Justine McKeen, Walk the Talk (4 page)
The next day after school, Justine, Safdar and Michael sat at a table outside Ice-Cream Heaven. It was owned by Mr. Tait. Mr. Tait was Justine's friend. He had helped her with a greenhouse project.
“This is not good,” Safdar said.
“Are you kidding?” Michael told him. “Your ice-cream cone is two scoops of chocolate, covered with chocolate sprinkles. How could it not be good?”
“I meant this is not good that Justine is so quiet. Look, she's not even eating her ice cream.”
Justine had not said a word since leaving school. She had only nodded when Mr. Tait asked if she wanted strawberry ice cream on her cone.
“I know you meant it is not good that Justine is so quiet,” Michael said to Safdar. “I was trying to make a joke.”
“Because she's so quiet?” Safdar asked.
“Yes, because she's so quiet. I've never seen her like this.”
“I'm ready to talk,” Justine said.
“Good!” Safdar said.
“Good!” Michael said.
“But after I do,” Justine said, “I might not talk for the rest of my life.”
“What?” Safdar said.
“What?” Michael said.
“That way I won't make people mad anymore.” She looked at both of them. “Don't lie to me. People think I'm weird, right? I can't get any parents to volunteer for the walking school bus. If I don't get any parent volunteers, no walking school bus.”
“Yes, people think you are a little weird,” Michael said.
“Just a little?” Justine asked.
“Maybe a tiny bit more than just a little,” Safdar said. “You don't dress normal. And you are always coming up with ideas for being green.”
Justine looked at Michael. “Do you two think I'm weird?”
“A little,” Michael said.
“Just a little?”
“Maybe a tiny bit more than just a little,” Safdar said.
“Oh,” Justine said. Her strawberry ice cream was melting. “Since you are being so truthful, is there anything else?”
“Well⦔ Michael said.
“Well, what?” said Justine.
“Well,” Safdar said, “everybody knows you talk a little too much and you boss us around a little too much and that you sometimes don't tell all of the truth. Andâ”
Justine got up and threw her ice cream into the garbage and ran away.
“And that's why we like you so much!” Safdar yelled.
But Justine didn't hear. She was running too fast.
Justine didn't stop running until she reached the park.
She sat on a bench near some bushes. She didn't want anyone to see the tears on her face.
A black dog in the park trotted up to the bench. While she was crying, she scratched the dog's head. It jumped onto the bench and licked her face.
“Thanks,” Justine said. “At least you don't care that I'm weird.”
The dog licked her face again. She scratched the dog between its ears. The dog thumped its tail.
“Maybe I'll just come here every day after school and meet you,” Justine said. “I'll never talk to anyone else. That way I won't say anything weird or do anything weird that gets me in trouble. Would that be okay with you?”
The dog licked her face again.
“Seems like a yes to me,” Justine said. She stopped crying and put her arm around the dog. “After all,” Justine said, “you don't think I'm weird. And this is a nice park. Maybe you can help me pick up the litter. It will be just you and me trying to help the planet.”
An old woman walked toward them. The woman used a cane. She wore glasses.
“Hello,” Justine said to the woman as she walked in front of them.
“Hello,” the woman said. “What is your name?”
“Justine McKeen.”
“Are you the girl I heard about who digs through people's garbage?”
“Wellâ”
“And who helped a little boy put lip balm on a cat's behind?”
“Wellâ”
A loud rude noise erupted underneath Justine. It sounded as if someone had stepped on a duck. It was an F-A-R-T-I-N-G noise.
“How rude!” the woman said.
“It's not me,” Justine said. “Really.”
The noise started again. It was louder. This time it sounded as if air was coming out of a balloon.
“Rude!” the woman said. “And don't blame it on the dog.”
Before Justine could say a word, another F-A-R-T-I-N-G noise as loud as a trumpet erupted from under the bench.
“You are a weird, weird girl,” the woman said. She stomped away as fast as she could with her cane.
Jimmy Blatzo stepped out of the bushes behind the bench. He was laughing. He was also holding a remote control.
“That was the funniest thing I ever saw,” he said. “This bench is a perfect place for that trick.”
“Go away, Blazto,” Justine said. “Now that woman thinks I'm weird. Just like everyone else.”
“Not everyone,” Jimmy Blatzo said. “Okay, nearly everyone.”
“Do you think I'm weird?”
“You do make cricket brownies. And you did put a garden on the school roof.”
“Go away, Blazto.” Justine started crying again. “I don't want you to see me cry.”
“I already saw you cry. That's why I used my remote control. I was trying to make you laugh.”
“You just made me look even weirder than I am. Tomorrow, I'm going to wear normal clothes to school. I will never do anything to make me look different again.”
“Your friends like you the way you are,” Jimmy said. “Really.”
“Go away, Blazto. I don't need people like you. All I need is this dog.”
Jimmy Blazto grabbed his farting machine from under the bench and walked away.
Justine McKeen held the dog and sobbed for a long time.
The next morning, Justine walked to school by herself. She wore a purple hat with a fake flower hanging over the brim. Her sweater was pink with blue polka dots. And her skirt was bright orange.
She was ready for everyone to tease her. But no one in front of the school noticed her.
That's because Jimmy Blatzo was walking up and down the sidewalk, carrying a big sign. The sign said, WE WANT A WALKING BUS!
Michael was behind him. He was carrying a sign too. It said, MORE WALKING, LESS DRIVING!
Safdar was behind Michael. Safdar's sign said, HELP US SET UP OUR FIRST WALKING SCHOOL BUSâTHEN A BUNCH MORE!!
And behind Safdar, another fifty students walked with signs too. All of them waved their signs at the drivers in their cars.
Justine walked up to Jimmy Blatzo. “Hey, Blatzo,” she said. “What is going on?”
“Quit calling me Blatzo,” he said. “And take this sign. We've been waiting for you to lead us.”
He pulled out a sign that was hidden behind his own. The sign said, LET'S WALK THE TALK ABOUT GOING GREEN.
Justine looked at Jimmy Blatzo. “I don't understand.”
“You don't understand how important it is to be green? Michael, Safdar and I worked for hours last night to make these signs. Then we called everyone.”
“I don't understand why you are doing this,” said Justine.
“We are your friends,” Jimmy Blatzo said. “We like you the way you are. You didn't give us a chance to tell you that. So we decided to show you. Right, Michael? Right, Safdar?”
“Right!” Safdar said.
“Right!” Michael said.
“Did I give you permission to talk?” Jimmy Blazto asked Michael and Safdar.
Michael and Safdar mouthed the word
Sorry
.
“Much better,” Jimmy Blatzo said.
Justine laughed. Everything was back to normal.
“By the way,” Jimmy Blatzo told her. “Nice hat.”
“I like it,” Justine said. Justine took the sign and began to walk up and down the sidewalk with her friends.
“Didn't you tell me you were going to dress like everyone else from now on?” Jimmy Blatzo asked.
“I did,” Justine said. “But when I looked in the mirror this morning, I decided it is more important to try to help the planet than it is to worry about what people think about me. So I changed, and I wore this instead.”
