âThat was the plan.â
âThe plan ?â said Mr. Klutz. âYou planned to have everyone drop their books on the floor? Is that your idea of fun ? One more stunt like that and you will be suspended, young man!â
âB-b-b-but â¦â
Everybody started giggling because I said âbutâ again.
10
Getting Suspended
Wow, Mr. Klutz was really mad. And so was I. When we went out for recess, I gave everybody a piece of my mind.
Well, I didnât really give them a piece of my mind. If I did that, I would have less mind for myself. But I told them how angry I was.
âHow come you guys didnât drop your books on the floor at one oâclock?â I asked. âThat was the plan!â
âWe chickened out,â Ryan told me, âso we called off the Big Book Drop.â
âWhy didnât anybody tell me you called off the Big Book Drop?â I asked them.
âI thought you told A.J.,â Ryan said to Michael.
âI thought you told A.J.,â Michael said to Neil.
âI thought you told A.J.,â Neil said to Alexia.
âI thought you told A.J.,â Alexia said to Ryan.
â Nobody told me!â I yelled at them. âAnd now if I do one more bad thing, Iâm going to get suspended.â
âWhat does being suspended mean anyway?â asked Alexia.
âIt means you get kicked out of school,â I told her.
âKicked out of school?â she said. âSo you wonât have to go to school anymore?â
âThatâs right.â
âHey, that means you get to stay home and watch TV,â Ryan told me.
âIt sounds pretty good to me,â said Michael.
âYeah,â said Neil. âI wish I could get suspended. Youâre lucky, A.J.â
âThat canât be right,â said Alexia. âAre you sure that being suspended means you get to stay home and watch TV?â
Thatâs when Emily and Little Miss I-Know-Everything walked by.
âHey Andrea,â shouted Ryan. âYou know everything. What does being suspended mean?â
âIâll look it up!â Andrea said cheerfully.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little dictionary. I guess she carries it with her wherever she goes so she can look up words and show everybody how smart she is.
Andrea leafed through her dictionary for a minute until she found the right page.
âAh, here it is,â she said. ââSuspend. To hang.â Suspend means âto hang.ââ
âSo if A.J. does one more bad thing,â Neil said, âMr. Klutz is going to hang him!â
âWHAT?!â I yelled. âI donât want to be hanged!â
âSorry, dude,â said Alexia. âItâs in the dictionary, so it must be true.â
âI wonder if the past tense of âhangâ is âhangedâ or âhungâ?â said Andrea.
âWho cares!?â I yelled.
âYeah, either way, itâs gotta hurt,â said Neil.
âI wonder if Mr. Klutz is going to hang you by your feet or by your neck, A.J.,â said Michael.
âIf you get hung by your neck, your head might fall off,â said Ryan.
âYeah, but if you get hung by your feet, all the blood rushes to your head and it explodes,â said Neil the nude kid.
âItâs been nice knowing you, A.J.,â said Ryan.
This was turning out to be the worst day since TV Turnoff Week.
11
The Most Amazing Trick Ever
When we got back to class after recess, there was a long wooden box in the front of the room. It looked like the kind of box that they use to bury people in.
âWelcome, ladies and gentlemen!â Miss Kraft announced. âAre you ready to witness my most amazing trick ever?â
âYeah!â everybody shouted.
âNo,â I said.
âWhatâs the matter, A.J.?â asked Miss Kraft. âI thought you liked magic tricks.â
âIf Mr. Klutz catches me doing