Read Online All American Boys by Jason Reynolds - Free Book Online

continued. “I’m on my own, honey, and I’m doing the best I can to help you, but I need your help to help your brother.”
    She sipped her tea and watched me. I sat there like a mute because I didn’t know what to say. I felt like an idiot.
    She sighed. “I was going to ask you, but now I’m just telling you. Pick up Willy from his game today. The Cambis are bringing him. In fact, go see your brother’s game. It means more to him if you’re there than me anyway, so go see his game.” She reached for her purse that hung on the back of her chair and pulled a few bills from her wallet. “He looks up to you. Spend some time with him. Take him out for pizza after. Once basketball starts we’ll never see you. Take him out for lunch.”
    So I did what I was told, and I put on some clean jeans and my light hoodie and took the bus over to the East Side for Willy’s game. Tough Will. Tough Will, who was known to sit down in the middle of his own soccer game, right there on the field, until his coach gave up and called in the sub. Tough Will spent most of his games sitting on the sidelines eating orange slices.
    When I got there, both teams were already warming up on either end of the field. I’d played soccer before I was in high school and loved it. For Tough Will, it was another story. It was only the warm-ups and I could see him dragging his feet, not chasing anything or anyone anywhere—just standing around and waiting for someone to pass him the ball.
    â€œGet in there, man!” I shouted. “Will! Will! Get in there, man.”
    He looked over at me and waved, totally oblivious to the rest of the players and balls around him. Still, I guess I inspired him, because he turned and chased down a red-and-white ball and dribbled it a bit before taking a shot on net. It went wide left, but at least he ran after the ball.
    My phone started blowing up with texts, but Regina Cambi had set up a folding chair beside a cooler, and she was waving me over, so I had to ignore the texts because I sure as hell couldn’t ignore her. She sat with a few other moms, and the dads who’d come to the game stood around in a circle a little ways behind them, under the boughs of the one large oak tree that gave this park its name. I chatted with Mrs. Cambi at first, but then the game began, and I started cheering Willy and his team on, using that as an excuse to pull away as if I wanted to walk down the sidelines and see the action more clearly, because my phone kept buzzing and buzzing in my pocket and I wanted to see what was going on.
    Guzzo had texted “wassup” ten times.
    SATURDAY 12:53 p.m. to Guzzo
    HOWS UR HEAD?
    SATURDAY 12:53 p.m. from Guzzo
    FCKING AWFUL
    SATURDAY 12:54 p.m. to Guzzo
    BANANAS & GATORADE, MAN
    SATURDAY 12:54 p.m. from Guzzo
    IM PUKING WATER IF I DRINK IT
    SATURDAY 12:55 p.m. to Guzzo
    DAMN. U BUSTED?
    SATURDAY 12:55 p.m. from Guzzo
    NO
    SATURDAY 12:55 p.m. to Guzzo
    FCK I AM & IM NOT EVEN HUNGOVER
    SATURDAY 12:57 p.m. from Guzzo
    ITS A SHITSHOW HERE
    SATURDAY 12:57 p.m. to Guzzo
    WHA?
    SATURDAY 12:58 p.m. from Guzzo
    PAULS HOME. ITS A BIG DEAL
    SATURDAY 12:58 p.m. to Guzzo
    IS IT ABOUT YESTERDAY? AT JERRYS?
    SATURDAY 12:59 p.m. from Guzzo
    I DONT KNO. UM YEAH.
    SATURDAY 1:00 p.m. to Guzzo
    DAMN
    SATURDAY 1:02 p.m. from Guzzo
    I GUESS WE R HAVIN A BBQ 2MRRW
    SATURDAY 1:02 p.m. to Guzzo
    WHA?
    SATURDAY 1:03 p.m. from Guzzo
    YUP. C U THEN. TELL UR MOM TO BRING THAT MARSHMALLOW PIE
    SATURDAY 1:03 p.m. to Guzzo
    SHE HAS 2 WORK I THINK
    SATURDAY 1:04 p.m. from Guzzo
    NOPE. I ALRDY KNO SHES COMIN
    I hesitated, and he wrote again.
    SATURDAY 1:06 p.m. from Guzzo
    EVRYBDY COMIN. GOTTA BUST. C U 2MRRW
    So something had to be up, because the Galluzzo family never had people over. Or rather, they never invited people over. There were so many people coming and going from the house that it always seemed like a party. But they never “officially”