Read Just as Long as We're Together for Free Online Page B

know," I told her.
    "And we're certainly enjoying it," Mr. Kravitz said.
    "I'm glad," Mom said. "Well . . . I'll let you get down to business, Mr. Kravitz. I hope you can clear up our problem."
    "I'll do my best," Mr. Kravitz said. Mom went upstairs to work at her computer, which she's moved from the den to her bedroom. I went to the refrigerator to get a glass of juice. "Do you use traps?" I asked Mr. Kravitz.
    "No.~~
    "What do you use?"
    "Something else."
    "What?"
    "Does it make a difference?"
    "Yes."
    "Why?"
    "Because my brother and I don't believe in violence."
    "I don't use anything violent."
    "What do you use?"
    Mr. Kravitz let out a deep breath. "I use something to discourage them from coming back."
    "Poison?" I asked.
    "We don't think of it that way."
    "Oh," I said, drinking my apple juice. Then I remembered my manners. "Would you like a glass of juice?"
    "No thank you," Mr. Kravitz said. His dog, Henry, was sniffing inside the cabinet under the sink.
    "So, who sleeps in my old room?" I asked. Mr. Kravitz was inside the cabinet now, poking around with a flashlight. "Which room would that be?" he said. His voice was muffled.
    "Top of the stairs . . . first room to the left," I told him.
    "Hmm. . . that would be my youngest son's room. He's in ninth grade at Fox Junior High."
    "Really," I said, talking louder. "I go to Fox. I'm in seventh grade."
    "Maybe you know Jeremy," Mr. Kravitz said.
    "Jeremy?"
    "Yes. Jeremy Kravitz. He's my son."
    "I only know one Jeremy," I said. "And he's not your son. He wears a chartreuse jacket with a dragon on the back."
    Mr. Kravitz backed out of the cabinet. "That's my jacket," he said, laughing.
    "Your jacket?"
    "Nineteen-sixty-two," Mr. Kravitz said, standing up. "I was a senior in high school then."
    "Are you saying that the boy who wears that dragon jacket is your son?"
    "That's right."
    "And his name is Jeremy and he sleeps in my old room?"
    "That's right."
    "Excuse me," I said to Kravitz. "I've got to do my homework now." I had to call Alison and Rachel right away! I ran into the den to use the phone.
    I called Rachel first. "You won't believe this," I began, "but . . ." I told her the whole story. "You've got to come right over."
    "I'm practicing my flute now," Rachel said.
    "Rachel . . ." I said, "we are talking about Jeremy Dragon whose father happens to be standing in my kitchen... ."
    "All right. . . ." Rachel said. "I'll be over in a few minutes."
    I didn't have to convince Alison. She ran all the way around the pond and arrived at my house breathless. When Rachel got here the three of us went into the kitchen and I introduced them to Mr. Kravitz.
    "Are you really Jeremy's father?" Rachel asked in her most mature voice.
    Mr. Kravitz was spreading a white powder inside our cabinets. "Has Jeremy been giving you
    trouble?" he asked, looking up at us. "Has Jeremy been rude to you?"
    I love how parents always assume the worst about their kids. "No," I said. "We're just curious because he rides our bus."
    "And we're interested in that jacket he wears," Rachel said. "It's a very unusual jacket."
    I tried to catch her attention but I couldn't. "Actually it could be a valuable antique," Rachel continued. "I know because my aunt, who lives in New Hampshire, is in the antique business."
    "The jacket was his," I said to Rachel, nodding in Mr. Kravitz' direction.
    "Oh," Rachel said. "I didn't mean to insult you, Mr. Kravitz. I only meant that some day that jacket could be considered an antique. I didn't mean it was that old right now."
    "I'm not insulted," Mr. Kravitz said. Henry continued to sniff around our kitchen. "Does your dog talk?" I asked Mr. Kravitz. "Henry communicates," Mr. Kravitz said, as if my question was perfectly normal, "but he doesn't speak."
    "Only one in seventeen million dogs can talk in words," I told him.
    "Is that right?" Mr. Kravitz asked.
    I didn't tell him about Maizie. It wasn't my business. If Alison wanted him to know she could tell him.
    "Now girls . . ."