Read Online Alabama Moon by Watt Key - Free Book Online Page A

chances are you’re gonna find a friend. It ain’t so bad if you follow the rules.”
    I nodded.
    â€œYou know how to read, kid?”
    I nodded again.
    â€œThen go find bed eighteen. That’s gonna be your home for a while.”
    He walked out, and I wandered along until I found bed eighteen. It was a top bunk and I crawled up onto it and unwrapped my sandwich. I chewed it slowly and watched the boys. I was hungry, but it wasn’t long before the loneliness started creeping up over me again and I wrapped what was left of the sandwich and lay down to sleep.
    Mr. Carter came back into the room after an hour. He shook my shoulder and pain shot down my arm. I leaped back.
    â€œSomethin’ wrong with your arm, kid?”
    â€œSanders squeezed it,” I said.
    â€œLemme see.”
    I sat up and unzipped my uniform and pulled it to my waist. He studied my shoulder for a moment, then reached out and touched the blue areas with his finger. Where he pressed, the skin turned red and then blue when he pulled his finger away. He shook his head. “That Sanders, he’s trouble. I’ve got some cousins in Sumter County that say he ain’t easy to deal with. You want some ice to put on it?”
    â€œNossir. I’m okay.”
    Mr. Carter watched me while I zipped up again. “Boy, you’re built like a squirrel.”
    â€œPap said I could climb like one, too.”
    â€œBet you could. I ain’t seen many white boys with muscle like that.”
    â€œFrom workin’.”
    He picked up the sandwich I hadn’t finished. “Must not be from eatin’.”
    â€œI’ll finish it later,” I said.
    He tossed it a few feet into a trash can. “That’s all right.We got supper comin’ pretty soon. You’ll get all you can eat then.” He leaned against the bunk behind him and stuck his hands in his pockets. “You’re all over TV, you know.”
    I shrugged.
    â€œThey say you’re mean as a snake. You don’t look too mean to me.”
    I lay back down on the bed and pulled the blanket up to my chin. “People keep tryin’ to catch me all the time and I haven’t done anything. Before my pap died, he told me to head to Alaska. Said there were more people like us up there.”
    â€œMore squirrelly people with long hair?”
    â€œNossir. More people that hate the government.”
    Mr. Carter smiled and nodded. “Gov’ment haters. That’s right. All those gov’ment haters up there.”
    â€œThat’s what he said.”
    â€œHow you gonna get to Alaska?”
    â€œWalk, I guess.”
    Mr. Carter laughed. “You ain’t off to such a good start.”
    â€œSoon as I get out of here I will be.”
    Mr. Carter smiled and shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you? They ain’t gonna let you out of here unless somebody comes for you.”
    â€œI figure I won’t have much of a problem bustin’ out once I get to feelin’ better again.”
    Mr. Carter’s face grew serious. He pulled his hands from his pockets and took a step towards me. “Listen, no more foolin’ around. Don’t you be talkin’ like that anymore. You’re gonna get yourself in a heap more trouble’n you’re already in.”
    â€œAll right,” I said.
    â€œAll right what?”
    â€œI won’t talk about it anymore.”

 
11
    The rest of the boys came crowding into the room just after Mr. Carter left. I lay quietly on my bunk and watched them file through the play yard door and spread out towards their own beds. One of them happened to glance up and see me. He stopped and his eyes grew wide. “Hey!” he yelled. “It’s the cave boy!”
    The rest of the boys heard him and they all looked at me. I lay there and didn’t move.
    â€œIt
is
him!” someone else yelled. “The kid they talked about on