all billy wanted was to be free.
bob, his brother, was made of sterner stuff.
cora, their mom, was content to make breakfast and drink coffee and look out the window.
dad was sort of a cipher.
every morning billy did one hundred pushups.
fareed was billy’s friend. he was billy’s only friend.
get ready for some exciting news, that was fareed’s favorite expression.
how will i ever make it to twenty-one, billy wondered at least once a day.
i bet i know what you are thinking, fareed said to billy one rainy afternoon, when they were watching a football game on tv between two teams they had never heard of.
just then the football game was interrupted for an important announcement.
king george appeared on the screen. he looked old and sad. he was not wearing his crown, but then, he hardly ever did.
let me begin, king george began, by saying how sorry i am.
mistakes have been made.
no one, i venture to say, could have predicted this.
oh, how i wish i could go back in a time machine and undo all that has happened! unfortunately, even our most brilliant and dedicated scientists have not as yet been able to produce a working model of such a device.
pull yourself together, man, dad suddenly addressed the televised image of the king.
quiet, mom admonished him. let’s hear what the king has to say.
a rumbling was heard outside.
suddenly billy couldn’t take it any more. was this the end? all he ever wanted was to be free.
tearing himself away from the televison screen and the curious gazes of mom, dad, and bob, billy rushed outside, followed by fareed.
understanding came slowly to the folks watching and listening to poor king george.
very soon, the king would come to the shocking climax of his speech.
excuse me! a woman in a green sweater, walking a little dog, exclaimed as billy rushed past her, almost stepping on the dog.
you don’t understand! billy shouted to fareed, when fareed finally caught up to him.
in the end, all hell broke loose, and there was more than enough blame to go around.
