Dead Girl Moon Read Online Free Page A

junior year in one place. He was strong enough and fast enough and he was going out for sports. He was done skipping out. Better off alone if that’s the way it had to be.
    An hour or so later they crossed the Salish River, tooled past the tiny airport, and drove the length of town, east to west. It was big enough to have the stores you needed, small enough to walk where you wanted to go. Main Street showed wall-to-wall colorfully painted buildings, front sidewalks shoveled clear of snow.
    On their way back through, when they took any narrow street south toward the river, the paving ended quickly in a scrabble of shacks and beat-up trailers. The broken siding, patched roofs, plywood windows were a big contrast to Main Street. The town was fakey, like a movie set. Maybe that was a fit. He and his father looked right on the outside, but inside? Not so good.

 
    8
    M ICK ’ S FATHER RENTED THEM A PLACE down one of those gravel alleys, a “studio,” he said. Actually it was a ramshackle room with rickety walls and no insulation, cobbled on behind Hammond’s Hardware. When they moved in, they found the pipes were clogged or frozen and the plumbing useless, but his dad had already paid cash. The deal didn’t include refunds. For a few days they would have to do their business and take spit baths after hours up at the Conoco. Until April, they’d have to wear most of their clothes all the time. That would make entering school as a new kid even harder. Mick would look and smell homeless.
    *   *   *
    At first they would be pretty careful. His dad had a new rule. No more phones. Didn’t trust them. Thought all the companies collaborated with law enforcement. They’d keep scanning for unmarked cars or any sign they were being watched. After a week or two they could probably relax. Mick didn’t know how much he could trust his dad’s promise, so he got to know the neighbors right away.
    JJ, Janice Joplin Stovall, was the first person he met. Ran into her the second night in town when he walked from his shack across the parking area to the river. Sitting on a stump between the willows and the water, she’d been hidden from his sight line. He pushed through branches and there she was, staring up at the moon, her breath making steam. Mick thought she was a boy when he first saw her. He’d never told her that. Short, stiff dark hair, hands tucked in a vest over a black hoodie, dark jeans, high-tops. Mick was thinking halfback or safety, or even a wrestler.
    He stepped toward her, rocks clacking under his weight, and she turned to look at him. She said hi. Girl, he saw then. No makeup. Smile. It struck him. She wasn’t afraid. He knew what he looked like, over two hundred pounds, bushy brown hair, scar on his face. She turned back to moon-gazing. Mick studied the river and they were still for a while.
    She didn’t look at him again after that first time, but she didn’t frown or edge away. Didn’t seem like she minded his interruption. Felt like he was welcome to join her. Eventually they did a couple of those first-time things. Him, Mick Fitzhugh, just moved here, the corner place behind the hardware store. Sophomore this year. Her, JJ. The downriver trailer. High school, fourteen.
    Mick looked at her more closely. Yeah, her face looked young, but something about her seemed older. Maybe her build. Like she lifted or worked out.
    She told him she lived with her uncle and aunt, Gary and Tina. Said Gary repaired TVs and electronic stuff for the hardware and private customers. Said Tina didn’t work. JJ rolled her eyes. Guess there was a story to go with that. Maybe he’d hear more about Tina later. Also said Tina had a ten-year-old son, Jon. Told Mick watch out. Jon was trouble.
    They were quiet again after that. In a couple of minutes she said there was one other person in the trailer. A foster girl that came a few months ago named Grace, a junior.
    Mick nodded, said huh from time to time to let her know he was