4. A Boy
Page 140-143
Story
Page 140
Before dinner,
while it was still light,
Bradley’s father,
bad leg and all,
taught Bradley
how to dribble (運球).
Bradley could hardly wait
to show his friends.
The next morning,
when the bell rang
for recess (下課休息),
everyone hurried outside.
Except Bradley.
First, he had
to put his paper
neatly in his notebook.
Then he had
to mark his place
in his book
and put all his
pencils in his
pencil holder.
Then he put
everything away,
neatly,
in his desk.
He rushed out
the door.
“Hello, Bradley,”
said Colleen.
He stopped cold.
Colleen closed her eyes
tightly,
then opened them.
With the
determination (決心)
of a Zen monk,
she asked,
“Would you like
to come
to my birthday party
on Sunday?”
Bradley stared
at her.
“Jeff will be there,”
said Colleen.
“He’s the only
other boy.
Everyone else
will be girls.
I would have
invited you sooner,
except, um,
I just found out
when it was.”
Bradley nodded his head
until his mouth worked.
“Yes!”
he said.
“Good,”
said Colleen,
then scooted (快速溜走)
away.
Bradley stared after her,
then turned around
in a circle
as he tried
to remember
which way
he was going.
Page 141
“Bradley!”
called Andy.
“Hurry up!
We need you.”
He ran
to the basketball court.
He forgot everything
he had learned
about dribbling.
§
“Is he coming?”
asked Melinda.
Colleen nodded.
Lori stuck out her tongue
and screamed.
“It’ll be fun,”
said Melinda.
“Bradley’s not the same
as he was.
I think
he’s gotten
better.”
“Oh,
you can’t come anymore,
Melinda,”
said Colleen.
“Why not?”
she asked,
obviously (顯然地)
very hurt.
“Because they’re coming,
and you beat them up!”
“But they started it.”
Colleen stared at her,
hands on hips.
She couldn’t believe
Melinda was being
so unreasonable (不講理的).
“I thought I was
your best friend,”
said Melinda.
“You are,”
said Colleen.
“But they’re boys.
Oh,
okay.
You can come.
But you better not
cause any more trouble.”
“I thought I was
your best friend,”
said Lori.
§
That night
Bradley lay in bed,
too excited (興奮的)
to sleep.
He couldn’t wait
until tomorrow
when he’d see
Carla again.
He had so much
to share
with her.
And it was all
because of her
magic book.
He turned on
the light
above his head
and read aloud (大聲地)
to Ronnie
and Bartholomew.
They laughed
whenever he did.
Page 142
“I just met Ace.
He’s my parents’
lawyer (律師).
Guess what?
He’s crazier than
my Aunt and Uncle
put together.
The first thing
he said to me
was,
‘Do you like
peanuts?’
‘They’re okay,’
I answered.
‘Good,’
he said.
He gave me
a peanut
and I ate it.
‘Do you want
another peanut?’
he asked.
I shrugged (聳了聳肩).
So he gave me
another peanut
and I ate
that one,
too.
Big deal.
‘You must really
like peanuts a lot,’
he said.
I told you
he was crazy.
‘I want you
to remember that,’
he said.
‘If anybody asks you,
you really like
peanuts a lot.’
‘Okay,
I really like
peanuts a lot,’
I said.
Then he gave me
three more peanuts!
‘Eat these!’
I ate them.
‘You just ate
three peanuts
in five seconds,’
he said.
Can you believe it?
He had timed me.
Tell me
he isn’t crazy!”
“He isn’t crazy,”
laughed Ronnie.
“Why is he making
such a big deal
over peanuts?”
asked Bartholomew.
“I don’t know,”
said Bradley.
There was
a loud knock
on his door,
then his father
entered.
“It’s past your bedtime,
Bradley,”
he said.
“Okay,”
said Bradley.
He reached for
his light.
“Oh,
you were reading,”
his father noticed (注意到).
“Well,
that’s all right then.
You can stay up
if you want
to read.”
Page 143
Bradley smiled.
Once again,
the magic book
had kept him
from getting
into trouble.
“So,
what did the kids
think of your dribbling?”
“I forgot how,”
Bradley admitted (承認).
He hated to
disappoint (讓……失望)
his father.
“I guess we need
to practice more,”
said his father.
“Maybe this weekend
I’ll put up
a backboard (籃板)
on the garage.”
He said good night
and walked out
of Bradley’s room.
“Come on,
I want to hear
about the peanuts,”
said Bartholomew.
Bradley continued reading.
“So then
he asked me,
‘Are you good
at math?’
Well,
I don’t like
to brag (自誇)
but math happens
to be my
best subject.
Big deal.
‘Okay,
here’s a math problem
for you,’
he said.
‘If you can eat
three peanuts
in five seconds,
how long
would it take for you
to eat
fifty thousand peanuts?’
I got out
a pencil
and paper
and figured (計算)
it out.
‘About twenty-three hours
and nine minutes.’
‘That’s less than
a day,
isn’t it?’
he asked.
‘Yes,’
I said.
‘There are
twenty-four hours
in a day.’
He’s supposed (應該)
to be my parents’ lawyer
and he doesn’t
even know
how many hours
there are
in a day!
‘Remember that,’
he told me.
‘If anybody asks you,
you can eat
fifty thousand peanuts
per day.’
I laughed.
‘Who would
ask me that?’
‘The police.’ ”
The chapter ended there.
The End