This Is Not a Drill Read Online Free PDF Page B

tomorrow,” Mrs. C. answers.
    “My grandpa, he fell and broke his big toe,” Olivia announces loudly to no one in particular, “and the doctor says they might cut it off because he’s got Die-BB’s.”
    Okay, maybe the kids don’t completely understand. Just when you think they must be terrified, one of them says something off-the-wall. And maybe it’s a good thing that they’re kind of clueless.
    “I’m sorry about your grandpa, Olivia,” Mrs. C. says. “Now let’s do our work quietly, okay, everyone?”
    I force myself to calm down and try a different tactic—my legendary charm—on Stutts.
    “Hey, man, why don’t you let me walk down the hall and check it out for you?” I say. “I can see where the security guy is and—”
    “Yeah, right, buddy, you’re not goin’ anywhere,” Stutts interrupts.
    “I’m in your camp, sir. You oughta be able to take your kid home from school; that’s what I think. I’m just trying to help you.” That part’s the truth. I really don’t think he’d hurt Patrick, and I figure if we can get this maniac away from the other kids, we can deal with the Patrick situation later. It seems to me like a little cooperation could save a lot of kids today.
    “Nobody leaves this room,” he snaps.
    I walk away without commenting. My eyes drift up to a
Kung Fu Panda
poster near the door that says W ISE T URTLE SAYS, “ Y ESTERDAY IS HISTORY. T OMORROW IS A MYSTERY. B UT TODAY IS A GIFT. T HAT IS WHY IT IS CALLED THE PRESENT.” I’m not sure the first graders get that, but I’m feelin’ it right now. I’m definitely focused on the here and now—and I hope to hell my sorry ass’ll still be here tomorrow. Now that I’m faced with the possibility of death, it seems kind of important to try to make up for some of my past mistakes. But that’ll be kinda hard if I have no future.

CHAPTER 5
    EMERY
    I watch the hallway through the open door while I help Natalie with the word search. Stutts is watching, too. He flexes his shoulders, and when he stretches his neck, the tattooed lizard claws give me the creeps. Had Mrs. Campbell met Patrick’s dad before? Did she know he was unstable?
    “Great job, cutie-pie!” I say to Janita, who holds up her paper from across the aisle. She beams at me.
    “Am I a cutie-pie, too?” Natalie asks, pouting.
    “Most definitely,” I tell her, and she nods happily.
    A kid in a navy blue jacket walks past the door but doesn’t look in. He’s the only person I’ve seen go past.
    I slide my cell phone out of my pocket, barely moving. Simon cuts his eyes over at me, and I shake my head at him to keep quiet. I’m holding it under the desktop, deciding who to text for help, when Stutts looks up. There’s no way he saw me—I was really careful—but he apparently had the same idea at the same time I did.
    “Alla you kids put your hands on top of the tables where I can see ’em.” Thirty-six little hands flatten on top of the desks. “How many of you’ve got cell phones?”
    Alicia’s and Nick’s hands go up. I look at Jake and he raises his. I raise mine reluctantly. Lying to a man with a gun in a room full of children seems like a bad idea. The kids look petrified, and I barely have time to think about how weird it is that first graders have cell phones.
    “Hand ’em over. Nobody’s calling mommy.” He collects the phones and dumps them onto the table where Patrick’s sitting. “Where’s yours, Teach?” He turns to Mrs. Campbell.
    “My phone is broken,” she says evenly. “I dropped it yesterday.”
    “You better not be lying to me.”
    “Mr. Stutts, would you like to search my bag?”
    She reaches under her desk for her purse and holds it out to him, looking him calmly in the eye. He drops his eyes first.
    “Forget it,” he mumbles.
    Alicia’s waving her hand in the back of the room again.
    “Yes, Alicia?” Mrs. Campbell asks.
    “Mrs. Campbell, I can’t find
tree
anywhere on here.”
    “Just skip to one of the