away and peanut butter smears the side of her cheek I’m sure we’ll find him she says How far can he go He might have caught a ride I say pushing my chair back She shakes her head slowly back and forth Sometimes I wonder about you She’s okay for an older sister because she likes to ride bikes and go places together But we don’t always see the same things even if we’re standing right beside each other looking at them She sees a frog I see Burgess and everything he’s capable of Everybody ready asks my mom picking up her computer bag Teeth brushed Reece do you have your math homework I grab my multiplication sheet and stuff it in my pack I follow them out to 4
our vw bus Burgess is out there alone How can they act like nothing has happened In class I draw a few more posters while the teacher reads to us I draw Burgess with a suitcase under his arm I give him shoes After school I put up the posters I press the tacks deep into a wooden telephone pole I smooth the paper down with my hand It makes the pole look better to have something on it People like to look at something while they’re waiting for the bell to ring I know I do I bend down to tie my shoelace A shadow falls over me Are you that kid looking for his lost frog 5
I tie my lace into a knot so tight it cuts off the blood supply to my foot Then I slowly look up Yeah that’s me I say He’s the guy who got suspended for bullying He’s looking mean today He cracks his knuckles all of them at once like a fist He steps real close His breath smells like a buffalo’s butt Who cares about a frog he sneers I don’t know what to say I can feel my brain jumping around in my head trying to find the right answer They’re pretty important ecologically speaking I tell him If frogs disappear from an area the whole ecosystem can suffer He snorts It’s probably flattened on the road 6
Maybe not I say but the image sticks in my head Burgess squashed and no one around to give him a decent burial My stomach feels like someone just kicked it Maybe somebody used it for bait he says Stuck a hook in its guts A voice behind me says You wouldn’t say that if it was your frog I turn around It’s Aaron the kid who got the bully suspended He wears a plush dark-blue bathrobe over his clothes My stomach sinks I might have been able to get out of this alive but now I’m not so sure Aaron stands up on his toes Maybe someone should stick a hook in your guts I don’t know why Aaron’s picked today to be brave But then I see the 7
