Bases Loaded by Mike Knudson Read Free Book Online

week, and we were ready. We all tried to act serious, but we couldn’t hold back our smiles. There was a lot of giggling and wiggling around in seats. The sound of a lady’s footsteps got closer and closer. Then, when I could hardly stand it anymore, our substitute came bursting through the doorway.
    â€œHello, class!” she called out in a bright, happy voice. I looked up and felt all the blood drain from my face. I thought I was going to faint. There was only one thing to say.
    â€œMom?” I said. My mom, my very own mom, was our substitute! My hopes and dreams of being Luke the Puke for the week were dashed. I couldn’t believe it. She had sent me to school this morning without saying a word about this! Surely she knew ahead of time. Surely she didn’t just decide to ruin the best week of my life sometime between the moment I left our house this morning and right now.
    â€œMrs. Knudson?” Graham said. “What are you doing here? Did you see our substitute out there in the hall?”
    â€œI am the substitute, Graham,” Mom answered with a big smile. Then she looked at me. “Raymond, this is the surprise I was telling you about yesterday. Surprise! Isn’t this great?” The entire class was staring at me. I could tell by the angry looks on their faces that they blamed me for spoiling their week of fun.
    â€œHow is everyone today?” Mom asked, walking over to Mrs. Gibson’s desk. “Well, hello, Diane, Heidi, and oh, Lizzy, how is your mother doing?”

    Diane gave her a sad wave, and Heidi said hello. I don’t know what happened to Lizzy, but all of a sudden it was like my mom turned into Mrs. Gibson and Lizzy was trying to become the teacher’s pet again.
    â€œHi, Mrs. Knudson,” Lizzy said. “Thank you for being our substitute. I bet you’ll be great.”
    â€œWhy, thank you, Lizzy,” Mom said. “That’s very nice of you.”
    David looked at me from across the room. He was gritting his teeth and hitting his fist into his other hand. My arm started hurting just thinking about what was in store for me at recess. This was going to be a long week.

7
    Sorry, Sweetie
    EVERYONE WAS QUIET at morning recess. It was like they had all just found out that Christmas had been canceled. Kids who normally played tag or swung on swings were just moping around. Graham and I usually played basketball at recess, but we didn’t really feel up to it today.
    â€œI can’t believe your mom is our substitute,” Graham said, shaking his head. “You know she ruined all our fun, don’t you?”
    â€œOf course I know she ruined our fun!” I said. “This was supposed to be the best week ever, and now everyone is just mad.” Just then David walked up and slugged me on the arm.
    â€œThat’s for wrecking our awesome week. And this,” he added, punching me again in the same place, “is just for being a dork.”
    â€œDavid!” called a sharp voice from the school steps. “That was not a nice thing to do to Raymond! I know your mother very well, and I don’t think she would appreciate a phone call from me about her son punching other children at recess!” It was my mom, and she was mad. We all turned around and watched as she marched right up to us.
    â€œNow what seems to be the problem, young man?” she asked David. He didn’t answer. I knew this was going to end up with more punches to my arm sometime when my mom wasn’t around. She just stood there waiting for an answer. Finally David spoke up.
    â€œThere’s no problem,” he grumbled.
    â€œWell, then I think you owe someone an apology,” Mom said with her hands on her hips. We were all silent. I could tell David wasn’t sure what to do. Usually, Mrs. Gibson just makes him sit by her desk for a day or two.
    â€œYes, ma’am,” David answered. He looked mad. “Sorry, Raymond,”