Swan Place by Augusta Trobaugh Page B

lunch time, with one of her big-white-house girlfriends in tow and said in a loud voice, “Dove’s aunt gives her Darlene’s old clothes to wear.” I didn’t turn around. So she added, “And the aunt is so poor, she can’t even pay good money for clothes. She has to trade pickles for them!” I turned and stared at Michelle, but I said not one single word and I didn’t look at her funny-like or anything.
    But Michelle didn’t stop there. She went around telling everybody that all my dresses were the very same ones Darlene wore last year and that we were all so poor, we couldn’t afford our own clothes—but had to borrow clothes from other folks. I’m not sure of why it hurt me so bad, but it did. Maybe it had something to do with my mama and Aunt Bett—like everybody was laughing at how hard Aunt Bett tried to help me and Molly and Little Ellis. So when we were lining up to go back inside after recess, I walked right up to Michelle and stuck my face into hers and bored my eyes into her startled ones.
    “You shut up, Michelle. You just shut up. You hear me?” My voice was so strong-sounding, it almost surprised me. Then I turned on my heel and walked away. But when we got into the classroom, Michelle went up to the teacher’s desk and told her something. We had a substitute teacher that day, and that was unlucky for me. The teacher looked at me, and then she wiggled her finger for me to come to her desk, too.
    “Dove,” she whispered. “Michelle says that you cursed at her during lunch time. Is that true?” I looked at Michelle, and she had the meanest, happiest look on her face I have ever seen.
    “No, ma’am,” I said. “I’m not allowed to use curse words.”
    “She did!” Michelle shot back, and then she went back to wearing that same look.
    The teacher looked back at me, and I blinked at her with my face as open and honest as could be. But I could tell she had already made up her mind.
    “Dove, you go down and see Miss Frazier.” And that was the way she dismissed me, and I found myself sitting in the principal’s office. Miss Frazier was a heavyset person, and that day, she was wearing a dress with tiny purple bows in the fabric. Made me think of Aunt Bett’s story about her and my mama taking music lessons. But I knew better than to smile. I’d never been sent to Miss Frazier’s office before, and I sat real still, trying to decide if I was mad because of Michelle lying about what I said or if I was scared to death. Miss Frazier closed my file and put her hands together on top of it.
    “You’ve never caused trouble before, Dove. Now I know about your losing your mama so recently. Is that why you’re causing trouble?”
    “No, ma’am.” I met her gaze without blinking.
    “So what happened that you used curse words to Michelle? You hear that kind of talk at home?” I thought of Roy-Ellis and how sometimes he used bad words. But when he’d burned himself on that boiling water when he was helping us dye Easter eggs, he’d stopped himself from saying those words around us. And I hadn’t heard him say anything bad since then.
    “No, ma’am,” I said. “But Michelle was saying bad things about my clothes, and I had to tell her to shut up. I did tell her to shut up, but I didn’t use any curse words. And that’s the truth. And it doesn’t have anything to do with  . . . Mama,” I managed to add, but then I knew I had to stop talking or I was going to cry. Miss Frazier studied me hard, and I sat there running my hand across the hem of Darlene’s last-year dress.
    “Are you telling me that Michelle lied?” The question was sent at me just like a spear.
    “Yes’m,” I gulped. “I guess I am.”
    She leaned back in her chair and sighed.
    “Dove, Michelle’s father is an outstanding member of this community. He has raised Michelle right, and I’m sure she doesn’t lie.”
    “But I’ve been raised right too, and I’m not lying, Miss Frazier,” I said in all