Read Online The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Barbara Park
Ads: Link
too. She didn’t really need me like everybody said she did. She got along okay before I came, didn’t she? She’d get over not having me. Little kids, well, they bounce right back.…
Finally Molly started to cry, sort of quietly. It was kind of pitiful, really.
Tough!
I thought.
Tough. Tough. Tough
. She should have listened to me! Why didn’t she listen to me?
Ollie tossed Madeline to Molly. “Here. Take your dumb doll. We were only having a little fun. We weren’t going to hurt her.”
For the first time that morning, Molly didn’t say a word. Silently she gathered Madeline’s boots off the floor. A second later she was gone.
Ollie made a cuckoo sign. “God. What a weird little kid! Where’d she come from? Mars?”
“Ohio,” I informed him.
“Same thing,” he replied, still grinning.
The whole time, Pete had been sitting at my desk. I hadn’t had a chance to see if he was enjoying himself. I hoped he was, though. I hoped I hadn’t done all that for nothing.
Suddenly Pete stood up. The look on his face took me completely by surprise. He hadn’t been laughing, I could tell. Even his smile was gone.
He headed toward the door and then stopped, looking first at Ollie, then at me. He shook his head.
“You guys are jerks, you know it? You’re really jerks.”
After that he left. He just walked out my door and didn’t look back.
The football game was awful. At least for me it was. All I could think about was that Pete had called me a jerk, and that I had to prove to him it wasn’t true. I mean, he didn’t even know me, and already he didn’t like me. It was probably the shortest friendship in history.
Luckily, I got to be on his team. He didn’t choose me or anything. The guys just sort of divided up evenly, and I went over to Pete’s side.
We took turns playing quarterback. When my turn came, I handed the ball off to Pete every time. After my second turn at QB some of the other guys on my team started getting annoyed about it. Once, in the huddle, Aaron Felson said, “I got an idea, Howard. Why don’t the rest of us go get a hot dog, and you can hand off to Pete.”
That time I passed it to Aaron. Some guy tackled him from behind and knocked the wind out of him. Then this kid named Morty Harrelson came rushing over and started pounding on Aaron’s heart to save his life. He said he saw how to do it on TV one time.
Aaron recovered pretty quickly and slugged Morty in the arm. I don’t think you appreciate people pounding on your heart unless you’re dead.
After that I went back to handing off to Pete again. It was probably real obvious that I was trying to get in good with him, but I didn’t really care. All I cared about was getting in good with him.
Pete never thanked me for my hand-offs, but I was positive he appreciated what I was doing. He scored three touchdowns. How can you not appreciate someone who has set you up for three touchdowns?
When the game was over, Morty and Ollie and some of the other guys walked downtown to see a movie. Pete said he had to go home. I said the same thing. I didn’t really have to go home, though. I just wanted to walk with Pete and try to patch things up some more.
I know this sounds stupid, but I was actually nervous about walking with him. I wanted to tell him how bad I felt about Molly and everything, but I didn’t want to sound like a nerd. I was so desperate, I even started wishing my father was there to give me some advice on what to say. I’m sure it wouldn’t have worked out, though. Hewould probably have told me to say something like, “I’m afraid you’ve gotten the wrong impression of me, fella.” Then Pete would have fallen on the ground laughing, and that would have been that.
Anyway, mostly I tried to be myself and not to say anything too stupid. That isn’t as simple as it sounds. Stupid stuff slips out of my mouth pretty easily.
By the time we reached my street I was more relaxed. Pete started laughing again about
Finally Molly started to cry, sort of quietly. It was kind of pitiful, really.
Tough!
I thought.
Tough. Tough. Tough
. She should have listened to me! Why didn’t she listen to me?
Ollie tossed Madeline to Molly. “Here. Take your dumb doll. We were only having a little fun. We weren’t going to hurt her.”
For the first time that morning, Molly didn’t say a word. Silently she gathered Madeline’s boots off the floor. A second later she was gone.
Ollie made a cuckoo sign. “God. What a weird little kid! Where’d she come from? Mars?”
“Ohio,” I informed him.
“Same thing,” he replied, still grinning.
The whole time, Pete had been sitting at my desk. I hadn’t had a chance to see if he was enjoying himself. I hoped he was, though. I hoped I hadn’t done all that for nothing.
Suddenly Pete stood up. The look on his face took me completely by surprise. He hadn’t been laughing, I could tell. Even his smile was gone.
He headed toward the door and then stopped, looking first at Ollie, then at me. He shook his head.
“You guys are jerks, you know it? You’re really jerks.”
After that he left. He just walked out my door and didn’t look back.
The football game was awful. At least for me it was. All I could think about was that Pete had called me a jerk, and that I had to prove to him it wasn’t true. I mean, he didn’t even know me, and already he didn’t like me. It was probably the shortest friendship in history.
Luckily, I got to be on his team. He didn’t choose me or anything. The guys just sort of divided up evenly, and I went over to Pete’s side.
We took turns playing quarterback. When my turn came, I handed the ball off to Pete every time. After my second turn at QB some of the other guys on my team started getting annoyed about it. Once, in the huddle, Aaron Felson said, “I got an idea, Howard. Why don’t the rest of us go get a hot dog, and you can hand off to Pete.”
That time I passed it to Aaron. Some guy tackled him from behind and knocked the wind out of him. Then this kid named Morty Harrelson came rushing over and started pounding on Aaron’s heart to save his life. He said he saw how to do it on TV one time.
Aaron recovered pretty quickly and slugged Morty in the arm. I don’t think you appreciate people pounding on your heart unless you’re dead.
After that I went back to handing off to Pete again. It was probably real obvious that I was trying to get in good with him, but I didn’t really care. All I cared about was getting in good with him.
Pete never thanked me for my hand-offs, but I was positive he appreciated what I was doing. He scored three touchdowns. How can you not appreciate someone who has set you up for three touchdowns?
When the game was over, Morty and Ollie and some of the other guys walked downtown to see a movie. Pete said he had to go home. I said the same thing. I didn’t really have to go home, though. I just wanted to walk with Pete and try to patch things up some more.
I know this sounds stupid, but I was actually nervous about walking with him. I wanted to tell him how bad I felt about Molly and everything, but I didn’t want to sound like a nerd. I was so desperate, I even started wishing my father was there to give me some advice on what to say. I’m sure it wouldn’t have worked out, though. Hewould probably have told me to say something like, “I’m afraid you’ve gotten the wrong impression of me, fella.” Then Pete would have fallen on the ground laughing, and that would have been that.
Anyway, mostly I tried to be myself and not to say anything too stupid. That isn’t as simple as it sounds. Stupid stuff slips out of my mouth pretty easily.
By the time we reached my street I was more relaxed. Pete started laughing again about
Similar Books
