Double Dutch by Sharon M. Draper Read Free Book Online Page B

They said nothing as they tossed the green slip of paper on Mr. Bernaldi’s desk. He glanced at them and continued his discussion of polynomials. Another teacher knocked on the door a few minutes later, and the two of them spoke in voices too low for the students to hear, but Delia could see Mr. Bernaldi glancing back at the Tolliver boys. The rest of the students took this brief respite from class to make their own whispered comments.
    â€œI heard they tried to suspend them, but they couldn’t.”
    â€œI heard the twins are really mad and are gonna get somebody.”
    Delia said nothing, but she peeked back at Tabu and Titan. They were looking out of the window, seeming to ignore the turmoil, but Delia had a feeling they were enjoying it.
    Mr. Bernaldi closed the door and returned to the front of the class. “Let’s get back to work, now. Delia, can you tell me the answer to number three?”
    Delia glanced at the problem. She thought for the hundredth time how easy math was for her, and wondered why reading was so impossible. “Seventeen,” she said with assurance.
    â€œGood job, Delia,” Mr. Bernaldi said, smiling. He turned to the twins, a look of challenge and determination on his face. “Tabu, can you tell me the answer to number four?”
Mr. Bernaldi is not about to be intimidated,
Delia thought, turning around in her seat to see what would happen.
    â€œTwo forty-nine point five,” Tabu replied defiantly, as if answering the challenge. He had barely glanced at his book.
    Mr. Bernaldi looked down at his notes to double-check the answer. “You’re correct, Tabu,” he said quietly. “Good job.”
    Even though the twins rarely participated in class activities, Delia noticed they made good grades. They were smarter than they let on to be. When teachers passed back papers in grade order from highest to lowest, a practice Delia hated, she noticed that the Tolliver twins usually had papers in the top of the stack and she usually had papers in the bottom.
Maybe if I had a twin,
Delia thought,
I’d get better grades. Two brains have got to be better than one.
    Before Delia’s social studies class, the next bell, the students huddled together in small groups, whispering andspreading the little information they knew. Titan and Tabu were not in this class. Then the bell rang, and Mrs. Parks, a tall, powerful African-American woman who wore a colorful African garment to class each day, tossed aside her textbook and said, “Okay, you need to talk, so let’s talk. This is what social studies is all about—people and problems. I know you all saw the TV show last week—it always amazes me what you watch when you get home—and I know you are concerned. Without making accusations or false statements, let’s discuss what’s going on. Melissa? You look worried.”
    Melissa, a skinny, quiet girl with braces and stringy blond hair, said softly, “I’m afraid of them—the twins.”
    â€œHave they ever done anything to make you feel that way?” asked Mrs. Parks.
    â€œNo,” Melissa admitted, “but one day they passed me in the hall, and they, and they—”
    â€œGo on,” Mrs. Parks said gently. “What happened?”
    â€œThey growled at me,” Melissa said quickly, as if she was embarrassed.
    The rest of the class started to laugh, but one look from Mrs. Parks silenced them. “That frightened you?” Mrs. Parks asked quietly. Melissa nodded, head down.
    â€œThey pushed me against the lockers when they passed me in the hall,” Delia offered next. “I don’t like feeling scared and I don’t like people who are rude.”
    â€œYou bring up an important point, Delia,” Mrs. Parks said. “Rather than talk about any specific people, let’s talk about fear and aggression and what it does to us. If you look at events in our history book, you’ll see