Ivy in the Shadows

by Chris Woodworth

  “LEGO pets don’t eat as much as real ones,” Caleb said, smiling.

  “We want real ones but my daddy is ’lergic.” JJ’s face scrunched up. “Hey, Mama, since Daddy’s not here, why can’t we have real pets now?”

  Mama fidgeted in her chair. “Well, as Caleb pointed out, real pets need food and care. It’s just not in our budget now.”

  Then she reached across and smoothed JJ’s hair from his forehead. “But one of these days we’ll have lots.”

  “Do you have pets, Caleb?” JJ asked.

  “No,” he said. “But I like them.”

  “Me, too, Caleb,” Mama said. “I’d have a dozen pets if I could. All kinds of creatures. They don’t harm you without good reason.”

  “Unlike some people,” Caleb said.

  Mama looked at him, her voice softening. “How are you being treated here in Hickory, Caleb?”

  “It’s a nice town. I feel fortunate to live here. Thank you, ma’am, for the delicious dinner,” Caleb said like a big suck-up. Then, “May I be excused?”

  “Of course!” Mama said, just the picture of cheerfulness. Caleb put his dirty dishes in the sink, which probably made her day.

  JJ set his dishes there, too, like it was something he always did, which left Mama glaring at me until I did the same.

  After the boys left the room, Mama scraped the rest of the soup down the garbage disposal. That did a little to lift my spirits because I didn’t want to have to eat thrown-together soup as leftovers.

  “I think tonight went pretty well,” she said when she finished. “Even if it didn’t go according to plan.”

  “I suppose,” I mumbled. “Hey, Mama, what did you think of Caleb’s folks?”

  “I thought they were very nice. I wasn’t expecting him to stay tonight, but I knew he would come in a day or two so it wasn’t really an inconvenience, just a surprise. Plus they gave me an extra hundred dollars! They must be very generous people.”

  “But a little odd, right? I mean, nobody just drops off their kid with strangers like that, do they?”

  “Odd? No, I wouldn’t say that. They were just in a hurry. Besides, we’re not strangers, Ivy! Pastor Harold recommended me.”

  “But he doesn’t know you that well, does he? I mean, we’ve only gone to church a few Sundays.”

  “It’s a small town. We’ve been to church there before. Remember just last Easter we went.”

  “Yeah, but wasn’t there a different pastor then?”

  Mama frowned. “Yes … I guess now that you mention it, he was an older man. Oh, well. The people there have seen us before, is what I’m trying to say. It’s not like we’ve never gone.”

  “It’s just that Caleb, he’s … a little different.” I knew how important it was to Mama that he stay, so I made sure to tread carefully.

  “Yes, he is. He’s so polite! I wish you had more friends like him.”

  Great.

  “Ivy, you were a big help to me today. You don’t have to help with the dishes, too. You run on.”

  “Really?”

  “Really, darlin’.”

  “Well, okay.” I wiped my hands on the dishtowel. I looked at Mama and saw fine lines on the skin beside her eyes, sort of like a spider’s legs. Those lines weren’t there the last time I really looked at her and it made me feel sad, so I said, “Mama, dinner was good. You really pulled off a miracle.”

  She laughed a little and said, “Thanks, baby.”

  I started up the stairs but didn’t want to face Caleb yet. I didn’t even want to hang out in my own bedroom with him on the same floor. I should have checked to see if the old lock on my door worked. Not that Caleb was dangerous. I mean, as scrawny as he was, I thought I could take him. I just didn’t like the idea that he might get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and accidentally come into my room.

  Then I remembered a time I had used my door lock. It was when Ellen and I were ten years old and started a secret club. Just us two. We used it then and it had worked.

  I thought of Ellen and sat down on the step as if the wind had been knocked out of me. I decided to call her. I promised myself that I wouldn’t mention Alexa and it would be like old times.

  I picked up the phone in the upstairs hall and, luckily, heard voices before I punched the numbers.

  “Oh, Maureen, you wouldn’t laugh if you’d been here. It was so awkward!”

  “What was awkward about it?”

  “I can’t put my finger on it, really. They just seem so odd.”

  “How much did they pay?”

  “Six hundred dollars! Five hundred per month was our agreed-upon price, then another one hundred for bringing him early.”

  “That should really help.”

  “You bet!” Mama laughed. “But it’s still not enough. It will keep us in food but I’ve got to get a job. Why won’t anyone hire me? I’ve run out of places to apply.”

  “No interviews, huh?” Aunt Maureen said.

  “Not a one.”

  “Well, you just go right on back to that church until someone feels sorry enough to hire you. Besides, you’ll take good care of Caleb and I’m sure the congregation will want to see that.”

  “Yes. And it’s not torture to go. Pastor Harold’s sermons have been a nice surprise. He talks to the entire church but you almost feel like he’s just talking to you,” Mama said. “So it’s not really that hard to swallow my pride and keep going until I get a job.”

  “Our plan’s worked so far, Cass. You’ve had your rent reduced and some money coming in.”

  I must have gasped. I mean, I heard the gasp but didn’t realize it came from my mouth until Mama said, “Wait a minute, Maureen. Kids! Are you on this telephone?”

  I gently hung up.

  “Ivy! JJ! Answer me!”

  I quietly made my way to my bedroom, where there’s no phone, so I wouldn’t have to answer her.

  Mama had flat-out lied to me. She did so think Caleb and his family were odd! And what’s more, she wasn’t trying to get on God’s good side by going to church. She was using those people and making us go with her! My insides hurt so much I slid the rusty lock on my door and went straight to bed.

  * * *

  The next morning was Saturday. I was jolted awake by a loud noise coming from JJ’s room. I’d slept so hard drool formed a little puddle on my arm, which was the grossest thing. I wiped it off with the dirty shirt I’d worn last night, threw on some clean clothes, and went storming down the hall.

  I could hear the “psshhhoo, pow!” sounds of JJ playing. I ducked just as a plastic rocket missed my head by inches.

  “Will you stop!” I yelled. “You’re driving me crazy!”

  JJ looked at me, his eyes blinking, then said, “Caleb! The monster is loose. Run for your life!” and dived under his blankets. Caleb didn’t move, just looked at his feet.

  “Don’t you two idiots know it’s only seven o’clock? Some people want to sleep in on Saturdays,” I yelled. I could see JJ moving beneath his covers. Caleb didn’t budge, which ticked me off to no end.

  “And you!” I yelled at him. “Keep it quiet, would you?”

  JJ’s head popped out. “No! We’re having fun. Just because you can’t have fun, Ivy, is no reason the rest of us can’t. Besides, Saturdays aren’t for sleeping in. They’re for dancing ’cause they’re music night! That’s what Daddy always said.”

  “Hush up! You’ll wake Mama.” Which had the desired effect. JJ didn’t want to be the one to wake Cass Henry.

  Caleb slunk past me and went into his room. I went back into mine, slammed my door, and pulled my blankets over my head.

  4

  By ten o’clock Mama had a big platter of pancakes in the center of the kitchen table and us all gathered around. JJ’s eyes were almost as big as the pancake he stabbed.

  “You’re sure you slept all right, Caleb?” Mama passed him the platter.

  “Yes, ma’am. It’s a nice room.”

  I si
ghed. He sure was working on winning Mama over and it almost made me sick enough to pass on breakfast. But the pancakes smelled good and it had been so long since anything good-smelling had come from our kitchen that I ended up eating two.

  The phone rang and Mama answered it. I carried my plate to the sink and turned to go, thinking that Mama and Aunt Maureen would be on the phone for a good hour, but she put her hand over the receiver and said, “Ivy, wait. It’s for you.”

  I took the phone and said, “Hello?”

  Ellen said, “What are you doing this morning, Ivy League?”

  Ellen using my nickname was just like old times. “Just going to Ellen Waite,” I said. I should explain about our nicknames. There’s a sign at Jonsey’s Hardware Store that says, “Helen Waite is our manager. If you don’t like our service, go to Helen Waite.” We were in fourth grade when we asked Jonsey who Helen was because we’d never seen a woman working there. He explained it was a play on words. Instead of “Helen Waite” it could be “H-E-double-toothpicks and wait.” We laughed so hard, so I changed it to Ellen Waite. And mine? First time we heard the term “Ivy League schools,” we asked our teacher what that meant, and she said, “top-notch.” So Ellen decided I was a top-notch friend.

  “I’ve been shopping. Meet me at McDonald’s. I can’t wait to show you what all I bought.”

  “Just us?” I tried to keep my voice light.

  “Just you, me, and sacks of goodies.” In a singsong voice she added, “There might even be something in them for you.”

  I took a quick shower and didn’t even dry my hair. It was such a warm day I figured it would dry on its own, anyway. Then I went to ask Mama if I could go.

  “Sure,” she said. “Oh, and, Ivy, here. Take this.” She handed me two dollars and a quarter.

  “Mama … no.” Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted that money, but I knew how broke we were.

  She smiled and shoved it into my pocket. “Go on. Take it. You think I don’t know how hard it’s been on you kids? Go get yourself a Coke and some fries from the dollar menu.”

  Mama stood there in her bathrobe with a crooked smile and tucked her hair behind her ear, not knowing that the whole back of her head looked like a squirrel’s nest. My heart melted a little. I gave her a quick hug and ran out the door.

  I waved to Ellen when I saw her in a booth at McDonald’s. Relief surged through me that Alexa wasn’t around. I went straight to the counter and ordered a Coke and fries. I felt so generous that I put the eight cents change into the Ronald McDonald House container.

  “You should have gotten the Happy Meal,” Ellen said. “They’ve got promos for the new Daisy Dog movie.”

  She tore open the plastic bag to show me the dog that stuck its tongue out when you pushed its ear down. Then she hopped it over to her bag of fries and kept pushing its ear so its tongue licked at her fries. She raised the dog to her ear and said, “What’s that, Daisy? You’re not hungry? You want Ivy?” She put the dog next to my face and tapped its ear so it licked my face. I cracked up.

  “Oh, look! She wants to go home with you.” Ellen sat the toy next to me.

  “You’re crazy,” I said.

  “Oh, you love me. You know you do,” she said.

  I rolled my eyes but she was right. I did.

  “So!” she said. “I’m changing my bedroom.”

  “What’s wrong with your bedroom? I thought you loved it.”

  “I did. When I was in my purple phase. But I want something different. Mom said I could so I’m thinking green. Not a chartreuse, not a lime, more neon, I think.”

  I listened as I ate my fries. Ellen always had a project going. It felt like Ellen was back to normal. Dragging those hot fries through the ketchup, listening to Ellen, well, it was a good day.

  “That’s about it for me,” she said. “What’s new at your house?”

  I looked up, French fry frozen in midair. I wasn’t ready to tell her about Caleb staying with us but I didn’t know why. Ellen and I told each other everything. Or, at least, we always had. But remembering how I felt when she’d given something to Alexa yesterday made me freeze up inside. Stalling for time, I took a slurp of pop, which she mistook as an answer.

  “So nothing new then?” she said.

  “No. Just, you know, regular stuff.”

  “Well, then let me show you what I bought!”

  She opened a bag and pulled out a pair of boots and new jeans that she said she would tuck into the boots. Then she showed me a top that looked like it would have fit her in first grade.

  “Remember when I said I had something for you?” She thrust a plastic bag at me.

  I wiped my greasy hands on a napkin and reached for it. I had no idea what was inside but I sure wasn’t expecting a new outfit. When I saw the blue sweater and jeans, I looked at her and said, “I don’t understand.”

  “What’s to understand? They’re for you!”

  “It’s not my birthday,” I said. Even if it were, we had a ten-dollar limit on birthday gifts to each other.

  She rolled her eyes, then grabbed the bag from me and dumped the clothes onto her lap. “I got the next size from mine so I think they’ll fit you.” She held up the sweater. “This blue is gonna bring out your eye color. I wish I could have gotten you boots, too, but then we don’t want to look exactly alike.”

  She looked at me, smiling. I was so confused I just stared.

  She sighed, then said, “Look, Ivy, I know you didn’t get new back-to-school clothes this year. And, hey, that’s okay! But I had money to spend and I spent some on my best friend, too.”

  I took a sip of Coke to keep my throat from closing up. “Thanks,” I croaked.

  “Besides, if you don’t take them, you’ll hurt my feelings. I’ll cry and everyone will stare! It would be your six-year-old birthday party all over again.”

  She had me there. She’d given me a stuffed clown, when I hated clowns. I gave it back to her because she loved them, and she cried so hard her mom had to take her home. She always reminded me of it when she wanted to get her way and it always worked.

  “Well, thank you. I mean, gosh, it was so cool that you thought of me. But my mom, I don’t think she’ll let me keep them.”

  “Well don’t tell her, silly!”

  “Trust me, she’ll notice.” I thought of my closet at home. I’d never been one to care about clothes and there sure hadn’t been anything new added in a while.

  Ellen ripped the tags off the sweater and jeans, then pulled off the sticky strip with the size. “Now she won’t know they’re new. Tell her they were mine and they don’t fit me.”

  Then she set a small bag on the table. “And I got this for me. But I’m going to share with you.”

  As I picked up the bag, she seemed so excited she actually shivered.

  I slowly looked inside and my heart flat-out sank. Makeup. But she said it was for her and she liked that kind of stuff so I tried to sound enthusiastic. “Wow! That’s a lot of makeup. You’ll have fun wearing that.”

  Then I scooted the bag ever so slightly so it would be more on her side of the table than on mine.

  “I thought maybe we’d wear our new things next week.”

  She dipped her finger into her ketchup and began painting on the table with it.

  “Alexa invited us to her party next Friday. We can wear our new clothes then.”

  “If Alexa invited me to a party, how come I don’t know anything about it?”

  She grabbed a napkin and began swiping at the mess she’d made. “Well, she invited me and a guest.” She looked at me and smiled a little too wide. “You’re my guest.”

  I’d been to Alexa’s house before, but not in years. We’d all been in the same grade since we were in Wee Ones preschool. Back then our moms swapped playdates and you thought everyone was your friend. I don’t know when all that stopped, when the fact that someone was in your class at school wasn’t enough to make them your friend, but I definitely didn’t feel any �
��friend” vibes from Alexa now.

  “You know,” I said, “I really don’t think I want to go.”

  Ellen sat very still but her eyes grew big with shiny tears. Part of me was trying to figure out how to word what I wanted to say without really putting Alexa down, but the other part of me wondered how Ellen was able to make tears that fast. I’d have had to pinch myself hard to do it and I’m not sure even that would work.

  “It’s just that—” I shut up because Ellen reached across the table and grabbed both my arms.

  “Don’t do this to me. You have no idea how much this means to me. Go with me and you’ll be giving me my birthday and Christmas gifts all rolled into one.”

  “Ellen.” I tried to pull away and she held on harder. For a skinny girl, she had an amazing grip. “You’re hurting me.”

  “Say you’ll come.”

  “Let go!” I yanked my arms away. Then her eyes sprang a leak. Big tears rolled down her face.

  “Since when did you and Alexa start hanging out, anyway?” I said.

  “We barely started.”

  “It’s just that, I thought we were best friends.” I hated the hurt tone my voice had. “You’ve never talked about wanting to go to parties and shopping with her until this week.”

  “You are my best friend, Ivy! And going to this party could mean a lot for us. It’s so hard to get an invitation to Alexa’s party and I got one! Please don’t make me go alone, Ivy. Please.”

  I sat back and sighed. I felt stupid being almost jealous of Alexa. I looked around the place and thought, heck, it’s just one night. One stupid night out of my life and it’s not like I had anything else to do except go home to a house that got weirder by the day.

  “Okay.”

  “Oh, Ivy Greer, you’re the best friend in the whole world!”

  I tried to feel good about that but deep down I wondered whether I’d still be her best friend if I’d said no.

  When I got home I ran to my bedroom. For the first time I let the feelings that had been tugging at me rise to the top. Did Ellen think I dressed bad? Was she embarrassed to be seen with me in my regular clothes? What kind of best friend worried about something like that?

  I stuffed the jeans and sweater into my dresser drawer. At the bottom of the bag was the Daisy Dog Happy Meal toy. After I closed the drawer, I set Daisy Dog beside my bed because getting it was the only thing about today that had felt good.