Dear God, Help!!! Love, Earl by Barbara Park

Author:Barbara Park [Park, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307483645
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 1994-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

*8* DEAD WITH A CAPITAL D

Maxie and Rosie were waiting for me when I got home. The three of us ran straight to my room.

Right away Rosie started asking a million questions. “How did it go, Earl? Was it creepy? Were you scared? What did the guy look like? Was he really, really ancient? Did he have on lipstick? Was he wearing a toupee? My great-uncle Moe was wearing a toupee, I think, but I didn’t—”

Suddenly, Maxie reached over and covered her mouth with his hand. “Did you get the pictures? Did you explain about the camera? Did you say the part about how pretty and peaceful the cemetery was? It worked, right? The lady believed you, didn’t she? Come on, Earl! Tell us what happened!”

I sat down on my bed and took a big, deep breath. Things had gone so perfectly, I probably should have been jumping all over the place. But for some reason I felt totally calm and relaxed inside.

There was only one other time in my life when I remember feeling that same kind of calm. It happened the first time I rode my two-wheeler. All by myself, I mean. Without my mother running along beside me.

I still think about that day sometimes. About how I took off from the house, real unsure of myself and all.

But as I went farther and farther down the sidewalk, it began to dawn on me that I wasn’t wobbling. I wasn’t even nervous, in fact. So I sat up a little straighter, turned around, and—grinning from ear to ear—I rode right back to where I’d started.

My mother was jumping up and down, and clapping her hands like crazy. But instead of getting off the bike and dancing all around, calm as anything, I leaned it against the garage wall and walked straight inside to my bedroom. Then, just like now, I sat down on the edge of my bed and took a big, deep breath. And as I breathed in, it was like my whole insides were filling up with this magical new feeling of self-confidence. I’m telling you, I wanted to hold that air inside me forever. ’Cause I was afraid that if I let it out, the feeling would escape along with it, and I might never get it back.

But now it was happening again. And just like before, it was the sweetest feeling in the whole world.

All at once, Maxie put his hands on my shoulders and shook me out of my mood. “Come on, Earl! How can you just sit there like that? Tell us what happened at the cemetery! Did you get the funeral pictures or didn’t you?”

I handed him his camera back and smiled.

“Did,” I said.

Maxie’s eyes opened wide. “Did?” he repeated in amazement. “You mean, you really, really got the pictures we need? They’re in the camera right now? They really, really are?”

I nodded. “Yup.”

Maxie came unglued. I’m not kidding. He let out this wild hoot of laughter and jumped on my back.

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