Bama Boy Read Online Free Page A

this.” Jimbo picked up his physics book and opened it at random. “ ‘The gravitational potential energy of an object is considered to be zero when the object is at an infinite distance from the earth.’ ” He shut the book with a snap. “See? This kind of stuff just sets a guy’s heart on fire.”
    “By the time Dad got finished with him, his heart wasn’t the only thing on fire! His ears may still be burning.”
    “I’ll bet ol’ Anthony wasn’t too keen about it, either. Probably beat the guy to a pulp!”
    “No,” I said with a twinge of regret. “Anthony says violence is for people who don’t know how to communicate effectively.”
    “I don’t know about that. If some guy tried something like that with my girl, I think I could communicate real effectively!”
    It had never occurred to me that Jimbo might have a girlfriend back in Alabama. For some reason, I found the idea unsettling. Shaking off the unaccustomed feeling, I opened my physics book to begin the session.
    About fifteen minutes before Jimbo’s hour was up, I heard the front door slam, and I knew Richie was home.
    “Tracy!” he yelled, charging into the living room. “Is Jimbo still here? Jimbo! We won! We won!”
    “No kidd’n’? What was the score?” I didn’t think anyone besides the pee-wee players and their parents would care about a game between ten-year-olds, but Jimbo couldn’t have sounded more interested if Richie had just played in the Super Bowl.
    “Thirteen to six,” Richie answered proudly. “I scored the second touchdown myself!”
    “Richie!” Mom called. “Jimbo and Tracy are trying to study, and you need a bath!”
    “Aw, Mom!” he groaned. “Let me tell him about my touchdown!”
    “Later,” Mom said, gearing up for the battle that was sure to follow. “Now, march!”
    “Go take a bath, squirt,” Jimbo said, whacking Richie on the rear with his physics book. “You stink!”
     Richie beamed as if Jimbo had just paid him some wonderful compliment, and scampered out of the room.
    I stared at Jimbo incredulously. “How did you do that?”
    Jimbo only shrugged.
    “He idolizes you, you know,” I said. “I hope he doesn’t embarrass you in front of the rest of the team.”
    “Shoot, no. Richie’s a good kid. I’ll have to take him snipe hunt’n’ some night.”
    “I don’t think we have any snipes around here.”
    “I sure hope not!” Jimbo grinned at me as if I’d said something wildly funny. “Nothin’ would shock a snipe hunter more than somebody comin’ back with a snipe in the bag!”
    “Then why bother to go?” I asked, all at sea.
    “It’s an old joke,” he explained. “You take somebody out into the woods and leave ‘em there with a bag. You tell ‘em you’re gonna chase the snipes, and they can catch ‘em in the bag.”
    “And then what?”
    He shrugged. “You just leave ‘em there and see how long it takes ‘em to figure out they’ve been had.”
    I grinned back at him. “Jimbo! You’d do that to Richie when he worships the ground you walk on?”
    He gave a short laugh. “If he worships the ground I walk on, I’d better take him soon, so he’ll learn the error of his ways . ”
    “You’d better get used to it—not just from Richie, but from the whole school.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “Your reputation has preceded you. Tickets for Friday night’s game are selling like hot cakes.”
    “Are you gonna be there?”
    “I’m not sure. I usually go out with Anthony on either Friday or Saturday night, but he doesn’t care much for football.”
    “No, I don’t guess he would. Probably thinks we ought to get out there on the football field and reason with each other.”
    The very idea was so ridiculous that I had to laugh, but I felt obligated to defend Anthony. “He’s not as bad as all that. At least, not most of the time.”
    “Well, if you can talk him into it, I wish you’d come. I’m gonna need all the friends I can get.”
    “Jimbo, you’re