Shoeless Joe & Me by Dan Gutman

Author:Dan Gutman [Gutman, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure, General, Sports & Recreation, Baseball & Softball
ISBN: 9780061973567
Google: srwg4OyJeX4C
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: 2009-10-06T04:00:00+00:00

14

Scrap Paper

WHEN JOE AND I GOT BACK TO HIS HOTEL ROOM, KATIE was already asleep. The room was dark, and I couldn’t see a thing. Joe pulled some matches out of his bathrobe pocket and lit a candle. He placed it on the dresser. Then he pulled a chair over so it was about four feet from the candle. He sat on the chair and stared at the flickering flame in silence.

I wasn’t sure what to do. Joe was sort of an unusual guy. Maybe this was some kind of religious ceremony to him. For all I knew, maybe he slept sitting in a chair. Maybe he had trouble sleeping, and staring at a candle helped him nod off. I was feeling pretty tired myself, but I didn’t think that crawling into the bed next to Joe’s wife would be the right thing to do.

“What are you doing, Joe?” I finally whispered when my curiosity got the better of me.

“What’s it look like?” he replied. “Ah’m lookin’ at this candle. Sheesh, are you dumb about some stuff!”

“I mean why are you looking at the candle?”

“It sharpens my battin’ eye,” he said, covering one eye with his hand. “Half an hour every night. Fifteen minutes with one eye and fifteen minutes with the other.”

I couldn’t argue with the guy. His lifetime batting average was .356. One year he hit .408. Maybe all ballplayers should hold bats up in the air for a half an hour and stare at candles.

“Where do you want me to sleep, Joe?”

“There oughta be some blankets and pillows in the dresser drawer,” he said, without moving his gaze away from the candle. “You can spread ’em out on the floor next to the bed.”

I did as he said, making a little bed for myself. I took off my clothes except for my underwear and hung them carefully on the chair. I would have to wear them the next day. Then I went into the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth.

I hadn’t thought to bring my toothbrush with me, so I just squeezed some of Joe and Katie’s toothpaste onto my finger and rubbed my teeth the best that I could. Instead of Crest or Colgate, they had some stuff called Dr. Sheffield’s Creme Dentifrice. It tasted awful.

When I came out of the bathroom, Joe was still staring at the candle. I slipped into my homemade bed. Even though I was tired, I didn’t want to go to sleep yet. I couldn’t get past the fact that I was with the great Shoeless Joe Jackson the night before the first game of the 1919 World Series.

“Is it okay to talk to you while you do that?” I whispered, trying not to wake Katie.

“It don’t bother me none.”

“What are you going to do tomorrow night?”

“Ah dunno,” Joe replied. “You wanna go see a movie or somethin’?”

“Isn’t the first game of the World Series tomorrow night?”

Joe shook his head, almost losing his gaze on the candle.

“And they say Ah’m dumb.

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