Bingo Brown's Guide to Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

until I calm down. Do you mind?”
    â€œNot at all,” Bingo said.
    â€œI can’t believe they made Monroe one-way. I never have been able to keep my presidents straight. So, where did they go?”
    â€œMelissa and her friend? I don’t know. Mom, are you calm enough to go home now?”
    â€œYou’ve seen enough?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œYou could run into K Mart. I could use extra diapers.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWell, if you’re sure …”
    She started the car.
    To fill in the time, Bingo began to work on his latest problem. He wished he had paper so he could get it down while it was still fresh in his mind.
Problem #4. Unreliable Parent.
    Suppose that you are in the car with a parent, and out the window you see a girl you love, and this girl will be in town for a short time and you don’t know where she is staying and this is your one chance to find out. You are desperate. Is there any point in asking your parent to follow this girl to her place of residence?
Bingo’s Answer: No! Particularly not if the parent has suffered a recent shock of some undisclosed nature that will lead her to honk the horn inappropriately and go the wrong way on one-way streets. The best plan is to get out of the car as soon as she brings it to a safe stop and follow on foot. That is what I wish I had done.
    When he had completed this thought Bingo looked up. He found to his surprise that they were still in the parking lot. ,
    In the front seat his mother was slumped down in a dejected way.
    â€œMom, aren’t we going home?”
    â€œEventually.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong?”
    She put her hands on the steering wheel. “Oh, I guess I’m stalling.”
    â€œStalling? What for? What do you mean?”
    â€œI don’t want to go home.”
    â€œBut why not? Mom, you might as well tell me what the shock was.”
    â€œYour father’s novel came back today.”
    â€œHis what?”
    â€œHis novel, Bingo, his novel! The novel he’s been working on for years. Bustin’ Lewis.”
    â€œI didn’t even know he’d sent it to a publisher.”
    â€œHe didn’t want you to know. He was afraid you’d worry.”
    â€œBut maybe I could have helped him.”
    â€œMaybe … He sent it in two weeks ago, Bingo, and he was so hopeful, and it’s already come back. They didn’t even have time to read it. I know they didn’t.”
    â€œMaybe they liked it, Mom. They read it and liked it so much that they hurried to—”
    She shook her head.
    â€œThey could have. I liked it.”
    â€œIf they had liked it, they would have written or phoned. They wouldn’t have sent it straight back.”
    Bingo took in this hurtful truth in silence.
    â€œSomebody told me one time,” his mother went on, “that the publishers have readers, and to save time the readers go through a manuscript and read every tenth page. Every tenth page! So maybe there would be nine perfect pages and then the tenth one would be—oh, I could just cry, Bingo.”
    â€œPlease don’t.”
    There was a long, shaky pause.
    â€œWell, if I am going to cry, I wish I’d go ahead and do it and get it out of my system.”
    Bingo waited.
    â€œGive me one more minute.”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œI cry so seldom that it’s hard for me to cry, even when I really need to. I have to really make an effort.”
    She kept her face forward.
    â€œAnd I need to now.”
    Bingo felt it would have taken no effort at all for him to burst into tears, but somebody in the family had to be dry-eyed.
    â€œMy problem is that I just cannot bear to see your father hurt. He’s such a wonderful man, Bingo, and I just—well, I’d rather be hurt myself.”
    The pacifier popped out of Jamie’s mouth, and Bingo poked it back in.
    Finally his mother did what Bingo had been praying she would do. She looked at her