Mustaches for Maddie

by Chad Morris

  Cassie looked at me out of the corner of her eye. I wasn’t even going to ask if I could hang out with her anymore.

  I had only made it a couple of feet when Yasmin met me. “Maddie, I’m so sorry.” She gave me a big hug. I hugged back.

  “Are you okay?” Lexi asked. She was right behind me.

  I nodded.

  Devin walked by and smiled, then he waved quickly and grabbed a basketball. Cesar did a lesser version of the same thing. Neither one of them had ever done that before.

  Yasmin, Lexi, and I started to walk out into the hall. Yasmin tried to help me like I was super sick or weak or something. She had her arm out to catch me if I started to fall.

  When we walked outside, Coby was waiting. “Is it like cancer?” he asked.

  “We don’t think so,” I answered, “but we don’t know yet.” More kids gathered.

  “Are you scared?” Sailor asked.

  I shrugged. I was terrified, but I wasn’t going to break down in front of everyone.

  “Sorry, no more questions,” Cassie said, cutting through the crowd with a huge smile on her face. “Maddie is hanging out with me.” She took me by the hand and pulled me away from the group. “We need a little friend time.” And then we walked away.

  Friend time? Really? That was so different from what I thought she would say. I thought she hated me. Well, maybe she still did, but she was being nice because there was a chance that she could get Juliet back. Cassie didn’t invite anyone else to hang out with us, just us two. That was strange and kind of cool. Or was it? I really didn’t know.

  “So, how are you, Cassie?” I asked. I was uncomfortable with too much silence as we walked.

  “I’m always good,” she said. “I’m so sorry you have a problem in your head.” She sounded sincere, but it was a lot like the voice she used around adults.

  “I guess it’s okay,” I said.

  “Does it hurt?” she asked.

  “Not really. But it’s why my arm and my leg don’t work very well. My eyes are a bit blurry too.”

  “Oh,” Cassie said. Then she shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

  We walked for a little while without talking. That didn’t usually happen with Cassie. “I don’t know much about tumors,” Cassie said, “but maybe I could help with something else.”

  Help? Cassie was going to help me? She didn’t hate me?

  “I know,” Cassie said, throwing both her arms in the air. “I could help you with your crush.” She nearly bounced as she walked. “I think you know mine is Devin. Who’s yours?”

  “Umm,” I stalled. I didn’t really have one. Well, not really. “I’m not sure.”

  “I was thinking like Jackson or Coby,” Cassie said.

  “Maybe,” I said. But sometimes I still wanted to drop Coby in the Pacific Ocean.

  “We could plan a way to get their attention,” Cassie said. My mom and dad said I shouldn’t even think about having a boyfriend until I’m older, and since I’m only twelve, I have a ways to go. But I could probably try to get someone’s attention.

  We started walking around the playground. “Do you know what?” Cassie said. “Maybe what we should do is plan how I can get Devin’s attention and that will help us know how to get Jackson’s or Coby’s attention later.”

  That kind of made sense.

  “What do you know about him?” Cassie asked.

  Devin? I knew he liked basketball, that he had a little brother clone named Sam, that he liked Star Wars stuff, that he was embarrassed to play Romeo but liked it with a mustache, and that I thought he had a crush on Lexi. But I didn’t tell Cassie the last part. She asked me several more questions, and I tried my best to answer them.

  “I know,” she said, her voice rising. “Maybe we should invite them over for a swim party. All of them. I have a pool in my backyard, you know.”

  I knew. Cassie had said that lots of times. She also had a condo in Hawaii. “Why don’t you ask Devin if he could come this Friday. And then if he can, we’ll invite Coby and Jackson, too.”

  I nodded. I love to swim. My dad calls me a fish. My mom calls me a torpedo. I just call me awesome.

  “Okay,” she said. “Thanks. I think we should probably work on this fast. Would you mind asking Devin?”

  “I can do that,” I said. Cassie thanked me, and I started walking away toward the basketball court.

  Wait. Cassie had done her magic again. She had kindly asked me to do a favor for her, but if it didn’t turn out well again, she would probably be mean. Again. And this was just after she found out I had a tumor.

  What if it didn’t go perfectly? I had enough to worry about. But I did kind of want to. Maybe I should just do it. I could imagine it was like gathering an elite team of super­heroes for some world-saving mission. Or maybe I was rounding up the best cowboy gang to free a town being held captive by marauders.

  Or . . .

  I slowed down. I didn’t need any more stress. Getting friends together should be fun for me, and if it wasn’t, I shouldn’t do it. And I didn’t have to do everything Cassie said.

  I turned and walked back to Cassie. She was catwalking back to gather up some more girls. “Wait,” I said. Cassie looked at me. I think she was a little surprised. “I think we should invite Yasmin, too.” Then it would be a lot more fun.

  Yep. I actually did it. This wasn’t my imagination. I’d actually walked back to Cassie and asked if I could invite Yasmin.

  “Sure,” Cassie said.

  Wow. That worked out just fine.

  I almost turned and left again, but another idea had been swimming in my head. I took a deep breath and then it just came out. “And Lexi.” Yep. I actually said it. “I think she would really like it,” I added quickly before I didn’t have the guts anymore.

  What had gotten into me?

  Maybe it was because I had to worry about tumors and hospitals and dying that standing up to Cassie wasn’t as big of a deal. Or maybe the tumor was giving me superpowers or something. Maybe it was releasing the part of my brain that was afraid of stuff because I was doing things I had never done before.

  Cassie stared at me.

  Oh, no. She was going to blow up at me.

  “I don’t think that’s the best idea for the party,” Cassie said.

  That wasn’t a blowup. I looked at Cassie for a moment, and then I did something different. Maybe I was feeling stronger because my first tries had gone well. Or maybe my tumor was still giving me superhuman courage. I almost put my hands on my hips. “I really think we should,” I said. I forced myself to look Cassie in the eyes.

  I really really wanted to look away, but I didn’t.

  Cassie looked at me. No smile. “Okay, but I’ll invite her,” she said.

  Wow. It worked. And Cassie was going to invite her? That would be perfect. Maybe they could become friends again. This idea of being a little braver was working.

  “Perfect,” I said. “And I’ll ask Devin later today when we have play practice.”

  For a moment, Cassie’s smile faded. “Okay,” she said.

  And I was off on another mission. A swim party mission.

  I pretended to be looking out from a tall balcony over a courtyard at night, saying my lines to no one in particular.

  Juliet was talking to herself. I liked that. I talk to myself sometimes. But Juliet was talking about Romeo. Awkward, but sweet. I don’t talk to myself about my crush. I mean, I don’t even have one. So I don’t . . .

  Well, you get the point.

  And I was talking with a mustache on.

  This time, before we even started practicing, I offered a red curly mustache to Devin and he took it. I had a thin blue one.

  “’Tis but thy name that is my enemy,” I said. “Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.” My lines were confusing, but I had
to know all about the play to understand them. Juliet wished Romeo had a different last name. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it. He didn’t have a really weird last name like McStinketh or Nerdworth. It was Montague. And it wasn’t the actual name that was the problem but his family. The Montagues were enemies of Juliet’s family, the Capulets. Juliet wished Romeo wasn’t a Montague so she could marry him and not have to worry about her family beating him up, or egging his house, or throwing her in the loony bin for liking him.

  “What’s in a name?” I asked, continuing my lines. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

  I think that means that it doesn’t really matter if you call it a rose or not, it’s still a really pretty flower and smells good. In modern times, I might have said something like, “Even if you call brownies something else, they are still amazingly tasty.” But I don’t think Shakespeare ever had brownies. If he had, he definitely would have mentioned them, because . . . brownies.

  “I take thee at thy word,” Devin said.

  As soon as he spoke, I jumped. I was supposed to. And I was trying to be a good actress. Juliet had no idea Romeo was there, listening in the dark. I thought it was kind of creepy that he was sneaking onto Juliet’s property, but he was a cute stalker. Plus, while we practiced, Romeo was a cute stalker in a curly red mustache.

  “I love how you act like I scared you,” Devin said. “It’s fun. Most of the other plays look like they’ll be boring.” He glanced around at everyone else practicing in the other corners of the room.

  “Thanks,” I said, smoothing over my blue ’stache. “I can’t wait for my line when I tell you to go away before someone finds you and murders you.” I wished I was wearing the curly mustache so I could twist it like a villain in a cartoon.

  “But they aren’t going to catch me,” he said like he was the fastest person on the planet. “I’m not dying today.”

  “But you do eventually die.” I didn’t really think about the words before they came out of my mouth. But they were true. Romeo is handsome and super flirty, but he dies at the end of the play. And we had to do that scene too. I didn’t like that. Death wasn’t exactly my favorite subject right now.

  “You okay?” Devin asked. I guess maybe my smile had disappeared.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I just don’t like the ending. I don’t think I want to perform it.”

  “I know,” Devin said. “Talk about depressing.”

  And apparently Shakespeare thought Romeo’s death wasn’t enough. Juliet is fun and lovable and talked to herself and all that, but she dies too. Neither one of them gets their happily ever after. It’s part of what makes them famous. But I didn’t want to be like Juliet, and I didn’t want Devin to be like Romeo.

  “I think the ending is supposed to be a lesson for people not to fight with each other,” I said, “but they could probably get that across without us dying.”

  “Probably,” Devin said. His face was different. I wasn’t really sure what his expression was, but his face was a little squinched. “Maybe we should pretend they don’t die in the end of our play.”

  I almost jumped right out of my mustache. Cheese tots, that was brilliant! “I nominate that as the best idea I’ve ever heard from someone wearing a red mustache,” I said.

  Devin laughed and rubbed his red curly ’stache.

  “But maybe,” I said, “we should take it one step further. Maybe we should make up a different ending.”

  Devin nodded.

  “Okay, let me think.” I tapped the forefinger of my good hand against my temple just to put out the thinking vibe. At the end of the play, Juliet fakes her death, but Romeo thinks she is dead for real and is so upset he takes poison. I know—super downer, Shakespeare. “After Romeo poisons himself, I think Juliet should pull out an antidote. Then he wakes up, they both twist their mustaches, give each other a high five, and then they start dancing.”

  “Dancing?”

  “Yeah,” I said. And then I did a little shakey-shakey. “And a disco ball comes down from the ceiling, and everyone in the whole show starts dancing together and singing, just like in a music video.” I didn’t do my most amazing moves, like spinning on the floor, but I did do the wave and a little robot. I bet Juliet would have loved to do the robot. It was a little tricky with my bad arm and leg, but I managed.

  “That’s definitely better,” Devin said.

  “A lot better,” I said, doing a spin move to finish off my dance.

  “I hope you are back in time to do the play,” Devin blurted out. “It’s a lot more fun to practice with you than it would be with Cassie.” He turned red for a second. Not as red as his mustache, but still pretty red. “I’m not saying she’s mean or anything. It’s just that you bring mustaches and it’s fun and stuff.”

  That made my insides feel all creamy, like mashed potatoes. “Thanks,” I said. “I think you’re fun, too. Some people would never wear my crazy mustaches.”

  “Like Cassie?”

  “There is no way she would wear one,” I said. “Well, maybe if it was sparkly and matched her shirt.”

  We both laughed at that.

  “And speaking of Cassie,” I said. “She’s having a pool party and wanted me to invite you.” I was kind of surprised how easy the words came out.

  “Me?” he asked, pointing at himself.

  I nodded.

  He scratched the side of his head. “Are you going?”

  I nodded again. Why did he ask that? Not that it was bad.

  “Will there be any other boys?”

  “I know she’s going to invite some,” I said, “and Yasmin and Lexi are coming.” I threw Lexi in there just to sweeten the deal.

  He didn’t turn red this time. Maybe he was getting used to talking about girls. “Well,” he said, “if my parents say I can go and there are a couple of other boys from the class then I’ll come.”

  I wanted to twist my mustache again, but not like a villain. Like a happy, mustache-wearing girl. This was going to work.

  “Cannonball!” Coby yelled and jumped off the diving board. When he hit water, waves shot out in every direction, soaking everyone. Cassie squealed and jumped out of the pool so the water wouldn’t mess up her hair. I had just come up for air and let all the water hit me in the face. It was just water. No biggie.

  All the boys Cassie had invited came. Well, not Jake. He was out of town visiting his grandpa or something. But Devin was there, and after he agreed to come then four other boys said they would come. They were splashing each other like crazy.

  Seriously, boys are weird. It was like a contest to see who could get the others the wettest. But, hello, they were all in a pool. They were already soaking.

  I swam over to Yasmin.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  I guess I wasn’t swimming very well. “Yep,” I said. “Except for my left side got bit by some raging beast of the sea, like a killer whale or something.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Yasmin asked. “You sure have to deal with a lot of monsters.” She was probably remembering the Dragoporkisaur, but it made me think of the real monster I was going to have to face soon.

  “Have you seen Lexi?” I asked, changing the subject. She had left me another card in my backpack telling me how sorry she was to hear the news about my tumor. That made me super glad I stuck up for her.

  “No,” Yasmin said. “Not yet.” She looked around the pool.

  “I hope she gets here soon.”

  Yasmin pursed her lips for a moment. “Are you sure she was invited?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Cassie said she would do it herself.”

  Yasmin raised an eyebrow.

  All of a sudden I felt sick. Would Cassie say she was going to invite Lexi and not do it?

  The boys splashed us again, and Yasmin screamed and swam away. I t
ook it in the face. Again.

  “Are you guys all having a good time?” Cassie’s mom asked. She had just stepped out from the big sliding glass door on the deck wearing a satiny dress and high heels. Her makeup looked like it had taken her hours to do and her hair hours more. She walked down the stairs like she was a model on a runway. “I put out some snacks by the pool if you want them. But don’t eat until after you’re done swimming. You don’t want to get cramps.”

  “Thanks,” I said. A few of the other kids followed my lead.

  “Cassie,” her mom called out. “Come here for a second.” Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, she was closest to my end of the pool. I started to see how long I could tread water. I had done it for like fifteen minutes straight before. Of course, that was before my arm and leg started acting all weird, but I tried anyway.

  It took three more calls before Cassie came over, and when she did, she looked embarrassed and bothered. “Not now, Mom.”

  “Not now, what?” her mom said. With all the boys splashing and a lot of them on the other side of the pool, I was probably the only one who could hear the conversation. “I’m doing you a huge favor by having this party. You know we shouldn’t.”

  I didn’t know what that meant. Why shouldn’t they have a party?

  Cassie huffed. “Yeah, I know.”

  “And you didn’t take out the garbage yet,” her mom said, her voice not all nice anymore. It was sharp, like an ax.

  “That was Dad’s job,” Cassie said.

  “Well, he isn’t around, is he?” Cassie’s mom was whispering, but it felt like she was yelling. Where was Cassie’s dad? She hadn’t mentioned him lately. “And you said you’d pick which doll goes online,” her mom said.

  I wasn’t sure what that meant either.

  “I know,” Cassie said, looking around. It was like she didn’t want us to hear. I turned the other direction. I started to swim away, but I was still really curious, so I went slow.

  “I’m trusting you. You have to get at least fifty dollars for it, like the last one.”

  “I know,” Cassie repeated.