Chapter 26
Chad’s Turn
The rest of the holiday weekend was uneventful. Cornelia phoned Admeta on Friday to make sure she was alright. Admeta insisted that everyone was overreacting but Cornelia could tell by the sound of her voice that she didn’t really believe it. Cornelia thought she heard a sound in the hallway and had to quickly hang up.
Normally Cornelia would have been out shopping on Black Friday, but she was still grounded. She searched the bookshelves for a copy of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” and sure enough there was an old tattered copy that her father must have left behind when he moved out.
Cornelia remembered that day all too well. Her father had already had his stuff in the moving van and was picking up his briefcase in the living room. Cornelia remembered begging her father not to leave. She grabbed his arm in an effort to keep him there. Harrison yelled at her for making the situation more difficult than it should have been.
“Are you moving in with HER?!” Cornelia screamed at him.
“CC, we’re not having this conversation,” Harrison snapped and pulled his arm out of her grip. Then he just walked out the door while Cornelia cried. He never looked back.
Veronica was sitting in the dining room the entire time with a full bottle of chardonnay and a wine glass. She didn’t say anything or make any kind of effort to stop Harrison from leaving and Cornelia resented her for it.
“Why are you just sitting there?!” she screamed as loud as she could between sobs.
“How can you let this happen to our family?!” Cornelia yelled. Veronica stared at her blankly as if she didn’t realize Cornelia was speaking to her. Cornelia wasn’t even sure she heard what she was saying.
Then Cornelia yelled, “I hate you!” and ran up to her room. She cried all day. Even when she thought she couldn’t possibly have another tear left in her, she still sobbed. She had just lost her grandmother to breast cancer and was now losing her dad too. She felt like her world was crumbling.
That’s why she began her freshman year with a chip on her shoulder. It wasn’t because Veronica had transferred her to public school. It wasn’t because she was angry with Veronica for allowing her father to move out. It wasn’t even because Harrison married someone half his age the second the divorce was final. Cornelia was full of angst because her grandmother had been taken from the world and she would never see her again.
Cornelia was sure that was why she was so angry with Mrs. Hakim for giving her a bad grade on her progress report. All she knew was that she wasn’t thinking rationally when she wrote those hateful words on the school wall. It was no excuse for her behavior; Cornelia knew that now. But she was beginning to understand that it wasn’t even Mrs. Hakim she was angry with. She was angry with herself. Even more, she was angry at the universe for taking her grandmother.
“CC,” Veronica startled Cornelia back to reality.
“Jeez, mom, you scared me,” Cornelia said.
“Sorry,” Veronica said, “what are you doing in here?”
“I was getting a book to read.”
“What book?”
“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”
“Oh, that’s one of my favorite books,” Veronica said. “I love Mark Twain.”
“Really?”
“Of course. He’s one of the greats. When you finish that you should read the ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn;’ that’s my favorite book.”
“You’re kidding,” Cornelia said, stunned that she and her mother would have the same favorite book.
“Why would I lie about something like that?” Veronica laughed.
“I don’t know…” Cornelia began.
“CC, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. You were right. You shouldn’t be subjected to public displays of affection. I’ll try to keep my libido in check in the future,” Veronica said and then smiled.
“Libido? Gross, mom!” Cornelia said and then rolled her eyes.
“I get it, CC. It won’t happen again. Michelle and I are going shopping, do you want to come?”
Normally Cornelia would have jumped at the chance to get out of the house while she was grounded, especially if it meant shopping, but she turned her mother down. She thought she would be a third wheel. Plus she wasn’t sure if Michelle and Veronica were still fighting and she didn’t want to be in the middle.
“You go ahead,” Cornelia said.
“O.k., but you’re missing out,” Veronica said.
“I think I’ll survive,” Cornelia said with a laugh.
Veronica and Michelle stayed out pretty late. Every store in the city was having a sale and keeping their doors open late for the biggest shopping day of the year.
Meanwhile, Cornelia was reading about Tom and Huck and all of the mischief they caused in St. Petersburg, Missouri. She laughed when Tom convinced his friends to paint the fence he was supposed to be painting. She laughed again when Tom’s “fiancé,” Becky Thatcher, found out that Tom had been engaged before. She cringed at some of the terminology used to describe Injun Joe. In Mark Twain’s time people saw nothing wrong with calling people “half-breeds,” but times had changed. It made Cornelia feel a little guilty just for reading the words.
Cornelia reflected on how far she had come in only a few months. She felt like a different person. She was different from last year. Different from last summer when she was mourning her grandmother. And different than the girl who spray painted the school wall. Cornelia felt more mature and that made her happy.
She looked up at Daruma and could have sworn that his smirk turned into a smile. The creepy little doll was growing on Cornelia. She thought about the second wish she had made. Her do-over wish. She wondered if it was going to come true. She could have sworn Daruma was nodding his head. That’s when she figured she should take a break and eat something.
As soon as she had eaten, she went back to the book. It took the entire day and part of the night, but she finished it. Her favorite part was when the runaway boys observed their own funeral. She thought this book was a little darker than the sequel, but she loved it just the same. Cornelia looked up at the clock and couldn’t believe how late it was. She put the book next to Daruma and went to sleep.
Sunday was a lazy day. There was no community service because so many volunteers were out of town for the holiday. The Family Connection was going to double up the following weekend, working Saturday and Sunday to help Houses for Humanity build homes. Cornelia had never really done anything like that before and she wasn’t sure what use she would be, but she was up for the challenge. But first, Chad was facing sentencing and that was all she could think about.
The first part of the week seemed to drag on forever. That Monday was a relatively uneventful meeting of Writers on the Storm. Carl wasn’t nearly the faculty advisor that Mrs. Hakim was and the students missed her. The writers didn’t even get to read their “What I’m Thankful For” papers. Carl gave a lame writing assignment for the final class meeting, “What I want for Christmas.” Cornelia thought it was an assignment for first graders who still believed in Santa Claus. All of the writers thought Carl was lacking in imagination.
Admeta and Cornelia wanted to visit Mrs. Hakim, but Mr. Hakim told them that Thanksgiving had taken a lot of her energy and he wanted her to rest. She was also going in for tests to see if the chemo had been successful. Daniel asked them not to stop by that week. The girls were disappointed, but they understood.
Cornelia managed to avoid David and Rebekka most of the time, except for a snide comment here or there. But after seeing Sarah sitting by herself at lunch, Amanda asked her to join them. Cornelia and Admeta were not pleased. Sarah was on her best behavior and Cornelia began to soften after a few days. Sarah seemed genuinely contrite after all, so who was Cornelia to judge Sarah after what she had done? If Admeta was willing to forgive Cornelia, then Cornelia should certainly be able to find it in her heart to forgive Sarah.
Admeta didn’t show up for schoo
l that day, so Cornelia walked to first bell with Sarah on Friday. That was the day of Chad’s sentencing for hitting David. Cornelia was distraught the entire day. She was still grounded from her cell phone, so she couldn’t find out what happened until after school. Even then she had to beg the school secretary to let her use the phone. Chad answered.
“Chad, oh my God, what happened?” Cornelia whispered, not wanting the eavesdropping secretary to hear.
“It’s o.k., CC. Everything is fine.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Tell me. Please!” Cornelia begged.
“I was sentenced to community service, thanks to Admeta,” Chad said.
“Admeta?” Cornelia asked.
“Yeah. She showed the judge the video tape from the game and he saw that David had been beating Steve up before I stepped in. She saved me from doing time I think,” Chad said.
“Oh my God. I was wondering why she wasn’t in school today. I wonder why she didn’t tell me,” she paused. “Well any way community service is great!”
“I don’t know,” Chad replied.
“What do you mean, ‘I don’t know,’Chad?”
“Well, I guess I thought I’d get a worse punishment. I did break the guys’ nose afterall.”
“I can’t believe you’re saying this. This is great news. You’re not going to…” Cornelia looked at the secretary and hesitated, “J.H.,” she whispered.
“I don’t know, CC, maybe I deserve to be in Juvenile Hall for what I did.”
“Don’t say that, Chad! Don’t even think it!” Cornelia said a bit too loudly.
“Alright, CC. I get it. You’re happy with the sentence.”
“I’m happy you’re not going to J.H.!”
“Well I might not be around during Christmas break.”
“What do you mean?”
“The judge offered me a chance to go on a mission trip that will get all of my service hours done at once. I think I’m going to go.”
“Go where?” Cornelia asked.
“El Salvador,” Chad replied.
“El Salvador?!” Cornelia said, worried.
“Yeah, we’re going to build homes for the poor with Houses for Humanity.”
“But isn’t Central America dangerous?”
“I guess so, but we’re going to be with a big group. I’m sure it will be fine, CC.”
“Can anyone go on this trip?” Cornelia asked.
“CC, what kind of scheme are you hatching now?”
“What do you mean ‘scheme;’ I’m not hatching any scheme. I just want to go with you.”
“Well I want you to stay safe and sound at home,” Chad replied.
“So you admit it’s a dangerous trip, then!”
“I’m not saying that, CC. I’m just saying that I don’t…” but Chad couldn’t come up with anything. The truth was he would worry about her safety if she went along.
“Well it’s a good thing you’re not my mom because you have no say in whether I go or not, Mr. Barrington,” Cornelia said with conviction.
“CC, please…” Chad began, but he was interrupted.
“So it’s settled then. We’re going on a holiday trip together. I love you, Chad, talk to you later,” Cornelia said and then hung up before Chad could say anything else.
Cornelia’s mind was racing. She was trying to figure out how she was going to talk Veronica into allowing her to go on a trip to El Salvador. She also had to convince Houses for Humanity to take her along. The thought that this trip could finish out her community service didn’t even cross her mind.
She thought about asking Admeta to come. If Houses for Humanity found out that Admeta is fluent in Spanish, surely they would want to bring her along. Then Cornelia could probably get in too. Cornelia was trying to think about how she was going to approach Admeta about it and what she was going to say Houses for Humanity on Saturday. She wanted to call Admeta to thank her, but she had to run.
That night she went home and ate dinner with Veronica and Michelle. She kept looking over at her mother, wondering how to broach the subject. As it turned out, Veronica got the ball rolling.
“CC, why do you keep staring at me?”
“Huh?”
“You keep staring.”
“Oh. I was… I have something to ask, but I’m afraid you’ll say ‘no,’” Cornelia said.
“Ut oh,” Veronica said, “Should I brace myself?”
“It’s nothing bad, mom,” Cornelia said.
“Well, spit it out then.”
“O.k. Well… Houses for Humanity is going on a mission trip to build homes for the poor and I want to go.”
“Oh,” Veronica said with surprise. “Well that’s not a big deal. What’s the catch?” Veronica was suspicious.
“No catch, mom. It’s part of my community service.”
“Come on, CC. I know you better than that. What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing, mom, God! It’s a mission trip and I want to go. It will count toward my community service.” Cornelia paused, but Veronica still looked skeptical.
“It’s over Christmas break,” Cornelia offered.
“Will you be gone on Christmas?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I don’t know the exact dates yet. But I’m going to ask tomorrow.”
“Well I can’t give you answer until you know the exact dates. I don’t want you out of town on Christmas. Where are you going, anyway?” Veronica asked and Cornelia cringed. She hoped to gloss over that part.
“Uh… Somewhere near Mexico I think,” Cornelia said. She felt like she wasn’t lying, only exaggerating a little. After all, Central America was just south of Mexico. The truth was, Cornelia didn’t know exactly where El Salvador was.
“Mexico?” Veronica asked.
“Yeah, close to Mexico I think.”
“Do you think or do you know?”
“I know,” Cornelia conceded. “I mean I don’t know the exact city or anything. I can find out tomorrow.”
“I don’t know, CC, that’s too far.”
“Give the kid a break, Veronica. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. And look how much good she’ll be doing,” Michelle jumped in. Veronica looked surprised. It was the first time Michelle had ever offered her advice on Cornelia and Veronica wasn’t sure if she liked it.
Michelle could sense that she overstepped and added, “Just my opinion, of course.” Cornelia smiled at Michelle. She was sure that having Michelle on board could only be a good thing.
“Well, I want to know the dates and the exact city before I can give you my answer, CC,” Veronica said and Cornelia knew that the subject was closed. She quickly finished up her dinner and went upstairs to her room. Daruma was there to greet her.
“Don’t look at me like that, Dee-man. It wasn’t a lie. I was just stretching the truth a little.”
Cornelia didn’t feel the least bit silly addressing an inanimate object. She and Daruma had come to a mutual understanding and she had even given him the nickname “Dee-man.” He would give her the evil eye when he thought she was in the wrong and she would offer him righteous indignation. She felt it was a well balanced relationship.
She spent the rest of the night studying for some exams and drifted off to sleep with her History book in hand around 11. The next day was going to be tricky. Cornelia dreamt about how she was going to talk her way into the Houses for Humanity trip. But first, she had to get Admeta to go along.
Writers on the Storm Page 26