Belle Teal Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    When I read that, I feel something in my stomach, like a punch.
    I look over at Darryl. His eyes are fixed on Miss Casey, who is about to pass out our Think and Do books.
    HRH Vanessa raises her hand. “Miss Casey,” she says, “it is so awfully hot in here. I am about to expire. Could we please open a window?”
    That is when I notice that, even though it is another hot-as-blazes day, every window in our classroom is shut. Miss Casey, she glances toward the parents outside. Then she puts on a bright smile and says, “Well, I can do better than that.” And she hauls a big fan to the front of the room and turns it on. A few papers riffle up and go flying, but that breeze, it feels like a drink of Gran’s lemonade. Plus, the hum of the fan drowns out the sound of the chanting. Then Miss Casey, looking even brighter, says, “I have another idea. Let’s pull the shades down to keep out the sunlight.”
    She does that and I don’t know if the room cools down any, but of course now the parents have been completely shut out of our view. I relax myself a little. Darryl looks like he relaxes too. His shoulders loosen up and he finally unclasps his hands.
    I turn my full attention to Miss Casey and leave it there until she says, “Girls and boys, it is time for lunch. Please line up to go to the cafeteria.”
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    The Coker Creek cafeteria is big enough to hold three classes at once. When all of us fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders pile on in there, that room is a madhouse. Even with cafeteria monitors poking around. You can either bring your lunch, or you can buy the hot lunch. Also, you can buy milk or ice cream. The hot lunch costs twenty-five cents and ice cream costs a nickel. You can imagine that I don’t get to buy those things too often. Milk only costs two cents, though, so most days I go off to school with milk money. Gran, she sets two pennies by my place at the breakfast table, and I drop them in the changepurse I wear on a chain around my neck and keep tucked under my dress. About once a month I find a quarter by my place, and I put it in the purse and wait for the next time pizza burgers are being served.
    Today I just have milk money. But Gran, she has packed me up a tasty lunch.
    â€œYou buying lunch?” I ask Clarice as we enter the cafeteria.
    Clarice holds out her empty hands to remind me that she did not bring a lunch.
    â€œOkay. I’ll save us a table,” I tell her.
    We sit with Junie Partridge, and Mary Lee Hickerson, who’s in sixth grade.
    After we’ve got our straws unwrapped and all, the first thing Mary Lee asks us is, “You got any of the niggers in your class?”
    I raise my eyebrows at Clarice.
    Junie, she answers, “Yup. One. We also got us a princess.”
    Mary Lee doesn’t take the bait. She couldn’t care less about a princess. “Where is it?” she asks. It. She means Darryl. “One of the others is in my sister’s class. When Mama finds out, she’s going to throw a fit. She said she’d pull us out of school if we had to sit with one of them.”
    I am so mad that at first I can’t think of a thing to say. But words don’t fail me for long. I stand up. “And my mama,” I say, “said she would pull me out of school if I had to sit with someone like you. Since I don’t want to leave Coker Creek, I better go eat at a different table.”
    I move to one nearby. Clarice follows me, of course. Behind us, I can hear Mary Lee saying to Junie, “What does she mean, someone like me?” She doesn’t get it at all.
    I look around the cafeteria for Darryl. Finally I spot him at a table in the corner. He’s sitting with two other colored kids, a boy and a girl, Miss Casey, and Mrs. Geary, who teaches fourth grade. I notice that there are a lot of empty tables around them.
    Clarice and me finish our lunches quickly and run out to the playground behind