Free Ride

by M.J. Manning

THOUGH I’M NINE, Mama lets me ride the bus alone because I’m responsible and I don’t do nonsense. The boy getting on here at the trailer park is older than me, a teenager maybe. Slumped with long yellow hair like baby chick fluff blown over his pale blue eyes. Hands stuffed in his jean jacket pockets. He doesn’t bring them out to pay his fare. He speaks to the driver so low I can’t hear. But riders up front, adults, are frowning. The driver waves at the boy like he’s shooing a fly and then jerks a thumb to indicate he should go sit down. The boy walks past me, eyes on the untied sneakers a size too big for him. Right behind me, I hear a man’s whisper, rough…

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Spider Magazine Stories, Games, Activites And Puzzles For Children And Kids (Digital) - 1 Issue, July/August 2023

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