Just Another Hero by Sharon M. Draper Read Free Book Online Page B

the room, Mrs. Witherspoon put an old plastic crown over her curly blond hair and a purple cape over her shoulders.Kofi figured they were probably left over from a million Halloweens back—they looked awful.
    Spoon dimmed the lights and proceeded to recite the words from the ancient story as it might have been told hundreds of years ago beside a crackling fire. Her voice was strong and powerful as she quoted the words from memory:
    Then, when darkness had dropped, Grendel
    Went up….….….
    â€¦.….….…The monster’s
    Thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws:
    He slipped through the door and there in the silence
    Snatched up thirty men, smashed them
    Unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies,
    The blood dripping behind him, back
    To his lair, delighted with his night’s slaughter.
    In the middle of her presentation, the classroom door burst open and a cold wind whooshed through the room. A few kids jumped, half-expecting, perhaps, the fiend Grendel to appear.
    Standing in the doorway, a toothpick hanging from the side of his lips, a sneer on his face, was not a monster, however. It was Eddie Mahoney, who had spent most of last year at a juvenile detention center. Dana stifled a scream.
    Wearing an oversize black T-shirt and baggy jeans,Eddie looked around the room as if daring someone to say something. But even Mrs. Witherspoon was speechless.
    â€œIt’s been a while, Eddie,” she finally said, jumping off the table and removing the crown. To the rest of the class, she said, “You guys go ahead and work on your PowerPoint presentations on Beowulf . You know what to do.”
    Kofi had no intention of doing any classwork. He slid over to Dana’s table and sat down next to her. He took her right hand in his—it was shaking. He bent close. “Don’t you worry, Dana. If Eddie Mahoney so much as looks at you the wrong way, I swear I’ll kill him.”
    â€œDon’t talk like that, Kofi!” Dana whispered anxiously.
    â€œI’ll hurt him bad. I’m not gonna let him touch you. I promise,” Kofi swore.
    â€œI got your back, too,” added Jericho, leaning across the table. “Big-time.”
    â€œYou think he blames me that he got sent away?” she whispered. “It was my testimony that convicted him.”
    â€œHe deserved all he got and more!” Kofi whispered fiercely. “He hurt you!”
    November sat on the other side of Dana, squeezing her left hand.
    Kofi leaned forward to hear what Eddie and the teacher were saying.
    â€œSo, Eddie,” Mrs. Witherspoon began, looking at the papers he had handed her. “It seems you had some good teachers up there at the center. I’m surprised they sent you back to this school, however. Usually a new school is preferable.” She typed some information into her computer. Kofi thought she looked nervous.
    â€œI asked to come back here. I told them all my friends were here.” He laughed his gravelly laugh, but there was no humor in it.
    â€œWell, as you can see, we’re in the middle of Beowulf ,” Mrs. Witherspoon told him, “and I—”
    â€œI already read it while I was in lockup. Macbeth and Hamlet , too. I like those old stories. Everybody dies at the end.” His eyes never left the teacher’s face.
    â€œWell, I absolutely refuse to allow any trouble in my classroom, Eddie. Do you understand me?” Mrs. Witherspoon was short, and Eddie towered over her, but it was clear she meant business.
    He nodded as if she amused him. “No sweat, Spoon. I just wanna get my credits so I can graduate.”
    Kofi noticed that when most kids called her “Spoon,” it was a term of endearment for the teacher who would loan a kid lunch money or help a girl buy that prom dress she couldn’t quite afford. But in Eddie’s mouth the nickname sounded somehow disrespectful…dirty.
    Eddie took a seat near