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big that part of it was
     always empty. It wasn't as good a layout as Moorehead Park; aside from some curbs and a couple of speed bumps, there wasn't
     much in the way of obstacles. But at least the pavement was better, and until they fixed Moorehead Park, it was the only game
     in town.
    Zach explained why he couldn't go. Kareem sympathized, but after that, there wasn't much to talkabout, so they hung up quickly. And that was the last he'd heard from any of them—three weeks ago.
    He'd done a lot of baby-sitting in that time. Lorena's parents had given his name to some friends of theirs who needed help
     Friday and Saturday nights. He'd spent the afternoons giving the girls lessons. They could now actually ride their boards.
    Zoey had already extracted a skateboard from their parents as an early birthday present. Lorena was working on her parents
     to do the same for her, and it seemed that she wouldn't have too hard a time getting one, even though her birthday wasn't
     till just before Thanksgiving.
    Zach had splurged on some cones for them to work with. It had set him back a day of baby-sitting wages, but he didn't care
     anymore. It gave him a chance to set up different slalom courses in the driveway.
    His skills were actually getting better with all this practice. Even though most of the tricks he tried were really easy,
     he was getting so good at them that he could put together a few at a time, which enabled him to create routines on the board.
    One day he brought his boom box outside andgave his routine some background music. Zoey and Lorena really enjoyed the addition of a sound track to their boarding activities.
     They were each improving steadily and were certainly no longer embarrassing.
    Outside of giving the girls lessons, the only good things in Zach's life were his technology classes and Computer Club at
     Amherst. They were really interesting, and he'd learned a lot. And with his hair and clothing close to what Amherst kids considered
     normal, he was slowly making friends, although none as close as Benny Santangelo.
    One day Benny and he were sitting next to each other in computer engineering class, when the teacher handed out a series of
     sheets detailing their big end-of-semester assignment.
    “You'll be working in teams,” Mr. Schmidt said. “You'll have to come up with a detailed computer design of a structure with
     moving parts.”
    “What kind of structure?” one of the kids asked.
    “That's entirely up to you,” the teacher said. “It could be a drawbridge or an elevator for a building. Try to be creative.
     But I'll expect a two-page written report explaining how you came up with it and how it works.”
    “Cool!” Benny said, turning to powwow with Zach. “Got any good ideas?”
    Zach shrugged. “You're the idea man,” he said. “Just one request.”
    “What?”
    “We work at your house. I need to get away,” Zach said, rolling his eyes. “I'm in prison at my house.”
    “No problem,” Benny assured him. “I'll have my mom call your mom and set it up.” He winked at Zach, and they shook on it.
    That evening Zach's mom was about to drive him to Benny's for a brainstorming session on their big project when the phone
     rang. His mom went into the kitchen to answer it.
    “Skeeter, hi!” Zach heard her say, greeting his uncle. “How are you? How's the weather out in sunny California?” She listened,
     and then said, “Well, I'm just driving Zach over to a friend's house.”
    There was a pause. Zach tapped on the back of the sofa impatiently.
    Then he heard his mom say, “Oh, we're surviving, I guess. Things have been tense with us. …”
    Zach knew she was talking about him. He couldtell by the hush that came into her voice. He edged over to the open kitchen door, to hear better.
    “He just doesn't seem to want to play by the rules,” his mom was complaining. “We can't do anything with him. Do you know
     the police brought him home one night? And Zoey caught him