At school the next Monday, Mrs. Crowley announced that there would be tryouts for the annual Christmas pageant, which sent whispers rushing around the room like dry leaves in a December wind.
“You’ll be Mary,” Mandy heard someone saying to Elizabeth. “And the rest of us will be angels.”
One of the boys added, “And Helga will be the donkey.”
He said it so loud and there was so much laughter that old Mrs. Crowley actually heard the commotion. “Here, here,” she said, tapping the desk with her pencil and peering at them over her small reading glasses. “We’ll have no more outbursts. Noisy children will be sent to the principal’s office. Do you hear?”
“We hear better than you do,” Elizabeth whispered under her breath.
“Dummies,” Helga said.
Stifled snickers spurted out in little bursts. But their hard-of-hearing teacher was oblivious.
Mandy wasn’t about to try out for a part. She settled for singing carols with those who didn’t receive special parts. As it turned out, a sixth-grade girl was chosen to be Mary. Secretly Mandy was glad. It was about time Elizabeth Barrington learned she couldn’t have everything her own way. Elizabeth got the part of an angel, but not all her friends made it. Two members of the Golden Ring wound up as town folk standing around the inn in Bethlehem.
John, she learned after school that afternoon, had been selected as the innkeeper. Mandy could tell he was pleased as punch about it, too.
Risers were set up on the stage in the auditorium. A week before the pageant, they began practicing. Mrs. Sebastian, the music teacher, lined them up according to size and the parts they sang. When everyone had their positions, Mandy was on the end of the second row, with Helga directly behind her. It wasn’t pleasant. The girl couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. Every note was off key. It was the worst singing Mandy had ever heard.
Amazingly, Dad was able to take off work for the performance. Mandy wondered if he made a special effort because John had such a special part. Or was it because the twins begged him to come? The kindergartners were going to sing “Away in a Manger” as a prelude to the pageant, and both Susan and Ben were giddy with excitement about being a part of the show, as they called it.
Mandy didn’t get to see how well her younger siblings did with their parts. She was with the choir out in the hallway, waiting for their entrance. When the piano began playing “Silent Night,” that was their cue to file in. Half of the group came in on one side of the auditorium, half on the other. Up the steps they went onto the stage.
Everything was going fine until they got to the risers. Somehow Helga’s built-up shoe got entangled with the risers or with her other shoe—Mandy was never quite sure which. She saw the big girl start to fall and then made the biggest mistake of her life. She reached out to help. As she did, she felt herself being dragged down slowly, slowly, with nothing to grab onto to catch herself or to stop the fall. She heard an awful oof as Helga landed on the boards. Mandy landed unceremoniously right beside her.
“Hey, Gottman,” someone whispered, “I thought donkeys were supposed to be sure-footed.”
“Tottery-doddery Gottman,” whispered someone else.
Mrs. Sebastian came running over to see if everyone was all right. A sixth-grade girl whom Mandy didn’t even know kindly reached down to give her a hand up. She mumbled her thanks, but her face was burning from embarrassment. With Mrs. Sebastian’s help, Helga clumsily got back up on her feet. As she did, she glared at Mandy as though Mandy had been the cause of it all.
“It’s all right,” the music teacher said with a smile. “It could have happened to anyone. As they say on Broadway, ‘On with the show.’”
Mandy didn’t know how she made it through the rest of the evening. Her ankle ached, and her shin was scraped and raw. But the embarrassment from falling in front of the packed crowd was worse than anything else. Never had she been so humiliated.
Afterward, as they were driving home, Mama said that Mandy had handled herself very well. “I was proud of you.” Then she added, “I feel so sorry for that lame girl. You’d think in this day and age she could have surgery to correct that problem.”
But it was John and the twins who received all the attention. John had been a real hit as the innkeeper, and Dad bent over backward to fuss over the twins, telling them what a good job they’d done. Mandy saw how they basked in his praise.
She wished she’d never seen or heard of Helga Gottman.
After the pageant, there was yet one more week before Christmas vacation. Mandy could hardly wait. What a welcome break to be away from Queen Anne School from Christmas until after New Year’s Day.
The fourth-grade room was festooned with loops and loops of red and green paper chains. Cardboard stars wrapped in tin foil dangled from the ceiling.
Christmas was supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill, but the Golden Ring didn’t seem to know that. They continued to heap sarcasm and harassment upon poor Helga. Finally it happened. Mandy had had all she could stomach.
They’d just come into the locker rooms from a rough game of kickball where everyone in fourth grade seemed to make the ball hit Helga.
“Hey, tottery, doddery Gottman,” Jane Stevens called out. “Step up here on the bench and show us how you took a flying leap at the Christmas pageant.”
“Yeah,” echoed Renee. “Show us. We want to see you do it again.”
“And get Mandy Einstein to join her,” Elizabeth said. “The two of them make a great team.”
Mandy was sitting on the bench tying her shoes. Suddenly she stood up. “Oh, why don’t you all just stop it? Don’t you ever get tired of hurting people?”
You could have heard a pin drop. Every girl in the fourth grade was staring at her like she’d lost her mind. Then Elizabeth began to snicker. Another girl laughed out loud. Pretty soon everyone was laughing at her. Mandy sat back down and finished tying her shoes, but she felt like her face and ears were on fire.
Just then, clumsy Helga came limping by her on her way out the door. She leaned down and in her thick voice said, “Who asked for your help, little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes? I don’t need you!”
Mandy stared at the girl as she made her step-roll way out the door of the locker room.
CHAPTER 9
In the Library
Everyone in the McMichael family was overjoyed when Dad announced they would be spending New Year’s Eve with the Mikimotos.
“You mean it, Dad?” John said. When Dad assured him that he really did mean it, John exploded with a loud “Wa-hoo!” And Mama had to make him quiet down.
Both Dad and Mama voted that they were to spend their first Christmas in the new house right there at home. There was plenty of space in the living room for a big tree. The day they brought the tree home and set it up, Lora received a letter from Mark. Since she was in such good spirits, she pitched in and helped decorate. Even Peter was there to help.
After all the gifts were opened on Christmas morning, they telephoned the Mikimotos to wish them a Merry Christmas. Mandy was sad that even though they wanted the Mikimotos to come visit their house on Queen Anne Hill, it wasn’t possible. They never discussed it, but they all knew Japanese people were safer and wiser to stay in their own neighborhood these days. It didn’t make any sense, but that’s just the way things were.
New Year’s Eve came on Sunday, which was perfect. The Tydol station was closed, and Dad was off work. Although Lora would much rather have been with Mark, he was hundreds of miles away. So they all piled into the DeSoto and drove to Yesler Way.
Susan was snuggled on Peter’s lap, Ben was balanced on Caroline’s lap, and Mandy had to awkwardly sit on Lora’s lap, although she thought she was much too big to do so. Lucky John sat up front between Mama and Dad. No one suggested that he sit on anyone’s lap.
In spite of the uncomfortable car ride, Mandy thought it was the most perfect New Year’s ever. They played games, listened to radio programs, and ate yummy food—both
Japanese and American. Games of Monopoly and Parcheesi went on for hours amid laughter and good-natured teasing.
Midway through the evening, the Mikimotos’ preacher and his wife stopped by to give their regards. Mandy remembered the Reverend Timothy Smith as one of the regular visitors to the Fairfax when the McMichaels lived there. Pastor Smith, a portly man with graying hair and a kind smile, had once been a missionary to Japan. Both he and his wife spoke fluent Japanese. In fact, when the preacher and his wife spoke in Japanese to Mr. and Mrs. Mikimoto, their own children could barely understand what the adults were saying.
The extra guests squeezed into the small living area with the rest of them and accepted cups of tea and small cookies. After they’d eaten, Pastor Smith asked if he could pray for his parishioners. Mandy quickly learned that the pastor prayed much longer prayers than their own Pastor Martin.
By the time Pastor Smith and his wife left, it was nearing midnight. The twins fell asleep and were carted off to one of the bedrooms. Then the mood became more serious.
“It is not only a new year,” Mr. Mikimoto was saying, “but a new decade as well.”
“The past decade wasn’t a very good one,” Peter said, “with the Depression, the drought, and the terrible dust storms.”
“But the 1930s brought us here to Seattle,” Dad put in, “and gave me a great job.”
Mama nodded. “There are always blessings if you just look for them.”
Mandy wished that were really true. She tried to think of blessings at school, but she couldn’t think of any. Well, there was one—Miss LaFayette. But only one!
“Mr. McMichael,” said Mr. Mikimoto, “I have a request to make of you.”
“I owe much to you, my friend,” Dad replied. “Name your request.”
“God forbid that there would ever be war between the country of Japan and our great United States. But should it come to pass, and I am …”
Mr. Mikimoto stopped a moment, and the room grew quiet. Mandy wondered what he thought might happen.
Troubled, he started again. “Should such a state of affairs come to pass and should something happen to me, might I ask you to watch over our children?”
“I’m sure such a thing would never happen,” Dad assured him. “You may not be a citizen, but the entire community knows your reputation as an honest and upstanding person. If it will comfort your mind, however, I give you my word.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Mikimoto said, his voice quavering. “Thank you so very much.” He lifted up his cup of tea. “To the 1940s. May they be good to all of us.”
The grown-ups lifted their cups of tea, and the children lifted their glasses of Coca-Cola. “To the forties,” they echoed and drank a toast.
“While I would like to toast to peace,” Dad said, “it would seem there is no peace anywhere in the world tonight. So I pray that during this terrible time, people would come to know the Prince of Peace.”
Mama touched Dad’s arm. “I think that’s a prayer, not a toast.”
Dad blushed. “I suppose you’re right, Nora. I’m not much at this toasting business.”
“Then we shall pray,” said Mr. Mikimoto. “Pray that no matter what happens, God will be our protector and our guide.”
“Amen to that,” said Lora.
They all knew her mind was on Mark.
Just as Dad closed his prayer, the melody of “Auld Lang Syne” came over the radio. Smiling, Mama joined in on the chorus, “For auld lang syne, my dear …”
Dad’s baritone blended with her soprano, “For auld lang syne …”
Then they all joined in. “We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, For auld lang syne.” Mama and Dad knew the words to all the verses, and their voices blended beautifully together. As the last strains faded away, they all shouted, “Happy New Year!”
It was officially 1940.
The morning Mandy returned to school following holiday break, she arrived early and hurried downstairs to the library. Except for the books she’d received as Christmas gifts, she’d had no new books to read for over a week.
“Welcome back, Mandy.” Miss LaFayette’s voice was as cheery as ever. “I’ve been thinking about you over vacation time.”
“About me?” Mandy placed her books on the desk.
“About you. Since you’re such a book lover, how would you like to work here in the library with me?”
At first, Mandy thought she might be teasing. Growing up in a big family, Mandy was used to teasing. And Miss LaFayette’s invitation seemed almost too good to be true.
“When would you want me to work?” she asked.
“It’s winter now, and the weather will be messy outside—would you mind giving up two afternoon recesses a week?”
Now she knew Miss LaFayette was serious. Mandy would gladly give up every recess and phys-ed class to boot. “Oh yes,” Mandy said, letting the excitement soak deep inside her. “I’d love to help.”
How fun it would be to be among the stacks of books, helping to log them and put them away. But then another thought hit her. What would the Golden Ring say about this? It would give them just one more thing for them to torment her about.
“What is it, Mandy?” Miss LaFayette was studying her face. “Is something wrong? Perhaps it’s not such a good idea. Perhaps I’m asking an awful lot.”
Phooey on the Golden Ring. What did they know anyway? She’d taken all their rude remarks before. “Nothing’s wrong, Miss LaFayette. Nothing at all. When do I start?”
The librarian smiled as she pulled the cards from the card file to check in Mandy’s returned books. “As soon as I clear it with Mrs. Crowley and the principal.”
By the next week, Mandy was slipping out of the classroom at the beginning of recess to go work in the library. Miss LaFayette taught her how to put books on the shelves in proper order and how to file the cards correctly in the wooden card files. Together they decorated the bulletin board in the hallway outside the library. Just being among all the books would have been joy enough, but to work with Miss LaFayette was next to heaven.
The reactions from the Golden Ring came soon enough. “LaFayette’s little pet” was whispered in the classroom. That wasn’t too bad. But in the locker room one day, it took a different twist.
“Were you asked to work in the library?” Elizabeth asked someone. As usual, Mandy stayed as far away from the Ring as she could and kept her back turned as well.
“Why, no,” came the reply. “Were you?”
“Me? Of course not. I’m not anyone’s pet.”
“Why do you think the new girl and the new librarian are so buddy-buddy?”
“I don’t know.”
Mandy’s shoelace was in a knot. As her heart pounded, she fumbled to get it loose so she could get out of there.
“Maybe because they’re both Jap lovers,” came the unmistakable voice of Elizabeth Barrington. The statement brought gasps from the others.
“Mandy Einstein is a Jap lover?” Renee’s shrill voice asked.
“She used to live with Japs.” Elizabeth’s voice was filled with disdain. “What do you think of that?”
Mandy’s other shoe was on and tied, and she almost ran out of the locker room. Her palms felt all sweaty, and her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls. The Golden Ring was shooting at her with both barrels. Was there no mercy?
Lora was practically flying around the house. She sang and whistled and laughed as she urged the rest of the family to help get the house spotless. Mark would be home for a week’s leave before being shipped out.
When she first read his letter, which gave the details, Lora’s face had turned pale. “The Philippines? Mark’s being sent to the Philippine Islands.” She stared at the letter in her hand.
“He had to be sent somewhere,” Mama had said in her gentle voice. “You didn’t think he’d be sitting in California for his tour of duty.”
“No, of course not.” Lora folded the letter then and put it away. “Well, he’s goi
ng to be home for a few days. And we’re going to make the best of it.”
That’s when the cleaning binge began. The only trouble was that everyone was supposed to be involved. Even Caroline balked. Mandy had seldom seen Lora and Caroline get into a fuss. But this was one time they did.
Caroline told her older sister to stop bossing her around. And Lora accused Caroline of not caring about this most important event in her life. It sounded rather childish to Mandy, who stared at her sisters in disbelief. Mama finally had to step in and calm them down.
“Lora, you’re overwrought, my dear,” Mama told her. “We all know this is a trying time for you, but you can’t take it out on others.”
“I was only asking for help!” Lora said, and with that she burst into tears and ran up to her room.
Caroline just shrugged her shoulders.
Mandy wished she could make Caroline understand that she was ten times more bossy than Lora ever thought about being. But Mandy didn’t want to make matters worse.
Lora asked for some days off work when Mark came home. She said she didn’t care if she got fired. She was going to spend every moment possible with her fiancé. Of course, she didn’t get fired. In fact, her boss at the shipping firm told her he was proud of Mark for joining up. He gave her the entire week off.
Mama, Caroline, Mandy, and Lora were in the kitchen getting the special welcome-home supper prepared when they heard the Ford. Lora went flying out the back door. Mandy was sure her sister’s feet never touched the steps. Mandy ran to the window just in time to see Mark jump from his car, grab Lora, and swing her round and round. When they stopped twirling around, he leaned down and kissed her—it seemed like forever. Mama said for her to get away from the window, but Caroline was staring, too, so Mandy didn’t move.
When Mark came in the back door with Lora, Mandy couldn’t believe he was the same person. He was dressed in his navy blue bell-bottom trousers and loose-fitting shirt, with a white sailor hat perched jauntily on his head. His hair was cut short, and he stood ramrod straight. Tall and proud. It took Mandy’s breath away. He never looked that handsome when he was just a longshoreman on the docks. How would Lora ever be able to say good-bye to him a second time?
American Triumph: 1939-1945: 4 STORIES IN 1 Page 17