the one she’s always going round with; you know the one, don’t you?”
Ronald knew. From his earliest days at the Academy he had noticed that good-looking girls always went around with homely ones. That’s how girls were.
“Yeah. Uhuh, I remember her.”
“Well, she’s the one who called you up that night, ’cause she can talk like Sandra, see. Then she went and got Sandra to come riding with us, and I showed up there at the corner just when I knew you’d come along. She never knew a thing about it. Honest.”
“Oh!” A weight fell off. Then he hadn’t been framed. It wasn’t at all what he had supposed.
“Say! That’s good. I’m mighty glad you told me, Jim. Honest, I feel better about it.”
“Yep. I thought I oughta tell you all this. ’Nother thing. Here’s the latest number of the school paper, you’d be sure to see it sometime anyway. It was all made up and ready to print before... before the accident. So don’t pay attention to what it says there about you, will you? Remember that evening was all my idea, every bit of it. Well, I gotta shove along. Get outa here quick, Ronny; we sure need you in that-there team.”
“You bet, Jim. I’ll be back soon, won’t I, nurse?” The nurse didn’t hear. She was urging Stacey toward the door.
He leaned back, his head aching now. Well, it was almost worth it, all of it, the pain, the discomfort, the absence from school with all that Latin for Mrs. Taylor to make up; why, that alone would mean lots of evenings working at home. Yet it was worth it to know what had really happened. To know she had never called him up, that she hadn’t fixed it with Stacey, hadn’t pulled a fast one. What did it matter if they laughed, if the school paper wrote it up? He looked at the copy of the Mercury left on the bed.
“Speaking as we were above of wolves, what a wolf our new junior acquisition from the Academy, Ronald Perry, turned out to be! At present he is wolfing in the direction of Sandra Fuller. We hear she loves to date him. (But definitely.)”
5
I
H E WALKED DOWN the corridor with its gray and black square tiles on the floor and the murals of baseball, football, and basketball on the side walls. How fresh and new and clean it was; how strange and different all this had seemed that first morning back in January. Now it was familiar. Those figures hitting home runs and throwing passes had once seemed amazing; now he hardly noticed them in his daily movements about the building. Except when, as today, he’d been away from the place a while. He passed the drinking fountain set back at one side. On the second floor there was another fountain just like it, and above that on the third floor another, near his locker where the fight had occurred. The strangeness of the place was gone. He was coming back to a school he knew.
And to people he knew. They surged toward him down the hall, girls in sweaters with their arms intertwined, boys in windbreakers and checked shirts. They all spoke, some of them half-eagerly, and many stopped him. He was a stranger no more.
“Hullo, there, Ronny...”
“How you feel, Ronald?”
“Hey, Ronny, you ok again?”
“Can you play ball, Ronny? Will they leave you play ball now?”
“Will they let you play, will they?”
“Hullo, Ronald. Everything all right?”
“Hi there, Ronny, how you feel?”
“Hullo, Mac. Hullo, George, glad to see you. Yeah, I’m ok. How are you, Chester?... Hullo, Mike.... Hullo, Ruth.... Hullo, Dave. Sure I’m ok. Yep, I’m gonna play baseball if I’m good enough to make the team. Why, sure I mean it.
Hullo, Gene. Hullo, Susie. Hullo, Ned, why, Ned, how are you?”
The Negro shuffled up with his hand held out in a friendly gesture. Golly, he’s actually smiling, thought Ronald. That’s something, isn’t it? Takes a man being knocked out to make that kid grin.
And look, there’s Meyer! Meyer without that horrible leather neckpiece. “Why, Meyer, how are you, boy? Gee, it’s
Ronald knew. From his earliest days at the Academy he had noticed that good-looking girls always went around with homely ones. That’s how girls were.
“Yeah. Uhuh, I remember her.”
“Well, she’s the one who called you up that night, ’cause she can talk like Sandra, see. Then she went and got Sandra to come riding with us, and I showed up there at the corner just when I knew you’d come along. She never knew a thing about it. Honest.”
“Oh!” A weight fell off. Then he hadn’t been framed. It wasn’t at all what he had supposed.
“Say! That’s good. I’m mighty glad you told me, Jim. Honest, I feel better about it.”
“Yep. I thought I oughta tell you all this. ’Nother thing. Here’s the latest number of the school paper, you’d be sure to see it sometime anyway. It was all made up and ready to print before... before the accident. So don’t pay attention to what it says there about you, will you? Remember that evening was all my idea, every bit of it. Well, I gotta shove along. Get outa here quick, Ronny; we sure need you in that-there team.”
“You bet, Jim. I’ll be back soon, won’t I, nurse?” The nurse didn’t hear. She was urging Stacey toward the door.
He leaned back, his head aching now. Well, it was almost worth it, all of it, the pain, the discomfort, the absence from school with all that Latin for Mrs. Taylor to make up; why, that alone would mean lots of evenings working at home. Yet it was worth it to know what had really happened. To know she had never called him up, that she hadn’t fixed it with Stacey, hadn’t pulled a fast one. What did it matter if they laughed, if the school paper wrote it up? He looked at the copy of the Mercury left on the bed.
“Speaking as we were above of wolves, what a wolf our new junior acquisition from the Academy, Ronald Perry, turned out to be! At present he is wolfing in the direction of Sandra Fuller. We hear she loves to date him. (But definitely.)”
5
I
H E WALKED DOWN the corridor with its gray and black square tiles on the floor and the murals of baseball, football, and basketball on the side walls. How fresh and new and clean it was; how strange and different all this had seemed that first morning back in January. Now it was familiar. Those figures hitting home runs and throwing passes had once seemed amazing; now he hardly noticed them in his daily movements about the building. Except when, as today, he’d been away from the place a while. He passed the drinking fountain set back at one side. On the second floor there was another fountain just like it, and above that on the third floor another, near his locker where the fight had occurred. The strangeness of the place was gone. He was coming back to a school he knew.
And to people he knew. They surged toward him down the hall, girls in sweaters with their arms intertwined, boys in windbreakers and checked shirts. They all spoke, some of them half-eagerly, and many stopped him. He was a stranger no more.
“Hullo, there, Ronny...”
“How you feel, Ronald?”
“Hey, Ronny, you ok again?”
“Can you play ball, Ronny? Will they leave you play ball now?”
“Will they let you play, will they?”
“Hullo, Ronald. Everything all right?”
“Hi there, Ronny, how you feel?”
“Hullo, Mac. Hullo, George, glad to see you. Yeah, I’m ok. How are you, Chester?... Hullo, Mike.... Hullo, Ruth.... Hullo, Dave. Sure I’m ok. Yep, I’m gonna play baseball if I’m good enough to make the team. Why, sure I mean it.
Hullo, Gene. Hullo, Susie. Hullo, Ned, why, Ned, how are you?”
The Negro shuffled up with his hand held out in a friendly gesture. Golly, he’s actually smiling, thought Ronald. That’s something, isn’t it? Takes a man being knocked out to make that kid grin.
And look, there’s Meyer! Meyer without that horrible leather neckpiece. “Why, Meyer, how are you, boy? Gee, it’s
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