On the Other Side of the Bridge by Ray Villareal Page A

knows,” he said.
    â€œWell, tell them you made it up. Tell them you were just kidding.”
    Axel groaned. “Man, I wish we’d never gone to the paper company. If the police find out we broke into the place, we could all end up with criminal records. I probably won’t even get to go to college.”
    â€œChill out, Torres,” Lonnie said. “It’s over, okay? As long as Slurpee … I mean, Herman stops talking about it, everybody will forget about it in a day or two.”
    They went back inside the cafeteria and ate their food. Before long, the bell rang, and it was time for fourth period.
    On his way to Progressive Reading, Lonnie thought about what excuse he would give Ms. Kowalski for why he hadn’t completed his book project. He considered turning in what he had done so far, but decided that if he showed her the silly book cover he had drawn, he might make things worse.
    After school, he found his mother sitting in the kitchen alone, staring at the wall, her face somber. He dropped his backpack on a chair and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.
    â€œLonnie, sit down,” she said. “We need to talk about something very important.”
    He was expecting this. Ms. Kowalski had told him she was going to notify his parents about his missing work. He took a seat and braced himself for the bawling out that was coming.
    â€œI received an email from your reading teacher this afternoon,” his mother said.
    Lonnie hung his head and stared at the table top. “Yeah, I know.”
    â€œWhy did you tell me that you had finished your project when you knew you hadn’t?” she demanded to know.
    Refusing to meet her eyes, he shrugged. “I did most of it. Really. And I was going to do the rest of it before class, but time got away from me.”
    â€œMs. Kowalski said that she’s deducting ten points from your final grade for each day your project is late. Ten points, Lonnie! Ten points!”
    â€œMom, I’m going to turn it in tomorrow,” he said, finally looking at her. “I promise. I’ve got some other homework to do, but I’ll start—”
    â€œThat’s not all.” She paused and took a deep breath. Her face looked troubled, as if Lonnie’s book project was the least of her concerns. He thought she was going to tell him that a friend or family member had died. Or maybe she was going to rag on his dad because he still hadn’t found a job.
    â€œI had lunch with Otis Barnaby today,” she said. “Lonnie, he wasn’t mistaken about what he heard when those kids broke into the warehouse. One boy did call another one Slurpee.” She took another long breath, as if talking to him was exhausting her. “Otis also gave me a description of the clothes the three boys were wearing.”
    Lonnie tried not to show fear, but his insides melted, and he felt as if he might wet his pants. His mother rose from the table and went to the utility room. She returned, holding Lonnie’s green polo shirt and blue jeans.
    â€œAre these the clothes you had on yesterday?”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    L ONNIE HAD MIXED FEELINGS about telling lies. He knew it was wrong to do it. The Bible said he wasn’t supposed to lie. On the other hand, lying had helped him get out of some tough spots. When his mother refused to listen to reason after he pleaded with her not to make him go to church, he decided to take matters into his own hands. People might say that by his leading his mother to think he was in church instead of at Catfish Creek, he was lying. But at least it helped preserve the peace at home. He also knew his mother would jump all over him if she learned that he hadn’t finished his book project, so he told her he’d done it. That little fib didn’t turn out too well, but it was fixable. He could still turn in his project, even if it meant that Ms. Kowalski would take ten points off his final grade.
    But if