Under the Wolf, Under the Dog
Page 20
I don’t know what he did to get here, but I’m sure he’ll tell me soon enough. I think one of his parents got shot by a gang or something, but that’s all I know and it’s sort of a rumor.
The other day in group, this racist Red Grouper named Carl Voyce called him bin Laden.
“What do you guys think about all this stuff with our troops still being over in the Middle East?” Dr. Shays asked.
No one said anything for a minute and then Ahmed said, “I think it’s wack.”
Then Carl Voyce said, “Who asked you, bin Laden?”
Dr. Shays got pretty pissed off about that and called security and they immediately took Carl Voyce away.
The school part of Burnstone Grove starts in three days, and Sinead and I have talked about maybe moving to Chicago after we both get out of here and getting a place together. We are in love, and this is a masterful feeling.
“We could get a place in Bucktown,” she said while we were eating in the cafeteria. It was New Year’s Day, and the night before, we left the party early and went to her room and played cards and held each other a lot.
“Or Roscoe Village,” she continued. “Roscoe Village is cool, too.”
“Cool,” I said.
They started giving her medication a few days ago. It’s this stuff called Paxil, and it’s supposed to help her be more emotionally consistent.
In counseling this morning, Mrs. Leene seemed pretty positive about my dad coming this afternoon.
“You excited?” she asked me.
“I think so,” I said.
“I know he is,” she said.
“I’m gonna introduce him to Sinead,” I told her.
“He’s looking forward to meeting her. . . . Just remember to take things slow, Steve.”
So that’s where I’m heading right now. There’s this room called the Family Room where they let families meet in private, and I think my dad’s there, waiting for me right now. I have to admit that I am looking forward to seeing him.
But before I head to the Family Room, I just have to say a few more things. I’ve been thinking about them a lot the past few days, and I really need to write them down. It’s sort of this list I’m starting, so please bear with me. It’s probably going to get a lot longer, but at least you’ll see the beginning of it.
People are born and people die.
God moves meat around the world.
Parents get cancer and their ashes get stuffed into urns.
The urns get buried in holes.
Brothers break your heart.
Little kids are smarter than most people.
Some little kids die in hospital beds.
Greyhound buses are incredibly depressing and should be avoided at all costs.
Losing your virginity is sort of miraculous.
You have to deal with stuff on your own and that’s all there is to it.
ADAM RAPP is the acclaimed author of several novels for young adults, including Punkzilla, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. In addition, he is an accomplished playwright whose plays have been produced by the New York Theatre Workshop, the Bush Theatre in London, and the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Adam Rapp is also the author and director of Winter Passing, a movie starring Ed Harris, Will Ferrell, and Zooey Deschanel. He lives in New York City.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2004 by Adam Rapp
Cover photograph copyright © 2007 by Clay Patrick McBride/Photonica
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition 2011
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Rapp, Adam.
Under the wolf, under the dog / Adam Rapp. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Steve struggles to make sense of his mother’s terminal breast cancer and his brother’s suicide.
ISBN 978-0-7636-1818-6 (hardcover)
[1. Depression, Mental — Fiction. 2. Family problems — Fiction. 3. Grief — Fiction. 4. Drug abuse — Fiction. 5. Suicide — Fiction. 6. Cancer — Fiction. 7. Death — Fiction. 8. Illinois — Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.R18133Un 2004
[Fic] — dc22 2004050255
ISBN 978-0-7636-3365-3 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-7636-5425-2 (electronic)
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