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wearing Jimmy’s baseball glove and throwing his baseball into the pocket.
    Maybe I could give those gangbangers exactly what they wanted.
    I took my shower and got ready for bed. I didn’t want to fall asleep, but it was really hard not to.
    I woke up hours later. I dressed, put on Jimmy’s shoes, and searched in the boxes for Jimmy’s flashlight. Then I went outside and climbed the fence into my old backyard.
    Jimmy had told me about a crawl space under the house once.
    I moved a board behind the pink hibiscus bush and shone the flashlight into the space under the house.
    Spiderwebs and rusted pipes filled the gloom. There was room to move inside and crawl around.
    I knew if Jimmy had hidden anything, this was the only place he could have hidden it from Mom. She was always vacuuming under beds and moving mattresses and cleaning our closets.
    I crawled in. Spiderwebs covered my face. I held my breath and spit, then brushed the webs away. It smelled wet and gross under the house.
    I crawled on my belly about three feet; then I heard a car pull up outside.
    Car doors opened.
    I turned off the flashlight. It was pitch-black under the house.
    I didn’t have enough time to go back to Mrs. Washington’s house. I stayed there and hoped the gangbangers, if they were gangbangers, didn’t know about the crawl space.
    Soon I heard footsteps on the floor above me, then loud creaking noises as if they were prying wallboards away with crowbars. Maybe they thought Jimmy had hidden whatever it was in the walls.
    I waited for what seemed like hours.
    Finally footsteps pounded toward the front door. The house got quiet. Car doors opened and closed. A car pulled away. Silence followed.
    I waited five minutes before I turned on my flashlight.
    In the beam of light I saw a suitcase. I crawled over and opened it. Stacks of money filled the suitcase.
    There was a note to me on top.
    Tito,
    Well little brother, if you’re reading this, I guess you’ve been to my funeral.
    Probably my homies found out I was skimming cash and laid me down, but who knows? I didn’t lie when I told you gangsters are either dead or going to be.
    Banging was fun at first when I was kicking back with my homies. But then it seemed like all we did was go to funerals and cause more. I thought if I could get enough money, I could take you and Mina and Mom someplace safe. Sorry I didn’t get you there.
    But you can get there, Tito. Be strong. Use the money. Make your life sing.
    Jimmy
    I couldn’t help it. I started crying. I cried really hard for Jimmy.
    I took the note and closed the suitcase.
    I crawled back outside, feeling dusty and covered with spiders. I started to walk back to the house when I heard someone behind me.
    Before I could turn, someone knocked me to the ground.

17
    Z ev was on top of me.
    “Sorry, Tito,” Zev said. “I didn’t mean to knock you over. I tripped.”
    “What are you doing here? Don’t you have rules about this kind of thing?” His mother had a rule about everything.
    “I thought you might be in trouble.”
    “How did you know I was here?”
    “I can see from my bedroom window. I was watching all the time in case the gangbangers captured you. I was going to call 911. When you didn’t come out, I was afraid you were trapped.”
    I looked at him and shook my head. The kid knew nothing about sneaking out at night. He still had his pajamas on. How was he going to explain grass stains on his pj’s to his mom?
    “Thanks,” I said finally, and wrapped my arm over his shoulder.
    “Zev,” I said, “am I your first friend since you’ve come to America?”
    He laughed and it sounded fake. “I have a million friends,” he said.
    “Good,” I said. “Because right now you don’t want to get caught hanging out with me.”
    I climbed back over the fence and left him standing in the backyard. I figured he had enough sense to go home.
    In my bedroom I took the gun from its hiding place and put it in my backpack between my