Party by Tom Leveen Page A

back at the girls over my shoulder.
    We went back to the little hill where Tommy had been watching the whole ordeal and laughing his head off, so I had no idea if the quiet kid, Beckett, said anything else. It would’ve been cool if she’d started a catfight, though. Wouldn’t mind breaking
that
up. After a minute.
    “Hey!” I heard Morrigan shout as we walked over to Tommy. “Anyone know where Ryan Bru-Brunner is? He’s fuggin’
hot.”
    “You’re shitting me!” Tommy said, and went on laughing.
    Matt, on the other hand, whirled around, the cords of his neck popping out. “He’s upstairs!” Matt shouted back at Morrigan. “Go fucking find him, bitch!”
    Whoa. Never seen Matt like that. He sat down and spat to one side.
    “What’s up?” I asked as I watched Morrigan flip us off, toss her phone to Ashley, and dive back into the party. It looked like Ashley was apologizing to Beckett, who took one step back for every step forward taken by Ashley.
    “Just sick of it,” Matt said, really pissed. “I know she’s drunk and whatever, but Jesus, I mean …”
    “Yeah, you’re right,” I said.
    Beckett kept backing away from Ashley and eventually turned and went inside. Ashley, alone, rubbed the back of her neck and went over to where she and Morrigan had been hanging out. She shoved Morrigan’s phone into a black satchel thing on the ground. Then she opened her own cell and dialed. A second later she stood up and went into the house.
    “Man,” I said. “Those cats are messed
up.”
    “Told ya,” Matt said, and drank about half his beer.
    Tommy sat up, wiping his face, as his laughter finally died. “What a night,” he said. “What a
party.”
    “You’re hammered,” I informed him, and belched.
    That set Tommy off again, and I joined him. A second or two later, Matt started in, too.
    “So where’s Joshua?” Tommy asked, blinking rapidly through his laughing tears.
    “Taking off,” I said.
    “Craptas … tastic,” Tommy said. “That sucks. We’re supposed t’be watchin’ him.”
    “Aw, you miss him? Wanna walk him to his car?” I said, and took a nice long drink.
    Matt laughed at that, so to retaliate, Tommy shoved me, making me slosh some beer. “Dude!” I said.
    Tommy looked all pissy for a sec, but then started laughing again and clinked his bottle with mine. See what I mean? Chicks go all mental. Guys, we drink together and leave it at that.
    We had a semi-coherent conversation about where to go this summer to get out of town for a while, but mostly we burped and played Dead Leg. At one point, I saw Ryan come out onto the patio and grab Morrigan’s black satchel thing and go back inside, but none of us called out to him. Actually, we dove behind the little hill to hide, like a prank, which was really dumb since Ryan clearly wasn’t looking for us.
    Probably because of all the beer we drank, I completely forgot about the pizza until the cops showed up.

AZIZE
    I T IS NINE O’CLOCK WHEN I PULL UP TO THE HOUSE . It’s a nice neighborhood, nicer than mine. The houses east of State Street are better, more expensive. That is why I live on the west side of State. My mother and father and I all work to support the family, and have only a two-bedroom condominium. One day, I will buy one of the houses east of State Street. Or perhaps a palace on the beach or in the mountains, with enough room for my entire family, even those who must live in Türkiye.
    But we’re fortunate to live here. I know this. And although the dark blue Civic in the driveway of this house is polishedand gleams under the streetlights, the light blue Bug is not in as good condition. So these are not rich people. That’s good news.
Zengin
do not tip very well.
    I run up the redbrick path to the front door and ring the bell. No one answers, so I ring again. It takes many moments for a tall white woman to answer. I can hear a television turned up loud somewhere nearby in the house.
    “Hello,” I say to her, and