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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781546230854 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 03/09/2018 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 134 |
| File size: | 15 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 4 - 8 Years |
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CHAPTER 1
Leon Does His Chores
September 1949
Leon scooped up an armload of corn cobs from the pile near the corner of the house, carrying them inside to the basket beside the cookstove, then rushed back outside. He had gotten home late and was running behind on his chores. His mom would be home from work soon, and the rule was for Leon to have his chores done before dinner.
He hurried out to the pigpen, lugging the bucket of slop.
"No," he cried, as he tripped, but down he went; and the pail, too.
"Whew," he stood up, brushing the grass from the knees of his overalls. Luck was on his side. Most of the slop had landed in the pen and both pigs were already slurping it up. One more chore, refilling the coal oil.
Leon went inside to get the jar by the stove in the kitchen.
"I already filled it," Pappy called from the living room.
"Thanks, Pappy." Leon went in and sat on the divan.
"What had you running behind today?" Pappy lit his cigar. "Playing with Earl, no doubt."
"Yes," Leon nodded. "We were playing Cowboys and Indians. I was a cowboy." Click, click, click went his tongue, while his hands turned into shooting guns.
They heard the sound of a car leaving. A minute later, Helen walked through the door. "I'm home," Mom called from the kitchen.
Leon ran to the kitchen, still shooting his imaginary guns. He gave his mom a hug. "What's for dinner?"
Helen placed her purse on the table by the door, but before she could answer Leon's question, Pappy called from the living room.
"Leon! Come back in here and give your mother a minute before you hound her."
"Sorry, Mom."
"Run along," Mom shooed him out of the kitchen. "We'll have beef and noodles to eat in no time."
"Did you hear that, Pappy? Beef and noodles!" Leon told his dad as he ran through the living room and up the stairs to get his truck and tractor from his bedroom. He could play until dinner was ready.
Mom added corn cobs to the cookstove. A few minutes later she called Leon back downstairs and into the kitchen.
"Be getting cleaned up, now," she said, placing her hands on his shoulders to turn him towards the table by the door where they kept the water bowl. "Do a good cleaning, too. You don't want to smell like pig slop on your first day of school tomorrow." She had already placed a bar of soap and a towel near the bowl for him.
Leon carried the ladle to the cook stove and dipped it into the water bin, returning to empty it into the basin. He lathered up the rag in the bowl and started scrubbing his face. Tomorrow he would get to go inside the new school house. Yep, he better look good tomorrow. He would even clean the back of his neck and behind his ears, before his pappy checked and made him clean again!
The new school building wasn't really new. It used to be called Brown Jug School when it was over about eight miles south, but then they moved it here, to Nettleton. All summer long the kids had watched the progress of the building.
A house-mover had jacked up the building, a very slow process, then it was transported by a large-tracked caterpillar. They had to go way around because the school house was too big to cross several of the bridges. Then it was placed on it's new site in Nettleton.
But the work hadn't been done yet. The big, old Nettleton School had been closed up after classes ended back in the spring. The desks and chalkboard were hauled from the old school to the new school. For at least a month, the adults had been in and out of the little school, getting it ready for the new school year, but the kids hadn't been allowed inside. Until tomorrow, that is.
When Leon was done washing up, dinner wasn't ready yet, so he stepped outside. Shep ran up to him, nudging Leon's hand with his head. Leon rubbed the dog between his ears.
"Where have you been, boy?" Leon made sure to scratch behind his ears and under his neck. Shep was always taking off to play in the fields or creeks.
Shep wagged his tail and barked.
"Come on, boy," Leon headed for the side of the house. "Let's get you some dinner, too."
By the time Leon had fed Shep, his mom had dinner ready.
CHAPTER 2Dinner Time
Tap, tap, tap. Pappy's cane announced him entering the kitchen. Pappy had been infected with Polio during his trip to California the year Leon was born. Now he wore a leg brace and used a cane. But Polio hadn't slowed Pappy down much. He combined and hauled grain for the area farmers. He was also the township tax collector. He even used to be a history teacher!
Mom brought the food to the table and they sat down to dinner. Leon was thinking about school tomorrow. His mom noticed how quiet he was being, especially since he was usually a chatterbox at the dinner table.
"What's going on in that mind of yours, Leon?"
"Nothing," he mumbled. "Well ..." He took a deep breath. "I'm just not sure I should go to school." There, he'd said it out loud.
"Why ever not?" his mom exclaimed.
"Because Pappy needs me!" Leon wailed. "And school takes up the whole day. How am I going to have fun with Earl, do my chores, play with Shep, help Pappy, go to Hamilton and Breckenridge, and ride my bike, and, and ...?" he couldn't think of anything else at the moment. Tears were in his troubled eyes when he glanced at his mom. "School lasts all day!"
"Now," Mom consoled him, laying her arm around his neck. "It's not all day. I go to work and I still have time to spend with you, don't I?"
"Yes," Leon nodded. "But then you just cook dinner, and mend clothes, and stuff."
"But what are you doing while I'm making dinner and doing 'stuff'?" she asked him.
"Well, playing with Shep, and my truck and tractor, and," he smiled a little, taking a deep breath. "Okay, I get it." Maybe there would be a little time left in the day after school.
"Remember, school gets out earlier than I get home from work," she added. "That's even more time for you to spend with your friends."
"I guess so," Leon agreed, but he still wasn't sure it was enough time.
"Also," his pappy reminded him, "your friends are going to be in school with you."
"Yeah," Leon perked up. He had forgotten that part.
CHAPTER 3The Night Before School
After dinner, Pappy moved to his big chair in the family room and lit his cigar. Pappy always had a cigar in his mouth. The cigar would go out, but Pappy left it in his mouth, anyway. Sooner or later he would light it again. When it had burned down short enough, Pappy would replace it with a new one out of the box he always carried in the bib of his overalls. He would roll the new cigar around his tongue for a bit, then he would bite off the dry end, spitting it in the coal bucket.
"Switch on the radio, Leon," Pappy instructed. "It's about time for Amos 'n' Andy to start." Amos 'n' Andy is a comedy series they listen to on Sunday nights.
Mom came into the room carrying a couple of shirts. She sat on the divan. Her sewing basket was in its usual place on the floor beside her feet. She pulled out her needle, a spool of thread and a button.
Leon adjusted the dial to clear the static. "Philco Refrigerators," the announcer's voice told them, "famous for quality the world over." His voice was replaced with an orchestra and chorus.
"When are we going to have a refrigerator, Pappy?" Leon asked.
"Not for a while," Pappy answered. "You need electrical to have one of those fancy refrigerators."
"Well," Leon persisted. "When are we getting electrical?"
"Leon," his mom said, sharply. "Let it be. It will happen when it happens. Let's listen to the show," Helen leaned closer to the coal oil lamp to thread her needle.
Leon settled on the floor with his KB International Stake Bed truck, trying to imagine a refrigerator in the kitchen, or pulling a chain and having a light bulb in his bedroom instead of a coal oil lamp.
Even a radio could be electric. Their radio ran on a big battery. The battery would last several weeks before they had to buy another one, but as the battery weakened, they moved the radio closer and closer to where they sat. Yep, an electric radio would be nice!
The introduction to Amos 'n' Andy came across the radio waves, catching Leon's attention, and he forgot about electricity for the moment.
By the end of the show, Leon was yawning. He didn't want to go to bed, but Mom insisted, reminding him, "Tomorrow is the big day."
Tomorrow was going to be a big day full of a lot of changes in Leon's life. What would Shep do while Leon was at school all day? When would he have time to go fishing? When the snow came, would he have time for sledding? Would Pappy be lonely without him?
Leon went to bed, but he was too excited, and too nervous, to sleep. It was kind of scary doing something new without his mom and pappy.
But, Earl would be at school with him, Leon reminded himself. Surely school wasn't going to be that bad, he thought as he finally drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 4Leon Gets Ready For School
The next morning Leon was awake earlier than usual. His mom's bedroom door was on the south wall of his bedroom. He knew she was awake because he could hear her moving around, probably getting dressed or making her bed. It was hard for Pappy to climb the stairs with his leg brace, so his bed was downstairs in a little room beside the living room.
Leon dressed as fast as he could in his newest overalls, with a white tee shirt. He put a red handkerchief in his back pocket and he was ready to go. He ran down the stairs and outside.
Shep was waiting for him by the door. Shep walked with him every morning on his way to the outhouse.
"It's going to be a great day, Shep," he told his buddy. I'm going to school today. I'm six-years-old. When you're six, you get to go to the first grade."
"Well," he looked down at Shep, "not you. You're a dog. You have to stay at home."
He stooped down to grasp Shep's face in both hands, looking him in the eye. "Did you hear me? You have to stay here. You can't follow me to school, you got that?"
He pointed at Shep to make sure the dog understood how serious this last order was, then nodded. "Well, alright, then."
When Leon emerged from the outhouse, Shep was waiting to walk with him again. He filled Shep's water and food pans before going into the house.
In the kitchen, his mom was dressed for work, fixing breakfast. It was still dark outside, so she had lit the Aladdin lamp, making the kitchen bright.
"Red will be here soon to pick me up for work, so it's up to you to remember to take your lunch and your school supplies. Don't forget, or you will be a very hungry boy by dinner," she warned him.
"I won't forget," Leon promised.
"And stay clean. And don't be late to school. And listen to your teacher," she continued.
"Alright, Mom. I know," Leon told her again. "I'll be good."
Pappy sat down at the table. "You sure you don't want me to give you a ride, Leon?"
"No," Leon shook his head, reaching for the gravy. "I'll walk."
"I'm going to make a run to Lexington for a load of coal today," Pappy told him, "but I'll be home early."
"You're going to Lexington without me?" Leon wailed, looking glum, his fork halted halfway to his mouth. "But I always go with you!"
"It's getting on that time of year," Pappy told him. "This nice weather could change at any time. We need to be stocked up and ready for when winter sends in its first cold front. Next week I'll be in the fields bringing in corn for the Combs over by New York. So, yep, I reckon I better go on to Lexington today."
Leon pouted, chewing his breakfast. Of course, Pappy was right, but still!
"You're a big boy now," Mom reminded him. "You need to go to school. You can't only hang out with Pappy for the rest of your life."
"So I never get to go with you anymore to get coal ever again?" he looked at his pappy. He always went with Pappy. They went everywhere together.
Mom worked five days a week and sometimes half a day on Saturday's at the shoe factory in Hamilton, the town five miles west.
She rode to work with his best friend, Earl's, dad, who worked in Hamilton at Hawk's Garage. So, Leon went to work with Pappy. They drove the combine in the fields, hauled crops to the elevator, picked up loads of coal from Lexington and corn cobs from Hamilton. They also did a lot of visiting with Pappy's buddies. Maybe he didn't want to go to school, after all.
If he went to school, he wouldn't get to harvest the corn with Pappy. What if the sickle head on the combine got slugged? It was his job to clear the debris. Who would grease the sickles and the elevators? Pappy needed his help. Dang school, anyway!
"Don't look so down," Pappy patted his shoulder. "After school I'll meet you at Clarkson's. You can come with me to get Alborn's latest runt. How does that sound?"
Leon perked up. "We're getting another pig? Can Earl come with us?"
"Yes, Earl can come with us," Pappy agreed, smiling. He took a sip of coffee out of his saucer.
"Go brush your teeth," Mom told Leon. "And comb your hair." She started stacking the dishes.
Leon came back into the room a few minutes later. Helen licked her finger and smoothed his hair into place. "Give your mother a hug." She squeezed real tight. "I'll see you tonight. I want to hear all about your first day of school when I get home!"
Leon grinned and hugged her back. Mom's excitement over Leon's first day of school was starting to rub off on him. Mom could always make him feel better!
CHAPTER 5School Is About To Begin
Leon gripped his King Edward's cigar box and his Big Chief tablet to his chest, carrying his brown bag lunch in his other hand. The highway was busy this time of morning, he thought, as he waited to cross.
He looked back at the house where his pappy was holding tight to Shep's collar, while watching him until he was out of sight.
Shep had gotten away from him once, and Leon had taken him back, but that was okay. He had left early to begin with, since he was so excited, so he still had plenty of time.
He turned back to the road. Whoosh went the black Chevy car. Leon ran across the road, thru ditch, to the railroad tracks. The school house wasn't very far from his house, but the trees blocked the view between the two buildings. Well, the trees and the grader house.
He hopped on every other railroad tie between the rails, while looking to the left, trying to see between the trees. And there it was, the new school house. He could see kids already in the school yard.
At the railroad crossing, he turned left onto the gravel road. He watched Paul Connor exit his front door and stand on the front porch. His house was directly across from the school, though it faced south, and the school faced east.
Almost there. His eyes searched for his friend, Earl, and found him walking in his direction on the other side of the school. They would get there about the same time. Whew!
Leon was a little nervous, and he knew Earl was, too. School would surely be easier with his friend by his side.
As Leon approached the school, he walked by a group of girls talking.
"Who is the new teacher?" Leon heard Gayle ask.
"I don't remember her name," Sharon answered, shaking her head.
Leon knew who the new teacher was, but he didn't stop to tell them. The teacher was Marjorie Bryant, his best friend, Earl's, aunt. But Earl didn't like her at all. Earl had told Leon she was mean, but surely she wasn't as bad as Earl had made her sound.
Leon just kept his mouth shut. He had learned to stay quiet from going places with is Pappy. Adults didn't like when kids talked much, which had made Leon a pretty good listener.
CHAPTER 6Meet The Teacher
They didn't have to wonder about the teacher for long. She stepped out of the school and rang the bell mounted to the building beside the door. The kids gathered around the school entrance.
"When I ring this bell," the teacher told them, "I want to see two lines form, girls on my left and boys on the right.
"Just inside is a row of hooks for coats or bags. All overshoes will be placed neatly against the wall. As you walk through the door, you will give me your name and I will point you to your assigned desk.
Place your supplies inside your desk and sit quietly." She turned and walked back inside.
Leon look at Earl, raising his eyebrows.
"I tried to tell you," Earl shrugged his shoulders, spreading his arms wide with his hands turned up.
No one had anything to leave in the entry. It hadn't rained for a couple of weeks, so they didn't need overshoes, and the fall weather was still warm, so no one was wearing coats.
When it was his turn at the doorway, he gave the teacher his name, "Leon Wilson."
"Leon," she repeated, looking at her seating chart. "First grade, first row, third desk."
Leon found his desk and sat down. Earl sat at the desk in front of him.
"Hey," Leon tapped Earl on his back. "It's neat in here, huh?"
Earl opened his desk, putting his supplies away. "There sure are a lot of kids."
"Quiet, I said," the teacher looked straight at Leon and Earl.
Leon leaned back in his seat, lifting the lid on his desk. It was a big desk. His box and tablet didn't take up much room at all. He wondered if the teacher was going to give him a lot of books to fill his desk full. That would be a lot of learning! He closed the lid.
The top of his desk had a depression to hold his pencil and a hole to hold an inkwell, though most kids didn't use inkwells anymore.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "School or Pappy?"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Micma.
Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
1. Leon Does His Chores, 1,
2. Dinner Time, 13,
3. The Night Before School, 19,
4. Leon Gets Ready For School, 28,
5. School Is About To Begin, 40,
6. Meet The Teacher, 47,
7. Let The Learning Begin!, 57,
8. Recess, 64,
9. Lunch At Earl's House, 72,
10. School Continues, 79,
11. Clarkson's Store, 85,
12. Alborn's Runt, 97,
13. The Runt's New Home, 108,
14. "How Was School?", 119,