Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Author:Jewell Parker Rhodes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2018-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

I wish she could hear me murmuring “Sorry.” Her saying “toy” wouldn’t have made any difference.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Sarah’s school is much better than mine. I mean, much better than my old school. Her school has trees and a track, basketball gym, and football field. My school has a chain-link fence and concrete where I ran and played hoops. Her school is mainly white. Mine was mainly black and Hispanic. Her school has a library with computers. Mine doesn’t even have a librarian.

Being dead, I see places I never saw before. See homes not high-rise projects, schools better than I ever imagined. Who knew there were schools with computer and science labs? Libraries with fluffy pillows and couches?

I wouldn’t have minded going to Sarah’s school. If I’d gone to Sarah’s school, I never would’ve been late or faked being sick. I don’t think any kid at my old school—even the troublemakers—would’ve minded a sky-blue-painted school with bright lights and clean hallways.

The nice librarian, with glasses dangling from her neck, comes toward us, stops, her face puzzled, then steps around me and squeezes Sarah’s shoulders. “Shouldn’t you be in class, Sarah?”

Sarah doesn’t answer.

“Are you all right?” The librarian—Ms. Penny, her name tag says—encourages Sarah to sit. “I’ll call the principal’s office. Let her know you’re here.”

“No, wait.”

Ms. Penny plops down in the kid-sized chair. She leans forward. “Do you want a counselor? I can call Mr. Stevens.”

“No. I just want to sit.”

Ms. Penny leans back. “Sit as long as you need.”

“How about forever?”

Ms. Penny pats her hand. “You’d get hungry, I think. Bored.”

Sarah can’t help but giggle and I feel lighthearted. I haven’t heard laughter in a long time. Sarah stops. “In class, some kids talk about what a good cop my dad is. He is a good cop. But he can’t be if he killed a kid, can he?”

Ms. Penny doesn’t say a word, just hugs her.

“Ask her about Emmett,” I whisper, though Ms. Penny can’t hear me anyway.

“Ms. Penny? Have you heard about Emmett Till?”

“Now, now, that’s an upsetting case.” She gazes blankly into space. “You can research it when you’re older,” she says, flat.

“Why not now?”

Yeah, I think, feeling proud of Sarah. What’s wrong with now?

“You’ll learn about Emmett when you learn more about civil rights.”

“When’s that?”

“Well,” Ms. Penny says, flustered, “it happens bit by bit. During Black History Month. In history class. Social studies.”

“I’m in seventh grade and I haven’t learned about Emmett Till.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t know about it. At least for now. It’s terrible when grown men kill a child.”

“Like my dad?”

“Oh, Sarah, I didn’t mean—”

“But it’s true!” I holler in the librarian’s ear. “It’s terrible when a man kills a child.”

Sarah looks at me. Then, she looks at the librarian. “Jerome died in the city. Chicago. The same city where Emmett was born.”

“That’s true. But Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi. Sixty years ago.”

“So, what’s the difference?”

“Emmett’s death made a difference. His death began the African American Civil Rights Movement.”

“You mean like Martin Luther King Jr.?”

“Yes. But much more.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.