Authors: Torey Hayden
Just Another Kid (42 page)
Boo patted his hands against his trousers.
I did not want to rush him. We were in no hurry. I backed up and gave him room. “Will you take off your sweater?”
No movement, no sound other than his hands, beating frantically now. He still would not turn his face toward me; it remained averted far to the side.
“What’s wrong with him?” one fourth grader asked.
“We talked about it yesterday, Tim. Remember?” I replied, not turning around.
“Can’t you make him stop that?”
“He isn’t hurting anyone. Nothing’s wrong. Just do your work, please. All right?”
Behind me I heard Tim groan in compliance and riffle through his book. Boo stood absolutely rigid. Arms tight to sides, except, of course, for the hands. Legs stiff. Head screwed on sideways, or so it looked. Not a muscle moved beyond the fluttering.
Then with no warning Boo screamed. Not a little scream. A scream heard clear to next Christmas. “AHHHHHH! AHHH AHHHH! AWWWWR-RRRRKK!” He sounded like a rabbit strangling. Hands over eyes he fell writhing to the floor. Then up before I could get nearer. Around the room. “ARRRRRRRRR!” A human siren. Arms flew out from his sides and he flapped them wildly above his head like a frenzied native dancer. He fell again to the floor. Boo turned and twisted as if in agony. Hands over his face, he beat his head against the linoleum. All the while he screamed. “AAAAAAH-HHHHHHHHHH! EEEEE-EEEEEE-E-AHHHH-AWWWWWWWWK!”
“He’s having a fit! Oh my gosh, he’s having a fit! Quick, Torey, do something!” Tim was crying. He had leaped up on his chair, his own hands fluttering in panic. Brad, the other fourth grader, sat spellbound at his desk.
“He’s not having a fit, Tim,” I hollered over Boo’s screams as I tried to lift him from the floor. “He’s okay. Don’t worry.” But before I could say more, Boo broke my grasp. One frenetic whirl around the room. Over a chair, around a bookcase, across the wide middle area I had cleared. To the door. And out.
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First published in the US by Avon Books 1988
This edition published by HarperElement 2006
© Torey Hayden 1988
Torey Hayden asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780007218653
Ebook Edition © MAY 2012 ISBN: 9780007373949
Version 2
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