and she smiled as she stared at its knotted form. The best tree in the neighborhood stood above her; only good climbers could climb it, and besides her brothers had spent three whole weeks and built a tree hut at the top where all the boys met. She walked through the weeds and flung her lanky legs over the bottom of the tree. The first part was easy to climb; it curved like a camel’s neck. She reached her arms as far as they would go around the jutting bark and worked her way up. Willowly limbs poked out; and as she slid past them, they flipped back and hit her. It stung, and made her mad that it stung. Her feet scraped off rotting bark, and she could smell the stale dust as it flew out. She pulled herself up to the next branch and looked around her. Just across the ditch and to the right she could see a flat roof. She knew this was the top of Thompson’s house. The trees hid all the other houses below her. She grabbed the limb above her head, and her lanky legs swung up and caught it; and she pulled her- self to the top. She kneeled on the hut and then stood up. The breeze jostled her hair, and she could see all of Thompson's house now. The shutters hung loose and turned different colors of grey where the paint had peeled. Trash scattered the dirt back yard along with a maroon car half put together. She could see Johnson’s blue house and (12) She sat down, and her brown work, even the bent-over nails covered his T-shirt, and he had a black smudge across his neck. The breeze blew Mary’s hair and made her shiver a little. “Hey, Mary, why you hidin’?” Eddy didn’t look up but kept throwing rocks at skeeters. “Ya got messy hair as usual?” He laughed and kept making splashes with rocks. Mary flipped her hair out of her eyes. She didn’t know exactly what Eddy meant. She didn’t curl her hair or wear that silly lipstick because it was silly--even Eddy said so. She watched him try to hit an old beer can caught up the stream, but he kept missing. She wanted to just tell him he wasn’t doing so good, but she just scooted back further into the corner. She remembered once and cracks in the boards, looked wonderful. Her long legs almost reached to the end of the hut when she stretched them out. She couldn’t tell if she smelled sap from the tree or the briskness of the air, but everything smelled fresh and good. She could hear some voices down the street, but they soon mixed with the wind and blew away. “Hey, Mary, where’s exerybody?” A voice broke her dreaming, and she leaned her head over the side of the hut. Straight below stood Eddy Stevens. “Oh, they’re coming right back-they just went down to Beezley’s for a minute, but they’re coming back after me in a minute.” Her short hair shagged into her face, and she brushed it back with her hand. “If you want, you can wait around. | suppose you can come along.” His head looked bald from above, his hair was cut so short. He picked “Hey, “Hey, Mary, I'll bet ya can’t bomb a skeeter from up there.” He looked up as if trying to find her. She laughed but didn’t move so he could see her any better. He sat down by the canal. Dirt hair couldn't started play making Mary, a minute’s up. | don’t see anybody.” Eddy’s voice trailed up to her. He jumped up off the bank. “I think I'll go find them.” He tried to see her hidden face. Mary leaned out over the boards and held onto her hair . “You go right ahead, but they‘re coming after me in a minute. They'll be here in a minute. They said so.” He face grew hot from hanging over the hut. She raised up and flipped her hair out of her eyes. Eddy’s beady eyes looked right at her, “Ya, they'll be back. They'll be back if they get in trouble and need a_ second stringer for their so well, but she could still see him. tangled with a knotted limb behind her. She moved so the sun would shine against her face and shoulders. Her face grew hot in spots where the sun filtered through the leaves. She wondered where the boys were, but it really didn’t matter right now. They would be here soon. She rubbed her fingers over the smooth boards of the hut and thought the carpenter he he football team. Ya, well, we'll see ya, Mary.” He laughed as he ran through the weeds and up onto the pea gravel pathway. Mary’s face felt hot and her eyes burned. She slipped as far back in the corner as she could, and tucked her legs under her and smoothed her hair. As soon as she couldn’t hear Eddy’s feet crunching the pea gravel, she stood up and looked around. Her eyes blurred making it hard to see those three houses. Those girls were silly, even Eddy used to say so. They curled their hair and wore lipstick. She wondered when the boys were coming. They had to come. This was Saturday. — A ROCK SANDY SHAUM eal sun, said and fun of her long legs. She flipped her hair back again and glared at him. “Ya, they’re coming right soon.” She brushed her hair out of her eyes and settled back in the corner so he couldn’t see her = OE the she basketball, ions. ie! from before up a rock and threw it at a water skeeter and turned and his tanned face with his beady eyes looked straight at her. “I'll wait around.” He didn’t smile or change express- Liberty Avenue and clear down to her new church with a steeple. She stopped and looked at the three houses down by the church. She knew the girls who lived in these houses. She sometimes sat by them at church. Mary laughed when she thought of how they wore lipstick to church last week. All the boys thought they looked stupid and silly. So did she. Mary watched them many times from up here, and they did silly things. She was glad she could see them but they couldn’t see her. —— a lanky legs and scooped a skeeter out of the water with her hand. The water ran through her fingers and splashed onto the bank. She liked to play with skeeters. Once a girl had been there and screamed when she did, and all the boys had just laughed and told Mary she was okey. Her whole body shivered from the coldness of her hand. She threw the skeeter back into the water and wiped her hand off on her levis. The big Chinese elm shadowed her Bleak Cold Dead | feel sorry for the rock | have (13) a hammer.