Guy Wire by Sarah Weeks Read Free Book Online Page A

lot better. I pulled out the Cedar Springs phone book and looked up Brudhauser. Before dialing the number, I practiced speaking like Principal Cappert. He has kind of a high whining voice, and after a few tries I thought I was coming pretty close to it.
    I dialed the number and let it ring three times. Kevin picked it up.
    “Hello, young man, may I speak to your mother, please?” I said in my best Cappert imitation yet.
    “Strang, is that you?” he said.
    I hung up immediately. So much for Plan B.
    And then it hit me. How could I have missed it? There was one and only one wayto make it up to Fennimore. It was pretty extreme, but I was willing to do it.
    “Mom!” I called as I ran down the stairs. “Get the clippers!”

Chapter Ten
    “A re you sure about this, Guysie?” my mother asked.
    “Positive.”
    “I’m not sure it’s really you,” she said reluctantly.
    “I don’t care,” I said. “I’m not doing it for me, I’m doing it for Fennimore. I don’t want him to have to bear it alone.”
    “That’s awfully nice of you, honeybunch. You must really care about him, huh?”
    When I’d first laid eyes on him, I’d been completely convinced that he and I would never be friends, but now I was ready to cut off all my hair just to make him feel better. I guess she was right. I did care about Fennimore.
    “Go ahead,” I said to my mother. “Do your worst.”
    She pinned a towel around my neck and went to work on me.
    A half hour later I reached up and ran my hand over my head. It felt like muskrat fur. Not that I’ve ever petted an actual muskrat.
    “What do you think?” I asked my mother.
    “Well, to be frank, it’s going to take some getting used to,” she said.
    I think I would have preferred to hear something more along the lines of “You look as cute as a button too,” but when I looked at myself in the mirror, I had to agree with her. It was going to take some getting used to.
    That night, as I went to sleep, I tried to imagine the look on Fennimore’s face when he saw what I had done for him.
    The next day was Saturday. As soon as I was up and dressed, I hopped on my bike and went over to Fennimore’s house. I couldn’twait to show him my hair. As I rode up his driveway, I heard a basketball bouncing behind the garage. Figuring it was Fennimore, I headed around the back. The boy bouncing the ball wasn’t Fennimore at all. He was tall, with a full head of dark curly hair and a sharp look to his face that immediately put me on edge.
    “Who are you?” I asked.
    “Who are you ?” he shot back.
    “I’m Fennimore’s friend Guy,” I said.
    “Well, I’m his best friend, George,” he said. He had the same kind of twangy accent as Fennimore.
    “Where’s Fennimore?” I asked.
    “Inside finishing breakfast. I flew up here yesterday to surprise him. Boy, was he glad to see me.”
    Fennimore came out.
    “Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked me. “Sheesh, what the heck happened to your hair?”
    “Looks like he got scalped, same as you,Fenn,” George cackled, and he spat in the grass.
    “Really, Guy, what’s with your hair?” Fennimore said again. “You look worse than I do. Why did you let her do that?”
    “I thought, I just thought, well, maybe it would help—”
    “The only thing that’s gonna help you now is a bag over your head.” George cackled and spat again. “Hey, wait a minute. Is this the kid whose mama skinned you, Fenn? The same one you told me ran around showing his bare butt at a class picnic or something?”
    “I did not!” I shouted.
    “That’s how I heard it,” said George. “Come on, Fennimore, let’s get out of here. This kid is giving me the creeps. Besides, his mama might be right behind him with her shears, and I don’t want to lose my hair too.”
    “Guy, you really shouldn’t have done it,” Fennimore said.
    “Yeah. No kidding,” added George.
    “I did it for you, Fennimore,” I said. “To show we’re friends.”
    “Some