Remembering Mrs. Rossi (9780763670900) (11 page)

Then one day Mrs. Rossi the spy showed up . . . and there goes my secret, right out the window. Mrs. Rossi sat on the curb. We watched the firehouse and you could tell she liked my firehouse. I said,
My father used to be a fire-fighter,
but I think the spy already knew. I said,
He died when I was a baby
. I think she knew that, too. Then we crossed the street. Mrs. Rossi knocked on the big red door. We went in. Seven is my lucky number and
seven
firefighters shook my hand, and also Mrs. Rossi’s! It was the greatest day of my life! Now when I sit on my curb, my friends at the firehouse wave to me. Sometimes they come over to see what I’m drawing.

Mrs. Rossi always wore plain blue shoes. One day she wore ooh-la-laaaaa fancy red shoes to school! And
I
saw them first, because
I
was the first one in school!

Me: I like your red shoes, Mrs. Rossi.

Mrs. Rossi: Thank you, Tess.

Me: Where are your regular shoes, the old blue ones?

Mrs. Rossi: Under my bed, I suppose.

Me: My mother has
purple
shoes. But only for special occasions. I
love
special occasions, Mrs. Rossi.

Mrs. Rossi: Well, then, I’ll tell you a little secret. Today
is
a special occasion. My anniversary!

Me: Is there a party? I
love
parties, Mrs. Rossi.

Mrs. Rossi: Actually, my husband is taking me to lunch today!

Me: To a restaurant????

Mrs. Rossi: To my
favorite
restaurant. I think I’ll have spaghetti.

Me: Could I come, too, Mrs. Rossi? Pleeeease! The food in this school is really bad.

This is a picture of Mrs. Rossi and the red shoes. She looks pretty. Her sweater is red, too.

Give me an M

M!

Give me an R

R!

Give me an S

S!

Give me an R

R!

Give me an O

O!

Give me an SSI

SSI!

Who d’ya love?

Mrs. Rossi!!

Who?

Mrs. Rossi!!

One more time!

Yaaaaay, Mrs. Rossi!!

My name is Frankie and I feel sorry for Mrs. Rossi. Only old people are supposed to die. And bad guys on TV. A lot of teachers get a headache or a cold. Mr. Lubner the gym teacher in my old school broke his leg that time. I signed
Frankie
on his cast. I never heard about a teacher who died. Not even on TV. And that’s why I feel sorry for Mrs. Rossi.

I never heard of a Complaint Box until the first day of sixth grade and Mrs. Rossi was telling us all about sixth grade and Matthew said,
Homework on the weekend?? No fair!!
Mrs. Rossi usually gets mad when you call out, but that time she said,
File your complaint in the Complaint Box, Matthew
. And there really was a box! And you’re honestly allowed to write your complaint on a green card and drop it in the box and you don’t even have to sign your name! I know a fancy way to say you don’t sign your name. ANONYMOUS. Sometimes Mrs. Rossi uses big words so we all know a few big words before the end of sixth grade and she wrote ANONYMOUS on the board one time and we had to write it in our notebooks. It’s my favorite big word. Once I was mad because I wanted to go to the park for recess and it wasn’t even raining that hard and we had to stay in. I filed an ANONYMOUS complaint. Once my dog stole my assignment pad so I didn’t do my social studies homework and Mrs. Rossi said,
Under the circumstances, Lola, you should have called a friend
. She said it in front of the whole class and I turned red. I filed an ANONYMOUS complaint.

Every Friday Mrs. Rossi put the Complaint Box on her desk so she could read all the things we wrote on green cards. She said maybe those cards would make her a better teacher . . . but I think she already was the best teacher in the world.

ANONYMOUS COMPLAINT

Mrs. Rossi forgot to say goodbye. I really wish I could see her again.

Mrs. Rossi used to get mad if you called out and she used to get mad if you didn’t raise your hand and if you forgot your homework and passed notes in school and talked under your breath and slouched. Mrs. Rossi used to get mad if you laughed when someone messed
up
and if you said something mean to a girl and threw food in the cafeteria and didn’t empty your tray. Mrs. Rossi used to get mad if you ran up the stairs or
down
the stairs and if you said
yeah
instead of yes. But watch out if you’re ever in a fight, because that’s when she got
really
mad. One time I got in this teeny little fight with Joe in the cafeteria (which he started) and he got a bloody nose. Mrs. Rossi was super-mad. Everyone went to the nurse’s office (me, Joe, Mrs. Rossi, Mrs. Owens). Joe got to lie down. I got to stand in a corner. Now they’re all looking at poor old Joe with this blue ice pack on his nose. I was hoping they’d forget about me but no luck. Mrs. Rossi made me call Joe’s
parents
to explain about the teeny little bump on his nose. She made me call my parents, too. It was exhausting. I was supposed to have gym but Mrs. Rossi would not let me go to gym. She made me stay there with Joe until he felt better. I was mad. Then we started fooling around. When the nurse wasn’t looking, we had a catch with the ice pack.

**This is Mrs. Rossi’s wagon. Every week she drags it all the way to the public library and all the way back, just so we can have a new supply of books in room 222. I really hate reading. I would rather watch a scary movie on TV. Or run around the basketball court — it’s a lot more fun than reading.

Chapter 1: My Father and I Walk to School