The Wolf and Me: The Seven Sequels

by Richard Scrimger

  Would you like something to read? she says.

  I shake my head and think about what other number I know. Police and Pizza and home and who else? Jaden that is who. Jade she is now. My frend from the 15 street possy. I punch the number and there is Jade talking to me.

  Hey this is Bunny calling. How are you? I ask.

  O yah so it is. Hi Bunny!

  Jade is happy like usual when we are talking.

  I herd from your brother she says.

  You were talking to Spencer?

  I am smiling into the phone. If your brother is on the case you feel better. Your brother is on your side.

  He came to my work says Jade. He doesnt know where you are. Whats going on?

  I got kid napped I say.

  What? she says and then says it again. What? Who kid napped you? What do they want? Where are you?

  They say they want the anthem. But they are lyers I say. They keep talking about Grampa. I dont know where I am. I dont know whats going on.

  And thats for sure.

  Poor old Bunny she says.

  Jade is rite. I felt ok when I was thinking about Spencer and how he was on the case but not any more. Now talking about all the things I dont know I sound kinda sad and blah. Whats the word for that?

  Spencer gave me his phone number she says.

  You want it?

  Yes I say. Thanks.

  I tell her to wait a sec and then she reads the number off to me. I rite it on my arm. The old lady has a pen in her desk and I am not taking a chance on forgetting.

  Thanks I say again.

  Being a hoss stage sucks says Jade. You shuld run away.

  I dont have to run I say. I have skates.

  She laffs and then asks if I want the possy to come and find me?

  Not now I say. The roads are bad for cars. I will have to skate home.

  I hang up and call Spencer. The phone rings and rings and someone says that the male box is full and I have to hang up. So I do.

  The old lady is watching all this. I go thru it all again. And hang up.

  The old lady shakes her head.

  Even you cant get thru she says. The phone company is awful.

  No one can help. Not Spencer or my parents or Jaden. That is why I feel so pathetic. Thats the word I was trying to think of befor. Sad and blah.

  The old lady shows me to the door. I walk careful but my skates are drippy. I say sorry for making a mess of her floor.

  She asks where I am going and frowns when I tell her. She has never herd of Creekside. I tell her it is a jail for kids. She nods and says of course.

  The poor children there need you she says. There must be so much for you to do.

  Well there is Bingo on Friday nites I say.

  She tells me the next town is a few miles down the road. She points the way. I thank her. There is a patch of ice in her back yard. I skate across it and hop to the road. I wave back at her.

  Grow a beerd she shouts. Then people will know who you are.

  THE NEXT TOWN IS RICO.

  The sine says it has a pop of 5035. I dont beleeve it. I dont see anyone. There are no lites on and even the McDonalds is closed. In the center of town there is a park area with swings and slides and a guy on a horse. The guy is wearing a three corner hat and a long coat and he is the first person I see.

  Hello I say.

  Not xpecting an anser because he is made of stone. But he does anser.

  Hello he says.

  I stop with a jerk and a spray of ice. The guy has not moved. He and his horse are on top of an other bit of stone. He can not really be talking rite?

  Hello? I say again. You mean me?

  Of course he says.

  There are no town lites but the snow is white and the moon is shining enuff for me to see that the three corner hat guy is a statu. The talking is not coming from him.

  Where are you? I say.

  An old man with a parka and hat comes out from behind some bushes.

  We both say hello again.

  He tells me about himself. His name is Orvil and he lives next door to the park in the house with the hedge. He is alone. His wife is dead and his son is in Africa and never calls to talk. Orvil was in the back yard when he herd me say hello.

  I tell him who I am.

  My cousin went to Africa I say.

  Does he talk about it?

  All the time I say.

  Orvils voice is gruff and bumpy—the way a stone can feel in your hand. If the statu culd talk it mite sound like him.

  Want to see Jupiter? he says. You shuld see it. Tonite is a good nite. The moons of Gally Layo are clear.

  I dont know what he is talking about but he wants to show me so I skate across the snow and ice past the statu to Orvils back yard. In the middle of the yard is something that looks a lot like a machine gun. It is on three legs and it is pointing at the sky. Of course it is not a machine gun. It is a telly scope. When I get close to it Orvil tells me where to put my eyes so I can see Jupiter.

  See those moons? he says. Arent they clear?

  Wow I say.

  But I do not see anything. No Jupiter or stars. No sky. All I see is black. I move my eye back from the eye place and blink. I say Wow again. I am lying because I do not want to hurt Orvils feelings.

  Those moons go around Jupiter he says. Gally Layo saw them move 100s of years ago. Witch proved the church was rong.

  Thats grate I say.

  Orvil says it is not grate at all. The church got mad at Gally Layo and wanted to burn him until he changed his mind and said the moons didnt move after all. And he did and then the church let him live.

  Good I say.

  But I am rong again. Orvil gets xcited and tells me Gally Layo shuld not have changed his mind. You have to stand up for what you beleeve even if it means dying. Remember that Bunny he says. And nods feercely. Like an eagle or something. Or a dragon. A feerce thing.

  Where is the police station in town? I ask.

  Theres no police station in town he says. The nearest one is in Perry Vale. Hardly any one lives in Rico in the winter. Me and my son were lonely. And then he went to Africa. And now he doesnt call.

  But—I say and then stop talking.

  Vi told me about dropping off my note at the police station in town. She was lying. I new Vi was a lyer all ready and this is more proof. No police station. No one to help me. No one to tell my story to. That is why I stop talking.

  Orvil goes back to looking at the telly scope. He does not ask me any thing about why I am here or why I am interested in a police station. He is not an asking guy. Or else he knows everything he has to.

  I dont.

  What day is it? I ask.

  Spencer and I went to grampas cottage the day after Christmas—Boxing Day witch is a great name dont you think—how many sports have there own day? I have never herd of soccer day or baseball day or MMA day.

  Any way the day after Boxing Day we came back to Toronto and went skating and I got kid napped. And the day after that I escaped and ended up here in Orvils place in Rico. I think thats when things happened. But I dont know.

  What day is it today? I ask. Is it new years?

  I have to be back at Creekside by new years or I will get in trouble with my prole officer.

  Not yet he says looking at his watch. Like it will be new years any minit.

  Soon? I ask.

  Now he looks up at the sky.

  Do you know where Creekside is? I ask. Is it far?

  Creekside? he says. New years? he says. You have 2 many questions Bunny. All you need to know is north. And north is that way.

  He points at the sky. Like the hole world is a map and he is pointing to the top where the north pole is.

  That star will always be there and always show north he says. See the way it is at the end of the handle of the little dipper?

  I dont know what he is talking about. The star he is pointing at is small. Is he laffing at me? I cant tell.

  I say i
t was nice to meet him and that maybe his son will call soon.

  I will listen for him he says. It is how I herd you.

  I glide away. The statu outside his house doesnt say anything.

  I head down the road a different way from the way I came. There is no lite exept the moon and it is going behind a thick cloud. The road in front of me is hard to see. I look up. Rite over my head I see a little star that culd be Orvils. It is near a couple of other ones in a bendy line. The clouds are getting thicker now but this little star is shining pretty good.

  Turns out its my lucky star. I skate to where the road starts to bend and find exactly what I am looking for. My trip is over.

  THE CLOUDS GO LOWER.

  Mist swirls around me and blocks what I can see. Thats when I almost run into a metal fence I know—the fence that goes around Creekside. This is perfect. I am not used to looking at it from the outside but the fence is the same. It goes strait up and leans in at the top so you cant clime out.

  No body is around. There are lites on but no people. I skate over to the gate and nock but no one comes. Funny eh? They spend a lot of time making it hard to get out of the place but it is not easy to get in ether.

  I think how cool it wuld be to break in. They will all be suprised to see me—Greg the gard and Rosco in the kitchen and Mr Wing if he is there and Benj. And Lukas if he is back from Christmas yet. That will be cool all rite.

  I skate around the place trying to think of a way in.

  Along the back is a ditch I dont remember from last week. It runs beside the fence. It is deep and the ice in it is smooth. I swoosh to the bottom of the ditch and then back up the top fast enough to come off the ground for a second. Witch gives me an idea. Skate borders do this on TV—down and then up the other side. They call it a half pike dont they. Or is that something else. I wonder if I can do it here?

  The ditch is on my rite side and the fence is beyond it. No body is around and no body can see any thing because it is so cold and foggy.

  I go off for a bit and then turn round and skate back toward the fence. The land is flat and the ice is ok and I am moving fast. When I come to the ditch I woosh down one side and then let myself go coming up the other side. I fly thru the air and land more than half way up the fence. I poke my hand on the barbs and fall down.

  Not bad I think. The idea mite work. I try it again only this time I fall over at the bottom of the ditch and make a mess. My breath is coming harder and I am starting to get cold.

  Next time is the winner. I bend lower down to go faster and then straiten my legs to jump up as soon I get to the edge of the ditch. The skate borders on TV zoom down one side of the ramp and up the other and they stay in the air for a long time. So do I. I end up near the top of the fence—the leaning part. When your inside Creekside the fence leans the rong way for climing out. But I am climing in. I scramble over and hang on for a second by my mitt. Then the mitt comes off and my hand comes free and I fall into a snow pile.

  I am home. My eyes and my pants and shirt and hat and coat are full of snow but I am inside the fence and I am not hurt. Good enuff! I hop forward and find the main bilding. It is starting to snow hard now. I can not see very much. I am shivering and looking forward to bed. There is a key pad where you enter your code to get into the bilding but the lock is frozen. I pull on the door because sometimes it is open any way. And it is. I close it tite.

  I am in. The gard room on the left is empty. Greg or who ever is on duty is walking around. My dorm is the middle hall way down the stares. I am staggering with tiredness and reliefness and good to be home ness by now. The lites in the hall are dim and the door to my dorm is open. I xpect Rosco or somebody to wake up and start yelling but he doesnt. I have made it. The surprise will be fun in the morning. I yawn my way out of my coat and skates and pants and shirt and into bed and fall asleep like a lite going out.

  RISE AND SHINE! EVERYBODY UP!

  I dont know how many hours it is later but it is not enuff. I pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep. I dont think any one knows I am here. The gard doesnt say anything.

  He is new. I hope Greg has not been fired. I like Greg. My first week at Creekside I wuld look thru the fence at the people and dogs who culd move around while I had to stay inside the fence. I didnt do anything—just watched. Some gards yelled at me to get away from the fence and go inside but Greg never did. He new what I was thinking. Once he came over to where I was and we watched a bird floating in the air—a sea gull or something. It sat there on the wind and then swooped away and Greg and I watched it. And he said Yeah and walked away. That was all.

  But this gard is not Greg. Ive never herd him befor. He says brekfast is in 15 minits and that means all of us. I hear his footsteps walking away. There are grunts from the other guys.

  I am thinking that rite after brekfast I have to call Spencer. I have his number on my arm. He will know who I shuld tell about the kid napping. He is the smart one in the family. I can carry stuff and smile when times are bad—that is what I can do. Spencer knows things. We make a good team.

  I peek out from under the covers. 2 strange guys are standing by the door. What are they doing in our dorm? And why are they dressed like this?

  Whats with the green suits? I say.

  Normally we have orange. I wonder if its green for Christmas or if we are changing colors.

  The tall 1 turns around to stare. This is the first thing hes herd me say. He didnt think anyone was in my bed—just covers. I was hoping to surprise everybody. But his surprise is more than I thot.

  Whos there? Who said that?

  He jumps on me and starts hitting. Why? Jail is tuff but not normally like this. I try and fite back. Its hard because I am under covers and this guy is fast and strong. But I do my best. I grab his hand and say Hey and Woe and like that. And I see real plain and clear that I am in the rong place.

  This is not my bedroom. One wall has a big poster with DO and DONT on it. Another wall has a hole in it. The cover on the lite is broken. These are different from my room. Not much different but a little different. My room has a poster but it says RULES not DO and DONT. And our bathroom is over there insted of over there. And we dont have a hole in our wall. At least we didnt when I left.

  So theres that. And then the guys. I am fiting with the big 1 but the little 1 is staring at me like I am a nite mare. A gost or something—witch is funny when I think of what happens later. He puts his hand to his face and screams. Aaaa! he screams and then O my God! and then Aaaa! again. His finger nails are brite red and I see what I shuld have seen befor. The little one is not a guy at all. It is not just the nails. The hair. The face. The way the suit fits. He is a girl. I mean she. She is a girl.

  It is sometimes hard to tell. I have been fooled befor. Mind you I have been fooled by traffic lites befor. I am easy to fool.

  As I am getting used to the little guy being a girl I see that the big guy who is punching me in the face and calling me names is also a girl. My face hurts—she is a strong girl. I fall on to the floor and she jumps on me. Just befor she lands on me I twist out of the way. She trys to punch me. I grab her hand and say Sorry.

  This isnt my room. I shuld not be here. If someone came to my room I wuld be upset. I mite even fite them. I wonder where I am?

  Stop hitting me and I will go find my place I say.

  She pulls her hand free and looks me up and down. Her face changes now she is smiling.

  Oh no.

  She is all dressed and I am not. I took off almost all my close when I got in last nite so I have SpongeBob under pants and a t shirt and that is all. I dive back into bed and pull up the covers.

  She—the big one—starts to laff. You beleeve this Teena? she says to the little 1. Who shakes her head.

  We shuld TELL on him Teena says. Teena the tiny. She has a little girl voice to go with her name. We shuld get him in TROUBLE she says.

  Yeah says the big 1. We can report him rite after he gets dressed. Or maybe befor
.

  And she laffs some more.

  Dont make jokes Bet says Teena.

  No please I say. Let me get dressed and I will get out of here and on my way to—

  And I stop. I have been so busy fiting that I never thot about my big problem. Now I see it clear. I am not just in the rong room—I am in the rong jail. Creekside does not have girls in it. This is not Creekside.

  Oh crap I say. And sink back into bed.

  What? says the big 1. Big Bet. She is older than me I think. How did you get here? she asks. What is going on?

  I shake my head.

  Come on! she says but I cant tell her.

  Her nose is bent side ways and when she frowns it bends even more. Whatever is going on it is messed she says.

  Yah I say.

  Whatre we gonna DO? asks the other one. Teena. She is still standing by the door. She is older than me 2 but she sounds little and winy. We shuld TELL on him she says.

  Hes in enuff trouble says Bet.

  He slept in our ROOM says Teena. Hes a boy and he was HERE. He mite have seen us getting DRESSED!

  She has her hand to her mouth again. The nails are like straw berrys. How culd I ever think she was a boy?

  He was sleeping so he didnt see anything says Bet. And what does it matter if he saw our under wear? We saw his SpongeBobs huh? Besides if we tell on him who is going to get in trouble? We are—that is who. Remember when Marthas boy frend stayed after visitors hours? Thats what will happen to us.

  But its not FAIR! says Teena. What do we DO?

  We get him out of here says Bet.

  They look at each other. They both want me to go away but they are not on the same side. Bet wants to do something and Teena doesnt.

  Well I am HUNGRY says Teena.

  Go on to brekfast then says Bet. I will take care of him.

  Does she mean it?

  Can I drink your chocolate milk? says Teena.