decide to learn on his own, and he was learning them really early, before he was even supposed to be a student in the academy, so that when he began doing his own thing, whatever that turned out to be, he wouldn’t end up as ignorant as Cordelia and Hal were bound to be.
Jeremy Bernstein was worried about a television show invading their family’s privacy. That just showed how little he understood them. Every last one of them lived to be the center of attention. Even Hal. Turning himself into a recluse guaranteed that people would talk about him.
She threw her extra pillow across the room. She hated being an Applewhite.
Chapter Ten
A ccording to the alarm clock on his bedside table, it was 5:03 A.M . when Jake woke to the shrieking clatter of an electric coffee grinder. He buried his head under the pillow and turned over to go back to sleep. But now that he was awake, he had to go to the bathroom. When he opened the door of his bedroom, he saw Archie, dressed in jogging clothes and bustling around the cottage’s small kitchen area. Jake nodded in his direction but didn’t return Archie’s greeting. How could anyone have that much good cheer at that hour of themorning? Lucille had called Archie a lark. True. Nobody but birds was up at this hour.
Or so he thought. He had just gone back to bed and was slipping happily into a dream about a spectacularly beautiful dancer in a purple leotard when something thundered across the room and landed on him like a mortar round, knocking the breath out of him. He felt the covers being pulled off his head.
“You are so too awake! Uncle Archie said you was asleep. He said you didn’t even wake up when you went to the bathroom before. You isn’t asleep at all. You gots your eyes open and everything!”
Groaning, Jake maneuvered so that Destiny’s weight slid off his stomach and onto the edge of the bed. Then he pushed himself up to his elbows. The boy, dressed in pirate pajamas, did not stop talking.
“Your hair points is all messed and flat. I told you! Nobody gots hair that grows in points like you said. You gots to do something to it to make it do that. I wanna watch you do it. Can I watch? Can I? Huh? Can I?”
“No!” Jake said. “Go away. I’m not ready to be awake yet. I’m not awake.”
“Are so. You gots your eyes open and you’re talking. Jake’s awake, Jake’s awake, Jake’s awake!”
“Go home. Don’t you know you’re not supposed to barge into somebody’s bedroom without knocking?”
Destiny jumped off the bed, ran to the open door, and knocked on it. “I knocked. Now do I gets to watchyou make your hair do points? Can I, can I, can I?”
“Destiny! What did I tell you?” Archie appeared in the doorway. He shook his head at Jake. “You might as well get up. I could take him away, but he’ll come back. Believe me, you’re better off getting up now. And here’s somebody who followed him over.” Winston came into the room, jumped heavily up onto Jake’s bed, and licked him on the nose.
“Okay! Okay! I give up.” The prospect of life at Juvenile Hall was beginning to seem tempting.
Jake took a shower, listening to what seemed like two hundred repetitions of “ Frère Jacques, ” which could be heard even over the sound of the water running. He got dressed and then let Destiny sit on the edge of the tub while he gelled and combed his hair into its all-over porcupine points. It was somehow a lot harder to do with somebody watching. Winston lay on the damp bath mat, his nose between his paws, his eyes focused on Jake as if the jar of gel were something to eat.
Archie stuck his head in to tell them he was off to jog and do his morning Tai Chi. “You can have breakfast here if you like—there’s cereal. Or go up to the main house and see what’s there, if anything. Somebody else is bound to be up in a couple of hours.”
Destiny begged Jake to gel and spike his hair, too, but Jake had no intention of becoming a hairdresser for a
Jeremy Bernstein was worried about a television show invading their family’s privacy. That just showed how little he understood them. Every last one of them lived to be the center of attention. Even Hal. Turning himself into a recluse guaranteed that people would talk about him.
She threw her extra pillow across the room. She hated being an Applewhite.
Chapter Ten
A ccording to the alarm clock on his bedside table, it was 5:03 A.M . when Jake woke to the shrieking clatter of an electric coffee grinder. He buried his head under the pillow and turned over to go back to sleep. But now that he was awake, he had to go to the bathroom. When he opened the door of his bedroom, he saw Archie, dressed in jogging clothes and bustling around the cottage’s small kitchen area. Jake nodded in his direction but didn’t return Archie’s greeting. How could anyone have that much good cheer at that hour of themorning? Lucille had called Archie a lark. True. Nobody but birds was up at this hour.
Or so he thought. He had just gone back to bed and was slipping happily into a dream about a spectacularly beautiful dancer in a purple leotard when something thundered across the room and landed on him like a mortar round, knocking the breath out of him. He felt the covers being pulled off his head.
“You are so too awake! Uncle Archie said you was asleep. He said you didn’t even wake up when you went to the bathroom before. You isn’t asleep at all. You gots your eyes open and everything!”
Groaning, Jake maneuvered so that Destiny’s weight slid off his stomach and onto the edge of the bed. Then he pushed himself up to his elbows. The boy, dressed in pirate pajamas, did not stop talking.
“Your hair points is all messed and flat. I told you! Nobody gots hair that grows in points like you said. You gots to do something to it to make it do that. I wanna watch you do it. Can I watch? Can I? Huh? Can I?”
“No!” Jake said. “Go away. I’m not ready to be awake yet. I’m not awake.”
“Are so. You gots your eyes open and you’re talking. Jake’s awake, Jake’s awake, Jake’s awake!”
“Go home. Don’t you know you’re not supposed to barge into somebody’s bedroom without knocking?”
Destiny jumped off the bed, ran to the open door, and knocked on it. “I knocked. Now do I gets to watchyou make your hair do points? Can I, can I, can I?”
“Destiny! What did I tell you?” Archie appeared in the doorway. He shook his head at Jake. “You might as well get up. I could take him away, but he’ll come back. Believe me, you’re better off getting up now. And here’s somebody who followed him over.” Winston came into the room, jumped heavily up onto Jake’s bed, and licked him on the nose.
“Okay! Okay! I give up.” The prospect of life at Juvenile Hall was beginning to seem tempting.
Jake took a shower, listening to what seemed like two hundred repetitions of “ Frère Jacques, ” which could be heard even over the sound of the water running. He got dressed and then let Destiny sit on the edge of the tub while he gelled and combed his hair into its all-over porcupine points. It was somehow a lot harder to do with somebody watching. Winston lay on the damp bath mat, his nose between his paws, his eyes focused on Jake as if the jar of gel were something to eat.
Archie stuck his head in to tell them he was off to jog and do his morning Tai Chi. “You can have breakfast here if you like—there’s cereal. Or go up to the main house and see what’s there, if anything. Somebody else is bound to be up in a couple of hours.”
Destiny begged Jake to gel and spike his hair, too, but Jake had no intention of becoming a hairdresser for a
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