Double Dutch Read online

  “I’m scared,” Randy said finally. “Maybe my dad won’t recognize me. Maybe it will never be like it used to be between us.”

  “Everything changes, Randy, and yet somehow things remain constant. Every year I have a different group of kids in Double Dutch, with different needs and problems, but somehow, everything manages to stay the same, except I think I’m getting older!” Bomani chuckled.

  They rode the rest of the way in thoughtful silence.

  twenty-six

  LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON DELIA SAT ON THE FRONT STEPS of her house, wishing she had a large, wraparound porch like the houses she had seen on TV, but she and her mom had only three front steps and a small landing that barely left enough room for a chair. Delia, wearing her red jacket, and a pair of blue jeans that were fresh from the dryer, sat in a kitchen chair that she had dragged outside so she could enjoy the soft spring breezes. It was a day of beauty—the kind of day you read about in books, she thought. As she watched the high, thin clouds brush across the sky, it seemed as if the storms of the last week were a memory of the distant past.

  But she had plenty of new storms to deal with. Her mother was inside on the phone, having another argument with her father-this time about whose fault it was that Delia had a reading problem.

  She had resigned herself to the reality that she had to face that state test eventually, and she knew that she’d probably have to take it several times before she conquered it. But as she touched the bright red silkiness of her jacket, she was determined to do it.

  Yo Yo had called earlier, rattling on about the Tollivers and Jesse, who didn’t like the idea that the Tollivers had been calling her. She loved it. Delia didn’t tell Yolanda, but she envied her. Yo Yo breezed through school and collected boyfriends along the way.

  Delia looked up at one small dark cloud in the bright sky and thought of Randy. The loss of his friendship hurt more than listening to her parents fight. Angry at herself for not being able to read, and feeling stupid as well, she hated the fact that her problems had caused Randy pain. Delia wondered how the visit went with Randy’s father.

  Her mother came to the door then. Delia could tell she had been crying. “I’m sorry, Mom,” Delia said.

  “No, sweetheart, I’m the one who’s sorry. We’re going to work this out, I promise.”

  “I know, Mom. It’s not your fault. I’m gonna try real hard.” Delia wanted to change the subject. “Are you off the phone? I want to call Bomani.”

  “Oh, my goodness! I almost forgot. Randy’s on the phone. I’m so glad he called—it gave me a reason to get off the line with your father. I’ll bring the phone out here.”

  Delia’s heart pounded as her mother handed her the phone. “Hi, Randy,” she said softly.

  “What’s up?” he replied.

  Delia thought he sounded really subdued. “Did you see your dad?”

  “Yeah, we just got back. Oh, Delia, he’s gonna be fine. He looked like a little skinny, older, slightly beat-up version of himself, but he almost jumped out of his bed when he saw me. His whole face was a big ol’ grin!”

  “I’m so glad, Randy. Will he be able to come home soon?”

  “Yeah, the doctor said my visit made a big difference, so my dad can probably come home in just a few days.”

  “That’s real good news, Randy,” Delia said with feeling. “I am so glad.”

  “I guess I’d better clean up the house a little before he gets here. I’m so excited!”

  “Randy, I’ve been thinking about you all day,” Delia admitted. “I’m so sorry—about everything.” She giggled a little. “Actually I just had this same conversation with my mother!”

  “It’s not your fault, Delia. Actually, if it hadn’t been for you, and for that Double Dutch tournament, I never would have seen that flyer.”

  “Well, I still feel pretty stupid. By the way, me and my mom had a long talk. I told her everything. Monday she’s taking me to some learning center to get tested, and maybe in a hundred years I can actually pass a test!” She lowered her voice. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

  “It won’t take that long, Delia,” Randy said. “You wear that red championship jacket when you go and they will know they’re dealing with a winner!”

  “Thanks-and Randy?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Me, too.”

  Delia’s eyes stung with tears as she hung up the phone. She wiped her eyes, then sat quietly on her little porch, trying to make sense of everything—Double Dutch, the tornado, the Tollivers, Randy and his dad, and all the secrets that had almost destroyed several lives. Delia listened to the cars as they whizzed by. The movement of the cars on the street, the clouds scudding across the sky, and even the beating of her heart made her think of the sounds and rhythms of the ropes when she jumped. She smiled and headed back into the house, carrying the rhythms with her.

  Many thanks to all of the dynamic jumpers on the Cincinnati Double Dutch teams, and to all the participants in the World Championships. You are all champions! For more information about how to start a Double Dutch team in your community, please write to:

  The American Double Dutch League

  4220 Eads Street, N.E.

  Washington, D.C. 20019

  1-800-982-ADDL

  www.addl.org

  Atheneum Books for Young Readers

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas

  New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2002 by Sharon Draper

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Book design by O’Lanso Gabbidon

  The text of this book is set in Baskerville.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Draper, Sharon M. (Sharon Mills)

  Double Dutch / by Sharon M. Draper.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Three eighth-grade friends, preparing for the International Double Dutch Championship jump rope competition in their home town of Cincinnati, Ohio, cope with Randy’s missing father, and Yo Yo’s encounter with the class bullies, and a secret Delia is too embarrassed to share.

  ISBN 0-689-84230-9

  eISBN 978-1-4424-3545-2

  [1. Rope skipping—Fiction. 2. Contests—Fiction. 3. Dyslexia—Fiction.

  4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Schools—Fiction. 6. Afro-Americans—Fiction.

  7. Cincinnati (Ohio)—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.D78325 Do 2002

  [Fic]—dc21 00-050247

  WE HOPE YOU LOVED READING THIS EBOOK!

  We have SO many more books for kids in the in-beTWEEN age that we’d love to share with you! Sign up for our IN THE MIDDLE books newsletter and you’ll receive news about other great books, exclusive excerpts, games, author interviews, and more!

  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

  or visit us online to sign up at

  eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com/middle