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

he ever considered getting righteous and truthful, now wasn’t the time to start. There was no way he could convince his mother that, yes, he had gone inside the warehouse, but no, he hadn’t vandalized it. Too much damage had been done to the place. Plus, the Marsville police had gotten involved.
    Lonnie took the green polo shirt from his mother and studied it, furrowing his brows, as if he was thinking hard. “No,” he said. “Yesterday, I wore a blue polo shirt. I worethis one to church Sunday. I was going to wear the blue one to church, but it was kind of wrinkled, and I didn’t want to ask you to iron it for me, so I wore this green one.” Steeling his nerves, he asked, “Why do you want to know what I had on yesterday? Do you think I was one of those kids who broke into the paper company?”
    Unfazed, his mother eyed him skeptically. “If you didn’t wear this green shirt yesterday, why was it sitting on top of your dirty clothes hamper instead of the blue one?”
    Good question. Still, Lonnie didn’t let it rattle him. “Oh, well, you see, all my clothes were on the floor, and I knew you were going to do the laundry today, so I picked them up and threw them in the hamper.” Shrugging innocently, he added, “I guess my green shirt just ended up on top.”
    His mother wasn’t a cop, but she had been trained to be one, and most times, she could sniff out a lie. “Lonnie, I want you to be truthful with me. Where did you go yesterday?”
    Keeping up his deception, he answered, “Um, I spent most of the day here at the house reading my book. I did go out for a little while to see Axel ’cause I wanted him to help me with my project. See, Axel’s already read
The Dumfrees Move In
. That’s the book I have to read for my class. The story’s about this family that lives in Phoenix and Mr. Dumfree’s been transferred by his company to Los Angeles, but their house …” He paused. “Anyway, Axel said he’d help me with my project.”
    â€œAnd you still couldn’t get it done on time?” she scoffed.
    â€œIt’s just that we started playing with Axel’s video games and stuff,” Lonnie said, trying to look guilty. “I guess it just got late. After that, I came home.”
    â€œDid you and Axel go anywhere?” she persisted.
    Lonnie faked a laugh. “Mom, are you kidding? You know Axel’s parents. They never let him out of their sight. Remember? They wouldn’t let him go to the mall with me even after you talked to them and said you’d take us. No, we just hung out at his house. You can call his mom and ask her if you don’t believe me.”
    He knew she wouldn’t call. His mother didn’t care for Axel’s parents. Lonnie had heard her refer to them as pseudo-intellectual snobs. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he didn’t think she was paying them a compliment.
    â€œNo, that’s fine,” she said, although Lonnie had a feeling she wasn’t thoroughly convinced. She took his polo shirt and jeans back to the utility room and crammed them into the clothes washer.
    â€œWhere’s Dad?” Lonnie asked, wondering if she had shared her suspicions with him.
    â€œWho knows?” she said with a roll of her eyes.
    She washed her hands in the kitchen sink. Then she took out a package of ground beef, a carton of eggs, an onion and a bottle of ketchup from the fridge, items she had picked up at the grocery store that her husband had neglected to buy the day before.
    Feeling satisfied that he had gotten away with his fat lie, Lonnie grabbed an apple from the fruit dish.
    â€œDon’t snack too much,” his mother said. “Dinner will be ready in about an hour.”
    â€œWhat are we having?”
    â€œMeatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans.”
    â€œM-m-m. I love your meatloaf,” Lonnie said. In a way, his