بگو سیب و بمیر فصل 14

Say Cheese and Die! - Chapter 14

In seconds, the two coaches and both teams were running out to the fallen player, huddling over him, forming a tight, hushed circle around him.

Crying “Bird! Bird!” Shari leaped off the bleachers and began running to the circle of horrified onlookers.

Greg started to follow but stopped when he saw a familiar figure crossing the street at a full run, waving to him.

“Terry!” Greg cried.

Why was his brother coming to the playground? Why wasn’t he at his after-school job at the Dairy Freeze?

“Terry? What’s happening?” Greg cried.

Terry stopped, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down his bright red forehead. “I… ran… all… the… way,” he managed to utter.

“Terry, what’s wrong?” A sick feeling crept up from Greg’s stomach.

As Terry approached, his face held the same frightened expression as in the photograph Greg had snapped of him.

The same frightened expression. With the same house behind him across the street.

The snapshot had come true. Just as the snapshot of Bird lying on the ground had come true.

Greg’s throat suddenly felt as dry as cotton. He realized that his knees were trembling.

“Terry, what is it?” he managed to cry.

“It’s Dad,” Terry said, putting a heavy hand on Greg’s shoulder.

“Huh? Dad?”

“You’ve got to come home, Greg. Dad—he’s been in a bad accident.”

“An accident?” Greg’s head spun. Terry’s words weren’t making any sense to him.

“In the new car,” Terry explained, again placing a heavy hand on Greg’s trembling shoulder. “The new car is totaled. Completely totaled.”

“Oh,” Greg gasped, feeling weak.

Terry squeezed his shoulder. “Come on. Hurry.”

Holding the camera tightly in one hand, Greg began running after his brother.

Reaching the street, he turned back to the playground to see what was happening with Bird.

A large crowd was still huddled around Bird, blocking him from sight.

But—what was that dark shadow behind the bleachers? Greg wondered.

Someone—someone all in black—was hiding back there.

Watching Greg?

“Come on !” Terry urged.

Greg stared hard at the bleachers. The dark figure pulled back out of sight.

“Come on, Greg!”

“I’m coming!” Greg shouted, and followed his brother toward home.