It's a Baby, Andy Russell

by David A. Adler

  Andy told Jake the telephone number he was calling.

  “Oh no! I switched the 2 and the 3 and then kept pressing Redial. Thank you so much.”

  Andy sat on one of the kitchen chairs and smiled.

  I bet Carol has been waiting for Jake’s call, he thought.

  Tamika and Rachel were still standing by the answering machine.

  Tamika listened to her mother’s message again and Andy thought about the first time he met her. He was in the second grade. Tamika and her parents had just moved into a house nearby and Tamika transferred to Andy’s school. Andy was struggling with reading and Tamika helped him.

  A year later, in third grade, Mr. Harris, the principal, came into class with the horrible news about her parents’ car accident.

  Andy remembered the many things they had done together, especially the visit to Aunt Mandy’s. As soon as we walked up to her building, Andy remembered, a hamster fell out of the sky. And it had a parachute!

  Andy really liked having his best friend living in his house. They had so much fun together. She even helped him study. Andy often forgot to bring a book or an assignment home, but Tamika never forgot things in school.

  Andy went upstairs. Things are happening so fast, he thought as he got out of his clothes and threw them in the hamper. Mom and Evan are coming home tomorrow and Tamika is leaving. Andy sat on his bed, by the window, and watched for his dad.

  He heard Aunt Janet go to the hamper and take the clothes out. He was glad his door was closed. Whenever she saw him, it meant trouble.

  Andy looked at the clock by his bed. It was already past ten. He was tired, but determined to stay up and speak to his father about his pets before Aunt Janet did.

  He looked at his book bag. He hadn’t done his homework. He hoped his dad would write a note to his teacher, Ms. Roman. She couldn’t expect someone who just had a baby brother to do his homework, could she?

  Andy put his pillow against the wall. He stretched out on his bed with his head on the pillow and looked out the window. It was dark outside and boring.

  This is like watching a television that’s not turned on, Andy thought.

  He was falling asleep.

  “Andrew!”

  Andy sat up.

  “ANDREW!”

  It was Aunt Janet.

  What did I do now? Andy wondered.

  Chapter 13

  Egg, String Beans, Peas, and Lint

  Andy hurried off his bed and downstairs. Aunt Janet was in the laundry room. She held up Andy’s pants and asked, “Are these yours?”

  “Yes. I wore them today.”

  Aunt Janet walked into the kitchen. She put the pants on the table and said, “Please, reach in this pocket.”

  Oh no! Andy thought. He remembered what he had put in there.

  “Go on. Put your hand in.”

  Andy slowly put his hand in his pants pocket.

  “What’s in there?”

  “Egg.”

  “It’s the Vege-Eggs I made for dinner, isn’t it?”

  That’s one of those rhetorical questions, Andy thought, the kind you don’t answer. So he didn’t answer it.

  “You should have told me you didn’t like them and I would have made you something else.”

  Sure, Andy thought. Fish-Eggs, or Liver-Eggs, or Broccoli-Eggs.

  Aunt Janet said, “It’s not that you didn’t like my dinner that bothers me so much. It’s that you were afraid to tell me. I’m your aunt.”

  “But you think everything I do is wrong,” Andy protested. “You’re always angry at me.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aunt Janet said. “I really don’t. I haven’t been angry at you.”

  Andy just stood there. He didn’t know what to say.

  “I’m not even angry now.”

  “You’re not?”

  “You know,” Aunt Janet said, “you wouldn’t be the first one to tell me you didn’t like something I made. I once made eggplant-chicken pancakes for your dad. I served them with maple syrup. They were delicious, but your dad didn’t like them. He tasted the pancakes and then ate a bowl of cereal.”

  “Were you angry with him?”

  “No. And I’m not angry with you.”

  RRRRing!

  Andy picked up the telephone receiver.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello. This is Jake. You called me a while ago. You told me I dialed the wrong number and thanks to you I dialed the right number and spoke to Carol. And you know what?”

  “What?” Andy asked.

  “She was waiting for my call. She’s not angry with me.”

  “I’m glad,” Andy said.

  Carol was not angry with Jake, and Aunt Janet was not angry with him!

  Andy heard a key go into the front door lock. He quickly said good-bye to Jake and hurried to greet his father.

  Rachel and Tamika ran downstairs and Tamika told Mr. Russell about her mother’s call.

  “Mom and I are going home,” Tamika announced.

  “That’s great,” Mr. Russell said and hugged Tamika. “We’ll miss you, but still, we’re so happy for you, Tamika.”

  Then they all walked into the kitchen.

  “So many good things have happened today,” Mr. Russell said. “Evan was born. Mom feels fine. And now Tamika’s mom is going home from the rehabilitation center.”

  “How are you?” Aunt Janet asked Andy’s father. “Are you hungry?”

  “I’m so happy,” Mr. Russell said, “and yes, I’m hungry, too.”

  “Hey, look what’s on the table,” Rachel said and laughed. “You could eat what’s coming out of Andy’s pants pocket.”

  Mr. Russell turned and looked at the pants that were still on the table.

  “Eggs! Vegetables! How did eggs and vegetables get into your pockets?”

  “Well...,” Andy began.

  “It was my fault,” Aunt Janet said. “I didn’t ask the children what they wanted to eat. I just decided. And Andy was too polite, too nice, to tell me he didn’t like what I made.”

  “I was?” Andy said. “I was too nice?”

  “Yes,” Aunt Janet said and smiled. “You were.”

  Andy smiled and thought, So many good things did happen today. Evan was born. Tamika found out she will be going home. And Aunt Janet thinks I’m nice.

  “I’ll make you something,” Aunt Janet said to Mr. Russell. “What would you like?”

  Mr. Russell shook Andy’s pants. Some Vege-Eggs fell onto the table.

  “What is this? What did you make?” he asked Aunt Janet.

  “I told you about it when we spoke. It’s eggs, string beans, and peas. It’s Vege-Eggs.”

  Aunt Janet wiped the eggs off the table. She shook Andy’s pocket out over the sink. Then she took his pants into the laundry room.

  “Now,” she said, returning to Mr. Russell. “What should I make for you?”

  “Well,” Mr. Russell replied, “I don’t want Vege-Eggs and I don’t want eggplant-chicken pancakes. I think I’ll just have cereal.”

  “Oh, cereal again,” Aunt Janet said.

  Andy smiled.

  Aunt Janet looked at Andy.

  “You didn’t have any supper. Would you like some cereal, too?”

  Andy nodded.

  While Andy and his father ate, Andy talked about his pets.

  “Can I keep them?” he asked his father. “They don’t have germs and they won’t get loose.”

  “Of course you can keep them.”

  “I like the fish,” Aunt Janet said, “but not the gerbil.”

  “Andy doesn’t have one gerbil,” Mr. Russell explained. “He has about twenty of them.”

  Aunt Janet held her hand to her heart. “Twenty!” she cried and sat down. “That’s a lot.”

  “They’re not here,” Andy said. ‘They’re visiting the Perlmans.”

  “But the Perlmans are in South America!” Mr. Russell said.

  Andy told his father and Aunt
Janet all about Slither, the gerbils, and the Perlmans. He said he would bring them back to the basement.

  “And I know what I’ll do,” Aunt Janet said.

  “What?” Andy asked. “You can’t do anything to my pets. My dad said I could keep them.”

  “Why would I do anything to your pets? I’ll just stay out of the basement,” she said, smiling.

  Chapter 14

  Who’s Talking about High School?

  Bam! Bam!

  Andy opened his eyes.

  Bam! Bam!

  He sat up in bed and looked outside. It was still dark. He looked at the clock beside his bed. It was six o’clock.

  Bam! Bam!

  The noise was coming from Rachel’s room. Andy got out of bed and knocked on Rachel’s door.

  “Hey! What’s going on in there?”

  “I’m helping Tamika get her things together,” Rachel told Andy as she opened the door. “She wants to be ready when her mom and Aunt Mandy come.”

  Tamika’s suitcase was open on the floor. It was filled with her clothes. There was a pile of books on Rachel’s bed. Tamika was standing by the bookcase. She took a book out and asked Rachel, “Is this mine?”

  Rachel looked at it and replied, “Yes, that’s yours.”

  Tamika threw the book. Bam! It hit the wall beside Rachel’s bed and dropped onto the pile.

  “That’s what woke me up,” Andy said.

  “Do you want to help?” Tamika asked.

  “Sure.”

  Andy brought some shopping bags from the kitchen. He put Tamika’s books, radio, and other things in the bags. Then, while Andy and Rachel got ready for school, Tamika called her aunt Mandy.

  “She says they’ll be here when we get home from school,” Tamika told Andy and Rachel at breakfast.

  Andy filled his bowl with cereal.

  “I’m too excited to eat!” Tamika said.

  Andy was excited, too, but not too excited to eat. He had two full bowls of cereal.

  “It’s time to catch the bus,” Mr. Russell called. “And when you get home, Mom and Evan will be here.”

  “And my mom and Aunt Mandy,” Tamika added.

  “Yes, everyone will be here,” Mr. Russell said.

  Andy was the last one out of the house. When he got to the bus stop, Tamika had already told the Belmont sisters she was going home. And Rachel had told them about Evan.

  “It’s great news about you going home,” the bigger Belmont said. “But I’m not so sure about having another Russell boy on the block.”

  “Very funny,” Andy said.

  The school bus stopped and the door opened. The Belmonts got on first, followed by Rachel, Tamika, and Andy.

  Rachel and Tamika told Mr. Cole, the bus driver, their news.

  Andy sat next to his friend Bruce.

  Rachel, Tamika, and the Belmont girls sat down and Mr. Cole got up. He held up both his hands and the children in the bus stopped talking.

  “I have two happy announcements,” he said. Then he told everyone the good news. Mr. Cole started to clap. Soon everyone was clapping.

  “When I visit,” Bruce said, “we can all play together.”

  Andy told Bruce, “He’s a baby. We won’t be able to play with him for a long time. But we can start reading to him and telling him things now.”

  When they arrived at school Mr. Cole told Andy, “I’ll bet you’ll have lots of trouble paying attention in class today. You’ll be thinking about the baby.”

  “Yeah,” Andy said. “I’m sure I will.”

  I always have trouble paying attention.

  Mr. Harris, the principal, was standing in the front hall of the school.

  “Congratulations,” he told Andy. “I guess, pretty soon, your brother will be coming to this school.”

  “I don’t think so,” Andy said. “I think Evan will stay home for a few years.”

  Mr. Harris smiled.

  “Congratulations,” Andy’s teacher, Ms. Roman, said as he walked into class. “And I’m really happy for you, too,” she said to Tamika.

  “Hey,” Andy asked. “How does everyone know about the baby and Tamika’s mom?”

  “This morning your father called. He told us you both didn’t have a chance to do your homework last night. He also said you might be a little distracted today.”

  That means I don’t have to pay attention, Andy thought. Good old Dad.

  Andy sat in his seat, just behind Stacy Ann Jackson. She congratulated Andy, too.

  Andy copied the homework assignment from the chalkboard. Ms. Roman gave a geography lesson about rivers and lakes. Andy listened to the beginning of the lesson. Then he remembered what Ms. Roman had said, that she knew he might be distracted.

  She knows I might not be able to pay attention, so why should I?

  He looked at Tamika. Her notebook was open and she was listening to the lesson.

  What a waste, Andy thought. Why is she listening when Ms. Roman said she doesn’t have to?

  Andy knew that right now Evan was a baby, but still, he closed his eyes and dreamed about playing with him when he was older, showing him how much fun it is to watch the gerbils run through their tunnels, and teaching him to love animals. Andy dreamed through the geography, science, and math lessons. He dreamed until Stacy Ann told him it was time for lunch.

  Andy sat in the lunchroom with Tamika, Bruce, and Stacy Ann.

  “Are you hungry now?” he asked Tamika.

  “No, not really,” she said. “I’m still real excited.”

  Tamika opened the lunch bag Aunt Janet had packed for her.

  “But I’ll eat,” she said.

  Andy opened his lunch bag. He wondered what Aunt Janet gave him. He reached in and took out a note. Your dad said you like cream cheese sandwiches, pretzels, and apple juice. I hope he’s right. If not, you can buy something else.

  A dollar was taped to the note. The note and dollar were from Aunt Janet. Tamika had a note and dollar, too.

  While they ate, Andy talked about Evan, and Tamika talked about her parents. Then, with Aunt Janet’s two dollars, they bought cake and shared it with Bruce and Stacy Ann.

  In the afternoon, while the others in the class were reading, Andy looked at Tamika and thought about not having her in the house anymore. It almost seemed like he was trading Evan for Tamika.

  When the school day ended, and Andy was leaving, Ms. Roman said to him, “I’m sure you’re very excited about your brother. You probably didn’t get much sleep last night Well, you have the whole weekend to rest up. When you come back on Monday, I expect you to pay attention.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes,” Ms. Roman said and smiled. “I do.”

  On the bus ride home, Andy sat next to Bruce.

  “Yesterday,” Bruce said, “I was about to go out for the bus and Mom stopped me. Are you going out like that?’ she said. I didn’t know why she said that until I looked down. I had on my shirt, socks, and sneakers, but I was still wearing my pajama bottoms. ‘When are you going to grow up?’ she asked me.”

  “Really?” Andy asked.

  But right then, Andy wasn’t interested in Bruce’s problems. He was thinking about Evan.

  “When will I?” Bruce asked. “When will I grow up?”

  “I don’t know,” Andy answered. “I think it all happens slowly, a little at a time.”

  Someone should tell that to Mr. Harris, Andy thought. Evan won’t be here soon. By the time he’s in this school, I’ll be in high school.

  “Don’t worry,” he told Bruce. “It’s a long time before we’ll be in high school.”

  “High school! Who’s talking about high school?”

  Just then the bus stopped at Bruce’s block. “Bye,” he said and hurried off.

  Everyone is in a hurry to grow up, Andy thought. But I’m not. I’m happy being nine.

  Andy got off at the next stop. He saw his parents’ car in the driveway. That meant they were home from the hospital with Evan. There
were two other cars in front of the house, Aunt Janet’s and Aunt Mandy’s.

  Andy, Rachel, and Tamika crossed the street. The front door was open. Aunt Janet and Aunt Mandy were standing outside. Tamika’s mom was just inside. She was in a wheelchair.

  “Mom!” Tamika shouted and ran to her.

  Tamika and her mother hugged. There were tears in their eyes. Aunt Mandy stood beside them and smiled.

  Rachel and Andy were anxious to see Evan. They said hello to Tamika’s mom and aunt and then rushed upstairs. Then, halfway up the stairs, Andy stopped. “Mrs. Anderson,” he called out, “I’m glad you’re better.”

  “Thank you, Andy. I am, too,” Tamika’s mother said. “Now, go up and see your brother. He’s adorable.”

  Andy ran up the rest of the stairs.

  There was a crib next to Mrs. Russell’s bed. Evan would sleep in his parents’ room for a few months. Then he would move into Andy’s room and Andy would move upstairs.

  Andy’s mom waved to him. She wanted them to come in.

  They quietly walked into the room and looked in the crib. Evan was sleeping.

  “Isn’t he sweet,” Mrs. Russell whispered.

  Evan did look sweet.

  Andy looked at his brother, his tiny hands and fingers, his cute nose, and the dimple in his chin. He walked away from the crib and whispered to his mother, “He’s so small.”

  “Yes, he is,” Mrs. Russell said and smiled. “But soon he’ll be big, as big as you.”

  Soon! It won’t be soon, Andy thought. It will be a long time before Evan is as big as me.

  Aunt Janet walked by. She was carrying a laundry basket full of clean clothes to Rachel’s room.

  Tamika came upstairs. “I’m going now,” she whispered.

  Mrs. Russell kissed her and said, “Come back and visit.”

  Tamika hugged and kissed Mrs. Russell. “Thank you for being so nice to me,” she said.

  Andy and Rachel helped Tamika carry her things to Aunt Mandy’s car. Andy and Aunt Mandy pushed Mrs. Anderson’s wheelchair outside and helped her into the car.

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Anderson said and kissed Andy’s cheek. “I thanked your parents a few times for helping us, but I didn’t thank them enough. Please, tell them again how grateful I am.”