All-Bright Court by Connie Rose Porter Read Free Book Online

any day now,” Henry had said.
    This was the day it had gotten there. It would be Saturday tomorrow, and Henry didn’t know if he could bluff his way out of the barber’s chair again. He and Skip went right home after school. Henry ran upstairs and got a towel, a comb, and the jar of cream he had hidden in his dresser drawer.
    When Skip first applied the cream to Henry’s scalp, it felt cool. Henry could feel it working. He could feel the naps sliding out of his hair. The comb was gliding through, flying through his slick hair.
    Then the fire started. Just a flicker at the base of his neck. And then, as if fanned by some unseen wind, it spread all over his scalp.
    â€œIt’s burning, man,” Henry said.
    Skip stood over him, still raking the hard plastic comb over his scalp. “I’m fenna put you in the oven now,” Skip said.
    And two minutes after Skip stuck Henry’s head in the oven, Henry’s mother walked in.
    â€œHere the pants,” Henry said. “Rinse me now, Skip.”
    Skip slipped on the pants and went to the sink to put out the fire on Henry’s scalp. He turned on the water, and a few drops fell on top of Henry’s head. They could hear the singing of air in the pipes.
    â€œAin’t no water, man. They cut the water off,” Skip said.
    Henry began screaming again, and his mother opened the back door. “What happened to the water?” she asked the men in the yard.
    â€œIt’s off, ma’am. We cut it off at noon to unclog the sewer. It’ll be back on by five,” one of the men said.
    But it was barely four, and Henry could not wait until five. “Go put your head in the toilet,” his mother said. “Hurry now, before that stuff burn you.”
    Henry and Skip ran upstairs to the bathroom, and Henry dunked his head into the bowl of the tankless toilet.
    Skip grabbed the soap dish and tried to dip some of the water from the bowl over Henry’s head. But it did little good.
    â€œI’m a kill you, man,” Henry said.
    â€œHow was I supposed to know they turned the water off?”
    Henry’s mother entered the bathroom with a six-pack of Pepsi and began pouring the pops over her son’s head. “Go next door on either side of me and see if anyone saved some water,” she told Skip.
    Skip took off and left Henry alone with his mother. The Pepsi was putting out the fire and tingling his scalp. His mother was gently wiping the lye from his head.
    Skip returned with a pot and a pitcher of water, and Henry’s mother finished rinsing his head in the sink. She managed to get all of the lye out.
    â€œYou going to let me keep it? Can I keep it, Mama? I’m almost a man, Mama. I’m a senior. Can’t I wear my hair like I want?” Henry pleaded.
    â€œIt’s your head,” his mother said, and walked out of the bathroom.
    Henry stood there with tears in his eyes, and Skip ran his fingers through Henry’s hair. “It’s tough,” Skip said. “It’s really tough.”

6
Grounded
    â€œP ETER PAN a faggot. He a boy they say can fly, but I don’t think no boy can fly. That’s stupid. Rick, this boy that moved ’round my block, me and him climbed our row roof and jumped off. It was snow on the ground. It looked like a lot of snow. It wasn’t. I didn’t want to jump first. I pushed Rick. He screamed all the way down. The snow didn’t break his fall. He broke his leg. They couldn’t get me off. They had to call the fire trucks, and then I ran from the men when they was on the roof. It was dark then. That’s why I think Peter Pan stupid. Can’t no boy fly. I don’t want to fly nohow. I want to drive me a Cadillac.”
    Isaac sat down after he read his report. “That’s interesting,” the teacher said. “You seem to be saying you don’t like the book because you find it unbelievable, and Peter somewhat