“It can snow in August if it wanted to,” Jessica said. “All it has to do is get cold enough.”
“It can't get cold enough in August,” Mark said, looking around for support. “Everybody knows that.”
Darnell had already taken one copy of the interview that Tamika had typed up to the Gazette office, and his father had dropped off another copy at the Oakdale Journal.
“I'm proud of you, boy,” he had said.
The argument between Jessica and Mark was getting stupid, and most of the kids were leaving. He was about to leave when he felt a nudge in the small of his back. It was Sonia Burrows.
“Hey, don't be nudging me in the back,” Darnell said. “I started to turn around and give you a karate chop!”
“I got some news about the farming thing,” Sonia said. “Let's go up to the class.”
“The bell didn't ring yet,” Darnell said. “They won't let us in.”
“Then come around to the side of the building,” Sonia said.
It was pretty cool, even though the sun was shining. Darnell followed Sonia around to the side of the building, watching her wade almost ankle deep through the autumn leaves. Along the hurricane fence at the side of the building, leaves were piling in small mounds, as if trying to escape from South Oakdale Middle School. The thought of leaves trying to escape school made Darnell smile.
“So what did you find out?” he asked when Sonia stopped and leaned against a tree.
“You know the guy who fills out prescriptions at the drugstore?”
“Tall, skinny guy?” Darnell pictured the druggist in his white coat.
“Yeah,” Sonia said. “Well, he's a friend of my father and he was raised on a farm. He said that it's really hard to grow food in the city because the dirt hasn't been cared for. But he thinks the college would help out. They have people over there who know a lot about horticulture. You know what that is?”
“Farming?”
“Yeah, more or less,” Sonia said. “Anyway, he gave me his name and everything and said to call him if he can help. He said he read about you in the paper. He asked were you really smart.”
“Why did he ask that?”
“He wanted to know, I guess,” Sonia said, smiling. “I told him you were pretty smart.”
Darnell's first class today was supposed to be library and his second class was supposed to be English. He had planned to do his English homework in library, so when Mrs. Finley announced that they were going to have English first and then library, he knew he was going to get into trouble. He had spent the whole evening working on his article about Sweeby and hadn't written the book report that was due. His only hope was that she wouldn't check homework.
“Is there anybody here who has not done the book report?” Mrs. Finley asked.
Two hands went up quickly, and then three more went up slowly. Eddie Latimer held up his hand but tried to hide it behind the girl in front of him.
“Darnell, did you do the report?” Mrs. Finley asked.
“What report?” he asked.
He knew what report she meant, but couldn't think of anything else to say.
Mrs. Finley didn't answer him. She just looked at him, and then at the other kids who hadn't done their homework.
“Darnell, I had begun to expect a little more from you,” she said.
“Can I bring it in tomorrow?” he asked.
“You had better bring it in tomorrow,” Mrs. Fin-ley said. “The best grade anyone can get on their report who has not finished it today is a ‘C If you don't have it tomorrow you will get an ‘F.’ Is there anyone here who doesn't understand that?”
In the library Darnell found a copy of The Old Man and the Sea and looked to see if he could find his place. The old man seemed poor and maybe a little desperate, Darnell thought. He tried to imagine how he felt when the fish were eating the big fish he had caught. Darnell knew the old man must have felt like they were eating his whole life. He thought he understood the story pretty well. He got out his notebook and began to write. He had just finished when library period was over and he gave his pages to Mrs. Finley.
Darnell was going to his locker when Miss Joyner spoke to him in the hallway.
“Hello!” She was smiling as if she were really glad to see him. “Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged.
Miss Joyner looked around, and then motioned for Darnell to go into the science lab. She closed the door behind them and asked how he was doing.
“Fine,” he answered.
“I just wanted to let you know that I have nothing against homeless people,” Miss Joyner said. “I think we both believe it's right for us to help those who have difficulties helping themselves. But I think some ideas of how to do that are better than others. You understand that, don't you?”
“Yes.” Darnell looked at Miss Joyner, wondering why she was talking to him.
“Okay. I just wanted to let you know how I felt,” she said.
She smiled again, and then opened the door to the science lab. She left first and went down the hall, her heels clicking on the hard floor.
“Hey, Darnell, what you doing in there with Miss Joyner?” It was Chris McKoy. Angie Cruz slowed down as she was passing, and Darnell knew she was listening.
“I was checking out how she kissed,” Darnell said. “She ain't bad for a teacher.”
Chris gave him five and Angie turned just enough for him to see that she had a disgusted look on her face.
Tamika was waiting for him after school and gave him her books to carry as they went to the bus that would take them to the hospital to visit Molly Matera. The hospital was big and cold-looking on the outside, but inside it seemed friendly. There were yellow and white gladiola in the center of the circular lobby. On one side of the lobby there was a gift shop with little stuffed animals in the window. They stopped at the desk on the first floor to get passes, and a thin, dark woman wearing a badge that read * Volunteer' ‘ asked them how old they were.
‘‘Sixteen/’ Tamika said without hesitating.
“Are you sure?” the woman asked.
“Would this face lie to you?” Tamika pointed toward her face and smiled.
The woman gave them two passes.
Molly Matera, when she was healthy, had skin that was just about golden in color. But now that she was ill it was a dull tan. She had a wide mouth that she pulled into a weak smile when she saw Tamika and Darnell. Molly was up and playing solitaire when they arrived. She put the cards down and gave Tamika a hug.
“I had to bring Darnell because I promised my mother I would baby-sit,” Tamika said.
“Hi, Darnell.” Molly's voice was weak.
“How you doing?”
“Pretty good,” Molly said. “All the tests came back okay. So I have to stay here until tomorrow, and then I have to come back once a month to go on a dialysis machine.”
“That's the machine that cleans your blood?” Darnell asked.
“Yeah.”
“Man, I'm sure glad that's not me!” Darnell heard himself blurting out.
“I don't blame you,” Molly said. “I figured you had to do something to get sick like this. I didn't do anything.”
“You got to get back to school and check out the happenings,” Tamika said.
“Anything going on?”
“Just the fact that Angie Cruz is now liking Eddie Latimer!” Tamika said.
“Get out of here! I just spoke to her two days ago,” Molly said. “She said she can't stand him!”
“Right, she can't stand him,” Tamika said. “That's why she goes all over the school after him and they have fights about little stupid stuff.”
“It sounds like the same old thing,” Molly said.
The conversation between Tamika and Molly got worse than boring, and Darnell looked out the window. He was sorry he had said it, but he was glad he didn't have to have his blood cleaned by a machine. He was also glad he wasn't homeless.
On the way
out he started to explain to Tamika about being sorry that he had said he was glad he didn't have to have his blood cleaned, but Tamika was mad and just looked away.
“Yo, anybody can make a mistake,” he said.
“Our parents sure did when they had you,” Tamika answered.
ELEVEN
The first thing that happened in the assembly“W' was that Colin Rigby, who was holding the flag for the pledge of allegiance, tore the curtain with the point on top of the flagpole. That didn't get Mr. Baker mad, but when Chris McKoy started laughing, Mr. Baker got mad. He warned Chris that he would put him out if he didn't keep quiet.
Next the whole assembly started laughing when Mr. Baker announced that no girls could go into the boys' locker room.
“That's sexist!” Linda Gold called out.
“Do you want boys to come into the girls' locker room?” Mr. Baker's neck was swelling up the way it always did when he was mad.
“I don't care!” she said.
Then a lot of the boys started making noises like “wooo-wooo!” and a few whistles. Naturally, Chris McKoy made the most noise, and that was when Mr. Baker threw him out of the assembly.
As Chris started out, he was still laughing. Darnell was smiling as he watched Chris go, and then something that Sweeby said came to him. Sweeby had said that when he went to school he didn't know what to do, he just did what everybody expected him to do. That's what Chris was doing, too. Everybody expected him to act stupid, to pretend that school was a joke, and that's what he did.
An image of Sweeby came to Darnell. He wondered if Sweeby had thought that school was a joke. One thing he did know, that the distance between Sweeby and Chris was becoming less.
Mr. Baker announced that the whole school was going to have reading tests after Thanksgiving, and he expected everyone to do well.
‘ The only thing you have to worry about on these tests is doing your best,” he said. “Sometimes I don't think young people realize the importance of the testing program. But if you do your best, not only on the tests, but also on the practice tests that your teacher will give you, you'll be okay.”
Mr. Baker handed the microphone to Mrs. Finley and started to leave when Chris McKoy came back into the assembly.
“Hey, there's a dog in the hallway!” he called out.
Everyone turned around and looked at Chris and started laughing.
Mr. Baker's neck got bigger and his mouth tightened.
“What kind of dog?” he asked Chris.
“A big dog!” Chris said, laughing.
Mr. Derby and Mr. Thrush went into the hall to look for the dog. When they came back, they said they didn't see any dog. Mr. Baker told Chris to report to his office after school.
Darnell walked with Angie as they left the assembly. She seemed annoyed, almost mad. It was about Linda.
“She doesn't want to go into the boys' locker room.” Angie pushed her glasses up on her nose. “What she really wants to do is have everybody notice her.”
“All the boys are going to notice her if she comes into the locker room,” Darnell said. “And she's going to notice them.”
Just then Paula came running out of the girls' bathroom screaming that the dog was in there.
Mr. Derby asked if there were any girls in the bathroom.
“I don't think so,” Paula said.
Mr. Derby went in as a group of kids gathered around the outside of the bathroom. He came out a minute later with a small brown puppy. All the girls started oohing and aahing, and the boys started laughing.
“That's what you should be writing about,” Linda said. “Dogs going into the bathroom. You probably know something about that!”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Darnell asked.
“It means that the school newspaper is supposed to be serious,” Linda replied, raising her voice. “You're not supposed to write just anything that comes into your head. And tell me, Mr. Know-So-Much, just what do those guys hanging out on the street corners know about making a garden? What do you know about making a garden? You can't grow vegetables just by throwing seeds on the ground. So what do they know about it?”
‘They know as much as you do,” Darnell answered.
“Right, which is why I buy my food from the supermarket,” Linda snapped. “The mayor and the City Council can't even solve the homeless problem. How are you going to solve it?”
“What are you trying to solve by going into the boys' locker room?” Darnell asked. “You got a sex problem or something?”
“That's a real issue,” Linda said. “They let women reporters go into the locker rooms in the major leagues and in the National Football League. Or don't you and your Corner Crew even read the papers?”
“Hey, don't be telling me about reading the papers,” Darnell 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 get his 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 thought about 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 there were a few drops of rain in the gusts that blew into his face. He searched the streets, looking at the shapes of the men standing on the corners, until he found the one he wanted.
“You come back to interview me again?”
“What was the biggest thing you tried that failed?” Darnell asked.
‘The biggest thing I tried?” Sweeby ran his fingertips over the stubble on his chin. Then he nudged the man next to him. “Tried to fly to the moon one time,” he said. “But my retrorockets weren't working that day, so I took me a walk around the block instead!”
The two men laughed, and in spite of himself, Darnell laughed, too.
“Did you ever go back to school?” Darnell asked.
“Now how would I look going back to school at my age?” Sweeby's voice had an edge to it. “If that's the best you can do, you better take up some other profession.”
“Yeah.” Darnell shrugged.
The walk home seemed short. When he got there he told his mother that Tamika was going to see Molly.
“Her mother called and told me,” his mother said. “You hungry?”
“Sort of.”
“Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.”
Darnell went to the phone in the hall. The directory was in the shelf under it. He looked up a number and called it.
“Hello? Is this the Oakdale Journal?”