recently after a long, heated argument between the town council members and the taxpayers. My mom used to joke that I’d better enjoy the new soccer fields because the money for them came straight out of her pocket.
    Now I wondered whether I’d ever get to play soccer again.

Chapter 03
    The Johnson boy’s family seemed like good people. They did what I had seen a lot of families do, look closely at the person in trouble to see if there was suddenly something different about them, something they hadn’t seen before. The mother was holding her hands to her chest while the grandmother, a small woman who carried herself with her head high, kept touching the boy. I got the feeling they both would have liked to take a break and just hold him for a while.
    I wanted to know what and who I was dealing with and how serious the case was going to be. If McNamara was definitely going to press charges, then the criminal aspect of the case was going to be the most important.
    His home number was listed on the complaint sheet and I called it, introduced