Multiplayer
raid on OW tonight,” said Deion, walking at his side. “You in?”
    Hector shrugged. When his mother saw his algebra grade, he’d probably be banned from Omega Wars for the rest of his life. “I don’t know. I’m sort of thinking of starting my own clan. Tired of GoreFiendHell ordering everybody around. He’s such a dick.”
    “Just don’t give it a stupid name.”
    “It’ll be a good name.”
    “You know, like Fart Demons, or Quest Bunnies, or something like that.”
    “Would those be good names or bad?”   Hector looked up to see Halie wandering into the street like she could catch the chipmunk that sat taunting her. “Princess! Get out of the street.” She looked at him and frowned, then strolled back to the sidewalk pouting.
    “I thought you hated her,” said Deion.
    Hector shrugged again, and trudged on in silence next to his friend.
    Deion was shorter than Hector but thicker. He kept his curly black hair cut short, almost bald, and had large, round, dark eyes that matched his deep brown skin. Deion was one of the few people who hadn’t looked at Hector strangely when he’d learned about Hector’s dad. Just nodded, said he was sorry, and asked if Hector wanted to go to the pool with him.
    “You want to ride bikes this afternoon?” Hector asked. “My mom says I’ve been playing too much Omega .”
    “Soccer practice.”
    “You’re always at practice,” Hector said, trying to hide his frustration.
    “We got a big tournament coming up.”
    “When don’t you?”
    Deion shrugged. “You should be on our team. We could use a guy who played in the Bundesliga.”
    “I didn’t play in the Bundesliga.” This wasn’t the first time he’d been asked to play on a team, but nothing in the US had matched his time in Germany, when his father had been stationed there. “Too much travel. You don’t have a life anymore.”
    “And sitting at home playing video games is a life?”
    “For now.”
    They stoppedat Deion’s house. Deion’s mother was an orthopedic surgeon, and the large house showed it. “So, you coming tonight?”
    “I might look in on you guys. See what’s going on.”
    They parted with a fist-bump and Hector turned for home. Halie trotted after him, her blonde ponytail bouncing from side to side as she labored under her heavy, pink backpack. “Slow down,” she whined before they’d gone a dozen steps.
    Hector glanced back. “Mom said I have to walk you home. She didn’t say I had to crawl.”
    “But your legs are longer than mine,” she gasped over her heaving chest.
    “It’s not my problem you’re the baby of the family.”
    Halie’s blue eyes flashed. “I’m not a baby!”
    “Baby of the family.” Halie sprinted up and tried to kick him, but he danced out of the way. “Knock it off or I’ll tell Mom you were in the street again.”
    “I’ll tell Mom you called me a baby!”
    “Go ahead. I won’t get in trouble for telling the truth.” Hector jumped out of her way again and jogged on ahead.
    Their house was one of the smaller homes in the subdivision, a two-story traditional brick with a yard of neatly trimmed green grass and a sugar maple tree. Its leaves had not yet begun to turn but they rustled when the wind blew signaling that fall couldn’t be far off. Hector glared at the tree. He’d soon be raking those rustling leaves. Then frowned at the grass he’d been mowing since they moved in.
    The house next to Hector’s was a mansion. Sanjar Zahedi’s father owned convenience stores , and from the looks of the mini-mosque, he was selling a lot of candy, soft drinks, and gasoline. No wonder all the Muslims wanted to come to America; they got rich. The look of the place made Hector mad enough to want to build his own IED and bury it in their yard. Blow the crap out of all of them. Guilt gripped him when he realized that’d make him no better than the people who murdered his dad.
    Sanjar’s older brother Shah was outside washing their Hummer. It was
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