Read Online Alabama Moon by Watt Key - Free Book Online

clean my backseat of him for the second time.”
    I tried to rub my shoulder where Sanders had been squeezing me, but the constable slapped my hand away. “Don’t you move a finger!” he spat. Sanders looked back at Mr. Gene. “I’m tellin’ you now, this kid’ll be on you like a wet cat, you don’t tie him down.”
    My stomach felt queasy and my head was still throbbing. I wanted to lie down and sleep. “I’m not gonna whip up on anybody,” I said to the floor.
    Sanders left and Mr. Gene took me to a back room and stood me in front of a giant black man.
    â€œThis is Mr. Carter,” he said. “He’s the watchman here at Pinson. He’ll take you from here.”
    â€œMy stomach hurts,” I said.
    â€œI’ll bet it does,” Mr. Gene said like he didn’t believe me. “I know all about that stomach. We’ve seen just about every trick in the book at Pinson. Isn’t that right, Mr. Carter?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œMr. Carter, will you get this boy a uniform and show him to the shower room? After that you can show him to his bunk.”
    Mr. Carter nodded and began to lead me away.
    â€œAnd Mr. Carter,” Mr. Gene said. We stopped and turnedaround again. “Moon will be wearing our special color for the time being.”
    â€œI’ll fix him up,” Mr. Carter said.
    Mr. Carter pointed me through a door on my right and then we turned left down a hall. Soon we came to a closet where we stopped. He opened the door and, from a top shelf, got a one-piece uniform that was the color of orange flagging tape. He handed it down to me. “You don’t give us any trouble and we’ll let you wear a white one. What size shoes you wear?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    He knelt down and dug into a cardboard box and pulled out some white canvas tennis shoes. “Take these with you and we’ll swap ’em out if they don’t fit. I’ll round up a jacket for you and put it in your locker later on.”
    I took the shoes and backed up as he came from the closet and shut it. We continued on until we came to a steel door that Mr. Carter had to unlock with keys that hung from his belt. Once we passed through I heard the sound of boys shouting. He locked it behind us and we turned right and kept walking. “You have boys in cages here?”
    â€œCages?”
    â€œLike jail.”
    â€œNo. No cages like jail.”
    We turned left again and walked down another hall until Mr. Carter pushed open a door and motioned for me to go in. “Get a shower and get dressed. There’s towels above the sink in there. I’ll be out here when you’re done. You had lunch yet?”
    â€œNossir.”
    â€œThe rest of the boys already ate, but I’ll see what I can find for you.”
    I walked into the empty shower room and looked around. I saw the stall and remembered how Earle had turned the silver knobs to get the water out. After placing my new clothes on the floor, I stripped naked and stepped under the shower head. I watched the nozzle as I turned the knob and suddenly icy-cold water pounded my face. I sucked in my breath and let the water run over me for a few seconds before I reached up and turned it off.
    When Mr. Carter came back I was waiting in the middle of the floor with my new uniform and shoes on. He gave me a sandwich and bent over and picked up the clothes Earle had found for me. When we walked back out into the hall, he tossed my jail clothes into a trash can and wiped his hands on his pants.
    The next room he took me to was full of numbered bunk beds, each one with two lockers next to it. There was a door against the far wall that led outside to a play yard with trailers in it. There was another to my right that I reasoned would open back into the shower room. Out the windows I saw boys running about and playing.
    â€œWe’ve got twenty-one residents here, so