Read Online At the Crossroads by Travis Hunter - Free Book Online Page A

starting to torture him, so he stepped back from the fence and headed home. He took the scenic route even though those heavy books were starting to give his arms fits. He passed Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University and was hopeful that he would one day join the kids he saw milling about the huge campus.
    As soon as he turned onto his street, he saw his friend Jason sitting on the front steps of his house. There was something about the way he was sitting—hands wrapped around his knees with his head down—that made Franky walk over to him.
    “What’s wrong with you, whoadie?” he said as he approached his little friend.
    “I’m locked out and Grandma ain’t answering the door,” Jason said, seemingly on the verge of tears. “I been out here forever, and I gotta go to the bathroom and do the number two.”
    Franky walked past him and up the steps to the house. He knocked on the door as hard as he could, but there was no answer.
    “Well, come on over to our house and use the bathroom,” Franky said. “Do you have anyone you can call?”
    “Yeah,” Jason said. “My auntie Samantha or my cousin David but their numbers is in the house.”
    “Are, “ Franky said, correcting Jason the way his mother used to correct him. “Their numbers are in the house. Come on.”
    “Whatchu doing with books?” Jason asked.
    “I just got home from school,” he said proudly. “What do you think I’m doing with ‘em?”
    “You in school now?” Jason asked as he walked beside Franky.
    “Yep.”
    “No more dummy for you,” Jason said, but Franky could see that his mind was clearly on his grandmother.
    Franky was worried about Mrs. Bertha, too. In all the time they had lived across the street from her, she had never missed a day of waiting for Jason. Something wasn’t right. She would normally be sitting in her rocking chair, waiting on his bus to arrive.
    They walked across the street to Franky’s house. When they walked in, Franky noticed Rico spread out on the sofa fast asleep. An empty beer bottle was on the floor, and he wore only a pair of boxer shorts.
    “Go ahead. You know where the bathroom is,” Franky said as he looked down at his cousin with new disdain. He loved Rico, but he didn’t like him. And Rico’s little charade this morning didn’t do anything to help with his feelings toward his cousin. He walked into his bedroom, and his anger grew even more. Clothes were everywhere. Worse than it was this morning before he left for school. He placed his books on his dresser and looked at the mess of clothes. He took a deep breath and started picking up his things. He neatly folded every piece of clothing, then placed them in his closet. Once he was halfway through with his task, he heard the toilet flush and Jason walked out.
    “Y’all nasty,” Jason said with his face frowned up. “Somebody didn’t even flush the toilet. My grandmother would hit y’all with her broom. And why y’all toilet paper so hard?”
    “Man,” Franky said, throwing a pair of socks at Jason. “Shut up.”
    “Why yo room so messy?”
    “Why do you talk so much?” Franky said.
    “What dat got to do with anything?”
    “Boy, be quiet,” Franky said. “What are you gonna do about getting in touch with your family, lil whoadie?”
    “I don’t know. I used to be able to crawl through the window until Grandma put bars on them. Where my grandma at?”
    “How am I supposed to know? I just got home from school.”
    “Oh,” Jason said, tears welling up in his eyes. “She might be in the house sick. Or even dead.”
    “Nah,” Franky said. “She’s okay. I just saw her this morning. She helped me get in school.”
    Jason seemed to relax a little. “How she get there?” he asked.
    Before Franky could respond, he heard the house phone ring and rushed into the kitchen to get it.
    “Hello?” Franky said.
    There was a four-second pause.
    “Hello?” he said again.
    “This is a call from an inmate at the Atlanta