Part of Me by Kimberly Willis Holt Read Free Book Online Page A

fly.
    â€œI’ll take a look at your possums,” Rose said, dropping the dishcloth and following Merle Henry into the front yard.
    Outside, the possums hung over the fence. Blue sat underneath them like he was guarding treasure.
    Rose smiled and then said, “You aren’t going to try and skin them before school, are you?”
    â€œYes, ma’am. I have to if I’m going to keep the meat from spoiling. I want to sell them later in the colored quarters over at the sawmill town. Anyway, I have thirty minutes before the bus gets here.”
    Blue stood between them, panting. Merle Henry slipped his hand in his pocket and gave Blue another piece of beef jerky. He was the best trapping dog, staying with Merle Henry until the entire job was finished.
    â€œMake sure you clean up afterwards,” Rose said. “That means you and the mess. Last time, that dog of yours got into it.”
    Anytime Blue did something that made his mother mad she called him “that dog of yours.” But he knew she liked Blue. He saw her feed him scraps from her dinner plate, and he’d seen her pet Blue’s head like it was a kitten.
    Merle Henry picked up his knife and Rose went inside the house.
    *   *   *
    Maybe it was the possums that made Merle Henry feel brave enough to imitate Coach Burns in P.E. He knew he shouldn’t, but Merle Henry thought Coach was mean the way he called the folks who lived in the backwoods “woodsies.” He said it like they were ignorant without a lick of sense. The only difference between them and the folks who lived in town was that their houses were closer to the general store and the gas station.
    So when Coach Burns hadn’t made it to class, Merle Henry started prancing around, his head held high like a peacock’s. “Now listen here, you little woodsies, I don’t care if your daddy thinks he can beat me up. I’m sure he thinks he can if he’s drunk enough. But I’m from N’awlins and we are dignified there. We wait until Friday night to get good and drunk.”
    At first, the boys laughed hard and Merle Henry loved being in the spotlight. He kept circling the gym. Then the laughing stopped cold. A second later, Coach Burns lunged toward Merle Henry and seized hold of his earlobe and led him halfway around the basketball court.
    The other boys averted their eyes. Merle Henry’s face burned. As if the humiliation wasn’t enough, Coach Burns ordered him to arrive at the gym at 5:30 the next morning.
    â€œI’ll keep you busy until school starts,” Coach Burns said. “That is, if you live to see sunrise.”
    Merle Henry’s ear throbbed and he decided missing out on running his trap line the next morning would be the least of his problems. He’d never been in any real trouble in school and the thought of having to tell his daddy hurt more than his ear.
    That night Merle Henry went to bed early without telling his parents what had happened. He wondered if Gordie knew. If he did, he hadn’t said anything about it to him. Chances were he did know. Their school was small and news traveled quickly from class to class.
    In bed, Merle Henry read the rest of Old Yeller. He was thankful that the story let him escape from what had happened that day for a little while. He thought the ending was sad. A knot formed in Merle Henry’s throat and he wondered if he would have read the book if he’d known the dog was going to die. He decided he would have, though he couldn’t quite figure out why. Maybe it was because most of the book hadn’t been sad. Or maybe it was because Old Yeller reminded Merle Henry of Blue.
    When Gordie came into their bedroom, Merle Henry flipped over and quickly wiped his eyes with the sheet. He could hear Gordie undo his belt and slip out of his pants. Without looking, Merle Henry knew his brother would fold them up and place them on the chair at the foot of the