Cold War on Maplewood Street by Gayle Rosengren Page A

if that’s just a disguise she wears so people
think
she’s old and harmless. But really she’s—”
    â€œJoanna—” Mom began.
    â€œNo, really, Mom. She’s got that funny accent. Maybe she’s a Russian spy and she—”
    â€œJoanna Maxwell, that’s enough! You’re going to give yourself more nightmares.”
    Joanna stopped, but she wasn’t convinced.
    â€œNow,” Mom said, opening the refrigerator, “what shall we have for supper?”
    Joanna, sulking, didn’t reply.
    â€œHow about some bacon and eggs?” Mom suggested.
    Joanna grunted.
    Mom must have taken that for a yes. She pulled out the carton of eggs. Before she cracked even one, though, the phone rang. It was Aunt Violet. They could talk for hours. Joanna slipped away to watch
Love That Bob,
a comedy that would hopefully restore her sense of humor.
    Half an hour later, Mom hung up the phone and called Joanna to set the table. When they finished eating, Joanna cleared the dirty dishes while Mom ran soapy water into the sink. Joanna checked the clock on the wall. Nearly six. “I’ll dry the dishes after I watch the news.”
    â€œYou? The news?” Mom repeated in astonishment.
    â€œI want to know what’s happening with Cuba,” Joanna explained.
    â€œYou don’t need to worry about that,” Mom said. “Get a head start on your homework instead.”
    â€œMo-om, this is important,” Joanna said. Then she had her second brainstorm of the day. She crossed her fingers behind her back. “We’re supposed to watch for social studies. There’ll probably be a quiz tomorrow.”
    Mom sighed. “Okay. Watch. Just remember, everything is going to be fine.”
    Joanna nodded. “Yeah. Sure. I know.” But she wasn’t as sure today as she had been yesterday. And the news didn’t help.
    The “quarantine” of Cuba would go into effect the next morning, Walter Cronkite announced. No ships carrying missiles or launching equipment would be allowed past the American ships guarding the shoreline. If they tried to slip through, they would be fired on and sunk.
    Fired on! What if Sam’s ship was part of the quarantine? What if one of the Russian ships fired back? What if Sam’s ship was blown up or sunk? Joanna clasped her arms around her knees to try to keep them from trembling worse than they had when she’d thought there was a burglar breaking in.
    â€œTime to turn off the television and do homework,” Mom called.
    Joanna forced herself to stand and walk. She turned off the TV with a hand that was freezing cold and sweating at the same time.
    When Mom didn’t ask her about the news, Joanna volunteered, “Ships are surrounding Cuba so no more missiles can get through.”
    â€œMmmhmmm,” Mom said as she sat down across from Joanna and opened a thick book.
    â€œIf the ships don’t stop to be inspected, we’re going to blow them up,” Joanna added, watching her mother closely.
    Mom looked up, but only to ask, “How was school today?”
    Joanna felt a surge of anger, but she kept her voice even. “We had an air-raid drill. Somebody started crying. You know. The usual.”
    Mom blinked. She fiddled with one of the blue buttons on her dress. “We were busy today,” she said at last. “Everyone seemed to need towels.”
    Towels? Joanna wanted to talk about the scary things going on in the world, and all Mom cared about were
towels
? She gave up and opened her notebook, but she had a hard time concentrating. Mom, though, sitting right across from her, seemed to have no trouble at all. While Joanna’s eyes kept stalling over the words and she read the same sentences over and over, Mom’s skimmed smoothly over page after page.
    It took Joanna twice as long as it should have, but finally she finished her assignment. She went into her bedroom to get the