Billy and Hal wouldn’t talk to me today. They got in big trouble at home because of Friday’s fight. Neither was suspended, but Mr Brown phoned both their parents, and both are grounded. Robert is still mad at me, too. Frannie spoke to me for the first time to me today. All she really said was that Billy was a twerp, but I was so shocked that I almost dropped my books. I thought she hated me, but she actually walked with me to History class. Her class was across the hall.
We talked about the abolition of slavery in class. We’d spent a month on the Civil War, but that was mostly about the demands of the Confederate States and the main battles. Robert said that his ancestors fled from Alabama before the war actually started.
Most of second period was lost to a tornado drill. I didn’t mind. It was weird having it in November, since tornado season was over. Sometime in the next week we are having a Civil Defence drill, where we get to go down in the bomb shelter. I don’t know how we’d survive down there; Frannie says all the food is rotten.
I bumped into Sami Patel at lunchtime, and it made me wonder. If Robert is the first black in our school, what does that make her? Her skin is even darker than Robert’s. Sandy said it’s because she’s from India and not Africa, and Indians were never used by Americans as slaves. Sami’s the smartest person in the ninth grade, and one of the prettiest girls in the school, but she doesn’t do any sports or music.
We had another pop quiz in Math class, but I did OK on it, I think. Basketball was tough again today, and about ten kids quit. I don’t think Mr Milner is going to have a tough job making cuts. We learned figure-8 drills today. Those are kinda cool, except when Dan ran me over. I was too tired to practise my trumpet again.
I learned today: Being black has nothing to do with your skin color.
We talked about the abolition of slavery in class. We’d spent a month on the Civil War, but that was mostly about the demands of the Confederate States and the main battles. Robert said that his ancestors fled from Alabama before the war actually started.
Most of second period was lost to a tornado drill. I didn’t mind. It was weird having it in November, since tornado season was over. Sometime in the next week we are having a Civil Defence drill, where we get to go down in the bomb shelter. I don’t know how we’d survive down there; Frannie says all the food is rotten.
I bumped into Sami Patel at lunchtime, and it made me wonder. If Robert is the first black in our school, what does that make her? Her skin is even darker than Robert’s. Sandy said it’s because she’s from India and not Africa, and Indians were never used by Americans as slaves. Sami’s the smartest person in the ninth grade, and one of the prettiest girls in the school, but she doesn’t do any sports or music.
We had another pop quiz in Math class, but I did OK on it, I think. Basketball was tough again today, and about ten kids quit. I don’t think Mr Milner is going to have a tough job making cuts. We learned figure-8 drills today. Those are kinda cool, except when Dan ran me over. I was too tired to practise my trumpet again.
I learned today: Being black has nothing to do with your skin color.
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