“Are you kidding me?” I say.
“Leslie.”
There’s no arguing. I follow him in. I find the light switch easily.
He’s breathing hard. For a moment, he doesn’t say anything.
“Tell me what happened,” I say.
“I think I might be in trouble.”
“Duh. I heard you called to the principal’s office. Why aren’t you down there?”
“I was down there. I mean, before the announcement. But then I … left.”
“You bolted from the principal’s office?”
“Yeah. Well, the waiting room. They went to check my locker. I’m sure of it.”
The blood is coming from a cut above his eye.
“Who hit you?” I ask.
“It doesn’t matter. Just shut up and listen to me, okay?”
“I’m listening, but you’re not saying anything!”
I don’t think Leslie usually talks back to her older brother. But I don’t care. He isn’t really paying attention to me, anyway.
“They’re going to call home, okay? I need you to back me up.” He hands me his keys. “Just go home after school and see what the situation is. I’ll call you.”
Luckily, I know how to drive.
When I don’t argue, he takes it as acquiescence.
“Thanks,” he tells me.
“Are you going to the principal’s office now?” I ask him.
He leaves without an answer.
Carrie has the news by the end of the day. Whether it’s the truth doesn’t really matter. It’s the news that’s going around, and she’s eager to report it to me.
“Your brother and Josh Wolf got into a fight out by the field, during lunch. They’re saying it had to do with drugs, and that your brother is a dealer or something. I mean, I knew he was into pot and everything, but I had no idea he dealt. He and Josh were dragged down to the principal’s office, but Owen decided to run. Can you believe it? They were paging him to come back. But I don’t think he did.”
“Who’d you hear it from?” I ask. She’s giddy with excitement.
“From Corey! He wasn’t out there, but some of the guys he hangs out with saw the fight and everything.”
I see now that the fact that Corey told her is the bigger news here. She’s not so selfish that she wants me to congratulate her, not with my brother in trouble. But it’s clear what her priority is.
“I’ve got to drive home,” I say.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Carrie asks. “I don’t want you to have to walk in there alone.”
For a second, I’m tempted. But then I imagine her giving Corey the blow-by-blow account of what went down, and even if that’s not a fair assumption to make, it’s enough to make me realize I don’t want her there.
“It’s okay,” I say. “If anything, this is really going to make me look like the good daughter.”