Mona put red lipstick on as thick and as messy as she could. “Has he ever looked as pretty as he does now?” she asked us.
“No, he hasn’t!” Ty said. He was enjoying the whole thing.
Next, I put the pink blush on Ro’s cheeks, chin, and forehead. He looked like he’d gotten a tan from a pink sun. I’m not good at putting on makeup, and it showed.
“Well, will you looky here. It’s my turn now,” Teresa said as she dabbed a sponge in the sparkly purple powder. Ro’s lips looked like clown lips, his eyes were sparkly and messy. His cheeks were rosy and smeared. He looked gorgeous and ugly at the same time. I even grabbed my real camera and took a bunch of pictures of him.
We all stood up and took a good look at Ro. Then the door squeaked open, and it was Marcellus. He said, “Hey, Ro, where is my—what’s going on in here?” he asked us.
“Well, we were—” I started to explain.
Marcellus just shook his head and said, “You know what? I don’t even want to know. Continue.” He covered his mouth so that Ma and Daddy couldn’t hear him laugh and went back to his room.
Ty helped us put Ro in his bed. I tucked him in like Ma does. We all gave Ty a high five and tiptoed to my room.
Mona turned to me and said, “Do you know, that was the most exciting, funniest thing I’ve ever done?”
“You think that was something?” I told her. “Wait until morning.”
Then my friends and I left Ro. We went to Daddy’s computer to print out the photos we’d just taken.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! SOMEBODY, HELP! GET THIS STUFF OFF OF ME!” Ro cried from upstairs. He was the last one to wake up and the first one to see his makeover in the mirror.
It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. Everybody but Ro was downstairs having a good breakfast. We girls helped Daddy make stacks and stacks of waffles topped with all sorts of fruit.
“Roosevelt! Are you okay, honey?” Ma cried out. Ro came stomping down the stairs, one step at a time. When he made it to the kitchen, Ma and Daddy couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Boy, what happened to you?” Daddy got up from the table. He went over to Ro to get a closer look.
“Looks like he stuck his head in a bag full of firecrackers and paint,” Marcellus said.
“Let me help you clean it off, baby.” Ma ran over to Ro to get a closer look, too.
“Either those girls did it,” Ro said as he pointed at us, “or Tyner did it. Which?”
“Ty didn’t do it. That’s just not his style,” Marcellus jumped in.
“Well, it must have been you girls. Right, Ruby?” Ro came over to my chair and waited for me to confess. I looked up, saw his face, and laughed until my tummy started to hurt.
The lipstick was bright red, the blush was caked on his cheeks and chin, and the glittery purple powder made his face glow.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, doll face.” I grinned.
“Do you think we would stoop that low, Ro?” Mona asked.
“Whoever did it, Roosevelt, they sure did make you as pretty as a peacock,” Teresa chimed in before taking a forkful of her waffles.
“The one thing I’ll admit,” I said, “is that we have pictures of you with all that makeup on.”
“Where are they?” Ro snapped.
“That’s for us to know and you to find out,” Teresa said. Mona just laughed and laughed.
“Ma, Daddy, are you just going to let them get away with this? I want justice!” Ro shouted. His pink cheeks flared, and his shiny red lips poked out in anger.
“First of all, you need to calm down, son. Don’t come down here ruining our breakfast,” Daddy told Ro, all seriouslike.
Ro turned to Ma and begged, “Please, Ma, tell Ruby to get this stuff off of my face and out of my mouth.” He fell to his knees.
“Look, Roosevelt, I told you to leave those girls alone. This is the second sleepover that you tried to ruin. Don’t beg me, beg Ruby.” Ma turned her head and kept right on eating her waffles. “And an apology to your sister might help.”
Ro looked at me with tears in his eyes. His face turned from sadness to fighting mad. Then he said, “I’m not begging you for anything, Ruby. Ro is nobody’s chump.” He grabbed a waffle, scooped up his skateboard, and busted out of the back door.
“He’ll be back. Trust me,” I told everybody.
I looked out the window, and there he was. Ro hadn’t gone down to the skate park, after all. He was just sitting on the curb. I bet he was wondering what his next move was going to be. He really couldn’t go anywhere with all that makeup on his face.
After a while Ro tried to wash his face, but a lot of the makeup wouldn’t come off. His lips were still a little red, and there was still some pink on his cheeks and eyeshadow on his eyes.
The girls went upstairs to pack their things. Then they stood by the door and waited for their parents to come.
Mona’s dad honked his car horn. Mona gave us a hug and said, “This was the best sleepover of all time.”
“The Chill Brook Three forever!” I shouted. We hugged again before she walked out the door.
Teresa’s mom came next to pick her up. Teresa hugged me. “I had a wonderful time, Ruby Booker. See ya at school on Monday, girl.”
I gave her a high five and watched her get into her car.
After the girls left, my whole family and I went downtown. We always go there on Saturday mornings to shop and eat lunch and to look at the tourists taking pictures of Bellow Rock.
On the way, Daddy looked at Ro in the rearview mirror and shook his head. I could tell he was trying not to laugh.
Every person we passed downtown looked at Ro. Every street vendor or owner of a fancy clothing shop we went into with Ma stared at Ro like he was an alien from Saturn. Even after he scrubbed his face, the makeup showed.
“That poor little boy,” one lady said.
“Where did they get that kid from, the circus?” a man asked his wife.
When we ate lunch at the Triple Dragon Chinese Buffet, people continued to stare at Ro’s face.
Ro finished his shrimp and noodles and then sank down low in his seat.
Ma leaned over to me and said, “Honey, don’t you think Ro has learned a lesson? How about apologizing? He’s still your brother, baby.”
As sad as I started to feel for Ro, I wasn’t going to give in. Nope, I wasn’t. I told Ma, “I want to make sure he never messes up any of my sleepovers again. Besides, he’s never said he was sorry for the pranks he played.”
When we got back home, it was time to get ready for Marcellus’s upright bass recital. We all got dressed up. Me and Ma wore pretty dresses and shiny shoes. Daddy and the boys wore ties.
Ty came to my room after he got dressed and said, “I can’t believe Ro is still walking around with some of that stuff on his face. Not even the strongest soap can get it all off.”
At the recital, Marcellus played so well. He stood up on that stage all tall and sure of himself. He plucked that bass with his fingers and hugged it real tight. At the same time, his jazz teacher, Ms. Silvernoat, played the piano while two of her other students played the drums and a shiny horn.
At one point in the recital, I heard someone sitting behind us say, “That boy looks weird.”
Ro heard, too. He got up and went to the boys’ room and didn’t come back to his seat for the rest of the recital.
When we finally made it home, everybody was tired. While I was feeding Lady Love pieces of apple, I heard a knock at my door. It was Ro. He stood in my doorway and didn’t say anything. Then he came in and plopped on my floor.
“Okay, Ruby. I give up. What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything to get the rest of this girlie-goo off my face and to get my hands on those pictures you took when I was asleep,” he begged. “Even though some of the makeup is off, I can’t go to school like this. And I sure can’t let anybody see those photos of me with all that makeup on. Help a brother out.”
“You�
�ll do anything?” I leaned in closer to look in his eyes. When he’s not telling the truth, his eyes twitch. They didn’t twitch this time.
“Yes. You got me. What is it?” he wanted to know.
“Okay. First, I want you to write ‘I’m sorry’ letters to every girl who came to my first sleepover.”
“Okay, okay! Is that it?”
“Hmmph. You wish.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Teresa, Mona, and I want to go to the new Crazy Cutie Crew movie on Monday. We want you to pay for it and sit with us. Mona’s dad is going to make a special trip to drive Mona here.”
“Come on, Ruby! All of that? You want me to spend all my allowance money on you girls?”
“That’s right. You got it, brother,” I said.
“You know I was going to put that money toward a new bike. Why are you fighting back now?” he said with his bright red lips all screwed up.
“I don’t play, Ro,” I said. “So do we have a deal?”
He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Nope. I don’t think so.”
I pulled out the pictures of him with fresh makeup on. “You think your boys at school will get a kick out of these pictures, Ro?”
“You’re getting just as bad as I am.” He couldn’t believe how far I was going. “I’m angry with you. But something weird in me is kind of proud of you for sticking up for yourself.” He started walking out of my room.
“So what are you going to do?” I asked him.
“I don’t know. I don’t have a choice, do I, Ruby?” Then he clomped down the hallway. He didn’t leave his room for the rest of the weekend.
He was right. He didn’t have a choice. But as Sunday came and went, I wondered who would give in first, Ro or me.
On Monday morning, I went downstairs before anybody woke up. Well, I thought no one was awake until I peeked in on Ro sitting at the dining room table. He’d gotten most of the makeup off his face. He was writing the apology letters, stuffing them into envelopes, and then stacking them up.
He was really doing it!
He got up from his chair with the letters and started to come in my direction. I ran upstairs to my room. Ro tapped on my door, but I didn’t answer. I pretended I was asleep. Lady Love was snoring, so maybe Ro thought it was me.
He tapped softly on the door one more time, then whispered, “Ruby, here’s a letter for you. I’ll mail all the other letters to your friends…. I’m sorry.”
He slid my letter underneath the door. I heard him go back to his bedroom. The letter had grape jelly stains on it. Messy, messy, messy, but I couldn’t believe what he wrote:
Dear Ruby,
Sometimes I can’t help myself. I don’t mean any harm. It’s all in fun. Sometimes I go too far. I’ll try my best to never, ever mess up any of your sleepover parties again. I’m sorry I hurt you and your friends. I guess I deserved all that makeup, but can you please get rid of those photos you and your friends took of me looking like a lipstick clown? Please, Ruby!
Meanwhile, hide this letter!
DON’T SHOW IT TO ANYONE!
(I still have a reputation to keep up.)
Your brother,
Ro Rowdy
I couldn’t stop smiling after I read Ro’s letter. I read it again and again and again. This was the nicest, sweetest thing Ro had ever said to me. Roosevelt Booker saying he’s sorry? It would probably never happen again. I held the letter to my heart, then put it in the zipper compartment of a purple purse way up on the shelf in my closet. I got the photos of Ro in makeup off the shelf and ripped them into little pieces.
I went down to Ty and Ro’s room and knocked quietly. Ro opened the door, and I could see Ty, still asleep. I didn’t say a word. Ro didn’t say a word. I handed him the ripped-up photos. He took the pieces and shoved them in his pocket. Then what happened next was a bigger surprise than the letter.
Ro looked around to make sure nobody was watching, then kissed me really fast on the forehead.
* * *
Later, at school, I got another surprise. “Ruby Booker! Ruby Booker! Put the brakes on it, sweetie!” my teacher, Ms. Fuqua, called out, just like she does every single day at recess. I hung up my guitar-shaped book bag like I always do and looked for Teresa. Almost every girl I passed said hi to me.
“Hi, Ruby Booker,” said a fourth-grader I didn’t know.
“Having a good day so far, Ruby?” asked super-popular Iris Solo.
“That’s my girl Ruby, right there!” said very super-popular Toya Tribbles.
Teresa came running at me through a group of fifth-graders. “I’ve been looking for you, girlie. Guess what I just heard?”
“What, T? Calm down, would ya?” She was breathing heavily. I didn’t know what was going on.
“Well, somehow, Mona told her cousin, who goes to our school, that we had the biggest and best sleepover in Bellow Rock. Everybody wants to come to your next party. Can you believe it?” Teresa was completely out of breath.
“Wow, T!” I said then. We gave each other our favorite double-pinky Chill Brook Three handshake. That’s when Toya Tribbles and Iris Solo came up to us.
“Hey, girls!” Toya greeted Teresa and me like we were members of the Crazy Cutie Crew.
“Hi, Toya. Hi, Iris,” I said.
“Hey, Ruby. Hey, Teresa. Heard you had lots of fun this weekend.” She leaned in and asked, “Is that true?”
“We sure did. Right, T?” I bumped Teresa.
“Whew, who are you telling? It was the best time I’ve ever had. I can’t wait until the next Ruby Booker sleepover. When is it again?”
“Well, girl, I don’t know. We’re still making the plans. It’s going to be bigger than all the others,” I said. Truth was, I didn’t know when I was going to have another sleepover, but Iris and Toya didn’t know that.
“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, Ruby, do you think Iris and I could, you know, drop by your next party?” Toya crossed her fingers and waited for my answer. Iris did, too.
“I don’t know just yet. The waiting list is already full. I’ll have to get back to you girls, okay?” I nodded, hooked arms with Teresa, and walked away as cool as ever.
“Waiting list, huh? Ruby Booker, you sure are something.” Teresa laughed. She was right. Ruby Booker is something special!
“Come on, Daddy. Do I have to?” Ro stood at the ticket booth begging Daddy to let him back out of his promise to me. Monday evening we all went to the movies on Sixty-third Street and Van Peebles Avenue.
“Yes, you do, son. Be a Booker of your word,” Daddy told him, and then handed him his ticket to the premiere of the Crazy Cutie Crew’s latest movie, Who’s Your Cutie?!? “Your mother and I will be in theater number ten watching I Left My Heart in Gary, Indiana. Tyner and Marcellus will be in theater eight watching The Revenge of Keisha, Bad Dreams.”
“I wanted to see that. Dang, Daddy.” Ro pouted. I could see Ro through the glass door. Teresa, Mona, and I were getting movie goodies, thanks to Ro’s allowance money. He bought our tickets, too, just like he said he would.
“Come on, Roosevelt. We can’t enjoy the Crazy Cutie Crew movie without you!” Teresa hollered out.
“Shhhhh! Keep it down.” Ro ran over to us and covered his face. “I’m coming. I’m coming.”
“Ro, who would you rather spend two long hours singing girlie songs with?” Mona asked him playfully. He just frowned and followed behind as we went into the theater.
I turned around and almost didn’t recognize Ro. He’d stuck a fake hairy gray mustache on his upper lip and big dark brown sunglasses over his eyes. He didn’t want any of his friends to see him.
“Do I have to sit next to you girls?” he asked.
“You know it, buddy,” I said.
The lights dimmed, and then the whole theater cheered like it was a real live Crazy Cutie Crew concert. We all went nuts. Everybody but Ro was having a good time.
He was slumped down in his seat. His head was tilted to the side. He was frowning. But I co
uldn’t enjoy the movie seeing Ro like that. He may be a prankster who gets on my nerves, but he’s still my brother, and I love him.
“Excuse me. Excuse me,” I said as I tried to pass Ro and my girls to go back to the snack stand.
“Where are you going, girl?” Mona shouted over the loud audience.
“Yeah, Ruby. Hurry back, ya hear?” Teresa waved me away and never took her eyes off the screen.
I went and bought two big chocolate bars, nachos with hot peppers, a chili dog, and a large blueberry slushy. I even used my allowance money on everything. The lady at the stand gave me a big tray to carry all the stuff.
“You got it, baby? That tray is bigger than you are.” She laughed.
Somehow, I made it back to theater six without spilling anything. Ro saw me coming into the row of seats carrying all the food. “Girl, you gonna eat all of that by yourself?”
“No way. I need your help, Ro.” He took his sunglasses off, and his eyes got as wide as the movie screen. A smile found its way back to Ro’s cheeks.
“You didn’t have to do this, Ruby.” He took the tray in his hands and tossed as many nachos with hot peppers in his mouth as he could.
I sat next to Ro. I patted him on his leg and said, “I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.”
He gave me one of his smiles and then kept wolfing down his food.
The plan is simple: Ruby and her BFF, Teresa Petticoat, are going to be the best flipping, dancing drill team in Bellow Rock! All they have to do is learn some moves. That’s where Ruby’s big brother Marcellus comes in. Even though he’s not a cheerleader, he’s super-fun — and Ruby is super-positive he can teach her how to flip. Then she can teach Teresa. And who knows? Maybe this cheerleading thing will land them in the spotlight at Hope Road Academy. Read Ruby Flips for Attention and find out if the girls — and Marcellus — have what it takes to step up!
Derrick Barnes is the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor–winning author of Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. As well as the Ruby and the Booker Boys series, he has also written Stop, Drop, and Chill and Low-down Bad Day Blues as well as books for young adults. Derrick and his wife, Tinka, reside in Kansas City with their own version of the Booker boys—Ezra, Solomon, and Silas.
The Slumber Party Payback Page 4