Francie Read Online Free Page A

“I ain’t even finished my breakfast good.”
    â€œI’ll let you have some of my lunch.”
    â€œWhat about Perry?”
    â€œWe ain’t got time to wait for Perry. He’ll have to walk to school by himself. Now, come on!”
    The woods actually slowed us. We had to cross the creek by walking the flat stones without slipping in, and that took time and care and Prez’s constant bellyaching. “She ain’t got it in for me. Why I gotta go through the woods instead of on the road?”
    â€œShut up.” Fear made me irritable.
    I thought of ways of doing Augustine in. I thought of beating her over her ugly head with a stick, or ripping her hair out, or pushing her off a cliff. Though we didn’t have any cliffs around, I could imagine the satisfaction I’d feel in my hands as I sent her over one.
    I peeked out from the deep coziness of the forest edge. The school yard was empty.
    â€œCome on,” I said, pulling Prez by the arm. We crossed
the yard quickly to the classroom door. It was locked. I tried it twice, my heart sinking. Prez ran around to the window. He had to jump up to peek in.
    â€œShe’s in there,” he said.
    â€œWho?”
    â€œMiss Lattimore. She’s in there at her desk.”
    â€œWhat’s she doing?”
    He jumped up again. “Nothin’.”
    â€œNothing?”
    â€œJust drinkin’ a cup of tea or coffee or somethin’.”
    I went back to the door and tapped lightly. I waited, listening. When the door opened, I stepped back, speechless. Miss Lattimore, with a steaming cup in her hand, looked annoyed.
    â€œWhat is it, Francie?”
    â€œI just wanted to know if you needed any help?”
    â€œCan’t say I do—right now. You go on and play.”
    How was I supposed to go and play? I sat down on the steps, feeling miserable. Prez was happy—he had the tire swing all to himself.
    Then I noticed someone coming up the road. I could tell by the loping walk it wasn’t Augustine. I shaded my eyes against the morning sun and closed my mouth, which had dropped open. It was a boy. A big boy. He walked right into the school yard, stopped for a few seconds to look around, and walked over to me, bold as you please.
    His kinky hair was brushed back and packed down like
it had been under a stocking cap all night. His overalls and shirt were tattered but clean. He was darker than me, a reddish kind of dark. He didn’t look me in the eye.
    â€œWhat time this school start?”
    â€œIn a little while,” I said. He put one foot on the bottom step and looked off like he was trying to cover up some embarrassment. Prez hopped off the swing and came over to stare at him. He was still young enough to get away with it.
    â€œWho are you?” Prez said.
    â€œJesse Pruitt.”
    I was secretly happy that Prez was so outright nosy.
    â€œI ain’t never seen you before. Where you from?”
    â€œOver in New Carlton.” He stopped to give Prez the once-over. Then something seemed to smile in his eyes but not on his lips. “Ain’t no school in New Carlton.”
    â€œEverybody know that.”
    â€œYea,” he said. Then there was silence all around.
    As soon as the yard began to fill up, Jesse went over to a tree stump to sit and wait. Finally, Miss Lattimore came out and rang the bell. I dashed inside.
    From the safety of my seat, I watched my classmates file in, the strange boy hanging back, I noted, in the doorway. Each person looked up at him as they passed, wondering who he was and why he was there. Augustine finally arrived, and she stared openly at him even after she sat down, seeming to have forgotten all about me.
    Miss Lattimore took her seat, shuffled some papers,
then looked over her glasses at the boy. “You here for school?”
    He didn’t look her in the eye.
    â€œYes’m.”
    â€œWhat’s your name?”
    â€œJesse