A Flying Birthday Cake? (2 page)

Mrs. North thought a long time, then said, “That won’t be on the test.”

Wall-ball

A plain concrete wall stood right in the middle of the playground. It wasn’t attached to anything.

Sometimes, Marvin wondered who built it, and why. But he didn’t complain. Wall-ball was his favorite game.

At recess, he got on line to play.

“I can’t believe I have to sit next to Joe!” Nick complained.

“Duh, what’s an elephant?” asked Stuart. Then he and Nick cracked up.

“Joe was just nervous because he’s new here,” said Marvin.

“Duh, how much does my brain weigh?” asked Nick.

Stuart laughed.

“His brain doesn’t weigh anything,” said Warren, who was in line in front of Stuart. “Because he doesn’t have one!”

Marvin looked around to make sure Joe wasn’t able to hear them. He saw Joe standing all by himself, on the edge of the blacktop. He looked lost. “Save my place,” Marvin said.

He walked over to Joe. “Hi. I’m Marvin.”

Joe smiled. “Hello, Marvin. I’m Joe. How do you do?” He held out his hand for Marvin to shake.

“Uh, fine,” said Marvin. He shook Joe’s hand.

Kids in Chicago were obviously more polite than they were here.

“You want to play wall-ball?” Marvin asked.

“I don’t know how,” said Joe.

“It’s easy,” said Marvin. “C’mon.”

He led Joe to the wall.

Kenny and Stuart were now playing, and Nick was first in line. Marvin and Joe got on line behind him, and in front of Travis.

“Hey!” said Travis.

“I was here,” said Marvin. “Nick saved our places, didn’t you, Nick?”

Nick looked at Marvin, then glared at Joe, then looked back at Marvin. “Yeah, I guess,” he said.

Marvin knew what he was thinking. He had saved Marvin’s place, not Joe’s.

Stuart beat Kenny, and now it was Nick’s turn.

Nick rubbed his hands together as he
stepped onto the court. “I’m going to kill you, Stuart!” he said.

“Not if I kill you first,” said Stuart.

“They’re good friends,” Marvin assured Joe.

Stuart served. He bounced the big red ball on the ground, then hit it hard with both hands. The ball hit the ground, then the wall, then the ground.

Nick hit it. The ball hit the ground, the wall, then the ground.

“You get how it’s played?” Marvin asked.

“I think so,” said Joe.

They watched each boy hit it several more times. Then Nick hit his “world-famous cross-court slam,” and Stuart was finished.

“Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the mighty Nick Tuffle has done it again,” Nick
proudly announced. “There is nobody on this planet who can return Nick Tuffle’s world-famous cross-court slam!”

“Who’s he talking to?” asked Joe.

“The people watching on television at home,” said Marvin.

Nick beat Marvin, too, and then it was Joe’s turn. “You can do it,” Marvin encouraged. He patted Joe on the back as Joe stepped into the court.

Nick served.

Joe hit it back.

Nick hit a long, high bouncer.

Joe jumped up and hit it back.

Nick hit a baby bouncer.

Joe raced forward and got to it before it bounced twice. He was a very fast runner.

Marvin found himself rooting for Joe, even though Nick was one of his best friends.

Nick smashed the return, but Joe ran backward and got to that one, too. He hit the ball off the wall and back to Nick.

Nick was way over on one side of the court when the ball came to him. He was in perfect position. He smashed his world-famous cross-court slam.

Joe raced to it and hit it back.

Nick was still way over on one side of
the court. He couldn’t get back to the center in time. The ball bounced past him. Joe won.

When the bell rang, Marvin, Nick, and Stuart headed back to class together.

“I hate Joe,” Nick said.

“You’re just mad because he beat you at wall-ball,” said Stuart.

“I am not,” said Nick. “Besides, I would have beaten him, but I wore out my hand beating you and Marvin.”

Joe caught up to them, out of breath and smiling. “That was fun!” he exclaimed.

“You ever play wall-ball before?” asked Stuart.

“No, that was my first time.”

“Well, no wonder!” Nick exclaimed. “Beginner’s luck!”

The Door Key

On Tuesday, Joe wore the same clothes he had worn on Monday: Mickey Mouse T-shirt, baggy pants, untied sneakers. But there was one difference. He wore a Chicago Bears cap instead of a Dallas Cowboys cap.

“Good morning, Mrs. North,” he said. “I hope I learn a lot today.” Then he took his seat next to Nick.

Marvin could practically see the hate coming out of Nick’s eyes.

“His name should be Joe Weird, not Joe Normal,” said Casey Happleton.

“He’s just new here, that’s all,” said Marvin. “You’d probably seem weird, too, if you had to move to Chicago.”

“He likes to kiss the flagpole!” said Casey.

Marvin wondered if she was making that up.

“I saw him do it,” said Casey. “He just walked right up to it and
kissed
it!”

“Well, maybe that’s what they do in Chicago,” said Marvin. “Instead of saying the pledge, they kiss the flagpole. He was probably just being patriotic.”

“Your name should be Marvin Stupid,” said Casey.

Later, at recess, Joe asked Marvin if they were going to play wall-ball again.

“No!” said Nick, before Marvin could
answer.

“Why not?” asked Joe.

“Because it’s Tuesday,” said Nick. “You can’t play wall-ball on Tuesday, can you, Marvin?”

Marvin didn’t know what to say.

Just then, two girls from his class, Gina and Heather, came running toward them. They seemed very excited about something.

“Hey, Joe!” said Gina. “Do you know what this is?” She was holding some kind of key.

“It’s what you are!” said Heather.

Joe smiled.

“What is it?” asked Gina.

“A key?” said Joe.

“What kind of key?” asked Heather.

Joe didn’t know. Neither did Marvin.

“It’s a door key,” said Gina.

“That’s what you are!” Heather exclaimed. “Dorky!”

The two girls laughed.

Nick and Stuart laughed, too. “Dorky!” Nick repeated.

“Don’t you get it?” asked Gina. “Door key, dorky?”

Joe didn’t say anything.

“He doesn’t even get it,” said Heather.

Joe walked away. He got it.

“Good. Now that he’s gone, let’s play wall-ball,” said Nick.

“C’mon, Marvin,” said Stuart, grabbing him by the arm.

Marvin played wall-ball, but he didn’t have any fun. He knew Joe was watching.

George Who?

“Why don’t you invite Joe to come over this weekend?” suggested Marvin’s mother. “He could spend the night.”

Two days had passed since Gina and Heather told Joe he was a door key. Now everybody called him that.

Marvin lay in bed. When his mother came in to wish him a good night, he told her about Joe. He didn’t tell her everything. He just said he felt bad, because there was a new kid at school and everyone picked on him.

“I try to be nice to him,” said Marvin. “I
think he knows that.”

Marvin knew what it was like to be picked on. Earlier in the year, everyone had picked on him.

He remembered how bad he felt. It was probably even worse for Joe, he thought, since Joe just moved here from far away.

He wanted to be Joe’s friend. But he was afraid that everyone would pick on
him again. And then if Joe moved back to Chicago, Marvin would be friendless.

“I’m afraid if I’m nice to Joe, then the kids will be mean to me, too,” he said.

“Maybe if you’re nice to Joe, the other kids will be nice to Joe, too,” said his mother. She kissed him good night.

On Friday, Mrs. North asked Joe to tell her something about George Washington.

“Who?” asked Joe.

“You, Joe,” said Mrs. North.

“I mean, who’d you want to know about?”

“George Washington.”

“I don’t think I know him.”

The class cracked up.

“How about Abraham Lincoln?” asked
Warren. “Do you know him?”

“I don’t think so,” Joe said. “Does he go to this school?”