Jasmine Toguchi, Super Sleuth

by Debbi Michiko Florence

  And then she hung up!

  I didn’t know what to do. I paced my room in tiny circles until I got too dizzy. I sat down on my bed. How could Linnie hang up on me? Best friends don’t hang up on each other.

  They do fun things together. Like Sophie and her best friend, Maya Fung. They talk on the phone. They paint their nails the same color. They bake cookies together. They like to do all the same things, together.

  But Linnie and I didn’t like all the same things. Her favorite color was green and mine was purple. Linnie liked to do puzzles. I liked to make collages. Linnie played the piano. I didn’t play anything. We were not alike. All of a sudden, I didn’t know why we were friends at all.

  I stood up and started pacing again, but immediately tripped on something. Tangled around my foot was the pretty purple bag Linnie had brought over. I had forgotten to ask about it. It looked like a gift bag. I untangled the handles from my foot. The bag was so heavy that it clunked when I put it on my desk. I reached in and pulled out Linnie’s pink oval rock. It fit perfectly in my hand.

  I peeked into the bag. There was an envelope with my name on it. I opened it and read the note.

  Dear Jasmine,

  Happy Girl’s Day! You are my very bestest friend in the world. I want you to have my special rock. I hope it really is a flamingo egg so you can finally have your pet flamingo. You are fun and nice and, most of all, brave. You help me be brave when I am afraid.

  Your friend,

  Linnie Green

  I squeezed the rock. I read the note again. Linnie called me brave. I guess because I liked to climb and she didn’t. Linnie was afraid of falling. Kind of like Sophie. Sophie didn’t like to climb either. She was afraid sometimes, too. Sophie didn’t like the dark and she didn’t like Mrs. Reese’s garage.

  Wait a minute. I thought hard.

  On Friday, when Linnie found out we were going to Mrs. Reese’s garage, she wanted to play in my room. When we got to the garage, Linnie didn’t go in until I turned on the light. She complained it was too dark. When Mom called for us, Linnie wished to leave so badly that she didn’t want to stay and clean up, and Linnie usually likes cleaning up.

  Linnie was afraid of the garage!

  I had missed some important clues.

  I read Linnie’s note again. I sucked on my bottom lip. She called me her very bestest friend. She gave me her favorite rock as a Girl’s Day present, even though it wasn’t a present-giving holiday. That’s the kind of good friend she was.

  Linnie and I both liked to dress up and play with dolls. We both liked rocks. I liked listening to her play the piano, and she always listened to me talk about my future pet flamingo. I missed her.

  Sometimes friends don’t have to like all the same things. Sometimes friends don’t need to be exactly alike. It was better to have fun together. Linnie called me brave, but I was afraid. I was afraid Linnie would be mad at me forever. I was afraid she would not be my friend anymore. I needed to make things right.

  THE BRAVE ONE

  I picked up the phone and called Linnie again. When she answered I talked superfast so she couldn’t hang up on me.

  “Linnie, it’s me, Jasmine, and I know you’re really mad at me but you probably need your things since you’re not sleeping over anymore and my mom is making your favorite dinner and it would hurt her feelings if you didn’t come and eat with us so please come for dinner and you don’t have to talk to me or anything if you don’t want to but I really hope you come over.” Whew. That was a lot to say in one breath.

  I waited and waited. Finally, I heard Linnie say softly, “Okay.” Then she hung up.

  * * *

  “What do you mean we have to make yakisoba for dinner?” Mom asked.

  “Please, Mom, it’s very important!” I leaned on the kitchen counter where Mom was unpacking groceries.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “I invited Linnie back over, and I kind of told her you were making her favorite dinner,” I said.

  “You’re trying to make up with Linnie. That’s good.” Mom stacked cans in the pantry.

  “I’m going to try to convince her to stay over and celebrate Girl’s Day with us,” I said.

  “Well, in that case, I’ll make yakisoba,” Mom said. “I hope Linnie agrees to stay.”

  I walked around the counter to hug Mom with my strong mochi-making arms. “Thank you sooo much.”

  Mom hugged me back. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

  Now I just hoped my plan would work.

  * * *

  When Linnie arrived, she didn’t say a word. She followed me to my room. I stood by my desk and took a deep breath. I held the flamingo rock behind my back and I squeezed it to make me braver. Linnie sat on my bed. That was a good sign. At least she didn’t just grab her bag and leave.

  “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings,” I said. “I shouldn’t have said it was your fault the garage was a mess.”

  I took the rock from behind my back. “I saw the present you left for me. I love this rock, but I know it’s your favorite, too. You don’t have to give it to me if you don’t want to anymore. I am not a good friend after all.”

  “I want you to have it,” she said.

  I sat down next to Linnie. “You called me brave, but I think you’re the brave one.”

  “I am?” Linnie looked surprised.

  “Yes. You were brave enough to come play with me in the garage even though you didn’t want to,” I said.

  Linnie tugged on her hair. “I was a little scared of playing in there. It was dark.”

  “Ms. Sanchez said I had good observation skills, but I didn’t figure out how you felt until today,” I said.

  “You were so excited about playing in there,” Linnie said. “I wanted you to be happy.”

  “I miss you,” I said softly. “I want to be friends again. I’m really sorry for blaming you for the mess.”

  Linnie stopped tugging on her hair. “I miss you, too. I don’t want to fight,” she finally said.

  I smiled. “Does that mean you’ll stay for Girl’s Day?”

  “Yes!”

  “Awesome!” I leaped off the bed and started hopping. “I’m so happy we’re best friends!”

  We grinned at each other. Then we fell into a giggling fit.

  FIGURING IT OUT

  “I think we were right about Mrs. Reese being a spy,” I said when I finally caught my breath.

  “Really?”

  “I found papers in a box,” I said. “They looked like little posters and said Annie Get Your Gun, Fiddler on the Roof, and Oklahoma!”

  “What does that mean?” Linnie asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I think they might be messages. Like a code.”

  “Is her name Annie?” Linnie asked.

  “Maybe. So maybe the message was for her to get her gun and dress up as a fiddler and meet the person on a roof in Oklahoma!”

  “That’s amazing!” Linnie said. “You are so smart, Jasmine.”

  “What are you guys doing?” Sophie asked from my doorway.

  “We figured out that Mrs. Reese used to be a spy,” I said.

  Sophie flipped her hair. “Yeah, right.”

  “It’s true,” Linnie said. “Those clothes in her garage are her disguises. Jasmine found coded messages for disguises like a fiddler on a roof.”

  Sophie grinned. “Like that musical!”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Sophie walked into my room and sat down at my desk. This was the first time she had come into my room in, like, forever!

  “Did you see if Mom bought the special mochi for Girl’s Day?” she asked.

  “No,” I said. “But I know she went to the store today. Why?”

  “No reason. I just hope she didn’t buy one for me, since I’m not celebrating.” Sophie stood back up and walked over to my door. “But,” she said, turning back to me, “if she did buy an extra, make sure you save it for me.”


  Then Sophie left as quickly as she had come. “That was weird,” I said.

  “Very,” Linnie agreed. “Do you want to make costumes for my paper dolls?”

  “Yes!” I was relieved Linnie and I were friends again.

  We took her paper dolls out of her overnight bag, and I dug in my desk drawer for pretty origami paper. Origami is a Japanese art where you fold paper into different shapes, like boats and birds and hats. Today I was letting Linnie cut up some paper to make outfits for her dolls. Because that’s what good friends do.

  I picked red paper to make a super-sleuth cape for one of the dolls. That reminded me of the other clue I had found.

  “I also saw a bunch of lists in Mrs. Reese’s garage,” I told Linnie. “Lists of things like shoes and jackets, maybe for her disguises. But you know what was weird?”

  Linnie scrunched her nose as she concentrated on cutting out a princess dress from pink paper. “No, what?”

  “One of the lists said sixteen aprons,” I said. “Why would one person need sixteen things to wear?”

  “That is strange,” Linnie agreed. “Maybe she worked with fifteen other spies?”

  “And remember what Sophie said about the musical?” I asked, thinking hard. Something didn’t seem right. “The fiddler thing.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know about that,” Linnie said.

  But we didn’t get to talk about it anymore because Mom called us for dinner.

  * * *

  The table was set with chopsticks, since that’s how we eat Japanese fried noodles. We each had our own chopsticks. Dad’s were light brown wood, Mom’s were shiny black with a gold moon, Sophie’s were blue with orange flowers, and mine were purple with pink hearts. Even Linnie had her own because she ate over a lot. Linnie’s were green with pink hearts.

  “Ita-daki-masu,” Dad said.

  “Ita-daki-masu,” Linnie said along with me and my family. I smiled a big smile as I dug into my yakisoba. I couldn’t wait till tomorrow when we celebrated Girl’s Day. Almost everything was perfect. I only wished Sophie were celebrating with us, too.

  HAPPY GIRL’S DAY

  The next morning, when I opened my eyes, I was not in my bed. At first I was confused, but then I remembered two important things. Number one, today was Girl’s Day. And number two, my best friend, Linnie, had slept over! I was in my purple sleeping bag on the floor of my bedroom. Linnie was sleeping next to me in her green sleeping bag. Except she wasn’t in her sleeping bag. I sat up.

  I heard whispering coming from the hallway. I crept to the door and listened.

  It was Sophie’s explaining voice. “So after my mom takes pictures of you and Jasmine in front of the dolls, you get to have a special snack.”

  Linnie answered in a whisper, “Yes, I know. Jasmine told me about the special mochi.”

  “Mmmm,” Sophie said. “They’re shaped like diamonds and layered in pink and white and green. Chewy goodness!”

  I jumped into the hallway. “Happy Girl’s Day!”

  “Happy Girl’s Day!” Linnie said. “I didn’t want to wake you up, so I was reading in the hall.”

  Sophie disappeared back into her room.

  “Is Sophie celebrating with us?” Linnie watched Sophie’s door shut.

  I shook my head. “She said she doesn’t want to.”

  “Why not?” Linnie asked as she followed me back into my room. “Girl’s Day sounds like fun! Being a girl is awesome!”

  “Right?” I said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  I thought about how Sophie kept talking about Girl’s Day, first with me and now with Linnie. I thought about how I had missed clues when Linnie was afraid of the garage. Maybe Sophie still wanted to be part of Girl’s Day, even though she wouldn’t admit it. I glanced at Linnie. Sometimes people didn’t say how they really felt.

  Linnie rolled up her sleeping bag while I shoved mine into my closet. That’s when I noticed the two kimonos hung side by side. Mom must have put them in there while we were sleeping.

  I grinned as I asked Linnie, “Do you want to play dress up this morning?”

  She stood up and lifted her chin like she was about to climb a big mountain. “Yes, I will go back to the garage with you.”

  “You are so brave,” I said, “but I meant we can play dress up right here!”

  I brought out a kimono. The silky sleeves waved gently as I moved it toward Linnie, as if the kimono was greeting her. “This is for you to wear today.”

  Linnie’s face brightened immediately. “Really?”

  “Really!”

  Linnie reached for the kimono, but I pulled back, remembering one last step. “Mom needs to help us,” I said.

  Linnie frowned like she thought we were old enough to get dressed ourselves.

  “I know,” I said, “but even grownups need help putting on kimonos. They have a lot of layers and there is a proper way to put them on.”

  Linnie smiled again. “Okay.”

  Mom helped us get dressed. First, we put on the white under-kimono. Then Mom helped us put on the pretty printed kimono. The white collar of the under-kimono had to poke up around the edge. The kimono had to wrap left over right. (There are a lot of rules to wearing a kimono!) Next we put on the obi, or belt, and Mom tied it all fancy in the back.

  Once we were fully dressed, Linnie and I stood next to each other and looked in the mirror. We were almost the same height. She had brown hair and I had black. We each had the same goofy smile on our face. Her kimono was red with a white fan and cranes. Mine was white with purple flowers. We held hands and squeezed.

  In the living room, Mom took pictures of me and Linnie next to the dolls. While I smiled for Mom’s camera, Sophie poked around the corner. But when she saw me looking at her, she ducked away.

  Mom went to the kitchen to get our snack ready. Linnie and I stayed with the dolls. Tomorrow, Mom would pack them up and I’d have to wait another year to see them again. Next year felt like a very long time away. If I were Sophie and didn’t get to do Girl’s Day, I would be sad.

  I knew that no matter how nicely I asked, Sophie would say she didn’t want to join in. She thought dolls were for babies and she thought she was too grown-up for Girl’s Day. She liked to be a know-it-all. If only I could be as bossy as she is and make her celebrate with us.

  That gave me an idea.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said to Linnie.

  Sophie stood in the hall outside the kitchen, watching Mom.

  “Hey,” I said.

  Sophie spun around. “What do you want?”

  “Can you help me explain to Linnie which dolls are which?” I said, even though I knew.

  “Boy, you sure have a bad memory,” Sophie said.

  My big sister followed me back to the living room and pointed to each doll, naming them like I had done for Linnie two days ago. Fortunately, Linnie didn’t say a peep to Sophie.

  “This one is my favorite,” Linnie said, pointing to a court lady holding a tray.

  “I like this one,” I said, pointing to a musician with a little drum. My finger hovered over the drum. If I moved a little closer I could tap it, but Mom would not be happy about that. Maybe someday I could help her with the dolls.

  “I like the empress the best,” Sophie said. “She’s the most powerful.”

  Sophie pushed her way between me and Linnie. She sat down and straightened the miniature bowls.

  “Come get your treats,” Mom called.

  When the three of us walked into the kitchen, Mom smiled. “How nice to have all my girls with me here today!”

  On two plates were the diamond-shaped mochi in layers of pink and white and green. Mom put a third mochi on another plate just for Sophie.

  Sophie had said she didn’t want to celebrate Girl’s Day, but I think she just wanted to show she was a big girl. Kind of like how I wanted to prove I wasn’t a baby by making mochi with my family on New Year’s. Maybe I was a good detective after all. I just had to pay close atte
ntion to the clues.

  That reminded me of what Mrs. Reese had said about wishing she could celebrate Girl’s Day.

  “What are we doing for our special day?” I asked Mom.

  “We’re going on a picnic at the park,” Mom said.

  “Can we invite Mrs. Reese?” I asked.

  “That is an excellent idea,” Mom said.

  SUPER SLEUTH

  The mochi was sweet and delicious. I wished we could eat a hundred more, but Mom was on a schedule. She told me, Linnie, and Sophie to sit down in front of the doll display (again). Sophie complained, but not too hard. Mom took a bunch more pictures, and Sophie smiled.

  After Linnie and I changed back into our regular clothes, we stopped by Sophie’s room before going to Mrs. Reese’s to invite her to our picnic.

  “What do you two want?” Sophie asked, but in her nice voice.

  “What was it you said about the fiddler on the roof?” I asked.

  “Oh, that it’s the name of a musical,” Sophie said. “We’re studying theater in class. A musical is like a play but acted out with songs in front of a live audience.”

  I thought about the papers I’d found in the garage that looked like little movie posters.

  “Is Annie Get Your Gun a musical? What about Oklahoma!?” I asked.

  “I don’t know about the first one, but the second one is a musical for sure.”

  “What are some other plays?” I asked.

  Sophie tapped her finger on her chin. “Our Town. Romeo and Juliet.”

  I glanced at Linnie. “Do you want to stop by the garage first before visiting Mrs. Reese?”

  “You’re being a super sleuth, aren’t you?” Linnie said with a smile.

  * * *

  We ran over to Mrs. Reese’s together.

  I swung open the garage door and turned on the light. Linnie stepped in behind me. Close behind me. I led her to the box that held the folders. I opened the box and found the little posters. Linnie and I flipped through them.