The moment had arrived. Sam and Hailey were picking up Sam’s lunch from the office. Preeti was at the back table painting the scutes on her sturgeon, which was almost ready to join Martha and Chance’s in the hall. Chance was back there too, but that was all right.
Martha put a hand on her hip. The purple and gray skirt was just right. She was pretty sure no one could see where she had washed baby spit-up off her shirt.
The walk to that table seemed long. Then came the moment when she stood over Preeti, lips and tongue frozen, while Preeti gazed up at her. That seemed longer. At last, Martha spoke. “So, my mom had her baby,” she said, letting out her breath in a long slow stream along with the words.
Preeti blinked. “She did?” she said.
“Yeah,” Martha went on, “it’s a girl. I have a baby 163 sister.”
“Hmmm,” Preeti said.
The announcement didn’t seem to be enough. Martha squirmed. The classroom door opened, and Sam and Hailey burst into the room. Martha almost bolted for her desk.
Almost, but not quite. She breathed deeply as the two other girls approached. A second deep breath, and she was able to form the words. “I’m sorry I was so rude to you that day,” she said. “That was the day my mom found out she was pregnant.” She paused and looked at them, desperate. “Anyway, I shouldn’t have acted like that.”
“It was weird,” Hailey said.
“And mean,” Sam added.
Silence fell.
On the other side of the table, Chance smiled as he cut another round brown sturgeon egg out of construction paper.
“What’s your sister’s name?” Preeti asked.
“Adrienne,” Martha replied. “My sister’s name is Adrienne.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my friend and editor, Sarah Harvey, for all her guidance, especially her assistance with my prickly character, Martha. And thanks to Teresa Bubela, for making this book so beautiful, and to everyone else at Orca for all that you do.
Maggie de Vries is the author of seven books for children, including the picturebooks Tale of a Great White Fish: a Sturgeon Story and Fraser Bear: a Cub’s Life, and the prequel to this story, Chance and the Butterfly. She lives in Vancouver on the banks of the Fraser River, and in recent years has grown increasingly fascinated by the fish that swim in the river and the birds that fly above it. Maggie also teaches creative writing at UBC and UNBC, travels regularly to lead writing workshops with children and teachers, and occasionally edits children’s books.
Somebody's Girl (Orca Young Readers) Page 10