Undergrounders Read online

  I guess the others were as scared and groggy as me since no one moved or said a word. The lady moved slowly to the door.

  “I will call security if you don’t leave the premises immediately. You scared me half to death. Go home.”

  Why would she be scared? Will was the first one down the stairs, with Rose and J.J. close behind. That’s when I remembered my shoes were still off. I picked them up and our eyes met. She didn’t look so scared now. More like sad.

  “People use these stairs sometimes when the elevator is slow. It’s not a good idea to be here. You can get in a lot of trouble.”

  For some reason there was a ton of saliva in my throat and I had to swallow a couple of times. She pointed at my feet. “Put your shoes on. Not a good day to walk around barefoot.”

  I sat on a stair and stuffed my feet into my shoes as quickly as I could. She sounded kind of nice, and I began to feel bad about freaking her out. “We didn’t mean to scare you,” I said. “We just needed to get out of the cold. The door was open. I’m … sorry.”

  She folded her arms and nodded. “You should hurry to catch your friends,” she said softly.

  As I walked past I could see the picture on her card more clearly. She looked a bit younger, all smiling and pretty. Her name was Jenna. It sucked that we couldn’t come back. What a perfect warm spot, even better than the vents. The tile floor wasn’t even that cold. Will would be plenty mad about it; Creeper too.

  When I came out I got another surprise, although I should have expected it. They’d all ditched me. I looked around a bit and didn’t see anyone. It hurt to think they wouldn’t wait for me. As long as I had money they’d wait! I wished I had that toonie back. Then I would have eaten all four buns. One bun didn’t put much of a dent into the pain in my stomach. The problem with hockey is it makes you hungry.

  Even worse, it was starting to get dark, which meant there wasn’t much time to hawk, and it was dangerous to be out after dark. Lewis had warned me about that a million times.

  Of course I still had eight dollars. After what happened, I decided I could treat myself. Which meant it was hot dog time! Will, Rose and J.J. were going to love to hear that I had a dog, and you can bet I was going to tell them this time. Teach them to ditch me. I hurried along in case the vendor had left.

  “You’re becoming a regular customer,” he said.

  “I’ll have the usual,” I said, as if I had one every day.

  When the dog was ready he wrapped it in a paper napkin and handed it to me. This time I loaded it up with pickles and hot peppers, and the burn in my throat warmed me up so nice, I almost ordered another one.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said to the vendor.

  He nodded slowly and turned away, and I headed off to the Underground.

  Chapter 8

  I wound up at the blue line and let it fly. The puck nicked the crossbar and bounced in. I’d been here every day for sixteen straight days — didn’t miss even one — skating, shooting, stickhandling, for hours and hours. And I was getting pretty good, even though it was a little boring. You can only play so many imaginary games. Maybe I was extra lonely because Lewis still hadn’t come back; neither had Fitzy. Rumours were flying around the Underground. J.J. was saying they’d both been shot. I knew he was an idiot, but I was getting worried.

  I gathered the puck out of the net and carried it down to the far end and was about to let another shot rip when I heard some voices.

  “There’s no one here. Let’s do this, boys.”

  I curved real slow around the boards and snuck a look. This was ugly — a bunch of Reggies coming to play. How’d they get off school? All my stuff was in the change room where they’d be putting on their skates. I figured it was best to wait until they all came out and then slip away.

  I took a few more shots, although I wasn’t into it anymore. One shot went over the net and bounced off the fencing into the corner. As I retrieved the puck, three kids came on. It was the same bunch that played the day I stole my skates. I saw the friendly kid, Rasheed, and the angry one, Derrick, and the big one, Collin, too.

  “Hit me, Rasheed. I’m feelin’ it,” Collin yelled at the blue line, and Rasheed slid the puck over. Collin one-timed it and missed the net by ten feet — and he let out a huge laugh. “I had high hopes for that shot,” he said.

  “I’m surprised you actually hit the puck,” Rasheed joked.

  “Me too,” Collin replied.

  It was kind of funny, especially the way Collin said it. He raced to get the puck and then flung it blindly toward Rasheed. It went way wide and slid all the way down the ice. Not exactly what I wanted because now I had to pass it back or look like a doofus. Rasheed held his stick up, and I rifled it to him.

  He took the pass easily, which showed some skill. Circling at centre, he flipped it high at the net before cruising toward me.

  “You want to play with us?”

  What a spot to be in. Hanging with Reggies? But how lame would I look if I just left? And would it really be so terrible if I played for a few minutes? “I guess. If you need a guy. I have to go soon, but …” I shrugged as if I didn’t care.

  “Sounds good.” He turned and cupped his hands. “Let’s play two-on-two until everyone comes out. You two against us.”

  Derrick circled the net and passed to Collin.

  “I’ll take Collin,” Rasheed said to me. “You cover Derrick, and watch out ’cause he’s fast.”

  Collin passed to Derrick at the red line. I guessed Derrick would try to outskate me, and sure enough he charged wide to the left and up boards. Since Rasheed had told me to watch his speed I was ready, and all I had to do was cut him off and strip the puck away.

  It slid down toward the corner. The ice was real choppy down there, and it was tough to dig it out in one motion but I pulled it off. Derrick chopped at the puck as I went around the net. I had to lose this guy. I put on the brakes and spun back behind the net in one motion and Derrick sailed past me. I darted up the other side. A quick look told me Derrick wasn’t hustling back, so it was a two-on-one.

  Collin waited at centre. “You got no chance. Can’t get by me. I’m the wall.”

  From what I could tell the wall was doing a pretty good standing-still impression. I turned on the jets and by the blue line was in alone. Rasheed banged his stick on the ice, I backhanded a pass to him, and he blasted it off the post.

  Rasheed pretended he’d scored a great goal and threw his stick over his head, and I skated backward to our end.

  “Sick move,” Rasheed said to me. “Where do you play?”

  I didn’t understand. “I play here.”

  He laughed. He always seemed to be laughing. “No, I mean what team do you play for?”

  He meant what league team, and he obviously thought I was a Reggie too. I wondered what he’d say if he knew who I really was. Anyway, I didn’t know the names of any teams, so I couldn’t make something up. “I don’t play for a team. I just fool around.”

  Collin and Derrick were attacking, and we had to stop talking. Derrick had the puck wide left. Collin faked up the middle and swerved to the right. I covered him, and Rasheed slid over to pressure Derrick. He kept going to the outside and crossed the blue line. Collin cut back over and called for it. Derrick tried a back pass and this time I was able to step in and take the puck.

  Collin and Derrick had me cornered against the boards.

  “Hey, over here.”

  Rasheed was wide open in the slot in front of our net waving his stick over his head. I slid the puck between Collin’s feet, right to him. Rasheed made as if he was going to take it himself up the left side, but Derrick cut him off and Rasheed turned back. Collin drifted forward, keeping an eye on me.

  Rasheed passed it back to me and slowly crept up the right side. All of a sudden he cut in between Derrick and Collin. I led him perfect with a pass and quick as a flash he was in on a breakaway. I applauded him by slapping the ice with my stick.

  �
��Love that pass,” Rasheed said to me, as Collin went to retrieve the puck from the net. “Who’d you play for last year?”

  “Like I said, I don’t really play for a team. I did when I was younger.”

  “Are you peewee this year?” he asked suddenly.

  I knew peewee was an age group, but I couldn’t remember exactly how old you had to be. He eyed me closer. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to answer because a pile of his friends roared onto the ice and distracted him. There looked to be eight or nine guys. It was time for me to go.

  “I … um … should get going,” I said to Rasheed. “You guys don’t need me. Bye.”

  I didn’t wait for him to say another word. I just skated real quick to the door and left.

  “See ya!” Rasheed yelled out.

  In no time I’d ripped off my skates and tossed them in the bag. That’s when I remembered my puck. I was so nervous I’d left without it. I’d lost my puck for no reason. Loser! No way I was going to put my skates back on. I was so mad at myself I didn’t notice Rasheed at the door.

  “Hey, you forgot your puck. Here you go.”

  He tossed it to me. “You visiting your uncle again?”

  “Um … yeah … my uncle.”

  “Next time you visit, come on out. Maybe we’ll be here.”

  “Okay. Maybe.”

  I waved goodbye as he left.

  Nice guy. Anyway, it was time to get going. I was really hungry after all that hockey. The stomach was rumbling something fierce. For a lark I looked in the garbage can, and my eyes nearly jumped out of my head. Some loser had thrown out half a sandwich, and I mean a big one. Almost laughing at my luck, I reached down to get it.

  “Did you lose something?”

  I spun around, holding the sandwich behind my back.

  Rasheed grinned.

  “I dropped a loonie into the garbage,” I said. “Lame move. Can’t be bothered looking — too gross in there.”

  Rasheed kept on grinning. That guy was permanently happy. “I forgot to tell you. This was a P.A. day, and we’re usually not here. But we have a regular Saturday morning pickup game around ten o’clock. Feel free to come out. Me and you make a good team — and we can burn Collin and Derrick again.”

  He had a way of saying things like that without insulting someone. Of course, there was no way. “Not sure if I can. Like I said, I don’t live around here. Maybe. I’ll try.”

  “Awesome.” He flashed his grin. “See ya — again.”

  I let out a deep breath. How embarrassing would that have been, to get caught eating out of the garbage. Then I could never have come back. Undergrounders understood that sometimes you had to raid the can; a Reggie would think I was a freak.

  I looked at the sandwich. It was half eaten. I felt sick looking at it, even dizzy. Before my mom died I wouldn’t have touched someone else’s food, let alone eat it. But my stomach won out. It always did. I ran out of there so Rasheed and his friends wouldn’t see me, and after one bite I couldn’t stop.

  It tasted so good.

  Chapter 9

  Rose woke me up with her coughing. She’d coughed like a maniac all night with Will telling her to shut up every five minutes. He kept me up more than her. He’s such a pain — not her fault she has a cough. Even though she made fun of me, she wasn’t mean, at least not like him.

  I heard voices from the Executive Suites, and they got louder and louder. One voice rose above the others — Fitzy! Could that mean Lewis was back? I scrambled out of my sleeping bag, put on my coat, and ran into the hall.

  “What’s Mouse all excited about?” Creeper said as I ran past.

  I ignored him and went to Lewis’s store. There he was, lying on his couch, his feet hanging over the end, an arm across his eyes.

  “Lewis, where’ve you been? You’ve been gone like forever!”

  He didn’t answer. I walked in slowly and peered over his head. He took his arm away.

  “Get lost, Mouse. I’m not in the mood.”

  “But I just wanted to ask …”

  “I said beat it,” he snarled.

  Lewis never talked to me like that. What happened to him? I left, which turned out to be a good idea as Fitzy was telling the others what Lewis wouldn’t tell me.

  “It was gonna be so easy — the perfect plan.” Even Rigger was crowding around. “This bud of mine works at a computer store. On Mondays he closes the place. We arranged that the alarm would be off and the back door unlocked. Me and Lewis got in around midnight and before you know it we had like dozens of iPods and phones and even some cash. It was wicked.”

  He laughed and licked his lips. “Of course, that jerk forgot to turn off the alarm because all of a sudden it went off like a friggin’ siren. I tell ya, I almost had a heart attack.”

  I just couldn’t help myself. “What did Lewis do?” I blurted.

  Fitzy and a few others looked over at me like I was a Martian before he continued. “We took off and ran right into five cops charging in through the back door, and then another five or so came in from the front. We had a freakin’ army of cops on us, and the next thing I know, me and Lewis are handcuffed and thrown into the back of a cop car.”

  “Did they give you a phone call?” Happy D said.

  “Yeah. I called the President of the United States.”

  “What did he say?”

  “I didn’t actually call him, you moron …”

  “Get on with it,” Brachy said.

  “Anyone got some food?” Fitzy asked. “I’m freakin’ starving. We haven’t eaten in like two days.”

  Brachy handed him some bread. Fitzy gnawed on it like an animal, and kept telling the story.

  “We spent a night in jail — no kidding — I mean for real. One drunk dude punched Lewis in the head for no reason. It was crazed. I thought we were dead, I swear. Then we go to a courtroom before a real judge. He had a black robe and stuff just like you see on TV Because me and Lewis are under eighteen we got a real lawyer — no kidding — our very own lawyer. She wore a black gown too.

  “I worked out a story for Lewis the night before. I got him to practise until he got it real good. It was my idea to say we were brothers living on the street and that our dad used to beat us and we were starving and only wanted food.”

  Lewis brushed past me. “Did you tell them how you cried when our lawyer said we could be charged as adults and go to adult jail for ten years?”

  Fitzy snorted. “You’re dreaming. I saved your butt and you know it.”

  “You saved my butt!” Lewis was steaming mad. “Your crazy plan got me arrested.”

  They looked real hateful at each other, and I thought Lewis would pound him out. I knew he wanted to, which is why I still couldn’t get why Lewis went with Fitzy to that store in the first place. Lewis knew Fitzy was a total goofball.

  Lewis waved the back of his hand at Fitzy and left for the ladder without saying a word, which I thought was totally sick. I had to remember that move the next time J.J. or Will was bugging me.

  “The guy kinda lost it,” Fitzy said quietly. “Speaking of crying, he was practically sobbing in jail when the guy went after him. I pushed him away, and look at the thanks I get. What a jerk.”

  He laughed and finished off the bread. I knew he was lying about Lewis. No way he’d cry.

  “The best part is our lawyer buys my story and convinces the judge that jail is too rough and is a bad environment. The judge agrees to send us to a halfway house.”

  I knew about those. They’re houses for young kids who get into trouble with the law. Lewis says they’re run by do-gooder social workers who think they can solve everyone’s problems by talking and bogus stuff like that.

  “You should’ve seen me. ‘Oh, thank you, judge,’ I said. ‘I just need a chance to turn my life around.’ Anyway, as soon as we could, me and Lewis climb out a window at night and we were gone. Stupid place was miles from here. It took a day to walk back.”

  Rigger stepped forward. “You
didn’t tell the cops about the Underground, did you?”

  Rigger could get scary mean when he wanted to. Fitzy got all laughing and slapped his thigh as if that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

  “No chance. I never said nothing. I played it real smooth. ‘I live on the streets, Your Honour,’ I said, which is what you call them judges — Your Honour. More like Your Idiot if you ask me.”

  “And Lewis?” Rigger asked in a low voice. “Did you hear him say anything?”

  Fitzy shrugged. “Don’t know. He got kinda weird on me. I didn’t hear him say anything, but how can I be sure?”

  Rigger growled and his left eye got squinty. I couldn’t take Fitzy’s lying.

  “Lewis wouldn’t do that,” I said. I was too crazy mad to stop myself. “No way he told the cops about us. That’s a joke. Why would he? He came back here, didn’t he?”

  “The little bitty mouse is all angry-wangry,” Fitzy mocked in a baby voice. “Are you all sad ’cause your hero turns out to be a crybaby?”

  I wanted to smash his ugly stupid face to pieces. But he was sixteen years old and way bigger. He’d pound me before I could even hit him once. I copied Lewis and turned my back and left. I slammed my foot into each rung as I climbed up to the street level.

  Lewis was sitting on the stool beside the door smoking a cigarette. He could blow the sickest smoke rings, and even make one ring go through another. He wouldn’t teach me because he said smoking’s bad for you. But he smoked. Sometimes I didn’t understand him.

  I peered out the door to make sure the coast was clear. “I’ll see ya later,” I said, as nice as I could.

  “Take care of yourself, Mouse,” he said. He didn’t sound that angry now.

  I swallowed hard. “Did that guy hurt you … I mean in jail … the drunk guy who hit you?”

  He smiled a bit. “Fitzy can exaggerate stuff, especially with a crowd around him. I can handle myself.”

  “No one would mess with you, Lewis,” I said. Which was true. I bet even Rigger was afraid of him.

  “So where are you off to this lovely morning?”

  That sounded like the old Lewis. “I’m gonna go to the rink. I’ve been there every day for more than two weeks. I even played with some Reggies yesterday.”