“It’s not so bad,” Luke said. “You should give it a try before you make up your mind.”
Smits laughed.
“No, thanks,” he said. “Mom always did say you had an undiscriminating palate. Dad used to joke, ‘Lee’ll eat anything that doesn’t eat him first’ I’m not like that”
“Nothing but the best for Smits, right?” Luke said quietly.
Smits clapped him on the back.
“You remembered!” he said. He shoved away from the table. “Well, I’ll be off now. Just wanted to meet Lee’s friends. See you all later.”
And, in total defiance of school rules, he strolled out of the dining hall.
Nobody stopped him. Luke and his friends stared off after him for a full minute.
“What was that all about?” They said finally.
“I haven’t the slightest clue,” Luke said.
CHAPTER 5
They had games after dinner.
This was something that Luke was very proud of. It had been his idea to ask Mr. Hendricks for a time to run and play. Most of his friends, in hiding, had been in small spaces. They’d been trained from birth to be quiet and still, to whisper, not yell, to tiptoe, not run. Their lives had depended on it. Luke didn’t know how many shadow children had ever been discovered because of a poorly timed squeal of joy or a scamper across a creaky floor. He didn’t want to know. But his friends were so good at not moving, at not talking, that they sometimes seemed hidden even now.
“They need a chance to be kids,~ Luke had argued with Mr. Hendricks back at the beginning of the summer. “They need a time to run as fast as they can, to scream at the top of their lungs, to.. “ Luke hadn’t been able to finish his sentence. He’d been overcome with the memory of all the games he’d played with his brothers — his real brothers.
Football, baseball, kickball, spud. Dodgeball, volleyball, kick the can, tag…