Free Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek Page B

dead!”
    Daddy’s voice was like thunder, and I hurried to my room, my heart beating so fast and hard it felt like a hammer against my chest. I didn’t want to hear the rest of the story, even though questions filled my mind. Why did Mr. Reed do those bad things to Tess? And what would Daddy do now that he was so upset? Daddy’s angry voice scared me. I knew he couldn’t have really meant that he’d kill Mr. Reed, but his threat sounded so real.
    Back in my bed, I held Jellybean tight. Even though my room was warm and my body wrapped in thick blankets, I couldn’t stop shivering.
    I tried hard to stay awake, to keep my eyes open. Why didn’t Daddy and Tess stop talking? I slid over to one side of the bed, remembering that Tess would be sleeping with me. I kept wishing she would hurry; I didn’t like being alone, not tonight anyway.
    My eyes eventually closed, but only bad dreams swirled inside my head. Mama’s voice called me, but I couldn’t find her no matter which direction I ran. Her voice was like God talking: it filled the air around my head and yet, I could never see her face.
    Tess must have had bad dreams, too.
    When I woke in the middle of the night, I found her sleeping in Daddy’s bed.

NINE
CHALK DOORS, CHOCOLATES, AND A KISS
    T HE NIGHT’S BAD DREAMS left a heavy fog inside my head. After finding Tess asleep in Daddy’s bed, I went back to my room. I’d thought about nudging Tess awake and asking her to come back to my room where she belonged, but I was afraid of what I didn’t know or understand. Her seizures scared me. The things her father did to her scared me, too.
    When it started getting lighter outside, I felt a little safer. I fell asleep again, this time without dreams.
    I woke later, not as tired, but still uneasy. I hoped I’d slept too late and missed the school bus. I wanted to go to the hospital to visit Mama instead. I hurried from bed, kicking the tangle of blankets from my feet.
    I still felt unsettled, though—nervous and confused. I even had trouble brushing my teeth, ending up with toothpaste all over the place. I hoped breakfast would help.
    Coming downstairs, Jellybean peeped inside his box and I almost tripped on the steps. As I crossed the floor, the whistle in the teakettle blew, and my heart jumped into my throat. I couldn’t remember ever being so nervous. It was as if a wire had been wound too tight inside me.
    When I finally joined Daddy and Tess at the kitchen table, I felt glad that the chair held me up.
    The telephone rang. Daddy rose to take the call. I tried to hear what he said, but Tess blabbed on about the breakfast she’d cooked, making it hard for me to hear Daddy’s voice.
    When Daddy returned to the table, he said that some boys had broken into the school and shoved burlap bags and old shoes into all the toilets. The school was flooded, which meant our Easter holiday would begin today instead of Thursday. I was glad, because now I’d be able to see Mama.
    Tess rose and went back to the stove. She asked if they knew which boys did it, but Daddy said no.
    I knew it was probably Hank Shipes, the worst troublemaker at school. But I didn’t day anything. Mama was all that mattered to me.
    Tess placed a plate of food in front of me and stood at the counter grinding more beans for coffee. The smell was good, but the noise just made me more jittery.
    Suddenly, someone knocked on the front door. Startled, I dropped my fork on the floor and nearly knocked over my glass of milk. What if Mr. Reed had come back for Tess? I thought about the gun in the shed and worried Daddy might use it to make Mr. Reed leave.
    Daddy pushed his chair from the table and walked toward the door.
    I held my breath.
    But it wasn’t Tess’s father. It was Mr. Morgan, who owned Daddy’s store.
    Seeing him was like a smile had washed over me. I jumped from my seat and ran toward him. “Mr. Morgan! Mr.