The Gardener Read Free

boys, “Go home.”
    They both nodded and ran as I walked toward the other kid and backed him into the wall. There were still a few feet between us, but he was breathing harder and his eyes were wide. And why not? Most kids who didn’t know me very well kept their distance. I was big, and my scar made my face look scary. But I used it to my advantage on bullies like him.
    “You need to leave those kids alone.”
    He nodded.
    “Seriously. I catch you picking on anyone else…” For effect, I made a fist and covered it with my other hand. “Got it?”
    He didn’t say anything, just ran off down the hall.
    I smiled as I dropped my hands. Off the football field, I would never think of hurting anyone, but most people probably didn’t know that. They just saw a big, Halloween-masked hulk of a guy. But what a rush, to save people. The first time was when I was in fifth grade. After school, I usually headed to the Bottoms, a forest walking trail. One day I heard someone calling for help. Going off the trail a ways, I found a couple of second-grade girls. They’d been messing around, playing by a pile of logs, and one girl had gotten her foot caught. So I managed to roll the log off and carried the girl all the way back to the school. Her grandma was one of the teachers, and I got my picture in the paper. That part was kind of weird. I don’t like my picture getting taken, and I made sure to turn my head so only my good side showed. The coolest part for me was just seeing the relief on the face of the grandma when she hugged the kids, especially when things could have turned out differently. Being responsible for the happy ending made me happy.
    After that, I saved people every chance I got.
    Outside, there was a light drizzle, and I jogged to where Jack waited for me in his red truck, Deep Purple turned upso high that I’d heard it the second I’d stepped outside. “Thanks for waiting.” Jack and I shared a lot of the same tastes, including the one for old rock music.
    I reached over and turned the volume up even more.
    Although he got the Ford for his birthday a couple of months before, the inside still smelled new. His dad owned a chain of plumbing supply stores in the Pacific Northwest; Jack was rich and could pay for any college he got into. But with his grades, the problem was getting in. So he worried about things like SAT scores while I worried about my bank account.
    I asked, “What time are we leaving?”
    Jack’s family owned a cabin up in Glenwood, at the foot of Mount Adams, and we planned to head up there for the weekend to go ATV’ing. Not only did they own a batch of the finest new Arctic Cats, they also had acres and acres of trails to ride around on. Plus, it was the first weekend we’d be going since Jack got his license, our first weekend out of town on our own.
    But as he pulled out of the parking lot, he said, “We’ll have to wait and go tomorrow. I just got called in to work.”
    “So don’t go.” I drew circles in the fog on my window. “It’s not like you need the money.”
    “Turn down an extra shift at the Haven of Peace?” If he did get into college, Jack planned to go premed. Can’t say he didn’t aim high. So when he turned sixteen, he took a job as an orderly at the same nursing home where my mom worked. He turned into my driveway and let the Ford idle. “Besides, I’m saving up to take Miranda Collins to prom.” He also got a hefty allowance, so I doubt he would have to save up for long.
    I made a face. “She’s such a brown-noser. You haven’t said one word to her since she tore up your valentine in sixth grade.”
    He grinned. “I admire her … um … intelligence from afar.”
    “Intelligence my ass.”
    Jack laughed. “And destiny is on my side.”
    “You’ve been saying that since sixth grade. Destiny hasn’t helped you get a girl yet, dude.”
    He reached over and punched me. “With all this rain, we probably can’t do most of the trails anyway.”
    The