Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen Read Free Book Online Page B

trash chute?”
    That takes me a second. “It was kind of a big box—it didn’t fit. I took it down the elevator and then came back up the stairs. It’s quicker, y’know?” I smile real big. “Want to come down to the Dumpster and see?”
    She sputters around a bit and then hauls me by the arm down to Grams’ apartment and pounds on the door. Grams opens it, looking healthy as ever, and Mrs. Graybill says, “I know this girl is living with you, Rita! It’s against the law, do you hear me? Against the law!”
    Well, Grams takes
her
by the arm and drags her into the apartment. “Take a look, Daisy! Does it look like a child lives here?”
    So Grams is yanking on Mrs. Graybill, and Mrs. Graybill is yanking on me, and we’re all moving across the living room like some kind of giant centipede when Mrs. Graybill says, “Let go of me!”
    I say, “Let go of
me!
” and we all kind of look at each other and then let go.
    Grams takes a deep breath. “Daisy, honestly, the girl just helps me out. It gets lonely here—you know that. Don’t you wish some of your family would stop by every once in a while for a visit?”
    â€œEvery day is not once in a while!”
    So Grams guides her around the apartment. First she opens the bathroom door; then she opens the bedroom door. “Do you see evidence of a child living here?”
    Well, Mrs. Graybill’s looking around, not saying much. Then we move into Grams’ bedroom and Mrs. Graybill throws open the closet. And she’s dying to say, “Ah-ha!” only none of my clothes are in there. She lets out a little sigh, and Grams says, “Daisy, can’t you just give up the hunt? Wouldn’t it be more fun to be friends?”
    I’m thinking, Friends? With Mrs. Graybill? That’s all I need! But lucky for me, Mrs. Graybill just pushes her lips out so she looks like a duck with a fat pink beak and storms out of the apartment.
    Once she’s gone, Grams’ hands land on her hips. “So you’ve been suspended.”
    All of a sudden I’m so happy I could pop. I throw my arms around her and say, “It
was
you! I was afraid that maybe…” Then I look at her and say, “What happened to the story about Aunt Valerie?”
    â€œ
Victoria
—and I completely forgot. And once I started pretending to be your mother, I couldn’t exactly go back on it, now could I?”
    I give her another hug. “Grams, you’re the best!”
    She blushes, then pushes me toward the couch. “Now, Samantha, you sit right here and tell me what happened. How in the world could you get yourself suspended on the first day of school?”
    So I tell her. The whole thing. From the top. About Heather Acosta and her fire-engine hair and her earrings. About the way she made fun of my shoes and tried to mooch money from Marissa. About her sticking me with a pin and how I smacked her in the nose. Then I tell her about Mr. Caan putting me in the Box and how nobody but Marissa would even listen to me.
    And when I’m all done I take a big breath because the whole story came out in one gigantic sentence, and what does Grams do? She puts her arm around me and says, “I wish I’d had a friend like you when I was growing up, Samantha Keyes.”
    Then she asks me what happened with Mrs. Graybill, so I tell her all about how she was waiting for me by the fire escape door and how she grabbed me by the arm and yelled at me and how I lied about the trash chute and the Dumpster and everything. Pretty soon Grams is looking worried.
    â€œShe found the gum,” I say quietly.
    Grams sighs. “It’s only a matter of time, Samantha.”
    I look down. “What if I got a job? Maybe we could move?”
    â€œThat’s out of the question.”
    So we sit there a while and finally she says, “You’ll have to go out for a bit, so she thinks