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Tim swung his left arm and hit Do
“Hey, what’s all that about?”
Do
“I don’t know….” Do
Instantly, he was ru
Do
“Billy! Billy!” She tried to see over the man blocking her way. “Let me by!”
Do
“No. Nooooo!”
She slumped against the man and he had to hold her up to keep her from collapsing on the walkway.
“Mom!”
His mom straightened up at the sound of Do
“Do
“Yeah. What’s going on? Why are all these policemen here?”
His mother’s face was drawn and almost gray. Pain welled up in her eyes and Do
“Something has happened to Billy. There’s been an accident.”
Billy was Do
“What happened? Is he okay?”
“No. I’m afraid he’s not okay.”
She paused, seemingly gathering strength for what she was about to say.
“Billy is dead.”
She stared at him and Do
Instead, he refused to let the words be part of him, to take root, and when Tim walked up with the book-bag Do
“Oh thanks, Tim. I probably won’t be at school for a few days.”
“Okay...” His friend glanced at Do
****
Do
It turned out, the man in plain clothes that blocked his mother’s path, was a detective. He brought each one of the kids, who had been in the room with Billy, outside and asked them the same questions.
Do
Each one of his brother’s friends described a game called ‘Russian Roulette’ and how his brother had spun the chamber of the gun, put it to his head and pulled the trigger. Do
Do
“What are we go
“I don’t know, Do
Chapter 1
“Do
Do
“Coming!”
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs to take a quick look in the mirror. Brown eyes stared back at him. He ran his hand through black hair that never seemed to lie down in the same place twice. His t-shirt was clean, as were his jeans.
When he reached the top of the stairs, his mother was waiting for him in her wheelchair. Diabetes had taken its toll on her health, her legs in particular, and walking even short distances was difficult.
“Let me look at you.”
He posed for her as she swept him up and down with her eyes.
“Well, you’re clean anyway. What are you doin’ downstairs all day?”
“Just playing on the computer. Nothing special. You ready to go?”
“Yes.”
It was Sunday and for the past ten years, rain or shine, Sunday meant a visit with Billy at the cemetery. If the weather was good, like it was today, they would spread a blanket out and sit for hours. His mother would chatter on telling Billy the latest news and who was doing what to whom in her soaps. She was always happiest when they were with Billy. Of course, she never heard Billy speak back to her, it was just her way of staying co
“Okay, I’ll pull the van around.”
Do