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

talk up the place, kind of like the warm-up, and I’ll tell a few people, then let the word spread. You must know some Alcatraz stories,” she says as the boat motor grinds beneath our feet.
    Inside her notebook she shows me a small sign:
     
     
    ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY!
Get your Clothes laundered by Al Capone
and other world-famous public enemies!
All Clothes Cleaned on Alcatraz
at the only laundry facility in the world
run by Convicted felons including the notorious
Scarface Al and Machine Gun Kelly!
Only Costs 5 Cents.
     
     
    I groan. “Al Capone?”
    “It’s only one little mention.” She flashes her movie star smile.
    “Nope. Not doing it.”
    She ignores this. We walk off the boat now, just behind Weasel and his guards.
    “Follow my lead. Then, when I leave, you take over. That’s all you have to do. Talk. Did the warden say talking was against the rules, Moose Man?”
    “Talking about Capone is.”
    “Fine. Don’t talk about him, then. . . . He’s not the only convict we have, you know. Jeepers!”
    In Miss Bimp’s class, Piper moves into action. She motions me to the back of the room, where history books are stacked waist high and a bunch of kids are copying answers for last night’s homework. My head says don’t follow her, but my feet walk back there.
    “It’s been a hard week, don’t you think, Moose?” Piper says to me so loud, she clearly means to be overheard. “Did you see that shiv? ”
    “What’s a shiv?” the girl asks.
    “It’s a dagger made of old silverware, or carved out of a pot handle. The cons use them to stab each other or kill our dads, ” Piper says, though she barely looks at the girl, as if relaying this information is not her aim at all.
    “I guess they found it in a library book,” Piper says. “Pages carved out in a knife shape. . . . How did they find it? Do you know, Moose?”
    I shrug.
    “He knows, he just doesn’t want to tell.” Piper glares at me, then slips away.
    “So, what happened?” the girl demands.
    “Somebody got stabbed, I guess,” I say.
    “What’s the inside of the cell house look like?” the fat kid asks.
    “I’ve never been in there,” I say, “but my dad says the cells are like cages. Each one has a toilet, a sink, a bed and a man.”
    “What about the electric chair? Anybody seen that?” a girl wants to know.
    “We don’t have one,” I answer.
    “How about them firing squads?” The fat kid is turned all the way around in his seat.
    “This is the United States of America—we don’t have firing squads,” I explain.
    “Yeah, that’s not how we knock people off here. We fry ’em. I’ve read all about it. It’s like this . . .” A skinny kid shakes all over to demonstrate.
    “What about the metal bracelets . . . you know, handcuffs and whosey whatsits on their legs?”
    “I think maybe they just wear them for, you know, special occasions,” I explain. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Piper talking to Del. If he goes for this, everyone else will too.
    “So, what happened?” Scout asks.
    “With the shiv in the library book?” The girl seems proud of herself for knowing the word now.
    “Like I said, somebody sliced up a guy. Maybe killed him.” I have no idea what I’m talking about now. “That’s the thing about the cell house library,” I say, “it’s a high-risk operation.”
    “Really?” a girl asks.
    “Books are overdue,” I explain, “they lock you up. They have a special cell for it. Overdue library book cell. If it’s more than ten days overdue, they put you in the hole. Solitary confinement.”
    “No kidding?” the fat kid asks. I can see him fingering his library book, which I’m guessing is past due.
    “Oh, yeah,” I say. I’m starting to enjoy myself. “And you should see what happens when you forget to say please. Bread and water for an entire week. Forget thank you and it’s even worse.”
    “Oh, come on!” somebody says.
    “Forget to wash your hands before supper,