Horrible Harry and the Scarlet Scissors (4 page)

H
arry had not touched the new box of crayons that the art teacher gave each of us. He was still using his fat green crayon with the ghostlike face. He kept drawing blades of grass all over his poster. Some were bent, some were leaning on the ground, some were standing tall. It looked like an unmowed lawn you could hide in. At the top was one word:
MISSING
.

“Wow!” I said. “That’s…different, Harry.” I tried to think of another word besides
shocking
.

“Thanks, Dougo. But I feel like it still needs something. I just don’t know what.”

“You don’t have much room to add anything,” I replied. “Your poster is wall to wall grass!”

“
That’s
my problem,” Harry said.

As soon as everyone finished their poster, Mrs. Matalata asked each of us to talk about our work.

Dexter went first. He had drawn a pair of blue shoes. “Elvis was the King of rock ’n’ roll. His version of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ was popular in 1956. I have every song he ever sang, but this one is my favorite. I can’t draw people well, but I can draw shoes if I’m looking at them.”

Mrs. Matalata touched Dexter’s poster. “You colored these so dark they feel like blue suede!”

Ida went next. Her poster showed a ballet dancer. It looked just like Ida. “I have been taking lessons since I was four,” she said. “I love dancing!”

The art teacher looked closely at her drawing. “I like the detail you put on the girl’s tutu, and the musical notes you drew on the side.”

When Mrs. Matalata called on Harry, you could hear a pin drop. Everyone wondered what Harry could possibly draw. He held up his grass poster with the one word,
MISSING
.

Everyone gasped.

“He just used one color,” Mary observed. “And one word.”

“I wonder how many blades of grass he drew!” Ida said.

“I’d estimate about a thousand,” ZuZu replied.

Song Lee clapped her hands silently. She smiled from ear to ear. “It’s original!” she exclaimed.

“Winter is too long this year,” Harry said. “I miss the grass.”

The art teacher put her hand over her heart. “I can feel it!” she said. “That’s what art can do—share a feeling.”

After everyone talked about their poster, Mrs. Matalata headed for the door.

“Aren’t you telling us who gets to go on TV to share their poster?” Mary asked.

“That will be announced on Thursday,” the art teacher said. Then she slid a roll of masking tape over her wrist like a bracelet. “Now, let’s begin our poster parade. Please line up. We’re going to find a place for
everyone’s
poster somewhere in the school!”

We jumped out of our seats, grabbed our posters, and hurried to the door.

W
e all followed Mrs. Matalata down the hall. Miss Mackle joined us for the parade. She walked at the end of the line and reminded people to stay together. One by one kids stopped to put up posters. I taped my tepee poster on the library door.

Song Lee taped her cherry tree poster next to the large window in the hallway.

“I don’t know where to put my ‘Hair by Mare’ poster,” Mary complained.

“I know where I’m putting my poster,” Sid piped up. “The principal’s office. Cutey Pie has been there before.”

We watched Sid tape his canary poster to Mr. Cardini’s door. “See you later, el tweeto,” Sid said.

Mary continued to moan. “I have to find the perfect spot to hang my ‘Hair by Mare’ poster,” she repeated.

“I know where you can hang it,” Harry said.

“Where?” Mary eagerly asked.

“The bathroom.”

“That’s gross, Harry!”

“Well, it looks like a hair salon in there,” Harry replied. “You need a sink and a mirror.”

Mary stopped walking. “People who look in the mirror
are
thinking about their hair,” she mumbled.

As soon as the class got downstairs, Mary ducked into the girls’ bathroom. The door was propped open, so I could see the row of sinks. She taped her poster right next to the mirror. Then she skipped out of the bathroom. “I’m launching my hair salon business!” she
exclaimed. “Now, after I go on TV and tell everyone about it, I’ll really get lots of clients!”

ZuZu hung his poster of Jou Jou, his guinea pig, on the boiler room door. “Jou Jou likes small warm places,” ZuZu said.

“I like the words you put on your poster, ZuZu,” Miss Mackle said. “‘Be Kind to Your Pets.’”

Dexter hung his poster over the lost-and-found table. “Elvis’s blue suede shoes go well with all this stuff,” he said.

When Ida hung her ballet poster in the gym, Mr. Deltoid, our phys ed teacher, stood up on his toes and twirled around. “Bravo!” he called out.

Miss Mackle clapped as he danced.

After we got back to our classroom, the art teacher started to say good-bye.
She thought all the posters were displayed.

“But Harry didn’t put up his poster!” I objected.

“Oh, goodness,” Mrs. Matalata said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry replied. “I know exactly where I want to hang it.”

We all watched Harry walk over to the classroom closet, open it up, and tape his poster to the inside of the door. Then he closed it. “Done!” he said.

“Are you sure you want to put it there?” Miss Mackle asked. “No one will be able to see it.”

“Positive,” Harry replied. Then he flashed a toothy smile.

Mary shook her head. “I can’t believe Harry really did that,” she mumbled. “I was kidding!”

Both teachers exchanged a look, and then chuckled.

“Thanks, boys and girls, for being such hardworking artists,” Mrs. Matalata called out.

“Thank you,” we all replied.

Mary crossed both her fingers. “Ohh, I hope I get picked to go on TV. I have to!”

After everyone had lunch, it was time for indoor recess. Mary styled Sid’s hair. She used a comb and a paper cup of water from our sink. When she was done, she gave Sid her hand mirror.

“I love it!” Sid said. “I look like Dexter.” Sid’s hairdo was combed back and slick like Elvis.

“Cool ’do, Mare,” Harry said as he passed by.

“Way cool,” Dexter agreed.

Mary beamed. “Do you want to be next, Dexter?”

“Nooooo!” he replied. “My hair is like Elvis’s blue suede shoes. He sings, ‘Don’t step on my blue suede shoes.’ I sing, ‘Don’t mess with my hair, baby!’”

“I get it,” Mary groaned. “I don’t need your business. I have other clients lined up.”

Mary put Ida’s hair in a ponytail with a scarf around it. Then Mary took her pig and dog magneto pals off her book bag and attached them to each of Song Lee’s pigtails.

Mary stepped back and admired her hair creations. “Just a few days more, girls, and it’s TV time!”

Oh boy
, I thought.
I hope Mary does go on TV, because if she doesn’t, there’s going to be a
huge
Mary tantrum in Room 3B!

T
wo days later, it was Thursday, the day before Saint Patrick’s Day. The day we would find out who would get to go on South School’s TV station to talk about their poster. I could tell everyone was excited. When Harry and I were getting a drink in Room 3B, the girls rushed in, squealing.

“I love it!” Ida exclaimed.

“You look beautiful!” Song Lee said
to Mary. All three girls were jumping up and down.