Read Online The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari - Free Book Online Page A

over the cosmos. All Hell would soon be scrambling to assist him as he could never have coerced them to do directly.
    “Had I doubted you in the slightest, my dear,” he said, chuckling softly.

     
    “
Ha!
Yer
out,
Benjamin!”
    “I am not! It didn’t come
near
me!”
    “Liar!”
snarled the big, sweaty boy who’d thrown the large, red dodgeball. “I hit you clean enough to eat on,
didn’t
I, Stives! Now you get out!” he hollered without waiting for Stives to answer. “It’s
my
turn t’go in!”
    “You didn’t hit him,” Joby said. “We all saw.”
    “You
would
lie for yer
liar friend,
” Lindwald sneered. “Why should I believe
you,
you skinny prick!” Balling his meaty hands into fists, he looked menacingly around the dodgeball circle and asked, “Anybody else think I didn’t see what I saw?”
    No one answered. Lindwald had come to their school only a week and a half ago, and already everyone was scared stiff of him—even Tommy Stives, who had been the school’s uncontested bully until Jamie Lindwald’s family had moved here and enrolled their hulking, vicious, foul-mouthed, lying, smelly, sweaty kid in the fourth grade.
    “Seeeee?”
Lindwald jeered. “Nobody says I didn’t hit yer wussy little friend but
his
wussy little friend. So both you wussies are lyin’. Get out, Benjamin.”
    “Lindwald,” Benjamin persisted, “just ’cause nobody but Joby’s got guts enough to say so, doesn’t mean—”
    “He’s not worth it, Benjamin,” Joby sighed. “He’ll just use up the whole recess fighting about it. Let him go.”
    “But—”
    “Benjamin!”
Joby growled as meaningfully as he could. “Let him go
in
!”
    “Yeah,
Benjy
!” Lindwald taunted. “Listen to yer chicken little
boyfriend
! Least
he’s
got the sense t’be
scared.
”
    Benjamin was staring at Joby in confusion, but Joby gave him a tiny nod, hoping Lindwald wouldn’t see, and pointedly squeezed the oversize red rubber dodgeball, which he’d been holding since Lindwald had missed Benjamin with it. Seeming to get it at last, Benjamin shrugged back into the dodgeball ring as Lindwald sauntered smugly to its center for his turn at being “it.”
    “You think yer gonna tag me,” he grinned at Joby, “but ya better not throw too hard.” He smiled nastily. “Wouldn’ wanna hurt a innocent bystander, would ya.”
    Lindwald began to dance back and forth opposite Joby, hands slightly out from his sides. He
was
a lot lighter on his feet than his lardy appearance suggested, but Joby had no intention of trying to hit him—yet. He only raised the ball above his head, and threw it up and over to Benjamin, calling, “Just throw it back!”
    Ever faithful, Benjamin did as Joby asked.
    In possession of the ball again, Joby looked cheerfully through Lindwald at his friend, and said, “Since he just lies, and everybody lets him, what’s the point in playing, right? Why don’t you and me just keep the ball ’til recess ends, eh, Benjamin?”
    Benjamin shrugged, deferring to Joby as always.
    Joby tossed the ball up over Lindwald’s head again, and Benjamin arced it easily back.
    “What a pair a
tutu girls
!” Lindwald barked, ceasing his agile dodge dance and stepping toward Joby. “You can’t just take
our
ball, and play with
each other
!”
    Joby lobbed the ball back to Benjamin. Lindwald turned to rush him for it, but Benjamin threw it up and over to Joby who caught it just as Lindwald turned to charge back at him. That’s when Joby swung his arms back and hurled the ball with all his pent-up fury straight at Lindwald—who dodged with unbelievable swiftness, so that Joby’s killing shot passed him completely, and hit Laura Bayer right in the face. Her glasses flew away as she fell to the ground to lie stunned until the blood began to trickle from her nose. Then she clutched her face and began to cry, louder and louder.
    “Nice work,
butthead
!” Lindwald jeered at Joby.
    Pale and trembling, Joby stood