Bat Summer Read Online Free PDF Page B

She doesn’t respond. It’s like she plans to hang there all day. “Lucy?” I begin to walk backwards. Maybe she’ll think I’ve left and give it up.
    No such luck. Rico comes blazing into the playground on his bike. He slams his brakes and skidsright up beside me. I try to make like I’m just being casual, but it’s too late. He’s already seen Lucy.
    â€œHey, what’s with Loser?” Rico asks. I shrug. “Is she doing some escape-artist routine or something?” He yells this right at the monkey bars.
    Rico ditches his bike and climbs up the outside of the planet. He perches at the top. He looks at me and waggles his eyebrows.
    Oh, no.
    He grabs Lucy’s ankles and unhooks them so it’s only him holding her up. I see her eyelids flutter but she doesn’t open them.
    â€œGot you now, Loser,” he calls down to her. “Wakey, wakey. It’s time to die.” He doesn’t seem to have a really good hold of her legs. Her head is coming close to banging against the bars. Her face is perfectly calm.
    I’m mentally begging Lucy to smarten up and quick. But her face is empty. She looks more peaceful than before Rico showed up.
    â€œYou’re getting heavy, Loser. I can’t hold on much longer.” Rico has his teasing voice on but I can tell he really is having trouble holding on to Lucy’s feet. Plus, he’s grunting. He’s not balanced properly on top there.
    I feel my heart pounding. I remember what Lucy said about loyalty. Does that mean trusting a friend not to let some goof drop her on her head?
    â€œCome on, Lucy,” I say. “He really is losing it.” Rico loses his grip on her legs for a second and Lucy falls an inch. Her face shows no fear. It is like she is in some kind of trance.
    â€œIt’s wake-up time, Loser,” Rico grunts again. You can hear the effort in his voice. “Better grab onto something or you’re going to smash down on your head.”
    I run over and start climbing through the bars. Rico loses it before I can get to Lucy, and the best I can do is stick my feet out under her head before she falls straight down on it. Only she doesn’t. She has somehow managed to hook one of her feet around the pole so that her head hangs about four inches off the ground. She opens one eye, grins at me and closes it again.
    â€œThe hind feet of a bat are incredibly strong. They’ve even found dead bats in caves, still hanging upside-down,” she says.
    â€œI thought you were a dead bat,” I say. I look up through the bars at Rico. He’s trying to figure out what happened to save him from being a murderer.
    â€œSome Losers just won’t die,” he says and jumps off the top of the monkey bars and lands rolling in the dust. “Come on, Terence.”
    â€œCome on where?” I say. Lucy is still hanging from the bars. She’s got her eyes shut again. How long will she keep this up?
    â€œCome on, already,” Rico says. “I’ve got something to show you.” I look at Lucy for some sign of life. “You don’t want to hang with that Loser, do you?” Still, Lucy does nothing. “She’s not your girlfriend, is she?”
    No, no. I guess she’s not. And I guess we aren’t flying the kite today, either.

6
    Rico takes me out of the park. I feel nervous about leaving Lucy. We wander up to St. Clair. We can’t move too fast because Rico is walking his bike. The farther away we get, the less it seems to matter that some kooky girl bat has been left hanging in the park.
    â€œShe forgot to lock the garage today,” Rico says as we turn down Vaughan Road.
    â€œWhat? Who?”
    â€œMy neighbor. I can get my stuff. You got a bag or something?”
    â€œNo,” I say. “What do we need a bag for?”
    â€œNever mind. I bet she has one in the garage somewhere. In my house there’s no such thing as privacy. I