The Backyard Secrets of Danny Wexler by Karen Pokras

Author:Karen Pokras [Pokras, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Jewish, Judaism, Kar-Ben Publishing, Kar-Ben, Middle-Grade Fiction, Middle-Grade Novel, anti-Semitism, Bermuda Triangle, friendship, bullying, humor, fitting in, mystery
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2021-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Sneaking Around

I froze. I wanted to run, but instead, I kept perfectly still. Was the white van nearby? I’d been extra careful to check for it lately whenever I walked outside. Especially when I walked alone. But I’d been distracted by my talk with Mrs. Albertini. My eyes slowly slid sideways to get a glimpse of the hand resting on my shoulder. Please don’t let it be hairy.

It wasn’t. It was a kid’s hand, about the size of my own. I spun around.

“Nicholas?” I could barely hear my voice over my pounding heart.

He wore a black sweatshirt with the hood up over his head so that it covered most of his face.

“Not so loud,” he whispered. “My mom will kill me if she sees me here. I’m supposed to be at the market getting tomatoes.” He checked over his shoulders and then pulled his hood even farther over his face. “So can I come in or what?”

I wasn’t in the mood to hear him tell me all over again how he didn’t want to be my friend anymore. He was probably only interested in seeing Alice anyway. But I couldn’t get Mrs. Albertini’s friend Sally out of my head. “Yeah, okay,” I said.

Inside, Nicholas headed straight through to the kitchen, opened the door to the patio, and walked back outside. Without even asking or anything.

“Did you leave something out here the other night?” I asked.

He sat on the edge of the patio and pushed his hood off his head, staring up at the sky as he spoke. “I didn’t know Joey was going to say that today. The stuff about Larston. It’s not what I think.”

I sat down next to him but didn’t say anything.

“My dad . . . he said he was on the list for the next round of promotions with a bunch of other people. But then his boss told them they lost money from an order that got messed up. Said promotions wouldn’t happen. Made it sound like some of them might even get fired ’cause of it. Made it sound like your dad made the mistake.”

“He didn’t make any mistake,” I told him. “He just told the bosses about it. Before it became a bigger mistake. That’s why he got the promotion.”

“Some people are upset about it, that’s all.”

I reached down and picked at a weed that was growing between the cracks of the patio. “So they’re mad because my dad got a promotion and they didn’t? And that makes it okay to say awful stuff about my family?” I forced myself to look Nicholas in the eye. “My dad never got promotions when everyone else did, including your dad.” I stood up. My voice was getting angrier. “And you know what else? Every time that happened, I still stayed friends with you. I never said nasty things to the other kids.”

“I know that,” Nicholas said. “That’s why I’m here. I feel bad about it all. And I swear I didn’t say nasty things about you to anyone.

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