The Orphans of Race Point: A Novel Read Online Free Page A

otherworldly, silence was broken by a voice.
    “It’s Voodoo! He’s talking!” Fatima’s friend Sherry cried out as the old women crossed themselves in unison. Alvaro leaped from the hood of the car and pumped a fist in the air. But the loudest whoop of all came from Neil Gallagher. Hallie looked to the window, wondering if Gus could hear him, and if he had any idea how many hours they had spent outside the door, refusing to give up.
    A few moments later, Nick came out smiling. He lifted his arms like the Pope and announced that the boy was going to be all right. Fine.
    “What did you do?” Fatima looked up at him, weeping openly.
    “Did I ever tell you I was Veteran Memorial’s all-time champion of the staring contest?” Nick said. “Well, let’s just say I successfully defended my title.”
    “You and Gustavo had a staring contest?” Fatima glanced at her watch. “For five hours?”
    “Something like that. I looked into Gus’s sorrows, and he looked into mine, till eventually he broke.”
    “What did he say?” Fatima asked, clearly expecting something profound.
    “He said what anyone says at the end of a staring contest: I give.”

Chapter 4
    A week later, Hallie appeared at the Barrettos’ door. She hesitated for a full minute before she dared to knock. When Gus’s aunt opened it halfway, Hallie took a step backward and picked up the gifts she’d brought. In one hand she carried a thick book, holding it against her chest like a Bible salesman; in the other, a swollen plastic bag secured with a wire tie. Two minnows swam inside it. Fatima Barretto let out a long exhalation. She looked past the girl suspiciously. “So where’s your little boyfriend—hiding in the bushes again?”
    “Neil’s not here—and he isn’t my boyfriend,” Hallie said, though she wasn’t quite sure she was right on either count. Neil still spent most of his free time skulking around the house on Loop Street, waiting for the Gus he once knew to come out and play. And since he had started sitting with Hallie on the bus almost every day, she’d heard the word boyfriend whispered more than once.
    At first, Neil just wanted to talk about Gus, but one afternoon right before they reached her stop, he asked if she’d ever kissed a boy. When she squinched up her nose and replied, “Of course not,” Neil smiled. “Me neither. Never kissed a girl, I mean. But when I do, it’s gonna be you.” Hallie hadn’t contradicted him. She wondered if that made him her boyfriend.
    Mrs. Barretto continued to bar the doorway, but Hallie sensed an opening.
    “Nick sent me,” she said, though she hadn’t exactly told Nick where she was going. She held the book and the fish in the air. “Follow-up treatment.”
    Mrs. Barretto tilted her head to read the title of the book. “ David Copperfield ? How’s that supposed to help my nephew?” she asked, but she opened the screen door and let Hallie pass.
    “It’s about an orphan,” Hallie said, speaking with more certainty than she felt.
    “Well, that should cheer him up.” Mrs. Barretto took in the scraggly fish. “And what are those—minnows? I know you mean well, Hallie— everyone means well. But those fish belong in the tide pools, and the last thing Gustavo needs is a story about an orphan.”
    “Not just any orphan,” Hallie replied. “An orphan who becomes the hero of his own story.”
    Mrs. Barretto sighed. “We were so happy when Gustavo spoke to Nick on Saturday. But that was it. He hasn’t said a word since.”
    Hallie bristled at the hint of criticism toward her father. “That was just part one of the treatment.”
    “I see. And you’re part two?” Fatima folded her arms across her chest, as if she wished she’d never opened the door. “You and your orphan book?”
    “Yup.” Hallie took in Fatima’s collection of statues. Dolorous replicas of the Virgin Mary were everywhere, their blue ceramic cloaks grayed by dust, their eyes glazed. Though he wasn’t