Shenise elbowed her. “You get to change your name, dodo.” She eyed Devon, bit her lip. “I might be interested. It’s a good way to get other people in this stupid town to open their eyes and see how the rest of us live. You should, too, Gab. You’re always sayin’ how people don’t know what it’s like, how they think your whole family’s from Mexico or something and works the farm.”
Mariana nodded fast, piped up, “Yeah, sis, Shenise’s right. You got a chip on your shoulder about that.”
Gabby rolled her eyes, but she shouldered her purple backpack and gave him a grin.
“Just playin’, Dev. I might.”
She pushed open the school doors and stepped out into the summer afternoon. The hot air hit him like a shove after the air-conditioning, but Shenise, Gabby, and Mariana didn’t seem to feel it, just slid by, headed down the block past Marquis and his friends, past Miss Becca and the bike rack, where his new-old black bike from Rev stood with its shiny lock. Marquis called something after them. Devon couldn’t hear what, but Gabby turned and flipped him a crude gesture, and Shenise laughed.
“See you got your little sister,” one of the older guys called. “Couple more years and she’ll be ready for me.”
Devon could see Miss Becca’s head swivel from where she sat in the car, take in the scene. He quickened his pace, heart bouncing like the tallest kid’s basketball. The last thing he needed was for her to get creeped out by Marquis’s gang, never want to come back again.
“Shut up, Choo.” Shenise said over her shoulder, a warning hand on Gabby’s arm.
Gabby had stopped and turned full round, her eyes narrowed.Devon saw her hands were tight balls.
“Couple more years and you’ll be in the slammer.”
“Oooooh, she burned you,” one of the guys said.
“Watch it, Shenise.”
“Or what, you gonna do something about it?”
“Maybe.”
“Yeah, yeah, keep talking.”
The girls moved off, down the street to where he knew Shenise lived, and the boys stayed behind, Marquis bouncing his basketball. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Devon knew Marquis was watching him now, watching him walk to the little gray car. Probably watching Miss Becca.
If he didn’t hurry, they’d probably say something to Miss Becca, and then she’d really never come back, never want to take him to Harold’s for burgers and shakes.
Devon tapped on the car window. Miss Becca started, but she flashed a smile, clicked the locks unlocked.
“Hey, Devon!” She grinned as he slung his backpack onto the floorboard and climbed in. “How was your day?”
He waited till the door was shut to answer.
“Pretty good. How ’bout you?” He could feel Marquis’s eyes on him, felt all the guys’ eyes on him, as they drove away. He wished he could pile his bike into the backseat, too. He closed his eyes for the briefest of moments, gave it to God. Can you keep my bike safe? Please?
Then he opened his eyes, smiled at Miss Becca. “Did you write a lot of news stories?”
“Not so much, today, I’m afraid.” She made a face but looked happy as she pressed the gas and turned the wheel, pulled out to head down Oak Street toward the diner. “It was one of those number-crunching days, plus a bunch of meetings.”
She paused at the stop sign, turned to face him. Her eyebrow was creased in the middle, and she looked worried.
“Devon, do you know those guys?”
He shrugged like they were no big deal. “Yeah, kids from the neighborhood.”
She took a breath, like she was trying to figure out what to say. “Do they … bother you? I mean, if I hadn’t been there, would they have done something to those girls, or to you?”
Devon shook his head fast, mouth dry. “No, no, nothing like that.” The last thing he needed was her sticking her nose in. That would guarantee his head on the bully target for sure, not to mention maybe cause problems for her, too. “Really, they’re okay. They were playing. We’re all kinda like ... friends. Sorta.”
They were still at the stop sign, and he turned to look back at the school. The guys were a good distance off, but Devon could see they’d stopped and were watching their car. Miss Becca needed to put the pedal to the metal. They didn’t need to draw attention. Maybe next time he could meet her on the corner, or early, while there were still lots of kids around. And teachers.
Rebecca looked at him a long moment, finally nodded. “Okay.”
