فصل 19

CHAPTER 19

Not-So-Sweet Secret

Just as I thought, my mother smiles when she sees Albert, Keisha, and me walk into Petersen’s. She seats us in a booth right in the middle of the restaurant and takes our order. Keisha sits next to me and Albert fills a good part of the seat across from us.

So, Keisha begins. Thanks for inviting us for ice cream.

You’re welcome.

Must be cool to come here every day, she says.

Is the ice cream free? Albert asks.

My mom doesn’t let me have ice cream more than once a week. And it isn’t free, but we get it for half off, I think, I tell them.

Albert fidgets a bit. So, do either of you ever miss Mrs. Hall?

Our old teacher Mrs. Hall? I say. She was okay, but I like Mr. Daniels way more. He’s nice.

He is, Keisha says. Goofy, but in a good way.

Yeah, I say.

I do not think he is a trusting person, Albert says.

Mr. Daniels? I ask.

Albert rubs his palms on the top of his jeans. He inquired about my bruises. I think he hypothesized that they came from my parents. Then I had to speak to the school psychologist. He shifts in his seat. My parents rescue insects and arachnids from our home, taking them outside rather than killing them. It’s illogical for my parents to save spiders and hit their own son.

I look over at Keisha. Hoping she knows what to say. She doesn’t.

I take a deep breath. Well, Albert, even I’ve wondered where all those bruises come from.

His voice is quiet. Like a boy. Not a robot version of one. There’s a group of boys. I meet them many days after school.

You meet them? Keisha asks.

Well, no, he says. They meet me.

I’m sorry, I say.

He nods once and then stares at the floor.

Can’t you tell anyone? I ask.

Albert shrugs.

Well do you at least hit them back? Keisha asks.

I don’t believe in violence. And anyway, it seems to me that big kids would get the blame in a fight. No one’s going to think a big kid like me didn’t start it, so they would assume I give the punches, not receive them.

He stares at his vanilla ice cream and then looks up. Maybe a little happier. This reminds me of ice cream on Ellis Island.

You may have a skull full of brains, but, again, Albert . . . no sense, Keisha says.

When the immigrants came to America through Ellis Island, they would sometimes get ice cream for a treat. But they didn’t recognize ice cream. They thought it was butter, so they spread it on toast.

We laugh.

I think this is like that. Those boys just think I’m a fighter, so they . . . well, fight me.

No, Albert, Keisha says. They think you won’t fight. They think you’ll just keep being their punching bag. That’s why they fight you.

His eyebrows scrunch up.

Albert. This is no joke, Keisha says. They leave nasty marks on you! Don’t your parents get mad? My mother would hunt down anyone who did that to me.

My father is busy with his inventions and my mother has other things to worry about.

You should ask them for help, I say. I think Keisha is right.

He shrugs. I don’t want help. I should be able to solve this.

Albert! Keisha says, her dark eyes wide and angry. You can solve this. Just don’t let those boys pound on you! You said you’re bigger than they are.

Yes, I call them the fire ants. A group of small beings that can become overwhelming.

I laugh, but I’m sad on the inside.

No, seriously, Albert. Keisha is downright mad now. Teach them a lesson. Hit them back!

I don’t think it is within my nature to hit someone. I will not meet violence with violence. I won’t stoop to their level.

Stoop to their level? I ask.

If I act like them, I am no better, he says.

Well, I say this is like trying to give Jell-O a spine, Keisha says.

Albert squints, which makes me wonder if he’s actually mad. Some of the most lethal creatures on earth are invertebrates.

Don’t throw that science at me, Keisha says. All I know is that you need to stick up for yourself. If you just let them do that, it’s like telling them it’s okay.

Albert stays quiet.

Keisha’s voice is no longer soft. I just don’t get it, Albert. What in the world would it take for you to fight back?

Albert looks upset. I know Keisha is trying to help him, but I think it’s like throwing him an anchor for a life jacket.

So, Albert. You’ve always liked science? I ask, trying to get another conversation going. But Keisha gasps and looks at the ceiling—frustrated with Albert.

Yes, Albert says. But, Ally, I would like to ask you a question.

Sure. Go ahead.

Shay is not kind to many people. But I have observed that she is the most unkind to you and I don’t understand it. Do you know why?

Yeah, Keisha says. She really does seem to have it in for you.

Yeah, well . . .

Oh, is there a story? Keisha says. I just love a good story.

There’s no story. I won the art award last year. She was mad about that.

Oh no. There’s more of a story, all right. Now, spill it.

Let’s just say she holds grudges.

Spill it. Use the word grudges and there has got to be a really good story!

Well . . . on my second day here last year, I’d bought a bag of cheese crackers at lunch. I was assigned to sit next to her, which she wasn’t so happy about. I was almost done with my sandwich when she grabbed the bag of crackers from the table and ripped them open and ate them.

Are you kidding? She did that?

I nod. I really don’t want to finish this story.

She is unbelievable, Keisha says, shaking her head.

Anyway, I kind of had this habit of doing things without thinking. Well . . . I pause. I used to do it even more than I do now. So, when she took a piece of cake out of her lunch box, I reached over, sunk my fingernails through the frosting, grabbed a hunk, and stuffed it in my mouth.

Keisha hangs over the table laughing while Albert looks like I stuck him with a pin. You did that? he asks, wide-eyed.

And then . . . Uh, I really don’t want to tell them this. While I licked the frosting off of my fingers, I asked her, ‘So how do you like that?!’

I cringe when I think of Shay’s face. Total surprise followed by looking at me like I was a disease on two feet. And somehow, deep down inside, I knew I’d pay for that forever.

But Keisha is still laughing. That is the best. More people ought to put that girl in her place. She walks all over everybody.

I kind of think out loud, She thought I was a freak.

She deserved it. Just taking your food like that? Are you kidding?

Well, the thing was, I say, and then I stop because I can’t quite push out the rest. I was mad that she’d eaten my crackers. But, when lunch was over, I reached into my jacket pocket and found mine.

Keisha laughs loud and long while Albert raises his eyebrows. Wait, Albert says, she didn’t actually eat yours?

I shake my head.

So she thinks you grabbed a hunk of her cake for no reason? Keisha asks.

Uh, yeah. Kind of. Yeah.

Keisha’s laughter gets even louder just as my mother is looking across the restaurant, giving me the look. Keisha leans against me and says, Okay. I admit it. That is the best story I’ve heard. In. My. Whole. Long. Life. Ally Nickerson, if I didn’t love you already for that flower thing you pulled, I think I may love you for that.