I walk onto the dusty stage wearing a black bodysuit, stockings and dance shoes. I twirl my purple hula hoop on the fingers of my right hand as my music comes over the sound system. “Everybody was kung fu fighting.”
I move the hula hoop down to my neck and keep it twirling. The audience gasps. I’d practiced this routine so many times, making little adjustments, adding fancy new moves, making sure I could keep the hula hoop spinning throughout the entire song.
I turn in a little circle onstage while the hula hoop spins around my neck. Waiting offstage is Tucker Thomas, dressed in a suit and tie. He has a big stain on the lapel of his suit jacket.
As I twirl the hoop around my neck, Tucker waves his saxophone at me from backstage and gives me a thumbs up.
I smile, but don’t wave back. I can’t or I might drop the hula hoop, and that would be humiliating, especially after how long I practiced. And with everyone in the audience watching.
The song keeps going: “It was a little bit frightening.”
I face the audience and shimmy the purple hoop down to my waist. Another little gasp from the audience and some applause. I feel like I’ll burst with happiness.
I notice the first place trophy off to the side and think that maybe this is the year I’ll win it.
The spotlight shines brightly, but I can still see the audience. There are a lot of empty seats.
I spot Mom. Charlie is on her lap. I want to wave to Charlie but I keep going, following the routine I’d practiced.
I notice the seats on either side of Mom and Charlie are empty.
Dad had left us only a week before, after he and Mom had the most explosive fight ever.
“You’re never here!” Mom screamed.
“Well, now I really won’t be here, Marion,” Dad retorted.
After Mom stormed up the steps and into Charlie’s room, I joined Dad downstairs on the couch. I felt bad that Mom had Charlie and Dad was alone.
Dad forced a smile and put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Butter Bean,” he said. “I’m moving in with a friend, but I promise things won’t change much. Okay?”
I nodded, believing Dad. I thought after Dad stayed with his friend awhile, he’d come back and work things out with Mom. They’d had plenty of fights before and always patched things up.
This was before I knew Dad was flying all the way across the country with Stella. And taking my best friend with him. So even though Charlie cried all the time and even Mom cried that night, I didn’t cry. Not once.
The day after Dad moved out, he called and promised he’d be at the talent show, cheering me on. He promised.
But Dad isn’t in the school auditorium, cheering me on.
Up there onstage, with the spotlight shining on me and all the people in the audience looking at me, with that stupid hula hoop spinning around and around me, fat tears drip down my cheeks. And I can’t stop them.
I keep looking at the empty seats, thinking that Dad should be in one of them.
The music keeps going. At this part, I’m supposed to fling my arms out in karate-chop motions while the hula hoop spins around my waist. I’m supposed to get the hula hoop back up to my neck, then down again. I’m supposed to do my grand finale with the hula hoop spinning on one finger while I take a deep bow.
That’s the way I choreographed it. That’s the way it’s supposed to happen.
Instead, I stare out at the empty seats while tears dribble down my cheeks, plunking onto the dusty stage floor. There I am, spinning and crying, spinning and crying. Until I stop moving and the hula hoop clatters to the stage.
There’s a collective gasp from the audience.
I take one last look at the seats on either side of Mom and Charlie—empty—grab my hula hoop and run offstage.
Tucker says something to me, but I keep running.
What did he say? I know I heard it, but I can’t remember.
Then, after all this time, standing on the set of Jeopardy!, I remember. I can hear Tucker’s words drift out to me as I run past. Olivia Bean, you’re still the Hula Hoop Queen.
That’s what Tucker said. He called me the Hula Hoop Queen, but he hadn’t said it in a mean way. He said it softly. Nicely. He’d meant it as a compliment, not an insult. All this time, I had thought he used those words as an insult.
“This is Jeopardy!”
Johnny Gilbert’s voice. The show is starting.
But all I can think about is crying onstage during the talent show because Dad didn’t show. And he’s not here, either. Jeopardy! was his thing. Our thing. My throat tightens.
“And from Canton, Ohio, is Jacob Andrews. He likes playing basketball and acting, and he hopes to own a business someday.”
They’re moving down the line.
“From West Palm Beach, Florida, is Samantha Goff. Samantha has run in a half marathon. And someday she hopes to be president.”
I’m next. But I can’t move. Can’t smile. Can’t do anything.
Dad didn’t show. Just like at my talent show in fifth grade.
Am I going to freeze now, too? Run off the stage and cry?
“And from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is Olivia Bean. Olivia loves trivia and wants to be a game show host when she grows up.”
“Go, Livi!” Charlie screams.
Charlie’s voice snaps me out of my trance. I look right into the camera and give the biggest smile of my life.
Charlie wants me to win. So does Mom. And Neil. And me! I want to win. I, Olivia Bean, want to win this game more than anything in the world. And Tucker back home wants me to win too.
“And now, here’s the host of Jeopardy!,” Johnny Gilbert’s voice booms. “Alex Trebek.”
I hold my breath as Alex Trebek strides onstage, and I think I’m going to faint.
Alex announces the six categories: “Have You Got Game?, A Is for Animal—these are animals that begin with the letter A, Presidents, Am I Red?, That’s Entertainment and Science Says.”
The game begins so quickly. I’m not ready.
Samantha Goff chooses A Is for Animal for $100. Only she says “Animal for one hundred” because Maggie told us to pick one main word from the category instead of saying the whole thing. It makes the game go faster.
And it does go fast.
Alex says, “This type of animal named Arthur is a favorite children’s book character.”
Samantha buzzes in first and says, “What is an aardvark?”
I didn’t even press the buzzer.
Head in the game, Olivia. Play to win. I realize the voice in my head is Dad’s. But that’s okay. Because I want to win.
“Animal for two hundred,” says Samantha.
“This animal is often found in the swamps of Florida,” Alex says.
The moment he finishes asking the question, I press the buzzer.
“Olivia?”
“What is an alligator?”
“That’s correct,” Alex says.
“Animal for three hundred,” I say, feeling especially proud that I answered that question even though Samantha is from West Palm Beach, Florida. Take that!
I finish off the category, getting the rest of them right—“What is an ape?” “What is an anteater?” and “What is an armadillo?” Charlie told me armadillos can smell beetles, larvae and ants six inches underground and spend their days digging for and eating them. He also said armadillo poop looks like clay marbles, but that’s not important now.
My thumb is all over that buzzer. I dominate the board, but Jacob is close and Samantha still has a good chance.
There’s a commercial break. It’s about the trip that today’s winner and family will get—a cruise to Alaska. They show a family standing on the side of a ship, whale watching. How much fun would that be? Now I want to win more than ever.
When the commercial break ends, Alex is standing next to our podiums.
I’m so nervous while he talks to Samantha and Jacob, but I keep smiling, like we were taught yesterday.
/> “Olivia?”
I nod.
“I understand you have a younger brother who loves trivia too,” Alex says.
“Yes,” I say. “Charlie’s only five, but he loves gross trivia.”
The audience laughs.
“Can you give me an example?”
I don’t want to talk about flamingos peeing on their legs or armpit bacteria, so I say, “A cockroach can live without its head for a week.”
“That’s pretty gross,” Alex says. “But interesting.”
I smile because I know out in the audience, Charlie is loving this. I have no idea how Mom and Neil are keeping him from shouting or running onto the set. It probably involves physical restraint and promises of chocolate.
As Alex strides back to his podium to begin the Double Jeopardy! round, where dollar values are doubled, I touch the shark’s tooth for luck.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.
Jacob is much faster on the buzzer and gets a lot of the questions, but Samantha answers the big-money questions near the bottom of the board.
I get the leftovers, like “This person wrote Little Women” (“Who is Louisa May Alcott?”) and “Dr. James Naismith first invented this game using a ball and two peach baskets” (“What is basketball?”).
I know a lot of the other answers, but don’t buzz in fast enough. I wish I had practiced even more clicking my pen at home. Being fast on the buzzer is so important, but so is being brave when betting. And I do that when I’m lucky enough to land on a Daily Double.
Jimmy, from the Clue Crew, shows a gorgeous old building and says, “This is a famous museum in Paris.”
I answer, “What is the Louvre?” which nets me an additional $2,000, but I’m still in a pitiful position to head into the Final Jeopardy! round.
At the end of the Double Jeopardy! round, Samantha has $8,400, Jacob has $7,200 and I have a measly $4,600. Winning now will be nearly impossible.
I give the shark’s tooth in my pocket a quick squeeze, because I feel my one and only opportunity to win on Jeopardy! slipping away. Maybe Dad was right when he told me all those years ago that I wouldn’t do well on this show. I look at Jacob and Samantha. Their backs are straight. They are smiling. They belong here. They deserve this.
But do I?
Alex announces the category for the Final Jeopardy! round and something inside me shrivels.
That’s it. I’m sunk.
I bite my fingernail while I think, even though Maggie said not to do that.
I imagine Tucker and the big map on his bedroom wall. I remember the hours and days he spent quizzing me with flash cards and atlases and websites. I think of the questions he asked me again and again.
You can do this, Bean.
But then I think of Dad. His voice is like a drill in my mind. Geography just isn’t your thing.
I feel anger rise inside me.
Dad’s not here now, is he? Maybe I am good at geography.
My fingers turn to icicles around the stylus—the electronic pen we use to write our responses.
How much should I wager? Nothing. I’m not good at geography. But I might be, after all of Tucker’s help. Tucker wouldn’t have spent all that time tutoring me if he didn’t believe I could do it.
Suddenly, I hear Tucker’s voice in my head. But instead of saying “Olivia Bean, Hula Hoop Queen,” he’s saying “Olivia Bean, Geography Queen.” And even though I might not be able to answer the question, I listen to Tucker’s voice and bet everything I have. I write $4,600 with the stylus pen and squeeze the shark’s tooth one last time. I don’t want to let Tucker down. Or my family.
I take a deep breath and can’t believe it when the Final Jeopardy! clue is revealed. I’m so glad I bet the farm on it, as Dad would say.
Jacob must have thought he needed to worry only about beating Samantha, because he wagered $1,300. He must have realized that if she got it wrong, that was all he needed to beat her score.
Even though Jacob gets the answer right, he ends up with only $8,500.
Samantha gets it wrong. She gets it wrong! She writes, “What is Rome?”
But I don’t. I write the correct answer, thanks to Tucker. And I bet everything and end with a total of $9,200.
That means I, Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen, WIN!
But I don’t win $9,200. I win $15,000 and a cruise to Alaska!
My heart pounds faster and harder than a herd of elephants on a rampage because I won Jeopardy!
On a geography question.
Alex Trebek walks over and shakes my hand. “Congratulations, Olivia,” he says. “You really pulled that out at the end.”
Mom, Neil and Charlie charge onstage, hugging me and patting me on the back and shoulders. Samantha and Jacob congratulate me too, as do their parents, who have also come onstage.
“I did it,” I whisper to Mom.
“You did,” she says.
Neil raises my hand in the air. “Way to go, Brainy Bean.”
Charlie hugs me so hard I lose my balance for a second.
The best part is that right now, I don’t even care that Dad’s not here to celebrate. Although it would have been great for him to see me win.
On. A. Geography. Question!
Afterward, in the green room with Mom, Neil and Charlie, Dad calls on Mom’s cell.
“Hey, Butter Bean,” he says.
I cringe.
“Sorry I couldn’t make it, baby.”
Dad keeps talking—explaining—but I tune him out. I don’t pay attention again until he says, “Can you tell me who won?”
I remember Maggie and the producer, Rebecca, both said we must be sworn to secrecy until the show airs—two months from now!—about whether we win or lose.
“I can’t tell you,” I say. “They don’t let us.” But really, I don’t want to tell Dad. If he had been in the audience, like Mom and Neil and Charlie, he’d know that I won. We’re only allowed to talk about this with family and the other contestants. It was Dad’s choice not to be here. He could have seen me play if he had really wanted to.
“Come on, Jelly Bean,” Dad says. “I’m your father. Besides, I can bet some guys on the outcome and make a pile of money. And that would be a very good thing for your dad right now.”
I press my lips together and say nothing.
“I’ll share some with you,” he says. “With your mother.”
Heat explodes across my cheeks, but I keep my lips pressed tight.
“Come on, Butter Bean.”
I shake my head, not believing what I’m hearing. But really, I do believe Dad would bet on the game … because that’s who Dad is. I decide to take a page from Dad’s playbook and say, “Um, Dad. They need me on the show. I’ve got to go.”
“But Olivia, I—”
I hang up and hand the phone to Mom.
She looks at me and tilts her head.
I take a deep breath and say, “Hey, Mom, mind if I make a call?”
“Of course.” She hands the phone back. “It’s your day, Livi.”
I think about it—getting on Jeopardy! and winning, being surrounded by the people who love me and having fifteen new red umbrella friends. (even if the alternate isn’t going to get a chance to play, she is still pretty cool.)
It is my day.
Even though a part of me finally understands that Dad is never going to be the father I wish he would be, I still feel pretty terrific.
I dial Tucker’s number and hunch forward, fingering the shark’s tooth in my pocket.
“Bean!” Tucker says, like he couldn’t be more happy to hear from me. “How’s it going? You beat those other doofuses yet?”
It’s so great to hear his voice. My heart speeds up. “It’s over,” I say.
“Really?” he says. “Did you win?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“What?”
“Sorry.” I bite a fingernail. “I’m only allowed to talk about it with immediate family and the other contestants.”
“That’s okay, Bean,” Tucker says. “I know you won because you’re smarter than any of those other kids.”
I’m glowing. “Thanks,” I say. “But, Tucker, there’s something I think it’s okay to tell you. And you won’t believe it!”
“Hit me,” he says, and it reminds me of Dad not being able to talk to me on the phone because he was at the blackjack table in Las Vegas.
I push that thought out of my mind. “The Final Jeopardy! clue.”
“Yeah?” Tucker says. “What was it?”
I picture him leaning forward, the phone pressed against his ear.
I whisper, “The final question was about geography.”
“Oh,” he says. “How’d you do? Great, right?”
I love that he’s so confident in me. “Tucker,” I say quietly, “the answer was: This is the place where democracy began.”
“No way!” Tucker screams in my ear.
“Yes,” I say, nodding so hard I give myself a headache.
“My grandma, who’s a geography nut, asks me that one like every time I visit her,” Tucker says. “That’s why I asked you, Bean.”
“Well, thanks,” I say, thinking of all the hours Tucker spent helping me, even though I wasn’t always nice to him. “I couldn’t have done it without you … and your grandmother.”
“You’re welcome, Bean.”
“And Tucker …” I want to tell him I understand why he called me Olivia Bean, Hula Hoop Queen. I want to tell him I realize he was being nice, not mean. But I just say, “Thanks for all your help.”
“That’s okay, Bean,” he says. “You can pay me back by going to Friendly’s with me when you get home. To celebrate, I’m going to get a sundae with five scoops of ice cream and five toppings … and you’re treating!”
“Okay,” I say, giggling. “That’s a deal.”
“And by the way, DJ’s doing great. I already checked on him twice today, gave him plenty of water and scratched behind his ears.”
“Thanks for taking care of Double Jeopardy, Tucker.”
“No prob, Bean.”
After I hang up, Neil asks, “Everything okay?”
Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen Page 15