Free Ola Shakes It Up by Joanne Hyppolite Page B

wanted.
    “Right smart idea,” he mumbled. “Time was when every family in Walcott had a proper clothesline in the yard. Never did see one hanging from a tree, though.”
    “It's a special clothesline.” I checked Grady and saw that he was sitting by the tree, still whimpering. “Grady's worried about me. I gotta go, Mr. Elijah.”
    “Well, Just Ola, I'll wait and see that you get down outta that tree all right, and then I'll be gettin' back to my night-watching.” Mr. Elijah bobbed his head again.
    I didn't bother to correct him about my name. I knew that senile people believe what they want. We never could convince Mr. Roland that we were kids instead of soldiers. I smiled as I looked for a place to put my foot. It had been Margarita's idea to turn the whole thing into a game. Every time Mr. Roland told us about an incoming bomb, all of us would start running like crazy. Some of us would fall and pretend we were wounded. When Mr. Roland said it was safe, he would order us to go back in and help the wounded back to camp. I stuck my foot into a hole in the middle of the tree and moved down a little. Thinking about Margarita made me remember my phone call to her that afternoon. She'd told me the “Martians” had moved into our house already but not to worry, 'cause she and Karen were looking for a bigger house right in Roxbury for us to move into, since we had a dog and Lillian now.
    “Now, pay attention to what you're doing, Just Ola,” I heard Mr. Elijah call.
    “Don't worry, Mr. Elijah,” I called back. I wasn't too far from the bottom now. “I'm the best jungle gym climber to come —”
    The next thing I knew, I was pressed facedown in the cold, wet grass with Grady running around me in circles and barking like crazy.
    “I was doing my usual nightwatching,” Mr. Elijah chuckled, lifting his mug of hot chocolate and sipping from it, “when I thought I saw a bear cub climbing up that big old maple tree in your yard.”
    Mama and Dad were both frowning deeply as Mr. Elijah talked. I picked up the hand mirror and looked at my face again. Mama had brought it down for me and ordered me to look what I'd done to myself.
    “Haven't seen a bear in Walcott proper since that circus accident in 1973, when all them animals ran loose around the town.” Mr. Elijah's face creased into a smile.
    I stared at my left cheek, which was all swollen up, and the long red scratch on the top of my forehead. At least it was only my face. The big winter coat, gloves and boots had protected the rest of me. Climbing trees and climbing jungle gyms were two whole different things.
    “As I got up closer to the tree there, I realized it wasn't a bear at all. It was a Just Ola!”
    While Mr. Elijah cracked up, I considered reminding Mama and Dad that they were breaking the neighborhood rule about no late-night visitors. Then I decided that the less I said, the better off I'd be. Mama and Dad were both giving me looks to kill. Mama had already spread ointment onmy face and checked all my limbs to see that I hadn't broken anything. Once she and Dad realized that I was okay, they had started getting mad.
    “Just what in the world were you doing?” Mama exploded.
    “My jump rope got stuck in the tree,” I explained quickly. I'd had plenty of time to think of something while Mr. Elijah told his story. I knew that if I told Mama that I was doing this all for her, she wouldn't believe me.
    “And just why did four o'clock in the morning seem like the best time to go climbing for it?” Mama asked. She was giving me that same look Mr. Elijah had been giving me earlier, like I was crazy.
    “W-Well, I couldn't sleep,” I stammered, looking away from Mama to Dad. I was hoping he would hurry up and give me my punishment. It's always the same. Mama does all the yelling and Dad gives out the punishments.
    “Normally four o'clock in the morning wouldn't be such a bad time to be climbing trees,” Mr. Elijah cut in. “It was just the wrong time