A Boy.
Page 9-11.

5. Story

Page 9

Bradley opened
the front door to his house,

then made a face.

It smelled like fish.

 

“You’re home early,”

his mother said
from the kitchen.

 

She was a large woman
with fat arms.

 

She was wearing
a sleeveless green dress

and holding a butcher knife.

 

“My friends and me,

we raced home,”

he told her.

 

A fat fish,

about the size
of one of Mrs. Chalkers’ arms,

lay on a board
on the counter.

 

Bradley watched her
raise the knife
above the fish,

then quickly
hack off its head.

 

He walked down the hall

to his room and
closed the door.

 

“Hey, everybody,”
he announced.

“Bradley’s home!”

 

But he was pretending
that it was someone else
who was speaking.

 

“Hi, Bradley.
Hi, Bradley,” he said.

 

“Hi, everybody,”
he answered,

this time speaking
for himself.

 

He was talking
to his collection
of little animals.

 

He had about
twenty of them.

 

There was a brass lion
that he had found
one day in a garbage can
on the way to school.

 

There was an ivory donkey
that his parents
had brought back
from their trip

to Mexico.

 

There were two owls
that were once used
as salt

and pepper shakers,

a glass unicorn
with its horn broken,

a family

Page 10

of cocker spaniels
attached around an ashtray,

a raccoon, a fox,
an elephant,  

a kangaroo,

and some that
were so chipped
and broken

you couldn’t tell
what they were.

 

And they were all friends.

 

And they all liked Bradley.

“Where’s Ronnie?”

Bradley asked.

 

“And Bartholomew?”

“I don’t know,” said the fox.

 

“They’re always
going off together,”
said the kangaroo.

 

Bradley leaned across the bed

and reached under his pillow.

 

He pulled out Ronnie
the Rabbit and Bartholomew
the Bear.

 

He knew they were
under his pillow

because that was

where he had put them

before he went to school.

 

“What were you two

doing back there?”

he demanded.

 

 

Ronnie giggled.

She was a little red rabbit

with tiny blue eyes

glued on her face.

 

One ear was broken.

“Nothing,

Bradley,” she said.

“I was just taking a walk.”

 

“Er, I had to go to
the bathroom,”

said Bartholomew.

 

He was a brown-and-white
ceramic bear

that stood on his hind legs.

 

His mouth was open,

revealing beautifully made teeth

and a red tongue.

 

“They were making out!”

announced the Mexican donkey.

 

“I saw them kissing!”

Ronnie giggled.

 

“Oh, Ronnie!” scolded Bradley.

 

“What am I going to do with you?”

Page 11

 

She giggled again.

 

Bradley reached into his pocket

and took out a handful
of cut-up bits of paper,

his language test.

 

“Look, everybody,”

he said.

“I brought you some food!”

 

He dropped the bits of paper
onto the bed,

then scooped
all his animals into it.

 

“Not so fast,” he said.

“There’s plenty for everybody.”

 

“Thank you, Bradley,”

said Ronnie.

“It’s delicious.”

 

“Yeah, it’s real good,”

said Bartholomew.

 

“Don’t play with your food,”

the mother cocker spaniel

told her three children.

 

“Pass the salt,”

said the pepper owl.

 

“Pass the pepper,”

said the salt owl.

 

“Let’s hear it for Bradley!”

called the lion.

 

They all cheered,

“Yay, Bradley!”

 

Ronnie finished eating,

then hopped off by herself,

singing, “doo de-doo de-doo.”

 

Then she said, “I think I’ll go

swimming in the pond.”


The pond was
a purple stain
on Bradley’s bedspread

where he had once
spilled grape juice.

 

Ronnie jumped into the water.

Suddenly she cried,

“Help! I have a cramp!”

 

“You shouldn’t have

gone swimming

right after eating,”

Bradley reminded her.

 

“Help! I’m drowning!”

Bartholomew looked up.

 

“That sounds like Ronnie!”

he said.

 

“It sounds like
she’s drowning
in the pond!”


He hurried to the pond
to rescue her.

 

“Hold on, Ronnie!”
he shouted.

“I’m – ”

 

The door to Bradley’s room

swung open

and his sister,

Claudia, barged in.