PPS I hope Emily is okay. Now I feel a tiny bit bad about my meat sauce joke.
PPPS I’m FREAKING out! I can’t be here ALONE. What if the Kidnapper comes here? My mother told me not to leave the house, but she didn’t tell me I couldn’t have anyone over.
HENRY
SCENE: Phone call between Kayley and Henry. When phone rings, Henry is vegging on his bed.
HENRY: (answers phone) Hello?
KAYLEY: Hi. It’s Kayley the Jerk.
HENRY: (sits up) Apology accepted.
KAYLEY: That wasn’t an apology. It was me trying to be funny.
HENRY: Oh, I get it. Hey—that is funny!
KAYLEY: Enough small talk. Something serious is going on and I need your help. Can you get over to my house?
HENRY: How serious?
KAYLEY: Life-and-death serious.
HENRY: I’m there.
BLAKE
AVIVA
Date: December 9
I knew I had to confess once Kayley called me to say that her mom was on her way over. So I crept back downstairs, where Ima was still trying to calm Mrs. Thompson down. She’d made her a cup of hot tea and was helping her think things through…asking if maybe Emily’s dad was in town, or if maybe Emily could have made a stop on the way to my house? Ima shot me a look too, and I knew that was because she didn’t know Emily was coming over. I’d done that before, invited Emily without checking with Ima. But this time I hadn’t invited her at all!
This seemed like a good place for me to confess, so in a teeny-tiny, about-to-cry voice, I told Mrs. Thompson that Emily and I didn’t actually have plans today. Her face turned so red that I worried she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Ima jumped in and said maybe Mrs. Thompson misheard Emily, maybe she was spending the night at another friend’s. This seemed to calm Mrs. Thompson a bit. But then Kayley’s mother got here and started grilling me about Tattoo Man, and the questions kept flying at me from all directions, and I burst into tears.
We called everyone from our class to try to track Emily down. Funny, we got ahold of everyone except for five people. And three of them were Emily’s teammates. Kai’s mom said he went camping with a friend from Boy Scouts. Cecilia doesn’t seem to have a phone. Sharon’s mom said she was staying with a cousin but then called back ten minutes later, wondering if Sharon and Emily might be together. Apparently, Sharon wasn’t where she was supposed to be either.
Could the whole table group be together?
HENRY
SCENE: Kayley’s place, eating soft cheese and kiwi, trying to figure out where Emily might have gone.
HENRY: Your snacks are almost as weird as mine.
KAYLEY: Yeah. I know. Chips are forbidden in my house.
HENRY: The agony! A house without shrimp chips.
BLAKE: Say what? Shrimp chips?
HENRY: Yep. Some of my snacks are deceiving. You can’t tell what they’re made of just by looking at them. Upon first glance, they appear to be run-of-the-mill packaged foods, but they’ve got a fishy twist. Shrimp-flavored chips, jerky made of cuttlefish…instead of meatballs, we’ve got fish balls. You get the gist.
KAYLEY: Maybe I should bring out the caviar.
HENRY: If this wasn’t such a rotten situation, I’d tell you that’s funny.
KAYLEY: If this wasn’t such a rotten situation, I’d tell you thank you.
BLAKE: (drinks a seltzer with a beet-red face)
KAYLEY: Blake, how far did you walk to get here? Your face looks like a tomato.
BLAKE: Far.
KAYLEY: I’ll have my mother drive you both home when we’re done.
HENRY: Sure.
BLAKE: No thanks. I’m okay.
HENRY: I think that’s the Jerk’s way of saying she’s sorry that she’s such a jerk.
KAYLEY: Hey!
BLAKE
EMILY
Status:
Dear Hope,
Change of plans.
We left Sacred Heart. The shelter line snaked around the building and down the street. After a while, people started walking away, grumbling that it was full and how dare it be full, and where was the government funding, and there better be good spots left under the bridge.
Kai said, “They don’t have enough room. Should we call it off?”
Sharon dropped her sleeping bag to the ground. “We could.” She looked like she wanted to say something else but wasn’t sure how. “I guess we already know one thing homeless people need—and that’s more room at the shelter. Or maybe more shelters?”
But it’s not like any of us can build a new shelter.
So then Sharon said maybe we should check out that place under the bridge. “Just to see if we can learn more about what they need. There might be something we can actually help with. This is our chance to do something real. We can’t give up now, can we?”
I guess not.
Love and luck,
Emily
PS Kai keeps looking at Cecilia. I might be wrong, but I think he likes her likes her.
PPS Nobody knows this, but I brought a knife. A super-sharp one Mom uses to slice vegetables. I’ve got it wrapped up in a towel in my backpack.
KAI
Hey, Frog!
This is intense. We’re all hunkered down under a bridge. Cecilia keeps fiddling with the cross around her neck, and I wonder if she’s nervous. My feet are freezing.
So no joke—it’s pretty creepy down here.
Like, really creepy.
I’m the only guy in our group. In books and movies the guys always protect the girls and I think that’s what I’m supposed to do now, but this is serious stuff. We’re alone in the dark in the city under a bridge.
My radar’s going off.
Like time to jam. Let’s get moving.
I always hear Mom tell my big brother, Thomas, that if he gets stuck somewhere, he should call. No matter how late, and no matter why. That we take no chances. We can’t climb in other people’s brains and know what they’re thinking; we’ve got to be smarter than the situations we’re placed in. If I can get my hands on a phone, maybe I can call Mom? She’d pick us up. Or call Thomas? He’d know what to do.
SHARON
I’m freezing.
I never before realized
How much I like to be warm.
And clean.
Clean clothes. Clean bed.
Clean skin. Clean hair.
Nothing about the bridge is clean.
I feel dirty and itchy from the moment we arrive.
Maybe it’s the way
Eyes stick to us
Like flies on flypaper.
All of a sudden I realize
This is the kind of thing my mom would call
A Bad Idea.
The kind of thing parents warn us about
And protect us from.
But our parents can’t protect us now.
They don’t even know we’re here.
No one knows we’re here.
CECILIA
Hola Abuelita,
I didn’t want to come in the first place! That’s why I suggested the vote. Why didn’t my feet listen to my brain? And I’m so cold. My toes and fingertips are the worst.
Now I think everyone else is realizing the same thing. I can tell by the way Emily’s biting her nails, Sharon’s eyes are wide, and Kai’s edging closer and closer to us. There’s a man who keeps looking at us. He’s got long stringy hair and tattoos everywhere. Now he’s talking to some other grungy men. He’s pointing at us and shaking his head. Why is he watching us? What is he saying about us?
I’ve got that want-to-cry feeling, where my throat is tight and my nose aches. I’m not sure I can hold it back. I reach for Emily�
��s hand and try to remind myself that I’m not alone.
WORDS TO PRACTICE
No words today. You’ll never see this letter.
Besos y abrazos,
Cecilia
KAI
Hey, Frog!
It’s so cold my bones hurt and the tip of my nose feels like it might chip off like a piece of ice. The girls are scared, I can tell—even Sharon, and I’ve never seen her scared before.
I just wish that man would stop looking at us.
I’ve got to do something.
We’ve got to go. NOW.
AVIVA
Date: December 9
Dear G-d,
If Emily’s okay, I promise never to complain about chores.
If she’s okay, I’ll confess to her the truth about the cheese pizza.
If she’s okay, I’ll be a better friend, I promise.
Please!
KAYLEY
Dear Ms. Graham,
Things are pretty Bad. No one knows where Emily is. My mother came to pick me up, and Blake and Henry too. Now we’re all sitting in Aviva’s living room, trying to eat Greek pizza. The feta and spinach are making me want to hurl, because I can’t stop thinking about how I told Emily there was meat in the school pizza sauce. And now she might be kidnapped for real.
The cops are trying to track down Emily, Kai, Sharon, and Cecilia. They think maybe they’re all together, especially since it looks like Emily lied to her mom in the first place tonight. I know I haven’t spent much time with Emily this school year, but I have known her since kindergarten. She’s never been a liar before.
AVIVA
Date: December 9
This is all my fault. I should have told about Tattoo Man right away. Ima gave me a big old lecture and started crying, because I’d been asking her to drive me to school and she’d been saying no, but of course if she’d known she’d have dropped-everything-to-take-me.
And don’t I know how-important-safety-is, and haven’t I been listening to them, and all-that-fuss about private school when this is exactly why I need one, because I’m clearly incapable of making safe decisions. She got really mad then, and shook her finger in my face, and yelled about me not speaking up.
I think I shrank to nothingness right there on the spot. And then I cried so hard my brain felt like it might explode.
Kayley put her arm around me, all protective, and she smelled like bubble gum, and asked me to come with her to drop Blake and Henry at home. I said yes because I didn’t want Ima to keep yelling at me.
At first Ima said I was grounded and couldn’t go with Kayley. But then she changed her mind, saying she should keep Emily’s mom company until there was some news. Kayley’s mother promised she’d watch us like hawks.
Kayley called shotgun, so I sat squished in the backseat between the two boys until we dropped Blake off. I had that hiccupy crying that doesn’t stop and I felt awful.
HENRY
Today felt like a movie. I couldn’t get any of this down until I got home tonight. My brain is still Hula-Hooping around inside my skull—it was THAT kind of day.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
SCENE: Squashed in the back of a red Corvette. Written by the up-and-coming director Henry (who will someday make millions so that he can buy ten Corvettes).
KAYLEY: Aviva, stop crying. It’s going to be okay.
AVIVA: (sniffles)
KAYLEY: Seriously. They’re probably all together. They probably snuck off to a movie or something. It’s the most logical explanation.
AVIVA: (sniffles)
KAYLEY: Stop crying! Can someone distract her or something? Henry, what good are your jokes if you can’t whip them out at the right time?
HENRY: Oh. So I was thinking this was a bad time for jokes.
KAYLEY: It’s a horrible time for jokes, but tell one anyway.
HENRY: Oh good, because I’ve been dying to say this but I thought it would be bad timing. So Mrs. Barrette, about this car…I’m turning sixteen in less than six years. By that time, this Corvette will be a shabby old thing. It’d make a great birthday present. Hint-hint.
KAYLEY: (sarcastic) Very funny.
HENRY: What? You told me to. Plus this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. You can’t blame me for trying.
BLAKE: Uh…you can just drop me here at the park.
MRS. BARRETTE: Blake—there’s a child missing out there. No way! I’m walking you right to your front door.
BLAKE: Uh. It’s the next left. Number 872.
KAYLEY: Maybe we can walk him up?
MRS. BARRETTE: (pulls over) If you all go together, that’s fine.
HENRY: (climbs out of car) Now we can stalk you, Blake. We know where you live.
AVIVA: (trying to talk while crying) Henry—today—is not—a good day—for that kind—of joke.
HENRY: Oops. Sorry. My bad.
BLAKE: (leads group around the side to garage door, looks uncomfortable) Thanks, guys. Aviva, don’t worry. They’ll find her.
KAYLEY: We have to wait until you get in. Mother’s orders.
BLAKE: (unlocks door, then opens it a crack to slip in)
KAYLEY: (pushes door open, revealing that the garage has been converted into an apartment)
EVERYONE: (silent)
BLAKE: This is just for a little while. We’re getting another place soon.
KAYLEY: No—it’s cute. You all did a great job fixing it up. It looks like a college dorm.
KITTEN: Meow.
BLAKE: (scoops up kitten) This is my newest roommate. She keeps me company.
HENRY: (backs up) Achoo! I’m allergic to cats. That’s my cue to leave.
KAYLEY: Funny coincidence. I’m allergic too. Only I’m allergic to YOU!
HENRY: (talks to Blake while backing up out of the room) Is it just me, or is she getting funnier? Achoo!
KAYLEY
Dear Ms. Graham,
I was so curious about why Blake kept trying to get my mother to drop him off somewhere else. That’s why I volunteered to walk him up. Of course I had no idea that he lives in a GARAGE!!!!! Like the place you park extra cars. I have never heard of something like this in my whole life. Doesn’t it get cold? Is it even safe? Did you know this, Ms. Graham?
They have it set up pretty nice, but it’s still a garage! What happens if he has to pee at night? Does he go in the regular house? Or in the bushes outside? Or walk down to the convenience store? And what about showers? I’m way too polite to ask any of those questions.
I know I am going to remember this night Forever. Only I really hope I remember it because it was a great big adventure and we find Emily and she’s okay…not because…of something terrible.
KAI
Dear Frog,
We’re all sitting in a square room. We are not free to leave. Yeah. I just said that. Every time I think about what Mom and Dad are going to say when they get this call…I want to disappear.
I’m writing in my journal, trying not to stress. Let me tell you what happened. So back at the bridge, I got the girls to agree this was a BAD idea, and we needed to GO. We packed up real quick and started walking back to the shelter. Sharon dug in the bottom of her backpack to pull out a cell phone. I screeched, “Cell phone? You had a cell phone this whole time?”
And she snapped, “I’m not stupid enough to pull it out in front of everyone. It’d get stolen!” Then she started looking for a taxi service. We had less than ten dollars even if we pooled our money together, but Sharon promised her grandma would pay for the cab…if we took one to her house. Sharon said, “I got us into this mess, and I’ll get us out!”
But then all of a sudden, that creepy dude with tattoos blocked our path. “Where’re you going?” and “You gotta stay here!”
>
Emily and Cecilia turned on the tears right away, and Sharon stood real tall like you would if you came face-to-face with a bear in the woods. She told him to STAY AWAY from us in this booming-loud voice. I stood tall too, and stepped in front of the girls. I tried to think fast but I felt scrambled, all the advice my parents have given me over the years playing in my head.
But then Emily pulled out this knife. And it was a KNIFE. Like this huge gleaming blade that looked like it could gut the guy in seconds, and that did the trick. He backed up two steps and kept saying, “Stay here, kids. You gotta stay here.”
All of a sudden these bright lights blinded us and it was the cops. And I thought, “Here we go. What’re the police gonna think we’re doing down here? And with Emily holding a knife?” I remembered the talk my parents gave me about snap judgments. I kept totally quiet and still and made sure to keep my hands in clear sight at all times. The cops made Emily drop the knife and Cecilia was wailing like someone died and we had to stay super-still until they decided we weren’t criminals and wrapped us in blankets and sat us down to talk.
I guess that dude with the tattoos called the cops himself. He recognized us from our neighborhood, and he was worried about us being in such a dangerous place by ourselves. He wasn’t a bad guy after all, just an ex-soldier who’d been living out of his car with his dog for a while. I guess we assumed what kind of guy he is based on how he looked.
I can still hardly catch my breath, and my brain is spinning, trying to figure out what’s next.
SHARON
When the cops came,
All tough and gruff
And looking uncomfortable in their too-tight uniforms,
They strapped us in the backseats of their cruisers
Like true criminals.
Kai and Emily in one car,
Me and Cecilia in the other.
Now we’re trapped in one of those rooms
With the double-sided mirrors.
I wonder, for a moment,
Whether it is a crime
To impersonate a homeless person.
Operation Frog Effect Page 9