dad about Max and his diagnosis.
It took me for ever to figure out what the elephant in the room thing meant.
Max and his mom eat for a little while, and then his mom asks, ‘Is Tommy Swinden in your class?’
‘No, he’s in Mrs Parenti’s class.’
‘Third grade?’
‘No,’ Max says. He sounds annoyed. He thinks that his mom should know that Mrs Parenti doesn’t teach third grade, because in Max’s world, knowing who teaches what grade is a big deal. ‘Mrs Parenti is a fifth-grade teacher.’
‘Oh.’
Max’s mom doesn’t say anything else about Tommy Swinden or the eggs or the rocks or getting bowled or me, which is bad. It means she is planning on doing something.
I can feel it.
CHAPTER 16
Dee and Sally are not back on Saturday or Sunday night. A man who Dorothy calls Mr Eisner is working instead. I’ve never seen Mr Eisner before but Dorothy seems nervous around him. They barely speak to each other.
Mr Eisner reminds me of Max’s principal. Mrs Palmer is in charge of the school and dresses in fancier clothing than most of the teachers, but I don’t think that she could actually teach kids if she had to take over a classroom.
Mr Eisner is the same. He wears a tie, and he takes the money from the customers and fills the Twinkie shelf like Dee, but you can tell that he has to think too much about what he is doing instead of just doing it.
Dee is not dead. I know this because the regulars like Pauley and Big Dan came in on Saturday night to ask about Dee. Actually, they would have come in anyway, since they are regulars, but even Big Dan hung around for a little while longer than normal, asking questions about Dee. Mr Eisner didn’t talk to them very much, so it was hard for them to hang around. Everything felt different. Not right.
Dee is in a place called I See You. I think it’s a place where they watch you carefully to make sure that you don’t die. Dorothy says it is not certain that Dee is going to make it , which I think means that she could die.
I wonder if she will come back to the gas station and if I will ever see her again.
I hope so. I feel like everyone is disappearing.
CHAPTER 17
I’m worried about Max. It’s Monday and we are back at school.
I think that Max’s mom has something planned for today. She is worried about Tommy Swinden, and I am afraid that she might make things worse. I’m hoping that Tommy Swinden got his revenge on Friday night and now Max is safe again. Max got Tommy in a lot of trouble with the knife even before he pooped on him, so maybe Tommy thinks that Max deserves more revenge. He probably does, but it will just be worse if Max’s mom gets involved.
Parents are like Max. They don’t know how to do things quietly.
Mrs Gosk is funny today. She wrote a story about what it’s like to be a Thanksgiving turkey and she is reading it to the class. She is walking around the room, making turkey sounds while she reads, and even Max is grinning. Not smiling, but almost. Mrs Gosk is scratching the ground with her foot and flapping her arms like wings. No one can take their eyes off of her.
Mrs Patterson arrives at the classroom door and motions to Max to join her. It takes her a moment to get Max’s attention because Mrs Gosk is so funny. I’m expecting to see Max frown, because Mrs Gosk is not finished with her story yet, but Max’s eyes get wide when he sees Mrs Patterson. He looks excited. I don’t understand.
I want to stay with Mrs Gosk and see what she will do next. Instead, I follow Max and Mrs Patterson down the hall in the direction of the Learning Center. Except when we get to the spot where we should turn left, Max and Mrs Patterson go straight on, and Max does not say a thing. This is even more surprising than Max wanting to leave Mrs Gosk because Max does not like change, and this is a definite change in the way that we go to the Learning Center. It’s a silly change, too, because it means we have to walk around the auditorium
It took me for ever to figure out what the elephant in the room thing meant.
Max and his mom eat for a little while, and then his mom asks, ‘Is Tommy Swinden in your class?’
‘No, he’s in Mrs Parenti’s class.’
‘Third grade?’
‘No,’ Max says. He sounds annoyed. He thinks that his mom should know that Mrs Parenti doesn’t teach third grade, because in Max’s world, knowing who teaches what grade is a big deal. ‘Mrs Parenti is a fifth-grade teacher.’
‘Oh.’
Max’s mom doesn’t say anything else about Tommy Swinden or the eggs or the rocks or getting bowled or me, which is bad. It means she is planning on doing something.
I can feel it.
CHAPTER 16
Dee and Sally are not back on Saturday or Sunday night. A man who Dorothy calls Mr Eisner is working instead. I’ve never seen Mr Eisner before but Dorothy seems nervous around him. They barely speak to each other.
Mr Eisner reminds me of Max’s principal. Mrs Palmer is in charge of the school and dresses in fancier clothing than most of the teachers, but I don’t think that she could actually teach kids if she had to take over a classroom.
Mr Eisner is the same. He wears a tie, and he takes the money from the customers and fills the Twinkie shelf like Dee, but you can tell that he has to think too much about what he is doing instead of just doing it.
Dee is not dead. I know this because the regulars like Pauley and Big Dan came in on Saturday night to ask about Dee. Actually, they would have come in anyway, since they are regulars, but even Big Dan hung around for a little while longer than normal, asking questions about Dee. Mr Eisner didn’t talk to them very much, so it was hard for them to hang around. Everything felt different. Not right.
Dee is in a place called I See You. I think it’s a place where they watch you carefully to make sure that you don’t die. Dorothy says it is not certain that Dee is going to make it , which I think means that she could die.
I wonder if she will come back to the gas station and if I will ever see her again.
I hope so. I feel like everyone is disappearing.
CHAPTER 17
I’m worried about Max. It’s Monday and we are back at school.
I think that Max’s mom has something planned for today. She is worried about Tommy Swinden, and I am afraid that she might make things worse. I’m hoping that Tommy Swinden got his revenge on Friday night and now Max is safe again. Max got Tommy in a lot of trouble with the knife even before he pooped on him, so maybe Tommy thinks that Max deserves more revenge. He probably does, but it will just be worse if Max’s mom gets involved.
Parents are like Max. They don’t know how to do things quietly.
Mrs Gosk is funny today. She wrote a story about what it’s like to be a Thanksgiving turkey and she is reading it to the class. She is walking around the room, making turkey sounds while she reads, and even Max is grinning. Not smiling, but almost. Mrs Gosk is scratching the ground with her foot and flapping her arms like wings. No one can take their eyes off of her.
Mrs Patterson arrives at the classroom door and motions to Max to join her. It takes her a moment to get Max’s attention because Mrs Gosk is so funny. I’m expecting to see Max frown, because Mrs Gosk is not finished with her story yet, but Max’s eyes get wide when he sees Mrs Patterson. He looks excited. I don’t understand.
I want to stay with Mrs Gosk and see what she will do next. Instead, I follow Max and Mrs Patterson down the hall in the direction of the Learning Center. Except when we get to the spot where we should turn left, Max and Mrs Patterson go straight on, and Max does not say a thing. This is even more surprising than Max wanting to leave Mrs Gosk because Max does not like change, and this is a definite change in the way that we go to the Learning Center. It’s a silly change, too, because it means we have to walk around the auditorium
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