Little Divas

by Philana Marie Boles

  eight

  Two hours after we saw the moving truck pull up, Rikki and I were sitting on Daddy’s front porch watching as the movers went in and out of the house to the left of us. We’d been sitting still so long by now that the plastic lawn chairs were stuck to the backs of our thighs. I hate it when that happens.

  A few weeks ago Daddy and I had noticed that the “For Sale” sign in the lawn next door was gone. He’d said then that he bet that the new people were going to move in just in time for school, that they probably had kids. More than anything, I was just hoping they’d be normal. The neighbors to the right of Daddy, the Thompsons, are not.

  The Thompsons own and operate a funeral parlor with the help of their grown children, and I am terrified of their entire family. I never look at them if they’re outside. Rikki says that their hands probably smell like dead people, and there is no way I am ever getting close enough to find out.

  After a while Daddy’s Cadillac came rolling up the street. When he pulled into the driveway, he had a great big old grin on his face and threw his hand up to wave. I didn’t think there was anything in the world to be smiling about, and I did not wave back.

  Just how long did he think it would be before I found out about his underhanded little idea, anyhow?

  Daddy stood in our driveway for a moment and looked over at the moving truck. “See anybody yet?” he asked us.

  Rikki nodded at a boy standing in the driveway who looked like he was about fifteen years old. His hair was dirty blond, his body too skinny, and his skin pale. He was twirling on the string of a red yo-yo. “Just weird-o over there,” Rikki said.

  Daddy looked over to the boy and hollered, “Welcome!”

  The boy looked up, blew the hair out of his eyes in order to see Daddy, glanced at the moving truck, and then at their opened garage. “Thanks,” he mumbled back.

  Still grinning and loosening his tie, Daddy came up the steps. “Well, well, well,” he said. “What have my little girls been up to today?”

  “Hey, Uncle Ray,” Rikki said.

  I just glared.

  “Whoa.” Daddy saw the look on my face. “You okay?”

  I could hear Aunt Beanie inside, mumbling and fussing as she came closer to the screen door. “Is that you, Ray?” she called.

  “I’m here,” Daddy called back. “I appreciate you staying over, Beanie. Sorry it took so long.”

  Daddy slid off his tie. “Everything okay, pumpkin? You look bothered.”

  I stared up at the skyline and bit down on my tongue. I thought I could speak at first, but when I tried, I couldn’t. It was all just too much even thinking about it.

  Daddy shifted a bit and cleared his throat. “Rikki?”

  But she just shrugged.

  “Daddy”—my voice cracked as I finally spoke—“how could you?”

  Rikki tapped my foot.

  “Hey, hey,” Daddy said with a concerned voice. “Look at me.” He was silent as he waited for me to do so. When I finally did, he searched my face and my eyes real hard for a clue as to what was troubling me. “How could I do what?”

  “I can’t believe you, Daddy. I can’t believe you would do this to me. Away from all my—”

  “Whoa.” Daddy held up his hand. “Pump the brakes.”

  Aunt Beanie was standing in the doorway listening. “I apologize, Ray,” she said, “but, Cassidy, go on and tell your daddy what you did. She made me say it, Ray.”

  He looked at Beanie, at Rikki, and then back at me. “Well? I’m waiting.”

  “Because we were jump roping,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Rikki added with a huff.

  Beanie shrieked, “And what else? That ain’t all, Ray!”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Oh, what difference does it make? Aunt Beanie said that you’re sending me to Clara Ellis.”

  Daddy used his thumbnail to scratch his forehead and waited a moment. Then he sighed. “Well, we did receive a letter from the school at the beginning of summer, right before your mother left. We thought about it, but it was never more than a consideration, Cassidy. That’s all.”

  I titled my head and stared. “Daddy.”

  He actually looked a little nervous. “Yes?”

  “What do you mean the ‘beginning of summer’? Are you telling me that everyone else has known about this since—”

  “Now, now, look here. Clara Ellis sent a letter regarding your aptitude test scores. Your mother called me to discuss it—”

  “What?” I sat straight up. “Mom knew?”

  “All right now, you need to watch your tone of voice.”

  “But Daddy! Mom knew and didn’t say a—”

  “Now listen. There was no point in telling you. We didn’t want you to get excited and then—”

  “Excited!” I shouted. “Do you honestly think I would be excited about going to that stupid school? That I wouldn’t want to go to King? That I don’t—”

  “Well.” He smiled a bit. “You are going to King, pumpkin. That’s what matters, right? Clara Ellis was merely a consideration.”

  “But you discussed it with everyone in the whole world, even Aunt Honey—”

  Rikki took a real deep breath.

  Oops.

  Daddy got a strange look on his face and looked over at Rikki. “Did your mother say something to you about this?”

  “No,” I answered before Rikki could. “Daddy, see! You’re not even listening to me. I said I bet you probably discussed it with Aunt Honey. I said you probably told—”

  But Daddy was still looking at Rikki. He raised an eyebrow. “Rikki, I’m going to ask you this again. Did your mother say something to you about this?”

  Rikki shrugged and shook her head. “First I’ve heard of this was today, Uncle Ray,” she said. “When Miss Beanie said it.”

  Daddy looked like he wanted to discuss the matter further, but just then a Volkswagen station wagon pulled up and parked behind the U-Haul next door. A woman emerged from the driver’s side, and a girl with long dark-blond hair got out of the passenger seat. The girl went inside the house without even looking our way, but the woman bounced right over to our porch and stood at the bottom of the steps.

  “How do you do?” she said in a way that reminded me of a camp counselor. Her blonde hair was cut into a bob and moved easily when she talked. Her big brown eyes were bright and cheerful as she scrunched up her nose.

  “Raymin Carter.” Daddy walked down the steps and shook her hand. “Welcome.”

  “Kate Anders,” she replied. “Thanks. Good to meet you.”

  “Can we offer you a glass of lemonade?”

  “Oh. Thanks. I’ve got my water bottle. I thought that if we waited until the sun went down, we’d avoid some of the heat. Silly me.”

  “Yeah, seems like the humidity stays out with the moon these days,” Daddy said.

  She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her shorts and smiled at Rikki and me like we were cute little baby dolls or something. “These your little girls?”

  “Yup,” Daddy said. “The one on the left is my daughter, Cassidy. And the one on the right is Rikki, my niece.”

  “Oh, great.” Mrs. Anders grinned.

  Daddy cleared his throat and laughed a little. “Uh, don’t let the frowns fool you. They’re nice young ladies, good girls.”

  Mrs. Anders seemed to find that amusing. “Well, then. I am pleased to meet all of you. That’s my son over there with the yo-yo. Freddy. Give him a skateboard and a yo-yo and he’s happy. I’ve got a daughter, too. She’s inside.” Mrs. Anders gasped. “And I bet she’s the same age as you girls.”

  Daddy nodded. “Great, great.”

  “I’m divorced,” Mrs. Anders explained to Daddy, “so the kids, you know, they’re adjusting.”

  “I see,” Daddy said. “Same here.”

  “Will your girls be attending King Junior High?” Mrs. Anders asked Daddy.

  Daddy laughed a stupid, goofy-sounding laugh. “As a matter fact, ye
s,” he said.

  “Oh, great!” she exclaimed. And then she put her hands on her knees and bent down to talk to Rikki and me. It was just like my first-grade teacher used to do, like if she sounded really excited we would be too. “Would you girls like to come meet my daughter? I just know you’ll be great friends.”

  I heard Rikki groan under her breath.

  “Sure they would.” Daddy winked at me. “That’d be the neighborly thing to do. Right, girls?”

  Mrs. Anders beamed. “Shall we?”

  The Anders house was big like Daddy’s, but it was blue with white shutters and had a brick walkway up to the front door. Except for neatly labeled boxes scattered throughout, the inside was hollow.

  The floors were all hardwood, and most of the walls were painted a pale yellow. We walked upstairs, and Mrs. Anders gently pushed open a bedroom door. The walls in there were yellow, too, but a brighter shade. The person who’d lived here before sure must’ve liked yellow. It was the perfect house for Mrs. Anders, I thought, such a happy color throughout. I couldn’t imagine that there was a single day in her life when Mrs. Anders wasn’t smiling, she seemed that happy.

  The girl who’d gotten out of the passenger side of the Volkswagen was sitting in the middle of the floor with her back to us, her legs folded and her face buried in a book.

  Mrs. Anders’s perky voice seemed too loud in the silence and too delighted for the somber mood in the room. “Golden, honey!”

  “Hmmm?” The girl didn’t even bother to look up.

  “I’d like you to meet your new friends. Turn around, okay?”

  Rikki rolled her eyes at that. There was no way she was going to be friends with this girl, and I knew it. I could tell that Rikki did not like Mrs. Anders thinking that we were already friends with her daughter, but for some reason I didn’t mind so much.

  Mrs. Anders said, “I just know you three will get along great.”

  The girl glanced up then, but she just stared straight ahead at the wall.

  “Honey,” her mother insisted. “Turn around, now. I’d like you to meet Cassidy—she lives right next door—and her cousin Rikki. You’ll be going to school with them. Right, girls?”

  “Right,” I said quickly.

  Golden finally turned around.

  She was very pretty, and I imagined that if she smiled she’d be even prettier. Her skin had an olive glow, and she looked just a little older than us. But perhaps that was only because of the shiny pink lip gloss she was wearing.

  A slit of a smile appeared on Golden’s face, but in the next second her round cheeks deflated again. She ran her fingers through her hair and ruffled it a bit before she said in a low voice, “Hey, Rikki. Hey, Cass.”

  And with that, she turned back around. She looked down and turned a page in the book she was reading.

  I thought that was so cool, the way Golden felt free to give someone she’d just met a new nickname, the way it had so easily rolled off her tongue, no second thoughts, just like that.

  I hadn’t forgotten how Mrs. Anders had mentioned to Daddy that she was divorced, and that her kids were still “adjusting.” A part of me wondered if maybe Golden’s parents used to argue a lot too.

  I wasn’t opposed to the idea of staying awhile longer and getting to know Golden, but Rikki was tapping her foot again. She was irritated and ready to go, so we said good-bye and left. I’d have to find a reason to come back and talk to my new friend later.

  August 20

  Dear Mom,

  I have a new friend and her name is Golden. Her family just moved in next to Daddy, and she is the same age as me and Rikki.

  Now I just know the school year is going to be fun. Hopefully Rikki and Golden will hit it off, and the three of us can be best friends. Actually, it was Daddy who suggested that I make friends with Golden. Wasn’t that a good idea, to be neighborly?

  Things are still going great this way, Mom. I hope you’re not missing Wendy’s too much. I know how much you love those Frostys. I don’t think they have fast food in Africa. Ah, well. Maybe you can get some in a year.

  nine

  A couple of days passed, but I couldn’t forget about my parents’ betrayal. So, when Mary took Rikki and me to Jacobson’s to look for bathing suits, I told Daddy we were going to the library. Hey, he’d kept things from me, so maybe it was time that I do the same.

  It should’ve been a fun day, but Rikki was having a fit. “Forget that,” she said to me as she flipped through some hangers, shaking her head back and forth. Then she stopped, cut her eyes at me, and glared with such intensity that it made me want to back away from her. Usually only the laws of Aunt Honey and Uncle Lance made Rikki this angry, so I knew I’d messed up.

  Rikki said, “Just because she’s your stupid little neighbor doesn’t mean you have to be nice to her, Cassidy. This ain’t TV.”

  I had only seen Golden twice since the day she moved in, and both times her hair had been in a messy ponytail, her bangs hanging sloppily over her eyes like her brother’s. Each time she’d been alone. I thought she might be lonely.

  Yesterday I’d been sitting on the porch reading a Judy Blume novel when I saw her come out of the house and run down to the mailbox at the curb. I wanted to say something to her, but she grabbed the mail and hurried back into the house so quick that I didn’t have a chance.

  This afternoon, while I was sitting on the porch waiting for Mary and Rikki to come pick me up, I saw her again retrieving the mail. I made it over to her just as she was walking back up the driveway. She was sorting through the envelopes.

  “Hello,” I said.

  She looked up, but didn’t smile. “Oh.” She nodded and blew the hair out of her eyes. “Cass, right?”

  “Cass.” I smiled. “Right.”

  She thumbed through the mail and held up a flat blue envelope that was covered with lots of stickers, mostly puppies and horses. Quite a few stamps were in the upper right-hand corner. “My pen pal,” Golden informed me.

  “Oh?”

  She nodded. “She lives in Italy. We send perfume with our letters.” She held the envelope up to my nose to smell, and I did. It was a soft scent, pretty and delicate like a flower garden.

  “That’s nice,” I said, and inhaled once more before she took it away. “Very nice.”

  “I sent her Exclamation last month,” she said.

  “My cousin Mary has that!” I said.

  “It’s so cool.”

  “I know,” I said.

  I didn’t know what else to say after that.

  Golden tapped the envelope. “Her name is Isabella. She’s fourteen. I wasn’t sure if she’d gotten my new address yet. How old’s Mary?”

  “Sixteen.”

  Golden nodded. “I have a sister who’s sixteen.”

  “Cool!” I said. “We can introduce them. I’m sure Mary would show her around school and stuff.”

  “Oh.” Golden shrugged. “Well, my sister doesn’t actually live with us right now.”

  Golden looked over at her house, like she’d much rather be inside than continue talking, so I changed the subject.

  “Rikki’s on her way over,” I said. “We’re going shopping.”

  “That’s cool,” she said dryly.

  “For school clothes,” I told her.

  “Nice,” she said with forced enthusiasm.

  “And bathing suits,” I added.

  For the first time Golden’s face lit up. “Really?”

  “Do you swim?”

  “We had a pool at our last house. And the house before that.”

  “How many houses have you lived in?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Four. But who’s counting?”

  “Well, our friend is having a pool party,” I said. “He’s going to King too.” Darwin, I was sure, would be nice to Golden.

  “Cool,” she said, and even smiled a bit this time.

  I didn’t even think about consulting with Rikki first. It just came out. “Wanna come?” I
asked.

  “Sure,” she said. “When is it?”

  “Next Saturday. I’m staying the night at Rikki’s afterward. My aunt Honey and uncle Lance are unbelievably strict, but all we have to do is tell them that you want to go to church with us on Sunday, and I bet we can convince them to let you spend the night too.”

  But now, in the middle of the “Miss J.” department at Jacobson’s, Rikki was throwing a fit. Like it would just ruin her life to be nice to someone for a change. She couldn’t believe I’d asked Golden to join us, and now she was threatening to never speak to me again. She went to the other side of the clothing rack, still fussing, still slamming hangers around.

  She said, “That girl doesn’t even bother to comb her hair.”

  Mary overheard Rikki and a look of annoyance crossed her face. Uncle Lance had gotten Mary a cell phone—in case of road emergencies only—but yeah, right. Mary had been talking nonstop to her best friend, Dierdre, for at least a half hour now, going on and on about how much fun she and Archie had had talking on the phone the night before. She told Deirdre to hold on a second.

  “Rikki,” Mary said, “Cassidy’s right. It won’t kill you to be nice to the new girl. Now would you please just pick out a suit?”

  Rikki ignored Mary, who went back to talking on the phone, and said to me, “It needs to be just me and you at that party, Cassidy. Remember? The way things work best. Now can we please just shut up talking about that messy-haired girl?”

  With that, we were done discussing Golden.

  Rikki picked out a suit the same color as her skin, creamy, coffee colored and soft. She fell in love with it as soon as she saw it on the hanger, but once she tried it on, she had to have it.

  “Everyone’s gonna think you’re naked,” Mary said after finally hanging up with Deirdre.

  “Like they can’t see these ties hanging down off my shoulders,” Rikki said. “Ain’t nobody that blind.”

  “I know, but—”

  “You said whichever ones we want,” Rikki reminded Mary.

  “I know, but—”

  “Well, I want it.” Rikki’s face was set.