Read Online Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko - Free Book Online Page A

shopping?”
    “Theresa!” Bea Trixle calls.
    “Come get me as soon as you get home!”Theresa hisses, and ducks back inside.
    When I get down to the Frank M. Coxe, Piper is there waiting for me. I’ve been so caught up with Natalie, I forgot all about Piper’s “project.” I wonder how long before she brings it up.
    “Boys first,” she says.
    For a second I hesitate, wondering if she has the gangplank booby-trapped.
    “You know, Moose, I owe you an apology.” She clatters across the gangplank behind me.
    “For what?” I ask, thinking of at least three hundred things she could be apologizing for.
    “I shouldn’t have made you meet with my dad. I was just worried about your sister is all. But now that she’s safely off the island . . .”
    What do I say to this? She’s got to know Nat’s back. My father told everyone when we didn’t show up for the party at the Officers’ Club, right?
    “Oh,” I say.
    “Oh? Do you accept my apology or not?”
    “I accept your apology.”
    “Okay,” Piper says, “and I just wanted to explain something else too. Helping me with the laundry isn’t against the warden’s rules.”
    Here it comes. “Oh, really,” I say.
    “You bet,” she says.
    “All right. Let’s ask your dad if it’s okay,” I say.
    “Do you ask permission to put on your underwear every morning?”
    “I’m just pointing out.”
    “I know exactly what you’re pointing out. But no one here sticks to those stupid rules. You’re the only one, Moose Flanagan.”
    I shrug.
    “And besides that, you’ll be going back on your word. You told my dad you’d help me. You promised.”
    “Why should I help you? You treat me like something stuck to the bottom of your shoe.”
    She smiles her most charming smile. “I’ll be nice now.”
    “No, you won’t.”
    “Well, for a little while, anyway.”
    I laugh. It sneaks out the corner of my mouth before I can stop it.
    She laughs too. An icy wind blows her hair off her shoulders and bites through my sweater.
    “Let’s go inside,” she says.
    The boat pitches in the wake of a big ferry. I walk as if I’ve just learned how. Grasping the side of the door, I get myself inside the cabin, where it’s warm and steamy like hot chocolate.
    Piper’s cheeks and the tip of her nose are rosy. Her long hair is blown every which way.
    The cabin is empty except for two guards and a scrawny little man in a suit. The scrawny man is handcuffed to one of the guards. The hair on the back of my neck stands up.
    “Oh, that’s Weasel on his way to court,” Piper says.
    “What for?”
    “Another appeal probably. He’s one of those convicts that knows as much about the law as the lawyers do. They call them jailhouse lawyers. My dad says Weasel could convince the hens they’re better off with a fox in charge. And then persuade the jury it was in the chickens’ best interest to be eaten.
    “You know, Annie would never do this if there was even the slightest chance she’d get in trouble for it.” She’s back to her plan now. “You don’t know Annie. And neither would Jimmy. Not if it were really against the rules,” Piper says.
    I look at Weasel again. “Forget it, Piper.”
    “What if I promise to be nice to your sister? Will you then?” she asks.
    “I’ll think about it,” I say.
    “Well, think fast, because I’m doing it today.”
    “You’ll be nice to Natalie, no matter what?”
    “Promise swear to God,” she says.
    “Never call her names. Never tell your dad stuff about her. Treat her really kind.”
    “Double swear to God.” She holds her hand up like someone’s swearing her in.
    I stare at her right through her pretty brown eyes. There’s something true in those eyes and something false too. I nod. “All right.”
    “You’ll help.”
    “I suppose,” I say, careful not to look at Weasel again.
    She rubs her hands together. “We’re in business. All you need to do is talk about Alcatraz. Get people in the right mood. You’ll