How could he walk into school and face all the suspicion? How could he survive the jokes and snide comments and teasing? If there had ever been a perfect day to skip school, play hooky, call in sick, whatever, then it was today.
Judge moved first. He popped up from under the bed and was ready to go. Theo envied him. His day would be spent at the office, sleeping next to Elsa’s desk, roaming from one room to the next, hanging out in the kitchen looking for food, and napping in Theo’s office, waiting for him to arrive from school. No worries, no stress, no fears of someone stalking him and plotting more mischief. What a life, thought Theo. A dog’s life. It didn’t seem fair.
Theo sat on the edge of his bed, waited for a moment in hopes he would throw up, but soon admitted that he was feeling better. Judge just stared at him. There were footsteps outside his door, then a gentle knock. “Theo,” his mother said softly. “Are you awake?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Theo said in a fake scratchy voice, as if he might be taking his last breath.
She opened the door, stepped inside, and sat next to him on the bed. “Here, I brought you a cup of hot chocolate.” Theo took the cup and held it with both hands. The aroma was strong and delicious.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked. She was still in her heavy bathrobe and her favorite pink fuzzy slippers.
“Not really,” Theo said. “I had this nightmare that wouldn’t go away.”
“Tell me about it,” she said as she tussled his hair.
Theo took a sip of the hot chocolate and smacked his lips. “It was a really weird dream that made no sense at all, and it seemed to go on and on. I was running from the police, lots of police, with guns and everything. I was on my bike, getting away, leaving them behind, when they shot out both tires. So I threw the bike in a ditch and ran through the woods. They were getting closer and closer, bullets hitting trees all around me, and they had dogs, too, and the dogs were right on my heels. Someone yelled, ‘Hey, Theo, over here.’ I ran to the voice and it was Pete Duffy, in a pickup truck. So I jumped in the back of the truck and we took off, bullets still flying all around us. He was driving like a maniac, slinging me all over the back of the truck, and suddenly we were on Main Street and people were yelling, ‘Go, Theo, Go’ and stuff like that. Police cars were behind us with lights and sirens. We smashed through a roadblock and were about to get away when the cops shot out all four tires.”
Theo paused, took another sip. Judge was staring at him with only one thought-where’s breakfast?
“Did you get away?” his mom asked. She seemed to be amused by the story.
“I’m not sure. I don’t think I finished the dream. We were running through some alleys, and every time we turned a corner there were more policemen, all of them blasting away. It was like a small army was after us. There was a SWAT team, and even a helicopter overhead. Pete Duffy kept saying, ‘They’re not going to catch us, Theo. Just keep running.’ We ran through the courthouse, which was full of people, in the middle of the night, and we ran toward the river. For some reason we decided to cross the bridge. About halfway over, we saw a SWAT team on the other side, coming right at us. We stopped, looked behind, saw cops and dogs everywhere. Pete Duffy said, ‘We gotta jump, Theo.’ And I said, ‘I’m not jumping.’ So he crawled over the railing and was about to jump when he got hit with bullets from all sides. He screamed and fell over, and I watched him fall until he hit the water. There were people on the river in boats, and they cheered when he made a splash. Then they started yelling, ‘Jump, Theo, Jump!’ The police were closing in from both sides. The dogs were growling, sirens blaring away, gunfire. I held up my hands like I was going to surrender, then in a split second I jumped over the railing-which was about eight feet high-but this was a dream, okay? I looked like an Olympic diver flying through the air. On the way down I started doing flips and twists and turns, don’t know where I learned all those moves. The river was far below and getting closer and closer.”
He took another sip.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Don’t know. That dive lasted for a long time, and I woke up before I hit the water. I tried to go back to sleep to finish the dive but couldn’t get it to work.”
“That’s a pretty cool dream, Theo. Lots of action and excitement.”
“It wasn’t very cool at the time. I was scared to death. You ever been shot at by the police?”
“No, I have not. You were going to think about some possible enemies who might be carrying a grudge of some sort.”
Theo took another sip and thought for a moment. “Come on, Mom. Kids don’t have enemies, do they? Look, we all have people we don’t like, and don’t like us, right? But I can’t think of a single person I’d call an enemy.”
“Fair enough. Who is the kid who dislikes you the most?”
“Betty Ann Hockner.”
“And what’s the history?”
“We had a debate several months ago, boys versus girls. The issue was gun control. Things got pretty heated, but it was all fair. We won the debate and she was really upset. I heard later that she called me a ‘jerk’ and a ‘cheap-shot artist.’ I’ve seen her almost every day since then, and she gives me these looks like she would love to slit my throat.”
“You should reach out to her, Theo.”
“No way.”
“And why not?”
“I’m afraid she’ll slit my throat.”
“Could she slash your tires and throw a rock through a window?”
Theo shook his head and thought for a second. “Not really. She’s a nice girl, but she’s not very popular. I kinda feel sorry for her. She’s not our suspect.”
“So who is?”
“I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.”
“You’d better get ready for school.”
“I feel pretty lousy, Mom, nausea and a headache. I think I’d better stay in bed today.”
She smiled, tussled his hair again, didn’t believe a word of it, and said, “What a surprise. You know, Theo, if you didn’t fake so many illnesses in order to skip school, I might believe you every now and then.”
“School’s boring.”
“Well, it’s not optional. If you want to go to law school, there is a rule somewhere that you must complete the eighth grade.”
“Show me that rule.”
“I just made it up. Look, Theo, today might be a bit rough. Lots of gossip and such, and probably some jokes. I know you’d rather skip it, but you can’t. Bite your lip, grit your teeth, and hold your head up because you’ve done nothing wrong. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I know.”
“And keep smiling. The world is a brighter place when you’re smiling.”
“It might be hard to smile today.”
Theo parked his bike at a different rack, one by the cafeteria, and after he chained it he couldn’t help but look around to see if anyone was watching. This looking over his shoulder was already a habit, and he was tired of it.
It was 8:20. He met April Finnemore in the cafeteria where students who arrive early on buses were allowed to meet and socialize, or have an apple juice, or to sometimes study. April was a friend, a close one, but not a girlfriend. Theo trusted her above all others, and she confided in him as well. Her home life was a constant mess, with a father who came and went, a mother who was at least half crazy if not more, and older siblings who had already fled town. April, too, wanted to leave home but was much too young. Her dream was to be an artist and live in Paris.
“How are you doing?” she asked as they sat at the end of a long table, as far away from the other students as possible.
Theo gritted his teeth, held up his head, and said, “I’m fine. Nothing wrong with me.”
“This stuff is all over the Internet. It seems to be growing.”
“Look, April, I can’t control that. I’m innocent. What am I supposed to do about it? You want an apple juice?”