Don't You Know There's a War On? by Avi Read Free Book Online Page A

Orange Street, where she went into an apartment house.
    I hung back for a while, making sure she really went in. Then I took myself into the building. A quick peek told me she wasn’t in the lobby or nothing. But I saw this up-and-down line of mailboxes in the wall with a call button and name label under each box. At the bottom of Apartment 5-C, fifth button down, it said, GOSSIM .
    When I went home, I walked right by Coleman Tailors. I didn’t talk to Denny. Then, at my house, we didn’t have a phone, so I couldn’t call neither.
    See, I had to think it out in my own head first. You know, before it went into someone else’s head.
    Only at night, when I got into bed and the lights were out, I couldn’t fall asleep. It was like a stuck movie: Miss Gossim just looking over that cliff. It was probably the most awful thing I had seen in my whole entire life.
    â€œGood-night, Rolanda Gossim,” I kept saying. But shedidn’t show up. Not at all.

 
    ----
    TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1943
    ----
    American Drive Forges Ahead.
    Rommel in a Vise.

    Grand Admiral Doenitz,
    Nazi Germany’s Submarine War Wizard,
    Pledges U-boat Warfare
    Backed by Total Nazi Sea Power.
    U-boat Toll Rises As Nazis Use New Tactics.

    Test of Army Air Raid Signals
    in City Is Set for Wednesday Night.

20
    THE NEXT DAY , far as I could see, Miss Gossim was acting normal. Full of smiles and fun. But, see, maybe because I knew what was going on, every once in a while I’d catch her staring out the window. It was as if something was out there only she could see. I checked. Nothing there but Hicks Street.
    Miss Gossim let me take the math test again during first recess time, which I did. She graded it right away. I passed it—with a D-minus. Have to admit, I was happy. At least I’d be able to go to the movies next Saturday morning.
    But I wondered if her passing me meant she liked me special. Know what I’m saying? Only, when I was watching her, seemed to me she liked all the kids.
    Oh, yeah. Another thing happened that day. Like Miss Gossim promised, it was head-lice-check day. The whole room passed. Even Emily. Which was a good thing, because no one liked a louse.
    But then Miss Gossim reminded us that next weekwould be ringworm-check day.
    And I was thinking, great, Miss Gossim wouldn’t be around. Not even for ringworms.

 
    ----
    WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 1943
    ----
    Allies Lost Millions of Tons
    of Shipping in 1942.

    Seamen from U.S. Cargo Vessel
    Torpedoed in the Atlantic.

    Nazi U-boat Menace Is Seen as
    Sole Threat to Allied Victory.

    To Save Gas, States Asked to
    Keep 35-Mile Speed.

21
    WEDNESDAY WAS A big day. In school, not much happened. After school, tons.
    First, like I was supposed to, when school was over I headed home. Denny had to go somewhere. On the way I checked the headlines. As I was looking at them, old Mr. Teophilo—the blind newsman—turned toward me with his closed eyes and wrinkled eyelids and said, “I don’t know, Howie. Looks pretty bad today.” He fingered his gold chain like it was some good-luck charm. “Where’s Denny today?”
    â€œHad to do something. Mr. Teophilo,” I said, “you mind my asking? How come you knew he wasn’t here with me?”
    â€œAw, Howie, it ain’t so hard. Everybody is all kinds of different ways. You know, different breathing, talking, moving. They even smell their own way. In the whole world, no two people the same.”
    I said something like “Yeah,” wondering, as always, how he knew.
    Soon as I got back to our apartment, Gloria said, “Guesswhat?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œLetter from Pop.” She held up a blue square of paper. It was folded-over thin blue paper to save weight. It was a what we called V —for “victory”—letter.
    Near our address on the front was a red stamp mark that read,
CENSORED!
    Now, understand, my pop had been gone for more than a month.