No More Us for You Read Online Free

watched the freshmen run sluggishly up and down the courts, yelling at one another. “Pass the ball, pass the ball!” they shrieked. “Here, over here!” One kid took a shot from the three-point line and the orange Spalding clanged off the rim and out of bounds. “I told you to pass the damn ball!” another kid screamed.
    â€œA dolphin,” I said. “They’ll train a dolphin to deliver their heroin. In a waterproof vest with lots of pockets.”
    â€œOr a carrier pigeon,” Snake said.
    â€œA dolphin would carry more dope.”
    â€œNot if they had a whole flock of pigeons. Then they could strap little Baggies to each one.”
    â€œGood point,” I said.
    I zipped open my backpack and took out my Red Vines. I pulled a piece from the bag before handing it to Snake. He jammed the licorice into his mouth and gnawed on it.
    â€œHas anyone else pissed in the museum yet?” Snake asked, chewing.
    â€œNope,” I said. “Man, that dude was psycho.”
    â€œSo all you have to do is sit there and keep an eye on people?”
    â€œPretty much.”
    â€œSounds boring as shit.”
    â€œIt’s better than working at Ralph’s,” I said. “I’d rather sit than run around sweating.”
    â€œI guess,” Snake said. “What time is it?”
    I glanced at my watch. “Quarter till one.”
    â€œWhere the hell are they?”
    â€œHell if I know.”
    â€œThey’re probably boning.”
    â€œProbably.”
    â€œWhich one’s her house again?”
    I surveyed the track homes that lined one side of the soccer field and pointed. “I think it’s that yellow one over there.”
    Snake wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “Damn sun,” he said, looking up, squinting. “Knock it off.”
    I held the coiled licorice between my teeth and pulled. I wondered if there would ever be a day when I stopped eating Red Vines. I pictured myself ninety, blue-haired with thick bifocals, chewing on the red licorice with my dentures.
    â€œYou think they used any anesthesia on the puppies?” Snake said.
    â€œThat would be messed up if they didn’t.”
    â€œIt’s already messed up.”
    â€œI know. I’m just saying it would be even more messed up.”
    â€œThere they are,” Snake said. He jerked his chin toward the track homes.
    Will had already jumped the wall of brick that separated Suji’s house from the school soccer field. She was sitting on top of the wall and Will’s hands were lifted up toward her, like he was reaching for a vase on a high shelf, but then she waved him off and jumped down without his help. They crossed the field, Will with his hands in his pockets and Suji with her head down, her long hair shining blue-black in the sun. When she finally lifted her head she gathered a few loose strands away from her face with a hooked finger and slid them behind her ears.
    â€œHey, Carlos. Hey, Snake,” Will said.
    â€œSorry we’re late, you guys,” Suji said. “It’s my fault.”
    â€œYou do the hokey-pokey and you turn yourself a-round,” Snake sang. He grunted twice, thrusting his hips forward. “That’s what it’s all a-bout.”
    We laughed, Snake and I, like hyenas on nitrous. Will and Suji sat down on the bleachers and kept quiet. She turned to face the kids scrambling for the ball on the basketball courts.
    â€œI’m just goofing,” Snake mumbled.
    Will cleared his throat as if he was going to say something but then started fingering a piece of thread twisting from the corner of his shirt pocket.
    â€œAnyone want a Red Vine?” I offered.
    â€œNo thanks,” Will said.
    Suji shook her head no.
    A boy shouted on the courts: “Foul, foul! I was fouled, man!”
    Will pinched the corner of his shirt pocket between his thumb and forefinger and lifted it to his