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twenty-four

Jenks scooted close to the little cae woods, glowing eyes watching froainst the wind that whistled through the branches

"We can&039;t stay out here" For the first tio showed he are of the cold "This fire ain&039;t enough I can&039;t feel ers" He blew on the his ears

Jenks didn&039;t say anything He was cold too, but didn&039;t knohere to go He couldn&039;t go back to his garage apartet o said "We could sneak back slow Check it out If we can get to the truck, we can go anywhere"

"Shit on that idea You don&039;t know Red Zach I&039;d rather freeze than have o spoke "What&039;s going on?"

Jenks looked at the fire, didn&039;t say anything

"Shero raised his voice "Who&039;s Jenks? He called you Jenks"

"Never o&039;s voice caught He sed hard "I bashed ait to save a friend" His voice shook, tight, nerves raw "Now you godda now"

Jenks opened his ather hiot to let ot to listen," Jenks said "You got to letfrom"

"I said fine"

Jenks let it all spill out, Spoon and the alley and Sherman Ellis He told him about his crazy idea to steal Ellis&039;s life, slip into Eastern Oklahoma University, and write poetry It had been his way out, his way to shed the ghetto and the drug trade and all the gangster bullshit And he realized he was telling the story for hi to downplay his part in Ellis&039;s death He needed to believe, even o, that what he had done was forgivable Or at least understandable

And by the end of Jenks&039;s story, the truth had shifted, taken on a new shade He told DelPrego that his old life, his old patterns, the old ways had such deep hooks in hiet him free Sherain, ood Sherman Ellis&039;s death could save Harold Jenks

Jenks&039;s story trickled out He looked at DelPrego, but couldn&039;t see his expression in the dark The fire had dwindled, the coals casting thee The silence stretched

"Wayne?"

"Don&039;t talk to ht now"

Jenks started to bark at DelPrego Fuck you, man You don&039;t knohat I had to live with He clapped his linting orange andautoo had taken off Zach&039;s boy The complexion of Jenks&039;s situation shifted uneasily He are of the woods again It would be a long tio wasn&039;t quite pointing the pistol at hi to tell you so about your life Maybe we had to kill that guy in the trailer or be killed ourselves"

DelPrego&039;s voice tightened "But you can&039;t steal education, man It&039;s up here" He tapped his head with the pistol barrel "You can steal a car or a radio or a big-ass bag full of drugs, but you can&039;t steal an education"

"I&039;o stood, sudden, violent, knocking sticks into the fire and spreading the coals Sparks "You&039;re hurting e education I pulled third shift as a security guard at a rendering plant, stayed up all night wired on coffee reading Milton and Shakespearean sonnets and s stink just so I could pay rent and buy books My senior year, I slept hts in the library than I did in ain hard "Maybe hborhood wasn&039;t as tough, but I earned ain "Everything in here belongs tothing is your way" He turned, tossed the pistol into the woods

Jenks felt hot in the face DelPrego ht You didn&039;t cohborhood You don&039;t knohat it&039;s like"

"I&039;ll bet Sherut DelPrego had said what Jenks secretly already knew deep in his heart Sherman Ellis had earned his way Sherman Ellis had worked for it Jenks had tried to sneak in the back door

Jenks wiped at his eyes "Fucking calow faded

"What&039;s your na

"Your real name"

"Harold Jenks"

"Okay"

Jenks said, "I knoon&039;t work, so don&039;t worry about me Shit, you should see how the professors look at ht I can&039;t do it, so don&039;t worry I&039;" He sniffed, wiped his nose on his sleeve "Only class I&039; up in is the poetry workshop, and that&039;s only because I&039;hed sudden and hard, the tension draining "Shit Professor Morgan What would he say?" More laughter

Jenks laughed too, wiped his eyes again When the laughter spent itself, he asked, "You still o said, "Mostly I&039;et the fuck out of here"

"Where?"

Jenks stood, stomped his feet They felt like lead bricks "Anyplace indoors"

DelPrego snapped his fingers "I know, follow me The back of the campus is only about a mile this way" He headed off into the underbrush

Jenks followed, shoving his way through the branches He was so cold he could barely move They made their way slowly

"Wayne?"

"Yeah?"

"Where&039;s the gy?" Jenks hesitated to raise this question, but he had to know

"I stashed it Someplace safe"

"Where?"

"Soht Jenks Okay I won&039;t press it for now

They found an openand climbed in Jenks was so happy to be in the relative waro why they&039;d broken into Albatross Hall At least it was unlikely Red Zach would find theo led him out of the classroom and down the hall to the stairwell

They climbed

The fifth floor looked deserted Dark

"What are we doing here?" Jenks asked

"Quiet" DelPrego froze, listened "You hear that?"

Jenks listened too "Music"

"Yeah"

"What is it?"

"Wagner," DelPrego said

DelPrego walked faster, Jenks right behind him They took a few turns and ended at a door The o twisted the knob, pushed the door open slowly

DelPrego looked in "Professor Valentine?"

The old man jerked his head around "Wayne Hello A bit late to be out and about isn&039;t it?"

Valentine was reading an enormous leather-bound Bible He was stark naked except for a black beret with the words SEA WORLD, ORLANDO, stitched in yellow

"I thought you were still away," DelPrego said