The Shade of the Moon Read Online Free Page B

understood all that,
     but now he did. Grubs had to be kept in their place, and it was his job to see to
     it they were. His job, except, he hoped, for the upcoming game.
    Even if Matt wasn’t going to be in White Birch that Sunday, Jon would have been reluctant
     to play. The Sexton team was scheduled to play against the York grubs. York was a
     backcountry town. It could be reached only by driving over untended roads, and the
     trip took at least four hours.
    If that wasn’t bad enough, the York grubs didn’t seem to understand they were grubs.
     None of them commuted. Instead clavers came to them. York was the chief manufacturer
     of potka. They grew runty potatoes, the kind no one would ever have eaten before the
     bad times, and they fermented them into the only alcohol readily available in the
     area. They had a long history of moonshining, and they knew what they were doing.
    Jon had played in two games against them. Both times the Sexton bus carried twice
     as many guards as usual. Both times the York team played for blood, and the only way
     the grubs were appeased after their defeat was by the enormous amount of potka the
     Sexton clavers purchased from them. Both times Coach proclaimed the clavers had taught
     them their place, and both times no one cared because they were too drunk to listen.
     The only sober one was the driver, and that was because he was a grub and knew better
     than to get drunk in front of clavers.
    Even if Jon weren’t the top scorer on the team, Coach would want him there on Sunday,
     partly because he was a slip and partly as punishment for his lousy play the week
     before.
    But Jon asked anyway. He was scared of Coach, but he was more scared of Mom.
    “No,” Coach said. “Forget it, Evans. No special privileges for you.”
    Tyler walked over to them. “Excuse me, Coach,” he said. “I’m scheduled for this Sunday
     off, but I’d like to play.”
    Coach snorted. “No one wants to play York,” he said.
    “Yeah, I know,” Tyler said. “But my father has family around there. He’d like them
     to have a chance to see me play.”
    “You put him up to this?” Coach asked Jon.
    “No sir,” Jon said. “It’s news to me.”
    “It would mean a lot to my father,” Tyler said. “I know I’m not as good as Evans,
     but I’ll have extra incentive. Dad hates that side of his family. He wants me there
     when we kick their ass.”
    Coach grinned. “All right,” he said. “Buy me an extra bottle of potka. Evans, you
     got the day off.”
    “Thanks, Coach,” Jon said. “Tyler, thanks.”
    Tyler shook his head. “That’s what friends are for,” he replied. “Don’t forget who
     your friends really are, Evans.”
     
    Friday, May 8
     
    Jon was in his room, studying chemistry, when Lisa knocked on his door.
    “Come in,” Jon called. He’d been sprawled on the bed, so he sat upright as Lisa sat
     on the desk chair.
    “I was wondering if you’d like to take some food on Sunday,” Lisa said. “We could
     manage with one less chicken next week, and I’m sure that would be a real treat for
     them.”
    Jon had known Lisa was going to suggest this. Every time he visited Mom, Lisa made
     the same offer. “I asked Val to pick up some grapes for me to take,” he said. “Thanks
     anyway.”
    Usually that was enough, and Lisa would get up to leave. But this time she stayed
     seated.
    “I woke up early, Jon,” Lisa said. “I found Val in the kitchen. She said you’d asked
     her last week to get up earlier to make your breakfast.”
    “Just twenty minutes,” Jon said. “Val said it would be no problem.”
    “You know what my job is,” Lisa said. “I’m head of domestic placements. Do you know
     what a mess it would be if Val filed a complaint against me? There are things other
     clavers can get away with that I can’t. That we can’t. Especially with the evaluation
     coming up.”
    Sometimes Jon felt like a slip in his own home. He loved Lisa, and he knew she