Read Online And Don't Bring Jeremy by Marilyn Levinson - Free Book Online Page A

kids started coming for the softball game,” I told him, “so we decided to come back here and work on my pitching in the backyard.”
    “Watch out for my garden,” he said, and he was off.
    Our backyard was pretty much like all the others in the neighborhood—a terrace outside the den for sunning and barbecuing, then a lawn with a few trees bordered by bushes. Only most of our lawn was taken up with Jeremy’s garden—at least the whole right side of it was.
    “Look at that garden,” Eddie said, whistling through his teeth.
    It was pretty impressive. Jeremy had planted lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, and corn, all in large amounts.
    “It’s Jeremy’s,” I said. “He’s real proud of it.”
    “Oh.”
    Eddie walked away from it as though it was suddenly a mess of poison ivy. “Sure takes up a lot of room, doesn’t it?” He laughed nastily.
    I positioned myself next to the garden and waved my hand for Eddie to move farther down.
    “Now be careful,” he said in falsetto. “Be sure not to step in your brother’s precious garden.”
    I was sick and tired of his gibes, especially since I was suddenly afraid that he might try and ruin Jeremy’s garden out of spite. “That’s enough, Eddie,” I snapped. “Let’s just leave my brother out of this.”
    As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted saying them. Now Eddie would blow his stack and go home. But to my surprise he only shrugged his shoulders and said, “Let’s play ball.”
    The first knuckleball that I threw was a strike. I was glad. And I was glad that I’d finally spoken up to Eddie and nothing happened.
    After a while I got tired of pitching and we had a great time just horsing around. We made up a hit-and-tag game for two people—something like spud—and that’s when it happened. I hadn’t realized that we’d gotten so close to Jeremy’s garden until I heard a crunch and felt something like twigs under my feet. When I looked down I saw two of the young pepper plants were under my sneakers. I’d also knocked over a few stakes that propped up the tomato plants, which were just starting to grow.
    “Oh, God, look what I did.” I jumped out of the garden as if my feet were on fire.
    “Hey, with that kind of height you can become a high jumper,” Eddie said.
    “It’s not funny,” I said. “Jeremy’s going to be real upset.” I knelt down to look at the plants. The stems of two tomato plants were broken and the peppers were badly damaged. They all refused to stand upright. I tried to pack dirt around them like I’d seen Jeremy do, but it didn’t do any good. They just flopped down toward the ground. I felt awful. Jeremy loved his garden and now I’d gone ahead and ruined four plants.
    “I don’t know what to do,” I said finally, standing up. “Jeremy’s going to be real upset about this.”
    Eddie patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I mean, it’s not as if we did it purposely. You tried to be careful, didn’t you? Accidents always happen.”
    Was he making fun of me? For a minute I wasn’t sure.
    “I just wasn’t careful enough,” I said. “I mean, I was watching to make sure I didn’t step in his garden, but then we were having so much fun…” I finished lamely, knowing it was no excuse. I should have been more careful and I hadn’t been. Boy, was Jeremy going to be mad at me when he saw what had happened.
    “I think you should give them a good watering,” Eddie said. “I mean, everyone knows water is good for plants and helps make them grow. I bet it will revive these sad sacks.”
    I looked at him questioningly. “Do you really think I should?”
    Eddie nodded firmly. “I really do.”
    I got the watering can from the garage. Eddie took it from me. “Here, let me do it.”
    Before I could say a word, he was dousing the injured plants but good. “That should do it,” he said.
    I knelt down to see the results. If anything the plants looked worse—drooping and falling into the mud.
    Eddie