Read Online Boy Who Said No : An Escape to Freedom (9781608090815) by Patti Sheehy - Free Book Online

stomach did a somersault.
    I bounced the ball to a teammate and signaled that I was leaving the game. I walked to the fence, my heart skipping a beat.
    â€œHey, where are you going?” called a classmate, a short, smart-alecky kid who never failed to get on my nerves.
    â€œJust
shut up
and leave me alone,” I said. The boy shrugged and started to saunter away.
    I got to the edge of the fence and peered through it. “What in God’s name are you doing here?” I asked. Gilbert smiled at me mischievously.
    â€œWe’re here to rescue you. Just like we promised. Hurry! I’ll help you over the fence.”
    I looked around and leveraged my foot against the metal support. My classmate turned and yelled, “Hey, you’d better be careful. You know you’re not allowed outta here.”
    I was scared enough without this kid mouthing off. “Will you be
quiet,
” I said. My classmate smirked while Gilbert pulled me over the fence. I landed on the ground with a thud.
    I looked around. “Where’s the car?” I whispered.
    â€œWe didn’t bring a car,” said Gilbert, acting as if this were no big deal. My heart dropped like an anchor to the floor of the sea.
    â€œNo car? How will we escape?” My face froze in apprehension. This was feeling far too dangerous to me.
    Gilbert nodded in the direction of the bushes, as if the answer lay therein. Suddenly Luis and Jabao popped up from behind the shrubbery, waving red baseball caps and pushing their own bikes—as well as Gilbert’s—in our direction.
    â€œWhat the—”
    â€œShush!” said Gilbert. “Quick, get on my handlebars.”
    â€œThis isn’t going to work,” I said. “We can’t escape this way. They’re gonna catch us.”
    â€œJust
shut up
and get on,” ordered Gilbert.
    I hopped onto Gilbert’s handlebars, and we started wobbling through the high grass. The ground beneath us was rutted, and it was difficult to stay upright. The tires on his bike were almost flat.
    â€œWhat’s the matter with you, Gilbert, couldn’t you even put air in the tires?”
    â€œStop worrying about the tires, would ya? I got here, didn’t I?”
    â€œYeah, but God knows if we’ll ever get home.”
    â€œOh, shut yourself up, Frankie. You have any better ideas?”
    Luis and Jabao raced ahead of us, spewing a cloud of dust and pebbles into the air. The fender on Jabao’s bike was so rusty it was about to fall off, and Luis’s dirty shoelace was dangling dangerously close to the chain of his bike. I crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t get caught. I could just picture them going head over heels into the dirt.
    Meanwhile, I was hanging on for dear life as my cousin tried to steady his bike to keep it from keeling over. By now I was sure the guard at school had notified the authorities. They would be out looking for us, perhaps with dogs. I envisioned vicious canines chasing us and biting our legs.
    Gilbert kept peddling, his face getting redder and redder as he huffed and puffed down the road. He kept mumbling things under his breath and wiping the sweat trickling down his forehead with the back of his hand. After we’d gone about a quarter of a mile, I began to laugh, a rip-roaring belly laugh.
    â€œDon’t get too happy up there,” hollered Gilbert. “In a little while we’re going to switch places, and you’re going to have to peddle. Then we’ll see how funny this is.”
    But I couldn’t help it. The whole thing was classic Gilbert. We were miles from home, running from the authorities on a wing and a prayer. No adult knew where we were or what we were up to. And God knows what would happen to us if we ever got caught.
    All I could think of was: This is it? My great escape? My stance against the Party? A bunch of crazy kids with worn-out sneakers and rusty bikes teetering down the road like