Manti’s sticky hands grasped Jesus and he brought him to his gummy mouth as the house burned down behind him in broad daylight. It was summer and the heat was already unbearable, but the deed was done. It wasn’t long before Johnny heard the sirens wail from down the street.
The rest of day was full of “I’m just so glad that you two made it out safely,” and beautiful water spouting from big red hoses. Little did they know of that the fire began inside of Johnny.
Savanna shouted from the pickup as she and Mama and Emma rolled in, “What the fu—!”
“Savanna, not now,” Mama was angry, “what the hell happened, Johnny?!”
Johnny told a story about how he rolled in the grass with Manti and heard some punk kids in the back yard. Before he knew it, the house was engulfed in flames and he called the fire department.
How did they believe such a bogus story? Johnny thought.