"Nancy Springer - Number 20" - читать интересную книгу автора (Springer Nancy)

to everybody. I mean, as much as I could I did, because I learned a lot that way,
about different people and about what itтАЩs like to be grown up. But that day I sort of
felt like IтАЩd already heard enough.

About a week later Mr. Quickel came by one evening. We were all sitting out
on the lawn, out in the dusk watching the lightning bugs, and he came and sat with
us. He and Mom and Dad were kind of friends back even before Greg started
wrestling for him, because of church. After a while Dad gave me a dollar and sent
me across the street to the drugstore to get myself a candy bar, because I guess he
could tell Mr. Quickel had something on his mind he didnтАЩt want to talk about in
front of me. So after I came back with my Snickers I went up to my room. But my
windows were open and I still heard them down below. Something about rumors all
over town.

тАЬYou canтАЩt fight gossip,тАЭ my Mom was saying. тАЬPay any attention to it and it
just makes it worse. All you can do is ignore it.тАЭ

тАЬTalk about getting screwed from be-hind,тАЭ Mr. Quickel said like he was
trying hard to make a joke, and they all laughed a little.

By the time school was out even us kids had heard some things. Mr. Quickel
was gay. Everybody said it, so it had to be true. People whose boys had had Mr.
Quickel as a coach were worried. I no-ticed my parents took Greg off one eve-ning
and asked him some questions. Everybody knew gay people shouldnтАЩt be trusted
around children.

тАЬBut he has a wife. Grown children,тАЭ a woman said to Mrs. Life over the
porch railing. I was under the lilac bush, playing Princess of California. I had been
spending a lot of time under there lately. The real world had started to seem more
and more like someplace to get away from.

тАЬNow, IтАЩve never said that Nick Quickel is a homosexual,тАЭ said Mrs. Life to
her friend. тАЬBut I will say this, I have read that a fair number of men who are
homosexuals can appear nor-mal.тАЭ

The woman was a school board mem-ber who had had Mrs. Life as a teacher
once and wanted her advice. It seemed the school board had been getting letters
from people who had heard things about Mr. Quickel. тАЬBut nobody seems to have
any proof,тАЭ the woman said. тАЬWhat if itтАЩs all just a bunch of hooey? The manтАЩs life
is half ruined already. If we start a formal investigation тАФтАЭ

Mrs. Life said, тАЬIt seems to me as a teacher and a concerned citizen that we
canтАЩt take chances with our children, no matter who gets hurt. People know when
they go into teaching that there are certain professional standards they have to
uphold.тАЭ

тАЬThen you think heтАЩll understand we have to do what we have to do.тАЭ

тАЬIтАЩve known Nick Quickel for years, and I still think you have to do it whether
he understands or not.тАЭ