Love Double Dutch!

by Doreen Spicer-Dannelly

  Two weeks keeps ringing in my head! It was hard enough teaching Melissa and Sally compulsory. Now a whole routine in two weeks!

  “Kayla, we can’t come up with a routine in two weeks,” Sally practically cries. “What are we gonna do?”

  “We can’t quit,” I say. “Quitters are losers.”

  “I’m no loser!” Melissa exclaims.

  “Let’s rock!” Tina adds. Sally takes a big breath as I grab her hand.

  “Come on,” I encourage them. “We’ve got work to do!”

  It’s a week before the regional competitions and we’re still at the camp practicing. Every morning I look around to see if I can spot Charlie, but I don’t. I begin to think he left or maybe I just keep missing him. Then again, Sally and I have been so focused that all we do is head straight to the gym and hit the floor with Tina and Melissa. We’re learning our strengths and weaknesses. Melissa is an awkward jumper, but now she’s a strong turner. Tina is, well, she’s rhythmic but still jumps with her earbuds. I guess since she lives with younger siblings, she might be in the habit of tuning people out like I do at my house just so I can do homework. Or maybe it’s her way of getting focused. Whatever the reason, the earbuds or anything that could catch the ropes makes me nervous. She’s got to be able to hear us when she’s jumping. I don’t know how, but we’re going to have to get her to jump without them. Either way, Tina’s cool and she’s doing really good.

  We’re going over some of the simpler tricks, like pop-ups, push-up jumps, cartwheel entries, and hopefully a flip if we can even try it. Demonstrating to Melissa and Tina isn’t hard; it’s getting them to not be afraid to get hit by the ropes, which happens a lot, that is. One thing is for sure: we’re not getting much attention from the coaches, especially Kirsten. We’ll get a “Keep it up, girls!” from one or two of them, but that’s it. They’re not hounding us like Ms. Jackson and her crew back in Brooklyn would, but some help would be great. I think the coaches are putting all their hopes on the Belles. Well, we’ll see about that.

  But the only way we’re going to beat those double Dutch divas, the Belles, is if we put together a crazy freestyle routine that no one can touch. And if it takes all weekend to start putting something together…Hmm…I don’t know. And as much as I hate to admit it, the Belles are really good. But there’s no time for doubt; we have to just get to it. Right when I think we can finally move on, the counselors call us together after lunch.

  “Okay, everybody!” A redheaded counselor runs through the gym doors and shouts into a bullhorn. “Today we’re giving you guys a break.” Really? We can’t stop now! A nerdy guy counselor takes the stage and looks around at everyone.

  “In the words of Muhammad Ali,” he says, “ ‘I hated every minute of training, but I said, Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ ”

  “But no rest is worth anything except the rest that is earned,” the redhead adds. “And you guys have worked hard and earned a day of fun!”

  “So for the rest of the day…wait for it, wait for it,” the nerdy counselor jokes. “You guys will have arts and crafts!”

  Everyone looks around and chuckles at each other like, What? Seriously? Do we look like babies to them? We don’t have time for arts and crafts. We’ve got a double Dutch routine we have to put together. While everyone clamors over the counselors’ orders, I get an idea.

  “Hey, guys,” I say as I stand and face Sally, Tina, and Melissa. “Why don’t we leave and practice at Sally’s?” They give me this look like I’ve gotten on their last nerve.

  “Slave-drive much?” groans Tina.

  I guess they’re right. Maybe the time off will be good for everybody who’s ready, but we aren’t. I sulk as our coaches gather the double Dutch teams to follow the other teams across the courtyard into the cafeteria. Sally nudges me.

  “Look!” Sally directs her focus to the other side of the courtyard. It’s Charlie! He’s back! I haven’t seen him since our football game in the park. Where has he been? Was he sick? Was he hiding from me? Was I stalking much? Oh my God! He catches me staring. I look around toward the sky like a bee is buzzing near me. I swat imaginary bees. Okay, it’s a stupid thing to do, but I have to play it off. I glance again to see if he saw my terrible acting. He did. But he’s smiling. Is he laughing at me or was that a smile smile? And now there it goes again. My heart is fluttering. What is that? I have to get a grip. He’s just a boy! A really cute one, but just be cool. Maybe arts and crafts is exactly what I need to calm down these darn butterflies in my stomach.

  “I told you he likes you.” Sally smirks. I can’t help but let this stupid grin grow on my face. Me? I never knew boys like him really existed, or maybe I just wasn’t that interested until now. Melissa and Tina have been watching the whole thing.

  “Kayla’s got a crush,” teases Melissa. “Kayla’s got a cru-ush.”

  “Kayla’s got a cru-ush,” Tina chimes in. Now it’s a song. Ugh! Is this necessary? Sally crosses her arms as if something is bothering her.

  The counselors order us into lines like we are first graders, then lead us to the cafeteria. Crepe paper, construction paper, streamers, markers, chalk, every watercolor you can think of, crayons, glue, even feathers and other stuff, is on every long lunch table. It looks like a preschool threw up in there, but in a nice way, and judging by the cheers and excitement, everyone is suddenly okay being a kid again.

  “All right,” the redhead announces. “Sit wherever you like, and enjoy!”

  Music blares through the speakers and we dig into all the fun stuff awaiting us. I don’t know if he did this on purpose, but Charlie and his skateboard-football friends sit directly across the table from us. Sally and Melissa look at me like they smell something fishy. Tina couldn’t care less. She’s already busy making stick figures with fuzzy wire. Melissa clears her throat and leans over to me and Sally.

  “There’s something up their sleeve,” she whispers, then gives one of the smaller boys an evil eye. He looks around nervously.

  “Maybe we should move somewhere else,” suggests Sally loudly.

  “Don’t go,” Charlie says. “We don’t bite. Right, Tommy?”

  “But somebody on your team does.” Tommy grimaces. “See, I have teeth marks right here.” He lifts his arm. Melissa smirks.

  “You should get that checked,” a short kid with glasses says as he examines Tommy’s arm.

  “Knock it off, Tim!” barks Tommy. Tim flinches as Sally covers her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

  “We were here first,” I say, staring right into Charlie’s eyes. “So we’re definitely staying.” I don’t know if I’m accepting another challenge or learning to tame the butterflies in my stomach. Either way, I feel challenged.

  “Okay then,” Sally says as she bashfully looks away from Charlie. “Let’s make art, shall we?” If I didn’t know any better, I would think my cousin had a crush on Charlie too. It’s just that way she looks at him. Hmm.

  Without taking our eyes off one another, we each grab a utensil of our choice: a marker, paintbrush, crayon, paper, watercolors, a small cup of water, whatever we want. I try to concentrate, but I am curious to see what Charlie is drawing. He scoots around as if I’m cheating off his test. I turn my attention back to my work. It’s quiet for a while, but the tension seems so loud. It’s like I am talking to Charlie, but without saying a word. He seems so confident. Maybe that’s why I like him. There, I admit it. I like Charlie!

  “Look what I’m drawing,” Tommy says as he holds up his artwork. “It’s a sketch of the woman who bit me. I’m going to take it to the police.” The picture is an exaggeration of a girl with a big mouth and teeth biting the arm of a smaller boy with a football in his hand. The messy drawing oddly resembles Melissa. We all laugh.

  “I think he just called you a woman,” Tina whispers to Meliss
a.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Melissa grimaces. “I am no woman.”

  “He’s flirting with you, stupid!” Tina smacks her forehead in disbelief. Melissa has an uncomfortable look on her face like she’s holding in a fart or something. I guess no one’s ever flirted with her, and she doesn’t know what to do with the information.

  “Well, look what I painted,” I interrupt. It’s a watercolor of a football. “Oh, but I’m not done yet. I’m going to fill in the lines with pink glitter because my cousin made the touchdown and she deserves a trophy. Don’t you think it’s nice?” Sarcastically, I look at my friends. They all agree. They like it and nod.

  “I made a flower,” Tim says as he looks at Sally bashfully. Charlie and Tommy are embarrassed for him. Sally gives him her infamous Seriously? look.

  Tina hands a blue fuzzy wire flower to the kid she dusted at the park. “I’m sorry I tricked you the other day, but next time don’t be such a sucker.”

  “Uh, okay?” The boy doesn’t know what to think of the backhanded gesture, but he takes the flower anyway. Tina turns quickly, whipping her ponytail in his face. His cheeks turn beet red. Looks like he’s got a crush on Tina.

  “Well, I’m going to need more water for my masterpiece,” Charlie says, which piques my interest. What is he making? “Come on, Tommy. I’m going to need your help.” They grab cups from the table and leave. Sally and I look at each other and shrug. I have no idea what he’s up to, so I get back to my glitter and glue.

  Melissa leans over again. “I know they’re up to something.” She looks at Tim, who acts like he’s not listening. He glances up at someone behind us, and before we can turn around, water is pouring down our backs.

  Oh my gosh! I can’t believe he did that!

  Of course I grab the cup I’ve been cleaning my paintbrush in and hold it for a second while I think.

  “I dare ya,” taunts Charlie.

  I think for a moment….Should I? Yes!

  I toss the water, but he ducks and it hits some random boy in the back of the head. When the boy turns around, I point to Charlie. By this time the whole camp is watching. Well, everyone except the counselors, who’ve left us unsupervised for no apparent reason. The tall boy rises slowly and grabs a roll of red streamer, then squeezes glue onto the outside of it. As if in slow motion, he throws it and we both duck. The gluey streamer hits a girl with long blond hair and sticks to her forehead while the roll falls to the ground. She looks like she’s bleeding red streamer. She is flabbergasted! Within two seconds, the room erupts into all-out warfare with art supplies. I smash Charlie in the face with glue and feathers. He smears pink paint all over my face. He touched my face! There’s so much stuff flying everywhere it is hard to see. Suddenly a long whistle sounds. Uh-oh!

  * * *

  —

  Luckily it’s the end of the day, and thankfully Sally and I rode bikes this time. Uncle Larry would never let us in the backseat of his car unless he was able to somehow hose us down. We look like we’ve just been in a food fight, only more sparkly, with paint and feathers glued in our hair like we’re punk rockers.

  “Well, I’m glad no one told on us,” says Tina as feathers fly out of her mouth.

  “Yeah, we would’ve been in a crapload of trouble if they called our parents,” Melissa agrees.

  I’m happy too, especially because I saw Charlie again. If he likes me, he sure is showing it in the weird way my dad warned me about. He might be confident, but not confident enough to say what he’s feeling. Boys!

  “Kayla!” Sally yells at me. “Are you still in a daze over Charlie? ’Cause we have to figure out what we’re going to do about double Dutch practice.” Right! How could I forget?

  “Um, yeah.” I’m back. “No, I am thinking about the competition.” Freestyle! I freak out in my head because I don’t want to freak out in front of them. “We have to figure out our freestyle. Let’s start bright and early tomorrow. We’ll have to choreograph a perfect and flawless routine.”

  “I’ll say,” Tina chimes in. “Those Belles left after they announced we were going to ‘relax and do art.’ ”

  “They probably snuck out way before that,” Melissa adds. “ ’Cause I sure was looking to give the little double Dutch divas a fistful of feathers.”

  “That means they are really going to bring it,” confirms Sally.

  “Well, we’ll have to work even harder,” I say, determined. “I didn’t come this far to lose to some country bumpkins. No offense.”

  “None taken,” the three of them respond.

  “Okay. Tomorrow. Seven a.m., Sally’s,” I say. I put my hand out. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging.” They look at my sticky, feathered, glittery hand for a moment, then one by one they throw in their equally messed-up hands. “Bring it, on three. One-two-three!”

  “Bring it!” We all reach our hands up as feathers fly everywhere; we swat them away and laugh. Things may be funny now, but the pressure is on. We’ve got to have a good practice or we’re doomed.

  The next morning, Melissa and Tina show up to work on our routine, but for the first two hours we get compulsory down to a science. This time Melissa and I turn first while Sally and Tina jump, then we switch. We want to make sure this doesn’t mess up our chances to compete in speed and freestyle. Hopefully we get that far. So it’s better to be safe than sorry and make sure we can do compulsory with perfection. A thousand times, done and done. But after that, we can’t seem to get anything right. Ugh! This is not working AT ALL! Compulsory is one thing, but freestyle is a whole other beast. In order for us to even be competitive, we have to show our skills by doing tricks, or whatever else we can to wow the crowd, within the ropes for one minute. And on top of that, we have to do it flawlessly. No mistakes, no stopping the ropes, and we have to look good. Right now we look horrible.

  “No!” I yell at Tina as I almost pull my braids out. “You have to wait until I exit the rope, then you come in.”

  “Okay, I’m sorry. I got confused,” Tina sighs. “I thought you said jump in behind you and then you’ll exit.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “I mean, it’s good that you’re trying, but we’re really not getting anywhere.”

  “Can we take a break?” Melissa asks. “My arms are tired.”

  “We’re never going to win,” says Sally. “The Belles are going to beat us. I know it!”

  “Please! Stop being so negative!” I say with frustration in my voice. “It’s bad enough we’re having a hard time. Being negative doesn’t help.”

  “I’m just saying, we’ve been practicing all morning and we can’t get one thing right,” continues Sally.

  Ugh! Ugh! And ugh! She can really kill a spirit good and dead. I stare at her in disgust and turn away. That’s just the type of attitude that stops everything. Unfortunately this is one thing about my cousin I’ve noticed since we were little. When she’s having fun, things are great, but when things don’t go the way she hopes, she hops on the negative train all the way to Miseryville. I hope she’ll grow out of that. I heard my dad say one time that “being negative never won a championship.” And right now I completely understand what he means.

  In seconds there’s a car in the driveway. It’s my cousin Marc, Sally’s older brother.

  “Hey, what y’all doing out here in the hot sun?” Marc yells from the car window as he pulls up. “Hey now, is that my li’l cuz MaKayla from BK, New York City?” I wave to him with a giggle. I haven’t seen him since I was seven. I almost forgot how he looked, but he’s definitely taller and has a lot more muscles. “Ladies,” he says to Tina and Melissa. “Hey, sista Sally from the valley.” Sally rolls her eyes at her silly brother. Marc seems so cool and upbeat all the time. Like he never has a bad day and always finds something to laugh about. He hops out of the car and rushes to the other side to open the door.
A girl gets out—his girlfriend, I assume.

  “Everyone, this is Gabriella,” Marc says proudly as he carefully watches every move of her skirt. It’s obvious. He’s in love. Gabriella glances over at us like we’re germs but waves politely. Maybe she’s just one of those stuck-up college girls who forgot what it’s like to be a kid.

  Marc runs over to Sally and gives her a big bear hug, which obviously makes her uncomfortable. “Put me down!” Sally fights his affection. “You smell like a whole bottle of cologne!”

  “Is that right? Well, the grown ladies love it,” he kids. Then he turns to me.

  “Kayla, girl.” Marc stares at me with a smile. “Look at you. You’re just as pretty as Aunt Sarah! Come here and give me a hug.” Really! That’s the same thing my aunt said. Maybe they mean it and it’s true…or is it just more Southern hospitality?

  Suddenly my little cousins Michael and Eddie burst through the door, followed by Cameron. They jump on Marc, toppling him to the lawn. Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Larry appear soon after like a welcoming committee. Uncle Larry greets his son as if he hasn’t seen him since forever, and Aunt Jeanie gives the girlfriend a stiff smile. It’s hard for Aunt Jeanie to fake her feelings. But maybe she just doesn’t know much about the girl and doesn’t trust that Gabriella’s not going to break her firstborn’s heart. I’ve seen it all too many times in the movies.

  Marc and his girlfriend head inside as we try to pick up where we left off.

  “Why don’t we just admit it: we’re not going to win,” Sally insists. And we’re back to negative again.