Kevin was sitting on a rock, eating fries from a paper bag. They were the fat fries that Sammy loved. “Can I have some?” he asked. He was hungry all over. Even his legs felt hungry.
Kevin popped a fry in his mouth.
Sammy checked his watch. “It’s time for me to eat lunch. It’s twelve o’clock. Can I go home now?”
“Climb a tree,” Kevin said. “I didn’t invite you here. I don’t have to feed you.”
“I’m hungry. I’m very, very hungry.”
“Go chase your tail.”
The squirrels were busy in the trees. Nuts and leaves fell around Sammy. He picked up a nut and cracked it between his teeth, then tasted it. It was bitter. He took one step and then another. He made-believe this was the way home. He had to be careful not to get lost. Inside himself, there was a tight, scared feeling.
But he wanted to go home. He was going to eat and eat and eat. He was going to see his mother and his sister and be in his house, where he could open the door and go inside, and shut the door and lock it.
Ping! Something hit him on the cheek. Ping!
Kevin was above him, flipping pebbles at him. “You’re going to leave without saying good-bye?”
“Can I go home now? I want to go home. Will you take me home now?”
“Shut up! You talk too loud.” He pushed Sammy back into the cave.
Sammy sat down. “Can I talk now? First thing I want to say is, I’m hungry. The second thing is, I wish you had a TV.” On weekends, when his mother slept late, he would watch TV until she woke up and made breakfast.
“Everything on TV is a lie,” Kevin said. “It’s all lies for boneheads like you.”
“My mother says TV is good. She says you can learn from TV.”
“It’s a lie.”
“My mother never lies.”
“She lies. You’re too stupid to know it. You lie, too.”
“I don’t, K-Man. I told you all the truth about me.”
“Yeah? Tell me, are we friends?”
“I will be your friend,” Sammy said. “Do you want to be my friend?”
“You’re an idiot.” Kevin bit into another fry.
“You sure eat a lot,” Sammy said. “Can I have some now?”
“Do I look like a store?
“Can we go to the store?”
“Yeah, sure. You see a store around here? Where’s your money?”
“You took my money.”
“That was room rent.” Kevin had the wild kid smile on his face, like he was waiting for Sammy to do something, and then he’d do something mean.
“You could give me some french fries, maybe five?” Sammy showed Kevin five fingers. “When I go home, my mother will pay you.”
“Hey!” Kevin jumped up on his mattress. “Will she pay a reward for you? How much are you worth? What will she pay?”
“I don’t know.” Kevin was stupid sometimes. A person wasn’t something you bought in a store.
Kevin brushed his hands off. “How much can I get from your mother? Are you rich? Are you somebody famous? Are you known?”
Sammy was confused. They weren’t rich. It took a long time to get all the money for his bike. Remembering the bike made him feel really bad.
“How much money has your mother got?”
“I don’t know. Fifty dollars.” He wasn’t good with numbers. “Is that a lot? Maybe not so much. She works hard.” That’s what his mother always said: “I work so hard.”
“I’m going to sell you to the highest bidder.”
“You can’t sell me. You don’t sell human beings.”
“Who’s going to stop me?” Kevin threw a fry at him.
Sammy caught it and ate it slowly. “Your mother would like that you’re sharing,” he said.
“My mother doesn’t care if I’m alive or dead. Open your mouth.” He flipped another fry toward him.
He played that game for a while, until he got tired of it and tossed Sammy the rest of the bag.
* * *
All that day, Sammy waited for the wild kid to take him home. He couldn’t imagine that he wouldn’t take him home soon.