Chapter 2: The Birthday Boy
In March we celebrated Brad’s birthday with the family. Brad asked if he could have a few friends over on the weekend for a party as well and we agreed.
The few friends turned out to be half his class. We didn’t really mind. Brad’s friends were a pretty nice group of kids. Besides, many of them had been in my classes and in my afterschool weight-training club. They knew I knew where they lived.
There was lots of laughter and loud music. Andy and I played bartender and waiter, keeping them well-supplied with pop and pizza. We tried to stay out of their way as much as possible.
At some point I noticed Brad was gone. I asked Andy about it.
“I haven’t seen him for about an hour, or Jenny either,” Andy said, handing a Pepsi and almost an entire pizza to a guy wh
