Eleanor & Park Read Online Free PDF

when
    Eleanor got home. Like more tired
    than usual. Hard and crumbling at
    the edges.
    When the little kids stormed in
    after school, her mom lost her
    temper over something stupid –
    Ben and Mouse fighting over a toy
    – and she pushed them all out the
    back door, Eleanor included.
    Eleanor was so startled to be
    outside that she stood on the back
    stoop for a second, staring down
    at Richie’s Rottweiler. He’d named
    the dog Tonya after his ex-wife.
    She was supposed to be a real
    man-eater, Tonya – Tonya the dog
    – but Eleanor had never seen her
    more than half awake.
    Eleanor tried knocking on the
    door. ‘Mom! Let me back in. I
    haven’t even taken a bath yet.’
    She usually took her bath right
    after school, before Richie got
    home. It took a lot of the stress
    out of not having a bathroom
    door, especially since somebody’d
    torn down the sheet.
    Her mom ignored her.
    The little kids were already out
    on the playground. The new
    house was right next door to an
    elementary school – the school
    where Ben and Mouse and Maisie
    went – and the playground was
    just beyond their backyard.
    Eleanor didn’t know what else
    to do, so she walked out to where
    she could see Ben, by the swing
    set, and sat on one of the swings.
    It was finally jacket weather.
    Eleanor wished she had a jacket.
    ‘What are you supposed to do
    when it gets too cold to play
    outside?’ she asked Ben. He was
    taking Matchbox cars out of his
    pockets and lining them up in the
    dirt. ‘Last year,’ he said, ‘Dad
    made us go to bed at 7:30.’
    ‘God. You too? Why do you
    guys call him that?’ She tried not
    to sound angry.
    Ben
    shrugged.
    ‘I
    guess
    because he’s married to Mom.’
    ‘Yeah, but’ – Eleanor ran her
    hands up and down the swing
    chains, then smelled them – ‘we
    never used to call him that. Do
    you feel like he’s your dad?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Ben said flatly.
    ‘What’s that supposed to feel
    like?’
    She didn’t answer him, so he
    went back to setting up his cars.
    He
    needed
    a
    haircut,
    his
    strawberry-blond hair was curling
    almost to his collar. He was
    wearing
    an
    old
    T-shirt
    of
    Eleanor’s and a pair of corduroy
    pants that their mom had cut off
    into shorts. He was almost too old
    for all this, for cars and parks –
    eleven. The other boys his age
    played basketball all night or hung
    out in groups at the edge of the
    playground. Eleanor hoped that
    Ben was a late bloomer. There
    was no room in that house to be a
    teenager.
    ‘He likes it when we call him
    Dad,’ Ben said, still lining up the
    cars.
    Eleanor looked out at the
    playground. Mouse was playing
    with a bunch of kids who had a
    soccer ball. Maisie must have
    taken the baby somewhere with
    her friends …
    It used to be Eleanor who was
    stuck with the baby all the time.
    She wouldn’t even mind watching
    him now, it would give her
    something to do – but Maisie
    didn’t want Eleanor’s help.
    ‘What was it like?’ Ben asked.
    ‘What was what like?’
    ‘Living with those people.’
    The sun was a few inches
    above the horizon, and Eleanor
    looked hard at it.
    ‘Okay,’ she said. Terrible.
    Lonely. Better than here.
    ‘Were there other kids?’
    ‘Yeah. Really little kids. Three
    of them.’
    ‘Did you have your own
    room?’
    ‘Sort of.’ Technically, she
    hadn’t had to share the Hickmans’
    living room with anyone else.
    ‘Were they nice?’ he asked.
    ‘Yeah … yeah. They were
    nice. Not as nice as you.’
    The Hickmans had started out
    nice. But then they got tired.
    Eleanor was only supposed to
    stay with them for a few days,
    maybe a week. Just until Richie
    cooled down and let her come
    home.
    ‘It’ll be like a slumber party,’
    Mrs Hickman said to Eleanor the
    first night she made up the couch.
    Mrs Hickman – Tammy – knew
    Eleanor’s mom from high school.
    There was a photo over the TV of
    the Hickmans’ wedding. Eleanor’s
    mom was the maid of honor – in a
    dark green dress,