Read Come Sit By Me for Free Online Page A

practically pulling me out. There was nothing but woods on either side of the road here, but I protested anyway.
    â€œYou can’t just fire guns off anywhere,” I said.
    â€œThis isn’t a ‘gun,’” he said. “It’s a rifle. Guns are artillery.”
    â€œWell, whatever it is. You could hit somebody.”
    â€œNaw. This ain’t the city. These here woods goes back for a mile or more before you find anybody living in them. Come on, you don’t want to be like Cale, do you?”
    â€œCale? He didn’t have any trouble firing a gun, er, a rifle.”
    â€œTrouble was, he was just a pussy who was never raised with weapons, so he went crazy once he started.”
    We had started walking into the woods. I was interested, to tell the truth. “How did he get started?” I asked.
    North gave me a look. “Nobody knows,” he said. “You trying to find out?”
    â€œJust curious,” I said.
    â€œYou remember what curiosity did to the cat,” he told me.
    He was holding the gun, so I didn’t argue.
    We stopped. He pointed toward something. “See that tree?” he said.
    â€œI see lots of trees.”
    â€The birch, with the white bark.”
    â€œOK, I see it.”
    He handed me the rifle. I held it awkwardly, and he showed me the right way. “This thing’s the trigger,” he said with a grin.
    â€œI figured that much,” I said.
    â€œNow raise it to your eye, align the sights and aim it at the birch.”
    I did. It was harder to pull the trigger than I thought.
    â€œJust squeeze until it fires,” he advised me.
    I did and when the gun went off, it was loud. Louder than I expected. Not like TV cop show loud.
    â€œNow you’re a man,” North said. “Except you missed the tree.” He laughed.
    â€œHow can you tell?” I asked.
    He just shook his head. “Give it another try,” he said.
    I raised the gun again and tried to aim more carefully. I realized that I wasn’t holding the barrel steady. North saw it too. He reached over and moved my hand farther down the barrel. That solved the problem. I fired again. Still loud.
    He nodded. “Got it that time,” he said. Even though I hadn’t seen either time whether I had hit the tree or not, I felt a sense of pride, and was angry at myself for it.
    â€œI’ll take you hunting sometime after the leaves fall,” he said. I liked hearing that too, even though I promised myself I wouldn’t go.

chapter seven
    I FINISHED THE ARTICLE over the weekend, just as Terry had demanded. I put a little bit about Cale in it too, even though I hadn’t learned much about him. I knew I couldn’t write that he’d asked one of the dead girls for sex. It wasn’t necessary, because everybody seemed to know that anyway.
    Didn’t matter. Terry took everything about Cale out of the article. When I saw it and asked why, she said, “Ms. King doesn’t want anything about him in the paper. It’s a memorial issue, anyway, and it wouldn’t be respectful to the others.”
    â€œIf it’s a memorial issue…” I started to say.
    Terry raised her hand and stopped me. “I know, I know,” she said. “But it’s not a memorial to him. He was the killer.”
    â€œBut nobody knows why he did it.”
    â€œNot our job to find out.”
    â€œWe’re the editors of the school newspaper,” I said. I was aware, of course, that she was the editor-in-chief and I was only the lowly managing editor.
    â€œOld news, Paul. You heard what Dr. Haynes said. We’re moving on.”
    â€œHe said we’re going to respond to new challenges.”
    She gave me an exasperated look. “And a kid who died nearly a year ago isn’t a new challenge.”
    I let her win the argument. I went back to my locker to get some books, and rubbed my hand on the underside of the top shelf.