Breathing Read Online Free

this mess directly or you gonn’ be outside cutting me a switch.”
    Now Dog and I both know perfectly well that’s an empty threat. Mama ain’t never used a switch on neither one of us. She may talk big, but she don’t hit.
    So Dog says, “I’m heading out with Dave to play some ball.”
    “Indeed you are not,” she replies, giving him that look that’ll set your teeth on edge.
    I can see the exact moment when he caves. “Fine, but Vannah better help.”
    “Don’t one piece of that mess belong to me,” I start in, but Mama cuts me off.
    “Hush your mouth,” she says, shooing me out of the room. I leave, but I can hear her talking to Dog all civil, telling him how she needs him to straighten up right quick, and she ain’t just meaning his things.
    I ambush her as soon as she steps out to the living room. “Please let him move in here. I am too old to be sharing—”
    She interrupts me. “You are wearing on my last nerve, girl. I told you it ain’t gonn’ happen. You think I want his mess all over the house? It’s bad enough when it’s confined to y’all’s room.”
    I know I’m pushing my luck, but I can’t stop myself. “Maybe we could get some church folk over here to help build us on an extra room or fix up the cellar.”
    “I am warning you, I can’t think no more about this today,” she says, sounding evil as a goat.
    I know when to leave well enough alone, so I head outside to get out of her hair before she blows her top. I believe I’ll take myself a walk along the railroad tracks. It ain’t like I’m planning on going over to the Channings’ place. I ain’t that crazy. But you never know who you might could meet when you’re out walking.
    Before I know it, I find myself just up the hill from the Channings’. I haven’t met a soul along the way, and the house looks still. I reckon nobody else is crazy enough to go out walking when it’s 95 degrees and humid as all get out. I choose me a spot in the tall, itchy grass to sit down and see if I can’t catch sight of Jackson. A fierce but silent trill runs right up my chest at the thought of that name. They could have gone out fishing first thing this morning for all I know. No matter. Long as I don’t got to be putting in my hours at the library or doing chores at home, I can spend my time however I like.
    To be perfectly honest, during the school year, I study as if my life depended upon it, which, if you ask Mama, it very well may. She’s been on me since day one about getting good grades so I don’t end up working slave-wage jobs like her. I reckon all that work has paid off, though. I’m at the very top of my class, and I ain’t just bragging on myself neither.
    Ever since I can remember, Mama has given me some kind of workbook to keep up my skills during the summer. They’ve got titles like Get Ready for Kindergarten , or Math Every Sixth Grader Should Know , or in this year’s case Preparing for the SAT . Some kids come home from school on the last day and get a swimsuit or maybe a new pair of skates for good report cards, something to encourage them to enjoy their summer. Not me, a workbook is my reward for a year of hard work. She gave up on Dog even opening his, somewhere around the first grade. Every year, I’ve got mine finished by the time school starts back. It may sound geeky, but I like being able to make her proud. All my brother has to do to please her is stay out of trouble.
    Anyhow, since it’s only the beginning of summer and I don’t have to be at work until four, I’m going to just sit here and watch the daggum grass grow.
    Holy Mother of God! There’s Jackson. He’s heading up to the tracks by himself, and here I am spying on their house plain as day. I hadn’t thought about the likelihood of having to explain myself. It ain’t even like I’m laying out at the beach or somewhere normal. I’m hiding in the grass right out by their place. My face is burning up. I can’t think what to do.
    He’s