Free The Cardturner by Louis Sachar Page A

I stepped out of the bathroom, Toni's phone number in her hand. For someone who supposedly hated the Castanedas, she was awfully insistent.
    I went to my room and called Toni on my cell.
    "Hello?"
    "Toni?" I asked.
    "No, this is her father. Who's this?"
    For the record, although his initial hello might have been slightly high-pitched, Toni's father had a normal masculine voice.
    "Alton," I said.
    "I didn't get that."
    "Alton," I repeated.
    I don't think I've ever said my name just one time to anyone.
    A short while later Toni came on the line. "Hi, Alton," she said cheerfully.
    "My mom said you called," I said cheerlessly.
    "Your mom seems really cool," said Toni.
    That answered that question. Of course, everyone knew the Castanedas were bonkers.
    I stared out my window at the disaster known as our backyard and waited for her to say whatever it was she had called to say.
    She got right to it. "Why do you pretend you don't know how to play bridge?" she asked.
    "What do you mean?" I asked, neither admitting to nor denying her accusation. I felt like I'd been caught, but I wasn't quite sure what I was being accused of.
    "You knew about the takeout double," she said. "I saw it in your eyes. And you're always trying to guess what card he'll play before he plays it."
    "I may have picked up a little, watching him play," I said.
    "You need to tell him!" she said. "He'd love it if you played bridge. He's always saying how he wishes more young people would take up the game. He's afraid that bridge is like a dying culture. He's worried that in like thirty years, there will be no one left to play it."
    "Well, I've never actually played," I said. "And I never can figure out what bid he's going to make."
    "Bidding's not that hard, once you learn the basics. Trapp and Gloria use a complicated system and I'm trying to learn it, but you don't have to do all that. You just have to know which bids are game-forcing, which ones are invitational, and which ones are just cooperative ."
    The words meant nothing to me. "O-kay," I said hesitantly.
    She laughed. "I can teach you," she offered.
    I thought it over.
    "Okay, sure," I said.
    "Maybe we can have a game," she said. "Do you know two other people who might want to play?"
    I knew one for sure. Leslie had been dying to play.
    "My sister," I said. "She's only eleven, but she's real sharp. And I have a friend who's really good at cards."
    "Great," said Toni. "How about tomorrow?"
    I told her I'd check with my friend first and call her back.
    It's funny how you can go from hating a girl to maybe liking her, maybe liking her a lot, just because she shows a little interest in you. I pictured Toni in my mind. Her shy smile. The freckles across the bridge of her nose. The way she concentrated so intently when she was playing bridge with Trapp.
    I was reminded of the girl who had sat next to me in freshman algebra. We didn't have traditional desks. Two students shared a table. I'd watch her out of the corner of my eye as she tried to factor algebraic equations. She was oblivious to the world around her, oblivious that I was sitting next to her, as she chewed on the tip of her eraser. It made my heart ache, she was so beautiful.
    That girl had blond hair, and Toni's hair was dark, but they both had that same look of innocent and total concentration.
    I called Cliff.
    I should tell you that so far, when I've recounted my conversations with Cliff, I've left out certain descriptive words. It's not that we're especially vulgar or crude. It's just that those kinds of words seem worse in print than they do when we would just say them in an offhand way. I think I've been able to omit those words and still give you a fairly accurate account of what was said between us.
    However, if I were to try to repeat what Cliff said when I asked him if he wanted to play bridge, I'd have to leave out every other word. Let's just say he wasn't overjoyed with the idea.
    Still, he was my best friend, and when he realized I was