Tommy spent a lot of time with Kimberly at school, while she was recovering from having a broken ankle. The teacher let them get out board games such as Shoots and Ladders, Candy Land, and Checkers. Both of them enjoyed getting stay in because they were away from the other children who gave them trouble. Once she got the cast off her ankle, they had to on out side and play.
When they went outside for recess, the other kids got on the swings, monkey bars, and the slides. There were other swings, but they were broken. The only other place they had to go spend recess was under the jungle gym. The jungle gym was built out of wood and it bridges build out of wooden poles, it had huge steps that kids used to get to the top, and it had a slide. Since it was made out wood, most of the kids called it "The Brown Wooden Thing." It was a tall piece of play ground equipment and it had sand underneath it, if kids wanted to sit in the shade or play in the sand. However, not very many of the kids played under there, since they had more fun on the jungle gym. So, Kimberly and Tommy got to spend recess alone.
"I wish we could get on the swings, play on the monkey bars, or play on the brown wooden thing."
"Kimberly, do you remember what happened the last time we were up there?"
"One of the kids pushed me and I fell. I ended up getting a huge splinter in my hand and you had to pull it out."
"That's because I had my small first aide kit with me. It has tweezers, Band-Aids, wipes, and bandages in it. "
"Why do you even bring it?"
"Remember that Ms. Ruby got on a little boy getting hurt?"
"I remember that. He got trip over a ball and he skinned up his knee. She yelled at everyone and said she was tried of people being careless and people getting hurt."
"That's why I bring it. Some of the other aides are more stricter. Remember when someone wanted to play with us?"
It was a really cold day and they were huddled together and they were trying to stay warm. Both of them were sitting on the sand. It bothered Tommy because Kimberly didn't have a winter coat. She was just sitting there in black athletic pants, a pink hooded sweatshirt, and the denim jacket.
"Are you warm enough?"
"My pants are water proof and wind proof. And they have flannel lining in them. And the denim jacket that you gave me helps keep me warm."
Tommy saw her shiver a little bit. He slipped one of his arms out his coat and she moved closer too him. Tommy draped that part of his coat over her and he could tell she was a lot warmer.
"You told me at lunch you wanted to say something to me at recess."
"You know how half of the class goes to Ms. East's class for science and social studies . And half of the students in her class come to our classroom."
"I know, we're in the same group. You never said what happened?"
"Remember how us and a few other students didn't had to stay inside during the morning recess, because we didn't get down with a social studies assignment."
"Yeah, we were in the teacher's lounge. We weren't allowed to get up until we finished the work sheet. And we weren't allowed to get up to go to the bathroom."
"Tommy, please don't say anything."
"I promise. What happened?"
"I had to go to the bathroom really bad and I couldn't hold it. And I ended up wetting my pants in the teachers lounge."
"Where were you sitting?"
"At the table, where all the teachers sit at lunch and at break. I was scared I was going to get in trouble. But, my athletic pants were water proof so no one could tell I had an accident. When we went to lunch, I saw the puddle was still under chair. Ms. Ruby sat down in that chair and got wet. She was yelling at the teachers because her pants were wet. All of them thought she wet all over herself."
Both of them started laughing because they didn't like her. The only way, they'd go to her class is if she came and got them. They'd rather stay in Mrs. Yate's class (their kindergarten teacher), instead of going to 's speech class. They had her twice a week for a half an hour. Ms. Ruby was over bearing, picky, and was hard to deal with. She made class hard by asking them questions from a speech book and they had to give her an answer. But, they never could please her.
"You can't tell my parents or your parents this."
"Don't worry Kimberly, I won't."
"I also got the opportunity to go back to the gymnastics team. I'm not going back."
"You love gymnastics and won several matches!"
"But, I didn't have any friends on the team. They made fun of me because of the back ground I come from. The only time they were nice to me was during practice and when we had matches. Even though I liked doing gymnastics, it took up a lot of my time and didn't have a lot of time for anything else. That would mean I wouldn't get to spend much time with you."
"Do you know what you're giving up?"
"I do. I started doing gymnastics hoping that I'd make a friend. It never happened. I now have a friend and I'm happier now."
Even though Tommy didn't like to hug, he pulled Kimberly into a tight hug. He had actually grown to care about her and it didn't bother him his best friend was a girl.
"Kimberly, I never asked you this. But, why did they make fun of the back ground you came from."
My father isn't liked very much because he's violent and mean. He spends his money on beer, mountain dew, mellow yellow, cigarettes', tickets to go the college football and basket ball games, and he does a lot gambling."
"Is that why your parents are fighting?" And is that why your mother couldn't afford to buy you the things you need."
"That is the reason. And there's another reason why she can't afford things, even though she has a good paying job."
"What's that?"
"Jeff hits and beats up my mother. She's been in and out of the hospital over the last year. And she has to pay off medical bills. Last night she got beat up and is in serious condition. They don't know if she's going to make it."
When recess was over, the kids went back to their class room long enough to get their stuff. Tommy knew his best friend was upset and scared, when the bell rang he offered to hold her hand and she let him. James was parked out by the school since Jan called him and told him to come get the kids. Tommy noticed that his dad was there to pick them up. That meant something wasn't right because his dad didn't pick him up from school without telling him before he left the house.
Tommy feared that something was wrong with Caroline. When they got in the car, James told them Jan wasn't able to pick them up. He drove them home without saying anything. When they got home, Jan was on the couch. Jan took to Kimberly into the living room and James took Tommy up to his room.
