Grape Bubblegum

by Beth Bowland

  “Morning.” Shannan adjusted her book bag around her shoulder.

  “Back at ya. Remember we have to go by Craig’s house.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. I wonder if his grandmother will be up,” Shannan said.

  “She’s probably up cooking breakfast for Sunshine.” I laughed, picturing Sunshine sitting at the table eating hot cakes and sausage.

  “Last night Mom told me I’m going to be an aunt in April.”

  I gave Shannan a quick side hug. “How exciting!”

  She smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

  As we approached Craig’s house, we spotted his grandmother, aka dog lady, picking up pieces of trash out of her flower bed. Sunshine watched us through the curtains.

  “Good morning, Miss McGinnis,” I said, trying to sound friendly. She turned around and looked first at Shannan, then me.

  “Hello, girls. You must be Junior’s new friends.” She smiled. “He told me you would be stopping by. Such sweet young ladies,” she said, “I tell you, it’s so refreshing to meet well-mannered young people.” She paused and scratched at her nose. “A while ago, two girls came by the house harassin’ Sunshine. They had him all stirred up. Then they threatened to send me back to my heavenly maker if I told a soul. However, you girls seem nice. I’ll go get Junior.” She walked in the house.

  I turned to Shannan, and she gave me a strange look.

  Craig came out a few moments later, grinning at us and looking crisp and clean as usual. He smelled like Irish Spring soap.

  “Hey, Craig,” Shannan said.

  “How are you guys this morning?”

  “Doing great.” Shannan rummaged through her purse for something. She pulled out her lip gloss and applied it. “I found out that I’m going become an aunt in April,” Shannan said, in between smacking her lips together to smooth out the gloss.

  “Congrats,” Craig said. “I’m an only child, so I won’t get to experience having a niece or nephew.”

  “I thought you said you had a sister,” Shannan said.

  “No, I didn’t,” Craig said.

  Shannan shot me a look.

  “Craig, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” I asked.

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “Does your grandma iron your clothes for you each day?” I asked. “You have the straightest creases I’ve ever seen.”

  Craig laughed.

  Shannan gave me a look as if to say, what?

  “Actually, I iron my own clothes. It’s something that I learned from my father. I was always impressed at how neat his uniform looked. I asked him to show me how to iron, and he did. A lot of people think I attended a military school or something.”

  “Well, you’re the sharpest, cleanest, crispy looking person I know,” I said.

  “Crispy?” chimed Shannan.

  “That’s a word, isn’t it?” I wasn’t sounding real sure of myself at that moment. Craig only laughed.

  “I’ve heard crispy used to describe chips, French fries…” he pondered a moment and continued, “…lettuce?”

  “I’m going to put on my crispy pants today,” Shannan said with a laugh.

  A passing car slowed as it neared us on the sidewalk. Inside was the man we’d seen Craig talking to in front of his house. He was once again dressed in black. He honked his horn as he waved to Craig, then gave him the thumbs up and kept driving.

  “Who was that creepy guy?” I asked.

  “No one important.” Craig adjusted his book bag and smirked.

  What was going on with this kid?

  Walking up to the front of the school, I saw Mitzie with her cronies. As we approached them, Mitzie gave me her usual sneer.

  “Hideous hair,” Mitzie said.

  “Bebe, don’t say anything. She’s not worth the hassle.” Shannan guided me in the other direction. Craig turned his head to see whom we were talking about but said nothing, only watched.

  “Ohh…” I looked at Mitzie again.

  “Come on, Bea.” Shannan pulled me into the school.

  “You’re right.” I straightened my book bag on my shoulder. “Well, I’m going to head to class.”

  Craig seemed lost in thought and continued walking ahead of us.

  I nudged Shannan. “What’s up with Craig changing his story?” I asked “I remember him saying he had a sister.”

  “I knew he’d said it. For a minute I thought I was crazy.” She crinkled her face. “See ya later, Bebe.”

  “Later.” I walked to my class and decided right then I wasn’t going to allow Mitzie to upset me anymore.

  Chapter 6

  “HI, MOM. HEY, AUNTIE.” Walking in the house, I headed straight to the fridge to get a bottled water. They were sitting at the kitchen table cutting coupons and watching Ellen.

  “How was school, hon?” Mom asked.

  “It was all right. Mitzie is at it again.”

  “Dr. Carmichael’s daughter?” Mom replied.

  I nodded.

  “Is that the girl with the butt implant?” Aunt Abbey said.

  “Uh, sorta. It was a falsie inside her bra that fell out.”

  “Good Lawd, that child has fake breasts too? Why, in my day we just had girdles to hold it all in and toilet paper to push it out,” Aunt Abbey said.

  “Go on, Bea. What happened?” Mom asked.

  “Nothing much. She just got on my nerves again. I’ve made up my mind I’m not going to let her upset me anymore. I tried to be nice, Mom. That girl just doesn’t like me for some reason,” I moaned.

  “You two have been going back and forth since the fifth grade. You’ll probably grow up and become best friends.” Mom winked.

  “Kick her butt, Bea. That’s what ya outta do. Just run up and do a flying side-kick to the face, like they do on that wrasslin’ show on TV,” Aunt Abbey said.

  Mother only shook her head. I gave Auntie a kiss on the cheek, grabbed my book bag, and headed up to my room.

  “Oh, Bea,” Mom called out. “Don’t forget Sunday afternoon we’re having the apple harvest. Why don’t you invite some of your friends to meet you at the orchard?”

  “Cool, I will. Oh, and Saturday is Spencer’s birthday get-together. It’s going to be at the remodeled Laser Quest place.”

  “Is that your beau?” Aunt Abbey asked.

  “No!” I answered, running up the stairs. I could hear them laughing behind me. That’s the last thing I needed them thinking about.

  When I got to my room, I changed into my chill clothes: baggy T-shirt and pajama pants. My cell started ringing as soon as I flopped down across my bed. Rolling over, I reached for my book bag, flipped the phone open, and fell back across the bed.

  “Hello.”

  “Beatrice?” a raspy-sounding voice said.

  “Yes,” I replied, now sitting up. “Who is this?” I checked the caller ID. It listed a number, which I quickly jotted down.

  “Don’t worry about who I am, you purple-haired troll. You’d just better watch your back.”

  The voice was slimy with a very distinct Boston accent. I couldn’t tell whether it was a male or female.

  “What?” I said, shocked, scared, and mad at the same time.

  “You heard me,” the voice said. Then the line went dead.

  I dialed Shannan’s number, and she picked up on the first ring.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, Bebe, I was just getting ready to call. You won’t believe what happened to me a few minutes ago,” Shannan said.

  “Oh no, you won’t believe what just happened to me,” I said back.

  “You go first,” Shannan said.

  “Well, this voice called me and—”

  “No way! Did it sound really raspy and scary?”

  “Yes! Why, what happened to you?” I asked.

  “Someone called me, trying to disguise their voice. Telling me to watch my back from now on or else,” Shannan said.

  “That’s basically what the voice said to me. Did y
ou notice anything strange about it? Could you tell if it was male or female?”

  “I think it was a girl, but it had an accent. Remember that substitute teacher we had last year for PE that was from the Boston area? Well, that’s what the voice reminded me of.”

  “I’m sure Mitzie put them up to it,” I said. “Did you happen to notice the phone number on your caller ID?”

  “No. Did one show up on your phone?” Shannan asked.

  “Yes, do you think I should call it?”

  “No, not yet. They’re probably expecting a call from you. Let’s wait and call from a pay phone or something. We can just let them think that they’ve gotten to us. We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Shannan said. I could hear the gears grinding in her head.

  “Well, whoever it was has got a lot of nerve.” I was ticked.

  After hanging up with Shannan, I started to go tell my mother what happened, but decided against it for now. If this mystery person wanted to play games, I’d play their stupid game with them. I pulled out my books and started my homework, still thinking about the call from earlier.

  The next morning, we stopped and picked up Craig, filling him in on the recent events.

  “Someone has too much time on their hands,” he said.

  “Yeah, I agree,” Shannan replied.

  “Way too much time,” I added.

  Craig shook his head. “I can’t believe they didn’t block their number before calling.”

  “It’s bananas,” I said.

  “So who are you guys supposed to be? Sherlock and Watson?” Craig laughed.

  Shannan and I looked at each other.

  “Nancy Drew,” Shannan answered.

  “Nancy who?” Craig asked.

  “You’ve never heard of Nancy Drew?” Shannan appeared to be in shock. “The great mystery solver?”

  “No,” Craig said.

  “Oh, I guess I’m the only one whose mother thought it would be a great idea if I read the wonderful, wholesome books that she had when she was my age.” Shannan crossed her eyes at him, then sighed.

  “I’ve read the books and saw the movie…twice,” I said.

  Craig rolled his eyes at me.

  “Hey, Craig, Spencer Kane is having a birthday get-together this Saturday at the new Laser Quest place. Do you want to go?” I asked.

  “Sounds cool. Do you think he’d mind?” Craig asked.

  “Nah,” Shannan answered.

  “I’m sure my mother won’t mind picking you up. If it’s okay with your grandmother,” I said.

  “She won’t mind. She told me that I ought to hang out with people my own age.”

  “Sweet, this should be fun. We can swap phone numbers after school,” I said.

  As we approached the school, I looked around to see if Mitzie and her cronies were waiting, but they were nowhere to be found.

  After school, I went over to Shannan’s house. Once up in her room, I reached in my pocket and pulled out the sheet of paper with the mystery number on it. Shannan reminded me on the way home that she knew how to block her number, so no need to go to the gas station.

  “Put it on speakerphone.”

  Shannan hit the speakerphone button, and we listened to the ringing.

  “Carmichael Cosmetic Surgery Center. How may I help you?”

  Shannan looked at me. I looked at her, and both of our mouths dropped.

  “Hello, may I help you?” the pleasant voice again.

  “I’m sorry. I dialed the wrong number,” Shannan stammered out.

  “No problem, have a nice day.”

  “Oh my gawd!” I screamed and fell off the bed. Shannan started laughing at me.

  “Can you believe that?”

  “We know where the call came from,” Shannan said.

  “Now to find out who made the call,” I said, climbing back up on the bed.

  “It didn’t sound like Mitzie.” Shannan rubbed her chin. “But who?”

  The remainder of the week was uneventful. I was happy again to wake up on a beautiful Saturday morning. I wouldn’t have cared if it was snowing or raining. All Saturdays were beautiful. I puttered around the house for most of the morning and early afternoon.

  Mom knocked at the door. “Bea, what time is Spencer’s get-together?”

  “At four,” I said, pulling her into the room, attempting to get her to dance with me.

  “Let me go.”

  “Come on, Mom. Lemme see you shake your money-maker!”

  “My what?”

  “Like that.” I pointed to the TV. The women were gyrating their hips in the camera.

  “Honey, if I tried to do that move, I’d be in physical therapy for a year, trying to get my back straightened out. What time did you tell Shannan we were going to pick her up?”

  “We can pick her up at four. It’s not cool to be the first to arrive. Oh, and can we swing by and pick up Craig?”

  “Craig…Who’s that?”

  “He’s Miss McGinnis’s grandson.”

  “Miss McGinnis from church?”

  I nodded.

  “I didn’t know she had a grandson living with her.”

  “He just moved in at the beginning of the school year.”

  “Sure. Just be sure to call him before we leave. To let him know we are on our way.”

  Chapter 7

  AROUND TWO THIRTY I got in the shower. I once again pulled out the Caribbean body wash, spray, and lotion. I took my time and dried my hair, straightened it with a flat iron, applied some lip gloss, and checked my outfit in the mirror. I wore faded, low-rise flare jeans that I embellished myself with rhinestones, a white, long-sleeved, fitted T-shirt with angel written in silver letters across the front, and a cropped purple hoodie over it. I topped it off with a pair of large silver hoops. I had a serious seventies flare going on.

  We pulled up in front of Shannan’s house around three forty-five. My mother wanted to arrive a little early so she could chitchat with Mrs. Kirkpatrick for a few minutes. I rang the doorbell, and Shannan answered immediately. She was also dressed in a pair of faded, low-rise flare jeans, but with no embellishments. There was a tear across the right knee, and she wore a light pink T-shirt that said princess on the front. A hot pink newsboy cap covered her side ponytail. Hot pink hearts hung from her ears.

  “Hi, Mrs. Peppercorn,” Shannan said.

  “Hello, sweetie,” my mother replied. We walked in the house where jazz played softly in the background. Mrs. Kirkpatrick came from around the corner and smiled at my mom.

  “Hey, Millie. How’s it going?” Mrs. Kirkpatrick asked.

  “Well, hello, Leslie.” The two hugged.

  “Millie, come on in the family room. I have to show you the new painting I purchased.” As they headed in that direction, Shannan turned and looked at me.

  “Sassy, sassy.” Shannan admired my outfit. “Too cute.”

  “Well, thank you, madam. You’re just too cute yourself.” We headed up to her room.

  “Have you gotten any more prank calls?” I asked.

  “None, but I’m guessing she’ll show up at the place.”

  “Oh yeah, you know she wouldn’t miss this gathering.”

  After checking our outfits once more in the mirror, we headed downstairs. I made a quick call to Craig, letting him know we were on our way.

  When we pulled up to Miss McGinnis’s house, they were outside waiting. I was secretly hoping that Miss McGinnis didn’t want to come along. Mom rolled down the window and waved to Miss McGinnis, who then walked to the car with Craig.

  “Hello, Miss McGinnis. Hi, Craig,” my mother said, as they approached the car. Craig was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Peppercorn,” Miss McGinnis said.

  “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Peppercorn,” Craig said, climbing into the back seat with Shannan.

  Ten minutes later, we pulled up in front of the Laser Quest place around four-thirty, perfect time to make an entrance. Shannan and I looked like two p
arts of Charlie’s Angels. I guessed Craig would have to be Bosley.

  The Laser Quest place was packed with people. We walked in and immediately spotted Joel since he towered over most of the kids. We flagged him down.

  “S’up, crew!” Joel said.

  “Where’s everyone?” Shannan asked.

  “Over there in the banquet room. I’ll show you,” Joel said as he made his way through the crowd. We played follow-the-leader behind him. The place was huge. There were kids bowling, rock climbing, playing pool, indoor golf and karaoke, while arcade games buzzed loudly in the background. In the distance, I saw a sign that said Laser Quest.

  The banquet room had about one hundred kids in it. Most were athletes, along with all the popular, cool kids. On a table near a wall was a huge birthday cake, chocolate with chocolate icing, and in bold letters—SPENCER. There were no flowers or swirly lettering, just his name, totally boy stuff.

  Then I spotted her. Mitzie Carmichael. She was dressed in a baby-blue jogging suit with baby-blue sneakers that had silver stripes down the sides. I recognized them from a magazine. Some pop singer had designed them, so they must have been expensive. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail atop her head, and large, diamond-stud earrings graced her ears. Beside her were her cronies and a girl I didn’t recognize. I saw Spencer out of the corner of my eye. My focus changed as he walked up.

  “Hi, Bea,” Spence said, showing his beautiful, metal-coated smile.

  “Happy birthday,” I said, and to my surprise, I hugged him. Not sure what made me do that. He held on to me, then squeezed me real tight before he let go.

  “Happy birthday, Spence,” Shannan said, while grinning at me.

  “Spencer, this is Craig. He’s still sorta new at Washington.” They both nodded at each other.

  Spencer turned to me once again. He didn’t say a word, only smiled. I was getting ready to say something else to him, when Mitzie walked up with her crew.

  “Spencer, Spencer. How’s my birthday boy doing?” Mitzie was doing her best skank girl impersonation.