The Word Eater by Mary Amato Read Free Book Online Page B

seat in the center and looked beyond her. “Where’s Nitz?” he wanted to know.
    Another MPOOE jumped up and peered out at the Nitzes’ house. “If he’s absent, it won’t be as good.”
    â€œShut up,” hissed Reba.
    The bus driver yelled at everybody to sit down, yanked the doors shut, and pulled out.
    Lerner’s stomach was in knots. What were the MPOOEs plotting? And where was Bobby? She felt horribly guilty about Ripper. Mr. Nitz’s words kept playing over and over in her head. She couldn’t imagine her parents talking to her that way.
    Her parents had been angry about the detentions, but they didn’t call her names. They gave her a nice long lecture about behavior and how important it was to make a good impression at school. Usually, she hated lectures, but after hearing Mr. Nitz yell at Bobby, she didn’t think her parents’ lectures were so bad.
    She had made a horrible mistake deleting Ripper. It was absolutely wrong to delete something living. She definitely was
not
going to go through with the Attackaterrier experiment.
    The bus rumbled over a pothole. Sharmaine turned around and looked at her. For a second, Lerner thought she was going to declare herself a SLUG. But then Sharmaine looked away.
    Reba moved to an empty seat next to Lerner. “So, where did you get all those Nutty Munches yesterday, SLUG?”
    The bus turned a wide corner, rolling on and off the curb with elephant-like thumps. She turned to Reba calmly and said, “My name is Lerner, not SLUG.”
    Lerner saw Sharmaine smile.
    â€œI have an excellent idea,” Reba went on. “Why don’t you open your backpack and let me see if you’ve got any more candy in there.”
    â€œForget it.” Lerner pulled her backpack in. “You’re just mad because I gave them to SLUGs. You can’t tell me what to do, Reba.”
    â€œI’m just worried about you, Lerner. I think you might have stolen those candy bars and I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
    The bus rumbled over another pothole. Lerner kept quiet, hoping Reba would go back to her seat.
    â€œSo, where’s neighbor boy?” Reba asked.
    â€œI don’t keep track of Bobby.”
    Reba glared. “There’s something going on. We think both you and Nitz are in on it. You have both been acting strange. And we’re going to find out what it is. Just wait till you see what we have planned for Nitz.”
    The bus pulled into the school parking lot. What did they mean they have something planned for Bobby, Lerner wondered. Now what?

    At 8:45 A.M ., the Mack Technical School on Bellitas Island was ready. The children were sitting at their tables, penmanship books open on their desks, newly sharpened pencils poised. Fake test scores were taped onto the bulletin board. Boris, the bodyguard, was sitting on a stool at a large chalkboard pretending to be a teacher, scratching under his collar as if his fancy suit gave him hives.
    Mr. Mack surveyed the scene. The FBI investigator was due to arrive any moment. There was only one thing left to do, Mr. Mack thought, get rid of that skinny girl with the big mouth.
    As if she could read his mind, Lucia spoke up, “Shouldn’t we be writing something in these notebooks?”
    Boris looked at Mr. Mack. “She got a point, Boss.”
    â€œFine. Fine,” Mr. Mack said, as he walked the floor. “Write ‘See Spot Run’ on the board and everyone can copy it.”
    Lucia went to the board and wrote:
Frio Re Bampas.
    Anybody who speaks Bellitan knows that Frio Re Bampas does not mean See Spot Run. It means: Free the Children. And when Lucia wrote the revolutionary statement on the board, all the children in the room straightened up in their seats.
    Lucia looked out at her friends with a stone face, willing them to keep their cool. She could see the questions in their eyes: What was she up to? Would Mr. Mack catch