Home Invasion Read Online Free Page A

such a bad guy.”
    â€œHe’s worse than you think,” I said.
    Bobby thought about that for a minute. “Hey man, I’m really sorry,” he said, lowering his voice. “What does he do — drink or beat you up or give your mom a hard time?”
    â€œNah, it’s nothing like that.”
    â€œWell then, what’s wrong with him? Why do you hate him so much?”
    I could tell Bobby was waiting for an answer. But at first, I didn’t know what to say. Why did I hate Clay?
    Then, just like that, the answer occurred to me. “I hate him,” I told Bobby, “because he’s not my father.”

Chapter Six
    â€œI’m going to the library to load up on some new mysteries,” Clay announced the next night. “I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”
    I’d been to the library with Clay before, so I knew he’d be gone at least an hour. It takes him forever — and then some — to choose a book. First he studies the cover as if he’s lost and it’s a map; then he reads the author biography on the back of the book jacket; and when that’s done, he reads the firstpage. Sometimes out loud, which is really embarrassing if you’re with him. Even after he chooses a book, he goes back to the shelf at least two more times — just to make sure he didn’t miss something or drop his library card.
    I wasn’t in the mood to watch TV or play on the computer. Our house, which usually cooled off when the sun went down, still felt like a hothouse. Which is fine if you’re a tropical plant, but not so good if you’re a kid. I needed air.
    So I decided to go for a walk. A little stroll.
    The street was deserted, and except for the light from the street lamps, it was completely dark. My only company was the crickets, who were chirping like mad. I wondered if they were trying to tell each other something. Maybe they had a feeling it was going to be a big night.
    I wandered down the block toward the Levesques’ house. The upstairs lights were on. I hadn’t seen Patsy since the day she’d borrowed our X-Acto knife, and I wonderedhow she was doing. If I were less shy, I could call her up and ask. If it were Bobby, he’d have called her. Just like he invited himself for dinner. Anyway, I told myself, I’m sure I’ll see Patsy around. There was something about her — and it wasn’t just her looks — that made me want to get to know her better.
    I was thinking about walking over to the park to see whether anyone was playing basketball when I noticed one of the side windows on the Levesques’ house was wide open. All that was covering it was a mesh screen.
    I walked over to get a better look. The whole time I was thinking about Patsy and the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled. Just as I’d thought, the window was open. Wide open. Someone could crawl right in — as long as he wasn’t too big. Someone like me.
    I started to play with the screen. The windows looked old and the screen was rusted at the bottom, so I figured it might be jammed, but it wasn’t. It slid open noiselessly. Once itwas open, it only took me a couple of seconds to slip inside.
    I had to jump down to reach the floor. It was a good thing I was wearing my high-tops; it was also a good thing there was wall-to-wall carpeting or the Levesques might have heard me.
    It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dark. I figured I was in the living room. Except for a couch and a glass coffee table, there wasn’t much furniture.
    Upstairs, someone was watching TV. I
    could hear the laugh track from a sitcom. I eyed the stairway at the far end of the hall. I wasn’t into checking out rooms or furniture. I was interested in people — in families — and they were upstairs. But could I get to the second floor without anyone noticing?
    Just then I heard a key in the front door. I’d assumed everyone was home,