DEAD CONNECTION : a novel by Charlie Price

« MURRAY

PEARL

A bad thing: a couple of barbies at school found out about me living in a cemetery and started calling me a necropheliac and making jokes about my dad. I don’t tell him. But it makes me really mad and I’m thinking about scooping up some road kill and putting it in their lockers. A good thing: girls give me more room on the basketball court. I’m getting more rebounds than ever and I’m kind of enjoying the reputation of being sort of scary. And would I rather be pretty or tough? I look at which girls get scholarships to college, which girls get hired for summer jobs, which girls get picked for honor society. A toss up. Which girls get picked for cheerleader? Pretty, no question. Which girls make sports teams? Tough.
      You know who I like? Ben Wallace. He looks like he wants to look and he’s so there. Nobody can get him out of the way. He’s got what my coach calls focus. And I like the defense of that Sacramento center, Yolanda Griffith.
      In a way, I’m kind of lucky because I’ve got my dad and I know he’s really got my back. In spite of what some other kids say, I’m kind of proud of him, too. He’s sort of lonely, I think, but he doesn’t have any major problems now that Mom’s gone. He takes his job seriously and he keeps the cemetery looking really good. And he’s a history nut, always going off about this time that, this person or that, and how it relates to what’s happening now.
      Maybe later in school I’ll have girl buddies I can really trust, but for now, I’ll take what I have. And I’m reading a book about Rosa Parks. There’s a picture of her on the cover. Maybe she’s kind of beautiful like Mother Teresa was kind of beautiful, but the main thing about her was her courage. I don’t know if I’ll ever have that kind of guts but I’d like to. One thing I know about me. When I set my sights on something, I don’t usually give up.

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