The Lights of Tenth Street Read Online Free PDF Page A

hesitated. “Do you still want to take me?”
    “Don’t be an idiot. We just have to find another way to do this.”
    “There’s really only one option.” She outlined her idea in a hoarse whisper, her ears alert for any noise in the hallway. “The only problem is, we have to do it right away. My mom will probably be back soon.”
    “Okay. I’m already heading toward you. Give me ten minutes.”
    “I’ll meet you in the other driveway.”
    “Deal.”
    Ronnie clicked off the phone and dragged a heavy suitcase out of the closet. She pushed the window open all the way and shoved the case up and out, listening to its soft
thump
on the ground below. It was just too bad if some things broke. No way around it. Next went her fully loaded duffel bag. She frantically stripped her bed, tied the sheets and pillows inside her blanket, then stuffed her phone, alarm clock, and a few other electronics inside the loose bundle.
    She clambered out the window, the soft bundle cumbersome in her arms, and dropped to the ground below. As her feet hit the dirt, she tripped and fell, the electronics ringing and clattering. She held her breath.
    “Linda, that you?”
    She could hear heavy feet tromping down the hallway—passing her bedroom and heading into the master bedroom at the side of the house. The side of the house she would have to sneak around in order to meet Tiffany. She lay motionless, heart pounding, listening to curses and mutterings as the heavy feet headed back down the hallway to the living room. She tried not to picture what would happen if her drunken stepfather looked out the back window.
    Shaking with tension, Ronnie gathered her bundles and dragged them around the corner of the house and toward the deserted house next door. She pushed through a cluster of trees and a small thicket, scratching her face and arms, before stepping onto the quiet driveway.
    A shiny yellow convertible was already stopped there, its engine off, its driver looking nervously in the rearview mirror. She jumped from the car when she saw Ronnie, and ran to help.
    She grabbed the suitcase from Ronnie’s hand and gave her a brief hug. “What can I do?”
    Ronnie was out of breath. “You can—you can load the trunk while I bring the rest out. And if you’re feeling brave, you can go get my backpack and school stuff from over there.” She pointed.
    Tiffany didn’t look thrilled, but set off without a backward glance. Ronnie crept back the way she had come, mentally reviewing the things she still had to bring.
    Finally, just her computer was left. Tiffany stood on the old tree stump, helping Ronnie leverage the heavy monitor out her window, when she suddenly froze.
    “Your mother! I just heard her drive up!”
    Ronnie worked frantically to gather up the rest of her computer equipment, passing it out to Tiffany in pieces.
    Knock, knock!
“Ronnie, you in there?”
    Ronnie stared into Tiffany’s wide eyes. Her friend vanished under the windowsill.
    “Ronnie?”
    Ronnie stood by the door, trying to make her voice sound normal. “Yeah, Mom. What do you want?”
    There was a hand on the doorknob. “Can I come in for a second?”
    “Uh, no, Mom … I’m changing. You need something?”
    “Yes, I need something. Can you come out when you’re done?”
    “Okay.”
    She listened as her mother moved away, then she hefted a box of computer accessories and clambered out the window. Her speakers and CDs still lay on the desk.
    Tiffany was already hustling around the side of the house, the heavy monitor in her arms. Ronnie clutched the CPU to her chest, strung the mouse over her shoulder, and hurried in her friend’s wake, leaving the last bits and pieces in a box under the window.
    “Yeah, baby!”
    The wind blew past at eighty miles per hour, and Ronnie yelled in explosive relief and delight as the yellow convertible sped onto the expressway. She threw back her head, her ponytail whipping in the breeze, and raised her arms in