Goodbye, Mr. Spalding by Jennifer Robin Barr

Author:Jennifer Robin Barr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Published: 2019-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

21

The wall will be built high enough to put the outlaw stands on the roofs of Twentieth street dwellings out of business. This has been a sore spot with the A’s for years.

—The Sporting News, December 20, 1934

“Bad news, son.”

Pop’s voice startles me, and my eyes jolt open. He is standing over me with his hands in his pockets and takes a seat at the edge of the bed. What day is today? Am I late for school?

Then I remember the events of the days before. Polinskis. Dilworth. Cops. Hot cocoa. Lasagna. The hearing.

“The hearing?” I ask. Pop nods, and I sit up.

“Mr. O’Connor came over after you went to bed. We lost.”

“What? That can’t be!” I say.

“They had a really good lawyer. We knew it would be a long shot, anyway.” There is a long pause. “They’ll build it before next season begins.”

“But wait! Didn’t their lawyer miss the hearing? Didn’t he think it was at a different time? Did he have gas in his car? I thought that if they didn’t have a lawyer there, the judge would side with us. Didn’t that happen?”

I realize how crazy I sound, but I stare at him, my eyes pleading for an answer. The corners of his mouth curl up a bit.

“He was at the hearing. He didn’t miss it.” Pop rises from the bed and stands above me, arms crossed.

“Really? Are you certain?”

“I’m certain. Is there anything you want to tell me?”

“No, Pop,” I reply.

“Really? Because O’Connor heard something about a prank played on their lawyer.”

“Prank?” I say uneasily.

“Thought the hearing time had been changed. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“No.” I flop back on my pillow so he can’t see my face.

“If you change your mind, I’ll be at the store doing inventory,” he says.

“But I just did that,” I snap.

“Well, we may have had a theft. I need to make sure nothing else is missing,” he says. I shoot up to a sitting position.

“Why do you think that?”

“The police dropped off an empty gas can they found in the street. Had our stamp on the bottom.”

“A gas can? Who do they think stole it? Where was it?” I spew the questions quickly, and Pop crosses his arms.

“James Frances, is there something you need to say to me right now?” he says firmly.

“No, Pop. Nothing.” I bury my head in my hands and wait for him to leave.

A few minutes later, I hear the Bingle.

“I guess the Polinskis weren’t caught,” Lola says when I meet her on the rooftop. “The police would have told your father that.”

“No. They didn’t get caught. And I’m sick and tired of worrying about them. We lost the hearing. That’s what we should focus on.”

“But Jimmy, they’re out roaming the streets right now,” she says uneasily.

“There’s got to be something we can do.”

“Maybe try to talk to them in school? Smooth things over while there’s an adult around,” she says.

“I’m not talking about the Polinski brothers. Can you just focus on the

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