A Boy.
Page 15-17.
5. Story
Page 15
“What’s all this nonsense
about your mother
breaking her promise?”
asked his father.
Bradley was ready.
“She promised
she’d take me
to the zoo tomorrow,
and now she won’t!”
“What?”
exclaimed his mother.
“I never said
I’d take you to the zoo.”
“She did too!”
said Bradley.
“Since there is
no school tomorrow,
she said she’d
take me to the zoo.”
“I didn’t even know
there was no school tomorrow
until his teacher
called me this afternoon,”
his mother protested.
“You promised!” said Bradley.
“Okay,” said his father.
“Janet, what time
is your appointment tomorrow
with Bradley’s teacher?”
“Eleven o’clock.”
“Okay, you can go
to your appointment
and still have time
to take Bradley to the zoo,
after lunch.”
“But I never said
I’d take him to the zoo.”
“You did!” accused Bradley.
“And we have to go
in the morning.
We have to be at the zoo
at eleven o’clock!”
Claudia snickered.
“Why do you have to be
at the zoo at eleven o’clock?”
He glared at her,
then turned back to his father.
“Because that’s when
they feed the lions.”
Claudia laughed.
“She promised
she’d take me
to see them
feed the lions
at eleven o’clock,”
Bradley insisted.
His mother was flabbergasted.
“I – I don’t even know
when they feed the lions!”
Page 16
“Eleven o’clock,” said Bradley.
“Don’t lie to your mother,”
said his father.
“Really,” said Bradley.
“They feed the lions
at eleven o’clock.”
“I don’t tolerate lying,”
said his father.
“I’m not lying,”
said Bradley.
“Call the zoo
if you don’t
believe me.”
“Don’t lie to your mother
and don’t lie to me!”
“Call the zoo!”
“Your mother said
she never promised
to take you
to the zoo.”
“She’s lying.”
Right after he said it,
he knew it was
a mistake.
His father turned purple
with rage.
“Don’t ever call
your mother a liar!
Now go to your room!”
“Just call the zoo,”
Bradley pleaded.
“Maybe I did tell him
I’d take him to the zoo,”
said his mother.
“See!” said Bradley.
“Keep it up, Bradley,”
said his father.
“Just keep it up.
You want to be a criminal
when you grow up?
You want to
spend your life in jail?
I see people
just like you
every day
at the police station.
Just keep it up.”
Bradley stared angrily
at his father.
“Not all criminals
go to jail!” he asserted.
“What about the man
who shot you?”
“I said, go to your room!”
Bradley stood up
from the table.
“I didn’t want to eat
this junk anyway.”
He stomped down
the hall into his room
and slammed the door.
Then he opened it
Page 17
and shouted,
“Call the zoo!”
one last time,
then slammed it again.
He lay on his bed and cried.
“Don’t cry, Bradley,”
said Ronnie.
“Everything will be
all right.”
“You’ll think of something,
Bradley,” said Bartholomew.
“You always do.
You’re the smartest kid
in the world.”