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Joy, Maurecia, and Jenny were playing jump rope out on the playground. School hadn’t started yet.
Maurecia and Jenny were twirling. Joy sang as she jumped:
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“My mama wore pajamas to the grocery store.
She smashed a bunch of eggs on the grocery floor.
One dozen, two dozen, four dozen, six.
She dumped a bunch of jelly jars into the mix.
Grape jelly, apricot, don’t forget cherry.
Orange marmalade and wild strawberry.
A man walked by and fell in the glop.
He slid next door to the barber shop.
His icky-sticky body got covered in hair.
He tore a hole in his under—”
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Joy tripped over the rope. It wasn’t her fault. Maurecia had suddenly stopped twirling.
“Hey!” said Joy. “What’s the big idea?”
“Look!” said Maurecia.
A very handsome stranger was walking toward them.
The girls stared at him.
“Good morning, Maurecia,” said the stranger. “Jenny. Joy.”
“How do you know my name?” Maurecia asked nervously. She wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers.
“I’ve known you a long time,” said the stranger. “I see you almost every day.”
Maurecia was beginning to feel scared. She looked around for Louis, the yard teacher, but didn’t see him. “I can scream real loud,” she warned.
“Oh my gosh!” said Jenny. “It’s Louis!”
Maurecia looked at the stranger. He did sort of look like Louis.
Except his hair was combed. His shirt was tucked in. He was wearing a tie. And there was skin between his nose and mouth.
He had shaved off his mustache.
“That’s Mr. Louis to you,” said Louis. “I’m a teacher, and I expect to be treated with respect.”
“You want to play jump rope, uh, Mr. Louis?” asked Maurecia.
Louis was great at jump rope. He could even do it blindfolded. He was the one who taught Joy the song she was singing at the beginning of this st
