Howie’s grandmother. She studied the head-lines, making a sort of mental buzz when she came to words she could not read. Z-z-z-z-z to run for z-z-z-z, she read. Z-z-z-z of z-z-z-z-ing to go up. She turned a page.

Z-z-z-z to play z-z-z-z at z-z-z-z. Play what, she wondered, and with a little feeling of triumph discovered that the Z-z-z-z-s were going to play z-z-z-z-ball.

“And what is the news tonight?” asked

Mrs. Kemp, her eyes on the television set.

Attention at last. “Somebody is going to

play some kind of ball,” answered Ramona,

proud to have actually read something in the newspaper. She hoped Mrs. Kemp would

say, Why, Ramona, I had no idea you were

such a good reader.

“Oh, I see,” said Mrs. Kemp, a remark

Ramona knew grown-ups made when they

were not interested in conversation with

children.

89

Ramona tried again. “I know how to set the table,” she boasted.

Instead of saying,You must be a big help

to your mother, Mrs. Kemp only mur-

mured,“Mm-hm” with her eyes on the tele-

vision set.

Ramona said,“I have a room of my own,

and tonight I’m going to sleep in it all my

myself.”

“That’s nice,” said Mrs. Kemp absently.

Ramona gave up. Mrs. Kemp did not

know the right answers.The clock said seven

thirty. Even though Ramona had fought

long and hard for the right to stay up until eight fifteen and was now working on eight

thirty, she decided that since her parents

were not there, she would not lose ground

in her battle for a later bedtime by going to bed early to try out her new room. She said

good-night and took her bath without using

her washcloth, so she would not have to

90

waste time wringing it out and hanging it up. Then she got into bed, turned out her

light, said her prayers asking God to bless

her family including Picky-picky, and there

she lay, a big girl, alone in her bed in a room of her own.

Unfortunately, in spite of pretending bed-

time had come, Ramona was wide-awake

with nothing to do but think. She lay there

wondering what was happening at school.

Guilt over Susan’s owl grew heavy within

her. What would happen when her mother

and father heard the whole terrible story?

They would be disappointed in Ramona,

that’s what they’d be, and nothing made

Ramona feel worse than knowing that her

parents were disappointed in her.

In spite of Howie’s grandmother knitting

on the couch, the house seemed empty.

Ramona thought about how bad she was.

She thought about the gorilla in the book in 91

her bookcase and wished she had not. The sound of gunfire and a woman’s scream

came from the television set. Nothing to be

scared about, Ramona told herself, just the

TV. She wished her window had curtains.

Although Ramona dreaded knowing what

Mrs. Griggs would say, she felt she had to