All You Have to Do by Autumn Allen EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Autumn Allen
- Language: English
- Genre: Children’s Asia Books
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
GIBRAN
Massachusetts | September 1995
The bass is thumping. I can feel it in my bones. It’s begging me to bob my
head, laugh, and shout. In another place, I would get up, my boys in step
with me, rush the stage, dance. But in Thatcher Hall, at Lakeside Academy,
I freeze.
Three white boys—two seniors and a junior—bounce onto the stage,
smirking. The bass becomes a warped noise as my eyes take in every inch
of their costumes.
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Six pairs of sneakers, all mixed up on three pairs of feet. Yellow and red.
Red and black. Black and green.
They’re high-top sneakers—good ones. Expensive ones. And they’re
brand-new. No doubt bought on their parents’ credit cards, just for this one
stunt.
They march back and forth, pretending to warm up to the music, acting
like they’re going to rhyme. I watch those sneakers, obsessed with the fact
that they’ll never wear them again.
They wear baggy jeans so new, they’re creased and saturated with dye.
Crisp white T-shirts, extra extra large.
The jeans, the shirts—they won’t wear those again either.
They got the brands right mostly, but their ignorance shows in the
details.
Their Red Sox caps betray them. Faded all over and frayed at the edges.
If they knew anything about us, they’d know you can’t perform in that. The
contrast is almost funny.
But those mismatched shoes. And the walk. An exaggerated pimp walk.
Dip, hop, dip, hop. Arms swinging, greedy grins on their faces, swaying to
a rhythm that doesn’t match the beat still rattling my bones. Mics held to
their thin lips, their mouths move, but I can’t hear the words they’re lipsynching. I can barely hear the muffled laughter of the other white students
who watch.
I tear my eyes away from the stage and scan the audience. The boys’
friends crack up and cheer them on. Other white students cover their smiles
with one hand, wide-eyed, not sure if they should find this funny.
The boys onstage are laughing. Their blue, green, hazel eyes gleam with
something that feels sinister. They wear a confidence that was never taken
from them. I want to steal it now.
What can I do? Stop the show? Bash the speakers? Slap the
microphones out of their hands? I savor the fantasy, but there are too many
witnesses. To be the aggressor in front of the whole school—that would
guarantee my expulsion. I wouldn’t mind; it could be worth it. If only it
weren’t for my mother’s tears. My family’s pleas. You’re almost there,
Gibran. Just graduate. Finish your last year.
Like it’s easy. No. The longer I’m here, the harder it gets.
On my right, James’s dark eyes are narrowed, following the boys across
the stage, trying to figure out if this is for real.
On my left, David glares at the wall behind them, expressionless,
holding himself together.
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