Values & Virtues
Ali sat on her bed. She picked up Tedward Bear. "I wish I had a big brother who wasn't allergic to cats," she whispered in his ear. "I wish I had a baby brother who didn't take my things." She hugged Tedward Bear. "But most of all, I wish I could have a real cat of my very own."
I reached down and picked up one of the tomatoes. It was so overripe it was squishy and soft to the touch. My fingers sunk in, almost breaking the skin. I tossed it a few inches up into the air and caught it again. Nice weight. Nice.
Keegan still had his back to me. There was a slight wind—left to right—so I'd have to take that into account. I drew my arm back and threw the tomato. It flew through the air, slightly spiraling, toward him and—splat! It smashed right into the back of his head and exploded into a thousand pieces of pulp!
Grandmother's steel gray eyes flickered past me.
She saw the rows and rows of black stumps. She stared at them for a long time. Then she shuddered and said, "It's worse, much worse, than I ever imagined."
