The Big Dip Read Online Free PDF

overhead rail, I pressed my forehead against my arm and shut my eyes. Me, bluff Baseball Cap, I thought. Right. I’m fast on the feet, not on the wits.
    I thought of what Skip had said. C’mon, dude. You can do anything if you concentrate .
    I had to do it. I had to get the better of Baseball Cap somehow.
    I took a deep breath, opened my eyes—and looked straight into the face of a policewoman.
    Wait. She was wearing a uniform, but she wasn’t police. She was a transit official.
    All the same, her stony gaze locked on me. “What’s the matter with you, kid? What are all those scratches? You been in a fight? ”
    My lips were dry. I ran my tongue over them, but it was dry too.
    â€œWe don’t want trouble,” the transit woman said. “Not in this heat. Maybe you should get off the bus.” She fingered a cell phone sticking out a side pocket of her purse.
    â€œNo trouble, ma’am.” I forced the words out of my parched mouth. “That’s not it. I…”
    People were watching us. Among them, the girl from school.
    I said, “My girlfriend’s up there. She wants me to go join her. Excuse me, ma’am.”
    I pushed past everyone. They all just kept gawking.
    The girl’s name was Amy…Amy Claridge, that was it. She had long dark hair and stared at me solemnly. She was wearing a red smock with a design of orange flames on the front. Above the flames, black letters proclaimed HERBIE’S RED HOTS. Herbie’s was a food stall at the PNE, famous for its extra-spicy hot dogs.
    I stared back at her as sweat dripped down the side of my face. I wasn’t like Skip.
    I had nothing clever to say.
    So, leaning down, I just whispered, “Please. Don’t give me away.”
    Her dark eyes were doubtful. I didn’t blame her. I looked like a cat’s scratching post, not a law-abiding average Joe.
    Around us people started talking again. The transit official took an empty seat and looked out the window. Little kids squealed with the excitement of going to the PNE. Nobody was listening to me.
    I said, “Please trust me, Amy. I can’t have that transit lady reporting me. I’m in trouble. My kid sister’s life is…” Is at stake, I was going to say, but it sounded too corny for belief. Instead I just shook my head. The whole thing should have been beyond belief. Except that it was real, it was happening. It was a nightmare that plowed on and on and wouldn’t stop.
    My face must have reflected my misery, because Amy said in alarm, “It’s okay, Joe. I—I won’t say anything.”
    I managed a crooked grin of thanks. She sure had dark eyes—like lake water at midnight. When she smiled, lights appeared in them.
    I wondered what there’d been between her and Skip. They’d hung out together a lot those last couple of weeks at school.
    As if reading my thoughts, Amy said, “I guess Skip’s left for the Okanagan. I was hoping he’d call me first, but…”
    She likes him, all right, I thought. I wiped my forehead with the back of my arm. “Yeah, so?” I said, kind of rudely. It was always Skip with girls.
    Amy’s cheeks turned pink. “I wanted to talk to him. About an essay.”
    â€œYou brainiacs,” I said. “Guess you like to stick together, huh? Compare A’s?”
    She looked down at the purse in her lap.
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said. “I’m just kind of preoccupied. So…you work at Herbie’s. What’s that like?”
    â€œIn this weather? Hot and smelly.”
    I laughed. There was a plastic container attached to the bus wall, with pamphlets about bus routes and stuff. I took one out, waved it a few times and gave it to her.
    â€œHere,” I said. “Instant fan.”
    I walked Amy toward Herbie’s Red Hots. It was past the roller coaster, near the Farm Country building, with sheep, cows and other animals