Class President (4 page)

“If you have time, Mr. President, the children have prepared questions,” said Mrs. North.

“Well, I hope I’m prepared to answer them,” said the president. “Now that I’ve met your class, I’m sure they will be very interesting questions.”

Mrs. North had the students take turns coming to the front of the room. They would go by rows.

Marvin sat in the fourth seat of the second
row. He counted the people ahead of him. He would be ninth.

Judy Jasper was first.

Mrs. North told her to first say her name and then ask her question. She reminded her to speak loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Judy Jasper!” shouted Judy, causing the president to jump back.

“Not quite so loud,” said Mrs. North.

“Judy Jasper,” said Judy.

“When you were in the third grade, did you know you would be president someday?”

“When I was in the third grade, Judy,” said the president, “I don’t think I even knew there
was
a president. I was more interested in playing with my friends.”

Judy started to return to her seat, but
the president called her back and shook her hand.

Stuart was next. “Stuart Albright,” he said. “What if you don’t like white? Can you paint your house a different color?”

The president laughed.

“The White House doesn’t belong to me. I live there, but it belongs to all of the citizens of our country. And I don’t think they’d like it if I painted it blue with yellow polka dots. Do you, Stuart?”

Stuart’s mouth dropped open. “Uh, I, uh, um, it’s okay with me.”

He shook the president’s hand and hurried back to his seat.

Marvin practiced his question in his head.
What are you doing about pollution?
He wondered if he had to say his name first, since the president already knew it.
Marvin Redpost. What are you doing about pollution, Mr. President?
He had to remember to call him Mr. President.

Clarence was next. “I have a two-part question,” he said.

“Okay,” said the president.

“Do you have a dog?”

“Yes.”

“Does your dog know you’re the president?”

The president laughed. “You know, Clarence, I’ve been asked lots of questions, but I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that before.” He thought it over, then said, “I don’t think my dog cares if I’m president. I’ve had Pickles for twelve years. She has always made me feel as if I was the most special person in the whole world. Even before I was president.”

Clarence shook the president’s hand.

“Casey Happleton. Are you doing anything to get rid of pollution, Mr. President?”

Marvin felt a stab of disappointment. Now he had to think of another question.

“I’m trying,” said the president. “The problem is that everyone causes a tiny bit of pollution. Everybody thinks their little bit doesn’t make any difference. But when you put all those tiny bits together, you get a big problem.”

Casey nodded.

“Ask your other question!” said Melanie.

“Only one question each,” said Mrs. North.

“But she’s got a question I bet he’s never heard before,” said Melanie.

“Well, let’s hear it,” said the president.

Casey looked at Mrs. North to see if it was okay. In the classroom, Mrs. North was still the boss. Not the president.

Mrs. North nodded.

Casey took a breath. “Do I have to say my name again?”

“No, I know you’re Casey Happleton,” said the president.

Casey smiled. She took another breath. “If a spaceship lands in my backyard and a little green man says, ‘Take me to your leader,’ should I take him to you? And how do I do that?”

Everybody laughed.

“I think you should take him to Mrs. North,” said the president.

Everybody laughed again. Mrs. North laughed the loudest.

Casey shook the president’s hand.

Marvin practiced his war question.
Marvin Redpost. Are we going to get into a war anytime soon, Mr. President? Marvin Redpost. Are we…

It was Travis’s turn. “Hi, I’m Travis. Do you hate people who didn’t vote for you?”

“No. What really bothers me, Travis, is when people don’t vote at all. It makes me think they don’t care about their country.”

“Oh, good,” said Travis. “Because my parents voted. They just didn’t vote for you.”

The president shook his hand.

“Patsy Gatsby,” said Patsy. She was the first person in Marvin’s row. “Are there ever days when you wish you weren’t president?”

The president had to think a long time before answering that one. “I know there are days when
other people
wish I wasn’t president,” he said.

“Like Travis’s parents,” said Patsy.

The president smiled. “It’s not an easy job, Patsy,” he said. “There are times when it would be nice to take a hike, or just watch TV, or something. But I don’t think I’ve ever wished I wasn’t president. I feel very proud to have been elected to serve the citizens of this country.”

Patsy shook his hand, then returned to her seat.

“Nick Tuffle. When you go to another country, do you ever have to eat really weird food and pretend you like it?”

The president nodded. “It happens a lot. I try to spread it around on my plate, so it looks as if I ate more than I really did.”

“I do that, too,” said Nick.

“What’s the weirdest thing you ever had to eat?”

“Probably jellyfish.”

“Oh, gross!” said Nick.

Nick didn’t seem at all nervous talking to the president. They shook hands, then he returned to his seat.

Marvin was getting very nervous. It was Melanie’s turn, and he was after Melanie.

Mr. President. Are we going to get into a
war anytime soon? Marvin Redpost.

Melanie asked her question. “Is there going to be another war?”

Marvin couldn’t believe it.

“I hope not, Melanie. It’s just like being a good citizen. You shouldn’t fight. Our country is a citizen of the world. And we shouldn’t fight either.”

Melanie shook the president’s hand.

Marvin slowly walked to the front of the room.

“Hi, Marvin,” said the president. “I’m sure you’ve got a real good question.”

Marvin didn’t know what to do. All he had left was his shoe question. “Marvin Redpost,” he said. He looked at the president, who was looking at him. Marvin was impressed by how kind and smart he was, and how he remembered everybody’s
name. Marvin hoped to be president someday, too, and he wanted to be just like him. “Is there something we should be doing now if we want to be president someday?”

The president nodded and smiled at Marvin. “I think you’re already doing it, Marvin,” he said. “Work hard. Listen to your teacher. Be a good citizen. All those things we talked about earlier. If you do that, then any one of you—Casey, Travis, Nick, Patsy—might be president someday.”

The president put his arm around Marvin’s shoulders. “Take a good look at this bright young man here. You may be looking at a future president.”

Marvin could see all the cameras were pointed at him and the president. He tried not to smile. He didn’t want to look goofy.

The president left. The television crews left. Mr. McCabe returned to the principal’s office.

“Well,” said Mrs. North.

That was all she said.

Everyone waited for her to say more.

“Well, well, well,” said Mrs. North.

She walked from one end of the room to the other, then back again.

Marvin’s head was spinning. He couldn’t wait to get home and tell his
parents that the president had said he might be president someday.

“You guys were terrific!” Mrs. North said at last. “I have never been so proud.”

“Was I a good citizen?” asked Clarence.

“Yes, Clarence, you were,” said Mrs. North. “You
all
were.”

“Did we earn a marble?” asked Gina.

When the children were good, Mrs. North would add a marble to the jar on her desk. When the jar was full, they’d get to go to Lake Park.

Mrs. North opened her desk drawer and took out her bag of marbles. She pulled out a handful of marbles and dropped them in the jar.

Plop ploppity, ploppity plop.

“Let’s go to Lake Park!” she said.

Everyone cheered.

On the way to the park, Marvin spoke to Casey. “Thanks for helping me on the math problem.”

“I knew you knew it,” said Casey. “Your brain just got stuck.”

Marvin smiled. He thought Casey was a good citizen.

If Casey hadn’t helped him, then he never would have gotten the problem right, and the president wouldn’t have told him he might be president someday.

He decided that when he got to be president, he would ask Casey to be vice president.

Just so long as nobody thought he liked her.

He wondered if she would still have a ponytail sticking out of the side of her head.

Stuart came up alongside him. “Lake Park on a Thursday! Can you believe it?”

Usually, they only got to go to Lake Park on Fridays.

Marvin couldn’t even remember what day it was anymore.

“Hey, you guys want to come over to my house after school?” asked Nick.

“Sure,” said Stuart.

“How about you, Marvin?”

Marvin really wanted to go home and tell his family about the president. But he knew his parents wouldn’t get home until after five o’clock, anyway. They both worked.

“Sure, okay,” he said.

He stumbled, but caught his balance. He looked down at his feet. He had a strange feeling, as if his feet were trying to tell him something.

Marvin came home late in the afternoon. He was tired from playing hard, but still very excited. He walked through the gate, past the red post. Suddenly, he remembered.

“
Shoes,” he said aloud
.

He felt awful. It seemed as if he was always forgetting something. He sighed. He knew his mom would be mad. She had planned to leave work early just so she could take him shopping.

Maybe she forgot, too
, he thought. He hoped.

Linzy, his little sister, met him at the door. “You better hide,” she warned.

Marvin slowly stepped inside.