Almost Zero Read Free Page B

the apartment. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang.
    “Oh, puleeze!” said Dyamonde, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. “Mom forgot her keys. Again.”
    When Dyamonde opened the front door, she found her mother and their neighbor, Mrs. King, both juggling armloads of boxes.
    “Say hello to Mrs. King,” said Mrs. Daniel.
    “Good evening, Mrs. King,” said Dyamonde.
    “Mrs. King was kind enough to store these boxes in her extra bedroom closet.”
    So that’s where they were,
thought Dyamonde.
    “Well, come on! Give us a hand,” said her mom.
    Dyamonde was happy to grab one of the boxes.
    Once all of the cartons were neatly stacked in front ofDyamonde’s closet, Mrs. King said good night and left.
    “Whew!” said Mrs. Daniel. “Glad that’s done. I’m off duty for the rest of the night, but you can go ahead and put away whatever clothes you’ve decided to keep for yourself.”
    Raising an eyebrow, Dyamonde turned to her mother. “But I thought—”
    “You thought I’d take your things away again, after you set aside clothes for Isabel?”
    Dyamonde nodded.

    “No, honey. It’s clear you’ve learned the lesson: Everything we have is a gift. I’m just pleased you’ve found it in your heart to share some of your gifts with others.”
    Dyamonde threw her arms around her mother’s waist and squeezed tighter than she ever had before.

7. Good-bye, Clothes
    Dyamonde sorted her clothes quickly, saying good-bye to some of her favorite shirts and pants. She held up a red cardigan her mom had given her one Christmas. Dyamonde ran a hand over the soft sleeves and sighed.
    I love this sweater,
thought Dyamonde.
But it’s not like I don’thave plenty more
.
And if I love it, then Isabel will too.
    Dyamonde folded the sweater and added it to the pile.
    Hey,
thought Dyamonde,
now
Isabel will be as good a dresser as me!
Dyamonde wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She liked looking special. What would it feel like to see Isabel in some of her favorite clothes? Dyamonde gave it some thought.
It’ll be okay,
Dyamonde decided.
Nobody looks as good wearing my clothes as I do!
    Little by little, the stack of clothes for Isabel grew. Dyamondefolded them carefully, then pushed them into a brown paper shopping bag. She sighed, feeling pretty good about herself. But not for long.
    What about Isabel’s brothers and sisters?
wondered Dyamonde.
And what about her mom and dad? They need clothes too, and I don’t have anything to fit them.
Dyamonde had never met them, but Isabel talked about her family all the time.
    Dyamonde went to the kitchen for a glass of water. She sat at the table for a minute, sipping her water and thinking. Then she jumped up, grabbed her loose-leafnotebook, ripped out a page and started writing.
    Where to Find More Clothes:
    Men’s Clothes
    • Free’s dad
    • Mrs. King’s grown son (he’s away at college and won’t miss anything anyway)
    • The building super
    Women’s Clothes
    • Mom
    • Mrs. Freeman
    • Ms. Gracie Lee
    Boys’ Clothes
    • Free
    • His little brother, Booker
    Girls’ Clothes
    • Me
    • The Three T’s?
    Dyamonde looked at the list long enough to know that she needed a lot more people on it. The problem was most of the people she knew were at school, and the school would not sponsor a clothing drive.
    But what if I collected clothes outside of the school building?
wondered Dyamonde.
    The way she figured, that would probably be okay. Now all she had to do was let everybody know.
    Dyamonde ripped another page from her loose-leaf and got busy.
    ISABEL MARTINEZ CLOTHING DRIVE
    (This is NOT a school clothing drive, in case you were wondering.)
    In case you haven’t heard, Isabel Martinez and her family got burnt out of their apartment. They lost everything, and that includes clothes.
    You can help. Donate some of your clothes so they’ll have something to wear.
    Thank you.
    Signed,
    Dyamonde Daniel
    Dyamonde’s handwriting was not the best, so she wrote it out