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Prologue

King

Twelve years old

“Co pussy!”

I’d seen some of the kids in my school bully other kids before, but I’d never felt like I should butt in If a kid didn’t have the balls to stand up for hi to them

But that ood Moain But this time, when I’d stepped in front of her, not only did she push me aside, but she defended the fucker

She said she deserved it

She even went as far as apologizing

To him

I hated her for that For beco him lay his hands on her like that I wanted to wail on John’s face so bad that I sat on the side of the school during recess clenching and unclenching ain in ainst a grown e

So when I heard those words shouted froer had made the decision before I had a chance to really think about it Before I knew it, I’d leapt across the sandbox and was on athered in a circle on the far side of the yard next to the kickball field

I towered over all the other kids in rade and could easily see over their heads In the center of the circle was a brute of a kid nao t-shirts with the sleeves ripped off He was holding this skinny kid by the collar of his shirt, punching hiain with his closed fist The littler kid grunted each time Tyler made contact The boy’s ripped shirt rose up over his pale sto shades of purple and yellow His ribs were so visible I could count theround I pushed aside two little girls ere cheering on the beating

Kids can be fucking cruel

Adults can be crueler

I jumped in front of Tyler and cocked back my fist With one punch to the bully’s pimpled jaw, I knocked hiainst the pavement Out cold

I instantly felt better, although the need to inflict violence was always like a rat gnawing onTyler had te candle

The skinny kid was on the ground holding his bloody nose He moved his hands away froestfor his mouth Not what I expected from someone who’d just been beaten “You didn’t have to save et some punches in before I rained down the pain” His voice cracked on every other word of the lie Tears ran out the sides of his eyes and down through the blood sone back to their kickball game

“I didn’t save you” I said, stepping over hi away, but soht up with me

“Of course you didn’t I could totally have taken hi prick has a stick up his ass,” the kid swore, throwing his hands up into the air as he jogged to try and keep up withstrides

“Oh yeah, and why is that?” I asked

“Cause he wantedI’ bitch So I told him to fuck off” His voice wasfroether

“All you said to hi on you?” I asked, although I didn’t find it hard to believe, aside fros that had beento connect with

The kid smirked

“Well, there was that… and then there was how I told hiht it was cool that his dad didn’t e of his mama’s boss at the Price Mart” He brushed the dirt off the scrapes on his elbows, then dusted the palm of his hands off on his wrinkled khakis “Name’s Samuel Clearwater What’s yours?”

I stopped and turned to him He extended his hand to ly kid as the sarandfather, so his words And what eleven year old shook hands?

Samuel Clearwater, that’s who

“Brantley King,” I answered