Ten of Diamonds

4- Don't You Know How To Read?

They found gold, kept Silver, and lost Tom- Havana Road Branch Library

Sitting in history class, I stare at the clue. No matter how much I think about it, I can't understand it. I need to get a book from Havana Road Branch, obviously, but the literary reference is lost on me. The things I read for fun help me to be a better student- historical accounts, research journals, autobiographies, etc. If I'd known that reading the kind of sappy books our English teacher assigned would give me a hundred thousand dollars, I would've read Ernest Hemingway like the Bible.

But I didn't, so regretting such things is a waste of time. I could ask Joshua, but if his chemistry grades reflect his English ones, he's never read a book in his life. I'll have to start from scratch.

"Listen up please," Ms. Pinckney says dully from the front of the class. Unlike Mr. Tate, my chemistry teacher, she seems to have come to terms with the fact that her students will perform with nothing above mediocrity, and treated us accordingly. "The other history teachers are taking their sophomores to the Constitutional Museum, so I suppose I must as well."

My classmates cheer, a sound that hurts my ears. Still, I let myself get a little excited. Most of the students here, including me, haven't been on a field trip since elementary school. A museum might as well have been Disneyland.

"These are the permission slips. If they're not signed by Friday, you're not going, no matter how many times mummy e-mails me."

Ms. Pinckney slides a green paper onto my desk. My joys vanishes. At the end of the page, the text reads: Admission: $20

My parents couldn't even afford to spend time with me; they wouldn't have a twenty lying around so I could go to a damn museum. I swallow the bitterness in my throat. I should be used to this by now- never going on field trips, fast food all day, ratty clothes I've worn for five years. It's fine. I need to focus on finding the next clue anyway.

Try as I might, the bitterness is still there when the bell rings. I'm the last one out of the classroom, taking my time to pack up my belongings.

Someone taps my shoulder. I flinch. A high voice calls out from behind me. "Mackenzie, wait! You left this on the table."

Violet, a tall, skinny girl with blue eyes, holds out the permission slip.

"I left it there on purpose."

She bristles at the coldness of my tone. "Oh. So you're not going?"

I glare at her. The rational side of me knows I shouldn't be angry, but right now I can't stand the sight of her. Her slim, dainty fingers are held out as if to apologize; my chubby ones are balled up in fists. She so perfect, so thin and social. She kept a GPA almost as high as mine with half the effort. The unfairness of it all makes the bitterness in my mouth palpable, and I want to spit it directly at her.

"It's none of your business whether I go or not," I hiss. "Don't touch me, don't speak to me, don't even look at me. Your makeup makes my eyes burn!"

I leave the room, my anger fizzling out. So long I had waited to let those emotions out, but now I only feel worse.

♦

I look at the library's clock. Joshua, as I expected, is late. I bend the ten of diamonds in my hand. The clue's complete meaning was still unknown to me, but I've made a little headway in the past few hours. 'They found gold, kept silver' must refer to a treasure hunt. That makes sense, considering the nature of the game, but didn't narrow much options that much. Havana Road Branch may not be the fanciest or modern library, but it is huge. Dozens of rows of books swamp the library, leaving only islands of space for the the information desk and a few tables. Unfortunately, I'd need Joshua's help to go through so many books in a reasonable amount of time.