Read Online Island Boyz by Graham Salisbury - Free Book Online Page B

slithering through the crack behind the counter.
    I stumbled back, falling into Mom, who banged against the door.
    Ledward stood.
    He peeked over the mess on my counter, looking for the centipede’s hiding place. Slowly he moved a stack of books aside, the pocketknife ready.
    The centipede raced out into the open.
    Tick!
    He cut it into two writhing pieces.
    Tick! Tick!
    Four segments, curling, flipping, legs clawing air.
    Ledward wiped the blade on his shorts and folded it back into the handle. “No boddah you now,” he said.
    “Let’s go make some hot chocolate,” Mom said, sighing.
    Ledward winked and tapped my shoulder, then followed Mom into the kitchen, leaving me gaping at the centipede parts. What was I supposed to do now?
    A few minutes later Stella poked her head in my door.
    “What do
you
want?” I said.
    “Oh, nothing. I just wanted to see what you had Ledward do for you.”
    I stepped between her and the centipede parts.
    She grinned. “I just love watching you squirm.”
    “I’m not squirming.”
    “Oh?” Stella glanced behind her, then looked back and whispered, “Well, listen . . . how mad do you think that thing’s
mate
is gonna be?” She winked and backed away. “Bye, little buddy.”
    Stella, the thorn in my foot.
    I went back into the kitchen to tell Mom I was going over to Willy’s house. Stella was poking around in the fridge for something to eat. She ignored me.
    Darci was back, sitting at the table with a bowl of Rice Krispies and reading my Classic Comic of
Tom Sawyer
with milk dripping off her chin onto the pages. “Hey, don’t get milk on the pages, okay?”
    “I’m not,” she said, wiping the comic with her elbow.
    “Where’s Mom?” I said.
    “Looking out the window.”
    Maybe I should just go, I thought. She might say no.
    “Can I have it?” Darci said.
    “What?”
    She picked up the comic.
    “Yeah, sure, it’s all warped with milk, anyway.”
    I went into the living room. Mom and Ledward stood at the plate-glass window watching the wind and rain.
    “I’m going over to Willy’s house,” I told Mom.
    She looked at Ledward. “What do you think?”
    Ledward shrugged.
    Mom glanced back out the window. “Well, you stay inside when you get there, understand? Don’t go wandering around in this wind. And stay away from the canal. Don’t go near it, you hear me?”
    “Yeah,” I said, then bolted out to my room.
    I put on some jeans and rolled them up to just below my knees. Then I put on a sweatshirt and a hooded army-surplus rain poncho that was three times too big for me.
    Outside, the rain whapped down. The wind plastered the hood to one side of my face. I turned and walked with the wind hammering into my back as I staggered up the street toward Willy’s house. The road was warm under my bare feet. The rain was warm, too. I could have stayed out there all day, letting the storm shove me every which away.
    I thumped on Willy’s door. His mom answered.
    “My God, Joey, what are you doing out on a day like this?”
    “Is Willy home?”
    “Of course he’s home. Go around and come in through the garage. Leave that wet poncho out there.”
    “Heyyy,” Willy said when I poked my head into his room. He was playing with his lead soldiers. Battalions all lined up, two armies facing each other. He shot a man down with a rubber band, his long straight hair hanging into his eyes.
    “You want to go down to the beach?” I said. “Check out the ocean?”
    “I’ll get my poncho.”
    It was exactly like mine. We’d gotten them together from an army-surplus store in Honolulu. “Mom!” Willy shouted from the garage. “I’m going over to Joey’s house!”
    “It’s too stormy,” she said.
    We left anyway.
    We cut through Willy’s backyard and climbed the fence and fought the wind down the street to Kalapawai Market, where we bought Fudgsicles to eat in the storm. We were the only customers. In fact, we were the
last
customers. “I’m closing up,” the lady