Suddenly Susie was standing in front of me.
“Neil Daniels, you stop right this minute. You are acting like a jerk. I had to get stitches because of that dog of yours. You never did one thing to stop it. Now you want to pick on the only person with enough courage to do the right thing. You are a bully and a brute. You want to hit someone? Try someone bigger than you or the same size. Now unless you get out of here I am calling the police and having you arrested,” she said in a surprisingly calm voice.
Neil glared at her for a few seconds then dropped his fists. He never said another word. He just walked off. I took a deep breath. I don’t know if I could have taken him but one thing I do know, I sure was glad Susie stepped in.
“There, we are even now,” she said, handing me my backpack.
We headed back to our houses just talking about the school year. She told me she was proud of me and what I had done in track. It was the first time she had ever mentioned it.
“You want to hang together some this summer?” I asked as we got to her house?”
“Yeah, I would like that. Maybe we can go shopping together,” she said and then busted out laughing.
We waved goodbye and I went home. My mom was still yelling at me wanting to know what happened when I went to my room. I just told her I fell down and smacked my nose. Hey it was summer and I had three months of freedom. Man, I hope I wasn’t going to be bored.
THE END
NEXT BOOK: SUMMER TIME BLUES
Trouble On Exeter Street Page 5