فصل بیست و هفتم

Chapter 27

She shook his hand.

He walked inside, shut the door behind him, and sat down around the table. “You won’t believe it,” he said as he looked at his picture of the green monster hanging on the wall. “You just won’t believe it.” “I’m sure I won’t,” Carla agreed. She sat across from him. She was wearing a sleeveless, black-and-white checkered shirt.

“Okay, I’ll tell you,” said Bradley.

“I was hoping you would.”

“Do you know where I was before I was here?” “No?”

He slammed his fist on the table. “The girls’ bathroom!” He told her all about it, how the girl had used the toilet next to him and how he thought she had left but really another girl had entered! “At first I didn’t know which girl was which, but then one of them screamed, so she must have been the one.” “Who was she?” asked Carla. “Did you know her?” “Yes, but I don’t think I should tell you her name. She probably doesn’t want anybody else to know.” “That’s very considerate of you, Bradley.” He shrugged.

“Shall we have lunch?” asked Carla.

“Okay.” He took out his roast beef sandwich.

Carla set her lunch on the table. She had a carton of yogurt and a plate of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.

“That looks good,” said Bradley.

“You want to trade?”

“Okay.”

They traded lunches. Bradley ate a slice of cucumber. He thought it was delicious.

“So what were you doing inside the girls’ bathroom?” asked Carla. She took a big bite out of Bradley’s roast beef sandwich.

“Jeff and his friends were chasing me,” he explained. “Jeff’s got a black eye, just like me! They all think I gave it to him.” “Did you?”

He could have lied. He could have said, sure, he beat up Jeff with one hand tied behind his back. He knew Carla always believed whatever he said.

“No. I can’t even beat up a girl,” he said. “Melinda Birch beat me up. Do you know her?” “No.”

“You’d like her. She’s nice.”

Carla smiled.

Bradley ate a slice of tomato followed by a spoonful of yogurt. “I hid in the library at recess,” he said. “They couldn’t beat me up in the library, even if they found me. You can’t even talk in the library.” “Yes, I know.”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“What’s that?”

“The library. All those books. And they’re all different, aren’t they?” Carla nodded as she drank Bradley’s juice through a straw.

“I kept thinking about that the whole time I was there,” he said. “They’re all different, but they all use practically the same words. They just put them in a different order.” “Did you—?”

“Just twenty-six letters,” he told her. “All they do is move those letters around and then they say so many different things!” “Did you—?”

“You’d think, after a while, they’d run out of ways to move them around,” said Bradley.

“Did you check out a book?”

“No, Mrs. Wilcott won’t let me. I used to, a long time ago, before I met you, I used to check out books and not return them. I used to scribble in them and rip them up. So she won’t let me check any books out anymore. The whole time I was there she kept watching me, saying, ‘I don’t want any trouble from you, Bradley.’ “ He ate another slice of cucumber. “I just wanted to look at a book. I wasn’t going to ruin it.” “I know,” said Carla. “And after a while, Mrs. Wilcott will know that too.” “I’m trying to be good,” said Bradley. “But nobody will give me a chance.” “They will. It just takes time.” “Do you ever play checkers on your shirt?” he asked.

Carla nearly spit out her juice. She laughed and shook her head.

“I like your shirts,” he said.

“I like your socks,” said Carla.

Bradley looked at his mismatched socks. “I thought I changed them,” he said, befuddled.

“I hate socks that match,” said Carla. “See.” She stuck out her legs. She was wearing white pants. She had on one white sock and one black sock.

Bradley smiled. It wasn’t his usual twisted smile, but one that was genuine. It was one that, up till now, had been seen only by Ronnie and Bartholomew.

“I know something good you can do,” said Carla. “And Mrs. Ebbel will notice it too.” “What?”

“Homework.”

The smile dropped off his face. “No. No I can’t,” he said.

“Sure you can,” said Carla.

“I can’t!” His eyes filled with tears.

“You can do anything you want to do, Bradley Chalkers. I have a lot of confidence in you.” He shook his head. “But I can’t.” His voice cracked.

“Don’t say ‘I can’t.’ As long as you say you can’t do something, then of course you won’t do it. Say, ‘I can!’ Say ‘I can!’ and you can do anything.” “I can’t! I can’t!” He was crying.

“Bradley, it’s not that difficult. You’re making a big deal out of nothing. If you want, I will help you.” “I can’t,” he sobbed.

“Why can’t you?” she demanded.

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and sniffled. He looked Carla straight in the eye and said, “I don’t know what page we’re on!” “Oh, Bradley,” Carla whispered. Her eyes glistened. She stood up, walked around the table, and kissed him on the cheek.