Booked (6 page)

The twins get

sent back

to ABC

for the rest

of the school year.

Coby gets

two days'

suspension.

You get

nothing.

Free as a bird.

the fight,

Principal Miller

sends a letter

to all parents

saying
racism

will not be tolerated

at Langston Hughes.

Then we have

a
looonnnnng
assembly

and watch

Martin Luther King's

“I Have a Dream”
speech,

which you know by heart

from listening to it

fifty-eleven times

at home.

I got an email from Principal Miller.

Everyone got that.

I also got a call.

. . .

Racism is serious, Nicholas.

I know, Dad.

Were these boys picking on you?

It's nothing. I can handle it.

By fighting?

I
wasn't fighting.

Principal Miller says you were mixed up in all this. And Coby got suspended? That's not good.

They started it.

Son, if they're bullying you, I can schedule a meeting with their parents and the principal.

Dad, no. You don't understand. I'll be fine. Can I get back to my homework now?

There's only been

one fight.

It didn't go well.

Happened

in fourth grade,

during social studies.

Some kid named Travis

put his fingernail

in your hair.

You kicked

his desk.

He didn't like that.

Told you to meet him

after school

on the playground.

You'd been taking

tae kwon do lessons,

so he was in for a beatdown.

When you arrived,

he wasn't there, so you

practiced:

side punch,

knife hand block,

roundhouse kick.

But when he showed up

you were a little exhausted

from all the freakin'
practice,

so as he rushed you,

instead of readying

for the easy takedown,

you called

TIME OUT,

and turned around

for a breather

when he jumped you

from behind,

and you never

went back

to tae kwon do.

because Dad canceled

the cable,

so you missed

The Walking Dead.

This morning he tells you

that you're not getting

this week's allowance

'cause of your mountain of unwashed clothes.

And now Ms. Hardwick

is reading another boring book

in class, and April hasn't smiled

at you since the lunchroom brawl.

L
ovely

I
ntelligent

M
agnetic

E
lectric

R
ed-hot

E
asygoing

N
ice

C
ourageous

E
legant

The intensity

on your face

is deafening, Nicholas Hall!

What? Huh?

If only you were concentrating as much

on
The Watsons Go to Birmingham

as you were on that notebook of yours.

Care to show us what you've been working on?

It must be good, because your pencil's been

perpendicular for a good part of my class.

Come up here. And bring

your notebook with you.

feels like a death march.

Each classmate you pass is

eager and loaded,

ready to fire.

No other way to look at it.

Everyone's gonna know.

April's gonna know.

You're pretty much dead.

A bead of sweat drops

from your eyebrow.

Ms. Hardwick had to see it

hit her desk.

You hand her the notebook.

She glances at it, then shoots

a look that says,

You're going down, Hall!

If there were an award for worst teacher,

Ms. Hardwick would win hands down.

She's had a frown on her face

since the beginning of the school year.

So, when she smiles, you're flummoxed.
^*

Well, it appears that

Nicholas here has been

doing a little bit of extra credit,
she says,

staring at your notebook.

Now you're really confused.

She hands you back your notebook.

Nicholas, would you please share

this lovely new vocabulary word

you've discovered.

She winks at you when she says
lovely.

She's gonna embarrass you in front of everyone.

Do I have to, Ms. Hardwick?

It's such a wonderful, rhythmic word.

Spell it for the class, please.

You do, and then she goes in for the kill.

Do you know what it means, Nicholas?

No, you lie. (Why is she still smiling?)

Let's give Nicholas a round of applause.

Everyone does. Even April.

Class, your homework is to define
limerence

and use it in a sentence.

Whew, you think, as you walk

back to your seat.

(I survived!)

Ms. Hardwick isn't all that bad.

You escaped,

but just before

you sit down

Winnifred raises her hand

and starts

spraying bullets

everywhichaway.

She says,

from the French word
limier
.

I can tell you what it means right now, Ms. Hardwick.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Go right ahead, Winnifred.

Limerence is

the experience of being in love with someone,

commonly known as a crush,

but not any old crush.

A. Major. Crush.

NICHOLAS B. HALL

BELOVED SON. BEST FRIEND. SOCCER STAR.

2003–2016

DIED OF ONOMATOPHOBIA.
^*

MAY HE REST IN PEACE.

When I was little,

my favorite toy

was a remote-control

helicopter.

I took it on vacation

one summer

and accidentally flew it

into the hotel pool.

I was afraid

to jump in

and get it

because I couldn't swim.

By the time

my dad got it out,

the engine had flooded

and it wouldn't fly anymore.

It was my favorite toy,

and I lost it.

I guess what I'm trying to say, Coby,

is I'm sorry.

I should have jumped in,

helped you in the fight.

He shrugs his shoulders,

tells you,

Don't worry about it, Nick.

Just have my back next time.

Did you get in trouble?

Yeah, I can't play in any games

for a week.

WHAT?! Can you still go to Dallas?

Of course.

Whew!

Sorry, Coby!

Yeah, just deal the cards.

Let's play soccer after school,

Nick.
I can't. Got some chores to

do before my dad gets home.

sit on the floor

in the back

near the biographies,

playing cards,

whispering.

I already started packing for Dallas. You?

Think she knows?

Everyone knows, Nick.

How? Did April say something?

Nope, but Charlene gave me this note to give to you from April.

BLACKJACK.

SHHHHH! Let me see the note.

What note?
whispers The Mac, surprising both of us.

I told you to be quiet, Coby.

Hey, why are we whispering?
whispers The Mac.

'Cause we're in the library, Mr. Mac.

Not in
the
dragonfly café. WE DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT HERE!

. . .

Fellas, let me ask you a question. Do you have a fave book?

Yeah, a checkbook, you say. Give me some cash.

Good one, Nick,
Coby says, laughing along with you.

Ha! Ha! I'm talking about a book that wows you. Just totally rips your heart out of your chest and then brutally stomps on it. That kind of book!

Oh, WOW! you say.

When you find that kind of book, holla at us, Mr. Mac.

How was that soccer book I loaned you, Nick?

Uh, about that—it's a kids' book, Mr. Mac.

Yeah, but it's about Pelé,
he says.

Really, it's a book about Pelé, the King of Fútbol?
Coby asks.
I would read that.

You would?

Nah, probably not, but I'd definitely look at the pictures,
Coby says, and we both laugh.

Okay, enough goofing off, fellas. And hide the note you slid under your leg before Ms. Hardwick peeps it.

Blackjack,
Coby says as The Mac walks off.

Dear Nick, Charlene and I think

“Limerence” is beautiful.

Meet me after my swim class.

Coby, you still wanna play soccer?

Yeah!

Cool!

But I thought you had chores?

I can do them later.

You're suspect, bro!

Come on, man, just wait with me.

Can't, I gotta get home to watch my sister.

Just for a minute. I don't know what to say.

Just talk about the weather or something.

That's corny.

Nick, it ain't deep. Talk about what you know.

Soccer?

Yeah, talk to her about the Dallas Cup.

Good idea, but what if she thinks it's boring.

Then she's crazy, in which case you don't want her anyway.

True.

I gotta go.

But there she is. Over there on the sidewalk. What should I do?

That's a shame.

What?

That you don't know what to say, given all the words in your dad's dictionary.

Hey, where ya going? Come back!

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Nice bike, Nick.

Thanks.

Thanks for coming.

Yeah.

Aren't you gonna ask me how was swimming class?

How was swimming class?

Well, Ms. Hardwick jumped in the pool.

What? No freakin' way!

Yeah, she wanted to
test
the water. Get it? Test?

That's funny.

Did you hear she isn't coming back next year?

Seriously?

Yep. She's going to another school. In Texas.

WOW! That's cool!

I like her.

Yeah, she's okay I guess, you lie.

. . .

Hey, I'm going to Texas.

That's nice. For what?

Dallas Cup. It's a pretty prestigious soccer tournament.

I like when you say words like that.

Prestigious
? That's not really a big word or anything.

But you know a lot of big words?

Yeah, thanks to my dad, the verbomaniac, I have to read his dictionary of weird words.

What letter are you on?

I just finished
Q
&
R
.