Page 35 of The Corruption of Hollis Brown

“Ha ha, I’ll keep that in mind,” Walt said to them both. His cleverness pissed Hollis off more.

“You seem to be taking this whole school situation a lot better than I thought,” she said. They rounded the corner of the block and headed down one of the darker streets.

Walt shrugged. “I just . . . realized that I can’t fight it, so why should I be upset? I know what I did and what I didn’t do. No one here has enough money to bribe the police, and it’s easier for them to pressure Jorge’s family into leaving them alone than it would be to process the paperwork to frame me well enough to charge me. I’m not the only one suspended, so it doesn’t feel as bad.”

Yulia looked pensive.

They walked in silence for a while, all three of them.

“Well,” Yulia finished. “At least you’re confident. What are you gonna do if they decide to press charges?”

Run.

It was immediate and instinctive.

No. We’re going to jail for like five months or paying a fine.

I’m not going back to jail for anything, Hollis.

Back?!

“I’ll figure it out.” Walt replied. “What else can I do?”

How old are you?

You don’t know? You riffled through my wallet earlier.

Answer.

Seventeen, I’ll be eighteen in January.

“If they book me in before the New Year, it won’t even be on my record when I get out,” Walt said. “I’ll miss graduation though.”

“And I’ll be off to college. Annie too,” Yulia reminded him as they turned the block again and headed back down his street.

“I’ll find a way to visit,” Walt said at the same time Hollis thought it.

We’re getting better at this.

Starving

Hollis wanted to scream at Walt as soon as they got inside, but he didn’t.

He knew two things about Walt so far: yelling didn’t have any effect on him, and he was vulnerable to surprises. He knew Walt would be waiting for some diatribe about Yulia. So, instead, Hollis waited until Walt had comfortably folded up his mended clothes and placed them back in his drawers to say:

Tell me about some of your other rides. The people you’ve possessed.

Walt paused, then shut Hollis’s drawer.

Why?

You know more about me than I know about you, and I don’t like it, Hollis said honestly.

He could feel his own eyes rolling.

Okay, but can I get in the bathtub? My back hurts because you don’t exercise enough.

Keep the lights off.