“Because I’m too stupid to know them?”
She stared intently at him until he appeared chagrined.“I thought we agreed to do this.If I misunderstood, then tell me now.I spent a lot of time choosing these books to help us.”
“I’m sorry.It just reminds me of when I was in school and how frustrated I used to get.I’ll try not to be such a bonehead.”
“You can try but probably won’t be very successful.Remember, I’ve known you since you were a kid.”
That got him to smile.“What’s the next book?”
She picked up the book where he’d missed some words.“I think we should go over the new vocabulary before we move on.”
“You work at a college.Why do they have kids’ books?”
Was he trying to get off topic to avoid doing the work?“We have an education major, so these are for those students to use when doing practicums or student teaching.”
“All right.Tell me what that word means.” He pointed to one of the words he’d spelled out.
They spent the next hour reading through some of the books and learning new words.Several times he got so frustrated she thought he was going to walk out and quit.Yet he was able to calm himself down and focus again.She made sure to give him little breaks every now and then if she saw his eyes glazing over.
They went through a number of books.The current one they were reading was at least a third or fourth grade level.Some of the vocabulary was challenging for that age group, but she supposed you wanted to challenge students and not have them only read what they already knew.
“I love it when I’m reading and come across a word I don’t know or I’m not quite sure of.I usually run to my dictionary and look it up.”
He smirked.“That’s because you’re a total nerd.”
“Yes, I am.And proud of it.We’ll get you there yet.”
He fell over backwards, howling with laughter.When he sat back up, he said, “Never gonna happen.”
“We’ll see.”
They went through more books, and Evan scowled each time he didn’t know a word.“These are all just more letters, and they don’t mean anything to me.”
“When you see a word that you don’t know, look at the sentence and the other words around it to see if they help.These are called context clues.They help you figure out unfamiliar vocabulary.”
He held up one of the chapter books.“I don’t need to know about a dog sled race in Alaska.”
He had a point.“Okay, so what are your goals for learning to read better?”
He pushed himself off the couch and marched out of the room.Drat.What did she do now?
Not a minute later, he strolled back in and dropped a huge book in her lap.Heavy Equipment Level Two.
Evan tugged on his Boston Red Sox baseball cap and tucked his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans.For now, he’d place his phone in the other one, but he’d probably need it for translating everything he and Pierre talked about today.
Mercedes’ dad had gotten some free tickets from a colleague and texted him about going to a Sox game at Fenway.Evan would never say no to a Sox game, especially if the tickets were free.It was his favorite price.He’d still need money for snacks.
He found Mercedes lounging on the couch in the living room, reading.What else would she be doing?
When she glanced up, he signed, “Will your dad be okay if I get a beer at the game today, or should I stick with soda?”Baseball wasn’t baseball without a hot dog and a cold beer.
“You’re taking the T in, right?”At his nod, she continued, “He’ll be fine.Probably have one with you.If you were driving, it would be a different story.Of course, he likely won’t have more than one or two since he’ll still need to drive back to the Cape later.What time is he coming?”
Evan checked the clock on the kitchen wall.“He said he’ll be here by two.That’ll give us plenty of time to take the train into Boston, walk to Fenway, and find our seats.”
“I hope you didn’t say yes to him just because he’s my father.”She stood and nibbled on her bottom lip, something she did when she was nervous.
“I said yes because he’s a good guy and it’s the Red Sox.Plus free tickets.How can you turn down free tickets?Are you nervous that your dad and I are going to be alone and you can’t eavesdrop on our conversation?”
