Is that the same person that’s your mom? Are you saying YOUR MOM IS A FAMOUS WRITER?
Answer back right away. Solana is SO LOUD, and the information about your mom is SO AMAZING that I’ll be awake for HOURS.
* * *
From: Avery Bloom
To: Bett Devlin
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: you don’t know me
Yes. She’s my biological mother.
That’s why my name is Avery A. Bloom. The “A” is for Allenberry. But I don’t put Allenberry on anything except health forms (though I do end up filling out a lot of those).
I can’t believe you’ve seen her plays!
A
* * *
From: Bett Devlin
To: Avery Bloom
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: you don’t know me
I just can’t believe Kristina Allenberry IS YOUR MOM!
* * *
From: Avery Bloom
To: Bett Devlin
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: you don’t know me
Don’t get too excited. I haven’t seen her in eight years.
If I couldn’t go to Google Images, I wouldn’t even know what she looked like. In the last picture I saw, she was giving a drama lecture in Iceland wearing a cape and a top hat. Weird fact: Iceland is green, and Greenland has ice.
I’m glad I told you about Kristina. But I don’t really know her because she and my dad don’t get along.
* * *
From: Bett Devlin
To: Avery Bloom
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: you don’t know me
Night Owl—
That’s really messed up that your dad + the famous writer Kristina Allenberry don’t get along.
Did they have a big fight about something? I don’t mean to be nosy. I’m just a curious person.
Also, I wish we lived in a time when people wore top hats + capes in real life, and not just to give drama lectures in Iceland.
Dogfish
* * *
From: Avery Bloom
To: Bett Devlin
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: you don’t know me
The big fight is over me.
I’m not a fan of top hats.
I still can’t believe you and your dad have seen her plays!
Good night, Bett-tee.
Avery A. Bloom
Also Known As Night Owl
* * *
From: Bett Devlin
To: Avery Bloom
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: you don’t know me
Okay. Only one more thing: PLEASE DON’T GO TO SLEEP YET.
My dad cried at the end of TELL ME WHEN JIMMY COMES HOME. I have no idea why. I couldn’t really understand what the actor was saying. We didn’t have good seats + he was a mumbler.
Dogfish
P.S. I haven’t heard from Dad in four days. He’s not setting a very good example as a parent right now.
* * *
From: Avery Bloom
To: Bett Devlin
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: you don’t know me
Dogfish—
I saw both of those plays but my dad doesn’t know. I bought tickets with my own money and then gave them to Corrie Cole’s mom (Mindy Cole, who is in real estate) and asked if she wanted to go with me. Corrie’s in my book club and her mom likes to take me places because Corrie doesn’t do well in crowds.
Was Jimmy that guy on the bridge? Or was he the little boy with the balloon? I didn’t ask Corrie Cole’s mom (Mindy Cole) because it was awkward since she doesn’t know that my biological mother (Kristina Allenberry) wrote the play.
Okay, tell me if you hear from your dad. I worry about the dads whenever I remember to worry. But there’s a lot less time here for worrying than at home.
Are you doing the phonics listening games at night before you go to sleep?
Night Owl
* * *
From: Bett Devlin
To: Avery Bloom
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: you don’t know me
No. I don’t do any of the listening stuff. It’s our choice. EVERYBODY else in Peace Lily Pod does it. While they do it, I catch up on Instagram. There’s a puppy I follow named Ron Swanson and also a rescued raccoon named Pumpkin that lives in the Bahamas + thinks he’s a dog. I’d start something online with Wilbur + Minnie but once summer’s over I couldn’t do it, so what’s the point?
Maybe I should start listening to the night lessons. I bet that’s why everyone here falls asleep so early.
* * *
From: Bett Devlin
To: Kristina Allenberry
Subject: Possible Camp CIGI Visit on FAMILY DAY
Kristina Allenberry, hello!
I’m a new friend of AVERY ALLENBERRY BLOOM. You know who that is. I got your email address from your official PLAYWRIGHT website. (I looked it up to see why it’s playwright and not playwrite, which is actually better. The English language has a lot of twisted stuff going on.)
Anyway, I don’t want to go off topic. I saw online that you’re at a big theater festival right now in a place called Seelocken. CONGRATULATIONS on being the Artist-in-Residence! That looks very fun, especially if you’re into theater, which of course you are.
I was surprised to find out that Seelocken is in MICHIGAN!
Which is an amazing coincidence. Because GUESS WHAT? I’m with YOUR DAUGHTER AVERY ALLENBERRY BLOOM at a place called CIGI (bad name), which is ALSO IN MICHIGAN. It’s an hour + 42-minute drive, according to Google Maps.
I saw DOG IN THE WILDERNESS + TELL ME WHEN JIMMY COMES HOME last year with my dad. We have season tickets to the Broad Theater in Santa Monica, but a lot of times we sell the seats because we are both very busy + season tickets can seem like a good idea until you get them + then they can turn into a ball + chain. I heard my grandma Betty (we call her Gaga) say that. She lives in Texas.
Anyway, Dad + I saw both of your plays (because we couldn’t sell those seats).
Here is why I’m writing. We have FAMILY DAY at CIGI (the camp that is SO CLOSE to where you are). A lot of people don’t have family anywhere near here. As an example, AVERY ALLENBERRY BLOOM’S DAD is in China on a motorcycle trip right now. So is MY DAD. That’s the connection. Avery�
�s dad + my dad met in Chicago a while ago + they are a very serious COUPLE now.
We are supposed to form a family when they get back (we don’t know when or where) + that’s a huge adjustment for all of us. I live in California. Obviously you know they live in New York.
So me + Avery, who have started to hang out together sometimes, are probably going to have 2 dads now, when before we each had only 1. I did have another dad (named Phillip), but he died super long ago so we’ve adjusted to his being gone, but we will always miss him. Every year on his birthday we light a candle and then we look at the stars because he told my dad that his soul was going to stretch out across the sky.
Anyway, seeing as you’re Avery’s biological mom, this means that I’m going to be part of YOUR FAMILY now, too. I wouldn’t say you’re my stepmother because we haven’t met each other yet. But that’s why it would be great for you to COME TO CIGI ON FAMILY DAY! You should know that they serve lunch + there are vegan options (just warning you: beans), if that applies to you.
I heard this event is kind of sad for the kids here whose families don’t come. They try to make them feel better by taking them to a water park, but Avery hates water so that’s not going to be great for her.
Here is something else that you should know. CIGI isn’t a regular camp where you make yarn bracelets + do clapping songs. This is a place that wants us to exercise our imaginations with math + turn things like sports into art + science. I’m not a super book person like Avery is (not sure if you know that about her, but she named her chicken J.K. Rowling) + I’m not doing any of the extra listening nighttime audio assignments, but already I know A LOT of new stuff.
Avery said that you + her dad were friends in college + that there is a ton of water under that bridge.
My dad cried in TELL ME WHEN JIMMY COMES HOME when that guy with a beard was on the bridge mumbling.
DO YOU WANT TO COME VISIT US at CIGI this SUNDAY at 11:30 a.m.? There is a theater performance of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA right after breakfast.
You DON’T want to be here for that.
Please let me know if you can make it. Avery would have written to you herself but she’s really busy with a lab project involving spores.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Bett Devlin
* * *
From: Ben Vondrak
To: Bett Devlin
Subject: Re: Possible Camp CIGI Visit on Family Day
Hi, Bett,
I am Kristina Allenberry’s personal assistant/summer theater intern here at Seelocken Theater Arts Center. Kristina asked me to write you because she’s in rehearsals around the clock for the new play she’s workshopping this summer, HOLDING UP HALF THE SKY. She wanted me to tell you that she is incredibly touched that you and Avery have invited her to visit your camp. And though I told her there was no way she could go, given her tight rehearsal schedule, she really wants to try. She is amazing that way.
I would have to drive her there, because she does not get behind the wheel of a car. I only got my license last month (I am nineteen and just finished my freshman year at Oberlin), and I have my parents’ car for the summer but I’m not supposed to take it on highways, only back roads.
If we do decide to go on this trip, we will make every effort to be on time. Just please know that “on time” is not Kristina Allenberry’s middle name, if you know what I mean. (FYI, that’s not a shareable thought.)
Also, will you and Avery be able to go out for dinner with Kristina? And if so, do you have a favorite restaurant in Woolersville, where CIGI is, according to Google Maps? Kristina likes vegetarian Persian cuisine a lot, in case there is such a place in the area.
Sincerely,
Ben Vondrak
Assistant/Theater Intern to Kristina Allenberry
* * *
From: Bett Devlin
To: Ben Vondrak
Subject: Re: re: Possible Camp CIGI Visit on Family Day
Ben!
I’m VERY happy that Kristina IS COMING TO FAMILY DAY! I told the head of camp (+ I asked him to keep it a SECRET) + he was super happy, too. His name is Daniel Birnbaum + he wanted me to let Kristina know that he saw TELL ME WHEN JIMMY COMES HOME 4 times in Chicago + he’s a BIG fan.
So we’ll see you + Kristina THIS SUNDAY. She doesn’t have to bring anything. We heard some visitors bring candy + gum + fun surprise stuff (like Sami-Cal’s individually wrapped spicy pepperoni sticks), but we’re not expecting any of that.
Okay, thank you, Ben. See you guys on Sunday!
Bett Devlin (+ Avery Allenberry Bloom)
P.S. We’re not allowed to leave the camp, so we can’t go out for dinner anywhere after.
* * *
Hey sweet little Betty Jr.— It’s your Gaga!
Sorry this is the first envelope that you’re opening from me at camp, but I’ve been so busy (doing a lot of nothing)! I was planning on writing to you every day—a real letter like this mailed with a pretty stamp, which is something you can keep. Nobody saves email unless they print it out, and who does that?
Here’s what I wanted to tell you: Be as nice as you can to that girl Avery from New York City. Your daddy said you were putting up a ruckus at the idea of adding a new daddy with his own kid to your family. Well, I DON’T BLAME YOU! But remember this: You can always come live with ME. That’s an option, but don’t tell your daddy I said that. He’d take it the wrong way. I’m Betty “1” & you’re Betty “2” & the Bettys have got to stick together.
I haven’t heard even once from your daddy since he left on his big Chinese trip. After he met Sam, it’s like the cheese slipped right off his cracker.
Your daddy’s never felt the same way about animals that you & I do, but I’ve always wanted to buy you a pony. You know that, right?
Okay, love you, baby girl. We’ll get through this. We always do. Big kiss! BIGGER HUG!
Your Gaga
P.S. I’m probably not supposed to be telling you this, but your daddy was going to ask Sam to MARRY him while they were in China. So maybe they’re already engaged by now. THAT’S WHY THEY CAME TO SEE ME before they left. Your daddy wanted my approval. Only what could I say? I don’t even know the guy. He seems nice and all, but one weekend’s not much time to judge. It’s all a shocker. But I guess your daddy can’t wait to get down on one knee and pop the question. When they do get married maybe we can both be flower girls. My friend Diamond showed me a video on the YouTube of a lady who was ninety years old and pushing a walker all decorated with white roses, about one mile an hour & she was a flower girl. It went viral. I’m not anywhere near that old! How about you and me get matching dresses when this wedding happens? I think we’ll need to get them custom made.
* * *
From: Bett Devlin
To: Betty Devlin
Subject: Good to hear from you
Gaga—
I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT DAD GETTING ENGAGED!
Are you SURE? Did he say he had a RING? If you find out MORE ABOUT THIS let me know. I wonder if I should tell Avery. She can faint at big news so I guess for now it will be a secret. But I’m not good at keeping secrets. You aren’t either!
Your letter is the first real one I got since I’ve been here. Some kids get a letter a day. It’s mostly postcards + the parents write “I LOVE YOU” as the message. That must get old fast. You can use email if you want from now on because I have my iPad here + I know the camp’s Internet password, which is really weak: KNOWLEDGE!
Also, don’t worry. I’m being nice to Avery. She’s got a good heart. I got yelled at on my third day here for diving in a “no diving” area + she was cool when that happened.
Anyway, we’re getting along now + I’m even working on a BIG SURPRISE for her on Family Day. I hope she likes it.
Gaga, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but
I’m getting too old now for the pony you’re always talking about. Maybe we could think about getting a horse. Or a couple of pygmy goats. Or a capybara (they look like pigs but they’re the largest rodent in the world—look it up).
Love you,
Betty 2
P.S. Can I tell Summer + Angel the engagement news? We’re REQUIRED to send a letter to someone we think “might want to come to CIGI in the future.” Summer + Angel wouldn’t want to come here, but I could use the letter to tell them about Dad getting married. They love secrets.
* * *
From: Sam Bloom
To: Avery Bloom
Subject: Checking in from the road again
Avery—
Every day Marlow and I are learning so much by seeing this amazing country on the other side of the world.
So far, one of the hardest things is just getting used to riding a motorcycle. I guess we should have trained for it. At the end of the day I can barely walk. My arms feel like I’ve been working a jackhammer, which I guess is close to the truth.
It sounds like you’ve settled in at CIGI. I love that. Didn’t love that you were on a ladder on a barn roof, but I trust you to make good choices. You always have.
Both Marlow and I are sad not to be there for Family Day, but for us every day is Family Day, right?
Love you to the moon.
Papa
* * *
From: Avery Bloom
To: Bett Devlin
Subject: Thank you
Dogfish—
I’m so glad you talked to Camp Director Daniel. We shouldn’t be punished for not having anyone to visit us on Family Day. I guess a lot of kids don’t think the water park trip is punishment, but you know that I have a drowning-in-deep-water phobia, so it was really generous of you to volunteer to stay back with me.
To Night Owl From Dogfish Page 6