said.
“Don't
be
telling me?” Linda's voice was really sarcastic. “I won't
be
telling you anything. But I will
be
writing an article about your stupid idea for a garden. Then we'll see who writes the best. And who do you think that will be?”
“Me!” Darnell said.
“Hah!” Linda answered. She started laughing as she walked away.
“I feel like punching her in her mouth,” Darnell said.
“You punch her and I'll write up the story for the paper,” Angie said.
Math was the next class, but Darnell couldn't gethis mind off Linda. Mr. Ohrbach called on him four times and he didn't know the answers. He had never had anybody just walk up to him and put him down like that unless that person was a lot bigger than he was, and a guy.
He tried to get his mind on what Mr. Ohrbach was saying, but he kept thinking about Linda. He thought again about hitting her but knew that if he did he would just get into trouble.
One of the things he had found out was that everybody had an opinion about homeless people and they got mad when you said something they didn't like.
He finally got his mind off Linda and started thinking about a program he had seen on television the week before. It was a cartoon he and Tamika had been watching in which some kind of superhero was chasing a bad guy in a spaceship. In the cartoon the bad guy wanted the hero to get close enough to capture him because he had a trap. Darnell ran the whole cartoon in his mind as if it were a movie he could play anytime he wanted, and forced himself to do it over and over again until the end of the period.
In the hallway Chris was trying to get people to sign a petition so that he wouldn't have to serve detention.
‘There
was
a dog in the hallway!” he was saying.
“Who let him in the girls' bathroom?” Darnell asked.
“He went in there looking for Linda,” Chris said.
“Can I quote you on that?” Tony O! put his hand up for a high five, and Chris slapped it.
Then Tony O! saw Paula and asked about the social studies homework.
Tony O! had laughed and Chris had laughed, but when Darnell walked away only Chris was still laughing.
Tamika found Darnell near the water cooler and told him that she was going to Molly Matera's house after school, and for him to tell their mother.
“She say you could go?” Darnell asked.
“I told her I might go and she said to tell you so you could tell her,” Tamika said.
“You hear about me and Linda?”
“Yeah!” Tamika smiled. “You want me to punch her lights out?”
“I don't need you to fight my battles,” Darnell said.
“She's just jealous because you're getting more attention than she is,” Tamika said. “She wouldn't even care if the homeless people got a garden or not if you didn't get so much attention. And she would have loved it if it was her idea.”
“Hey, I guess some of us have it, and some of us don't,” Darnell said.
“Yeah, you may write a good story, but you're still
ugly.”
“Get out of here.”
Tamika took the Westgate bus, the one that went past Molly's house, and Darnell started walking home. He thought about Sweeby and Chris, and how they were connected in a way. Then he thoughtabout his report on
The Old Man and the Sea,
and wondered again why it happened that the fish attacked the old man's fish and he couldn't do anything about it. For a moment he stopped and thought about how maybe Sweeby was like the old man in the story, but then he knew he wasn't. The old man had caught a fish and wanted everybody to know how good a fisherman he was. The fish was really big and he had tied it to the boat to take back to show the people who laughed at him, but the other fish had eaten it. Darnell felt sorry for the old man, but he had done something and it just hadn't worked out. But Sweeby hadn't done anything that hadn't worked out that he knew about.
Darnell reached Fairview Avenue, but instead of turning left he turned right and walked up the street to Jackson. It was windy and
“Don't
be
telling me?” Linda's voice was really sarcastic. “I won't
be
telling you anything. But I will
be
writing an article about your stupid idea for a garden. Then we'll see who writes the best. And who do you think that will be?”
“Me!” Darnell said.
“Hah!” Linda answered. She started laughing as she walked away.
“I feel like punching her in her mouth,” Darnell said.
“You punch her and I'll write up the story for the paper,” Angie said.
Math was the next class, but Darnell couldn't gethis mind off Linda. Mr. Ohrbach called on him four times and he didn't know the answers. He had never had anybody just walk up to him and put him down like that unless that person was a lot bigger than he was, and a guy.
He tried to get his mind on what Mr. Ohrbach was saying, but he kept thinking about Linda. He thought again about hitting her but knew that if he did he would just get into trouble.
One of the things he had found out was that everybody had an opinion about homeless people and they got mad when you said something they didn't like.
He finally got his mind off Linda and started thinking about a program he had seen on television the week before. It was a cartoon he and Tamika had been watching in which some kind of superhero was chasing a bad guy in a spaceship. In the cartoon the bad guy wanted the hero to get close enough to capture him because he had a trap. Darnell ran the whole cartoon in his mind as if it were a movie he could play anytime he wanted, and forced himself to do it over and over again until the end of the period.
In the hallway Chris was trying to get people to sign a petition so that he wouldn't have to serve detention.
‘There
was
a dog in the hallway!” he was saying.
“Who let him in the girls' bathroom?” Darnell asked.
“He went in there looking for Linda,” Chris said.
“Can I quote you on that?” Tony O! put his hand up for a high five, and Chris slapped it.
Then Tony O! saw Paula and asked about the social studies homework.
Tony O! had laughed and Chris had laughed, but when Darnell walked away only Chris was still laughing.
Tamika found Darnell near the water cooler and told him that she was going to Molly Matera's house after school, and for him to tell their mother.
“She say you could go?” Darnell asked.
“I told her I might go and she said to tell you so you could tell her,” Tamika said.
“You hear about me and Linda?”
“Yeah!” Tamika smiled. “You want me to punch her lights out?”
“I don't need you to fight my battles,” Darnell said.
“She's just jealous because you're getting more attention than she is,” Tamika said. “She wouldn't even care if the homeless people got a garden or not if you didn't get so much attention. And she would have loved it if it was her idea.”
“Hey, I guess some of us have it, and some of us don't,” Darnell said.
“Yeah, you may write a good story, but you're still
ugly.”
“Get out of here.”
Tamika took the Westgate bus, the one that went past Molly's house, and Darnell started walking home. He thought about Sweeby and Chris, and how they were connected in a way. Then he thoughtabout his report on
The Old Man and the Sea,
and wondered again why it happened that the fish attacked the old man's fish and he couldn't do anything about it. For a moment he stopped and thought about how maybe Sweeby was like the old man in the story, but then he knew he wasn't. The old man had caught a fish and wanted everybody to know how good a fisherman he was. The fish was really big and he had tied it to the boat to take back to show the people who laughed at him, but the other fish had eaten it. Darnell felt sorry for the old man, but he had done something and it just hadn't worked out. But Sweeby hadn't done anything that hadn't worked out that he knew about.
Darnell reached Fairview Avenue, but instead of turning left he turned right and walked up the street to Jackson. It was windy and
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