by Linda Davick
“We wouldn’t have left without you,” said Sofie.
“You add a special flavor to the Gum Club,” said Boris.
“What kind of special flavor?” Tonya asked.
I was afraid Boris was going to say, “Sour apple,” but instead he said, “Kind of a burnt caramel.”
Tonya smiled.
I offered Yoshi some chocolate-covered raisins to sprinkle on top of his ambrosia. He took a few, but he still wouldn’t look at me.
“Yoshi, did we win first place in the science fair?” Tonya asked.
Yoshi shook his head. “Sorry to let you down.”
“That’s okay,” said Tonya. “And I’m glad you brought your telescope. Otherwise Captain Wolfenbarger never would have been able to find me.”
She spread her napkin on her lap. “Who did win?”
“The vomiting volcano,” said Boris.
“When will people ever learn that science fair volcanos are B-O-R-I-N-G?”
We all laughed. Even Yoshi, who could tell from Boris’s disgusted tone of voice exactly what he meant.
The Bubble Bursts
The Six-Color Pen
So Tonya was back in the pack. But I was still worried about Yoshi for two reasons.
1. Uncle Albert was coming to get him in a few weeks.
2. He was still ignoring me.
Monday at recess Sofie sat down again on the empty swing beside me. “Hi, Mimi. I brought you something!” She pulled a six-color pen out of her riding boot and offered it to me.
I couldn’t believe it. “Sofie! Are you sure?”
“Sure I’m sure! I have two now, so you should have this one.”
I took the pen out of her hand and smelled it. It had that sweet inky smell. I held it to my heart. “Thank you, Sofie. I can’t wait until our tunnel is finished.”
Sofie pulled a deck of cards out of her other boot and handed them to me. “Would you mind putting these up in my dorm room when you get home?”
Eureka!
Sometimes I get my best brainstorms when I’m brushing Marvin’s fur. That’s what happened Tuesday after school.
“Eureka!”
Marvin jumped down and ran under the bed.
“If I can’t find a treasure chest, I’ll pan for gold nuggets! Like they did during the gold rush,” I explained to Marvin.
I took the banister down to Boris’s apartment and banged on the door.
“What’s that smell?” I asked when he flung open the door.
“I’m trying a new pudding recipe. Cotton Candy Caramel. Want to help?”
“I would, but I need to borrow a sifter right away!”
He disappeared into the kitchen. I heard cabinet doors opening and slamming, and things falling out.
Tonya stomped on the floor above.
“Simmer down!” she shouted.
I heard her tiara hit the floor and her window slam shut.
Boris reappeared with a sifter. “Be sure to let me taste whatever it is you’re baking,” he said.
I spent two solid hours in the tunnel with the sifter and the garden hose, and all I ended up with were two drowned beetles, three bottle caps, and a muddy mess. Not one gold nugget.
Tomorrow I’d go back to digging with a shovel.
Mr. Bosco
Yoshi continued to go out of his way to avoid me. On Thursday it rained during recess. I cornered Yoshi and asked him if he’d like to jump on the trampoline in the gym with me. He said he didn’t feel like it.
When I got home from school I heard a whooshing sound. I slogged up the steps to my apartment, but Mr. Bosco’s vacuum cleaner blocked my way.
“Watch yourself, Mimi!”
“Hi, Mr. Bosco!”
I heard Marvin meow, so I stepped over the hose and skipped on up.
Mr. Bosco turned off the vacuum. “Mimi? There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Usually I have to replace the carpet between your and Yoshi’s apartments every few months. You two wear it out in no time. But it looks brand-new. I’ve barely had to vacuum it. Are you and Yoshi still friends?”
“I did something that hurt Yoshi’s feelings. And I apologized. And tried to explain why I did it! But he still doesn’t want to play with me.”
“What if you just apologized for hurting his feelings and left off the explanation?”
I slumped. That seemed harder somehow.
“Let’s practice. Pretend I’m Yoshi.” Mr. Bosco put on his glasses.
I took a deep breath. “Hi, Yoshi. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. But you shouldn’t have shown me the flash cards!”
Mr. Bosco put up his hand and shook his head. “Try again. No ‘buts’ this time.”
I sighed. “Hi, Yoshi. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, but…”
“Try again,” said Mr. Bosco.
“But it’s harder that way!”
“Six little words are all you need to say,” said Mr. Bosco. He set down the vacuum and counted off the words on his fingers:
“I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”
Marvin gave another MEOW. This one was as loud as Captain Wolfenbarger’s siren. Mr. Bosco wished me good luck and started whooshing again.
Soon as I burst into my apartment, Marvin ran to the refrigerator. He stared up at the door handle.
I gave him a tiny piece of cheese. I grabbed my flashlight. Marvin blocked my way. I knelt down to pet him, but Marvin bounded back to the refrigerator.
“I know you want more cheese, Marvin. And I know you want me to read to you. But I’ve just got to dig for treasure before it gets dark.”
He gave a brokenhearted meow.
“I’m sorry I hurt your feelings,” I said to Marvin.
It took me a minute to realize that I had done it!
I picked up the pink seashell from China. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings,” I said to the shell.
I held the seashell to my ear, but all I could hear was Mr. Bosco’s vacuum cleaner.
Treasure
“I’ll be back at dinnertime,” I promised Marvin. I was out the window and down the drainpipe.
Tonya came out to supervise me. A few minutes later Boris lowered a bucket of banana pudding into the tunnel along with a bundle of spoons.
“Boris, why is there a toothbrush sticking out of your back pocket?” asked Tonya.
“In case I find a dinosaur bone! It’s what scientists use to clean fossils.”
When it started getting dark, both Boris and Tonya left.
“I’m sorry I hurt your feelings!” I muttered every time my shovel hit a rock. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings!”
When it got too dark to see, I stopped digging. I threw the shovel over my shoulder. It clanked against the wall behind me. CLANKED. It did not thud. This was not another tree root.
I picked up the shovel and poked at the wall. I tried to dig out a few roots that had grown around the thing. I gave up and clawed some dirt away with my fingers.
Could it be? It was hard to tell, but I thought I felt the side of a box—and then I felt a hinge.
The upside-down pudding bucket made a good place to prop up my flashlight. I grabbed the pickax and laid into the wall around the treasure chest. The ground would not give. I popped a few rocks out and chopped for another forty-five minutes. It was long past dinnertime, but the box was almost free.
I tugged with all my might. The chest came loose. On the next try I wrestled it out and fell backward. As the chest hit the ground beside me, I heard the coins inside clink!
I shone my flashlight on the box. I tried to open the lid, but there was a latch that wouldn’t even begin to budge.
I got a little carried away and did a victory dance, swinging the flashlight in my hand like a big searchlight.
“Hey, Mimi!” It was Boris, at his window. “What’s going on out there?”
“I found buried treasure!”
In no time at all Boris was down in the tunnel beside me. An instant later I was a little surprised to see
Yoshi’s red sneakers scrambling down the ladder. He was moving so fast, he almost ended up on top of Boris. They examined the box with big eyes, but neither of them could open it.
Then we heard Tonya’s voice.
“I found a treasure chest, Tonya!”
It was the first time ever that Tonya didn’t have a quick reply. I shone the flashlight up to make sure she was okay. Her eyes were about to pop out, and her mouth was gaping.
Then she got her voice back.
“Open it!”
We tried every single tool, but the latch did not budge.
Boris must have phoned Hunter, and Hunter must have phoned Sofie, because they popped up right behind Tonya. Sofie was in her nightgown.
“We should take it inside so it’s safe,” I said.
“I can borrow Buster’s lock-picking kit tomorrow,” said Hunter. “I’m sure it will work.”
“Who’s Buster?” asked Boris.
“My big brother.”
“I didn’t know you had a brother,” said Tonya.
“He doesn’t live at home. He’s studying at the reformatory,” said Hunter.
The Buried Treasure Rule
The treasure chest was only a little bigger than Marvin’s carrier, but it weighed a ton. The handle had rusted flat against the top.
I scooted the box to Boris, and he and Yoshi heaved it up beside Tonya. “I’m so glad I didn’t move away!” she said.
“We can keep it in my apartment until we bust it open,” said Boris, as he and Hunter carried it through the front door.
“No, Boris,” said Tonya, who was now back to her normal burnt-caramel self. “You’re right above the lobby. It would be too easy for a burglar to steal the treasure. We’ll carry it on up to my apartment.”
Boris and Hunter lugged it up a floor.
“My apartment is even safer,” volunteered Yoshi.
Hunter and Boris took a break. Yoshi and Sofie hauled it up another flight of steps to the landing outside Yoshi’s apartment.
As Yoshi unlocked his door I heard my own voice say,
“It’s my treasure. And I’m keeping it in my apartment.”
Everyone paused. No one said anything for a minute.
“Aren’t we going to share the treasure?” Boris finally asked.
“Well, I think the rule is that buried treasure belongs to the finder,” I said. “And I found the treasure.”
Five mouths hung open. Five legs swung over the banister ready to slide back down.
“Could somebody please help me carry it up to my apartment?” I asked.
“I have to go put the trapdoor back in place,” said Tonya.
“I’ll help you, Tonya,” said Yoshi.
He and Tonya slid down the banister behind Sofie and Hunter.
Boris helped me carry the treasure up, but he didn’t stick around. He gave Marvin a scratch behind the ears, said, “Good night, Marvin,” and left.
A few weeks ago, Yoshi walked out without saying good-bye, and tonight Boris did the same. I ran to the window. I wanted to say good-bye to somebody. “Good night, Tonya!” I yelled. But the trapdoor was already back in place, and Tonya had disappeared.
For an instant I got a sinking feeling about my friends. But then I saw the treasure chest sitting beside my reading chair, safe in my apartment. When you have a treasure chest, maybe it’s okay not to have friends.
Under My Hat
Friday at lunch, no one said much to me. I knew something was wrong when I offered Boris half of my peanut-butter-chocolate-chip sandwich and he shook his head no.
It was Yoshi’s day to carpool. After school I saw him climb onto the bus. I remembered how he used to sing “Every little thing gonna be all right.” Would he ever ride with me again?
“Hunter, want me to drive you to the baseball field?” I asked as he walked up to my car.
“No. I have rat duty this week. But I promised to let you borrow this, so here it is.”
He pulled a black case out of his backpack and unfolded it. Inside were dozens of shiny tools all lined up. Some looked like the tools Dr. Molar used to clean my teeth. “It’s my brother Buster’s lock-picking kit. He said to keep it under your hat.”
I lifted my hat and stuck the case underneath it.
“Oh, wait.” He handed me a tiny can of oil. “Buster said to squeeze two drops into the latch. Let it soak in, and then the tools will work like a charm.”
It felt funny riding home by myself. But the minute I burst into my apartment—even before I gave Marvin a treat—I squeezed two drops of Buster’s oil into the latch on the treasure chest.
I offered Marvin a tiny piece of cheese. I still didn’t feel right. Marvin jumped up on my lap and I began brushing his fur. That’s when I had another brainstorm. Parties always seemed to help. I’d have an opening party tomorrow!
I picked up my six-color pen and made five invitations. I used one color for each of the six lines, only this time I didn’t feel like adding dots.
Five RSVPs
After I delivered the invitations, I climbed down into the tunnel to dig. Nobody else showed up. If I found more treasure, maybe I would have enough to share.
When I was too hungry to dig anymore I climbed out, put the trapdoor back, and decided to make mashed potatoes for dinner.
Soon as I opened the door I smelled perfume. Five RSVPs had been slipped under my door!
Two were in Tonya’s pink envelopes. I picked up one of them. It said “From Yoshi”! He must have asked Tonya to read the invitation to him. And then she must have helped him reply.
I opened the other pink envelope.
And then I read Hunter’s RSVP.
Then Boris’s.
Maybe Sofie could come! I tore open her RSVP.
Nobody could come to my party. Nobody wanted to carpool. Nobody seemed interested in digging in the tunnel anymore. And Yoshi hadn’t given the secret knock in weeks. I might as well have been kicked out of the Gum Club.
That’s when it hit me. Nobody wanted to be my friend anymore.
I started to cry.
My Former Friends
I thought about Yoshi and how much I would miss him this summer. How much I already missed him.
I thought about Tonya and how much Marvin loved her. How relieved I was when she decided not to move away. How she let me keep the purple glitter.
I thought about Boris. How much fun it had been playing drums and planning new recipes with him.
I thought about Sofie. How amazing it felt when she gave me the six-color pen. For no reason.
I thought about how funny Hunter was—thinking the pink seashell spoke in Chinese.
I thought about how happy I was back when the pink seashell was talking.
I picked it up and held it to my ear. Maybe this time it would tell me what to do. But the shell was still silent.
Loyal and True
Emergency Gum Club Meeting
I stood in the middle of the room for so long that Marvin clomped down from the windowsill and wandered over. He looked up at me and wailed the longest MEOWWWWWW I had ever heard.
Then I knew what to do. I opened my window, stuck my head out, and gave the emergency whistle.
Within minutes everyone was in my apartment, including Sofie and Hunter. They all knew that the emergency whistle meant “urgent,” no matter what.
We all mumbled the Gum Club Promise. But when we got to the part “We’ll stick together, whatever we do,” no one looked at me.
“I called this meeting of the Gum Club because I think we should share the treasure,” I said. “And I think we should open the treasure chest right now. Even though I haven’t had a chance to make any pudding.”
“And, Yoshi.” I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. I repeated the six words that Mr. Bosco had taught me:
“I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”
Five blank faces lit up. Make that six. Because even though I had decided not to keep all the treasure for mysel
f, I couldn’t believe how happy I felt.
The Big Bust
I reached under my hat and removed Buster’s lock-picking kit. I pulled out the first tool.
No luck. I tried another tool. Finally, when each of us had tried every tool, I asked, “Can Buster come over tonight?”
“No,” said Hunter. “He can’t.”
“When can he come over?”
Hunter’s face turned red. “Not for a few more months.”
He took the drainpipe down and was back in a flash with the pickax from the tunnel. “Mimi, would you like to go first?” he asked.
I swung the pickax as hard as I could. When it hit the box, it made the most beautiful sound. The gold doubloons jingled, and the jewelry rattled.
Marvin ran under the bed. But the chest didn’t open.
I handed the pickax back to Hunter. On his very first try the box splintered and shattered.
Rusty nuts and bolts flew all over the apartment. A wrench shot through the air and almost broke the window.
Nobody said anything for the longest time. There were funny old screwdrivers and folding wooden measuring sticks. There were wrenches and awls and a hand drill. A dirty hammer.
Boris picked up something that looked like a petrified ham sandwich. It was wrapped in moldy paper.
Tonya broke the silence. “Boris! Please don’t eat it!”
Boris looked at her like she was crazy. Then everybody burst out laughing. Everybody except me. I started to cry. Again.
“It’s an old tool chest!” giggled Sofie. Then she noticed my tears. She came over and touched my arm. “Mimi, why are you crying?” She waited for me to answer.