Darcy's distress over her boyfriend Hakeem's move to Detroit, her grandmother's increasing frailness, and other changes in her life, leads her to make a big error in judgment when she becomes involved with the brother of a young woman who is employing Darcy as a babysitter.
"Tyler and his mom and stepdad are fans of Major League Baseball. When the star pitcher on their favorite team signs Tyler's baseball, Tyler proudly displays it in a case that he keeps on his dresser. Tyler's stepbrother is not into baseball. And he doesn't seem to like Tyler either. When the baseball disappears, Tyler knows he didn't lose it. So who took it?"--Publishers website.
Gus is sure something is wrong when Jack mysteriously disappears, and he is horrified to realize his friend was doing business with their landlord, a creepy man who collects snakes.
When Oscar's English teacher, Mr. Meeker, is attacked in the school parking lot, everyone believes Oscar is responsible, forcing Oscar to track down the real assaulter and clear his name.
A drive-by shooting occurs in the barrio, and later on Roxie Torres turns up having been shot claiming a drifter did it, but fellow student Ernesto Sandoval does not believe her.
