Jumping the Scratch Read Online Free PDF

knew how to make meatballs or pot roast with browned potatoes and real gravy. I wondered too if while they ate their dinners together, he’d told her about me.
    The kitchen at Wondrous Acres was so small, you couldn’t get to the sink if the refrigerator door was open. There was a small square Formica table tucked into the corner next to the doorway.That’s where the three of us sat later that night, eating macaroni swimming in melted Velveeta cheese.
    â€œHow was your day today?” my mother asked me. She had taken the towel off her head and brushed out the tangles, but her hair was still wet and smelled fruity, like ripe peaches.
    I was pushing my fork through the macaroni, attempting to maneuver a single noodle onto each one of the tines without using my fingers. I could have told her about the kids laughing at me at the bus stop and Larry Baywood threatening to squeeze my cheeks. I could have told her about Miss Miller giving me the fisheye because some guy named Arthur was coming to visit our class in the morning and she wanted us to dress up for him. Or I could have told her that Audrey Krouch claimed she had ESP. But I was afraid to tell her anything. Afraid that once I started talking, I wouldn’t be able to stop until I’d told her everything, including what had happened to me on Christmas Eve in Old Gray’s office. I didn’t want to tell her about that. I didn’t want to have to see the look on her face when she found out how dumb I had been. So I shrugged and lifted theforkful of noodles to my mouth and said nothing.
    My mother sighed, crumpled her napkin in a ball, and dropped it onto her empty plate.
    Suddenly I remembered the laundry.
    â€œBe right back!” I said, jumping up from the table.
    â€œHold on a second, cowboy. Where do you think you’re going without clearing your place?” my mother said, grabbing my arm.
    â€œSorry. Marge told me to put the laundry in the dryer,” I said. My mother let go of me, and I picked up my dishes and carried them over to the sink.
    â€œTake your aunt with you. She could use the fresh air, and I have to get ready for work,” my mother said.
    The laundry shed was an unpainted plywood barn wedged in between units 9 and 10. Inside were a couple of washers and dryers, a soap dispenser, a pop machine, and a long table for folding clothes. On the wall over the table was a big bulletin board covered with notices about church dinners, garage sales, penny socials, and used outboard motors for sale.
    Sapphy, still in her pajamas and robe, stoodlooking at the bulletin board while I pulled the wet clothes out of the washer, threw them into the dryer, slammed the door, and set the dial to high. As I fished some change out of my pocket, I heard her murmur, “Somebody sure pulled out all the stops for this one.”
    I dropped the coins into the slot and walked over to see what she was talking about. It was a flyer printed in black ink on light-blue paper, and all around the edges someone had carefully glued on dozens of silver foil stars. I knew it was those sparkly stars that had caught Sapphy’s eye.
    â€œWhat are they selling?” I asked, leaning closer to read the words.
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    â€œMy father did that once,” said Sapphy.
    â€œDid what?” I asked.
    â€œGot hypnotized.”
    â€œ He did? ” I was surprised. I’d heard a lot of stories about the past, most of them more than once, but I’d never heard anything about Grandpa Will getting hypnotized.
    â€œIt was at a county fair. Your mother and Aunt Emmy had the chicken pox, so Mom stayed home to take care of them while my dad and I went to the fair. I wanted to go on the big Ferris wheel, but he didn’t like heights, so instead we paid a buck apiece to go into a musty old tent where there was a man in a