“See?” said Abel.
“I never noticed that before. Now I’ll never be able to say Miss Turbone again. Ahhh!” she screamed and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. “What I just said, Abel. It sounded like Mr. Bone, didn’t it?”
He smiled and nodded.
“Oh my,” said Melissa.
They reached her yellow car with the bumper sticker on the back that said SAVE THE WHALES. She got in. “Well, it was very nice meeting you, Abel.”
“Nice meeting you,” Abel smiled, “Mr. Bone.”
She winked at him, then drove off.
He walked back to his apartment, whistling. “Melissa Turbone,” he thought. “That’s a nice name, too.”
When he got upstairs, both he and Angeline suddenly realized that they were starving!
Sixteen
Crazy Driver
It was a clear crisp fall morning, splashed in sunshine, and although most of the birds had already headed south for the winter, there were still a few to be seen, chirping above the garbage truck. The fallen leaves crackled under its wheels as it rolled down the road, lined on both sides by trees, red and gold and brown, and by garbage cans, silver and bright, billowing with garbage.
The truck stopped and both Abel and Gus got out and walked to the nearest garbage. Abel, smiling as he had been all morning, like the cat that ate the canary, breathed in the fresh scent of fallen leaves mixed with old coffee grounds and crusty eggshells. “Well, I met Mr. Bone last night,” he said.
“And?” questioned Gus.
“She’s beautiful,” said Abel, grinning foolishly. He lifted a metal can and dumped it in the back of the truck. “Light as a feather,” he commented.
Gus smiled at his partner. “Oh yeah?” he said.
Angeline awoke on her sofa bed and instantly sat up, as if from a terrible dream. “Why do I have to go back to Mrs. Hardlick’s class at all?” she asked aloud, although she knew her father was already at work. “Why can’t I just wait a couple of days, until everything is straightened out, and then go straight to Mr. Bone’s class?” She frowned. “I mean Miss Turbone’s class,” she muttered.
Last night, her father had told her Mr. Bone’s real name. He had come in whistling, and humming the parts he couldn’t whistle; she had never seen him so happy. It made her smile and laugh just to look at him. But when he told her Mr. Bone’s true name, the smile dropped from her face.
“Miss…Turbone,” Abel had explained.
“Oh,” said Angeline. “That’s too bad.”
It was like he had told her there was no Santa Claus.
She got out of bed and tried to get ready for school as quickly as she could, but it seemed to take her forever. She knew that everyone would look at her funny and stare at her when she returned to class after all that had happened. She didn’t want to call extra attention to herself by walking in late. Yet she couldn’t get herself to move quickly. She nearly missed her school bus.
When the bus stopped in front of the school, she was the last one to get out of her seat. Very slowly she walked down the aisle between the rows of seats, and then stepped down the stairs to the parking lot. She put both feet on one step before moving down to the next one.
She continued to walk slowly across the parking lot and into the school yard. “You better walk faster,” she told her feet, “so I’m not late.”
She walked so slowly she was almost walking backward. On all sides, kids hurried past her to their classrooms, until, at last, she was the only one still outside. Then the bell rang.
“See?” she said. “Now I’m late.”
She stood outside Mrs. Hardlick’s door. She stood outside Mrs. Hardlick’s door. She stood outside Mrs. Hardlick’s door.
She opened it.
“…the capital of—” Mrs. Hardlick broke off in the middle of her sentence when she saw Angeline. She watched her walk to her seat in the back of the room. Everyone stared at her, just as she knew they would. “You’re late,” said Mrs. Hardlick.
She didn’t say anything. She saw Christy Mathewson give her a tiny wave, and that made her feel a little better.