Horrible Harry and the Scarlet Scissors (5 page)

Mary’s hair was really curly.

“Mom gave me a new perm last night. Just in time.” Mary lowered her voice. “Just in case I might go on TV!” Then she squealed again.

I kept my fingers crossed for Mary, and for myself. It would be really neat to go on TV and talk about the Plains Indians. I could show the whole school how they live in tepees. But I also wanted Mary to win. There would be no peace in Room 3B if she didn’t.

Dexter strutted into class wearing a shirt with Elvis on it. He had added extra gel to his hair. I could tell he was hoping to go on TV, too.

As we sat there waiting for the
morning show to come on, Harry whispered, “See you later, Doug. I have to go bad.”

Harry dashed out the door like it was a bathroom emergency.

Miss Mackle turned on the TV. “There’s Bria!” Mary called out as the camera panned the library.

Bria and Kemba were sitting at the table. “Welcome, South School. We bring you special news!” Kemba exclaimed.

“It’s time for the first televised South School Art Show,” Bria continued. “Mrs. Matalata?”

The camera moved to the art teacher. “All of the third and fourth graders did a terrific job with their posters. Today, I would like to feature five posters that were real attention grabbers.
They make you stop and think. These posters also have lots of feeling.”

We recognized only one.

Mary slouched in her chair as she blew up her curly bangs. It wasn’t hers.

“It’s Harry’s!”
we all shouted. There was his grass poster!

The class looked back at Harry’s desk. He wasn’t there.

“Where’s Harry?” Song Lee blurted out. I could tell she was worried. She never talks without being called on.

“Don’t worry, boys and girls,” Miss Mackle said. “Harry’s in the library.”

Suddenly Harry appeared on TV! When the camera panned in on his face, Harry
flashed a toothy smile. Then the camera zoomed in on the blades of grass on Harry’s poster and the one word at the top,
MISSING
.

Harry brought the microphone to his mouth. “When Mrs. Matalata said we could draw what we love, I knew right away what it was. The grass! I really miss it. I also miss looking for earwigs and night crawlers. Those are beautiful things to me,” he said.

After the other four kids shared their posters, Harry returned to Room 3B. Everyone clapped. Except Mary. She was frozen in her chair and gritting her teeth. She looked like a time bomb ready to go off!

“W
ay to go, Harry!” I said, greeting him at the door. Harry had his poster under his arm. Song Lee and Ida dashed over to him and gave him a hug.

“How was it?” Miss Mackle asked.

Harry shrugged.

“You had about three hundred and forty kids watching you, Harry!” ZuZu said. “That’s how many there are at South School.”

Song Lee and Ida were still clapping their hands for Harry.

“Thanks, guys,” Harry said. “But it was no biggie. It’s just like being in the library, only I didn’t check out a book.”

Mary folded her arms. She hadn’t moved from her desk. “It’s no fair,” she mumbled. “Harry doesn’t even appreciate going on TV. It should have been me!”

Harry set his poster down on his desk. “Boy, I need a drink after all that talking,” he said, and walked over to the water faucet by the classroom sink.

Miss Mackle began writing math problems on the board. “Please copy these in your math journal. It’s time to practice multiplication.”

Mary reached for her scarlet scissors.
She turned and faced Harry’s empty desk.

What is she up to?
I wondered.

I looked at Mary, and then at her scarlet scissors. The blades were spread apart. There was still a little green crayon line on one of the tips. Mary took Harry’s poster, held it up, and then stabbed it!

My eyes bulged. There were two slashes right in the middle of Harry’s art paper!

I looked around.

Did anyone else see?

Not the teacher. She had her back to the class. She was still writing math problems.

Everyone else was copying them down except for one person. Song Lee.

When our eyes met, I could tell we both had the same thought.

How could Mary do that?

Song Lee covered her eyes.

I couldn’t believe it.

Mary couldn’t believe it, either. She immediately dropped her scarlet scissors. The poster slipped out of her hands onto the floor. Mary collapsed into her chair. When I looked up, Harry was on his way back from the drinking fountain.
Oh boy
, I thought.

Harry sat down and wiped water off his mouth. Then he bent over and picked up his poster from the floor.

“There’s still something missing in my picture, Doug,” he said, and he held it up.

He looked long and hard at his poster.

The two holes were right in the middle.

“Hey,” Harry said. “Who did this?”

I
looked over at Mary. She had her head buried on her desk. Very slowly, she sat up and turned toward Harry. “I did it,” she whispered. There were tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Harry. As soon as I did it, I knew it was wrong. I was just so jealous about you going on TV. Can I tape the holes up for you? I have transparent tape.”

Harry shook his head.

He was still looking straight ahead at his poster. He didn’t say a word. He just kept looking at those holes.

Suddenly Harry blurted out, “I’ve got it!”

Sidney looked up from his math. “Hey,” he said, “who ruined Harry’s poster?”

Miss Mackle turned around. “Is there a problem?”

Everyone looked up from their math journals. The teacher walked over to Harry’s desk. “What happened to your poster?” she asked.

Mary was shaking. She was terrified. She started to say something, but Harry interrupted her.

“I forgot the night crawlers,” Harry said. “So I made two holes in the grass.
Now all I need is a brown crayon.”

Mary looked the other way. She probably didn’t want the teacher to see her tears.

Miss Mackle sighed. “It’s your poster, Harry. Okay, boys and girls, continue working on your math.” And she went back to the board. “That includes you, Harry,” she added.

“I knew my poster was missing something,” Harry whispered.

Mary reached for a crayon in her art supply box. I couldn’t believe it! It was burnt sienna, her favorite. She handed it to Harry.

“It really is a good worm color,” she said softly.

Harry grinned. “Thanks, Mare!”

Harry drew two worms coming out of the holes on his poster. “I love it!” he
exclaimed. “Now this is a picture that is
really
about something beautiful!” And he walked to the closet and taped it back to the inside of the door.

“Oh Harry,” Mary said when he returned. “Do you know how sorry I am?”

Harry reached down and picked up the scarlet scissors from the floor. He handed them to her. “Yes,” he said. “I know.”

“I would be so angry if someone did that to my paper,” Mary said. “You should never ever touch someone’s artwork. I can’t stand the ugly feeling I have inside me.”

Harry lowered his voice. “Mare,” he said, “I love my poster now with night crawler holes. I forgot to put them in. So it worked out great.”

Mary leaned over and whispered,
“Please let me do something to make it up. It would make me feel better.”

Harry thought about it, then he whispered something in Mary’s ear.

Mary smiled. “Sure. I can do that tomorrow before school. I’ll have my mom drop me off at your house.”

Tomorrow at Harry’s house?

“What’s going on, Harry?” I asked.

He just grinned. “It’s a Saint Patrick’s Day surprise, Dougo.”

T
he next morning was Saint Patrick’s Day. Song Lee tied green ribbons and shamrocks in her hair. Ida wore a green necklace. Sid had a plastic green Derby hat. I wore green socks.

I couldn’t wait for Harry and Mary to arrive. What was their surprise? I stood at the bottom of the ramp, watching the parents drop kids off for school.

Song Lee, Ida, and Sidney were
nearby, waiting in the tetherball line while ZuZu and Dexter took their turn.

Finally Grandma Spooger’s red truck pulled up in front of the school.