maxie malloy's first mystery

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Chapter 4 :: Maxey Gets More Curious About Rose 

When Maxey got home her baby brother, Tom, who was seven, got in Maxey's room and he messed it all up.  When she got finished cleaning her room her dad left to go to the store.  So she had to make dinner while he was gone.  She made mac-mac.  (That's macaroni and cheese and hot dogs.)

When they got finished eating, she went into her room.  She thought, what a mean guy.  He was so rude.  He didn't even talk right.  She said to herself: "Ain't ain't a word, because ain't ain't in the dictionary."  She started to laugh.

Then she wondered if he beat Rose or something.

"Maxey, you have to go to bed now," her dad said.

"Okay, Dad.  'Night."

"Goodnight, Max."

 

The next day Rose's cast was off.  But her finger was broken!  Now Maxey was really worried about Rose.

At recess she asked Rose, "Does your dad beat you or something?"

Rose walked away, with a tear in her eye.

Oh no, Maxey thought.  She ran over to her teacher.

"Mr. Sieve, excuse me, but something's really wrong with Rose.  I think her dad beats her.  That's why her arm broke and why her finger is broken now."

Mr. Sieve shook his head.  "Maxey, Maxey, Maxey. What are we going to do with you?  You have such an imagination.  Rose broke her arm falling down a flight of stairs.  Last night she hurt her finger when it got caught in a car door.  Her mother told the principal all about it.  So quit dreaming up stories."

Maxey frowned.  Mr. Sieve really aggravates me, she thought.  He's so rude and never pays attention to what I say.  Someday, I'll prove how wrong he is about me.

After school, Maxey decided to try to make friends again with Rose.  When she caught up with her, Maxey said, "Hi, Rose.  Sorry if I seem rude with all my questions.  I'd like to be your friend."

Rose finally smiled.  "Oh, I'd like that, Maxey.  I don't have any friends in St. Louis."

"Did you just move here?  Oops.  There I go asking questions again.  Sorry."

"That all right.  We moved here last week from Rochester, New York."

"No kidding!  My aunt Mabel lives in Rochester.  I went to visit her last summer with my mom and dad.  It was neat.  What do your dad and mom do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, where do they work?"

Rose shrugged her shoulders.  "I don't know.  My mom doesn't have a job.  My dad works at night, but I don't know where."

"My mom works a lot at night, too.  She's a police detective.  She catches murderers and stuff."

They stopped at the playground.  They tried to play on the seesaw, but Rose said her finger hurt and she couldn't hold on.

"How did you hurt it anyway?" Maxey asked.  She thought that Rose wouldn't get upset, now that they were friends.

"Uh, I tripped and fell on it.  I'm pretty clumsy."

She was looking at the ground.  Then she looked up.  "I better go home, Maxey.  See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Rose.  Take care of that finger."

 

Now Maxey was crazy with curiosity and raced all the way home.  When she got there, her mom was coming out of the shower.  Her hair was wrapped in a towel and she was wearing
her big yellow bathrobe.  

After they gave each other a hug, Maxey said, "Mom, there's a new girl at school.  There's something really mysterious about her."

Her mother sighed.  "Not now, baby.  I'm up to my bangs in mysteries.  I haven't slept in forty-eight hours.

How about letting me get some shut-eye.  Have to be back on duty at eleven tonight."

"But, Mom..."

"Please, Maxey?"

Her mom did look pretty tired.  So Maxey gave her a kiss and left.

Just then, Maxey's grandpa arrived with Tom.  Grandpa Malloy picked Tom up from school every day because Tom was too little to walk home by himself.  "Where's your mom and dad?"

"Mom just went to sleep.  Don't know where dad is."

"Damn that Jack.  Oops, sorry, Maxey.  Anyway, your father said he'd be home by three-thirty.  I got a baseball game to go to.  Can't be watching you kids every single day."

"You can go, grandpa.  I'll watch Tom.  I can wake up mom if there's any trouble."

Grandpa plopped into a big chair.  "Well, I don't want you to have to bother Maggie.  She's working on a big murder case.  Needs her sleep."  He looked at his watch. "Jack just better get home soon."

Maxey tried tell her grandfather about Rose, but he wasn't too interested.

"But Grandpa, her mother said she broke her finger in the car door, but Rose says she fell.  Isn't that strange?"

"Look, honey, best policy is to stay out of other people's business.  I've been telling that to your dad since he was your age.  He never listened to me and look where it's got him. Making diddly-squat at that newspaper. Working all hours of the day and night."  He was shaking his head.

Maxey gave up.  She and Tom turned on the T.V. to watch cartoons.  But she couldn't wait till her dad got home.  He'd understand.  He'd know what to do.

Continued >>>

 

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