A Star is Born Read Online Free PDF Page B

LaShonda was doing great.”
    â€œShe was,” Bobbi said. “Until they told her that if she took the scholarship they would have to separate her from her brother. No way she’s doing that, Zander. And the Cruisers have to back her up!”
    I knew the play we were going to put on again would put the Cruisers on the map big-time, especially with all the noise about LaShonda’s costumes. But if we blew it after all the press coverage they wouldn’t be able to dig a hole deep enough for us to crawl in!
    I was getting nervous.
    â€œWhat did St. Francis say?” Kambui asked.
    I had a sinking feeling.
    â€œWhat they said was that they didn’t see how I was going to support my brother once I aged out of St. Francis,” LaShonda said. “There will have to be —”
    LaShonda was already crying.
    â€œYo, LaShonda, you got any ideas about — you know — what other people do in, like, your situation?” Kambui said.
    â€œIf they’re rich they can hire somebody full-time,” LaShonda said. “Other than that it depends on how people — the children — are getting on. If they’re like Chris there comes a time when … you have to make a decision to walk away or — I don’t know. I just don’t know!”
    I hate to see a friend cry. I was blinking back tears and feeling sick to my stomach. It just wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t fair right out there in the open where we could all see it.
    We all hugged LaShonda before she left, her books clutched to her chest, her head down, going toward the boulevard.
    â€œIf I die and come back to life I’m coming as a frog!” Bobbi said. “Then all I’d have to do is swim around in muddy water and burp, or whatever the heck frogs do.”

    THE CRUISER
    POEM TO MY BROTHER
    By LaShonda Powell
    There will always be summer rains
    Leaves glistening in the sun
    Weighed down by golden droplets
    Beautiful in their silence
    As there will always be us
    There will always be birds
    Singing morning hymns in
    Distant forests
    Though no one will hear
    As there will always be us
    There will always be mountains
    Booming their majesty
    To the open arms of the sky
    Summer rain, birds, mountains
    As there will always be us

Y o, Zander.” Kambui and I were going up the hill on the way to school. “If it was scientifically proven that roaches were the perfect food, and you lived an extra year for every thousand roaches you ate, how many would you eat?”
    â€œThe question is stupid and I’m not answering any stupid questions today,” I said.
    â€œIt’s not stupid,” he said. “You’re just too intellectually lazy to get to it.”
    â€œNone. I’d kill myself by not eating roaches,” I said.
    â€œThat makes sense to you?” Kambui asked. “You could grow them for free and save on your grocery bills and everything. I’d eat every roach I saw.”
    â€œCheck out the television truck in front of the school,” I said. There was one of those vans with the round antennas parked in front of Da Vinci.
    â€œYou might as well stop eating today,” Kambui went on. “If eating doesn’t mean good health to you, then what are you eating for? You say you don’t eat junk food, right?”
    â€œWhat I’m going to do is watch you eat up all the roaches and then make a fortune writing about you,” I said. “I’ll die young, but at least my breath won’t smell like roaches.”
    â€œThat looks like some kind of a demonstration,” Kambui said. “Check out those folks carrying signs.”
    â€œThey’ve probably heard we’re over here eating roaches,” I said as I checked out the signs.
    Â 
    COMPLETE! NOT ELITE!
    All Students Are Created Equal!
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    â€œWhat are they talking about?” I wondered aloud.
    â€œI don’t know,” Kambui answered.
    As we neared the school I