Tuesday, 8 May 2007

"Priscilla and the Wimps" by Richard Peck

Listen there was a time when you couldn't even go to the rest room around this school without a pass. And I'm not talking about those little pink tickets made out by some teacher. I'm talking about a pass that cost anywhere up to a buck, sold by Monk Clutter.

Not that mightly Monk ever touched money, not in public. The gang he ran, which ran the school for him, was his collection agency. They were Klutter's Kobras, a name spelled out in nailheads on six well-known black plastic windbreakers.

Monk's threads were more...subtle. A pile-lined suede battle jacket with lizard-skin flaps over tailored Levi's and a pair of ostrich-skin boots, brassed-toed and suitable for kicking people around. One of his Kobras did nothing all day but walk a halp step behind Monk, carrying a fitted bag with Monk's gym shoes, a roll of rest-room passes, a cash-box, and a switchblade that Monk gave himself manicures with at Lunch over at the Kobra's table.

Speaking of Lunch, there were a few cases of advanced malnutrition among the newer kids. The ones who were a little slow in handing over a cut of their lunch money and were therefore barred from the cafeteria. Monk ran a tight ship.

I admit it. I'm five foot five, and when the Kobras slithered by, with or without Monk, I shrank. And I admit this, too: I paid up on a regular basis. And I might add: so would you.

The school was old Monk's Garden of Eden. Unfortuneately for him, there was a serpent in it. The reasonMonk didn't recognise trouble when it was staring him in the face is that the serpent in the Kobras' Eden was a girl.

Practically every guy in school could show you his scars. Fang marks from Kobras, you might say. And they were all highly visible in the shower room: lumps, lacerations, blue bruises, you name it. But girls usually get off with a warning.

Except there was one girl named Priscilla Roseberry. Picture a girl named Priscilla Roseberry, and you'll be light years off. Priscilla was, hands down, the largest student in our particular institution of learning. I'm not talking big. Even beautiful, in a bionic way. Priscilla wasn't inclined toward organized crime. Otherwise, she could have put together a gang that would tur Klutter's Kobras into garter snakes.

Priscilla was basically a loner except she had one friend. A little guy named Melvin Detweiler. You talk about the Odd Couple. Melvin's one of the smallest guys above midget status ever seen. A really nice guy, but, you know, little. They even had lockers next to each other, in the same bank as mine. I don't know what they had going. I'm not saying this was a romance. After all, people deserve their privacy.

Priscilla was sort of above everything, if you'll pardon a pun. And very calm, as only the very big can be. If there was anybody who didn't notice Klutter's Kobras, it was Priscilla.

Until one winter day after school when we were all grabbing our coats out of our lockers. And hurrying, since Klutter's Kobras made sweeps of the halls for after-school shakedowns

Anyway, up to Melvin's locker swaggers on of the Kobras. Never mind his name. Gang members don't need names. They've got group identity. He reaches down and grabs little Melvin by the neck and slams his head against his locker door. The sound of skull against steel rippled all the way down the locker row, speeding the crowds on their way.

"Okay, let's see your pass," snarls the Kobra.
"A pass for what this time?" Melvin asks, probably still dazed.
"Let's call it a pass for very short people," says the Kobra, " a dwarf tax." He wheezes a little Kobra chuckle at his own wittiness. And already he's reaching for Melvin's wallet with the hand that isn't circling Melvin's windpipe. All this time, of course, Melvin and the Kobra are standingin Priscilla's big shadow.

She's taking her time shoving her books into her locker and pulling of a very large-size coat. Then, quicker than the eye, she brings the side of her enormous hand down in a chop that breaks the Kobra's hold on Melvin's throat. You could here a pin drop in that hallway. Nobody's ever laid a finger on a Kobra, let alone a hand the size of Priscilla's. Then Priscilla, who hardly ever says anything to anybody except to Melvin, says to the Kobra, "Who's your leader, wimp?"

This practically blows the Kobra away. First he's chopped by a girl, and now she's acting like she doesn't know Monk Klutter, the Head Honcho of the World. He's so amazed, he tells her, "Monk Klutter."
"Never heard of him," Priscilla mentions. :Send him to see me." The Kobra just backs away from her like the whole situation is too big for him, which it is.
Pretty soon Monk himself slides up. He jerks his head once, and his Kobras slither off down the hall. He's going to handle this interesting case personally. "Who is it around here doesn't know Monk Klutter?'

He's standing inches from Priscilla, but since he'd have to look up at her, he doesn't. " Never heard of him," says Priscilla.

Monk's not happy with this answer, but by now he's spotted Melvin, who's grown smaller in spite of himself. Monk breaks his own rule by reaching for Melvin with his own hands. "Kid," he says, "you're going to have to educate your girl friend."

His hands never quite make it to Melvin. In a move of pure poetry Priscilla has Monk in a hammerlock. His neck's popping like gunfire, and his heart's bowed under the immense weight of her forearm. His suede jacket's peeling back, showing pile.

Priscilla's behing him in another easy motion. And with a single mighty thrust forward, frog-marches Monk into her own locker. It's incredible. His ostrich-skin boots click once in the air. And suddenly he's gone, neatly wedged into the locker, a perfect fit. Priscilla bangs the door shut, twirls the lock, and strolls out of school. Melvin goes with her, of course, trotting along below her shoulder. The last stragglers leave quietly.

Well this is where fate, an even bigger force than Priscill, steps in. It snows all that night, a blizzard. The whole town ices up. And school closes for a week.

Peck, Richard, "Priscilla and the Wimps." Sixteen: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults. Ed, Donald R Gallo. New York: Dell PUblishing Company, Inc., 1984.

50 comments:

Pinkluver15 said...

Thanks soooo much!!! We read this in class and (of coarse i wasn't paying attention) then we had to write the ending to the story and had to draw pics for all the scenes.

Unknown said...

Thanks, this really helps during the exams day's, to get answeres from i pod ........

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh!! thank you i wasnt paying attention in class just like Pinkluver15 haha and i needed this to fill out a graphic organizer!! THANKS!!!!

Tonya Shields said...

We (my class and I)loved your story...it was very informative and entertaining and it allowed us not to be bullies!! =)

boricua9 said...

OMG THANKS SO MUCH .. I READ THIS IN CLASS AND JUST LIKE ALWAYS I DIDNT PAY ATTENTION =] AND MY TEACHER GAVE ME THE STORY BUT I HAD LOST IT =[ . SO THIS HELPED ME ALOT . AND I HAD TO DO A ESSAY ABOUT THIS STORY .

S.A said...

damn what a dumb blog, so many grammar errors. The comments posted here make no sense and btw the author didnt make this blog ,some low life did. :D jk guys, i just wanted to be angry for no reason sry

Tati said...

holy sht this was sooooooo helpful, i had to answer a bunch of questions on this story and my teaxher wanted us to memorize it

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! I didn't pay attention in class. This really helped me with my essay!

GuhFace said...

Thx sooooo much i missed class two days in a row and teacher expects me to answer a plot diagram for this story on homework =(

GuhFace said...
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GuhFace said...

Thx sooooo much i missed class two days in a row and teacher expects me to answer a plot diagram for this story on homework =(

I eat monkeyzzz said...

This was awesome i had to finish the story from the cliffhanger but i totally forgot the main details THANKS SOOO MUCH!

Unknown said...

thank you soooooo much :D my class is using the book for our summer read home work. i had to look it up so i could do a type 2 and cite me some evedence. so thank you very much :D

you people are all dumb said...

you guys suck. no one cares about your school and how much attention you're paying.

Unknown said...
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Problem?

Unknown said...

penis

Unknown said...

I loved the story I just wish there was more :(

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

this book is amazing who ever wrote this is the best what are the five element in the short story

Anonymous said...

i love this book



BIGGEST FAN EVER HOW OLD ARE JUST KIDDING

Anonymous said...

leve me r o

Unknown said...

I just wanted a reason to comment

Unknown said...

I REALLY THANKS THE ONE WHO WROTE THIS STORY IT HELPED ME ALOT AND LIKE THE OTHERS I DIDNT PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS AND THIS HELPED ME DOING MY HOMEWORK!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

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snoop dwog aprovied

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daddys home

Unknown said...

worst story ever!!!

Anonymous said...

What are three ways monk bullyed other kids please help !!

Unknown said...

1 Lunch money
2 "Afterschool Shakedowns"
3 Bathroom passes

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Uugugug said...

Can you succ my dick

Some random user person said...

Wow thanks that helped me alot! Unlike most of these people, I actually payed atention. It is just that we could not take our literacy books home so this was a BIG help!

Some random user person said...

Wierdo

Unknown said...

This was a great short story to post and it helped me to understand more on my final exams. Thanks!!!

Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

Shut the fuck up !!!

Unknown said...

Why the fuck u talking

Unknown said...

By making them receive passes and hold on to them or else there done. That’s one.

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Wtf!!!

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It’s a small one though!!!😂😂🖕🏻

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