by Mary Hoffman
“No one is going to beat anyone up,” said Grace patiently. “But we are going to get Russell somehow. Crishell, you have to tell Ms. Woollacott what’s going on.”
But Crishell just shook her head and looked miserable.
That day in rehearsal, Russell behaved himself; he couldn’t really do anything else because Ms. Woollacott was keeping a close watch on him. But he spent a lot of time whispering to Natalie and she did a lot of giggling and looking at Crishell.
La Tasha was fed up with them. “Why doesn’t your gang do something about that creep?” she said to Grace at lunchtime.
And that gave Grace an idea. She said to Crishell, “The next time it happens with Russell, would you go to Ms Woollacott if we all came with you?”
Crishell looked startled. “Maybe,” she said. “But maybe he’ll stop now that he knows the teachers are watching him.”
Grace didn’t say anything, but she didn’t think Russell would give up his cruel ways.
The next week, they started rehearsals for Red Riding Hood. Lynnette, Natalie’s best friend, was the little girl in the story and a girl called Sally was the grandmother. Kester was the wolf and he loved it, leaping and growling through the woods and then spotting Natalie with her basket of goodies. His favorite part was where he had pretended to eat Sally and was sitting up in the grandmother’s bed wearing a frilly nightgown while Lynnette said, “What big teeth you have, Grandma!”
Robert was the woodcutter and he had an ax made of cardboard and tin foil. It was a bit flimsy so he had to remember not to hit Kester too hard. Sally was going to be hiding under the big frilly nightgown and would jump out when the woodcutter killed the wolf in the last scene.
Rehearsing that bit was a lot of fun and Grace was enjoying watching with La Tasha. Crishell was watching from the other side of the class. The nightgown belonged to La Tasha’s mom, who was big like her. It had to be big to fit Kester, and Sally had to hide inside it too.
“Good job we’ve got some fatsos in the class,” someone whispered behind Crishell. “Imagine trying to fit two people into your nightdress.”
Crishell kept looking at the action on the stage, determined not to respond.
“Stick insect,” he hissed. “Anorexic! You’ll never get a boyfriend. Who’d want to cuddle a bag of bones like you?”
Crishell burst into tears. On the other side of the room, Grace saw her and saw Russell sliding away with a pleased expression on his face. He always stopped when his victims began to cry.
“That’s it,” said Grace. “He’s gone too far this time!”
“I wonder what he said,” said La Tasha. “But she shouldn’t let him upset her. It only makes him worse.”
The rehearsal finished as Grace got to Crishell. Her friend was still shaking. “What did Russell say this time?” Grace demanded.
“Just more of the same,” said Crishell. “Only a bit worse.”
“It’s not going to get any better unless we do something about him,” said Grace. “We have to go to Ms. Woollacott.”
Crishell hesitated. “Are you sure you’d all come with me?” she said.
Ms. Woollacott was surprised when she opened the staff room door to all five of them. But she realized immediately what it was about when she saw Crishell’s tear-stained face. Grace, Maria, Kester and Raj were ranged on either side of her like bodyguards.
“Crishell wants to tell you something,” said Grace.
The next morning, Russell and his parents were in Mrs. Cavanagh’s office with Crishell and her mother. The whole gang was outside. They weren’t allowed to sit in on the meeting but there was no way they were going to wait in class while Crishell was in there. Ms. Woollacott had told them they could wait for her.
“I hope he gets expelled,” said Kester.
“What good would that do?” said Grace.
“Yeah,” said Maria. “He’d only end up in some other school where he could bully someone else.”
“But they’ve got to do something,” said Raj. “Otherwise he’ll just keep doing it.”
Inside the office, Russell was having a very uncomfortable time. His father was furious at being called into school because of his son’s bad behavior. Crishell’s mother wasn’t happy either. Crishell had told her everything that Russell had said and had cried so much that her mother was starting to think hard about what had been going on in their home.
Russell was no longer smiling; he looked really anxious. Crishell realized suddenly that he was afraid of his father.
“Leave him to me,” the big man kept saying. “I’ll deal with him at home.”
“That’s not the answer, Mr. Hunter,” said Mrs. Cavanagh calmly. “First, since Russell has admitted that he has been bullying Crishell, he must write her a letter apologizing to her and promising not to do it again. But she is not the only student he has bullied. Russell seems to have quite a reputation for verbal cruelty.”
“Huh!” snorted Russell’s father. “Verbal cruelty! What sort of wimps are they if they can’t take a bit of teasing? It’s not as if he was bashing little kids.”
“Mr. Hunter,” said Mrs. Cavanagh, quite sharply. “We take all types of bullying equally seriously in this school. Russell will now be reported to the School Board and an eye will also be kept on him in this school and in his next. In addition, we want him to receive counseling. Do you agree to that?”
Russell’s father muttered a bit, but his mother nodded. “He’ll do it,” she said. She looked a bit scared herself, thought Crishell.
Eventually the Hunters took Russell out of the office and Crishell’s mother got up to leave too, but Mrs. Cavanagh stopped her.
“Sit down, if you would, Ms. Connor,” she said. “I have been concerned about Crishell for some time. What Russell did was inexcusable, but your daughter really is very thin. Is there a problem you would like to talk about?”
To Crishell’s horror, her mother burst into tears. Mrs. Cavanagh came around her desk and offered her a box of tissues.
“Would you like to go back to class, Crishell?” she asked. Crishell looked at her mother, who nodded and waved her away. “You go, darling. I’ll be OK,” she said.
And Crishell turned and fled from the room. She cannoned straight into the gang, who had seen Russell leaving with his head hanging.
“What happened?” said Grace.
“Oh, he owned up,” said Crishell, “and he has to say sorry and go to counseling.”
“So why are you crying?” asked Raj.
“It’s probably relief,” said Maria.
“And shock,” added Kester. “Here, have my chocolate bar.”
And Crishell accepted it and took a big bite.
Grace and the Bombshell
Grace and Crishell were eager to get on with writing their version of Beauty and the Beast.
“Her sisters were horrid to her, weren’t they?” said Crishell.
“Yes,” said Grace. “Mean and jealous. And they were greedy and selfish too, not doing chores when their father’s fortune got lost.”
“Makes you glad to be an only child, doesn’t it?” said Crishell.
Grace thought about that.
“I’m not really an only child,” she said. “Because I’ve got Neneh and Bakary, but they’re so far away. I know they’re only halves but they would feel like a real brother and sister if they lived nearer.”
“But would you like to have brothers and sisters?” asked Crishell.
“Maybe. It could be fun sometimes. You and Maria are like sisters, though,” said Grace. “And Aimee,” she added loyally.
“That’s different,” said Crishell. “You can choose your friends but your brothers and sisters are just sort of dumped on you. You have to love them, or at least get along with them.”
Julio was going to be the Beast and Maria was having a wonderful time working out his makeup and making him a cardboard mask. Beauty was a girl called Sophie and Raj was her father. Grace and Crishell volunteered t
o be the mean sisters and were really enjoying themselves.
Russell had been very quiet while the class was rehearsing Beauty and the Beast. Word had got around about what had happened and how he’d had to write Crishell a letter, but she hadn’t shown it to anyone, not even Grace. He watched very carefully while Crishell and Grace were being the mean sisters. Crishell said, “Who does she think she is? Asking for a measly rose!”
“Yes,” said Grace. “Beauty’s trying to show us up, asking for something cheap when we wanted silks and satins.”
“She’s always sucking up to Daddy,” said Crishell, and Beauty pretended to cry because they had been horrible to her.
After rehearsal, Russell came up to the two girls a bit hesitantly.
“You don’t need to rub it in,” he said. “I’ve said I’m sorry. And I’m paying for it—as if you care.”
“It’s not about you, Russell,” said Grace. “It’s just the way the story is.”
“Everything all right?” asked Ms. Woollacott, coming up to them.
“Fine,” said Crishell.
“She’s watching me all the time,” said Russell, when Ms. Wollacott had gone away again.
“You can’t be surprised,” said Grace. “It serves you right.”
But Crishell said, “Don’t be too hard on him.” She remembered what Russell’s father had been like. He flashed her a grateful look.
“What’s that all about?” asked Grace, but Crishell just shrugged.
That evening, Ma noticed Grace was a bit quiet.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Nothing,” said Grace and tried to take an interest in the TV program Ma was watching.
She was not used to confiding in Ma; in the past Nana had always been there to talk to in the evenings. Now Nana went back to the apartment as soon as Ma and Vince got in from work. It was Vince who cooked their dinners now and, though they were much better than Ma’s, they weren’t quite as nice as Nana’s.
It was another few days before Grace told Nana what was on her mind, as they drank lemonade outside. The gate was open and Paw-Paw played a game of wandering in and out between the two gardens.
“Do you think he thinks it’s a time machine too?” asked Nana.
“If it was,” said Grace, “then I’d go back with him to when things were simple.”
“Aren’t they simple now, then?”
“Well, in the old days it was our gang against people like Russell and Natalie. And now Crishell—who wasn’t even in our gang this time last year—expects me to be nice to Russell. And that’s after all the horrible things he said about her!”
Nana didn’t answer right away. “You don’t think she’s right, do you?” said Grace.
“Your friend may have a point,” said Nana. “There’s no excuse for bullying, but that boy’s bad behavior has brought something else to light that needed dealing with. Crishell’s mother had a real eating problem and she was taking it out on the child. Now she can see she was wrong. Besides, if Crishell can forgive Russell, maybe you should give it a try too.”
Grace didn’t like this at all. She wanted Nana on her side.
“But it’s not just her,” she said. “He was horrible to Maria last winter and he makes little kids cry and he hurt me once when we were in third grade. And it was his idea that we should all go running off last winter when Crishell fell through the ice and nearly died.”
“I’m not denying the boy has done bad things,” said Nana. “Only wondering why, and wondering whether he should be given a second chance now that he’s been found out and punished.”
Grace said nothing. She knew that Crishell and her mother were seeing a counselor about eating disorders and that it had happened because of Russell’s bullying. It was a very unusual case because Crishell herself wasn’t anorexic; it was her mother who was hung up about her own figure and she was making Crishell diet too. Crishell didn’t talk about it much, but Grace wondered if her friend might be secretly grateful to Russell for drawing attention to her problem. Then she remembered that Crishell had rather liked Russell before she joined Grace’s gang. And of course Natalie was always hanging round him; he was a nice-looking boy.
“I think she has a crush on him,” said Grace.
Nana looked astonished. “What kind of talk is that for a girl your age?” she said. “You’re much too young to be thinking of boys that way.”
“Honestly, Nana,” said Grace, quite crossly. “Things are different now. Lots of the girls in my class are going out with boys.”
“Going out?” said Nana, fanning herself with her magazine. “You mean—on dates?”
“Not really,” said Grace, smiling in spite of herself. She just couldn’t imagine Julio and Sophie on a date. “But they call it going out. It means that they’re girlfriend and boyfriend.”
“Have you got a boyfriend, Grace?” asked Nana, and she looked so alarmed that Grace had to laugh.
“No, Nana,” she said. “I’m not into that. But I do think Crishell might like Russell in that way. He’s quite good-looking with his big gray eyes and floppy brown hair.”
“Handsome is as handsome does,” said Nana. It was one of her favorite expressions.
“Well, Russell doesn’t do handsome,” said Grace, “Even if he is it.” And that was the end of their conversation.
Over the next few weeks, Grace saw that Crishell was putting on weight and looking healthier and happier. And she continued to be nice to Russell, going out of her way to show him that she didn’t bear a grudge about his bullying.
“I don’t know how she can stand him,” Grace said to Maria, watching Crishell and Russell chatting over their math problem.
“Perhaps she likes him?” suggested Maria.
“You’ve noticed too?” said Grace.
They’d all been in the same class since kindergarten, with very few changes. Aimee left and Crishell came and there were one or two other comings and goings but, by and large, this group of children shared a long history together and knew each other very well.
Now all the friendships and alliances seemed to be shifting. Lynnette and Natalie weren’t speaking anymore and Grace thought they had probably argued over Russell. But it didn’t seem to make any difference to him; he still preferred to spend time with Crishell. And that put a bit of a strain on Grace’s gang.
Kester couldn’t stand Russell. Being both big and gentle himself, he was very down on anyone who bullied weaker people and it didn’t make any difference if it was only with words. And Raj thought whatever Kester thought; they had been best friends for years, just like Grace and Aimee.
The more Grace thought about it, the more she noticed something strange. It was true that some of the boys and girls were pairing off, but it also seemed to be be harder for boys and girls to be good friends.
In Grace’s gang it all began with the wedding. Kester and Raj were so fed up with all the talk about clothes and flowers and things that they stopped coming around to Grace’s so often. And the girls were so caught up in it all that they had scarcely noticed.
But now that she was aware of all the other changes, Grace was noticing that the gang spent less time together at school. They all still sat together at lunchtime but often Kester and Raj went off to play soccer with Julio and Jason, and now they didn’t usually ask the girls to join them.
Grace and Maria were quite good at soccer, though Crishell had never played with them much. But during all the wedding conversations they’d gotten out of the habit of playing with the boys. Grace realized that she was more often in a group of girls now, with Crishell and Maria and often La Tasha and Sophie as well, while Kester and Raj spent time with other boys. The gang still came around to Grace’s on the weekend, but now she wondered how long that would last.
When Ma came to tuck her in one night, she said, “ Grace, we need to have a little talk. There’s something I need to say to you.”
Grace thought it might be about her moodiness of the last few
weeks.
“I’m sorry I’ve been a bit grumpy,” she said. “I’m just feeling a little unsettled.”
“Oh, Grace,” said Ma, with such a big sigh that Grace wondered if she was going to cry.
Grace put her arms round Ma. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, Grace,” said Ma. “I hope what I have to tell you isn’t going to unsettle you even more.”
Grace felt quite scared. “What’s wrong? Nobody’s ill, are they? Are you all right? And Vince? And Nana?”
She was completely unprepared for what came next.
“Everyone’s fine,” Ma said. “In fact, more than fine. Vince and I are going to have a baby.”
Grace and the Right Story
Grace had no idea how she got through the next few weeks until the end of the term. She felt as if she were on autopilot. At school, she worked with Crishell and the others on their three fairy tales but she felt like a zombie, saying the words automatically.
All the gang noticed she was quiet but no one said anything. After all, Grace had been thoughtful for weeks now. But no one guessed that she had just been told about the biggest change of all. And she didn’t feel ready to tell any of them, not even Maria.
At home, Vince and Ma seemed in a bit of a daze too. Grace spent most of her free time back at the old apartment with Nana. Nana was the only person she could talk to about the fact that she was going to get a brother or sister.
“Only it won’t be, will it?” she said. “It will be a half one, like Neneh and Bakary in The Gambia.”
“Not quite the same, honey,” said Nana. “Because this new baby will live with you and Ma and Vince. It’ll be like Neneh and Bakary in one way, but I’m guessing you’ll feel much closer to it even than you do to your African family. You’ll see him or her every day.”
“But it’ll be a baby and I’ll be so much bigger—do you think it will even know I’m its sister?”
“Of course it will,” said Nana. “Not right away, of course. But how lucky it’s going to be to have a big sister like you!”