Read Online Tools of Ignorance: Lisa's Story by Barbara L. Clanton - Free Book Online

my friend is here, and we have to go.”
    “So?”
    Lisa looked heavenward for a moment. Why did Lynnie have to be a pain in the butt in front of Sam? She sighed. “You can read at home. I’ll make sure Lawrence Jr. stays out of your room, okay? I’ll set him and Bridget up with a DVD or something, okay?”
    Lynnie seemed to consider it. “Okay.” She stood up. She looked at Sam and said, “Is that Tara?”
    “What? Tara? Where did you get that idea?” Lisa had never talked about Tara to anybody, and definitely not to her sister. She must have overheard a phone conversation or something.
    Lynnie shrugged.
    “That’s my friend Sam.” She motioned for Sam to come over. “Sam, this is my sister Lynnie.”
    “Nice to meet you Lynnie.” Sam stuck her hand out.
    Lynnie politely shook Sam’s hand and headed toward the playground gate.
    Sam raised an eyebrow. Lisa shrugged and whispered, “I think she’s got middle-child syndrome or something. I don’t know.”
    Sam nodded, and they headed to the car. She opened the passenger door and pulled the front seat forward. “Okay, everybody, hop in.”
     
     
    AFTER SAFELY SECURING her siblings in the house with her mother, Lisa got back in Sam’s convertible. “This is a nice car.”
    “Thanks. My parents bought it for me when I got my permit last year, but I have to pay the running expenses like gas, oil changes, maintenance—that kind of stuff. So where’s this famous bowling alley of yours?”
    “Valley Lanes? Okay, go out here.” Lisa pointed the way out of her neighborhood toward the main road. “Go left on C.R. 62, and then I’ll guide you once we get closer.”
    “Cool.”
    “So, how’s Susie?” Lisa wasn’t sure how much Sam knew about Susie and Marlee’s relationship.
    “Honestly, I don’t know.” Sam signaled left and then pulled onto the two-lane highway. “She wouldn’t talk to me. She dropped me off without a word and then sped away. Something happened in Marlee’s room, that’s for sure.”
    “They were, uh, they were becoming good friends.” Lisa didn’t elaborate.
    “Yeah, they were.”
    Hmm , Lisa thought, neither of us is saying it. Maybe she doesn’t know anything. Or maybe she thinks I don’t know anything. “Maybe Marlee doesn’t want to have any more friends from East Valley after her trip to the hospital last night.”
    Sam sighed. “Maybe. Do you feel the same way?” Sam kept her eyes focused on the road.
    “No,” Lisa said simply. “I think I can stand to be around a few East Valley Panthers.”
    Sam smiled. “Good.”
    Sam pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley and found a spot near the door. They rented shoes, found bowling balls, and made their way to lane twelve at the far end of the alley.
    Lisa pulled on the rented shoes and was self-conscious of her size ten feet compared to Sam’s size sevens. She tucked her sneakers under the bench and sat at the scorer’s table. “What should I put for your name? Sam or Two?”
    Sam laughed. “Marlee calls me Two because I play second base, so put Two for me and C for you.”
    Lisa nodded and typed it in. “I put you up first, Two.”
    “That suddenly sounded really silly.” Sam grimaced.
    Lisa laughed. “I know. Let’s stick with Sam.”
    Sam nodded in agreement and then grabbed the electric orange ball she had selected. She took her approach toward the pins and tossed an unglamorous gutter ball.
    Sam turned around and grimaced. “Maybe we should have practiced first.”
    “Hey, nothing says I’m gonna do any better, eh?”
    Sam smiled, and Lisa wasn’t sure, but she thought maybe Sam blushed. Sam hadn’t changed clothes since Marlee’s house, and the red, white, and blue bowling shoes looked totally out of place with her white Capri’s and salmon silk shirt. Lisa felt underdressed in her blue jeans and retro red v-neck Adidas shirt with three white stripes on each sleeve.
    Sam knocked down three whole pins on her next ball. “At this rate,