A Begonia for Miss Applebaum
Page 16
“Ohyes,”Laurihadagreed.
“Theytalkaboutbeingrevolutionary,”Bobbybegantosoundoff,“butatthe
sametimethey’reworriedaboutwhetherthethemeforthepromisgoingtobe
Tropical Night or Springtime on a Star. They talk about signing petitions to makethosefactoriesinNewarkstopshovingsulfurdioxideintotheairbutwhat
theyarereallyworriedaboutisifthey’regoingtogettheirdriver’slicensenext week. They talk about Communist suppression but what they’re into is how to uptheirallowances.”BobbyhadbeenabletotellbytheexpressiononLauri’s
facethatshewasreallybecomingimpressedwithhim,sohedecidedtobeeven
moreeffusive.“Ifyouhearanybitternessinmyvoiceletmetellyouit’spurely intentional.I’vebeenkickedaroundenough.Therearetoomanyflawsinpeople
andsocietyandparticularlythatschool.They’renotinterestedinwhatmyideas
are. All those teachers care about is if I have the quotation marks and the exclamation points in the right place. And that’s not what it’s all about. They should listen to what I’ve got to say. They shouldn’t try to kill off my imagination.Oranybodyelse’simagination!They’reshovingallthisstuffdown
ourthroats.Wedon’tevenknowwhatitis.Theyshouldletourideasout.Don’t
jumpupanddownonthem,andwriteallthosenastylittlethingswiththeirred
pens.Isayonlyabouttwenty-fivepercentofthoseteachersknowwhatthey’re
doing.I’mgoingtofixtheonesthatdon’tbecauseonedayI’mgoingtowritea
bookandtellthemhowtoreallyrunaschoolsothatyoudon’tkilloffthewaya kidlearns.Ofcourse,Idon’treallyknowaboutotherschools,butFortLeeHigh
asfarasI’mconcernedisagiganticmonumenttoman’sattempttoeducatehis
kidsandhisfailuretodoso.That’sthewayIfeelaboutit.Kidshavetolearnby expressingthemselves!”
Laurihadlookedathimandfinallyhadtotrytobalancethescales.“Alotof
teachersatFortLeeHighhelpme,”shesaidsoftly.
“Well I told you there are some good ones. And besides, I’m just really sounding off right now. I’m really a very quiet person most of the time. I’m a nice kid except when somebody rubs me the wrong way and then I grab a megaphone and I start screaming into it ‘I’m here, I’m here’ and I’m always goingtodothatevenifitmakespeoplegodeaffrommyyelling!”
Intruth,severaloftheteachersatFortLeeHighhadpickedBobbyoutforhis
individuality during the first few weeks of his attendance there and he was punishedaccordingly.Hisfirstactofdefiancewastorefusetogotostudyhall.
HehadtoldMissBerkowitz,hisgradeadvisorwhohappenedtohaveonlyone
arm, that study hall was simply a waste of time and a fill-in because of inept curricularplanningbythestafftokeepkidsinschoollongerthantheyhadtobe.
Besides,hepointedout,allthekidsdidinstudyhallwasthrowmaltedballsat
poor Mr. Kirchmorker when he wasn’t looking and Bobby didn’t like that
because Mr. Kirchmorker was a wonderful civics teacher. He just happened to bealousydisciplinarian.ThentherewasthetimewhenMr.Kirchmorkergothit
intheeyewithatangerineandBobbygotsoangryatthekidwhothrewitthat
hesockedthekid.ButBobbyendedupbeingtheonegettingintotrouble.Hegot
ten demerits and he didn’t even know what demerits were and he was hoping thatmaybeifhegotenoughofthemtheywouldtrytogivehimtheelectricchair
at a special assembly but at the last minute before the switch was thrown, he couldshovetheprincipalintotheseatandfryhim.Everyweekatthebeginning
thereseemedtobesomenewcrimeBobbygotchargedwith.Herefusedtotake gymthirdperiodbecauseitgothimallsweatedupandtheschoolhadnoshower
facilities.
As it worked out, before the end of Bobby’s first year at Fort Lee High his parentshadbeencalledinsixtimesforconferencesandwhatmosthorrifiedthe
disciplinarystaffoftheschoolwasthatBobby’sparentsopenlyexpressedtheir
love and belief in their son. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins had the nerve to say they thought their son was absolutely correct in most matters. Bobby Perkins was a kidwhotrustedhisparentsandtheytrustedhim.
“Mr.andMrs.Perkins,”theDeanofBoyshadpronouncedononeoccasion,
“wecan’thaveallthestudentsrunningaroundsayingwhatevercomesintotheir
heads!”
“Whynot?”Bobby’sfatherinquired.
TheDeancouldn’tanswerthatone.
Thencametheaforementionedinfamousnight.
It was a night when the school administration felt it had been completely vindicated because Bobby was finally apprehended by the police. The incident occurred at of all things an Italian block party right near the Century Tower Apartments—when four streets had been closed to traffic to allow local
merchantstosetupsausageandcookiestandsandtherewerefourrockbandsto
letthepeoplemusicallyjumpupanddowninthestreets.Thelocalbocceclub
setofffireworksinbehalfofSt.Anthonyandwine,beerandlasagnaseemedto
ooze from everywhere. Bobby had gone to the block party alone and he was feeling very depressed as he strolled along the crowded streets watching the bursts of rockets in the sky reflect off the river and the silver webbing of the bridge. It was all so beautiful he almost forgot how alone he really was. Just before the infamy started he noticed Lauri Geddes at one stand. He had never spoken to her before but had seen her often moving through the lobby of the Century Tower or in the halls at Fort Lee High. She reminded him of a timid delicate angora cat. She was also alone and he could tell she was feeling very self-consciousbecauseshewastakinglittlebitesoutofhercannolilikeamouse nibbling at cheese in a trap. Suddenly Bobby heard a gang of kids in a convertiblehootingandhonkingtheirwayastheybrokethroughabarricadeand
began to invade the block party. The kids in the car were stoned and drunk, especially the driver who was at least two years older than Bobby, and Bobby was so ticked off at their nerve he just jumped right in front of the car forcing
themtostop.
“Get out of the way,” the kid driving the car yelled—and then he made the mistakeofthrowingabeercanwhichhitBobbyinthehead.OnceagainBobby
forgothisbasicallyshynatureandjumpeduponthehoodandsockedthedriver.
Hegotinafewgoodpunchesbeforetheothersstartedtoreallybeatonhimand
by that time the police were on the scene. Everything would have worked out justfineifthekidBobbyhadpunchedhadnotturnedouttobethelocalpolice
chief’s son. As it was, Bobby was the only one who was dragged off to the police station and once the police had him inside they threatened him with everything from reform school to a bop on the skull with a nightstick. Bobby began to feel as though he was back in school again, when there suddenly appearedathingirlwithlongbrownstraighthair.Shehadbeenstandinginthe
doorwayandthensteppedforwardwipingsomepowderedsugarfromherlips.
Shespokeinaverygentlebutclearvoice.
“He’sinnocent,” shesaid.
Asilenceflashedthroughthestationhouse.Thethreepresidingofficersturned
toseewherethevoicehadcomefrom.Eventheyoungbeardedassistantcopto
therightofthemaindeskstoppedtyping.ThechiefwasaSergeantCollinswho
looked like an irate Wizard of Oz, and he leaned forward from behind his toweringdesk,peeringdownwithbulgingeyes.EventhetwoPuertoRicangirls
working behind the dusty glass of the computer report room peered out like bronzed goldfish sensing something strange was occurring to the customary choreography of the stationhouse. There was something more than a routine bookinggoingon.
“Didyousaysomething?”SergeantCollinsasked.
“He’sinnocent,”Laurirepeated.“Iwasawitness.”
Bobby saw the girl’s hands were trembling and he knew it had taken every dropofcourageinherbodytomakeherfollow,comeforwardandbearwitness
for him. Nevertheless the police brayed illogically at them for the next twenty minutes. The kids just kept staring at each other as though in silent agreement thattheworldwasforthemostpartunjustandoftenverynoisy.Thecopseven
worked up a phony call to the police commissioner and they announced that it wasBobby’sluckiestdayonearththatnochargesweregoingtobepressed.But
hewouldbeonsemiprobation.Theykeptyellingthingslike“Whatwouldyour
parentssay?”and“Youshouldbethrownoutofschool!”ButfinallyBobbyand
Lauri were allowed to leave—and from that moment on Bobby Perkins and
LauriGeddeswereascloseasiftheyhadsignedapactinblood.
AbouttheAuthor
PAULZINDELwrotemorethan40novels,including ThePigman, one of the best-selling young adult books of all time. His Broadway play, The Effect of
GammaRaysonMan-in-the-MoonMarigolds, wonthePulitzerPrizeandwas producedasafilmdirectedbyPaulNewman.
Mr.Zindel’sotheryoungadultbooksincludethepopular PardonMe,You’re
Stepping on My Eyeball!; My Darling, My Hamburger; The Undertaker’s
Gone Bananas; The Pigman’s Legacy, a sequel to The Pigman; and the autobiographical ThePigmanandMe.
Mr.Zindel’sworkasanauthorbroughthimtoexoticdestinationsaroundthe
world, from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to the monkey forests of Indonesia.
Drawingfromthoseexperiences,hecreatedTheZoneUnknownseries—packed
fullofhorror,humor,adventureandbravery—withreluctantreadersinmind.It
includes six titles: Loch, The Doom Stone, Raptor, Rats, Reef of Death, and
NightoftheBat.
FanscanvisitPaulZindelontheWebat:www.paulzindel.com
Findoutmoreat:
WWW.GRAYMALKIN.COM
ISBN-13:978-1-9351-6970-3
ABEGONIAFORMISSAPPLEBAUM
Copyright©1989byPaulZindel
AllrightsreservedunderInternationalandPan-AmericanCopyrightConventions.By paymentoftherequiredfees,youhavebeengrantedthenon-exclusive,nontransferable righttoaccessandreadthetextofthisebookonscreen.Nopartofthistextmaybe reproduced,transmitted,downloaded,decompiled,reverseengineered,orstoredinor introducedintoanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,inanyformorbyany means,whetherelectronicormechanical,nowknownorhereinafterinvented,withoutthe expresswrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
Thisisaworkoffiction.Names,characters,places,andincidentseitheraretheproductof theauthor‘simaginationorareusedfictitiously.Anyresemblancetoactualpersons, livingordead,businesses,companies,events,orlocalesisentirelycoincidental.
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Document Outline
Books by Paul Zindel
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
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Sneak Peak
About the Author
Copyright Page