The Wild Kid by Harry Mazer

coming to live in our house, in my room.”
    â€œBut you said he lives in the woods.”
    â€œHe does, but it’s a secret place.”
    â€œIs he there now?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Sammy admitted. It was one of his worries. Where was Kevin now? Why didn’t he come? What was taking him so long?

31

    Sammy wrote Kevin a letter.
    Dear Kevin,
    I want you to come. I fixed the room. You have a bed and I have a bed. No sleeping on the floor. I have everything ready. Come soon. Thank you.
    Love, Sammy
    His mother saw him writing. She looked over his shoulder. Sammy covered the paper with his hands.
    Since he’d come home, his mother wanted to know where he was and what he was doing every second. She watched him from the window. But, why? He wasn’t going to get lost again. He wasn’t going to leave his bike without his special chain. He wasn’t a baby anymore. He did things. He didn’t have to be watched every minute and be asked about everything.
    â€œWho are you writing to?” his mother asked.
    â€œPrivate.”
    â€œPrivate?” She laughed. “I didn’t know we had private secrets. Can I see?”
    â€œNo.”
    She looked at him. “You’ve changed. You’ve become very stubborn.”
    â€œI am a stubborn person,” he agreed. He remembered himself on the cliff. The way he’d gotten up there, and the way he’d stayed there and waited. He hadn’t cried once. “Don’t baby me anymore,” he told his mother.
    â€œBut you are my baby. My special baby.”
    â€œI’m almost thirteen years old. I do things. I can make a fire. I can walk in the woods. I’m a great swimmer. I can do things, Mom. I saved Kevin from drowning.”
    â€œI know you can do things,” she said. “I know you can, and I’m proud of you. I’m so glad to have you back.” She hugged him, a big one, and he hugged her back.

32

    Sammy wished he had a picture of Kevin to show his mother and his friends in school. The kids in his class kept saying, “Where’s Kevin? Where’s the wild kid? We want to see him.”
    â€œWhen’s he coming?” Lauri Bower asked. She was his new girlfriend.
    â€œI don’t know, but I hope he comes soon,” Sammy said.
    â€œAre you going to bring him to class?”
    â€œYou bet. Boy, oh boy, I sure will.”
    â€œWill there be a party?” Lauri asked. She was pretty. She’d just had her thirteenth birthday party, with thirteen candles, plus one for good luck.
    â€œFor sure!” Sammy said. “A party for Kevin.” Kevin had never had a party. “This will be his first party ever,” he said.
    â€œThen he can only have one candle,” Lauri said. And everyone laughed at the thought of a wild kid with only one candle.
    Sammy wanted to tell Kevin the joke. He kept saying it to himself so he wouldn’t forget. There were a lot of things to tell Kevin when he came, more than he could hold in his head.
    So he wrote Kevin another letter. He didn’t know where to send this letter, either. The mailman didn’t deliver letters to trees in the woods. That was another joke to tell Kevin. He kept the letters in his desk. It made him feel good to write them. It was almost like talking to Kevin.
    *  *  *
    At night, Sammy would often stand by his window, looking for Kevin, looking to see if he was out there somewhere in the dark. He had the cot ready for Kevin and a pair of big pajamas folded up under the pillow.
    Sometimes he talked to himself, the way Kevin would talk. “Trouble, trouble. That guy is nothing but trouble. I’m waiting for him. And where is he?” And he’d shrug, the way Kevin shrugged.
    He remembered things they did together and how he saved Kevin from drowning. Kevin was scared, but Sammy said, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll save you.” And he did. And then he remembered how