Someday Angeline Read Free Page A

things she knew before she was born.
    “Do you want salad, Angelini?” Gus called from the kitchen.
    “Do we have any French dressing?” she called back to him.
    “No, but we have some French undressing,” said Gus.
    Angeline laughed hysterically.
    “See?” Gus told Abel. “They don’t even have to be
funny
jokes.”
    Abel smiled. He wished he could make Angeline laugh like Gus, but he hadn’t been able to tell her a joke for a long time, either funny or unfunny. He couldn’t even say “Angelini” without choking on it.
    Angeline put the knives, forks, and spoonsaround the table, sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right. She knew it had to be correct in one of the places. “Okay, I’ll have salad with French undressing,” she called. “But no tomatoes in mine.”
    “Sorry!” Gus called back. “There aren’t any tomatoes.”
    “Good!” she yelled. “I don’t
want
a tomato.”
    “Well, that’s too bad,” said Gus, “because there aren’t any. And if you think I’m going all the way to the store just to get you a tomato—”
    “But I don’t want a tomato!” she screamed.
    “You can scream all you want,” said Gus. “You still can’t have one.”
    “Good!” she yelled. “Excellent! I’m glad we don’t have any tomatoes. I don’t want a tomato. I hate tomatoes!”
    Gus stood at the kitchen door and sadly shook his head. “I’m sorry to hear that, Angelini,” he said. “I really am. But I’m afraid we just don’t have any.”
    She threw her hands up in the air and gave a loud sigh. Gus laughed.
    They ate the salad, chili, and soda crackers. Nobody seemed to care whether the forks, knives, or spoons were on the right side or not.
    “What’s the weather forecast for tomorrow?” Gus asked.
    “Hold on, I’ll check,” said Angeline. She walked to the kitchen window and listened.
    “I really wish you wouldn’t do that,” Abel whispered, so only Gus could hear.
    “Why not?” Gus asked. “She’s always right. I think it’s great.”
    “I don’t,” said Abel. “Okay?”
    Gus shrugged. “Okay,” he said.
    When Angeline got back she told them that it was going to be very hot, especially hot for October. Abel politely thanked her.
    “Gus, can I ride around with you and my father in the garbage truck sometime?” she asked.
    “Now, what do you want to do that for?” Gus asked. “It smells in there.”
    “I want to,” said Angeline. “Besides, I like the smell.”
    “You belong in school,” said Gus.
    “School smells,” said Angeline.
    Gus laughed. “I never liked school either,” he said, “but that was because I wasn’t too smart. If I was as smart as you, I would have loved school. Someday you’ll appreciate it.”
    “You never know,” said Angeline.
    “It’s kind of tough on her now,” said Abel. “All the other kids in her class are a lot older. She doesn’t have any friends.”
    “I do too,” Angeline insisted. “I have one friend. Gary Boone. He’s my best friend. He’s so funny. He knows so many jokes.”
    “Good,” said Abel. “I’m glad you’re finally making friends.”
    “Just one friend,” corrected Angeline. “Just Gary. All the other kids are goons.”

Five
Mr. Bone
    Before, when Gary took off his shoe and put it back on and Angeline asked him why he did it and he said he didn’t know, well, actually he had a very good reason. There was a pebble in his shoe. It had been there almost the whole lunch period, but because he was so amazed that Angeline had said she liked his jokes and even laughed and everything, he didn’t think about the pebble. Then when the bell rang and it was time to go in, he simply took off his shoe, dumped the pebble out, and put his shoe back on. That’s all. But when Angeline asked him why he did it, well, he forgot.
    He was in the fifth grade, in Miss Turbone’s class. He called her “Mr. Bone.”
    The first time he called her that, on the first day of school, it was just a joke, like