Pandas on the Eastside wanted to but she was probably right Who knew what was in that puddle There are pandas coming to America I said as we walked away What are pandas Nancy said Nancy was one of the kids at our school who never really learned to read It wasn’t her fault She has something wrong with her eyes that makes the letters look upside down and backward and the words get all mixed up I tried to explain it to a teacher Mrs Parker one day when we were in grade two but she made us both write lines on the board I will not tell lies we wrote twenty times Most of Nancy’s lines said I llw ont tle lise Teachers never made Nancy write lines again But they never taught her to read either A panda is a bear It’s mostly white with black eyes I explained Black eyes Nancy said Did someone punch them No I explained patiently They just have black fur around their eyes Like raccoons They come from China 7
Gabrielle Prendergast From China And they’re coming to America Are they going to swim I really wanted to laugh then because the idea of pandas swimming across the Pacific Ocean was sure funny but Nancy had a habit of body checking people who laugh at her I think they’ll probably come in a boat I said I sure wish I could see a panda That would be groovy Groovy was a word I heard the big kids saying all the time I liked the way it sounded like the purr of a big fluffy cat Grooooooovvvvyyyy Maybe you can see one Nancy said When they get to America where will they go Washington dc it said That’s the far Washington not the close one Nancy looked disappointed But even if the pandas were going to the close Washington that was still hours away and anyway I could never afford to go And certainly Nancy couldn’t Maybe there will be a picture in the paper when they arrive I said Then I made a promise to myself to save up a few dimes so if there was a picture in the paper I could buy a copy instead of picking a 8
Pandas on the Eastside greasy one out of the trash I would put the picture of the pandas on my wall next to the ones my mom gave me of the moon landing and Martin Luther King and the helicopter taking off from that big concert in the field with the funny name When we got to school I wanted to tell everyone about the pandas but Miss Bickerstaff was crying in the hallway outside our room The principal Mr Hartnell and the secretary Mrs Bent were holding her Then she fell down on her knees and Mrs Bent went down with her Her knees hitting the hard wood floor made me get a pain in my stomach but she didn’t wince or anything she just held on to Miss Bickerstaff even tighter Get the children into the classroom Mrs Bent said to Mr Hartnell like she was the principal and he worked for her But he did what she said Don’t just stand around like dazed sheep get into the classroom he said to me and the other kids who were watching poor Miss Bickerstaff sob on the floor Even though I’d seen people arrested or taken away in ambulances I thought Miss Bickerstaff on the floor was about the worst thing I’d ever seen 9
Gabrielle Prendergast We all walked into class quiet and shocked and sat down at our desks in the most orderly fashion ever Mr Hartnell looked at us for a long time frowning I imagine Miss Bickerstaff will be going home for today he said finally A couple of kids just nodded She’s had some bad news He stopped and looked out the window You know about the war right In Vietnam I said after a few silent seconds had gone past Miss Bickerstaff’s brother was fighting in the war and He died I said I knew Miss Bickerstaff’s brother was in the war She had a picture of him in his uniform in her drawer I’d seen it when I got a paper clip for my book report Miss Bickerstaff’s brother was only nineteen years old Yes He died Mr Hartnell said He didn’t act surprised that I had guessed it The army told his mother and she called the school Asked me to tell Miss Bickerstaff So I did 10
