The Lost Boy

floor. He stopped for a moment. I thought he was about to give me another excuse when he looked up and into my eyes and smiled. “I told him … you did it. That it was your idea.”
    My hands began to shake. “You
what? What
did you do?”
    John grinned. “What did
I
do?
I
didn’t do a thing. Man, you gotta go. You can’t stay here, ” he said in a dry voice.
    I was dumbstruck. “Where do I go? What do I do?”
    “You should have thought about that before
you
burned the room, man.”
    My mind tumbled in confusion. “I thought you were my friend, ” I pleaded, as John turned away.
    Moments later I quietly closed the door to his house, then made my way to the local shopping center in hopes of finding food to steal. I jumped in a clump of bushes whenever I heard a car coming.
This is stupid,
I yelled at myself.
I can’t live like this.
I turned around and made my way to Rudy and Lilian’s home. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and crept up the stairs, hearing the television set blare above me. As I shuffled into the living room, I was greeted by Larry Jr’s alligator smile. “He’s … here!”
    Lilian dropped the blanket she was crocheting. “My God, David, where have you been? Are you all right?”
    Before I could reply, I could feel the floor vibrate from Rudy storming down the hallway. “Where is he?” he bellowed.
    I swallowed hard before I gave my prepared speech, that everything was a simple misunderstanding. That I, in fact, was the one who
put out
the fire, and not the person who started it. I knew Rudy would yell at me for a few minutes and he’d probably ground me for another week for not coming home, but I knew once they understood the truth, everything would go back to normal. I smiled at Rudy, who breathed above me like a dragon. “You’re not going to believe this, but …”
    “You’re damn right I’m not!” Rudy roared. “I don’t believe anything anymore. In the last two days I’ve had calls from the school, the police, juvenile probation, your father and that mother of yours. Ever since he stepped foot in this house …” Rudy pointed at Lilian before focusing again on me. “I told you to keep your nose clean, and now you go off and do something like this! What in the hell were you thinking about? I can’t believe it! Stealing isn’t good enough for you? No, you’ve got to prove yourself, is that it? You say you feel lost, that you don’t fit in – well, I know who you are. You’re an arsonist! That’s what you are! Were you the one who’s been setting all those grass fires around here … ?”
    “My God, Rudy, settle down, ” Lilian broke in. “He wasn’t even here back then.”
    “Well, I’ve seen enough. I’ve heard enough. That’s it – he’s out of here!” Rudy yelled. Then he shook his head and let out a deep sigh, indicating he was finished.
    A long silence followed. He breathed over me while Lilian stayed glued by his side. Up until a few moments ago, I felt I could have cleared up the confusion with a few words, but I suddenly realized it was my past actions that had led Rudy to his conclusion. To him I was guilty, and I knew that nothing I could say would change his mind. I gazed up at Rudy with tears in my eyes. I wanted so much for him to believe in me.
    “Those crocodile tears might work on Lil, but they won’t do a bit of good with me, ” he stated.
    I cleared my throat before whimpering, “My dad called?”
    Lilian indicated yes by nodding her head before tugging on Rudy’s sleeve. “Let’s put it to bed for now, hmm?”
    Rudy turned his frustration on Lilian. “Wake up Lil. For God’s sake, we’re not talking about snatching another candy bar. He burned a school …”
    “No!” Lilian said, cutting him off. “The principal believes there was another boy involved!”
    Rudy seemed tired. I could see the dark circles under his eyes. “Come on, Lil, does it matter? He’s a foster child. He’s been picked up for shoplifting, and his mother’s filed bogus police reports against him. Who do you think they’re going to believe? That’s the bottom line.”
    Lilian broke out in tears. “Rudy. I know.
I know
he’s not a bad child. He’s just …”
    I wanted to hug her and take away all the pain I had caused her.
    “Well, ” Rudy replied in a calmer voice, “Lil, I know he’s not half bad … but he’s got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. He’s dug himself a deep grave this time and … well