Free Broken by Mary Ann Gouze Page A

Siminoski had been hurt at the mill, there were conflicting opinions as to how the ladle slipped. An investigation determined it was an accident. Nevertheless, Salvador Tamero insisted Walter had something to do with it. Walter said Salvador never set foot in the mill and couldn’t possibly understand the complicated mechanics of ladling steel. Walter hated the entire Tamero family. More than once, he had threatened Anna Mae and David: If I hear of either one of you going near that house, I’ll wring your necks!
    Anna Mae hoped the rain wouldn’t prevent David from getting home before Walter. She looked down at her book. The frog has an external ear. Both eardrums, or tympanic membranes...
    BOOM! The thunder rolled like a freight train barreling across the sky. Lighting crackled as rain began falling in sheets. She picked up her book. Tym -pan-ic membranes are exposed...
    Sarah went to Bingo last night and lost all the change in the coffee can. The money was set aside for extra groceries. And beer. Thank God she had four dollars from baby-sitting. Earlier that morning, she had told Sarah if she needed it, she could have it.
    Anna Mae moved a foot that had fallen asleep. Blood rushed in with painful, prickly needles. She shifted her position and the pages of Biology One flipped to Mammals. As she rummaged around for the lost frog, she heard scuffling in the attic. Trying to ignore the disturbance above her, she found the frog and once again began reading. There is only one bone in the frog’s middle ear...
    “Rats!” She looked up. What the heck were they doing up there?
    …and the body structure of a frog…body structure... 
    The mills were in trouble. Lately, all Walter did was fume about European imports and the steelworkers being laid off. He also paid more attention to the money in the coffee can.
    Two weeks ago David won First Prize at the Regional Science Fair with his model Mercury Space Capsule. No other fourth grader had come close to matching David’s entry. On that same night, Walter went to a meeting about the situation at the mill. Davie said he didn’t care, but Anna Mae had seen the tears in his eyes when he stepped down from the podium.
    …the body structure of a frog is very similar to the anatomy of a man. Both man and frog have the same kind of organs...
    “Anna Mae!” Sarah called up the steps. “Anna Mae!”
    “Yes, Aunt Sarah.”
    Her Aunt’s voice was shrill and demanding. “You have to go to the store. We need bread.”
    “I’m coming!” She closed the book, took her baby-sitting money out of the dresser drawer and went downstairs where Sarah handed her a small grocery list saying, “And if you have enough money left, buy some Twinkies for Walter’s lunch.”
    Anna Mae left the kitchen, hoping her four dollars would be sufficient. She wanted Sarah to appreciate her. But it seemed no matter what Anna Mae did, it was never enough.
    “Take the umbrella,” Sarah yelled from the kitchen. “I don’t want the bread to get all soggy.”
     
    *     *     *
     
    The air in the attic was thick and sweet. A bleary eyed Stanley sat cross-legged on his unmade bed. He had a patch of brown fuzz on his upper lip and his hair hung well below his hefty shoulders. JD, his dark glasses at the tip of his nose, crawled around on the hardwood floor, gathering pieces of David’s model spacecraft. Crunch! He picked up the cracked tail fin. “Oh shit!”
    Stanley looked at the pile of pieces. “You better hope Anna Mae doesn’t find out you broke that!”
    JD put the tail fin in the pile. “I thought Davie made the rocket.”
    Holding a reefer between his thumb and index finger, Stanley took a long, deep drag. For a few seconds he locked the smoke into his lungs, extracting as much intoxicant as he could. Without breathing he choked out the words, “Anna Mae looks after her baby brother.”
    “But you said...”
    “I know! He ain’t her brother. Don’t start that bullshit.”
    JD