Mercy on These Teenage Chimps by Gary Soto

hard.
    Jessica stepped in and took the child's hand in hers. "Hi, Alyssa," she said. "Your brother was crying. Your cat's on the roof."
    I assumed that Jessica knew the girl from gymnastics, as the girl was slender but bulky in the shoulders. She also sported a ponytail, like Jessica.
    "What?" Alyssa stepped off the porch. Walking backward, her hand over her brow in a sort of salute, she spied the roof. When she saw Boots she narrowed her eyes at her brother.
    "Did you throw her up there?" she asked angrily.
    I took a step back at the possibility that the kid might have thrown the kitten onto the roof. To me, he looked sweet. But you could never tell.
    He shook his head.
    "Then how did he get up there?"
    "He climbed," the boy whimpered.
    Since I was experienced with roofs, both in the climbing and falling, I boldly made a suggestion to end this drama. "It's a piece of cake. I'll get her."
    I climbed the ladder, dusted off my palms as I stood up, and called, "kittykittykitty."
    The kitten meowed twice, hissed, and ran away.
    "Come on, little kitty." I got down on all fours. I meowed like a cat, but that made the cat freak out and scamper to the other end of the roof. So I played bad cop and patrolled the roof from one corner to another until the cat hissed, revealed its claws, and puffed up its tail. But once I had it in my arms, the kitten gave up and began to purr.
    "You naughty Boots!" I scolded playfully.
    To my amazement I descended the ladder without harm. But when I touched ground and handed Boots to the child my heart almost stopped.
    A familiar truck rolled up the driveway, and we had to move out of the way. It revved its engine and cut off, the exhaust pipe popping and hurling black smoke. The door opened and out stepped one of the teenagers who had stolen my bike. He was smirking at me.
    "So, how was church?" he asked.
    "It was good." I swallowed and almost braved, "I like your singing." That comment probably would have made him punch me in the nose, or at least stomp on the tips of my shoes—he stood that close to me.
    He stepped up to Alyssa and gave her a peck on the mouth. I was amazed. It sort of made me sick, as this kiss between them made the slurping suction sound you get when you unplug the drain in the kitchen sink.
    "How's my girl?" he asked, his hand around her waist. More sickness churned in my stomach.
    "Okay," she said. "You know Jessica?"
    "Nah," he muttered. "You with this guy?" He pointed a hitchhiker's thumb at me.
    "We're friends," Jessica answered.
    I could see that Jessica didn't think much of Alyssa's boyfriend. The teenager—Eric, we learned—kissed Alyssa a second time. He was just a big mean lug, but I was resolved not to tell Jessica how he had stolen my bike and how I'd miraculously retrieved it from church. Snitching on him wasn't worth it.
    "How you like your trike?" Eric asked.
    The child gripped the handlebars and lowered his face.
    "Tell Eric 'Thank you,'" Alyssa scolded.
    "Thank you," the boy whispered and pedaled away, a sign that we should leave, too.
    "We got to go," I said and laughed.
    "What's so funny?" Eric edged toward me.
    I erased the smile from my face. When I saw his mouth bend into a crooked shape, I thought of Mom and her assertion that life was at times a crooked road. It could also be full of crooked mouths.
    "You hear me?" More crooked mouth.
    "Leave him alone," Alyssa warned. "Don't be like that."
    "Heard your friend's up a tree—man!" he said. "Don't he got a home?"
    I was amazed by the crookedness of the finger he pointed at me.
    "Yeah, he's got a home. He just likes it up there."
    "Is he a monkey or something?" Crooked mouth again.
    "No, he's not a monkey."
    "Stop it!" Alyssa scolded her boyfriend playfully. "Let's go inside." She had picked up the kitten and pressed it to her heart.
    "Come on," Jessica said as she glared at Eric and pulled on my arm.
    I was a little scared of getting hit by him, but there was another emotion percolating inside