A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,44

chuckled. “Yes, you do. Spill.”

“We got a call from Mr. Parks. You might remember him? He owns the feedstore just off 63? Anyway, it seems a red-haired girl fitting Sybil’s description has been seen hanging out with that Ravinder boy. The young one with autism. Jimmy.”

Sun stilled. Jimmy Ravinder was Levi’s nephew. Though a few years older than Auri, he was born with a disability. From what Sun’s mother had told her about him, he was fairly high-functioning but would probably need at least a little assistance for the rest of his life.

She looked at Quincy, who knew how high the stakes had rocketed without her saying a word. Because there were few things members of the Ravinder clan liked less than a law enforcement officer questioning them about one of their own. Unless it was two law enforcement officers. No way was she going out to the Ravinder compound without backup.

10

Soup of the Day: Whiskey

—SIGN AT THE ROADHOUSE BAR AND GRILL

Auri had lost count as to how many times she’d entered a classroom late that day, so when she stepped inside her sixth-period classroom, late yet again, the students turned and watched her walk to the teacher’s desk with schedule in hand.

American Sign Language. She’d finally arrived. She’d been looking forward to this class for weeks, and it was all Jimmy Ravinder’s fault.

When they were younger, Jimmy had had a difficult time talking, so his mother and his uncle Levi learned some ASL to help him communicate. And Jimmy taught her. She didn’t know much, but whenever Jimmy got flustered, he’d use sign to talk. And she’d been fascinated ever since.

But the school year was half over. To get into the second semester of ASL I, she first had to catch up on the first. She’d spent her entire break learning the signs, classifiers, and grammar—which, in ASL, was mostly on the face—so they’d let her into the class.

Mrs. Johnson, a pear-shaped woman with short red hair and purple wire-framed glasses, signed her schedule and handed it back to her along with a book and workbook. Then, without a word, she gestured toward a desk in the middle of the room.

Auri ignored the eerie silence and slid into her seat as quietly as possible, only to find Mrs. Johnson finger-spelling in the air while reading from her computer screen.

She would pause and look up at a raised hand, and then repeat the whole thing again and again, and Auri realized she was taking roll. Panic began to rise inside her when she found herself unable to understand a single thing she spelled. It was all so fast, the teacher’s hand a blur of motion, and yet every time she paused, a student would raise his or her hand.

She’d made a mistake. A huge one. When she felt a trickle of perspiration slip down her back, she followed it, sinking farther down in her chair.

The teacher stopped and looked up as though confused. She looked at her screen again and then back at the class. Then she stood, put her hands on her hips, and said aloud, “Mr. De los Santos, what are you doing in my classroom?”

Like the rest of the class, Auri turned to see Cruz hunkered down in the back row.

He lifted an indifferent shoulder and said, “Have to have two years of a foreign language. ASL counts.”

“Yes,” she said as though struggling for patience, “but why are you in this class?”

“I don’t like the French teacher.”

She rolled her eyes. “No one likes the French teacher.” The entire class erupted in laughter, but she continued, “But that doesn’t explain why you are in my class.”

Clearly, the teacher had a problem with Cruz, but Auri was getting defensive. If he needed the credit, she couldn’t stop him from getting it, could she?

“Two years. There are only two classes. ASL I and ASL II. I don’t have a choice.”

Mrs. Johnson crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against her desk. “You know very well that you could test out of this class and take the next one. You could test out of that one, too, if you really wanted to.”

Auri straightened her shoulders in surprise.

“So, once again, why are you in my class?”

He lifted that same shoulder and let his gaze land on Auri. “I like the company.”

The class laughed again, and Mrs. Johnson went back around her desk, but before she sat down, she signed something to Cruz, her movements so fast, Auri only caught one