The Bodies We Wear Read Online Free Page B

get a better view. The mother is gone now, off to the hospital. I hope the child is okay.
    With a loud crack, something in the building gives way, wood splinters, and it starts to collapse in on itself. Flames shoot higher. If the firemen don’t get it under control soon enough, the entire block could go up.
    It’s quite possible the shopkeeper was unable to pay for protection and this is the retaliation. The Heam gangs are strong in this neighborhood and they rule it by forcing people to use their stores as fronts, as places where dealers can sell Heam out of rooms in the back. This particular street has at least five stores that I know of that cater to the gangs. And with the way sales are booming, they are always in need of new businesses.
    I scan the streets and sure enough, I see a couple of dealers halfway down the block. They’re leaning against a burned-out car, doing nothing to hide the reason they’re there. A couple of gutter rats approach them and they make a sale, fully aware that the police are watching them. That’s the way things are done down here. No one cares enough to actually try to clean up this part of town. There is too much violence and illegal activity; the police are overwhelmed, unable to do anything about it, even if they have evidence.
    It’s possible that someone tried setting up business inside this store and that the owner refused. I find that hard to believe, though; he looked too timid to deny anyone. He’s got family too. Refusal to sell Heam could carry the heavy fine of the gangs’ targeting his kids. The people in this community know this. They rarely say no.
    Sometimes children get involved in more ways than one. When they arrested my father, he owed the wrong people a lot of money. He got put in jail, so they came after me. Whether their intentions were to make me an addict or to kill me, either way they succeeded in getting back at my father.
    The shopkeeper is still on the street, along with two of his children. I wonder what items he mourns. If it were his wife, I’d imagine she’d be visualizing the photo albums, baby shoes, and other treasured items that are now lost. Maybe even a love letter tucked away in the back of the closet, inked in fine calligraphy. But what does he regret? I look at one of his children, the daughter, and think about Beth. I wonder how she survived her first night. It’s possible her family threw her out on the street. It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened.
    I should have gone with her. I should have made sure she’d be okay.
    So tiny.
    The shopkeeper’s daughter stares at me, sucking her thumb, holding on to her dolly, perhaps the only thing she owns that’s left in this world.
    What kind of heaven awaits her?

    Gazer is waiting for me when I get back.
    “Good run?” he asks.
    “There was a fire,” I say. “I stopped to check. The grocery store down by the water. You know the one that sells the Chinese cabbage you like.”
    Gazer frowns. “Shame,” he says. “Now I’m going to have to go across town to find some. Probably get charged a fortune too.”
    I shrug and go over to the coffeepot and pour myself a cup.
    “Was there anyone there?”
    He’s referring to the gangs, of course. He knows they like to stick around to watch their own handiwork.
    “A few,” I say.
    “Did they see you?”
    I shake my head. “They were too busy selling to a bunch of gutter rats.”
    He nods. “Good.” Turning, he heads toward the stairs. “Drink that and hurry up. We’ll have to keep it short today. Don’t you have a test to take?”
    “Only in biology,” I say. “That’s the easy stuff.” I gulp the last of the coffee, burning my tongue in the process. Grabbing a towel, I wipe my forehead and then head downstairs after him to get in a few punches before I have to shower and get ready for the one part of my life that isn’t so bad.
    At least some of the time.

Three
    I go to Sebastian Clover High School. It’s one