Read Online The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park - Free Book Online

noise outside my door in a second. But don’t worry about it. If you just ignore—”
    “Hey!” came the yell, interrupting me. “What’s going on in there? Hey! Let me in!”
    Pete and Ollie stopped what they were doing.
    “Who’s that?” Pete asked, looking puzzled.
    “No one,” I insisted. “It’s no one important. Just this silly little kid from across the street. If we ignore her I’m sure she’ll go away.”
    She didn’t, though. She just stood outside the door and pounded harder. “Hey! Howard! It’s us! It’s Molly Vera Thompson and Madeline!”
    Ollie couldn’t stand it anymore. He hurried over and unlocked the door.
    Molly plowed her way past him. It wasn’t raining, but both she and Madeline were wearing black rubber boots.
    I covered my face with my hands and peeked through the cracks. Sometimes life isn’t as hard totake through the cracks. This wasn’t one of those times, though. Pete was just sort of staring at her in disbelief. Ollie was already starting to snicker.
    “Hey! Who are you?” she asked each one. “What’s going on here? Is this a party?”
    Ollie began to laugh out loud. “Hey, Howard. Is this a
friend
of yours?” he asked mockingly.
    Molly stuck out her chest with pride. “I’m Molly Vera Thompson!” she informed him loudly. Geez, why did she have to be so loud? “And this is my best baby, Madeline!”
    By this time Ollie was getting out of control. Every time Molly opened her mouth, he laughed harder and harder. The sad thing was, she laughed along with him. Little kids do stuff like that a lot. They laugh and they don’t even know why.
    Soon Molly was giggling so hard, she thought we were all having a good time. That’s when she asked them to color.
    “My nonny got me a new coloring book at the store yesterday! I can go get it if you want!”
    Ollie fell right over on the floor. Pete just grinned.
    “Well, we can’t color today,” he replied. “We’ve got to go play football.”
    Molly’s eyes got wide as saucers. “Hey! Youmean today’s the day? Hey, Howard! You musta forgot to tell me! Wait here! I’ll go get my pom!”
    Pete laughed at the sound of it. “Her
pom?”
    “Don’t ask,” I muttered, feeling sick.
    Just then Ollie held out his hands. “Hey, Molly. Could I see your dolly for a second?”
    You could tell he was up to something. You could just tell by the look in his eyes.
    Happily Molly handed him her doll.
    “Be careful with her boots. Okay, boy?” she asked nicely.
    “Yeah, sure,” he said slyly. “We’ll be careful with her boots. Won’t we, Howard? We just want to see if Madeline will make a good football.”
    Then, before I knew it, Ollie was sailing Madeline through the air in my direction. “Quick, Jeeter! Go out for a pass!”
    I barely had time to catch her before she hit the floor. Her head twisted around, and both her boots fell off.
    Molly looked shocked. “Hey! Don’t do that, boy!”
    Across the room Ollie held up his hands for me to throw her back. “Here you go, Jeeter! Right here!” he called.
    As Molly hurried toward me to rescue Madeline,I let her fly. I didn’t even think about it. I just did it. That’s all.
    After that we started playing keep-away. I knew it was mean. Keep-away’s always mean. But I did it anyway. As soon as Molly ran over to me, I’d throw the doll back to Ollie. Then she’d run to Ollie, and he’d fling Madeline back to me again.
    Molly was getting frantic. “Stop it!” she demanded. “Stop throwing my baby. My nonny said you shouldn’t throw your baby.”
    Ollie laughed. I laughed too. It wasn’t funny, but I laughed anyway. After all, I didn’t want to ruin Ollie’s fun. He was my guest, wasn’t he?
    Besides, the whole thing was Molly’s fault. Nobody invited her here. I
told
her if she hung around with big kids she’d get hurt. Maybe this would be a good lesson for her. Big kids and little kids don’t mix. Her friend Sally knew it. Now maybe Molly would know it