Silent to the Bone by E.L. Konigsburg

Author:E.L. Konigsburg
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

14.

The phone rang as I was almost out the door to catch the school bus. Dad had already left for the office, so Mom answered. There is a certain tone in her voice—polite but strained—that tells me that Margaret is on the other end. So to spare my mother’s having to make conversation and to keep myself from missing the bus, I took the receiver from her without being called.

“Hi. What’s up?”

“I got a call late last night from Morris JJ’s Pizza.”

“How did he find you?”

“The sales slip. I charged the pizza. I’m in the phone book.”

“Did he say he remembered Branwell?”

“I think he was about to, but he hung up.”

“Did he say anything?”

“He said, ‘Is this Margaret Rose Kane,’ and I said it was. Then he said, ‘This is Morris from JJ’s,’ and I said, ‘Oh, hello.’ ”

“Why did you waste time saying that? You already said hello once.”

“How was I supposed to know he was about to hang up?”

“What else did he say?”

“He asked if that kid—meaning you—who was with me was my brother. I admitted you were. He asked if you go to Knightsbridge Middle, and I said you did. He asked when was school out, and I told him. Then he said, ‘I was thinking about . . . ,’ and I heard another voice, and that’s when he hung up.”

“Was it a male voice?”

“Not sure. It was muffled like he had his hand shielding the mouthpiece.”

“Did it sound like his mother?”

“How should I know? I don’t even know if he has a mother.”

“Everyone has a mother, Margaret. Between us, we have two.”

“It’s far too early in the morning for you to be giving me biology lessons, Connor. I’m calling to tell you that I had my machine on when he called, so I’ll save the tape. If you want to come over to my place after you see Branwell, we can listen to it together.”

“Déjà vu all over again.”

She hung up.

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.