own sigh of relief while Skye clipped the rope to his halter and stroked his muzzle again.
Slowly Chad approached, gingerly leaned on the fence, and whispered his next few words. “Skye, you’ve done it. He’s finally given in and bonded with you.”
“And he’ll find out it’s much better to be with us than against us.” Skye gave Chad a victorious smile. “I think he’s decided to trust us. In no time we’ll be saddling him and riding him on the trail.”
When her grounding ended, Wanda spent every minute of her spare time at her favorite spot—the pool table. Of course, she had to keep up her schoolwork and do her regular chores first, which she always did with a double portion of griping. Then she made a beeline for the game room.
As far as her new appearance, she decided to keep her porcupine look after several other clients at Maranatha thought she looked cool, but the make-up and jewelry were just too much trouble, so she parked those items next to her school books, in a corner of her bedroom and out of sight.
Skye and Morgan had initiated Skye’s girl-whispering plan with Wanda all week long but had not noticed any significant change in Wanda’s attitude or actions. She went on her merry nasty way, engrossed in her own misery and pain.
Patience and tough love, my dear, Skye remembered Chad saying a while back. Yes, she figured while working on a report at a computer one evening, getting through to the gangbanger was going to take some time. While Wanda played pool by herself, Morgan played “Battleship” at a computer next to Skye.
“Skye, what’s your report about?” Morgan was busy with her game controls.
“Well,” Skye stopped typing and stared at the screen, “believe it or not, I’m writing a paper about the game of pool for science class.”
“You and pool?” Morgan’s voice raised an octave. “I didn’t think you were that interested in the game.”
“Well, I wasn’t until Wanda moved in,” Skye said.
For a brief moment Wanda stopped shooting, and the room grew silent. Skye figured, and hoped, that Wanda was eavesdropping on their conversation. Disregarding Wanda’s interest, Skye continued talking to Morgan. “When I helped her with a report a few weeks ago, I really got interested in the technical stuff. Morgan, did you know that if someone is good at geometry, he or she would be good at pool?”
“How so?” Morgan said, staring at her screen.
Skye faced Morgan, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Wanda pretending to analyze a shot at the table. It’s taking too long for her to shoot, Skye reasoned. She’s got to be listening,
“Pool is a game of angles,” Skye said. “On this one website, they show you all this neat stuff about making shots and how you have to hit the balls and use the cushions and all. Did you ever hear this geometry rule: ‘The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection’?”
“Yeah, I just had that in my geometry course a few lessons ago,” Morgan said. “That’s really cool that you found all that stuff about the game.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Skye saw Wanda walking toward her. “Hi, Wanda,” Skye said nonchalantly, turning back to the computer.
“What’d ya just say about pool?” Wanda grumbled.
“Oh, not much.” Skye typed away. “I’m writing a report about it. That’s all.”
Morgan had nothing to say.
Wanda stood behind Skye for a moment and then returned to her pool game.
Skye typed a few more sentences and then said to Morgan, “Did you know there are different sized tables, different kinds of balls and different kinds of cloths for the table? All those things affect the angles and how fast the balls go.”
“Didn’t know that,” Morgan said.
“Oh, and get this. The pool sticks are different lengths and weights. A heavy stick weighs about 20 ounces or more. All that stuff is important to know if you want to be a champion pool player.”
“Cool,” Morgan said.
Pecking
Slowly Chad approached, gingerly leaned on the fence, and whispered his next few words. “Skye, you’ve done it. He’s finally given in and bonded with you.”
“And he’ll find out it’s much better to be with us than against us.” Skye gave Chad a victorious smile. “I think he’s decided to trust us. In no time we’ll be saddling him and riding him on the trail.”
When her grounding ended, Wanda spent every minute of her spare time at her favorite spot—the pool table. Of course, she had to keep up her schoolwork and do her regular chores first, which she always did with a double portion of griping. Then she made a beeline for the game room.
As far as her new appearance, she decided to keep her porcupine look after several other clients at Maranatha thought she looked cool, but the make-up and jewelry were just too much trouble, so she parked those items next to her school books, in a corner of her bedroom and out of sight.
Skye and Morgan had initiated Skye’s girl-whispering plan with Wanda all week long but had not noticed any significant change in Wanda’s attitude or actions. She went on her merry nasty way, engrossed in her own misery and pain.
Patience and tough love, my dear, Skye remembered Chad saying a while back. Yes, she figured while working on a report at a computer one evening, getting through to the gangbanger was going to take some time. While Wanda played pool by herself, Morgan played “Battleship” at a computer next to Skye.
“Skye, what’s your report about?” Morgan was busy with her game controls.
“Well,” Skye stopped typing and stared at the screen, “believe it or not, I’m writing a paper about the game of pool for science class.”
“You and pool?” Morgan’s voice raised an octave. “I didn’t think you were that interested in the game.”
“Well, I wasn’t until Wanda moved in,” Skye said.
For a brief moment Wanda stopped shooting, and the room grew silent. Skye figured, and hoped, that Wanda was eavesdropping on their conversation. Disregarding Wanda’s interest, Skye continued talking to Morgan. “When I helped her with a report a few weeks ago, I really got interested in the technical stuff. Morgan, did you know that if someone is good at geometry, he or she would be good at pool?”
“How so?” Morgan said, staring at her screen.
Skye faced Morgan, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Wanda pretending to analyze a shot at the table. It’s taking too long for her to shoot, Skye reasoned. She’s got to be listening,
“Pool is a game of angles,” Skye said. “On this one website, they show you all this neat stuff about making shots and how you have to hit the balls and use the cushions and all. Did you ever hear this geometry rule: ‘The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection’?”
“Yeah, I just had that in my geometry course a few lessons ago,” Morgan said. “That’s really cool that you found all that stuff about the game.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Skye saw Wanda walking toward her. “Hi, Wanda,” Skye said nonchalantly, turning back to the computer.
“What’d ya just say about pool?” Wanda grumbled.
“Oh, not much.” Skye typed away. “I’m writing a report about it. That’s all.”
Morgan had nothing to say.
Wanda stood behind Skye for a moment and then returned to her pool game.
Skye typed a few more sentences and then said to Morgan, “Did you know there are different sized tables, different kinds of balls and different kinds of cloths for the table? All those things affect the angles and how fast the balls go.”
“Didn’t know that,” Morgan said.
“Oh, and get this. The pool sticks are different lengths and weights. A heavy stick weighs about 20 ounces or more. All that stuff is important to know if you want to be a champion pool player.”
“Cool,” Morgan said.
Pecking
Similar Books
