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Show -31- Peppermint Monday a technique to it, a real art. You have to learn to find an argument in everything, and then be able to defend either side of the argument. Thanks to debate, I've raised two possible "C's" to "B's". Ma's a stickler for good grades because she was one of those people who always got "A's", without really having to study. I guess Jason and me took after pa. English was boring today. I chewed on my pencil, leaving small indentions of braces in the soft, yellow coated lead. Mr. Sonders is going bald and talks in a monotone voice. When that voice drones on about predicate nominatives, of all things, most of the class is either sleeping or playing around with anything they can find. I had my pencil. Billy Crowley had his pocketknife. He was slowly drilling a tiny hole through the top front of his desk. So while I chewed my pencil, I watched Billy's careful, precise turning of his knife. Pa asked me once if I knew who drilled holes in desk tops. Someone had done it to several of the wood-topped desks in each classroom. At the time I honestly hadn't known. Everybody knew now that Billy was responsible. All the teachers knew too. But no teacher had actually seen him doing it. Thvy had to catch him in the act in order to accuse him, and they all got carried away on their own subjects during classes. All Sonders would have to do is look away from the blackboard. But he enjoyed predicate nominatives. I think he was the only one. As I watched Billy whittling at the desk, I couldn't help thinking about him trapping animals. Maybe he did enjoy slow torture. He was certainly doing it to the desk. Billy was one of those tough kids who talked back to everybody, and never seemed afraid. I didn't even try to as I thought. hide the twitch at the corners of my mouthA Even if I didn't like old Jake, which I didn't, it would have been some sight to see Billy run |