Salt of the King by Henry D. Terrell

Author:Henry D. Terrell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781632995094
Publisher: River Grove Books
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

There were titters from the students.

He continued: “My strong suggestion: Do not purchase an extra-large soda. Because if you do, by the time we get to Abilene, you will be ready to pop like an overfilled water bed. If you come up to me then and tell me”—He squinched up his face and spoke falsetto—“‘Mister Bellamy, Mister Bellamy, I need to go … so … bad,’ then guess what? We’re all going to make fun of you! And if you have an accident, I’ll make you mop.” The kids laughed. Bellamy sat down beside Chase.

The bench seats were small and hard, and the very cute seventeen-year-old girl sat on the window side. She pushed her leg up against his. He smiled at her.

“Why can’t the school give us regular buses?” she asked. “If this was Continental Trailways, I could just curl up and go to sleep ’til it was over.”

“I’m all for traveling in comfort, too,” said the teacher. “But we’re not one of the rich school districts. This way, it makes us all tougher. By the time we get to the tournament, we can fight giants.”

Chase laughed. “Feeling like I want to die won’t make me tough. But I’m going to try to sleep some anyway.”

The trip was not too bad. It wasn’t a cold day, but it was gusty, and desert dust seeped into the drafty bus. The kids did the usual cutting up and grab-assing, told jokes and sang songs.

On the outskirts of Big Spring, the bus pulled into a truck stop and novelty store, and the students piled out to pee and shop for useless things. They bought candy in all forms, chips, cookies, and, of course, twenty-four-ounce soft drinks. One kid bought a bottle of disappearing ink and walked around splattering drops of the blue liquid on the others, to his own amusement and no one else’s. Another came out with a trick baseball cap that squirted water, and walked up and down the aisle blasting students randomly until Bellamy told him to stop or his purchase would be confiscated.

Chase just got off the bus and stretched a little, then returned to her seat. She had brought a small blue pillow and tried to find a comfortable position leaning against the rattling bus window. Mr. Metcalf checked off the names one more time, and the bus roared back onto highway.

Dusk was settling in. Bellamy sat in his seat, listening to conversation, laughter, the crunching of snacks. Chase squirmed against the window, shifting and repositioning the little pillow. Finally, she gave up and sat up straight.

“Mr. Bellamy, do you mind if I lean against you and try to sleep?”

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