Who I'm Not Read Online Free PDF Page B

library the day Matt showed me around. The main street ran up and down a hill. A river crossed it at the bottom, running out to a lake. There were a lot of people around, and touristy shops selling expensive crap for your kitchen and whatever. You could almost hear the money crinkle. Harley would have had four games worked out before he parked.
    It was hot. Not Tucson hot, but muggy. Matt was wearing a cap with NY on the front. He wheeled along beside me, straddling his little tricks bike. I’d ditched my rapper cap but kept my shades on.
    Matt didn’t have much to say except that he liked Xbox better than Game Boy but he really wanted a Wii. He was saving up but hoped Grampy would help. I wondered if Matt kept his money in his room. It would be worth a look.
    It was too early to pump him about the family, so I worked on exits. Which way is the highway, where’s the lake, how big is it, what’s there, what’s on the other side? A lot of it, he didn’t even know. You could tell he was bored. He kept circling back on the bike and trying to jump the curb. I finally got lucky when I asked, “What’s that place?”
    â€œUh, the library.”
    â€œLet’s go in,” I said. It popped out before I could stop myself.
    â€œWhat for?” Matt curled up one side of his mouth and pulled his chin in as if he was scared it would get contaminated. I recognized the Danny smirk I’d been practicing. I guessed it ran in the family.
    â€œI don’t know,” I said. “Get a book.”
    Matt waggled his front wheel. “Why? It’s summer.”
    â€œI know. And it’s hot. And it’ll be air-conditioned.”
    â€œLet’s just go get a pop.”
    By now I knew “pop” was what they called sodas in Canada. I gave him back the smirk. “Got any money?”
    â€œNo,” Matt said. “Do you?”
    â€œCome in there with me,” I said, “and I’ll get us some.”
    Now he looked at me. “How?”
    â€œYou’ll see.” All at once I was doing a Harley: I was seeing three moves ahead, and it felt good. I knew Matt couldn’t resist. He put his bike in the rack. We walked into the cool.

NINE
    The way I figured it was this: First, I did need a book— and bad—to slow down my head. I’d always been a reader. I had to be. In the Bad Time, it was sometimes the only way for me to escape. TV was always the first thing they took from you when you messed up. Second, I had Shan’s ten in my pocket, but I had to have a way I’d gotten the money. If Matt told Shan I had ten dollars in Canadian money with me, she was going to wonder where it had come from and maybe check her purse. Nobody was going to believe I’d gotten it in Tucson. The library was perfect. All I had to do was brush against somebody or bump a purse, then flash the ten at Matt, and he’d think I’d picked someone’s pocket. If he was in on it, he couldn’t tell Shan. I’d be an outlaw superhero and he’d be an accessory. It’s all about leverage.
    Inside, there was a three-sided counter with a lady behind it and scanner bars to walk through on the way out. I could see a kids’ section and stairs leading up to the rest of the library. “Come on,” I said to Matt.
    Upstairs was another desk with another lady, public computers and books. Tons of books.
    I felt myself relax a little. Man, if I could just hang here by myself, I thought. One of my worst times was when the neat freaks threw away my books. That might have been the last time I cried. There was one book I loved, about this girl named Gilly. She was a Bad Timer like me. She was great at messing with people’s heads. The difference was, she had a mom, and even a picture of her, but the mom turned out to be a shit, and Gilly had to get it together for herself anyway. Me and Gilly. I loved that there wasn’t a happy ending, even though