“I bought tennis balls,” Joel insisted. “I bought two cans of tennis balls and I paid for them.”
Red hair grabbed the bag out of Joel’s hand and opened it. He took out three packs of golf balls and held them up. “Go ahead,” he called to the salesman who had waited on us. “Make the call.”
“Oh, those golf balls,” Joel said, trying to laugh. But the laugh came out like a puppy’s yelp. “My father asked me to buy those for him. Here,” he said, fumbling around in his pocket and coming up with a ten-dollar bill. “I’ll pay for them now. I just forgot, that’s all.”
“Never mind,” red hair said. “You should have thought about it before. It’s too late now.”
“Tell them, Tony!” Joel shouted. “Tell them I just forgot to pay!”
I didn’t say anything.
“Tell them!” he screamed. “You tell them or I’ll never speak to you again!”
So don’t, I thought. Who did he think he was, threatening me! I can get along without you, Joel. I just realized, I can get along fine without you!
“I hate you,” Joel whispered, looking at me. Then he turned away and began to cry. He bent over his handlebars and buried his head in his arms.
I couldn’t stand another minute of it. I turned and started to walk my bike away. But the salesman called, “Hey … you forgot your net.”
“My net?”
“Yes, your basketball net.”
“Oh.”
“You want it anyway?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said. “How much is it?”
“$2.62 including tax.”
I handed him the exact amount and he gave me my package. I put it in my basket and hopped on my bike.
Red hair and eyeglasses were walking Joel back into the store.
“Did you set him up, kid?” the salesman asked.
“I didn’t have anything to do with it, sir,” I told him.
“Maybe not. I have no proof,” he said. “But if I were you I’d be a lot more careful about who I run around with in the future.”
So when things finally caught up with Angel Face I had to be accused of setting him up. That’s really something! Me—a criminal. Me—with my nervous stomach!
All these months of wondering what to do about Joel were over. Just like that! And not even because of me—because of a crummy closed circuit TV. I should feel relieved. I should feel happy, I told myself. But all the way home I thought … Good old Joel … that lousy creep … fixed up a paperback just for me when I was in the hospital … yeah, but if it hadn’t been for him I might never have gotten sick in the first place … he told Bernice to take her hands off me, didn’t he … sure he did … what could she do to him … he’s my best Rosemont friend … at least he was … well, wasn’t he … what is a friend, anyway?
By the time I got home I figured Joel would be locked up in jail. His father would get him a good lawyer though. I wondered what my mother would think about Joel being sent to the Juvenile Detention Center. I probably wouldn’t see him for years. Well, that’s okay with me. I don’t want to see him. The way he screamed at me. The way he cried!
That night after dinner my father helped me put up my new basketball net. As I watched him work I thought, he’s a lot older than most of my friends’ fathers. After all, if Vinnie was still alive he’d be twenty-eight. Pop’s already a grandfather. I don’t know why I never thought about that before.
He still doesn’t know about Joel. Neither does my mother. I decided to let them read it in the morning paper. Let them be really shocked. I can just see the headline:
ROSEMONT BOY CAUGHT
SHOPLIFTING GETS TEN YEARS
* * *
When the net was fastened my father went into the house. I stayed out and shot a few baskets. I practiced dribbling and foul shots too. Then I fell onto the grass and did pushups.
“Hi Tony.”
I looked up. I couldn’t believe it—Joel! I jumped to my feet. “What are you doing home? I thought … I thought …”
“Yeah. Well, the owner of the store isn’t pressing charges.”
“He’s not?”
“Nope. He called the cops and my father. I got a long lecture.”
“That’s all?”
“Yeah. Since it’s my first offense nobody wants me to have a record.”
“Oh.”
“That’s the way it’s done in Rosemont.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll be back in school tomorrow.”
“You will?”
“Yeah. But next year I’ve got to go away to school … to some military academy.” Joel reached down for a blade of grass which he chewed on for a while. “Can you see me in military school?”
I laughed but no sound came out. So I shook my head.
“Well, me neither,” Joel said. “But that’s how George Hoober deals with his problems. He puts them away some place. And right now I’m problem number one. You know … anything so his golf game isn’t messed up!” He picked up a stone and threw it in the direction of his house. “I only did it for fun,” he said. “To prove I could get away with anything.”
I just looked at him.
“I told them it wasn’t a setup … that you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Was he waiting for me to say thank you? I wasn’t about to.
“Look Tony … my father sent me over here to ask you not to say anything about what happened. He doesn’t want it to get around.”
“I won’t say anything. Why should I say anything now?”
“Well, thanks pal.” Joel pretended to tip his hat at me but he wasn’t wearing one. “See you around,” he called as he headed for home.
“Sure,” I muttered. “See you around.”
The next day Mrs. Hoober told my mother that Joel was going to military school in the fall because the young people of today need strong discipline and that this particular military academy was just about the best there was anywhere. And that of course Joel would get a much finer education than at Rosemont Junior or Senior High. My mother thought maybe I should go too.
“I want you to have the best possible education, Tony,” she said.
But my father looked at me and said, “Let’s leave the decision to Tony this time.”
I think he knows I’ll be okay now—that I can face things.
“I want to stay at Rosemont Junior,” I told them.
I almost laughed. I almost laughed and said to my mother, “If Mrs. Hoober told you Joel was going to the Juvenile Detention Center would you ask me if I wanted to go too?” But I didn’t say it. And I didn’t get any pains either. Because it was funny. Funny and sad both.
Then Again,
Maybe I Won’t
Now it’s June 10th. I’m riding around on my bike. I’m thinking about my birthday. That I’m going to be fourteen.
Fourteen years is a long time to have been around.
It’s kind of old if you really think about it.
This afternoon they’re going to break ground for our swimming pool. For the last three weeks my father’s been spending all his spare time with the man from the Athena Pool Company. They’ve been drawing up plans—where to place the diving board—where to put the cabanas—what shape should the pool be—heated or not heated?
Our swimming pool.
The swimming pool of the Miglione family.
I pedal faster and faster till I’m almost out of breath.
You remember the Miglione family, don’t you? They used to live in a two-family house in Jersey City. They used to wait on line for the bathroom.
I shift into low to get to the top of the hill. Suppose I wake up tomorrow morning and the money’s all gone. Would I care? Would I?
I’m at the top of the hill now. I laugh out loud. I wonder if anybody hears me.
I put my feet up over the handlebars and coast all the way down. Faster and faster—scared I’ll crash into the tree at the bottom, but not using my brakes.
I make it.
I’m at the bottom of the hill now.
I had a funny dream last night. It wasn’t about Lisa. It was about Corky, only she looked like Lisa. But still, I knew it was Corky. And I wasn’t just looking at her either. It was a pretty good dream. I wonder what Corky will really look like when she’s sixteen? I think I’ll ask Dr. Fogel about my dreams. Can too many of them hurt me?
I shift gears and pedal backwards.
I think what I’ll do is—I’ll go home and put my binoculars away on the top shelf of my closet—over in the corner—so they’re hard to get.
Then again, maybe I won’t.
Deenie
Print ISBN: 978-0-385-73985-6
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-307-81775-4
When Deenie sees the brace for the first time, she wants to scream, Forget it … I’m never going to wear that thing. Everyone will know. Everyone!
But the words won’t come out. And Deenie, beautiful Deenie, who everyone says should be a model, is stuck wearing a brace from her neck to her hips. For four years—or longer. She never worried about how she looked before—how will she ever face the hard times ahead?
It’s Not the End of the World
Print ISBN: 978-0-385-73983-2
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-307-81769-3
Karen Newman has decided she’ll never get married. Just look at her parents. All they do is fight. And now Karen’s dad has moved out of the house and he and her mom are talking about divorce. But in spite of everything, Karen is sure they can work it out if they really try—or is divorce the best solution?
Tiger Eyes
Print ISBN: 978-0-385-73989-4
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-307-81778-5
Davey has never felt so alone in her life. Her father is dead—shot in a holdup—and now her mother is moving the family to New Mexico to try to recover.
Climbing in the Los Alamos canyon, Davey meets mysterious Wolf, who can read her “sad eyes.” Wolf is the only person who seems to understand the rage and fear Davey feels.
Slowly, with Wolf’s help, Davey realizes that she must get on with her life. But when will she be ready to leave the past behind and move toward the future? Will she ever stop hurting?
DEENIE
ISBN 978-0-385-73985-6 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81775-4 (ebook)
When Deenie sees the brace for the first time, she wants to scream, “Forget it … I’m never going to wear that thing. Everyone will know. Everyone!”
But the words won’t come out. And Deenie, beautiful Deenie, who everyone says should be a model, is stuck wearing a brace from her neck to her hips. She feels ugly and angry. But only she can figure out how to deal with it. And that’s going to take courage.
IT’S NOT THE END
OF THE WORLD
ISBN 978-0-385-73983-2 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81769-3 (ebook)
Karen Newman is never getting married. Why should she? Just look at her parents. All they do is fight. Now her dad has moved out of the house, and he and her mom are talking about divorce. Divorce! But not if Karen can help it. She has a different plan.
TIGER EYES
ISBN 978-0-385-73989-4 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81778-5 (ebook)
Davey’s life has been ripped apart. Her father is dead—shot in a holdup. Uprooted by her grieving mother, sent to New Mexico to stay with an aunt and uncle she barely knows, Davey feels trapped—by her aunt and uncle’s fearfulness, by her mother’s grief, by her own anger and pain. Then she meets Wolf—intense, brooding, mysterious Wolf. Without asking questions, he somehow understands what Davey is feeling.
JUST AS LONG AS
WE’RE TOGETHER
ISBN 978-0-385-73988-7 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81777-8 (ebook)
Rachel and Stephanie have been best friends forever … and then Alison arrives. Alison is cool and fun, and everyone likes her, especially Stephanie. How can Rachel compete with that? And Rachel knows Stephanie is hiding something from her. Something big. It’s hard to be best friends with someone who’s keeping secrets from you. But Stephanie is counting on her friends now more than ever.
HERE’S TO YOU,
RACHEL ROBINSON
ISBN 978-0-385-73987-0 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81776-1 (ebook)
Rachel seemingly has the perfect life—she’s a straight-A student, a gifted musician, and a good friend. But she feels like her older brother is determined to ruin everything. Her two best friends think he’s funny and they urge Rachel to lighten up, but it’s not so easy. Not even when the coolest boy in ninth grade notices her. Is it possible that the key to a perfect life is something other than perfection?
Judy Blume, Then Again, Maybe I Won't
(Series: # )
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