Beezus and Ramona - Beverly Cleary [5]
“I couldn’t read when I was your age and I didn’t have someone to read to me all the time, so it is too fair,” argued Beezus. “You always get your own way, because you’re the youngest.”
“I do not!” shouted Ramona. “And you don’t read all the time. You’re mean!”
“I am not mean,” Beezus shouted back.
“Children!” cried Mother. “Stop it, both of you! Ramona, you were a very naughty girl!” A loud sniff came from Ramona.
“And, Beezus,” her mother continued, “the library won’t take your card away from you. If you’ll get my purse I’ll give you some money to pay for the damage to the book. Take Ramona along with you, explain what happened, and the librarian will tell you how much to pay.”
This made Beezus feel better. Ramona sulked all the way to the library, but when they got there Beezus was pleased to see that Miss Evans, the children’s librarian, was sitting behind the desk. Miss Evans was the kind of librarian who would understand about little sisters.
“Hello, Beatrice,” said Miss Evans. “Is this your little sister I’ve heard so much about?”
Beezus wondered what Miss Evans had heard about Ramona. “Yes, this is Ramona,” she said and went on hesitantly, “and, Miss Evans, she—”
“I’m a bad girl,” interrupted Ramona, smiling winningly at the librarian.
“Oh, you are?” said Miss Evans. “What did you do?”
“I wrote in a book,” said Ramona, not the least ashamed. “I wrote in purple crayon and it will never, ever erase. Never, never, never.”
Embarrassed, Beezus handed Miss Evans Big Steve the Steam Shovel. “Mother gave me the money to pay for the damage,” she explained.
The librarian turned the pages of the book. “Well, you didn’t miss a page, did you?” she finally said to Ramona.
“No,” said Ramona, pleased with herself.
“And it will never, never—”
“I’m awfully sorry,” interrupted Beezus.
“After this I’ll try to keep our library books where she can’t reach them.”
Miss Evans consulted a file of little cards in a drawer. “Since every page in the book was damaged and the library can no longer use it, I’ll have to ask you to pay for the whole book. I’m sorry, but this is the rule. It will cost two dollars and fifty cents.”
Two dollars and fifty cents! What a lot of things that would have bought, Beezus reflected, as she pulled three folded dollar bills out of her pocket and handed them to the librarian. Miss Evans put the money in a drawer and gave Beezus fifty cents in change.
Then Miss Evans took a rubber stamp and stamped something inside the book. By twisting her head around, Beezus could see that the word was Discarded. “There!” Miss Evans said, pushing the book across the desk. “You have paid for it, so now it’s yours.”
Beezus stared at the librarian. “You mean…to keep?”
“That’s right,” answered Miss Evans.
Ramona grabbed the book. “It’s mine. I told you it was mine!” Then she turned to Beezus and said triumphantly, “You said people didn’t buy books at the library and now you just bought one!”
“Buying a book and paying for damage are not the same thing,” Miss Evans pointed out to Ramona.
Beezus could see that Ramona didn’t care. The book was hers, wasn’t it? It was paid for and she could keep it. And that’s not fair, thought Beezus. Ramona shouldn’t get her own way when she had been naughty.
“But, Miss Evans,” protested Beezus, “if she spoils a book she shouldn’t get to keep it. Now every time she finds a book she likes she will…” Beezus did not go on. She knew very well what Ramona would do, but she wasn’t going to say it out loud in front of her.
“I see what you mean.” Miss Evans looked thoughtful. “Give me the book, Ramona,” she said.
Doubtfully Ramona handed her the book.
“Ramona, do you have a library card?” Miss Evans asked.
Ramona shook her head.
“Then Beezus must have taken the book out on her card,” said Miss Evans. “So the book belongs to Beezus.”
Why, of course! Why hadn’t she thought of that before? It was her book, not Ramona’s. “Oh, thank you,” said