gravel.
"No." The bell rang for second period.
"Oooh, late for class. What other excitement can happen today?" Velveeta backed away. "See you at lunch."
Travis walked the empty hall to science, still thinking about that fourth- grade day on the bus. Clay's big brother, Marshall, had grabbed Travis by the collar to pull him off , and Travis tore into Marsh so hard that he let go with a shove.
"This kid's gone crazy back here," he'd yelled to the bus driver.
After that day, kids still fssh- hissed at him, but mostly they did it from a distance.
When Travis walked into science, he felt eyes on him as he took his seat on the far side of the classroom. He wished Velveeta's eyes were there. Somehow, she saw him differently from everyone else.
on a Stupid TUESDAY
The madre made real food again, and this time the butt showed and brought fancy beer from the brewery and they drank their dinner while I ate mine. All he has to do is show up with a bottle and her whole "I'm going to get my head straight and do things right" is gone out the window again.
Ha, ha, have a beer, Velveeta. No, thank you, Mother, but gee, thanks for including me, because I can't wait to grow up and be like my big brother.
I can't understand how Jimmy can be so ugly. He seriously has the ugliest face in the world, and when I look in the mirror and try to see how him and me are related, I can see it just around the edges of my ugliness. Calvin, nobody but you understands exactly how much I hate him to hellfire. I wish he'd explode into ashes and never poke his butt face into my life again.
What if Travis really could beat him up? I can see that fight scene on the big screen. Travis would step out from the alley next to the bar and say,
"Hey, aren't you Jimmy the butt?" Th en, kablow, kablam, slam in the street.
Oh my God, can you just see it? Beautiful.
But that would mean mixing Travis withTrailer World.
No. That can never happen. Never never. Every time I put on a scarf and walk to the end of Pauly Road, I turn into Velveeta, and she might not be much, but she's better than Vida Wojciehowski. And you know what? You brought this Velveeta version to life. Without you, I'd have a flask of bourbon in my school locker, and I'd be selling drugs and jacking cars and mugging little old ladies and other things I don't even want to think about.
What would I do if I didn't have this place? Right now, I would be wandering around outside in the dark. Instead, I'm tucked away safe here in your electricity- working trailer with the double- bolted door, wrapped up in scarves and watching Labyrinth.
Maybe I can move in here. Do you think the madre would even notice?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Wednesday morning, Travis arrived at McQueen's doorway at 7:45 and sat in the hall outside. He opened the fox book and looked over his hundreds of circled words.
Maybe McQueen had no idea how bad it was - maybe he'd thought it would just be ten words a page or so. Anyone could learn that. But this - nobody could learn this many.
"Something wrong, Mr. Roberts?"
McQueen jingled keys out of his pocket and opened the door.
"I circled a lot of words," said Travis.
"Perfect," said McQueen, waving him in. "Let's see what we've got."
"I mean, I didn't know hardly any of those words."
"I know," said McQueen. He held out his hand. "It's a hard book. Let's see."
"Maybe I should have started with an easier book."
"Why?" McQueen flipped through the first few pages.
"Are you bored with the story?"
"It's not that. I'm just saying it might be too hard."
"Who's the teacher?"
"You."
"Student?"
"Me."
"You've done excellent work.
Top notch.
Now sit back and listen."
McQueen read, his voice like the low hum of a bull-frog on a summer day. The sound and the words eased over Travis, taking him out of the room, out of the walls, into the woods. He closed his eyes and followed the fox through the underbrush until
McQueen stopped.
"That's it for today," he said. "But I have a new
"No." The bell rang for second period.
"Oooh, late for class. What other excitement can happen today?" Velveeta backed away. "See you at lunch."
Travis walked the empty hall to science, still thinking about that fourth- grade day on the bus. Clay's big brother, Marshall, had grabbed Travis by the collar to pull him off , and Travis tore into Marsh so hard that he let go with a shove.
"This kid's gone crazy back here," he'd yelled to the bus driver.
After that day, kids still fssh- hissed at him, but mostly they did it from a distance.
When Travis walked into science, he felt eyes on him as he took his seat on the far side of the classroom. He wished Velveeta's eyes were there. Somehow, she saw him differently from everyone else.
on a Stupid TUESDAY
The madre made real food again, and this time the butt showed and brought fancy beer from the brewery and they drank their dinner while I ate mine. All he has to do is show up with a bottle and her whole "I'm going to get my head straight and do things right" is gone out the window again.
Ha, ha, have a beer, Velveeta. No, thank you, Mother, but gee, thanks for including me, because I can't wait to grow up and be like my big brother.
I can't understand how Jimmy can be so ugly. He seriously has the ugliest face in the world, and when I look in the mirror and try to see how him and me are related, I can see it just around the edges of my ugliness. Calvin, nobody but you understands exactly how much I hate him to hellfire. I wish he'd explode into ashes and never poke his butt face into my life again.
What if Travis really could beat him up? I can see that fight scene on the big screen. Travis would step out from the alley next to the bar and say,
"Hey, aren't you Jimmy the butt?" Th en, kablow, kablam, slam in the street.
Oh my God, can you just see it? Beautiful.
But that would mean mixing Travis withTrailer World.
No. That can never happen. Never never. Every time I put on a scarf and walk to the end of Pauly Road, I turn into Velveeta, and she might not be much, but she's better than Vida Wojciehowski. And you know what? You brought this Velveeta version to life. Without you, I'd have a flask of bourbon in my school locker, and I'd be selling drugs and jacking cars and mugging little old ladies and other things I don't even want to think about.
What would I do if I didn't have this place? Right now, I would be wandering around outside in the dark. Instead, I'm tucked away safe here in your electricity- working trailer with the double- bolted door, wrapped up in scarves and watching Labyrinth.
Maybe I can move in here. Do you think the madre would even notice?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Wednesday morning, Travis arrived at McQueen's doorway at 7:45 and sat in the hall outside. He opened the fox book and looked over his hundreds of circled words.
Maybe McQueen had no idea how bad it was - maybe he'd thought it would just be ten words a page or so. Anyone could learn that. But this - nobody could learn this many.
"Something wrong, Mr. Roberts?"
McQueen jingled keys out of his pocket and opened the door.
"I circled a lot of words," said Travis.
"Perfect," said McQueen, waving him in. "Let's see what we've got."
"I mean, I didn't know hardly any of those words."
"I know," said McQueen. He held out his hand. "It's a hard book. Let's see."
"Maybe I should have started with an easier book."
"Why?" McQueen flipped through the first few pages.
"Are you bored with the story?"
"It's not that. I'm just saying it might be too hard."
"Who's the teacher?"
"You."
"Student?"
"Me."
"You've done excellent work.
Top notch.
Now sit back and listen."
McQueen read, his voice like the low hum of a bull-frog on a summer day. The sound and the words eased over Travis, taking him out of the room, out of the walls, into the woods. He closed his eyes and followed the fox through the underbrush until
McQueen stopped.
"That's it for today," he said. "But I have a new
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