Al Capone Does My Homework Read Online Free Page A

his head buried in her chest. “Go on down now,” she tells me.
    We’re in the way up here, but so far I’ve been unable to get Nat to move. Sometimes
     she hunkers down and there’s nothing you can do.
    “Nat, come on,” I tell her gently. I can see Piper with baby Walty, Annie, Theresa,
     and Jimmy all standing together at the foot of the dock guard tower, a safe distance
     away from everything. I want to join them in the worst way. But Nat is so upset, she’s
     stopped listening. Nothing I say seems to have any effect.
    Finally, when I’ve given up trying, Nat pops up and begins toe-walking across the
     balcony and down the stairs.
    I try to steer her toward everyone. Her head is hanging, her attention on her feet.
    “Moose!” Theresa practically jumps at me. “Are you okay?”
    “Moose!” Annie gives me a hug and then seems to realize what she’s doing and stops.
     “What happened?”
    I shake my head. “I dunno.”
    “Didn’t I tell you being a warden’s kid is harder than it looks,” Piper whispers in
     my ear.
    Slowly her words sink in.  Could she be right? Could this have something to do with
     my dad’s promotion? My stomach feels like a popped balloon.
    Jimmy is peering at me. “You hungry?” he asks.
    I nod. I am always hungry.
    He digs in his pocket for a couple of smashed-up cookies in waxed paper. We all huddle
     together, eating cookie crumbs and watching guards fight the fire. Annie is holding
     baby Walty. Piper sent Theresa up the hill to the warden’s house to get diapers and
     then back up again for a bottle.
    Officers work under the floodlights, manning dock hoses and shuttling water hand over
     hand in bucket brigades from neighboring apartments. An officer in his bathrobe pulls
     our kitchen chair out of the apartment and hoses it down. Officers in shirtsleeves
     smother the blaze with rugs and blankets.
    “Get out of the way. Turn the hose up. Hot spots back there,” Trixle shouts, his voice
     hoarse even with the bullhorn. For once, I’m glad for that bullhorn.
    “Where are your parents?” Annie whispers.
    I shrug. “They went to the yacht club to have dinner with the warden. I thought they’d
     be home by now.”
    “My parents aren’t back either,” Piper says.
    “That must have been so scary,” Annie says, “trying to get Natalie out.”
    I don’t say anything. I don’t want to talk about how scary it was.
    • • •
    Slowly the crackling roar dies down, the wall of heat lifts, and the cool of the evening
     returns. Puddles, empty buckets, and axes litter the dock. The island truck is parked
     cockeyed with one door open. Several hoses are crisscrossed between 64 building and
     the bay.
    I don’t know how long we stand like this, but my parents still aren’t back and Annie
     and her dad have gone into the city. He burned his hand. Must have been bad too, because
     Doc Ollie sent him all the way to San Francisco Hospital instead of treating him here.
    My feet are numb by the time the men straggle down the 64 building stairs. Mr. Mattaman’s
     face is grimy and he’s missing his uniform jacket. Officer Trixle’s hair is black
     with ash. He’s in his shirtsleeves, his chest puffed up and his muscled arms shiny
     with sweat as he holds the bullhorn to his lips. With my father and the warden off
     the island, he’s senior officer and he wants everybody to know it.
    “All clear,” he bellows. “Go on now. You folks go home.”
    I look up at my home. The windows are shattered, revealing a blackened hole inside.
     There’s a mess of buckets on the balcony and black scorch marks on the wall.
    All I can think of is my baseball glove. If it burned up, I’ll never replace that.
     It was worn in just the way I like it.
    Then I look at Natalie. I’m glad we have her button box, but we don’t have my toothbrush
     or her favorite purple blanket. Did they burn too? I feel bad thinking about possessions
     when Annie’s dad’s hand got hurt, but I can’t help