Hannah Read Free

school.
    When she got home, I was waiting for her. “Carl Kleino was throwing spitballs at the little kids,” Verna said. “Miss Robbin said if he was going to act like a baby he would have to sit with the kindergarten and first grade. Carl’s face was red as a beet. And you know what? Miss Robbin told the class that before long there might be a new pupil in school. I think she meant you.”
    After dinner that night while Miss Robbin was helping Mama with the dishes, she said real nicely, “I’ve only got twelve students, Mrs. Thomas. I’d have plenty of time to give Hannah some lessons if you’d let her come to school.”
    I held my breath and crossed my fingers.
    “No point to it,” Mama said.
    Papa was sitting at the kitchen table. I smelled the kerosene lamp and heard his pencil scratch. I guessed he was adding up the bills and figuring out the ones he could pay. There had been almost no rain during the summer. Half of our crops had dried up. He said to Miss Robbin, “You won’t get the missis to let Hannah go to school. She likes having a young one around the house. It looks as if Hannah’s going to stay her baby no matter how old Hannah gets to be. Yousee a cow like that sometimes, won’t let go of her calf.”
    Mama flew out at Papa, “Pa, that isn’t so.”
    Miss Robbin said, “I’m sure Mrs. Thomas wouldn’t stand in the way of giving Hannah an education.”
    “Well, you all seem to know more than I do,” Mama said. “I guess Hannah can do what she wants to. But she’s not going to like school when she finds out it’ll be way over her head.”
    “And I can’t pay for any books,” Papa said.
    The next morning I was the first one up. I climbed out of bed without waking Verna and put on my clothes. I crept down the stairs to the kitchen and pumped some water to wash my face and hands. To please Mama I set the table for breakfast. I made sure I had the forks on the left and the knives and spoons on the right. When Mama came down, she didn’t say anything. But she didn’t say I couldn’t go to school. Miss Robbin didn’t say anything either. I guess she thought now that she had her way it was best to keep quiet. She just thanked Mama for the breakfast and started off for school. As she went out the door she put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
    When it was time for Verna and Johnny and me to go, I went over to hug Mama. She pushed me away and handed the three of us our jugs of water. There was no well at the school, so we had to bring our own water to drink and to wash our slates.
    On the way to school Verna held my hand. I thought we would never get there. Finally I heard the voices of the other children. Miss Robbin came out to meet me. “Hannah,” she said, “we’re so happy to have you in school.” But she didn’t let me sit with Verna. She made me go up in front and sit with Johnny and the other little children. I rememberedhow Verna said it was a punishment when Carl had to sit there.
    I listened to all the voices and tried to make out who they belonged to. There was an arithmetic lesson that didn’t make any sense to me. Then there was some reading that I couldn’t do. I began to wonder why I was there.
    When it was time for recess, I started to walk out of school, feeling my way by holding on to the desks. As I got to the back of the room, I heard Carl say, “You sure can tell Hannah Thomas can’t see in the mirror or she wouldn’t look like a ragbag with a haystack for her hair.” I was so mad I picked up a book from one of the desks and threw it in the direction of Carl’s voice. I heard him cry out. Then someone stuck something out in front of my foot, and I tripped and fell on my face in the aisle.
    Miss Robbin and Verna ran to help me up. “Carl Kleino,” Miss Robbin said. Her voice was sharp and cold like icicles. “I saw you trip Hannah. Go up in front of the room and stand by my desk. Your parents are going to hear about this. Hannah, are you